#but I gotta credit the game for giving me ideas

[sydney-empire]

Guardian Angel

I was in the middle of sketching up a few FAITH demons when I suddenly had an itch to design an angel. Not sure what they would look like in the game if they were present, but I'd like to think they'd look both otherworldly and strangely beautiful. I now plan to draw the whole angel hierarchy. c:

[sp0o0kylights]

I once had to pose in a ton of photos for a friend's AP photography final back in high school so may I present to you:

Steve Harrington, who gave in to Robin's begging that he act as her weird art model for her senior year portfolio (the same one her teacher is encouraging her to bat out of the ballpark and enter into contests.) 

She's doing a whole thing on fashion, subcultures and sexuality using photos and collaged poetry, a project that has Steve trying on different outfits and posing in different places. 

"This might help me land a scholarship, Dingus." She hisses while she's got him bent over her bathtub, spraying parts of his hair blue with wash-out dye.

Steve, soulmate and best friend extraordinaire, goes through it all with minimal (for him) bitching, even if the goth outfit feels absolutely ridiculous, and the 'geek' photoshoot downright laughable.

He starts to have fun when she has him mimic Nancy's straight laced, all A's good girl aura, and equally has a blast with the country look (he has no idea where Robin got a miniature horse but it conned him for every piece of food he had on him and then some.) 

The final piece is the one they're struggling with, the one Robin's now (fake) dying his hair partially blue for. 

A few hours later and he's dressed up once again in a studded leather jacket, the tightest jeans he owns ringed with belts, and combat boots.

 Robin had even talked him into letting her use eyelash glue to attach a few metal studs on his face--two acting as an eyebrow piercing and one on his nose. 

The looks he drew took a minute to get used too when all was said and done, Robin dragging him around Hawkins while she tried to find the 'perfect backdrop' but he's not gonna lie. 

He kinda enjoys being punk Steve.

That is, until Robin has him posing in an alleyway and Eddie Munson comes around the corner, jaw right about falling to the floor.

Even better? 

Eddie doesn't recognize him. 

Not at first, when he siddles up to Steve, nodding to the handkerchief in Steve's back pocket and then flicking the pink triangle pin on his jacket with a finger. 

Steve owes Jonathan a bottle of his father's best alcohol for giving him enough knowledge to get through the music razing Eddie subjects him too, and Steve's all too happy to play the part of punk asshole to Munson's music-snob metalhead.

It's not until Eddies playing with his hair and Robin gives in to letting him have a quick break from the shoot that he gives up the ghost, leaning in to whisper in Eddie's ear. 

"Gotta say, Munson," Steve all but purrs."I wasn't expecting you to fall for the Harrington Charm that fast."

"What?" Eddie asks, jerking his head back to look at him with wide eyes. 

Maybe it's the outfit giving him the extra ounce of courage, but Steve likes to think more that it gives him the freedom to lean forward and brush their lips together. 

Eddie doesn't return it, but that's alright. 

Steve's played this game enough to know that it was merely a hook for a real kiss. 

"Okay." Robin says, annoyed, camera at her side. "Steve, I'm happy that you're finally exploring that repressed as fuck homosexuality we keep arguing about, I really am, but I have to get this last photo!" 

He ignores her, instead nudging Eddie's shoulders.

"Care to pose with me?" Steve asks, grinning. He can tell Eddie still isn't sure if this is a joke, that he's seconds from running, and reaches out to tug on his black handkerchief. "Get Robin her photo, and then talk about this after, Mr. S&M."

Eddie flushes scarlet, but after some reassurance (and wheelding) from Robin, finally agrees. 

(Later, he agrees to a date, which Steve also credits the outfit for.

Even if Robin demands half the credit.) 

[azulock]

First, I gotta apologize for the long ass break, creativity and inspiration have really been escaping me recently, but I'm trying to get back into it. For now, have this, something that had been in my mind for a couple of days

bllk guys + sex toys

Reo starts off jealous of you having toys, very much giving "why do you need them when you have me" energy. That's just his anxieties kicking up a fuss tho, he can be very easily swayed with some reassurance. Once that first scare is done with it's all smooth sailing, maybe a bit too smooth even. He really grows to like overstimulating you with the sex toys, and with the amount of money he has, he can buy all the high quality toys you can imagine.

Shidou is a freak, 100% top of his game when it comes to toys. Depending on how interested you are in sex toys, or how much money you have, there is a real chance he has more than you. If you don't bring up using toys during sex yourself he is gonna bring it up. You can't compete, he knows his stuff, would own enough stuff to stock up a sex shop if he could - and with all the football money he can, and he is actively working towards that.

Nagi doesn't own toys and does not care if you do, it's all too much of a hassle, he is too lazy to really give a shit or even feel jealous. I mean, it's less work for him so it does work in his favor. Not against buying you something, also not against you buying him something. Tho, he's probably only gonna use the simple stuff, so only buy him a sleeve, cause if he has to use a full brain cell to work the toy, it ain't happening.

Oliver likes toys, probably owns something like a fancy cock sleeve and one of those heating/numbing lubes. He is also too sure of himself to be jealous of you having toys, he ain't a coward, and he likes using them on you, he knows he is gonna get the credit even if the toy did the hard work - he's a work smarter not harder type of guy. Besides, he really likes teasing you with the toys and would bring up using one if you didn't.

Kaiser is the jealous type, he doesn't own any sex toys himself and he sees your toys as competition. Dramatic ass bitch doesn't love the idea of you getting off to something that ain't him. Is it possible to change his mind? Kind of. Does it take the patience of a saint? For sure. And even after that he's gonna find the meanest ways to use the toys on you, so the result is a mixed bag.

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[ourmadmusings]

