#at this point i’m just keeping an eye out for all the comic references

[gatorbites-imagines]

Listen. Listen. Hear me out.

I beg you, almighty gator—Gambit(Remy LeBeau) x M/FTM reader(ur choice i like both :)) where reader is a mutant that has some kind of power that has to do with sea monsters, and loves tarot cards so Remy does card tricks for him while reader is in a pool.

When I was a kid I called Gambit “Magic Man” and I had to hold myself back from screaming that in the theater when I was watching D&W a few days ago and revived my non-understandable fanboying of him. (Sorry for the rant)

You can change the fic anyway you want, I’ve got no problem as long as Remy is as silly as he normally is(can evolve into smut or whatever cause I’m freaky like that 😏)

Gracias Gator!!

Remy Lebeau x mutant male reader

Headcanons

I love Remy SO much its insane. I can’t write accents, so it’s there in spirit. Haven’t read the comics, so im basing this off of is wiki. no smut but i had fun writing this.

i loved seeing Remy in the movie, i just wish theyd given him his eyes, you know?

How you two met can be a mixed bag. Maybe you met in the x-men, maybe you met in the thieves guild before every crossing paths with the x-men as a whole, or maybe somewhere completely third. I enjoy the idea of the thieves guild though, so ill go with that.

You both had different reasons for joining or doing what you do, but being two mutants amongst a lot of other non-mutants meant you felt some kind of kinship with each other, even if you didn’t really get along in the beginning.

Especially with you two being visibly mutants. With Remy’s eyes and you having scales on different areas of your body, gills on your sides, what others would refer to as “monster eyes”, so on and so forth.

This resulted in you two preferring to work together when you got the chance, you trained together, ate together, slept together (not like that), so on and so forth. It also meant you two got a very deep understanding of each other over time.

It also meant that Remy got to see just how stupidly powerful you were. In the beginning you just thought your powers involved controlling water and being able to breath underwater. Who’d have thought you could do crazy stuff like controlling typhoons, rain, lightning, so on and so forth, like some kind of biblical being.

This was how you gained the name leviathan. You didn’t really like the name in the beginning, since you hadn’t really picked it yourself and it felt almost insulting with your appearance. But Remy was so supportive you ended up coming to like it, even though it took a long time.

In the end you two split apart as you leave the guild, going your separate ways but still keeping in contact in small but safe ways. With a power like yours it was hard to stay under the radar, and many wanted you on their side, even if it meant by force.

Time passes, Remy joins the x-men, you travel on your own and discover yourself and the world. Remy gets kicked out of the x-men when they learn of his past, you two meet up again and travel together for a while.

Its during this gap in Remy’s place with the x-men that your relationship became something more. He tells you about Rogue, and how he at first thought he loved her, only to realize what he felt for her wasn’t near as strong as what he felt for you.

And of course, during this confession, Remy tries to lay on the charm and act like it isn’t a big deal, but you can easily see through him and notice how anxious he is about it. in the end you just have to grab him and kiss him to shut him up, which yes, does shut him up, but also leads to you guys falling back into the water you’d been sitting by when he lunges at you to kiss you again.

Hes a charming guy yes, Remy has such a way with his words, how he carries himself or how he touches you. But underneath all that he also cares so deeply, to the point of being willing to die for you or those he cares about, which makes you lose scales from stress at times.

So, if you place protection spells on him that you got from the deepest part of the sea by the people who have started to worship you like a god, then only you have to know. That Namor guy is pretty swell, when he isn’t being a bit arrogant. He even taught you how to use a spear, so you guys are kinda brothers in spirit now.

At some point Remy does return to the x-men, somewhere you don’t feel ready to join him yet. So, a lot of kisses are shared, and a few tears a shed. And yes, of course you give him jewelry made from your scales. And a dagger made out of your larger teeth when you transform into a more serpentine form, because yes, you can also do that.

Remy doesn’t feel much need to tell the x-men about his relationship. Sure, he keeps flirting but that’s just because that’s how he is. But it never goes further than that. Some of the members that can read minds know about it though, since he thinks about you regularly.

In the end the relationship is exposed when the x-men find themselves in quite the pickle near the ocean. And Remy, knowing he can get them the upper hand, is able to snap one of the sigils you placed on him.

Rip to whoever they were fighting, since the sea lashes out and swallows them whole, followers by a giant feral looking sea serpent, you, rise from the water. Yes, you teleported there. What else were you supposed to do? You thought your boy was in danger!

Cue the x-men just being stunned or confused when Remy calls out the cheesiest pet names, almost kicking his feet in happiness at seeing you. It makes a bit more sense when you transform into a more human form, it still takes some explaining though.

In the end you don’t end up fully joining the x-men. You doing that would place them under a lot more danger than usual, since you had your own enemies and alliances, and you’re pretty sure Namor would get butthurt if you did. But you become something of an ally. Which means you hang out on Krakoa on the regular.

It becomes a very regular sight to see a giant serpent lazily swimming around the island, or resting half on the beach as Remy sits and shows you his different tarot readings. Of course, you also spend time together with you in a more human form, but seeing such a big sea monster also makes any baddies keep a distance.

There are also of course pools set up on the island, not just for you, but they’re accessible for you as well. Remy is regularly seen in the pool with you, or just sitting with his feet in as you two talk or whatever else you guys do.

You end up becoming something of a swim instructor to the youngest mutants, or just those that can’t swim in general. This is something Remy finds extremely entertaining and he’s always teasing you about it. luckily its easy to shut him up with a kiss, or by knocking him into the pool. Or both. He doesn’t mind.

[astralis-ortus]

game for two

✱ husband!bc × gn!reader

— guess who just got his old yearbook in the mail?

w.count → 0.8k genre → fluff, married life!au, non-idol!chan warnings → minor cussing (light hearted context), chan referred to as chris ⋆ see masterlist

coming home from work, you’re usually greeted with one of the following­—an empty house, a soft reverberating beat from the small, cozy studio located at one end of your home, or a soft snore while some romance movie thickens its plot on the screen of your neatly mounted tv.

a view of your husband with a stack of books on his lap, however, was not exactly something you would ever have in your bingo card.

“whatcha up to?” became your follow up question after chris’ quick how-was-your-day debrief. it didn’t take you long before promptly securing the spot next to your husband, where he—judging from the way your ivory-colored couch emanates heat—had been hanging around on for quite some time now. “i don’t think i’ve seen those books before.”

“mm, just got them in the mail today,” chris hummed, an arm swiftly encaged your figure as he attempts wrap you in his warmth, “mum and dad found these in the attic while they were clearing out the house. thought would be better to keep these here than to fill up space in their new home.”

it only took you a second to realize what kind of book your husband has been flipping through when a familiar-yet-way-younger-looking dimpled smile came into view, eternally captured in the printed sheet. “oh! baby chris!”

“good lord,” a chuckle ignited from the depth of his chest, ones that always pair with the soft crinkles near his eyes and sometimes a nuzzle to your hair when he couldn’t stand the adoration bubbling in his heart, “i was an angsty, moody teenager there, not a baby.”

“sure, whatever you say, baby,” you teased, emphasizing the word as you stole the perfectly conditioned yearbook from his hands. you’ve seen countless of chris’ teenager years' pictures, sure, but what harm could it bring to have a peek at more?

chris comically let out a sigh as he rolled his eyes—a signature telltale of his attempt to ‘look’ annoyed. “you’d really be in a huge trouble if you call an angsty teenager a baby, you know.”

“i don’t, actually,” eyeing the faint playful glint in chris’ eyes, you decided to lure him into a game. after all, what’s a more fun way to spend your evening than to bicker with your husband? “what would this-” you pointed at his half-heartedly grinning self of the past, “-angsty teenager do if teenager me called him a baby?”

another set of chuckles escapes him—ones louder, which, more often than not, indicates his approval of the arena you’ve built.

he’s in the game.

“well, for starters,” chris tilted his head, quite obviously setting himself to get a full view of your reaction just by gauging the godawfully attractive smirk he got etched on his lips, “i’d probably…”

“…probably?”

his way of building suspense will one day definitely be the death of you. really. if you were honest to yourself, you would actually rather kiss that damned smirk off his face right now—but the game has just started, and you’d hate to lose to your husband on your own little trick.

only… would he even let you win?

“well…” shrugging his shoulder nonchalantly, chris continued,

”i’d probably tell you to fuck off.”

the way your grin transformed into a face of utter disbelief was enough of a trigger to fill the room with echoes of chris’ laugh, filling the space with the kind of warmth you’ve only known after you met him. for now, however, you feel like you’ve been betrayed.

“that’s rude!” you huffed, incredulous. though arms are now completely folded in front of your chest, chris knew you’d still let him push more of your buttons; otherwise, why would you still melt into him?

“i’m your future wife! how could you tell me to fuck off?”

“in his defense, he didn’t know that!” he countered, wiping a stray tear which had involuntarily escaped while he was celebrating his first strike. "he was just a kid who thought the world in general was a mean ol' crone, so he just, you know, returned the energy."

"meeting you, however," setting his yearbooks aside, chris then took the chance to entrap you in his arms, "has changed my view about the world—for the better—and i owe you my life for that."

you've been speculating that there's something going on about chris' voice—is he a siren? or is he actually a highly skilled mage? how is it that his voice alone has never failed to untangle every single jumbled up knots under your skin?

or maybe, just maybe, the problem is you—because unknowingly, somewhere along the way, chris had long become your achilles heels.

"...shut up, christopher."

"aw- look at your ear! they're burning!"

"shut up!"

"heh- i love you too, baby."

©️ astralisortus, 2024. | likes and reblogs are highly appreciated♡

[astermath]

“So? Whatever.”

pairing: dave lizewski x popular!fem!reader 

summary: The preppy girl that just about everyone admires has more in common with Dave than he expects. He doesn’t quite know how to handle this information, but it excites him nonetheless.

word count: 2K

♡ LANDING PAGE♡

notes: I haven’t written something like this in a good while, so please bear with me if I’m rusty or there are some mistakes here and there. Reader is referred to with she/her pronouns, I tried to be as non descriptive as possible about her appearance. I do love writing a bit of a mean reader like this, but don’t worry, she’ll warm up to him. This fic takes place in senior year for age purposes, I’m pretty much fully ignoring the timeline of the film. Comments and/or requests are super welcome btw!! Hope you enjoy!! <3

(ps this will get a part two don’t worry xx)

To Dave, girls like you were unreachable. You could hear about them, you could listen to them talk in the hallways, sneak a glance their way… But talk to them? Any single one of their group would consider that social suicide. The only reason any of them even looked in his direction was to ask him to do their homework. So why in god’s name were you at his locker? Why were you acknowledging his existence at all?

“What’s that?” You leaned against the locker next to his, pointing at the piece of a comic book panel he’d taped to the door. It pictured Spider-man putting on his mask for the first time, something Dave looked to when he needed some motivation for the day. 

He struggled to get basically any words out, still not fully registering that you’re within such close range. He could smell you… God that was really weird to think about, he felt like a creep already, but you just… Smelled really nice. Like vanilla, mixed with something sweet. He realized he hadn’t answered your question yet and was just staring in front of him like a weirdo. “O-Oh, yeah, that’s uh… That’s Spider-man. It’s this… This superhero I like.” He adjusted the strap of his backpack to keep his hands busy.

You smiled and rolled your eyes. “Duh, I know who Spider-man is, please.” You couldn’t help but think he was doing anything to avoid looking into your eyes, as if you’d turn him to stone if he dared to do so. Which, yes, was exactly how he felt.

“I wanted to know which comic that was from. The art style looks a lot different than the ones I’ve seen.” Now this part was pretty much making his teenage brain short circuit. He probably didn’t hear that right, there’s no way a popular girl like you read comics, right? This had to be some kind of elaborate joke, like you were trying to pull a prank on him by making him ramble about his favorite superheroes. However, he wasn’t close minded. Even if this was a prank, at least you were talking to him, right?

“Yeah, sorry, I uh… Forget he’s a pretty popular character sometimes. This one’s from a collector’s edition. One of the pages was kinda falling apart so I just… Taped my favorite panel to my locker.” Again, he tried to look anywhere else, but it felt rude not to be making eye contact with the person who’s trying to give you a chance at a conversation. His eyes met yours and he realised he hadn’t ever actually seen you up close like this. You were really pretty, he knew that, but he never noticed these particular things about you before. The way your hair framed your features so nicely, the little beauty mark that seemed to be somehow perfectly placed, or the way a dimple appeared on your right cheek when you smiled.

“Hopefully you didn’t pay too much for it, those things cost like, a fortune.” You followed, snapping him out of his haze as you twirled a piece of hair between your index and middle finger. Dave was much taller than you, so you had to look up to match his gaze, which was already hard since he kept avoiding your eyes. You never realized how much he’d matured since freshman year. He looked pretty cute… Really cute, actually. 

“S-So, uhm, I really don‘t wanna be rude, but…” He closed his locker before looking at you with a rather awkward expression. “Why are you here? Why are you… talking to me?” Honestly, not an unjustified question. Dave was often the subject of bullying, and the popular girls clique made no exception to that rule. He doesn’t remember you specifically doing anything, although... He has a vague memory of you being in the car with those jocks when they threw spoiled milk at him.

“What? A girl can’t talk to her fellow classmate? This is a free country, you know.” You pretended to be a little hurt by his assumption that you were probably just here to make fun of him. In all honesty he was still a little dumbfounded by this whole ordeal, and the fact that half the people that passed you were giving you two weird looks really wasn’t helping. “You know I sit behind you in English, right?” He responds by nodding. He is painfully aware of this fact, as your friends had expressed their empathy for you when your seat was assigned behind him, though you honestly didn’t mind. And also the fact that he got a fair share of gossip from you and your best friend always whispering to each other. “Well,” you flipped a bit of hair over your shoulder. “I saw you had a copy of Birth of Venom in your backpack, and I... Wanted to ask if I could borrow it...” You looked to the side, muttering the last part. As much as you tried not to care what people thought, you did have a bit of a reputation that you were stuck to. Liking comics wasn’t for you, you were a cheerleader, you went to parties, you liked shopping. Okay, you secretly liked comics.

Dave looked at you with a puzzled expression. “I-I’m sorry, can you repeat tha--”

“Can I borrow your stupid comic or what?” You interrupted him, clearly looking a bit embarrassed. 

“Oh!” His face was getting hot, this conversation was lasting way longer than he imagined it would. Usually he’d have his face shoved into his locker by now. “U-Uhm, sure! It’s a bit expensive, but... Well, just don’t damage it, please.” He took his backpack off his shoulder and was about to pull it out before you grabbed his arm. 

“Not here you dumbass! Just, like... Ugh, meet me at my car after school’s over, you can hand it to me then.” You were acting like this was some kind of illegal drug deal, but this truly was something important to you. Your dad had already made it very clear that he didn’t want his little girl becoming some kind of tomboy and have her mind run rampant with superhero stories. Especially with this Kickass guy running around...

The bell rang and you silently thanked it for doing so. “Look, I gotta go. White Corvette, by the vending machines.” You walked past him, and a waft of that lovely vanilla scent hit his nose. He damn near melted into the floor when your arm brushed against his. “Later, Lizewksi.”

You leaned against the hood of your car, scrolling on your phone as you waited for the brunette to show up. You couldn’t help but feel a little guilty that you were just meeting him in secret like this. It’s not like you were embarrassed to be seen with him, or that you didn’t like him, it’s just that liking comics and superheroes was just about the dorkiest thing anyone could be into. Especially with Kickass running around, and, well, kicking ass, people would probably be thinking you’d be into this whole vigilante business yourself. Sure, you thought it was cool that people were doing something about all the crime, but you’d rather die than mess up your hair beating some thug’s ass. 

You noticed someone approaching and noticed that Dave wasn’t alone. With a bit of a disgusted expression, you gestured to his two sidekicks. “I don’t remember inviting the entire geek entourage to come see me. This isn’t some kinda meet and greet, you know.” Todd and Marty seemed, just like Dave before, a little shocked that you were talking to them. 

“S-Sorry, they just uh...” Dave began.

“We didn’t believe him.” Todd followed.

“...believe what?” You questioned, crossing your arms.

“That a chick like you was into comics.” Marty said, before Todd smacked him on the back of the head. “Dude! Don’t say it like that!”

You got a bit flustered, and looked at Dave. “You told them!? What the fuck, Lizewski?”

“I-I’m sorry!” He held up his hands. “They were asking me what we were talking about, and... I panicked.” They were more so insinuating that he was flirting with her, and he didn’t want that rumor going around, in case your jock brother caught wind of that and beat his ass for flirting with his sister.

You sighed, looking down and pinching the bridge of your nose before waving your hand out in a dismissive manner. “It’s... whatever, just leave. Before I change my mind and throw a bitch fit.” His two friends gave him a suggestive look before heading out. “Those two better not snitch or I’ll cut off their shrimps.” He nodded, just a little intimidated by the threat.

He got out his backpack and handed you the comic. “I’m still surprised I uh... I never knew you were into this stuff.” His breath hitched in his throat when your finger brushed over his as you took it from him. You flipped through it, keeping your eyes on the pages.

“Yeah, well... There’s a lot you don’t know about me, as much as I’m sure you guys love to assume.” You realized you hadn’t even told him your name, so you looked up at him and held out your hand, introducing yourself. You know, out of courtesy. 

“I-I know your name, but uhm... I’m Dave.” Your hand felt so soft, your beautifully manicured fingers being a real juxtaposition to his. His hand was much bigger and rougher than yours. You wondered why his hand was so calloused anyways... He didn’t look like he did many sports.

“Wait... Your name isn’t Lizewski?” You chuckled. “Christ, my bad... I always thought that was just your first name.” Your feeling of guilt for the boy before you flared up a bit again. He was being really nice to you, offering you something personal of his that he probably spent a pretty penny on. And you didn’t even know his actual name before. No wonder some people thought you were a bit of a bitch, you thought to yourself. 

“Hey, uhm... I know you got a bunch of these, and my dad would kill me if he knew I was reading them. He hates vigilantes, and he thinks reading comics will get me into the whole thing. Stupid, I know, but... He takes it surprisingly seriously.” You put the comic away carefully. “So I have a proposition for you.”

His eyebrows rose a little. A proposition, alright. No big deal. Could be literally anything though. 

“Come to my house this Saturday, bring a bunch of these, and I’ll tell my dad you’re coming to tutor me for physics or something.” You tilted your head a little, your locks falling gently over your shoulders. “I’ll pay you. Money’s not a problem. It’ll be like I’m renting them from you.”

He thought for a second, but in all honesty... How was this not a total win/win situation? He got to be in a pretty girl’s room, read comics with her, talk about them and make money. What kind of idiot would say no to that? “Yeah! Sounds good to me, uh... What do you want me to...” His words trailed off as you pulled out a pen and reached for his hand, writing a string of numbers on the back of it. 

“I’ll text you the address, and which series I like. I’ll let you do the picking. Oh, and Dave?”

“Y-Yeah?” He felt like his heart was going to beat right out of his chest. This is the closest you’ve ever stood to him. 

Your grip on his hand tightens, and you look up at him with a death stare. “Not a word to anyone about this.” You followed with a cutesy smile. “Alrighty?” You let go of his hand and put your stuff away before pulling out your car keys. 

Dave stands frozen in place, a faint blush already spread across his cheeks. He swore you were going to be the death of him. He looked down for a second and realized that what you wrote down wasn’t just some random numbers. It was your phone number. It all just suddenly felt very real to him, he’d never gotten a girl’s number before. And you were just about the last person he’d expect it from too.

You got in your car and turned on your engine. “See ya on Saturday, Lizewski! Don’t be late or I’ll kill you!” You smile, before driving off at a totally normal and acceptable speed. 

He gave a nervous wave before he looked back down at his hand. There was a little heart scribbled behind the phone number. It probably meant nothing.

But boy did it make his heart flutter. 

[emeritusemeritus]

Hear me out! Possessive sex + Overstimulation + Brat Taming + Breeding. Both of the Weasley Twins please. 🤭

I just always have this thought of just teasing the shit out of them when they’re work and fleeing afterwards. It’s almost as if we took their job of teasing us, and I could just imagine how pent up and frustrated they can be when they can’t do anything since there’s kids and adults around. The joke shop is suppose to be an appropriate place especially when it’s meant mainly for kids..Perhaps, add a part where we purposefully flirt with one of our old classmates. You can choose who! If you don’t like this idea, I completely understand! Feel free to add some kinks if you like or story elements. 🫶

Hi Anon! I’m so sorry it has taken so long to get this out, writing has had to be on the back-burner for now but I’m slowly getting back! Sorry for the lack of smut, it’s more of the setup as I’m abit smutted out 🖤

Warnings: Sexual tension, brat behaviour, Dom!sub relationships, polyamory, teasing, sexual references, mild swearing. Flirting, mentions of pregnancy, pregnancy kink, breeding kink.

Word count: 2.5k

Wonder Witch

You knew what you were getting into the second you opened up your wardrobe and changed into the outfit you'd carefully prepared for today. Your husbands had already long since departed the flat to set up the shop for the day, leaving you just a little later to sleep in, which you were thankful for.

Today was the big launch of new wonder witch products that the twins had been tirelessly working on, perfecting the range ready for the big launch today. You'd helped with ordering violently pink balloons to decorate every orifice of the shop, had banners printed and had even managed to convince Madame Puddifoot's to make some limited edition iced biscuits for the celebration, all in the same sickening shade of pink.

The icing on the cake was the costume that you'd picked out ready to hand out and display the new items, recreating the wonder witch icon on the packaging.

The dress in itself wasn't too risky, an array of pink and gold overlapping fabric that fell just above your knee, with a pointed witches hat in a smilies style. But it also had exposed shoulders with dropped sleeves and a corseted middle which hoisted in your waist to create a rather dramatic shape, highlighting your hips in a way that you knew would drive your husbands crazy. You carefully curled your hair and applied a healthy dose of mascara to really make your eyes pop before applying an equally vibrant lipsticks that you'd found matched the colour of wonder witch perfectly. You added a little highlighter around your cheeks to give you a little bit more of a playful look and slipped on your shoes to really help bring the look together.

When you looked in the mirror, you were more than pleased with yourself. You looked hot.

Checking the clock, you saw that it was 8:53am, just in time for the store to open. You could hear the twins flapping, mainly George, the moment you opened the door towards the staircase. They were bustling ready for the big opening and the unsurprising lack of Verity meant that she was probably going to be late again.

"Angel can you put these products on the... shit." George says the second you walk down the stairs, noticing the outfit almost immediately.

"What's up with you?" Fred asks, walking over to George under the staircase until he comes into full view, noticing that his twin seems to be frozen on the spot. He turns, looking towards the direction George seems frozen at and you watch as his eyes widen also comically wide. "Holy Godric."

"Morning," you say cheerfully, leaning up to press a kiss to George's cheek before doing the same to Fred as they look at you in complete shock, mouths slightly parted. "Where do you want me?"

"Um," George says, clearing his throat though his eyes hardly move from the curve of your breasts, a prominent feature of your dress. You fight the urge to laugh, wanting to keep up your little innocent play, pretending that you had no idea why they were looking at you like that.

"You want these on the shelf?" You ask, batting your eyelashes at them, watching as Fred's tongue pokes out to wet his lips.

The little clock on the wall chimes, signalling the store opening, just as you bend down to grab the box of products and you look up with pouting lips, watching as the twins hardly react to the chimes.

"You gonna unlock the doors big boy?" You ask Fred with a singular raised eyebrows, noticing how he doesn't even attempt to pull out his wand. A frantic knock on the doors pulls him out of his thoughts and you all turn to see Verity knocking to be let it, surrounded by a large crowd of customers ready to shop the new products. You flash a little wink at George as Fred unlocks the doors with a flick of his wand, the fireworks and the tricks beginning all in perfect synchronisation. When you look back up after picking up the box of products and see your two men still staring at you, completely unaware of the swarm of customers bursting through the doors, you knew today was going to be fun.

The store was packed right from opening, a never-ending swarm of people crossing through the doors until the shop was almost too full of people, all wanting to get their hands on the new merchandise. It was an overwhelming success, the new line of wonder witch products and cosmetics and you were thankful, fortunate and insanely proud of your husbands for pulling off the ideas you'd created together. You should have been tired, drained from the day as it neared closing time but truthfully you were on an adrenaline high, on cloud nine from teasing your husbands all day and seeing their increasing desperation.

All day you'd made sure to be a little bit of a brat, an utter tease whilst trying to portray yourself as an innocent Angel- something you knew for a fact that they didn't believe in the slightest.

George was easier to rile up, always quicker to respond to your more subtle teasing. You'd brushed past him a number of times today, the packed shop only aiding your need to slowly brush your ass against the front of his trousers as you squeezed past him or to pass something up to Verity on the stairs, ensuring that he got a face full of cleavage as you stretched up. You'd caught him staring at you more times today than you could count on all your extremities, especially when you climbed the stairs above him, ensuring that he knew your bare thighs were right above him.

Fred didn't always respond to subtlety, so you knew your efforts had to be boosted when it came to him. You'd purposely licked and sucked at one of the dark mark lollipops in the most outrageous way whenever he was paying attention and you'd even heard him choke on his own spit when he noticed.

You knew you had him when you were explaining to a group of seventh year girls about the patented daydream charms and how how they worked, passing out the colourful boxes items around the group as they accepted them with eager and curious eyes.

"Up to thirty minutes of pure, blissful imagination; let me tell you it will create a very realistic daydream of your choice so you know that boy you're crushing on? You're going to have the best thirty minutes of your life."

You're met with a round of playful giggles as you smile at them, knowing you were in for a good sale.

"Have you used it?" One of the girls asks and you nod eagerly with a smirk, knowing that Fred was just behind you from the way you could feel his presence, hearing him talk only moments before.

"Not since I married him," you say with a smirk as you receive another round of girlish giggles. "Between us, those thirty minutes with Fred were some of my most imaginative creations, believe me these little things are special," you say, twisting the box in your hands. "Just don't tell George." You watch as the girls' eyes light up and they quickly shove them in their baskets. You turn then, catching Fred's eye as he pretends not to have been listening and you act as if you're bashful about what he might have heard, placing a strand of hair nervously behind your ear as you walk away, making sure to sway your hips ever so slightly, knowing he'd be watching.

By lunchtime, you'd effortlessly riled them up to a point that it was so painfully obvious what they were trying to hide that you found yourself biting back a smirk for most of the day. They were so easily and deeply affected that it was rather fun to watch, but none more so than when Dean Thomas came into the shop just after the dinner time rush. You'd taken a quick break and had reapplied your lipstick, carefully checking you appearance before you walked down the stairs back to work. Dean had been talking to both of your lives near the stairs when he spotted you, eyes briefly widening as he took in your appearance. Unfortunately for him, Fred had been mid sentence and had definitely noticed Dean checking you out, making his go silent and cause a thunderous look to cross his face.

"Y/n, hi! It's good to see you!" Dean smiles as you approach them all, careful to avoid looking at the faces of your husbands who had now both caught on to Dean's over-pleasant demeanour.

"Dean, good to see you too!"

"You look good! Who knew that y/n (*maiden name) would become wonder witch!" His hands gesture towards your outfit and then to the display of new products to the side with your likeness on.

"It's Weasley," both twins said a little too quickly, in perfect synchronisation, making you have to bite the inside of your cheek to stop a laugh spilling out at their obvious jealously.

"Of course," Dean says somewhat absently, not picking up on the sudden hostility aimed at him by the shop-owners. "So what have you been up to? Do you see the others much?"

"Didn't ask us this many questions," you hear George mumble under his breath to Fred, who has crossed his arms across his chest and is hardly blinking, watching Dean closely.

"The usual," you smile, shooting a fleeting glance at your two husbands who's red faces seem to match their hair. "Keeping these two in line, keeping the shop afloat," you joke.

"So no little Weasley's running about yet?"

You could almost sense the little eye twitch George did at the words and you were certain that Fred seemed to stand even straighter, making himself even taller to tower over Dean.

"Hopefully soon," you say, biting your lip and George's eyes flicker to you with a fire in them, your words affecting him more easily than you'd anticipated. Fred seemed to incidentally lose his footing and was knocked off balance for a second, breaking the rather playful mood that had settled between you and Dean.

After Dean had left with a few things he'd come for, you finally accepted your fate and let the veil slip enough to drop the innocent act you'd been playing all day. Fred had cornered you beside the till, a stolen moment of peace as you reached high up to re-stock the daydreams, flashing him with a glimpse of your stocking.

"Really Freddie?" You pretended to admonish as you felt his rather prominent evidence of arousal against your hip as he started to get grabby with you, nearing the end of his restraint. "This is a respected establishment Mr Weasley, there are children about!"