We’re no worse off than the worse of them - 

It was obvious how soft he was for you. Gwen noticed as soon as she joined, the way his smile lingered long after you’d left, the way he’d follow you around the citadel like a lost puppy when you came back from a particularly risky mission, the way he’d actually listen to your advice and hear you out. His word was not final with you around, an interesting shift in dynamic compared to what she was used to. Hobie and Peter B. saw it, too. The way the two of you worked together on missions was like watching a well-rehearsed dance, to which the steps were borne to you both so naturally. You both played nice together, an odd juxtaposition to his usual lone-wolf routine.  You teased at him, poked fun at the way he’d grumble at the team, reminding him to play nice, they all had the universe’s best interest in mind, no matter how differently they went about showing it.  “So, do you think they’re like, an item?” Gwen asked over lunch, Peter snorted a laugh at the idea.  “Ha - no, I don’t really think so,” Hobie chimed in between bites, a small smile pulling at his full mouth, “I don’t reckon anyone could get that close to the boss-man and live to tell the tale.”  “Guys, come on, he’s not hardly as bad as you’re making him out to be here, give him some credit,” It’s Pav this time, a hum of agreement from Peter, too. “I bet the old man’s got some game under all that scowl.”  “I’m sorry, old man?” As if on-queue, O’Hara stands with hands on his hips over the table, an eyebrow raised and lips drawn tight, “‘m not much older than Peter, you know.” They give a short chorus of gasps, chokes, and a few laughs before O’Hara lets out a heavy sigh, “don’t you all have somewhere you ought to be, or do you enjoy wasting my time having to hunt down your little breakfast club?”  “Oh, come on, don’t be like that. If you keep frowning, you’ll just give yourself wrinkles, Miguel.” You’re quick to peer around his back, winking at the table. “Don’t you have a basket of puppies to spit on?” His eyes widen as he looks down at you, face turned up just enough to catch a toothy grin thrown at him, and attempt to lighten the mood from his scrutiny.  “Aye, that’s a good point,” Hobie finally chimes in again, “I gotta go anyways, Gwen?” He stands and pushes her tray back, an invitation to wander off. She stands and follows, Pav joins, and Peter mumbles something about needing to head home to put Mayday down. They all stare on their way out, watching the disposition shift almost immediately.  “I wish you wouldn’t talk like that with them around.” His words hold no heat, he’s got the ghost of a smile playing at his lips and you slide around to face him, hands on your hips to mirror his stance, “well, someone’s gotta show ‘em you’re not all bad. Besides, what’re you gonna do about it?” Your smile stays wide still as you carry on the conversation, a longer one than any of them have seen that hasn’t devolved into an argument.  “Is that an invitation or something?” He’s cheeky about it, “you did hear what else they said, no? They think I have game.”  It’s the raise of his eyebrow that sells it, you can’t help the yelp of a laugh that comes from you, “They’re not wrong, but I don’t think it’s the type of game you’d wanna brag about.” The tips of his ears heat up at your teasing, “are you trying to get me to fight with you?” He’s shifted his weight, a genuine smile gracing his features for once, stooping to face you directly, “oh-ho, is that a threat, old man?”  “Old?! Come on, you’re gonna hurt my feelings.”  “Ah, see! There’s that smile I love so much.” Your cheeks heat up at his teasing this time, the kids were right, maybe he did have some game, you thought.   The group stares at the two of you through the interaction, wide-eyed, open-mouthed stares sent between them. 

A few weeks pass and their investigation leads Gwen and Miles to follow the two of you closer. They needed concrete evidence of your relationship before they could accuse you of anything.  “Wait, whaddya mean, he was flirting?” Miles whispers from his place, a healthy few feet away from the commotion. A stray Doc Oc had shifted into another world, you and Miguel had decided it was too risky to send more spider-folk, so he opted to take you along in lieu of a full team.  “I don’t know -shh!” Gwen sticks a finger up over her masked-mouth, “but if he finds out we’re here, he’ll skin us alive. Keep it down.”  Your usual grace is no match for this particular anomaly, a quick strike from one of the metal arms sends you spiraling into a support beam with a sickening thunk. Miguel hollers for you, with no response. Another metal arm is just as fast as it catches your skull and thrashes you into the beam again, you’re limp by the time Miguel can confine him.  Miles and Gwen make a swift exit after that, catching only a glimpse of O’Hara as he rushed over to where you lay, an uncharacteristic panic in his voice as he supports your head and shoulders - “Lyla, send someone, please, hurry.”  Never once had they heard him willingly plead with the AI.  They don’t get an assignment from O’Hara for a while, and feign ignorance when Hobie and Pav ask.

a/n: ok how about a break from the regularly scheduled freak shit I usually post about O’Hara. He deserves some soft shit too smh.  Pt. 2 - Pt. 3 - Pt. 4 -

[vbecker10]

Laundry Day

How Could This Not Fit?! (Loki x fem reader Y/N)

Loads of Fun (Bucky x fem reader Y/N)

Pairing: Loki x female reader (y/n)

Summary: You and Loki are living together in the Avengers Tower and you've asked him to help you with the laundry. You decide it's the perfect opportunity to prank him but that might not have been a good idea... not if you wanted to sleep tonight that is.

Warnings: ... um nothing really, alluding to sex but not much

A/N: I finished my laundry and was folding (trying desperately to fold) my fitted sheet and I came up with this silly little thing so... enjoy 💚

You take a bottle of water out of the fridge in the common kitchen, laughing to yourself as you shake your head.

"Something funny in the fridge?" Tony asks from the island, looking up from his tablet.

You turn to him and open the bottle. "No, I was just laughing about something that could possibly get me in a lot of trouble with Loki," you barely explain.

"I have no idea what that means," Steve says as he and Bucky join the conversation.

You take a sip of water and set the bottle on the island. "I was tired of being the one who did our laundry all the time so I told Loki he needed to help me with it today," you start to tell them.

"Still not seeing the funny," Tony says sarcastically.

"I'm getting there," you wave away his comment and he chuckles. "So anyway, I told him to help and he did... an okay job of it. I mean, the dryer and him got in a bit of a fight but we finally got it done," you continue.

"Did he break the dryer cause I've gotta do like four loads of laundry tonight?" Bucky asks concerned as he pulls out the stool next to Steve.

"How could you possibly have to do four loads of laundry?" Tony turns towards him. "You own one hoodie and three henleys at most," he adds.

"Can we get back to my problem?" you pull their attention back to yourself. "I might not have much time left," you joke but you aren't actually sure how long until Loki comes looking for you.

"What did you do to him?" Steve asks, sounding concerned for your safety. Loki would never hurt you of course, he loved you too much, but when you annoyed him you always found it hard to walk the next day.

"Well, he put all the laundry away using his magic but I told him that was cheating. He said it wasn't and we went back and forth for a bit until I made him a bet," you smile. Loki could never resist a wager, especially since he always assumed he would win, and he usually did. "I bet him... something," you suddenly realize you don't necessarily want the guys to know the dirty things you promised Loki and they all look away awkwardly for a moment as if they understood that.

"Right, whatever... so the bet was for him to make the bed himself, without his magic," you tell them.

"Look, I still don't like him very much but, give him a little credit. I think he's smart enough to figure it out," Bucky says.

"Yeah, that doesn't really seem like a bet you're going to win, Y/N," Steve agrees.

"Well... I might not have except for one teeny tiny little bitty detail," you assure them.

"Which is?" Tony asks with a mixture of curiosity and agitation that the story is taking so long.

"I switched the sheet set," you say, they all stare at you confused and you sigh. "I gave him a full size set... and we have a queen bed. There's not a chance in hell he's going to be able to get the fitted sheet on and if he does manage it, I'll know he used his magic and still win," you smile broadly, proud of yourself for tricking the trickster God.

"Well that's a dangerous game to play," Steve says and before you can respond you hear Loki coming down the hall.

"Y/N," he says when he enters the kitchen. You swallow as your mouth goes dry, he does not look happy. "You cheated," he says without question.

"No, I was just..." you try to explain but he walks towards you, keeping his eyes locked on yours.

"You... cheated," he says slowly as he backs you into the counter by the sink.

"I mean, only a little," you say with a smile but he doesn't smile back. "And I only did it to make sure you didn't use your magic," you quickly try to explain.

"Um, I think we should go... literally anywhere else," Steve says as Loki grips your waist with both hands and keeps you pressed between himself and the counter.

"Don't worry, we're leaving," Loki says with a smirk, still looking only at you. Without warning he picks you up and throws you over his shoulder. You gasp and the suddenness of it and he uses one arm to hold you in place by the back of your legs as he turns to leave the kitchen. He pauses and picks up your water bottle. "You'll need to keep hydrated, it's going to be a very long night, love," he says as he carries you down the hall towards your room.