You shuffled past him with a little tut, hiding your smirk behind your hair, leaving him stranded with mouth agape at your sudden boldness. George wasn't faring much better, his eyes still fixed on the curve of your breasts whenever he caught a glimpse, silently watching you rile him up further and further as your act slipped away.

With one last attempt at completely flipping the switch inside of them, throwing them over the metaphorical cliff, you doubled down your efforts. It was nearly closing time and you walked slyly over to the cash register whilst George was cashing up for the night and began stretching, pointing out your chest and making some very questionable noises. You adjusted the little cold shoulder straps on your dress and readjusted your breasts in the dress, sensing your attentive audience of George who was close by and Fred who had stopped what he was doing to watch you from across the shop. You suddenly turned and walked behind George, placing your hand on his hip as you squeezed past to reach for a carrier bag, carefully dragging your hand over his lower back as you leaned down. When you began to turn and walk away, you felt a large hand shoot out and grab your wrist.

“Angel.”

His tone was clear and clipped, telling you everything you needed to do.

“I know exactly what you’re doing,” he says, moving to stand behind you in the near empty shop, an obvious erection pressing into your behind. “Keep going little brat, you’re only fuelling the fire.”

When he lets you go and turns back to his task with no other reaction, you knew it was time to slip away. You rushed up the stairs, carefully avoiding both of them, ready for the next step of the plan. You’d prepped dinner on your lunch break, wanting to get ahead for the night and flicked the oven on with a flick of your wand as soon as you made it upstairs. You kicked off your shoes, pulled off your panties and waited, busying yourself to ward off the desperate arousal you were feeling, anticipating a good but long night ahead.

As soon as you heard the familiar, incoming footsteps on the landing, you bent over in your skirt to slip the pie into the oven, giving them quite a show when they walked in.

“Fucking Godric,” you heard Fred exclaim when he stepped through the door, followed by a similar curse only moments later by his twin as they see your pussy on full display for them, peeking out from below the short skirt as you bend over.

“Princess,” he says, beginning to stalk over to you as you pulled yourself up, closing the oven. You looked at them innocently, big doe-eyes and fluttering lashes as you watched them darkly approach you.

“You were naughty today,” George says, his hand reaching out to cup the back of your neck as he pulls you into a devastatingly sinful kiss that immediately makes your nipples harden under the dress. You gasp into his mouth when you suddenly feel a hand creeping up your inner thigh, underneath your dress.

“Remember what you said to Dean, princess?” Fred asks, voice dangerously low, prompting you to nod whilst trying to catch your breath. You knew exactly what you’d said, what you’d hoped for.

“Reckon we should start now?” He asks, his hand ghosting over the curve of your ass, feeling the bare flesh underneath his fingers. “Want you knocked up right fucking now.”

“Agreed,” George adds, somehow looking and sounding ever darker and more determined than Fred. George suddenly reaches out and turns off the oven with a harsh flick of his wrist, smirking when you look up at him in confusion at him turning off the oven.

“We’re not gonna be done with you that soon,” he says with a devilish smirk. “Gonna cum in you over and over, taking turns filling you. There’s gonna be so much cum in you that you won’t know where you start and we end, get you all round from us. Now.”

“Get on the bed.”

[traceyc-uk]

Hiii tracey!! You know I absolutely adore your arts!! Seeing your comics made me wanna try drawing one too, but the idea scares me. I feel like i have to know how to do compositions, backgrounds, effects, choose the right panels etc etc (tho ofc i really just have to try it). Do you have any tips or resources on how to make it less intimidating 👉👈

What?! no way because I can have a rant about how much I love yours! You better keep an eye on your ask box because I’ve got questions for you too missy, ok deal? DEAL 🤝

I find backgrounds and panel layouts tough too and effects takes me longest but there’s no right or wrong way to approach it and all I can suggest is go easy on yourself and just go for it! Honestly there’re some pages in my past comics that are painful to see because I’ve forced panels around to fit in exposition or set up for something later but who’ll know apart from myself

Your figure drawing is so gorgeous too! So good at illustrating movement! just being able to tell a story through body language I like to do too and just doing that is a great way to start. Forget about backgrounds and everything else if it’s putting too much pressure and go at your own pace. Like Calvin and Hobbs if you’ve ever read any of that?

I don’t often draw backgrounds either, I’m not sure how much detail you want to go but my last comic I drew an establishing environment to set the scene and that’s it

One saving grace in making HL comics is it’s already set in a well established world and most would instantly recognise places if given the right prompts (four long tables = great hall) I play on PS5 and I’ve got so many screenshots of place references 😅

Some panels are literal trace overs of screenshots and I do anything and everything to make life easier (the Beast class bullies had the most backgrounds as it jumped around scenes so much) i find filtered images too jarring against my drawing too

My comfort approach is rule of thirds for composition and is I think a great way to start establishing frames and once you get more comfortable you can start playing around with it

Effects I’ve copied from comics I liked as I had no idea where to start too, I have no consistency either it changes because I’ve forgotten what I did before 😅

Panel layout I’m still finding my way too, I often don’t plan linearly, I’ll have keyframe panels (in green) and is finding the rhythm getting point A to B is loose and fun to navigate. and there’s so much of my earlier comics I’d like to change with what I learned now but I digress

This is just my approach and I’m definitely no expert but am happy to help anyway I can. I’m always copying or taking reference from films and comics I like too, taking elements that I like so much about it and let it influence and inform my own style.

If anything I’m nervous for the next one I’m working on now, emotional angst is definitely out of my comfort zone 😭 and I’m no writer like you are

[my-secret-shame-but-fanfiction]

Project Blue Book

Nathan Bateman X GN!Reader • Rating: 18+ pals Masterlist• ao3• want to be tagged? • ko-fi • request info •

Summary: It's time Nathan gave you some answers.

A/N: Look, this is just me being silly and having a giggle.

Warnings: overuse of italics, swearing, not beta read, typos, talk of aliens and alien fucking, kisses, please let me know if I've missed a warning.

Word Count: 978

“So when are you gonna tell me about the aliens?” You lean back in your chair, your heels on the table, your laptop perched precariously on your thighs. 

Nathan gives you a look over the top of his glasses, glancing up from the circuit board he was soldering. He eyes your comic slippers for a second, seemingly giving the frog designs an individual glare. 

“What the fuck are you talking about?” He sighs.

“The aliens.”

“The what?”

“Aliens, UFOs? I’ll look up a dictionary definition for you if you’ve never heard the word before.” You tease and he scowls. 

“I know what the word means dumbass.” 

“You sure don’t seem like you do, or is this part of a test?” 

He sighs. “What?” 

“A test? You know, keeping stuff top secret? Deep throat? Cigarette smoking man?”

He rolls his eyes and goes back to his work, “You watch too much X-Files.” He grumbles.

“Yeah, but you got the reference.” 

He smiles in spite of himself. 

“So, when are you gonna tell me about them.” You put your laptop on the side, your feet on the floor as you roll your chair closer to him. 

He doesn’t look up. “I say this with all the energy I have: what the fuck?”

“Blue Book.” You lean closer. 

He pauses soldering, an unimpressed look crossing his face. But you know he loves the attention really. 

“Aliens. What’s the deal?” 

“Are you high?” 

You snort.

“Because if you are,” he gives you another glare, “I want some.”

“Project Blue Book, it’s a code name by the American air force about UFOs.”

He gives you a blank look.

“Are you seriously telling me you didn’t know?” You pause, “you’re such a sci-fi nerd, I highly doubt it.”

He puts the soldering iron down. “Did they breach my copyright? Have I got to send a cease and desist?” He sounds sincere, but you know Nathan. What he sounds like doesn’t mean anything. 

“It was like a term in the fifties, I doubt you’d be able to sue.” 

He shrugs, “I could try.” 

You groan and flop back into your chair, “Are you for real? You really didn’t know? I was so sure you got some secret alien communications.” You pout playfully, “I was hoping for some nonsense about your androids really being made so you could send them into space to talk with extra terrestrials.”

He frowns, “And why would I send androids?” 

“Because they wouldn’t age when you gotta travel like, 50 million light years or something.” 

“What’s the point in contacting aliens if I don’t get to meet them and fuck them?”

“Nathan!” You snort, despite trying to keep a straight face. 

“What?” He shrugs again.

You tut. 

“If there’s aliens I’m gonna fuck them.” 

You laugh, “What if they’re like Aliens aliens, trying to lay their eggs in you?” 

“Sounds hot.” He grins. 

You giggle and shake your head.

“Plus, the tongue is like another mouth, which I think,” he swivels around in his chair, giving you his now full, undivided attention. “Would give an amazing blow job and-”

“She’d bite your dick off.”

“Nah, nah, nah,” he shakes his head, “my dick’s too hard for that.”

You burst out laughing, “What?” 

“What I just said.”

“Nathan-”

“It’s rock hard at all times, could deflect bullets, it has in fact.”

“It has?” You can’t get over the silly expression he’s pulling. It’s stubble, a little glimmer in his eyes and a smile at his lips, but it’s so very endearing. 

“Sure, it’s saved my life, saved other people’s lives. Just,” he mimics hitting a baseball, “smacks the bullets right outta here. In fact, it’s super dangerous, because when it deflects them it actually makes the bullets go faster in whatever directly they’re hit, so,” he breathes in deeply, like this was a serious issue, “could hurt bystanders.” 

“Are you having fun?” You laugh, resting your elbow on his work table, your chin on your hand. 

He nods. 

“Fucking nerd.” You tease, grinning.

“Says you.”

“Says me?”

“You’re the one talking about UFO conspiracies.”

“Okay first,” you sit up, wriggling a little in your seat as you raise a finger, about to start on a shpeal. “Project Blue Book wasn’t a conspiracy, it really happened. I was just being a shit about the aliens bit, UFOs don’t mean aliens, they mean-”

He leans forward quickly and kisses you. 

The action takes you by surprise, how his lips feel against yours, how his beard brushes against you. He tastes a little of that stupid fennel toothpaste he uses, the one that he proclaims is the best for your gums but tastes like an overload of aniseed and salt. The one that you tried once and never again. The one that you tease him for using at any given opportunity.

But now you lean closer, your hand on his cheek as you lick into his mouth, trying to swallow down any essence of the taste. 

He groans a little as your tongue strokes his, his hum is pleasant as it vibrates into you. He slides his hand to your waist, pulling your chair even closer to him. The heat from his palm permeates into you, soothing your muscles, making you ease even further into his touch. 

When he pulls back after a long moment, he sighs. It’s the smallest, sweetest sound through his nose, a low grumble of contentment in his chest. He presses his forehead against yours for a second.

You swallow and he opens his eyes at the sound, moving back a fraction. 

“If I’d known that would shut you up, I would have done it ages ago.” He grins. 

You mock gasp, playfully pretending to hit him on the shoulder. “You’re the worst.”

He giggles, scooting his chair closer to you whenever you move away, “Don’t worry, I’ll kiss it better.” 

Thank you for reading!

@pleasurebuttonwrites @raven-rk @campingwiththecharmings @alexxavicry @whatthefishh

@romanarose @strangerhands @saturn-rings-writes @lonelyisamyw-0love @queerponcho

@steven-grants-world  @eyelessfaces @angel-of-the-moons @minigirl87 @lunar-ghoulie

@silvernight-m @autismsupermusicalassassin @apesarecuul @reallyrallyauthor @basicalyrandom

@alwaysmicado @mangoslushcrush @marc-spectorr @soft-girl-musings  @spxctorsslxt

@novarosewood

If you'd like to be taken off the tag list please let me know here

[healerfromhell]

On The Night Nurse

hi dead boy detectives fandom, i’m here to give you the tea on the night nurse because i cannot watch her incredible lore get overlooked any longer. this post was initially a thread on my twitter but i wanted to cross post :3

long post under the cut

DOOM PATROL

we first see this iteration of the night nurse in what ruth described as a “backdoor pilot” in s3e3 of doom patrol. she’s only on screen for 3 minutes but in that time there’s an insane amount of implications in terms of her abilities.

she’s shown to have telekinesis, as well as shifting her appearance into a more “demonic” form, including her mouth seemingly splitting in half. finally, as the doom patrol escapes, she projectile vomits acid onto them which later turns them into living-dead style zombies!

it’s up for debate whether or not this is canon to the dead boys show, HOWEVER, in terms of asa herself we’re not given any reason to believe she isn’t functionally the same, even if this IS an alternate universe.

as such, it is likely that the night nurse possesses these abilities in dbd and we simply haven’t seen them yet. furthermore, she’s already canonically an “eternal, trans-dimensional being”, so while this is a different universe, it could potentially be a single, dimension-hoping night nurse.....

COMIC HISTORY

here’s where we get into the good stuff. it’s pretty much agreed upon that the night nurse is an adaptation of the comic character “nightmare nurse”, also known as asa the healer. she’s a demon of an unknown age and she’s absolutely delicious as a character.

asa first appears in the phantom stranger, but she’s most notably present in justice league dark. during this it’s explicitly stated that john constantine is her ex-boyfriend and that she’s sapphic! let's go through some of the most important connections we get from these comics.

Constantine

we see her make several references to her history with constantine, but she’s also pretty loud about how her priorities are, first and foremost, her job, as you can see here, which i think ties in nicely to her pendanticism in dbd — all she wants to do is her job.

Zatanna

here are a few panels in which she hits on zatanna, then kisses her, then says she’s a much better kisser than constantine. girl kisser asa you’ll always be famous.

by the way, that creature with the red eyes? yeah, that's asa. that's her demon form that she appears in after enduring the blackmare curse with constantine.

Alice Winter

it is revealed that asa used to work as a nursemaid for a sickly woman named alice, but eventually she decided to possess alice instead. this is the body we see her in throughout her comic appearances.

however, it turns out asa is the only thing keeping alice alive. when this becomes evident, alice invites asa back into her body for good.

Other Appearances

asa is also seen a few times in other comic runs, i’m just gonna add some of my favourites here.

Suicide Squad

i love her character design here and i think her ability to remove trauma like a cancerous growth is a nice tease at how she can literally go into charles’ head and watch his trauma in dbd

The Phantom Stranger

this is from issue 8 of the phantom stranger and there’s several reasons i love it. firstly, LOOK AT HER.

second, let’s go queer demon who enjoys threesomes! you’re an icon, asa. third, apollo and panacea. oh, apollo and panacea. we’re about to get tinfoil hat-y for this last bit.

FINAL THOUGHTS

so you might’ve noticed, up until this point asa’s mentioned having sworn an oath, but that panel has her outright stating she was actually FORCED into it by the gods. we also get a hint at this in jld, though they don’t explicitly name apollo and panacea.