I hope you liked this!! Please like, share and comment if you did 💚💚

@soubi001 @michelleleewise @harlequin-hangout @ace-of-gay @xorpsbane @mochie85 @sheris532 @lokiswife-dark-fox-queen @kkdvkyya @animnerd @peaches1958 @peachyjinx @theaudacitytowrite @lokiandbuckysdoll @winterfrostlovetriangle @high-functioning-lokipath @winniewings @pics-and-fanfics @cabingrlandrandomcrap @icytrickster17 @lokisgoodgirl @mischief2sarawr @stupidthoughtsinwriting @mjsthrillernp @holdmytesseract @holymultiplefandomsbatman @lulubelle814 @crimson25 @goblingirlsarah @janineb86 @chantsdemarins @foxherder @tonystank8

[teeny-tiny-revenge]

It's home cinema manufacturing time! 🏴‍☠️ Gonna put my pirate show on my shelf! (I'm doing an Arts and Crafts Project and I'm making it everyone's problem.)

After seeing how much they cost, I abandoned the idea of getting a Blu-ray writer for now. For the time being, good old DVDs is what it's going to be! My TV is old and not very big, so DVD resolution is gonna be fine.

It's been ages since I last burned a DVD. For the full experience, I'm gonna create nice menus and pretty sleeves for the boxes. Graphic design is my passion! Um.

Well. First needed to find a program to do stuff with. I'm a Linux guy, so I'm using Devede. (Which is free, btw. In case someone else wants to do a low cost spot of putting pirate show on the shelf.)

DVDs fit a maximum of 120 minutes of video. So, four episodes, I thought. But after a quick attempt, the program refused to do more than three (maybe because of the menu also taking up space, and four episodes cutting pretty close to the 120 min mark?). Anyway, three episodes per disc it is. It's a pretty nice runtime for watching the entire disc, IMO. An hour and a half, and then you can return to reality to realise you should probably eat something, or go to bed because it's midnight.

OFMD with its current two seasons has a total of eighteen episodes, which is divisible by three. You get the following setup:

Disc 1: Pilot, A Damned Man, The Gentleman Pirate - That's pretty good, Stede's introduction to piracy all on one disc!

Disc 2: Discomfort in a Married State, The Best Revenge is Dressing Well, The Art of Fuckery - All bangers. Great to watch together, our boys meet and shenanigans happen!

Disc 3: This is Happening, We Gull Way Back, Act of Grace - Many romantic moments, lots of great scenes, shit hits the fan at the end there. Alright!

Disc 4: Wherever you go, there you are, Impossible Birds, Red Flags - ... Pain and angst! What have I done!?! The disc of horrors. Gotta make sure to have tissues at hand when I watch this. But hey, it also has messy bun Ed! Small mercies.

Disc 5: The Innkeeper, Fun and Games, The Curse of the Seafaring Life. - Another disc with all winners. I love all these episodes so much! (You can watch this disc to recover from the trauma of the previous one!) But seriously, this one slaps.

Disc 6: Calypso's Birthday, Man on Fire, Mermen - Great combination again. Season finale! Love and excitement!

... Honestly, except for the psychological damage of putting all the most painful episodes together, this is coming out pretty cool. Says a lot about how good the show is. I actually really love all the episodes (yes even the painful angsty episodes of massive depression). Thinking about this little project really reminded me how much I love this entire show.

So, we got a tracklist, now menus, then we can burn this stuff!

I did the menu backgrounds in GIMP. Realised I have a big folder full of screenshots I took myself, screenshots someone else took and posted on Tumblr, official promo pics for the show, and I have no idea anymore where most of them are from, because I named the files according to what's on them. Which is useful for when you want to find pics (Need a picture of cursed suit Stede? I have files named that, easy peasy!), but not so great if you wanted to give credit to whoever took a given pic you used. (It's probably @sherlockig or @ofmd-ann or @blakbonnet. Please feel credited, your beautiful screens and gifs brighten my day, and some of them are now probably part of my DVD menus. Shrunk down and cropped, but, yeah.)

I originally wanted to structure my menus as having the title of an episode, then some pics from it, then the next episode, then pics from that, and so forth, but I couldn't convince the program to give me the necessary padding between the menu items, so I ended up just putting the episode images below the menu. Still like it.

Anyway, DVD menus can also play sound! Behold a crappy video of my beautiful creation (provided entirely for sound):

It plays Gnossienne N°5!

More crappy pics of my other disc menus:

Gonna make them some nice sleeves next. Some day. Gotta make sure they all work properly first. So. I'll be on my sofa, watching my DVDs. With menus! (Edit: here are!)

[justmemethings]

𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐎𝐌 𝐏𝐆-𝟏𝟑 𝐀𝐒𝐒𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐓𝐒

Random general RP prompts, without cursing, requested by anon. Feel free to edit pronouns / etc. to make them more fitting !

“Oh my god, what is that !?”

“You should have seen them. I could hardly breathe with their ego taking up all the space in the room.”

“Hey, hey, stop. I literally have no idea of what you're talking about. How about you start from the beginning? Or at least put a subject in your sentences.”

“C'mon, who never had a ‘spaghetti coming out of the nose’ moment?”

“You insufferable...piece of...rotten lemon pie!”

“Do as I say and not as I do. For real, though. You don't want to do what I do. I don't want to do what I do.”

“I thought I’d never set foot in a place like this, but here we are. Congratulations on making my life a little more miserable.”

“Sometimes I wonder why I even bother. I might as well be talking to myself. I surely listen more to myself than you do.”

“Keep up the cocky act, it’ll only make you lose faster.”

“From where I’m standing, you’re the one who should be worrying.”

“Give me some credit. I know that I’m not a good person, but I like thinking that I can be a decent friend.”

“The only thing I trust humans with is dying when you shoot them.”

“How can you be vulnerable with someone who has shut you out over and over?”

“Yeah, not buying it. What is it that you truly want?”

“You know, now I have to challenge you at a drinking game.”

“Absolutely not. Don’t even think about it.”

“...Maybe I just need a real break.”

“I’d say that it’s nice to meet you, but maybe the circumstances could have been more…ideal.”

“You can’t be serious! Don’t you see what’s at stake here?!”

“Oh Lord, you gotta be kidding me. This will take forever.”

“Have you tried telling them that? It’s easy to forget that not everyone grieves in the same way.”

“Look at you, showing some actual good taste. I’m almost impressed.”

“Let’s skip over you judging me and talk business. Will you or won’t you?”

“Don’t get funny ideas. I’m just choosing the lesser evil.”

“Oh yeah? So, what? Are you saying that my problems will miraculously fix themselves, if I talk about them?”

“Let’s bet on it. The winner gets to make the loser do one thing. Whatever they want, no limits.”

“You must be really bored if this is how you chose to spend your night.”

“Patience, [name]. I thought you liked surprises.”

“I really wouldn't do that, if I were you.”

“Anything you’d like to say to plead your case?”

[devildomditzy]

With an MC who thinks they’re not good enough for them

Made this as a personal vent/comfort piece for my self

If you start thinking bad thought about yourself, you just gotta think “the brothers would be so hurt if they caught me thinking this way”

Tags/Warnings: Self-Deprecating Thoughts

Lucifer

Takes it very personal

As pride incarnate, he values himself on making his guests feel comfortable

Even if it’s not him causing the thought, he’ll still see it upon himself to try and fix it

You don’t even have to say it, he just knows (okay, maybe you vented to Beel and Beel told Lucifer cause he was worried about you but that’s beside the point)

“MC, I was unaware I was doing you the disservice of not imploring your importance to us. Let me make that up to you.”