“asa” quite literally means “healer”. her given name; every time somebody addresses her, they are calling for a healer. that cannot be coincidental. it makes me wonder if she even HAD a name before this oath was forced upon her, or if she was just… a creature. a monster.

perhaps the gods saw fit to name her asa as a means of throwing salt in the wound. not only have they branded her, even her name is a reminder of her new purpose. it gives a lot of weight to the numerous occasions on which she says that she is, no matter what, a healer.

because regardless of where she is, what skin she wears, no matter what… she has that oath, and her name is healer. there’s no escaping that for her. it’s the fundamental core of who she is.

and as a final, final thought i would like to draw attention to this casting because hooooooly shit. perfect.

anyway if anyone cares to see any more of my never-ending thoughts about asa you can find all my head canons on the carrd i have for my rp portrayal or my ao3 where i will no doubt be posting writings about her :3

[emilypearsonart]

Character Design Tips and Advice

So I made a thread on Twitter last week about character design, and a lot of people seemed to find it helpful, so if it’s at all helpful here too I’m going to try and replicate it. 

If you’re a character designer and want to add your own advice on top of this, PLEASE feel free, this is just basics. 

I’m going to use my own art for this. 

First off, it's preferable if poses are in 3/4 view, even for the back view. This gives as much information as possible, you tend to see as much of a figure as possible. 

Front-views tend to show none of the sides, so if you want to do that, a side and/or backview is usually necessary. 

Usually it's best to keep to 3 colors. One of them usually being an accent color. This doesn’t include hair/skin/eye color unless they’re an unnatural tone. 

This first image is before I learned this rule, and the colors were very busy. 

The second here is after limiting the colors.  You can have multiple values of the same color(light blue and dark blue only count as 1) but it’s best to not have them shift in hue.

Think of the characters as having a triangle, square, and circle hierarchy. Every concept is made of these shapes. Triangles are usually associated with evil, edgy or dangerous characters. Circle with soft or friendly characters, square with strong sturdy characters.

Usually one design will have a majority of two shapes so it can look like 80% circle, 20% square OR 60% triangle, 40% square etc. For example, this character is maybe 80% circle, 20% square, gives off a friendly and sturdy feeling.

You can also use these shapes to move your eye to a focal point in a concept(dryad girl) here I had a lot of triangle shapes pointing down to draw your eye through the design and give it unity!

Going off that, using focal points using contrast in color, detail density, textures can help a lot too. This character is extremely busy and noisy, your eye has a hard time resting anywhere.

This one, the detail is mostly on the face and chest, and since the accent color is also there, your eyes are drawn to those spots.

Focus on the silhouette. Is your character recognizable or unique in their silhouette alone? Think of games like Overwatch, League of Legends, Apex how all those characters are recognizable just from their silhouettes. 

Depending on the tone/client sometimes more grounded, realistic character designs are preferable. Games like Last of Us, Uncharted, Tomb Raider all have great designs, but focus more on realism and storytelling over heroics.

Overall think of character design as something that provides information. It's less about making a drawing that's super detailed or with interesting lighting, but it's about making a reference for someone else(or yourself!) 

Think of what this will be used for. If it’s for a 3D modeler, what information will they need to understand the design for multiple angles, what details need to be clarified? 

If it’s for comics, what are touchstones you can use to make this character stand out and be recognized in every panel? How can you simplify it to be drawn 100 different times? 

Have fun!

[megamindsecretlair]

Be My Little Darling - Chapter 11

Chapter 10 Chapter 12

Pairing: Loki x Black!Fem!reader / Plus Size reader

Warnings: 18+. Minors DNI. You are in charge of your own reading experience. ANGST. Dirty talk, mentions of grief and violence. Soft Loki, Jealous Loki

Summary: Loki is the exclusive owner of the hottest club in New Asgard. Dubbed the Nine Realms, each of the nine rooms represent a different realm. You are his second in command, working the floors and ensuring everyone is having fun. It has been a week since the dust up with Loki and you are not sure how much more you can take.

Word Count: 3,939k

Masterlist

A/N: I'm sorry it's been so long! My family are my opps. I will try to update this a little quicker, I'm excited to see where these two go. A little something something before we get into the nitty gritty. Likes are always awesome. Please consider commenting and reblogging to help support writers! I block ageless blogs!

Taglist: @cantstayawaycani @braverthanthenewworld @monaeesstuff @chaos-4baby @dayjlovesromance @soft-persephone @mybonafidefeelings @nerdieforpedro @browngirldominion @thecookiebratz @we-outsiiiide@foxherder @itzgabz22

“I hate it when Mom and Dad fight,” Sweetie muttered, just loud enough for your benefit. You ignored her just as you ignored the rest of the staff all week. They weren’t stupid, they could pick up on the tension between you and Loki. 

You weren’t ignoring him, not completely. He’d throw too big of a temper tantrum. But he was also unwilling to talk about what happened when you saw Thor. You just wanted him to budge, even a little.

He had forced you to confront things you hadn’t been ready to. Forced to draw out those deep grooves in your heart and put them up to a mirror in all its ugly glory. You cried in front of him. Bared your soul and body to him in a way you never had before. And what did he do? Completely shut you out.

You couldn’t survive in half a relationship. So sue you. You weren’t a half measure type of person. You loved and hated in absolutes. You didn’t know how to give up. It was why you were still looking for your family five years later with all evidence pointing to the inevitable truth: Thanos snapped them away.

Your heart cracked thinking of such a thing. That they were just…gone. There was no body to bury, no tomb to mourn. You couldn’t accept it yet. You couldn’t look your siblings in the eyes and tell them that there was no hope left to give.

So no. You weren’t giving up on Loki and you didn’t care how old he was, how powerful, or how much he considered himself a god. He would have to use his big boy words. 

“Sweetie, I’m expecting a visitor today. Please make sure to notify me,” you said. It wasn’t her job, but you smiled at her so that she got the message. 

“Do we need to Parent Trap them?” Honey asked, not bothering to be subtle. She sat with her usual suspects hunched over cups of coffee, bottles of water or juice, and random pastries. 

You grabbed your coffee, unable to fight the smile at the reference. Movies were something you all enjoyed once coming to Earth. As far as being stranded, it wasn’t that bad of a place to be. You all have torn through plenty of movies so far, Parent Trap being among the favorites. You were still shocked that the little girl wasn’t a real life twin. 

You walked over to the table while the group looked at you expectantly. Some leaned forward as if you were going to share something juicy. Others looked almost genuinely worried for you. You hated the pity. You didn’t owe them an explanation. 

“The saboteur has been too quiet lately, so make sure you keep your eyes peeled. This person likes to watch the chaos from the front seat,” you said. You smiled when they groaned and leaned back. 

“Princesa, please! We cannot live like this!” Honey said, her face scrunching up comically into a heartbroken frown. 

“You make it sound like we’re in Hel,” you said and chuckled. 

“He’s miserable without you,” Sugar said. 

You took a sip of coffee to stop yourself from going on a rant. You were their boss, not their friend. Though, some dark pleasure rippled through you at the thought of him suffering. You hoped your scent still lingered in his bed. The gods knew that you tossed and turned in your bed thinking of him between your legs.

And…that was enough of that thinking. You took a deep breath. “Loki is a god, as he likes to remind us. He’s fine,” you said.

They didn’t believe you. You didn’t give a shit. You had more pressing matters to worry about. Like supply requests and restock. A prickling awareness settled over you and you straightened up. 

Eyes snapped towards the door. This was all so dreadfully dramatic. You turned towards the door and saw Loki looking as delicious as ever. He couldn’t be that miserable and still look that damn good. It was unfair. His hair should be messy, clothes unkempt. Something. 

Your eyes skittered over his before you looked away. It still hurt too much that he didn’t trust you with the truth. And you weren’t the begging type. So you walked over to him. “Loki,” you said with a nod.

“Is it me or is it fucking icy right now?” You heard somewhere behind you.

“Mom and Dad need to figure it the fuck out,” you heard as well. 

“Darling, good morning,” he said. He stood and stared at you, making it hard for you to deny that there was anything amiss. He also blocked the damn door. 

“Morning,” you said, nodding towards the door. Loki dug his hands in his pockets. You glared at him but his face didn’t change. Nothing about him did. Your hand was beginning to shake. You longed to run your hands through his hair, pull him to you, and demand kisses and smiles. 

The staff was right, this was icy. Nothing like the heat and passion he was capable of. You moved to walk past him and he cut you off.

“We have to talk about the VIP list tonight,” he said. There. A wince. A crack. A glimpse into that stormy brain of his. 

“Well in hand, Loki,” you said. You smiled, turned around and bowed for the audience. “And scene. Back to work, you bunch of lazies,” you said. The tension in the room melted a fraction before you shoved past Loki and out into the hallway.

Loki trailed behind you. He made no sound but you were attuned to him like never before. You were always aware of him before. How he moved, how he talked, that smile that never failed to trick and tease. But it was amplified now. As if invisible strings connected the both of you. 

“Darling, stop,” Loki said. You took a deep breath at his deep timbre. That voice. Hell, let’s be honest. Everything about him drove you crazy. And you had resisted for five long, beautiful, torturous years. It was hard to quit cold turkey. 

Still you marched down the hallways towards your office. You weren’t going to make a scene here. 

Loki’s strong fingers wrapped around your arms, pulling you to a halt. You swung your arms wide, careful to avoid any slippage of your coffee. You growled, facing Loki finally. 

“You’re such a child,” you hissed. 

“You’re the one ignoring me like one,” he said. 

“I’m not ignoring you, I’m busy. Work, remember? The thing you hired me for?” You asked.

“Fine, then you’re fired,” he said.

You giggled. You immediately shut up because it wasn’t funny, not at all. You drank your coffee to hopefully scald your throat and prevent you from letting any more giggles escape. You weren’t done being angry. 

“You won’t even look at me anymore,” he whispered. His hand left your arm and he brought it to your face. He stopped before touching you and you finally looked into his eyes. The sight nearly robbed you of breath.

Away from prying eyes, he let you see the raw pain. The whites of his eyes were wide, mouth straining, jaw clenching. 

“Ready to talk about why you blew up at me?” You asked. 

“I already said–” 

“I have things to do, Loki,” you said. You turned on your heel. Turned away from that look in his eyes. If you stared too long, you’d cave. And you didn’t want to. You did the work and now he had to as well. 

Loki didn’t leave it there. He followed you to your office where he waited for you to settle behind your desk. He leaned into the doorframe, watching your every move. You moved a pen here, opened a folder there. But there was no way you were getting work done while he was here. His presence made your brain foggy and hands shake. 

Finally, the mounting pressure got to you. You slammed your hands on the desk and looked at him. “Why are you still here?” You asked.

He crossed his arms and took a deep breath. “I don’t like that you’re mad at me. Not when we’ve come so far,” he said. 

You leveled him with a stare. “This is on you. You love to talk but won’t talk about this. With me,” you said. 

“That’s not it,” he said with a scowl. 

“If you won’t talk, I don’t know what to think,” you said.

His jaw flexed more as he spoke. You’d give anything to know what he was thinking, what he was running through his mind. 

“Believe it or not, I have a hard time admitting faults,” he said, chuckling to cover what he said. 

“So you can stick your dick in my mouth but can’t tell me what’s on your mind?” You asked.

“Don’t be so crass,” he said. 

You’d have to be the bigger person here. Which you hated. But you took a deep breath and looked skyward, praying to the gods and ancestors in Valhalla for strength. “I told you no more running. I meant it. But as much as you say otherwise, I need this to be as equal as possible. You cannot demand everything from me and give none of yourself,” you said. 

“People are entitled to lick some wounds in private,” he said. 

“I’m not asking for every detail of your sordid history. I just want to know why you blew up at me. I only asked about why you didn’t want to speak to Thor,” you said.

Loki finally looked away from you, drawing his eyes downward. He frowned as he picked at an invisible lint on his jacket. “I can’t,” he said, with a sniff. He looked back at you briefly. 

You slowly nodded. “At an impasse, then. Get out, Loki,” you said. Your voice sounded tired to your own ears. You were weary, downtrodden. Maybe it was unfair to demand so much from him, something he clearly didn’t want to talk about. 

You had enough on your plate without worrying about Loki and his moods. You had decided over the course of the week that it hadn’t been a mistake sleeping with him. You had known bliss in his arms and that couldn’t really be a mistake. It just likely wasn’t going to happen again anytime soon. Not while he held on to whatever the fuck was preventing him from speaking. 

Never one to listen, Loki approached your desk. He leaned over it, planting his hands on it and leaning further still. His hair dropped forward like a curtain pulling open for a dramatic scene. His face could technically qualify as a dramatic scene. So many lines and planes, mouth made for sin and eyes dancing with mischief. 

“Darling, please. I–” he paused and just looked at you. His eyes moved, taking in your face. You didn’t know how you looked to him. Just another angry and bitter lover? A messy subordinate with a mouth that gave as good as it got? A once irreparably damaged Asgardian without a clue in the world? 

“I don’t like this between us. I finally got you in my arms, in my bed. I finally got a peek inside and it feels like you’ve closed the doors forever,” he said. 

“You’re the one unwilling to walk through it,” you said, softly. 

“And have you told me everything then? Every dark and horrible secret in your past? Like where you run off to every few months, disappearing at the drop of a hat? Every scar on your skin?” 

Your heart roared in your chest. It beat wildly, thumping against your rib cage. “You should know that I’ve shared far more than I ever cared to with you,” you said. You thought back to the day in his office when you finally let yourself feel. 

For the first time in a long time, you stopped disassociating. Stopped trying to hold it all in. You stopped trying to take flight while your feet were planted on the ground. And he helped you. 

“If you want to know where I disappear off to, I’ll tell you. It’s no secret. But only if I get to demand something too. Only if you let me in,” you said. 

“Ask me for anything else,” he whispered. His voice was so soft, softer than a raven’s wing. He rounded the desk and moved to stand in front of you. He got to his knees and looked at you. He was still damn tall, practically eye level with you. 

He grabbed your hand and brought it to his lips. “Ask me for anything else and I’ll give it. But not that,” he said. 

He kept his eyes on your hand, his lips resting softly against it. You brought your other hand to push his hair behind his ear. “That is my price, Loki.” 

He loosed a breath while your phone rang. The damn thing was still foreign, even after five years. You answered it. The front desk host let you know that your visitor was here. 

You pushed your chair back away from Loki and moved around him. He said nothing and made no noise while you left the room. Your heart felt like a rock in your chest. Each step you took from him felt like lead in your shoes. 