You don’t know how he knows, but you don’t question it.

He prepares tea for the both of you, ready to have a full conversation about self reflection.

Every negative comment you make about yourself he’s quick to counter

“You’ve truly become the gem of the Devildom, MC. I cannot be dissuaded from believing the same goes for the human realm. You’re very dear to me.”

Mammon

Oh hell no

He will not stand for it

He had asked you to attend one of his shoots earlier this week but you had never responded to his invitation, changing the subject every time he brought it up

At first he thinks you just don’t want to go, which hurts him. You catch onto this, and not wanting him to think that the real reason comes out

“It’s just… you’re a model. Not to mention you were a literal angel sculpted by the Gods, and you make an even hotter demon. You’re on the cover of every magazine in the Devildom. Wherever we go you get recognized and fawned over. Hell, you’ve even got a fan club here at school. You’re also one of the most powerful demons and leaders of this realm. Why the hell would you wanna be seen with some pathetic, average looking human like me.”

His heart breaks

He blames himself for not catching on quicker

“Oi! I’m not gonna let anyone talk about my human like that, even if you are that human!”

In the middle of his rant about how everything about you is perfect to him, from your gorgeous appearance to your terrible humor, to your radiant personality, he gets an idea.

Its like you can see a lightbulb flash over his head, he gets giddy like a child, taking out his phone and quickly dialing a number

As it rings it rings, he proudly says, “If ya got a problem with me bein’ a model, I guess we’ll have to make you one too!”

His agency is actually thrilled to have a chance to shoot Diavolo’s esteemed human exchange student. It’s like a once in a millennia chance.

And he’s holding your hand proudly through it. Now he can show you off to the whole Devildom.

You were nervous about it all week until you saw the photos printed on every magazine in town

You stood next to Mammon, both in your Rad uniforms posing in front of the school. You breath hitches in your throat when you see just how adoringly he is staring at you in each and every photo

He may be a professional, but no amount of training could have stopped his love for you from shining through his expressions

He rips these pictures out of his copy, hanging them both all over his and your rooms

“Now the whole Devildom knows we’re a match made in heaven! Well….shit…uh…ya know what I meant.”

Levi

All that stuff about you being a normie, you know he was just kidding right!?

You open up to him against your will, as you both engaged in another weird card game he bought off of Akuzon, and were bound by the rules to confess a burden or be stuck in the games limbo forever

How could anyone (let alone you) think that about his Henry? His player two?

“H-hey! You’re not giving yourself enough credit! You’re super cool, MC! Like, boss level status!!!”

By the shine and sincerity in his eyes, you know this boy is telling the truth

When you flash him a smile and let out a gorgeous laugh, let’s just say the boy melts

Scoop him off the floor and into your arms, he’ll appreciate it.

Asmo

You have to realize there is only one thing in this world that Asmo thinks can even come close to comparing to him and it’s you

If he is Adonis, then you are Aphrodite (and vice versa)

When he sees you staring in the mirror for a beat too long and learns it’s NOT because you’re admiring your own beauty

oh honey

you’ve got a big storm comin’

We’re talking a self care whirlwind here

He’s got face creams, he’s got body scrubs, he’s got lotions, he’s got makeup, he’s bringing out the big guns

And he’s doing all the work too. Asmo is making sure you feel pampered and radiant by the end of the night

If self care doesn’t work, then he’s got other ways of convincing you *ahem hem*

Satan

You’re preaching to the choir hun

He can’t help himself, he compares his every move with Lucifer’s, worrying he’s not as good as him; worrying he’ll never best him

He knows how much that feeling sucks though, and he never ever wants you to even have an inkling of those thoughts

It happens during a study session in the library, he notices just how out of it you are today

“And what exactly is the correct terminology for hypnotizing someone with cursed speech, MC?…….MC?”

When you finally snap out of your haze and meet his eyes, he knows something in wrong

He’ll softly but steadfast question you, even if you don’t tell him the complete truth, he knows exactly what’s wrong, he can see it in your eyes. The same look he sees when he looks in the mirror.

“I’m just not as smart as you, Satan. I’m just a human. Let’s face it, I’m never gonna pass these exams. Diavolo’s gonna send me home because I’m just not good enough. I’m not as great as you all make me out to be.”

At those words, panic sets into his eyes temporarily before they soften

“MC, you’re the most remarkable being I’ve ever met. Quite frankly, I never thought a human could survive down here- well, there’s Solomon, but I wouldn’t quantify him as human. You’re certainly more clever than you think. Honestly, you’re not as great as we all think. You’re even better than that.

After his little pep talk, he’ll take you back to his room for a little study break. He’ll make you tea, read to you, nap with you, whatever makes you feel better.

You enchant him <3

Beel

This has Beel utterly baffled because the poor boy cannot wrap his head around why you or anyone else would ever have a negative thought about you

He may not speak it all the time because he just assumes you know but you are his everything

If even an inkling of a negative thought comes out of your mouth, Beel will stare at you straight faced for a beat before completely enveloping you into his strong arms

He’s not the best with words (usually, he leaves the poetics for his twin) but he will really make an attempt to chase these doubtful emotions from your mind

“MC, I don’t know what made you feel this way but I promise it’s far from the truth. Now, how can I help you feel better?”

Belphie

omg bestie him too, small world!!!

I mean, how could he be enough for you? He tried to kill you!!!

Mutual and constant assurance common between the two of you

And ever since the events of that day, a giant question has been gnawing at the back of your mind. You can’t help but let it slip one day

“Belphie, are you sure you love ME? That i’m not just a replacement in your mind for Lilith? You hated me until you found out I was her descendant…I-I mean, how could you change your mind that fast?”

He’s stunned to say the least, but shakes his head and softly smiles at you before stating

“Yes, I did hold a grudge against humans, but not particularly you. I would have attacked any human who found their way in front of me back then. Lilith is my sister, of course I love and miss her. But you MC? You are the light of my life. I could only see red until I saw through your human nature and finally saw the beautiful soul that is you. I realized I was wrong that day, wrong for a very long time. Now, I don’t want to waste anymore time, I want to spend it all with you.”

[bun-lapin]

Hello!

If requests are still open, I'd like to yeet over a request. Hear me out: the reder gives spelldrive club bois and the track club bois a kiss on the cheek after a successful game/track meet

Hello there! Thanks so much for this request~! I loved thinking about the viewpoint of a reader who really supports their athletic friends and shows it with a little kiss. Gotta give some love and credit to our boys in the athletic clubs lol I went for a mostly silly, lighthearted platonic mood for this one with some sprinkles of flirtation. Hope you enjoy~ <3

CW: gn!reader, cheek kiss, friendship, some flirtation, silliness, fluff

The crowd around you erupts into a sudden roar of cheers and celebratory shouting. The match is finally over and the athletes begin making their way off of the sports field towards the sidelines. Walking quickly towards the field, you keep your sights on a familiar figure. As soon as you get close enough, you throw your arms around him and excitedly shout, "You won! Congratulations! I'm so proud of you!" With a grin on your face, you quickly press a kiss against his cheek.

🦁 Leona:

Leona initially looks very surprised when he feels your kiss against his cheek. With wide, green eyes, he just stares at you for a few seconds, one ear twitching and his tail swishing wildly behind him. However, he quickly regains his composure and then smiles smugly at you. He slightly turns his head to the side and silently taps a finger against the cheek that you didn't kiss. You laugh and place a kiss on the side of his face that he offers you. As your lips brush against his cheek, you hear Leona let out a happy, satisfied sigh from deep in his throat that sounds almost like purring.

🍩 Ruggie:

Ruggie’s face immediately breaks into a lighthearted, beaming grin when you kiss his cheek. As you take a step back, you see that his blue-gray eyes are sparkling with excited gratitude, as if you had just presented him with a giant platter of his favorite donuts. Letting out a hissing, giddy laugh through his teeth, he jokes, “Wow! What a great present to celebrate our win! I wonder how much better I’ll have to play in the next match to qualify for a kiss on the lips?” Ruggie then makes a series of extremely silly and exaggerated kissing faces at you, complete with pouting lips and fluttering eyelashes. You both burst out into wild laughter and the two of you lean against each other, laughing until your sides ache.

🍎 Epel:

When Epel feels your kiss on his cheek, he immediately takes a step back in surprise and starts stammering, in his hometown accent, a jumble of confused country phrases. You have no idea what he’s saying but you laugh in a good-natured way at the funny, contrasting look of his eyes wide with shock and his mouth curved up in a pleasantly surprised grin. When Epel sees you laughing, he seems to snap out of his initial surprise and he laughs along with you. Grabbing your hand, he grins mischievously, plants a small kiss on your cheek, and shouts, “Payback!”

🐺 Jack:

Jack is celebrating loudly when you walk up to him but, the minute you kiss his cheek, he quiets down and raises his eyebrows in surprise. Crossing his arms over his chest, he wears a somewhat nonchalant smile on his face and he politely thanks you for congratulating him so sweetly. You peek around his giant frame and see that his tail is wagging so quickly it’s kicking up a tiny cloud of dust behind him. Jack notices where you’re looking and laughs in a slightly embarrassed way. With a warm smile on his face, he then reaches out to you and pulls you into a big, comfortable hug.

♠️ Deuce:

The second your lips touch Deuce’s cheek, it’s like he’s been hit with a freezing spell. You take a step back and see that his eyes and mouth are wide open from surprise and his body is frozen in place. You can’t help but laugh because he looks like some kind of comedic statue. In between fits of laughter, you reach out and poke the spot on his cheek that you kissed to try and break him out of his trance. Deuce snaps back to reality and swats at your hand with a mixture of embarrassment and satisfaction on his face. In a laughing voice, he says, “Hey, quit it! Don’t make fun of me like that! You really surprised me, you know?” He grins at you and raises his hand to give you a high-five. Unfortunately, he completely misses your hand and falls forward, grabbing your arm on instinct as he falls to the ground. You both fall in a little heap on top of each other, laughing like crazy.

[roosterforme]

A Love You Don't Find Everyday Part 13 | Rooster x Reader

Summary: You take Bradley's credit card with you to shop for honeymoon attire and decide to give him sneak previews along the way. Then, you make another video to ensure he's well entertained on his deployment.

Warnings: Smut, angst, fluff, and swearing

Length: 3500 words

Pairing: Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw x Female Reader

Check out my masterlist for more!

You were enjoying the most leisurely day, strolling around the mall completely solo. You'd sent Bradley off to play golf at seven o'clock with just a peck on the cheek, and then you'd gone back to bed until nine. Now you were sipping an iced coffee and eating a gigantic cinnamon bun, trying to psych yourself up to try on a bunch of lingerie. 

There were some really beautiful things in the window display, and you definitely wanted to run up a large credit card bill for Bradley. But the fluorescent lighting in the fitting rooms always made you cringe. While you told him last night that you'd send him some photos today, you weren't so sure now. The idea of teasing him with some pictures of honeymoon lingerie where all of your imperfections were highlighted had you grimacing. 

"Maybe it won't be so bad," you murmured to yourself as you tossed your trash and headed into the store. 

Thirty minutes later, you had been set up in a fitting room with a plethora of things to try on. You ran your fingers along satin, lace and silk in every color of the rainbow, but especially a little heavy on the red.

"Okay. Showtime." You stripped all of your clothes off and tried not to look in the mirror as you pulled on a stretchy, red lace mini dress. "Holy shit," you muttered, finally looking in the mirror. Everything looked pretty good, even in the bad lighting. Bradley would probably love this one. 

You snapped a few pictures and selected the best one, texting it to him before you could change your mind. You added the caption:

Let's play a game. Rate all of these on a scale of 1 to 10, and I'll buy some of your favorites. 

As soon as you were fastening a black bra, he wrote back.

Bradley Rooster Bradshaw <3 <3 <3: holy shit, i almost walked into a sand trap while i was looking at that. 10/10!

You laughed and added the first item to the keeper pile. Then you snapped a few shots of the black bra that you actually loved and could pair with matching crotchless panties. When you sent a photo and asked what he thought about that, you cackled when he responded. 

Bradley Rooster Bradshaw <3 <3 <3: 10/10! for the love of god, i need you to get that set. promise me right now. 

You promised him you'd get it and added it to the keeper pile. When you sent a photo of a white bridal set complete with garters and stockings, he sent back a selfie of himself in the golf cart with his jaw hanging open and his eyes wide. 

Bradley Rooster Bradshaw <3 <3 <3: don't make me beg. i need to be able to take that off you. 11/10.

You were having so much fun with him, but you simply replied by reminding him to reapply sunblock. And then he wrote back begging for more pictures. You tried on one set in both purple and red and asked which one he liked better.

Bradley Rooster Bradshaw <3 <3 <3: red. always red. but get the purple too. does it come in other colors? 12/10. you are killing me here. gotta play six more holes with my dick kinda hard.

You decided to take photos of everything else you were trying on, and send them sporadically throughout the rest of the afternoon while he and the guys were out drinking. You took the massive pile of things you and he both liked to the register, along with something special for tonight. 

"Wow, you found a lot today!" said the cashier and you just laughed. 

"It's mostly for my honeymoon."

"Congratulations! I guess you don't plan on leaving the hotel room with your spouse at all?" she asked with a grin.

You pressed your lips together before muttering, "That's the plan."

She snorted and told you about the boutique website where you could order personalized items as well. "Here, I'll give you a free shipping code. Your total is one thousand two hundred and twenty seven dollars."

You handed her Bradley's credit card with a satisfied smirk. If he wanted you to run up his credit card bill with this stuff, you'd add some personalized items when you got home and make it even worse. 

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

Bradley felt overstimulated and twitchy. You were an absolute menace, sending him photo after photo all day long. You were wearing bras that showed everything. You were wearing sheer dresses that hugged your curves. You were wearing panties that showed off your tattoo. He saved each new image as they arrived, already thinking about using them to jerk off while he was deployed in a few weeks. 

"Why are you so distracted?" Jake asked as Bradley saved a photo of you wearing a red string bikini with the side tied above your tattoo. "Oh, Angel's sending you porn."