Still, you marched on. You walked to the front and greeted the Asgardian tracker you hired. He was impossibly tall, taller than Loki even. With smooth bronzed skin, short hair, but a host of tattoos criss crossing his bare arms. You didn’t know how he wasn’t freezing in this type of climate, but well, you weren’t going to complain. 

“Erik!” You said, wide grin splitting your face and you hugged him. 

He turned when he saw you, grinning. His smile was so heartbreaking. Why couldn’t you be head over heels for someone like him? He held on a second too long, having last seen him months ago. 

You grew up with Erik in your village on Asgard, running through the streets and getting into all kinds of trouble together. You had entertained something between you many, many years ago, but it was clear that you were better off as friends. You had already given your heart away a long time ago. 

You sat on a lounge chair in the front and tried to temper your expectations. But hope was a cruel thing. It cropped up, over and over no matter how many times you tried to squash and burn it within you. Erik settled next to you, but he wasn’t smiling. 

“No word yet on your family. The universe is very large,” he said. 

You nodded. You figured as much. You tried to hold it together, but throwing that door open within you opened yourself to it all. You felt the tears but you weren’t completely transformed. You blinked them away and squared your shoulders.

“I have people on it though. They’re out there,” he said. 

You shook your head. “They’re not.” You took a shuddering breath at that realization. Five years was too long to keep searching for people that clearly weren’t here, wasn’t it? The fall of Asgard had to have spread by now. For half of life to be eradicated, even people who had never heard of Thanos likely knew his name now. 

If not, well, they knew that those people were gone. Vanished from their lives. Turned to dust and never to be seen again. If Thor was here, all hope was truly lost. The Avengers he so affectionately ran with over the years had gone all but silent. If they were hopeless… 

“Perhaps it’s time to involve Heimdall,” Erik said.

You shushed him. You didn’t need that man turning his gaze on you. He was so eerie, seeming to know so many things. His eyes, like galaxies, were far wiser than your age. 

“I can’t. I can’t just walk up to him and ask. Maybe it’s time to call it,” you said. You didn’t want to say it. That same crack in your chest split wide open at the thought of stopping your search.

Erik grabbed your hand. “Hey, I’m not giving up,” he said. 

You patted his hand. “I’ve taken enough of your time. You have more important people to track down,” you said. Your voice warbled. You hated this. This was why you kept this shit locked away and buried at sea. 

“No one is more important than your family. They’re my family too,” he said. He scooted closer to you and drew you into his arms. You greedily took the comfort. He was always so warm and solid, giving the best hugs you’d ever known. 

“My, Darling, who’s your friend?” Loki’s voice cut into what had been a sweet and peaceful moment. 

You cracked one eye open, trying to disengage from Erik. But he was slower to let you go. He hadn’t missed the deadly tone of Loki’s voice. Where the hell did he come from anyway? 

Erik stiffened, turning fully around to face the larger threat. Loki had a devilish smile on his face, but his eyes were seething. 

“Loki, this is Erik,” you said. Before you could explain further, Erik stood up and blocked your view of Loki for a moment. Erik held out his hand and Loki shook it, keeping that smile on his face.

“Erik, haven’t seen you around,” Loki said. His eyes slid towards you and you inwardly groaned. 

“Erik has–” 

“I pop in every few months to check in on her,” Erik said. 

“Every few months? Really?” Loki smiled at you. Shit, shit. 

“He’s–” 

“Any friend of Darling’s a friend of mine,” Loki said. 

You narrowed your eyes at Loki. You didn’t know what game he was playing but you weren’t in the mood. “Erik has been looking into something for me. Right, Erik?” You stood up and nudged his shoulder to agree with you. His eyes were still trained on Loki. What was this, a fucking pissing match? 

“I was just telling Darling that I’d like to meet more of her friends. We see so little of them,” Loki said. He sauntered around Erik, putting his arm around you. “I like to make sure she’s happy. Always.”

Your eyes bugged out of your head. Erik took in Loki’s arm around you and lifted an eyebrow. “Keeping secrets, are we?” Erik asked. He crossed his arms and stared at you, putting you on the spot.

You licked your lips slowly, trying to describe what you and Loki were to each other. Boyfriend? Boss? Occasional sadistic charmer? 

Loki hugged you close and you looked at him. He smiled at you, leaning down to kiss your cheek. “Didn’t tell him about me? I’m a little hurt,” Loki said. Still with that damn smile. You were starting to panic. You might’ve been a little afraid of what he’d do. 

Loki moved his right hand to lift up your chin and plant a small, but sultry kiss to your lips. You gasped and he drank it down with a low hum. “Always so private,” he said against your lips.

You were going to murder him. Your hands itched with magic dancing between your fingertips. A dagger? A sword? You were going to cut him down where he stood. 

“Erik, he’s–” 

“Loki, of Asgard, everyone knows,” Erik said. He raised his eyebrow at you but you didn’t know what he was trying to communicate. 

“Will you two shut the fuck up?!” You yelled. You drew the attention of some patrons who cast little glances towards you. The host stood in the corner with a few staff members, Honey among them, as they stared at all three of you. They saw the kiss. Your shoulders deflated. There went the little bit of respect you had around here. 

“Erik is a childhood friend who has been looking for my family. They went on a trip when the Snap happened so I don’t know if they’re out there, looking for us, or if they’re gone,” your breath hitched on the word ‘gone’ but you persisted. “Loki is…Loki. We’re figuring it out. Now, say hi to Denby for me,” you said, looking at Erik who slowly smiled. 

You shoved off Loki’s arm around you. “As always, you’ve gotten what you wanted and made out like a thief,” you tossed at him. 

“You’re no better than he is,” you told Erik.

You stormed off. Leaving everyone in the dust. An ache thumped in your head. You needed away. Away from here with all of its bullshit. 

“Darling!” Loki called after you. This time, you heard his steps behind you, heard him walking down the hall. You ignored him. Your fists clenched and unclenched. Your teeth grated. You were fuming with nowhere to direct the anger.

Loki caught up to you outside of your office once more. You pushed him when he was in arm’s reach. “What the fuck was that?!” You yelled. 

You were in the back, well away from any patrons. The hallways had music playing, soft muzak that kept up the hazy and alluring vibe of the club. Each room played its own music so there was no danger of being overhead. Except the staff. You imagined the rumors flying like wildfire, distracting the staff and performers. You were going to be sick. 

“A miscalculation,” he said. 

“What?” You said. He swooped in and waved his stake in the air like you were some prize he won over a miscalculation? 

“I didn’t know about your family–” 

“You would have. I would have told you. As always, you want and you want and you-”

“I have always maintained that I want you because you’re mine,” Loki said. All sense of propriety was gone. Extra eyes be damned. He advanced on you and pushed you against the wall. 

“Completely mine. Mine to do with as I please,” he said. His lips traveled from your temple down to your neck, bypassing your lips. Your body instantly reacted. Craved him. Craved another hit of what he could bring you. 

You grabbed his jacket and turned around, pushing him against the wall. He grinned as if he won. As if you would give in and forget all about your ultimatum. You licked the long expanse of his neck and his breath fanned over your skin. 

You pulled back and smiled at him. He grinned back, hanging his head and looking up at you through his pretty eyelashes. Then you slapped the smirk right off of his face. He licked his lips as if he meant to taste the sting. You raised your arm again and he caught your wrist.

“Darling, not in mixed company,” he said. He gave you a wink. “Save it for later.” 

“You are the most arrogant, infuriating, child-like, obnoxious–”

“Do keep going,” he interrupted.

“Confusing man I’ve ever met! You irritate the fuck out of me! You…bastard,” you said. 

“I don’t know how else to be,” he said.

You yanked your wrist out of his hand. You were breathing too heavy. You couldn’t get enough air in your lungs. You wanted to smack him. You wanted to curse him. You wanted to toss him into hot lava and see if he’d melt. You wanted to kiss his stupid face. 

“We promised no lies between us. And if you can’t give me that Loki, you can’t have me.” 

He opened his mouth to say something, all hints of playfulness gone. But then the lights went out and the screaming started.

Masterlist | Chapter 10 | Chapter 12

[dukestewart]

I actually have a question, I'm wanting to start a webcomic at some point in the future myself, do you have any recommendations or advice for me?

Okay, I have a million things to say on the subject but to save you a lot of scrolling I’ll cut it down to the main things I wish I knew when starting my webcomic.

Don’t overprepare

It’s easy to fall into the trap of perfecting your art style or developing your character arcs before you actually, like, make the thing. The truth is you get diminishing returns on the pre-production phase, and too much planning will just waste your time. I once wrote an entire script and sketched out 200 pages for a graphic novel version of my webcomic Roundhouse, 90% of which is now redundant or contradictory. Probably took me hundreds of hours. Whoops. Make a basic plot line and some concept pictures by all means, you gotta start with something, but you’ll be much more motivated to make the comic when you’re already making it.

Collect references

This might sound kind of contradictory to my previous advice but bear with me. It’s important to prioritise creation over planning but gathering a compendium of your favourite artworks and writing techniques will save you time in the long run. If I’m ever stuck on how to draw a certain expression for example I know I have a folder full of expertly drawn faces to remind me how nostrils work. Personally I keep separate reference folders for colour, anatomy and character designs. Fantastic cure for artist’s block, swear by it.

Get someone to proofread

You have no idea how important it is to get a second opinion. No one in the history of media has ever been better off without a different pair of eyes to catch a mistake. They’ll see the obvious things you missed, a typo, a pacing issue, a joke that makes no sense… if you’re embarrassed to show it to anyone in your life then get an internet friend to have a look. Hell, I’ll have a look. Send me a message, I’m easy.

Even the most talented creators struggle to be seen

A good comic will always have a better chance of success than a crap one but that’s only a part of the equation. We’re forgetting our two troublesome neighbours, Monsieur Marketing and Lady Luck. It stinks, but we operate in an algorithm-based economy, and getting things out there takes a lot of hard research. I hate the marketing side of things, personally. I’d much rather make a page every week and not care whether it’s seen or not but such is the nature of capitalism that I have to try and monetise my work any way I can. Knowing someone in the business can’t hurt either.

Look, I’ll never be able to condense everything I know about webcomics in a single post so consider this my declaration to give advice to anyone who asks for it. Got a specific question about comics? Message me.

[absolutehumandisaster]

Random TFC headcanons which accidentally ended up mostly name related (canon typical nonchalance about violence ahead):

cMedic’s name is Jacob

Fred’s full name is Wilfred which he greatly dislikes

Ok I could have sworn this was canon but everyone calls cSpy Ghost. I can’t find it anywhere in the comics but I was so convinced it was real. It might have been a headcanon someone else made but that would’ve had to have been years ago. Anyway, his name is Ghost

Everyone calls cHeavy Boss. As like, a name, the same way the tf2 mercs call each other by their titles. The others probably know his real name, they just don’t use it.

Scout!Greg and Demo!Greg have a name related rivalry. They call each other almost exclusively “other Greg” (s!Greg tried using “lesser Greg” or “inferior Greg” but ultimately decided that “other Greg” was somehow the most disrespectful). At some point someone suggests calling one of them Gregory or using their last names and they both promised to kill anyone who did that. You’d think they’d tire of the same joke after four decades. They don’t.

d!Greg’s name isn’t actually Greg, it’s a nickname born out of an inside joke from when he was younger, but he’s committed to the bit now. His real name is Geoffrey and he’s sworn Ghost to secrecy

Just like the TF2 mercs, they started out referring to each other as their titles, but decided that was weird and started using their real names after less than a year

Y’know that part in the comics where it’s implied s!Greg and Ross are trying to exploit children? Not canon to me. It’s my brainrot and I choose which parts of canon I keep and which parts I change. It’s like a single panel, I’m changing it. Or since he was cut off in the middle of a sentence it’s taken out of context and they actually meant something else. Either way, no <3

Both Gregs, Ross, Jacob and Boss all come from some type of military background. Virgil came from the mafia and Fred from nepotism, while Ghost was an independent assassin and Beatrice was a wanted criminal for just setting a lot of things and people on fire. Girlboss.

Virgil had insomnia before he got his eyes replaced, it just made it go from “frequently but manageably struggles with getting enough sleep” to “I have been awake for 53 hours someone help me”

s!Greg is really flexible and can do backflips and handsprings and shit. He can do a triple fold and did it the first time the whole team met to try to freak them out (which sadly only sort of worked)

Bea never tried to cover up the fact that she’s a woman, she’d just threaten to light anyone who disrespected her on fire. The others quickly learned that she was 100% serious about that

Ross collects umbrellas. He got the first one from the Civilian and thought it would be nice to have a few more. He’s probably the most stoic and brick-wall-personality man you’ll ever meet, but he collects umbrellas. Just because.

[oliviartist]

ok so I know I’m late to rewriting wish but I’ve been thinking about this for a while so here are some ideas I have ( also I may or may not make a comic about this but we’ll see )

My idea for what Star looks like is He has very pale skin with bright glowing yellow hair and a glowing aura around him that that changes depending on his mood HOWEVER it never leaves the red and yellow color palette 

His eyes are a very pretty gold color his irises have a slight pattern of stars and faintly twinkle 

When he flys the he leaves a glowing trail behind him ( it doesn’t look exactly like pixy dust but it give the idea) 

For the story 

Get rid of all the Disney shared universe stuff it drags down the movie a lot and it’s better to just cut it all out 

However there will be small references and nods to past Disney movies ( that I point out )

The whole thing with magnifico changes he uses peoples wishes to fuel something that keeps him in power ( I’m still not sure what but it’s something) 

magnifico gets really greedy and try’s to still the wishes directly from the Stars but instead of stealing the wishes he accidentally shots star from the sky 

Asha sees Star fall and goes to check it out when she sees him there is a shot similar to the little mermaid from Stars pov 

Asha takes the unconscious Star to her house 

Star can only speak a little English ( “ the language of the sky” is his native tung) so he mostly communicates with the few words he knows , Star sine language and gestures to communicate. over the course of the movie he starts speaking more English as he learns but by the end he’s still not speaking 100 % but he’s pretty good and can hold a conversation 

The Star language greeting is shaveniad especially when someone walks through the door Star will say this several times throughout the movie whenever he greats Asha 

Star’s actual name is Sta’tarka’va but obviously Asha struggles to pronounce it she shortens it to Star 

Asha’s name is also very difficult for Star to pronounce so he calls her Ashva 

The longer star stays on earth the more human he becomes slowly over the movie he changes ( like Miguel in coco ) it’s very slight and the audience would barley pick up on it but it would be obvious enough to understand what’s going on

His hair and eyes would go dimmer his flight would get sloppy ect

and halfway through the movie he try’s to fly and plummets to the ground 

Asha picks up on all of this by the way 

Many parts during the movie star will talk about his family to Asha he will talk about how kind his mom is how his dad is the funniest man alive he talks about his older sister and say things like “no matter how much she annoys me I wouldn’t trade her for anything “

and this creates a conflict inside of star on one hand he really likes Asha and over the course of the movie they create a romantic bond ( in a way similar to tangled) however he also really misses his family ( do they even know what happened to him he was dragged down when he was asleep) he doesn’t know what to do about it 

At the end of the movie Star is greeted by his family as he is flying away he gives a look towards Asha on the ground he can tell that she’s heart broken to see him go but she’s smiling because she wants him to be happy even if it’s not with her 

That stops Star in his tacks 

And we see Star calling out to his family telling the to wait 

While Asha walks home 

We cut to Asha walking back to her house shes wiping tears from her eyes she tells herself that “he’s happy now”, “ it wasn’t meant to be “ and “it’s for the best“ as she openers the door she is greeting by a familiar voice  “shaveniad Ashva “ 

His hair is now a dirty blond and no longer glows his eyes are golden but have no faint sparkle Asha stands in the door way in complete shock before running over to him grabbing him in a embrace 

She hugs him with tears in her eyes she is so overwhelmed she can’t even speak she can only get out a few sob and a “ I thought I would never see you again “ Star just holds her as tears are starting to form in his own eyes Asha looks up cups his face and they kiss 

the credits roll 

[wildflower-otome]

[Translation] Bustafellows Season 2 - Helvetica Short Story - Am I bad?