Bradley hid his phone screen and glared. "It's not porn," Bradley said, glancing at the photo again. The top was barely covering your nipples. He licked his lips and said, "It's just a bathing suit." 

"That looked like less than a bathing suit," Jake replied, switching out his five iron. 

"Stop looking at it!" Bradley grunted. 

"Stop looking at what?" Payback asked, adjusting his gloves. 

Jake nodded toward Bradley's phone. "His girl sent him dirty photos."

"Lucky," echoed Fanboy, Coyote and Payback in perfect unison.

"They are not dirty photos. She's out shopping," he said, not sure what he was trying to defend here. You were about to become his wife. You loved each other. Nothing was actually inappropriate. "You know what, yeah. She's sending me dirty photos." All the guys put their fists out for a fist bump, except for Bob who was blushing and rummaging around in his golf bag looking for his putter. 

"Come on, Bob," Payback called. "This is fist bump worthy!"

Bob just shook his head. "Don't you guys remember when she yelled at us for being crude? She literally lined us up in their living room and ripped us apart. I'm showing nothing but respect."

"Oh shit, I remember," Coyote said. "It's why we're all jealous of Rooster. She's protective."

Bradley just grinned and passed out some cans of beer for them to all drink during the end of their round of golf.

"Eighteenth hole," he announced, tucking his phone away. "Then bar hopping."

The guys all cheered and headed toward the tee.

And this was precisely why Bradley had always preferred to hang around with Nat. Because even when he was just hooking up with women, back before he met you, he never liked the banter and always tried to keep things like this private. 

Bradley played the last hole terribly as you sent him another photo of you wearing a few scraps of black fabric with garters while he was trying to putt. You were so pretty, bright eyes looking at the camera as if you were really looking at him. He wanted to skip out on the afternoon of drinking, but he knew the guys would never let him live it down. 

So he told you he would be home after they went to the steakhouse for dinner, and you told him not to rush. Apparently you had some online shopping to do.

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

You were going way overboard now with Bradley's credit card, but you couldn't help yourself. This website had the most adorable satin underwear that you could personalize with anything you wanted. You were up to five pairs in your shopping cart and counting. Your favorite ones were going to be embroidered with Daddy's Baby Girl. You even decided to get a blue thong with Mrs. Bradshaw across the front to go under your wedding dress, even though you weren't sure about changing your name yet. 

You yawned and figured you should probably do something with your day besides shop for expensive underwear. So you took Tramp for a walk to the bay, emailed your wedding photographer, did some meal prepping, and made yourself a grilled cheese sandwich doused in hot sauce for dinner. Then you carefully hand washed some of your new lingerie and set aside the items you were going to wear tonight. 

Bradley Rooster Bradshaw <3 <3 <3: i'll be home soon, baby girl. jake's dropping me off

You quickly got changed into the pastel pink bustier and matching thong and pulled your jeans back on. With a grin, you decided the bustier could pass for a top and just left your outfit at that. Tramp started barking as Jake pulled into the driveway, and a moment later, Jake was following Bradley inside. 

"I told you to reapply sunblock!" you said immediately, taking in both sunburned men. "You guys look like lobsters."

Bradley wrapped his arms around you and started kissing your neck. "It's just a little pink," he insisted, running his fingers along your top and smiling. "You look pretty."

"And you look sweaty and smell like cheap beer."

"You love cheap beer," Bradley insisted, making you laugh.

"How much did you drink?"

He nodded his head and sighed. "Plenty. But I'm fine, Sweetheart."

Jake walked past and messed up your hair on his way to the kitchen. "I'm just getting some water and then I'm leaving," he insisted. "I can tell the Bradshaws need some time alone."

"Never stopped you from hanging around and being annoying before," Bradley told him as he looked down at your chest with interest. "Did you buy this today?" he asked softly. "You must have. I know your inventory by heart."

You nodded. "Do you like it?"

"Mmhmm."

"Feel like making another video?"

"Hell yes."

"Go get in the shower, Roo."

You watched him dash into your bedroom just as Jake walked back out of the kitchen with a water bottle. "I'm not gonna stay, Angel," Jake drawled, taking a sip of water. "Just wanted to say you looked real nice in that red bikini," he said, ducking out of the way of your hand aiming to smack him.

"How did you see it?" you asked, pushing him toward the front door while he howled with laughter. 

"He had his phone out all day, mooning over the smut you were sending him! It was right there on the screen!"

"Go away. Goodbye. Thanks for driving Bradley home. See you on Monday," you said, pecking him on the cheek before shoving him out the door. 

By the time you got to your bedroom, Bradley was walking out of the ensuite with a towel wrapped around his waist. He was sunburned and tipsy and so endearingly adorable, you started giggling. 

"My phone battery is almost dead, Baby Girl. Please tell me yours is good to go," he said, leaning against the doorframe, looking at you with one eyebrow raised. 

"Yep, My phone is good to go. Are you good to go, Roo? I can't tell if your cheeks are rosy from the sunburn or the drinks," you said, teasing his abs with your fingers. 

"I'm always good to go for you," he promised, and you knew it was the truth. 

You unwrapped the yellow towel from his waist and licked your lips at the sight of him half hard. "Go get in bed," you whispered, and he was on his way. He watched you shimmy out of your jeans and grab your phone. You crawled up the bed next to him and whispered, "You want me to be your bratty little slut again tonight? Or are you going to be my Daddy?"

He pulled you close and kissed you. "I get to choose?" 

"Yeah," you told him with a wink. "A special treat to take on your deployment."

He was rubbing his hands along your bustier and down over your butt. "Well, I already have a video with my bratty little slut," he said, and you watched his cock jump against his thigh. "Daddy wants to play tonight. You look like a little princess in this color."

You moaned against his mouth. "Sounds good to me," you said, fiddling with your phone and letting him hold it as he started recording you. You watched Bradley grin as he pushed your underwear aside a bit to record you shaking your hips with your tattoo exposed. "Did you just call me a princess?" 

"Yeah," he grunted as you wrapped your hand around his length. "Daddy's little princess, all pretty in pink."

For a moment you marveled over the fact that you had an easier time slipping into the role of a bratty little slut. But after a moment of wiggling yourself along his body, you thought you had the hang of Daddy's princess.

"Daddy, I had such a long day," you said, a whine tingeing the edges of your voice as you straddled his lap and ran your fingers along your lace and satin covered torso. "I am exhausted from spending your money."

Bradley groaned softly, setting goosebumps loose across your skin. "Tell me what you bought, Princess," Bradley instructed, grinding his cock against the front of your panties. He ran his thumb along your bottom lip, parting them and coaxing you to lick the tip. "And then tell Daddy he's allowed to do whatever he wants with you."

You sucked on his thumb. Bradley was the hottest thing in the world. As you listed off some of the things you bought with his credit card, Bradley gently wrapped one hand around the front of your neck and then pulled the pink fabric of your underwear to the side, letting his cock glide through your wetness. You only briefly recognized that he had propped your phone up to record everything before you got lost in him completely. 

"And how much of my money did you spend, Princess?" he asked, his raspy voice making you even wetter as he licked his lips. 

"Two thousand dollars," you gasped as his big hand slipped lower on your neck and trailed over the tops of your breasts. 