Source: Bustafellows Season 2 Stella Set Special Bonus Booklet Note: Takes place after the first game, no S2 spoilers.

Helvetica Short Story - Am I bad?

‘Ah, Teuta, about today….’

Having rushed into the living room in a fluster, Teuta threw her bag onto the sofa.

‘What is it!?’

‘No…..you seem to be in a hurry.’

‘I’m about to be late! I’ve got tons of interviews on for today…..Ah! But I’ll make sure to be there tonight!’

‘Will you?’

‘’Course I will. I mean, didn’t you say it’s a big important academic conference? Since I got invited as your partner, I’ll be sure to come all dressed up. You know….because I couldn’t make it to the party last time.’

As she answered my question in a loud voice, Teuta was in the kitchen making a shoddy looking sandwich. The scene was just so comical, I couldn’t help but laugh in spite of myself.

‘....Why are you laughing?’

Cheeks stuffed with bread, she returned to the living room.

‘I wasn’t really laughing. I was just so, so happy that you hadn’t forgotten our promise.’

‘.....The way you said that just now sounded kind of pointed.’

‘Well, perhaps I am also referring to the fact that you stood me up last time without so much as a text message.’

‘I did say I was sorry about that….’

‘Exactly, that’s why I am very much looking forward to you being there tonight.’

‘Yeah…..Ah, crap! Forgot to print out my manuscript!’

Making a rushed reply, Teuta again dashed out from the living room. The sight of her hand holding on to her phone as she went by remained in my eyes like an after image. Vivid, red-coloured nails. The lacquer stuck out a little and was uneven.

(Those nails you tried so hard to paint really suit the red dress you picked out last night…..)

That evening, the venue was overflowing with well-dressed guests. My appearance on stage was now long well over. All I’d had to do was introduce the papers that had been submitted to the conference in a formal ceremony. Since the aim of tonight’s party was mainly to gather donations, I’d been able to keep the formalities to a minimum. The sponsors who gave us money had no interest in the latest technology. They only cared about the superficial side of things, about things that were showy and capable of generating buzz.

(....Teuta hasn’t arrived yet.)

When I looked at my phone, there was a message from her. Perhaps it was to say that she was already here at the venue, or that she wasn’t going to make it.

I took a casual look around me. I couldn’t help but follow women with the same type of build with my gaze. If possible, I didn’t want you to see me looking around for you. You would probably laugh at me, saying, “Did you really miss me that much?”

(......Well, I suppose I wouldn’t really mind that either)

In the passageway towards the bar I saw a group of men and women. No, it was actually just one woman, and a number of men. With just a single glance, I could tell that she was beautiful. Her red dress and golden hair reflected vividly in my eyes.

(.....Teuta?)

Although the simple red dress and pointed toe shoes she wore looked mature, her side profile showed an appearance that still had a small element of childishness.

‘Which clinic are you from?’

‘Um, I’m-’

As I came closer, I could clearly hear their conversation. It was obvious from the tone of their voices that the men were trying to flirt with Teuta. I should probably immediately intervene, but it was fun watching both the troubled Teuta and the men getting ahead of themselves.

‘We can get into the VIP area, so why don’t you come with us?’

‘I-I can probably also get in. My boyfriend is a VIP too…..’

‘Your boyfriend’s a VIP? And who might that be? Perhaps you mean me? Ahaha!’

I almost let a burst of laughter escape me. They must be thinking they were doing pretty well, but just imagining what their faces would look like soon enough, my shoulders seemed about to shake with pent-up amusement.

‘Ah, hey….look this way for a moment.’

‘Huh? What is it?’

‘The tag’s still on your clothes.’

‘Wha-!? No way-!?’

As I listened to their conversation, I took a casual glance at Teuta’s dress. He was right, the tag was still hanging there, just as it had been when she’d bought it.

‘I’ll take it off, c’mon, turn around.’

‘Um…..’

Just before the man’s outstretched hand touched Teuta, I firmly pulled her towards me in an embrace.

‘Ah-.....Helvetica?’

I gently ran a hand through her golden hair, gathering it together.

‘Uh, if I’m remembering right, you’re-’

‘Do you know who I am?’

Having seen me take Teuta into my arms, the mens’ eyes had quite literally grown round.

‘Um, Helvetica…..?’

‘Stay where you are and don’t move.’

The tag hanging at Teuta’s back. I drew my face closer to it, biting down on the thread.

‘Ah-.....’

The tag I’d bitten off still in my mouth, I faced the men down once more. Seeing them look so shocked, I couldn’t help but smile. I spat the tag out at their feet.

‘So? Do you know who I am?’

‘Ah, um…..that is-, p-please excuse us-’

The group of men quickly scattered like a pack of hyenas that saw they no longer had a chance of victory.

‘..........’

Teuta timidly turned to look at me.

‘Helvetica…..?’

‘I’m not necessarily praising you with the words I’m about to say, so please don’t get carried away.’

‘Wh-What?’

‘You are a much more attractive woman than you think you are. There are probably a lot of men who find you physically desirable. And not only that, you’re dense when it comes to male-female relationships.’

‘Hey, “dense” is a bit....’

‘Men are good at sniffing out that kind of denseness.’

‘What do you mean by “good at”? I wasn’t really interested in getting to know those guys from earlier at all…..’

‘It means they think they can have their way with you if they’re pushy enough.’

‘That’s….’

Perhaps because I’d ended up wording it harshly, Teuta’s eyes looked a little hurt. Taking a deep breath, I put my arms around Teuta’s shoulders and drew her close to me. As I lightly stroked her back, she rested her head on my chest. The weight of it felt comfortable.

‘You’re in love with me, aren’t you? You love only me. Isn’t that right?’

‘.....It is.’

‘Still, please be more aware that there are bad men out there that might try and lay a hand on you.’

‘..........’

‘Your answer?’

Teuta took her face away from my chest, looking up at me with large eyes.

‘.....I, like bad men.’

‘What are you saying?’

‘I’m telling you I like bad men. The kind that’s always making a face like, “I only do what I want” but actually is always thinking about me, that can’t help wanting to keep me all to himself, that kind of bad guy.’

‘.....Is that so.’

I stretched out a hand, tangling Teuta’s hair around my fingers. The soft sensation of it running through the spaces between them felt pleasant.

‘.....Am I a bad woman?’

‘Yes, a woman that's bad at using her head.’

‘So mean.’

Leaning down a little, I put my lips at Teuta’s ear. As I sucked in a small breath, I could feel Teuta’s body tense. I spoke in a voice as low and breathy as possible.

‘.....Seeing as you can only think of me, don’t you think you’d have to be?’

[ladyhindsight]

sorry to bring up character ages in tid again, but i wanted to run a theory by you about something i discovered.

in chapter 1 of clockwork princess, tessa is being fitted for her wedding dress and she says this: “he would look so young. they were both so young. tessa new it was unusual to marry at seventeen and eighteen, but they were racing a clock.”

clockwork princess takes place in september/october (i think??) of 1878, and their wedding was supposed to be in december. what i’m thinking that tessa must be older than what cc has told us (in both the family tree and the “new” canon she established with the 10th anni of ca). based on the quote, we can probably assume that tessa is either already seventeen when clockwork princess starts, or will be turning seventeen sometime between then and december. which assumes jem’s birthday is somewhere in there as well. so will and jem being born in 1860 is probably correct, but tessa was probably born in 1861.

Bottom line: cc can’t even keep her own canon straight XD. im gonna try to write my own time line to try to make sense of it sigjdnd.

Waait a minute. Wow.

So, yes. Tessa's birthday is said to be January 28, 1862. Clockwork Princess takes place from October to December, which means Tessa is sixteen and turns seventeen in January 1879, which is still a couple months away from the supposed wedding.

I guess they didn't have any confirmed dates of birth before the 10th anniversary edition of Clockwork Angel, just the birth years, but I found this part with Charlotte and Jem in Clockwork Princess, chapter 13 "The Mind Has Mountains":

You are still a child, Charlotte wanted to say, but she did not. He was only a few weeks short of his eighteenth birthday, after all, when Shadowhunters became adults, and if when she looked at him she still saw the dark-haired little boy who had arrived from Shanghai clutching his violin, his eyes huge in his pale face, that did not mean he had not grown up.

Which, of course, goes along with the whole

“Yes, though Charlotte’s rather fallen off in tutoring us lately, as you might imagine,” said Will. “One either has a tutor or one is schooled in Idris—that is, until you attain your majority at eighteen. Which will be soon, thankfully, for the both of us.” “Which one of you is older?” “Jem,” said Will, and “I am,” said Jem, at the same time. They laughed in unison as well, and Will added, “Only by three months, though.”

part in Clockwork Prince which takes place from July to August, but the rest of what was previously discussed gives the idea that they both have already turned seventeen in 1878, especially when juxtaposed with Gabriel's and Nate's ages and the rest.

Otherwise it does work that Will is born in late December and Jem's birthday is in November, other than that whole mess with being "three months" apart in age. But the language is weird, Tessa won't be marrying at seventeen no matter what, though Jem' would've recently turned eighteen.

Will telling Cecily that:

“You can’t be married, Cecily! You’re only fifteen! When I get married, I’ll be eighteen! An adult!”

Will turning eighteen a week or so after that Christmas when he proposed to Tessa works in that context as well. Though they apparently married two years later in March 3, 1880, according to the bonus content.

Though not exactly on topic, I want to point out that in said bonus content, Will thinks that "It wasn’t strictly a Shadowhunter wedding, because Tessa wasn’t strictly a Shadowhunter. But Will had decided to wear wedding gear anyway, because he was going to be the head of the London Institute, and his children would be Shadowhunters" though, at least according to the comic, James' conception was such a surprise because they didn't know if Tessa as a warlock could have children. And James was born in 1886, six years after the wedding.

Anyway, it's still a bit of a mess because, though some parts do fit, other parts of the text were written in another frame of reference in any case.

The timeline idea sounds fantastic!

[wackapedia]

Resent - Aemond Targaryen  Reader

You and Aemond have been seeing each other, and its getting serious. His family hears about it and is unsettled with the fact that you're not highborn.

WC: 870 Warnings: Mild drinking, Otto Hightower having a bad time Otto Hightower felt like he was being pranked. He was meeting you in a back alley ale house.  He had important things to say, and you wouldn't agree to anywhere else. He had no choice but to make a deal with your kind. Your kind. Filth of a woman, he had once referred to you during an overheard conversation with Alicent. 'Aemond expressed his desire to marry that filth of a woman' were Otto's exact words. "There is no need for drastic measures, father. I will speak with Aemond. Let us hear what that woman has to say." Queen Alicent spoke, being the kindest woman in that conversation.

The hand of the king stuck out like a sore thumb in the ale house by the pier. He walked in with his gratuitous rich-people walk, the type that screams 'I can buy all of you thrice over'. He had brought an exaggerated amount of guards with him, posted at different spots around the building. The regular patrons try their best to ignore to the entourage, continuing their drinks and stealing glances at the hand of the king, the guards, and the figure wrapped in green veil. You take a sip of your drink and motion for him to sit across you, the wooden table between you wobbles unsteadily. You pour him a cup of local rum, sliding the clay container towards him.

"Eastfox's best rum. 12 years fermented in oak barrels." You initiate, clinking your glass with his. he didn't look pleased. "You asked me to meet you here, not for a rum lecture, I presume." He deadpans. His sass was not foreign to you as demonstrated by his grandson, Prince Aemond whom you've become quite acquainted with.

Otto ignores the drink and proceeds to talk business. "I presume you understand the predicament you've involved yourself, Lady y/n." The title was meant to be derogatory, as you are anything but. "Yes, I am aware. I am not like 'your kind' as I am constantly reminded." You sigh nonchalantly, planting your foot at the edge of your seat. The nobleman's table manners are horrified.

"Because I'm not rich? Because I don't come from a noble family, not educated like you folks? Sure. But you don't know me." You try to keep your temper down. The patrons from a few tables over give the both of you a glance.

"You are not what Aemond needs." The man answers in a low yet confident voice. You scoff.

"That's funny, because he proposed to me last night..."

Otto Hightower's eyes almost comically widen.

"He said he'd walk away from everything for me. He'd take his dragon and we'll move somewhere far from here, where no one will know or bother us..." Your eyes brighten at the memory of how Aemond promised you a sweet future. You take a deep breath before continuing: "He said he'd walk away from his family. For good."

In a very rare, almost impossible situation, the hand of the king looked utterly defeated. He took a deep breath and contemplated on taking the drink you offered beforehand. You stared deeply into his eyes, conflict behind his irises. Its like he couldn't come up with anything to say.

"Calm down, I didn't say yes." The annoyance in your voice evident. "You are fool..." Otto's prideful gaze returned almost immediately, and he did not waste a moment to insult you again.