He tsked with his tongue and shook his head. "That's not enough."

"I was supposed to spend more?" you asked, your voice breaking as Bradley slipped his cock inside you. He yanked you closer with his fingers on the back of your neck, and you gasped as he started kissing you. 

"You were supposed to spend all of it. Why does Daddy even work, other than to pamper you, Baby Girl?" You squeezed around his cock just at the mere implication of his words. 

"Are you going to take care of me forever?" you asked softly against his lips as you rode him slowly. He responded by swiping his tongue deep into your mouth and making you moan. 

"As long as you take care of Daddy."

You were whimpering now as your clit was grinding against him with each movement. 

"You can have anything you want," you promised him. And you felt it before you saw it. Bradley ripped the crotch of your pretty, new underwear to get full access to your pussy. He was suddenly fucking up into you hard, the veins in his neck and forehead prominent against his slightly sunburned skin.

"Oh my god!" you hissed, surprised by what he had done. 

But no sooner had you recovered before he was smacking your thighs gently and saying, "Up. Turn around and get on all fours."

You did as you were told, watching his wet length slide out of you, wishing you were allowed to lick him. But that's not what Daddy wanted. 

When you were on your hands and knees in front of him, he pushed your face down against the bedding before kissing and licking all along your wet slit and rear end from behind. 

"You didn't listen, Princess," he said before lapping his tongue against you. "Gotta spank you."

He landed one hard slap on your butt before you could even respond. "Daddy," you whined as he spanked you again and again. You felt feverish with need while he spanked you and scolded you for not spending enough money on honeymoon attire. You were clenching around nothing as he told you to go back to the store and replace the underwear that was now just a piece of elastic around your waist. 

He spanked you harder as he said, "If you're my Princess, you can have anything you want."

"I want you to fuck me!" you almost screamed as his hand landed on you again. But you knew he wasn't going to do that yet. Rather he lightly spanked your pussy from behind, his fingers hitting your wet clit as you whined. 

Then he shoved two long fingers deep inside you without warning and leaned up to press his lips to your neck right below your ear. You almost cried when he whispered, "What's my name?"

"Daddy!" Your broken yell filled the room. "I want you to fuck me, Daddy!"

His cock replaced his fingers immediately, and he fucked you hard, your cheek pressing into the bed. But the spanking only paused momentarily. He grabbed you around your waist with his left hand, getting a handful of you just below your bustier while he landed a stinging slap on your already overworked skin. All while slamming into you. 

"You didn't do what Daddy wanted."

"Please." You were almost crying, and you wanted to cum so badly. "I'll do whatever you want."

"You go back to the store and spend more money. I want you wearing something new for me each day on our honeymoon. No exceptions." 

You tried your best to verbally agree with him, and soon he wrapped his fingers around to tease your clit instead of spank you. With just a few swipes of his talented fingers, you came hard, a few of your tears trailing along your nose to the bedding. 

The familiar sound of Bradley cumming inside your pussy had you smiling at last as he filled you up. He wrapped both arms around you and yanked you up flush against his chest. "You really are Daddy's little Princess, Baby GIrl."

You moaned softly as he kissed along your bare shoulder. "Occasionally I'm your bratty little slut."

"I love you," he promised, and he let you lay against him as he eased back against the pillows, his cock still buried inside you.

"My ass is throbbing, Roo," you whispered with a soft laugh as he ran his mustache along your neck. 

"But you did so good. I'll get you in the bath in a minute, Sweetheart."

You just relaxed back into his embrace while he touched and kissed you. "I hope you enjoy that video while you're deployed." You kissed along his tattoo and ran the tip of your nose across the pretty script writing.

"I can guarantee I will," he promised, finally reaching for your phone to end the video. 

You turned and smiled at him when he said, "And now I have several minutes of us cuddling together to watch as well. I might watch that part the most."

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

Bradley scooped you up and carried you to the bathroom, setting you on the edge of the tub while he got the water ready for you. He wasn't kidding; he'd always do his best to take care of you and give you anything you wanted. Because you tried to take care of him, too. And you were really all he wanted. 

"Climb in, Sweetheart," he whispered, and he watched you unfasten what was left of that sinfully hot lingerie and sink into the water. "I'm sorry I ripped your underwear."

You started laughing as you turned to look at him. "You're not sorry!"

He grimaced. "I'm a little bit sorry. Buy a new one. You still have my credit card." He knelt on the floor next to the tub and helped you get settled.

"I'll buy a new one next week when I go back to the store to ensure I have something new to wear for all ten days of our honeymoon. Daddy told me I had to."

Bradley actually felt himself blushing. He liked it when you called him that even when it wasn't exactly part of foreplay or bedroom activities. You were making him feel so substantial in your life. 

"Roo, next weekend is Halloween," you whispered as he sat on the floor and watched you wash your arms while Tramp curled up in his lap. "Gotta start planning our party."

"We're really having it? I thought maybe you brought that up just to distract Cam and Maria from the wedding conversation?" he absentmindedly stroked Tramp's ears, completely mesmerized by you. 

"We're really having it. And I know just what our costumes can be," you said with a playful look in your eye.

"Tell me," he whispered, leaning toward you and kissing your nose. 

"Well... I think you can get away with wearing part of your dress whites for your costume..."

He smiled. "Okay, sounds good so far. I love it when you take my uniforms off of me. But what's your costume?"

You just chuckled and said, "Oh, you'll like it. And it comes with three wishes for me to grant for you."

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

Making another video....oof, I love them. Happy Halloween? Any costume guesses?

PART 14

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[rhoorl]

Delta Landscaping | Chapter 16: The Countdown

Series Masterlist | Chapter 16 A03 Link

Word Count: 8.8k

Previously on As the Mule Falls: Benny and Vanessa went on a date. We learned a bit about a woman from Santiago’s past. Frankie got things prepared for a little weekend trip up to Atlanta to celebrate a big milestone.

In this Episode: Another Benny-heavy episode as the guys get him ready for fight night. Similar to the last episode, we’ll jump through time and will end the Saturday before Benny’s fight. We also have another neighborhood party!

Chapter Warnings: This one is pretty fluffy, just some swearing. Special thot warning - Cousin Joel, Marcus being a sweet brother-in-law, the boys spending time at the gym. Frankie in his menace era. Benny is a flustered, adorable mess. David comes with his own warnings. 

*Cue the theme music and roll opening credits*

11 Days to Fight Night 

David: Ok since when has Will had a motorcycle?! Katie you have to keep us updated on stuff like this.

Megan: If we had a neighborhood newsletter it'd be the lead story this week 😂

Ty: Don’t give him any ideas…

Katie: Sorry…he just got it

Olivia: Have you taken a ride yet?

Melissa: 💀

Olivia: On the motorcycle

Oliva: Shit! 🫣

Ty: I thought for a second D took your phone 

Megan: 😆 aw Liv, we love you never change.

Oliva: Quick someone please change the subject. I am so sorry Katie!

Katie: 😘

David: Anyone up for another party? We haven’t welcomed the new neighbors yet.

Megan: Lulu and I were actually talking about that!

Lucille: Yes! I am happy to host! Maybe this weekend? 

David: Theme?

Megan: Do we need one? 

David: ….

Megan: The theme is Lucille is going to cook us a bunch of food and play great music. And dancing!