"Am I? Because if Aemond chose me, he'd lose his family. and if he chose his family, he might spend his life resenting you." You firmly hold his gaze before blinking to the veiled figure sitting at the table next to yours- "resenting the both of you."

Queen Alicent gasps from beneath her lush green veil.

You get up, pulling your leg over the bench and taking the bottle of rum while pointing a stern finger at the undercover queen of the seven kingdoms. "So I just want you to know that one day, once Aemond marries a lucky girl, who is rich, good, and noble enough for you, and when you're playing with your grandkids, that it was because of me, a poor low class filth of a woman who is nowhere near your kind."

For the first time since last night you breathe freely, taking the weight of Aemond's family off your shoulders, like tossing an anchor to the bottom of the ocean. The salty breeze of the ship dock and the cold night greet you as you step out of the busy ale house. You raise your bottle toward the ship that will take you to Pentos first thing tomorrow and you celebrate your newfound freedom.

------ The sun is rising out of the eastern horizon when the ship's sailcloth flutters against the wind. The tides are calm today, almost as calm as your mind, looking forward to start a new life beyond the Narrow Sea. Just then, the wind picks up and the sea revolts, almost tossing your ship off. Your fellow passengers begin to panic, and the sunshine dims all of a sudden. In the distance, an enormous dragon barrels its way through the clouds, catching up with your ship.

Vhagar's rider commands the ship pilot to stop the vessel.

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

A/N: Yeah this is that scene from Crazy Rich Asians. lol

[maddieautobot273]

Silk & Cologne (50)

A Miguel O'Hara x OC fanfic - link to AO3 (X)

Chapter 50: Marvel - previous chapter (X)

Pairing: Miguel O'Hara x Female OC

Words: 5.3K+

Warnings: PG-13 for mentions of previous physical/sexual abuse, violence, and intimate soft fluff.

Summary: After a lovely dinner with her mother, Lisa blinks and it's time to perform for Marvel Day!

Special thanks to my friend Tikoy on discord for beta reading!

///////

“Oh, I’m so excited for your show! You know, growing up she was a huge fan of all those comic book superhero type things,” Janet smiled. 

After exploring the different vendors and stalls for the first day of Marvel Day, by sundown, Miguel and I treated my mother to dinner at a nearby restaurant. The food was great, and thankfully it seemed like my mother had taken my words to heart, making an effort to talk to Miguel. As the night progressed, the pair seemed to be hitting it off so far and I was very relieved.

Keeping his true identity a secret, Miguel went with the original cover story we came up with back when we were chatting with the police after the first fight with Chameleon. Miguel explained to my mother that he worked with an indie tech company outside of the city, and that due to his office’s grueling schedule, we both talked it over and decided instead of ‘driving’ back home whenever we did have time together, I offered for Miguel to spend the night at my place to let him rest. He left out the vise versa of me staying with him at his place, as he sympathized with my mother’s worry about dating again, and we both agreed the idea of me traveling to another dimension to spend it with a guy would definitely freak her out even more. 

“Oh, I’ve noticed,” Miguel offered me a side eye’d glance with a smug grin. “A certain comic collection?” 

“It was just the one time, Miguel,” I rolled my eyes as I played with my food. 

“Oh are they about that one guy. . . The one who wore a suit and flew around. You know, the guy they got to play him for the movie was very handsome, though nothing like you, Miguel!” my mother mused happily, her eyes widening at the idea of her daughter’s old childhood interest resurfacing. “What was his name sweetie?” 

I thought I was going to faint as my cheeks flushed, elbows on the table as my hands covered my face to block out Miguel’s teasing expression. “Tony Stark’s Iron Man, mom. . . Robert Downey Jr.,” 

“Really now?” Miguel raised a curious brow, sipping his wine.

“Yes, that’s the one! Lisa had a massive crush on him growing up,” Lisa’s mom giggled. 

“Mom!!” Lisa gawked at her.

“We all did, dear, it’s nothing to be ashamed of,” Janet reassured me with a motherly grin. “Honestly, I personally think the films have gone down hill since they killed him off.”

“Ah, ah, careful mom,” I pointed a cautious finger at her, my lips forming a playful grin. “Even the walls have ears.”

While I’m pretty sure she was safe and the chances of other patrons in the restaurant having also come from Marvel Day were slim, I relished in the little friendly payback I got when my mother had quickly glanced around to see if anyone had heard her. As I continued eating my dinner, I couldn’t shake off the feeling I was being watched. 

“On that note, I’m going to make a quick trip to the ladies room,” Janet excused herself from the table, sitting up before she scurried across the room. 

When she left, I was reaching for my wine glass when I sneaked a glance at Miguel and noticed him staring. “What?”

“Are you alright?” He asked me.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I shrugged, rolling my shoulders as I adjusted my posture. “I’m used to my mom embarrassing me by now,”

A ghost of a smile coursed through Miguel’s lips before they thinned into a firm line. “I was referring to your friends,”

“My friends?” I repeated, turning to face him as I lowered my fork. 

“You were practically glued to your phone earlier today while we were at the hotel until your mother snapped you back into reality,” Miguel gently reminded me, although his voice carried a stern demeanor. “Plus I noticed them leaving you while I waited in line to grab the coffee, especially Kasey.”

My expression softened into a saddened state as my back hunched. “Right, that. . .”

“Lisa, is everything alright with your friends?” Miguel asked me,with concern, his arm reaching out to rest along the back of my chair. 

“Mostly, yeah, it’s just Kasey I’m worried about. . .” I sighed, staring down at my plate.  

“Have you two not spoken since your fight the other day?” Miguel asked, his voice gentle as he tried to not sound overly probing. 

I sighed again, deeper this time. “No,”

Miguel shared his own sigh, shaking his head. “Alright, I know I asked this earlier, but. . . what did Kasey say to you during your fight?”

My pupils went wide at the question, and if I wasn’t already hunched over and we weren’t out in public, I would have curled up into a ball right there and then. “It’s embarrassing. . .”

“Perhaps, but I can tell that it’s clearly been bothering you,” Miguel stated. “Come on, Mona, you’ve always said I can talk to you, so let me return the favor for a change,”

I was hesitant at first, humming in disarray as my gaze flickered between our plates on the table. Long fingers curled around my chin as Miguel gently coaxed me to look up right at him, his thumb brushing along my skin. The look he gave me made me feel like I was going to melt into a puddle. 

“Talk to me, mi corazon,” His voice pleaded softly. - my sweetheart 

I gulped as his hand lowered from my chin. “Just. . . promise me you won’t freak out?”

His pupils dilated, his head pulling back slightly as if to process my request. He nodded. “I promise,”

“Okay,” I nodded gently, looking around briefly to make sure my mother wasn’t coming back yet. “Well. . .”

I leaned in closer towards him and Miguel reciprocated, angling his head so he could hear me over the bustling chatter of the restaurant. 

“Kasey asked me. . . if ‘it was that good’,” I whispered to him, recalling the memory in my mind as I cringed at the thought. 

I could literally sense the moment it registers in Miguel’s mind, the meaning behind those words. His cheeks turn red, whether from anger or being flustered, I couldn’t tell exactly as Miguel pulled away. His fingers curled into the wooden chair, taking a deep breath to compose himself. “Now I understand. . .”

“Are you mad?” I asked him nervously, reaching a hand out to engulf my hand over his in a comforting manner. “Please say no. . .”

Miguel managed one more calming breath, breathing through his nose as his eyes closed shut before opening again. There was the tiniest flicker of his brown eyes shifting to red then back to brown again. “I’m not mad, Lisa, just. . . upset that you went through that alone,”

A small weight was lifted from my shoulders as I sighed in relief. 

“But I also remember you saying that she didn’t mean it, but that it still hurt to hear,” Miguel added as his hand turned over, his fingers curling around my own and squeezing my hand tightly. “What did you mean by that?”

Now more than ever I wanted to shrink into my chair, to stand up and run and hide. But Miguel’s thumb gently rubbed along the skin of my hand, his eyes patiently staring as he waited for me to answer. My cheeks flushed as I fumbled for the words. 

“Well, because. . . we haven’t, you know. . .” I ducked my head down into my shoulders, my cheeks now burning as I noticed the recognition in Miguel’s eyes. “So when she just assumed. . . I snapped. . .”

“I see,” Miguel responded gently, squeezing my hand. 

“I apologized to her earlier, because I didn’t know what she had been going through in her private life and deep down I knew she didn’t mean it. She said so long as our performance tomorrow goes well, in the nicest terms, we’re square, but. . .”

The memory rewound itself in my brain, playing like an old record over and over again. God, I felt so fragile at that moment. Just like I do now. 

“. . . Is that something you want, Lisa?” Miguel suddenly asked me. 

He reached over with his free hand, gently brushing a strand of hair away from my face and tucking it behind my ear as I looked up to face him. 

“What?” My voice was barely a whisper. 

“Is that something you’d like to try and. . . pursue with me?” He asked more confidently, “Not now, of course, but in the future?”

My eyes widened at the thought, the idea of Miguel and I being physically intimate with one another. Everything we had tried and done up to this point was. . . magical, as corny as it sounds. But it was the truth. 

“I. . . I would love that, Miguel, but. . .” I smile softly at him before it falters into a frown, my voice hesitating. 

“What’s wrong, Mona?” Miguel asked me, that look of patience never faltering from his face. 

“Nothing! I mean, nothing involving you, of course,” I reassured him with wide eyes as I squeezed his hands. “Miguel. . . you have been so patient with me with this. Sometimes I feel like I don’t deserve your affection. You’re just. . . amazing, and yet I make myself hesitate because. . .”

Miguel didn’t say anything, his head tilting to the side as his fingers brushed down my hair again. You’ve been so patient with me. 

“When it came to our relationship, Ji-Ho left more than just mental scars, Miguel. . .” I shuddered, lowering my face in shame. 

I could feel the muscles of his hand twitch as Miguel froze. 

Same old Lisa, so snarky and stuck up.

Going to leave a stain here with that Captain America looking buffoon like you did with me in Korea?

I shuddered at his previous threats, my mind filtering back to old memories. I swallowed nervously and without realizing it my hand came up and brushed along my neck as if I sensed someone else’s hand wrapping around it. Threatening to tighten its grip and make me choke. 

I could feel the body heat that radiated from Miguel’s body gain closer in proximity as he leaned down and kissed the top of my head. “We don’t have to discuss this further if you’re not comfortable. But when you are, I’ll be right here,”

A single stray tear raced down my cheek as I willed myself enough courage to look back up at him, his token of affection releasing me from the dark pit I was falling in. “Thank you, Migs. . .”

“Shall we discuss something else to lighten the mood?” He suggested. 

A tired sigh escaped me, “Yes, please, before my mother sees me,” I reached over for a napkin to dry my cheek. 

Miguel allows me the moment to compose myself as he reaches for his glass. “Tony Stark?” He raised an almost judgemental brow in my direction. “Really?” 

I nearly recoiled as I grabbed my wine glass. “Miguel O’Hara, you’re not jealous are you?” I matched his demeanor, leaning back into my chair as I swirled the wine in my glass. 

“‘Jealous’ is a strong word,” Miguel rolled his eyes. “What do you like about him anyways?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t know, he’s funny, and I think his suits are cool,”

“Okay, but without the suit, what made Stark so likable for you?” Miguel glanced over at me with a genuinely curious expression, trying to mask his jealousy. 

“Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist,” I grinned, sipping my wine. 

Miguel immediately shot me a look, eyes widening.

“Don’t give me that look, he said it!” I gaped, trying to hide my snicker.

“Oh he’s a philanthropist alright,” Miguel muttered into his cup. 

I leaned into him, resting my head on his shoulder. “Easy, guapo, you are way better than Tony Stark. You take off your suit, who are you, Miguel O’Hara?”- handsome

“You mean other than a guy who goes commando?” He whispered in my ear with a toothy grin.

It took everything in me to not spit my drink out, again. “You know what I mean,”

Miguel snickered, his lips grazing the shell of my ear. “Genius, trillionaire, and a handsomely charming philanthropist,” he grinned. “You are stroking my ego so much tonight, it’s honestly adorable,”

“Well first impressions, meeting the parents and all, I know it can be stressful,” I sighed gently as I set my wine glass down on the table. “Just trying to keep your spirits high,”

“Mona Lisa, I’m having a wonderful time. I like your mother, she’s a lovely woman,” Miguel reassured me with a soft expression, his mind beginning to wander as his gaze drifted. “It’s just. . . having another mother figure appear in my life after my own wasn’t exactly. . . the best,”

Something tugged at my heartstrings as I lifted my head up from his shoulder, concern pulsing in my eyes. Family trouble? “Are you okay?”

After briefly hesitating, Miguel nodded his head. “Yeah, it’s just going to take a moment for me to. . . adjust is all. But I swear to you, I enjoy your mother’s company,”

“I’m glad,” I smiled up at him, squeezing his shoulder. “But if you do ever feel uncomfortable at any point or need to step away, you can tell me, okay?”

Miguel’s smile curled as he leaned in, kissing my cheek. “I promise,”

We smiled warmly at one another before returning to our food. 

“Well, all this talk of Stark did make me think of a little passion project of mine,” Miguel’s lips curled into a ghost of a smile. 

“Oh?” My eyes perked up. “What kind?” 

“I had an idea for another suit,” Miguel mused. He quickly peeked over his shoulder to make sure no one was watching them or coming up to their table before he pulled back the sleeve of his jacket, revealing his gizmo. He tapped the screen, revealing a small holographic projection of a schematic for the new spider-suit. “Still nanotechnology, but the protective material would be an armour plating,” 

“. . . Is the colour scheme red and gold?” I offered him a playful smirk. 

Miguel shot me a look as if I just insulted him and his genius brain, finding comparisons to the comic book hero simply to annoy the shock out of him. 

Try as I might, I couldn’t hold back my laughter as I lowered my hand from my mouth, “I’m joking, Migs!”

Miguel scoffed, rolling his eyes playfully at me. “If you must know, I was thinking of a white, black, and red colour pallet. This will make Stark’s suit look like a tea kettle,” he grinned.

“That’s a big claim,” I grinned, crossing my arms over my chest. 

“I’m sorry, who did you say was your favourite again?” Miguel gave me a knowing look, as the projection vanished and he leaned into me, wrapping his arm around my back.

“You are, Miguel. My genius, trillionaire, charmingly handsome philanthropist, and Spider-Man,” I smiled, my hands snaking up his chest and caressing his neck. 

“Thought so,” He grinned. 

“Getting cozy again?” A familiar voice approached us.

Miguel’s eyes glanced up suddenly and his pupils went wide. He quickly stole a kiss from me before pulling away, returning to his seat. “Nothing too scandalous.”

Janet sat back down in her chair, giving me a teasing look before she picked up her fork. “Reminds me of back during my work days, I had dinner with Bon Jovi and his wife one night. Couldn’t keep their hands off one another,”

“Mom!” My cheeks flushed as I hunched into my chair. 

My mother erupted with laughter and Miguel’s own hearty chuckle quickly followed after. I looked over at his face, seeing the way he smiled. After realizing how much I loved seeing him smile, I laughed along too. 

//////////

Miguel’s P.O.V. 

After dinner with Lisa and her mother, Janet, they escorted Lisa’s mother back to the hotel she was staying at. Miguel smiled softly as Lisa hugged Janet tightly, saying her goodbyes. It made him reminisce on what might have been with his own mother. 

“I had so much fun tonight,” Janet’s smile was practically beaming as she pulled away to cup Lisa’s face. “Don’t forget the extra suitcase I brought for you, and get plenty of sleep for tomorrow.”

“I promise, mom,” Lisa smiled back, playfully rolling her eyes at the reminder. “Old habits die hard.”

Janet nodded at Lisa before pulling away completely, and looked over towards Miguel. Miguel immediately stiffened, snapping to attention when Janet approached him. To his surprise, she offered him her hand. 

“It was very lovely meeting you, Miguel,” Janet offered Miguel a genuine smile. “I can certainly see why Lisa likes you.”

“Aww, mom. . .” Lisa’s cheeks flushed, rubbing the back of her neck as she looked off to the side. 

Miguel couldn’t help it as a snicker escaped his lips, shaking his head. He reached over and shook Janet’s hand, offering her a warm smile in return. “It was a pleasure meeting you as well, Mrs Kend– ah, Janet, sorry. Lisa has always spoken highly of you. You’ve raised a wonderful woman.”

“I would certainly hope so,” Janet smiled as she glanced over at her daughter with a teasing look. “I didn’t go into early labor for nothing, you know!”

Lisa’s eyes went wide. “Mom!”

“I’m teasing, dear,” Janet’s lips curled wider as she snickered. “You’ll make sure my sweet Lisa gets back home safe, Miguel?”

Miguel couldn’t help himself even more as he laughed, bringing a hand up to his mouth to calm himself down. “Of course, ma’am. I always do,”

“Such a gentleman,” Janet squeezed Miguel’s hand briefly before pulling her own away. “I’ll see you both tomorrow!”

Miguel could still feel his heart pounding in his chest as he drove Lisa back to her apartment. From all accounts, it appeared he had gotten Lisa’s mother’s approval. She genuinely liked him, and that statement alone made Miguel feel so over the moon with relief. 

He helped carry the suitcase into Lisa’s apartment, setting it down on the couch with a grunt. It was surprisingly heavy. “What’s even in here?”

“When my stay in Korea was extended for the foreseeable future at the time, mom packed extra goodies from home for me to try and combat the homesickness,” Lisa explained as she began to unzip the suitcase, pulling the lid open and she gasped. “Oh, yes!!”

“What?” Miguel stepped closer, peering over her shoulder. “What is it?”

It couldn’t be new clothes, she has a closet full of them already. Was it spare medkits? More household items she’ll need to make her everyday life easier?

None of the above. 

“Mama came in clutch!” Lisa squealed, clapping happily. 

The suitcase was filled to the brim with books, video games and a gaming console. 

“No puedo mas,” Miguel grumbled, face palming as he shook his head. - I can’t even 

“Hey, what’s with the judgy face?” Lisa retorted as she grabbed a handful of books, setting them aside. 

“If my brother were here and he saw all of this? If you two are friends now, after this you two would be insufferable,” Miguel huffed, slouching on the couch next to the suitcase.

“Is he a gamer?” Lisa asked with a curious twinkle in her eye as she started to pile the games onto the coffee table. 

“Well he’s not called the ‘King of Virtual Reality’ for nothing,” Miguel shook his head, coming off as a disappointing gesture, but deep down, he was actually proud of his brother’s work. 

“Why didn’t he say so before?” Lisa’s eyes widened. “I should invite him over for a game session sometime,”

“Oh no, I hardly get to see you with these new security measures in place,” Miguel stated as waved his hand in a dismissive manner. “I ain’t sharing.”

“And who’s idea was it for said new security measures?” Lisa narrowed her eyes towards Miguel in a teasing manner.

Miguel rolled his eyes at her as Lisa started to lift the gaming console out of the suitcase and set it by the TV. Miguel’s back straightened as he sat up, watching her fiddle with the console’s wiring. “What are you doing?”

“Setting up the console,” Lisa answered, glancing over at him.

“Um, no?” Miguel shot her a questionable look with an eyebrow raised. “You promised your mom you’d get enough sleep for tomorrow’s show, it’s almost 11pm,”

“But video games!” Lisa sulked, a soft whine escaping her. “I haven’t played this for over a year,”

“Nope,” Miguel exclaimed, shooting up from the couch. “Bedtime,”

“Miguel, what are you–?!” Before Lisa could say anything else, Miguel suddenly scooped up Lisa in his arms, throwing her over his shoulder as he hooked his arm around her waist to keep her from falling. “Miguel!!”

“Don’t make me tattle on her,” Miguel grinned, snickering. 

“Miguel, put me down!” Lisa gawked, laughing as her hand smacked against his back. 

All Miguel did was laugh in response as he stalked over to Lisa’s bed, pulling back the curtain. Kneeling at the edge of the bed, Miguel reached for Lisa and carefully laid her down on the mattress. His hand cradled the back of her head as Miguel set her down, smiling down at her. 

“Now be my smart girl and get ready for bed, please,” He emphasized, his hands now on either side of her head. 

Lisa’s cheeks flushed at his close proximity. She sighed, looking up into his eyes. “Fine, only because you said please.”

“Thank you, mi Mona Lisa,” Miguel’s face softened as he chuckled, his fingers brushing some hair away from her face. 

As he looked at her, at that moment all he could think of was the one question he asked her during dinner.   

Is that something you want? 

The idea of getting to that point with her. . . Going all the way. . .

It caused Miguel’s heart to burn, turning his blood hot as he stared at her with such love and longing. But he also knew that he couldn’t rush into it. As tender as this moment was right now. 

Ji-Ho left more than just mental scars, Miguel. . . 

That arrogant bastard. Miguel swore an oath to himself right there and then, that when the time came when Lisa felt she was ready to be physical with him, he’d make it special for her. He promised himself that he’d make up for the precious lost time and wasted memories that befell on her. Miguel would do everything in his power to make it so magical, the very essence of that k-pop wannabe will be erased from Lisa’s mind for the rest of her life. 

Miguel lowered his head, first kissing Lisa’s forehead before his lips trailed down her face. His soft touches made Lisa squirm, giggling before his lips finally found hers. The kiss he planted on her lips was slow, tender and sweet, and judging by the enamored gaze Lisa was giving him, the look he gave her as he pulled away sent chills down her spine. 

As it did for him.

“Your mother isn’t the only one looking forward to seeing you on that stage,” Miguel grinned as he pulled away. 

Lisa’s eyes widened, sparkling in delight as she sat up. “You’ll be there,”

A portal opened up behind Miguel as he offered Lisa a proud grin. “I wouldn’t miss it for the multiverse,”

////////

Lisa’s P.O.V. 

I barely slept a wink last night. It was a mixture of excitement, anxiety, and the overwhelming urge to just scream that kept me up. Even now as I stood backstage, preparing myself to walk out on that stage in front of all of those people, and on live television for the first time in so long, I wanted to scream. It was finally happening. 

I took one more peek past the curtain, watching as METRO BOOMIN who had just moments ago walked out on stage to introduce himself to the crowd, hyped them up with this upcoming song. His new song, the one that my friends and I would be performing to. I scanned the crowd, and smiled when I saw two familiar faces. 

Miguel and my mother. 

My fingers curled, holding my fist close to my chest. This was for them. For Miguel, my mom. . . and for dad. I looked up into the sky, wondering if he was watching me right now. But perhaps not just them. . . if Jin was watching too, I could show him how much I’ve grown since camp. 

Footsteps caught my ear as I lowered my fidgeting hands and turned, finding my friends approaching me. We were all dressed in our spider costumes. We worked hard, we practiced and we trained for this very moment. To show the world what we could do. 

“Is everyone ready?” I asked them, trying to sound encouraging. 

“You bet!” Hannah cheered.

“Let’s rock their socks off!” Touga cheered, his brother jumping up and down to psych himself up. 

I looked over towards Kasey, who had decided to remain quiet since our last conversation, at least towards me anyways. From meeting up with the others to get to the venue before the event security guards invited the public, to changing into our costumes and doing our warm up exercises, she hadn’t said a word to me.

She looked between the three of us before nodding softly. “Let’s do it,”

I offered her a soft, small smile as I extended my fist. “Webslingers on 3?”

One by one, they brought their fists into the little circle, our knuckles brushing against one another. “1, 2, 3, Webslingers!”

We shot our hands into the air, laughing and cheering. 

“Alright ya’ll, this is a brand new song I got in store for tonight, and I won’t be doing it alone. Give it up for New York’s very own. . . WEBSLINGERS!” METRO BOOMIN’s voice echoed through his microphone. 

“That’s our que!” Hannah’s cheery voice sang as she ushered us to move. 

One by one, we made our way out to the stage, the audience showering us with welcoming applause. After offering bright smiles and wide waves, we each took our positions on the stage before I signaled METRO that we were ready. 

“Let’s get to it!” He cheered. 

///////

Miguel’s P.O.V. 

A chorus of violins coursed through Miguel’s ears, playing a pleasant and angelic like melody. One by one, spotlights shined on Lisa and her friends as they began to move, as if they were being whisked away like clouds. 

“Not done fightin', I don't feel I've lost

Am I dreamin', is there more like us?

Got me feeling like it's all too much

I feel beaten, but I can't give up~”

The bass kicked in, and the crowd began to howl and cheer in anticipation, getting a feel for the rhythm and the beat. Miguel swayed with them, glancing down at Janet who had a proud look on her face, eyes watering as she couldn’t steer her gaze off of Lisa, and never could he. The song, its lyrics, its melody, entrapped them.

It was as good as Lisa had promised him it would be.

“I'm still fightin' (Metro), I don't feel I've lost

Am I dreamin', is there more like us?

Got me feelin' like it's all too much

I feel beaten, but I can't give up~”

The crowd cheered as the lights kicked back up again, Lisa and her friends literally jumping into the next set as the electric drums pedal guided them with the beat. Lisa and the girls hung back while the twins Toya and Touga stepped up with their duo choreography. 

“Uh, wakin' up, feelin' like the thankful one

Count up my ones, lacin' up my favorite 1's

One of a kind, one of one, the only one

Got one shot and one chance to take it once~”

Their movements were so fluid, for a brief moment Miguel wondered if they were even truly human. The crowd cheered them on as their bodies seemed to swerve, leaning into their next set of moves. His gizmo started to go off, and he almost didn’t notice it due to the strobelights and the loud bass pounding in his ears.

“Kiss my mama on the forehead, 'fore I get the code red

'Cause I was born, bred to go in, toast red

And swing by four-ten, beef patty, cornbread

In the concrete jungle, where my home is!”

As Hannah jumped in to join the twins, Miguel glanced down at his gizmo. He noticed Spider-Byte’s caller ID and his eyes flared. He brought his wrist up towards his face, his finger swiping left to answer. “Margo?”

“Miguel, the scanners are fluctuating again, they're off the charts!,” Margo’s voice filtered through the com-link, filled with worry. “I think something big is about to happen,”

Miguel’s eyes immediately began looking around, his infrared scanner embedded into his sunglasses powering on. “Lyla, where is everyone?”

“Pinging you their locations now!” Lyla’s voice echoed in his ears as one by one, Lyla located Spider-Noir, Webslinger, Gwen, and Peter B. Some were hiding among the cosplay crowd, while others were covertly among the shadows. 

He initially had only asked Spider-Noir and Webslinger to keep watch. But Miguel had a weird gut feeling in the pit of his stomach. A feeling that kept nagging him all night that something just didn’t sit right, and that this wouldn’t go well. 

He hated being right. 

“All get focused, all range of toast is

The nickname, Mr. Keen-To-Do-the-Mostest

I was livin' down bad in my folks crib

Now I'm laughin' to the bank and the joke is (no way)

Did more things than folks did or folks get

We've been gettin' this fly since some poor kids

My rich friends and my broke friends co-exist

They love to mix and we know what it is~”

What sounded like lightning crackling, followed by a loud roar of thunder caught Miguel’s ears as his gaze immediately shot upward into the night sky. Just above the Statue of Liberty, sparks flew as before his very eyes, a portal opened up. 

Oh shock! 

“Team move in,” Miguel commanded. “Lyla, call in backup. Send in anyone you can get a hold of!”

/////////

Lisa’s P.O.V. 

The sound of a loud crackling of thunder and lighting made me jump and the music came to a screeching halt. My friends and I looked up towards the sky, in fact everyone did. My body froze, standing in shock as I watched a multiversal portal open up above us. 

But not from the Spider-Society. 

“AYO, EVERYONE EVACUATE!” METRO BOOMIN yelled out into the crowd. 

Harry. . . he was back, only this time he wasn’t sending a Russian spy to take me in. 

Toya grabbed Hannah, pulling her to the back of the stage. Touga reached for me, but I leapt out of his grasp as I went straight for Kasey, as she stood as calm as the wind, observing the portal with an almost blank stare. 

“Kasey!!” I called out to her.

When she slowly turned to face me, her hand reaching for her cheek, I froze in place, Touga right behind me. 

“Well, Miss Lisa,” Kasey’s lips suddenly curled into a dark smile as her fingers dug into her skin. 

The gasp that left me felt like I had been punched in the gut as Touga instinctively grabbed me, stepping in front of me as I watched in pure horror as Chameleon ripped off the face mask and removed his disguise. 

“Mr. Osborn’s stage is finally set, and it’s time to put on the show,” 

Kasey. . . where was Kasey?!

“What. . . where is she?” I was desperately searching for my voice as the crowd shrieked at the man now standing before them. 

Chameleon laughed at the question, tossing the face mask aside. I could hear Hannah screaming from behind me, Toya hugging her tightly. Toya muttered a curse in his native tongue, eyes widening, but he didn’t falter. 

Not even when Chameleon whipped out a gun and opened fire directly at him, and in that split second, I blanked out. 

///////

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