Ty: Ay dios mio. He’s already getting a mood board together.

Lucille: Megan - can you talk with Victoria? See what night works for them. 

Megan: Great idea! Katie you’re in charge of the boys!

David: I’m not jealous at all 🙄

Frankie propped his elbow up on the armrest and looked out the window as the plane made its descent. The early morning flight meant there were actually a few open seats, including the one next to him in the exit row, for which he was grateful.

His weekend trip reinvigorated him. It went as perfectly as he could have imagined it, save for the constant rain but even that wasn't a problem since it meant they got to stay in. All the anxiety he felt leading up to the trip about revealing parts of his past to Jo evaporated the second she took his hand, rubbing her thumbs across his knuckles. She appreciated Frankie's openness and willingness to share some of the deepest, darkest parts of his past. But what meant the most was when she said how proud she was of him for reaching his milestone. 

The distance was not ideal. All they wanted to do was spend every day, every moment with each other. He wanted to wake up to legs tangled and sheets rumpled. She wanted to surprise him at his job one day with lunch. They wanted to cook dinner together at night and settle in and watch a movie or play a game.

But for now, their physical time together would be relegated to a more sporadic schedule. She was gearing up for a busy time at work, but they made plans for the following weekend for Benny's fight. Frankie was already counting down the days when he could see her and introduce her to everyone. That thought brought a smile across his face; the pride he'd feel about showing off his girl.

He was so lost in his own thoughts that he didn't even realize they were landing until the wheels hit the tarmac. He quickly pulled out his phone, knowing exactly who his first text would be to. 

Frankie: Just landed. Miss you.

Jo: Good! I miss you too. Got to the office a little bit ago.

Frankie: You weren't late right?

Jo: Nope, all good! Gotta go to this meeting but tell Benny I said hi!

Frankie: Have a good day mi cielo. Talk later

Jo: xoxo

10 Days to Fight Night

“Fish, can you help me with something real quick?” Benny panted as he racked up the bar onto the squat rack.

“With what?”

“Can you…uh…take a picture?” He turned around, offering Frankie his phone.

Frankie furrowed his eyebrows. “A picture? Of what?” 

Benny’s eyes looked left and right. “Um…me?” 

“Can’t you just do like a selfie or somethin’?” Frankie leaned against the weights.  

“No…it’s more of an…action shot. C’mon Fish, it’ll take two seconds.” Benny walked over to an open space, peeling off his shirt so he was left in just his black basketball shorts. He flipped his baseball cap around and got into a plank. “Just take a couple of me doing pushups.”

“Por amor a díos, Benjamin. What the hell?” Frankie shook his head laughing.

“C’mon, Fish,” he grunted through another rep, the pendant of his chain hitting the floor each time. 

Frankie tried his best, even bending down on one knee to get a better angle. “Ok…see what you think.” 

Benny chewed on the inside of his cheek as he scrolled through the mostly blurry photos. He was about ready to prop up the phone against a dumbbell and try it again but managed to find a clear one that showed off the definition in his shoulders. “Good, thanks, man.”

“Hey…um…think you could… never mind, it’s dumb.” Frankie rubbed the back of his neck, walking back towards his water bottle. “Who’re you taking that for anyway?”

“It’s for uh…my Instagram…damn that sounds really fuckin stupid to say out loud. I'm a grown-ass man,” Benny chuckled. 

“Hoping that someone in particular sees it?” Frankie raised an eyebrow, lightly punching Benny in the arm.

“Yeah…kinda,” Benny blushed, eager to change the subject. “What? Like you don't send any pictures to your lady.”

“Uh…that’s actually what I,” Frankie sighed, shaking his head as Benny’s face lit up with the realization of what Frankie was trying to ask about earlier.

“Oh hell yeah, Fish! Tryna show off all that hard work aren't ya,” he winked, slapping Frankie in the stomach. 

Despite the focus on Benny and getting him in ring shape, Frankie reaped some benefits from their daily gym trips too. Recently he noticed his shirts fit a bit tighter across his chest and arms, a fact Jo was all too pleased about during his little weekend getaway. 

They'd exchanged photos over the past couple of weeks, but they had been pretty tame. Mostly silly selfies as they went about their day. This morning, however, Frankie did manage to send one of himself shirtless, brushing his teeth which seemed to get quite the reaction. He was having fun and feeling playful.

“Can you help me?” He looked over at Benny who sported a lopsided grin.

“Hell yeah!” He led Frankie back to the locker room. They stood in front of the mirror as Benny gave him tips on how to pose and hold the camera, taking a couple of his own to show as an example.  

“I dunno man, this feels kinda dumb,” Frankie winced, looking at himself in the mirror. 

“Stop it…she’s gonna love it. You’re lookin’ good these days, Fish, show it off!” Benny shook him by the shoulders, making Frankie’s shy smile grow more confident. “I’m tellin’ ya, send her one of those and you’re in for a good night later,” he winked.

Nine Days to Fight Night 

Will and Santiago finished the work on Melissa's backyard earlier than expected thanks to some extra help from Connor. It was perfect timing, with a little over a week before Benny’s fight. All the guys rallied around Benny, helping him prepare however they could.

Today started with an early morning jog around the neighborhood. Benny, Will, and Connor ran together, the younger boy pushing the older two to keep a faster pace. Frankie followed on a bike, barking out encouragement. Meanwhile, Santiago sat on the Millers’ front porch drinking a coffee and reading the paper, giving the guys a little wave each time they came around the block.

“Nice, that was your fastest yet,” Frankie stopped the bike and clicked off the stopwatch.

Benny stood bent over trying to catch his breath while Will took off his shirt to wipe the sweat off his brow, tucking it into the waistband of his red gym shorts. Santiago strolled down the driveway with some water bottles as David drove by, giving a polite wave. 

“It was all this guy,” Benny panted, patting Connor on the chest. “Your coach is gonna make you run the drills this season man,” he chuckled.

“Happy to help. You feeling good?” Connor asked as he took the cold bottle from Santiago. 

“Yeah. Cardio wise I feel great.”

“You testing out that cardio in your free time?” Santiago smirked as Frankie smacked him on the back of the head, cutting his eyes over to Connor.

“He hasn't even kissed her yet,” Will added before dodging out of the way and hiding behind Frankie to avoid a slap from Benny. The guys broke out in a fit of laughter as Benny blushed. 

“She’s excited about the fight,” Connor said as he took a long drink of water, eliciting confused looks from the guys. “What? She cut my hair earlier this week so it came up. Thanks for noticing by the way,” he teased as he removed his baseball cap and ruffled the top of his hair.

Santiago assessed Connor’s haircut with a sharp nod, approving Vanessa’s handiwork. “Looks good, kid. Maybe I’ll go and see what those hands can do.” He winked at Benny, getting a sense of glee at seeing his fist ball up and his nostrils flare.

Oblivious, Connor continued, “She gave an awesome scalp massage, she has long nails so it helps to…” He stopped when he saw all the guys looking at him with blank stares. Benny’s mouth twisted while the others tried to hold in their laughter. Finally, Will’s snort made them all bust out laughing. 

“Better be careful there C,” Will smirked. 

“Oh…ah…sorry Benny, I swear I didn’t mean it like that,” he winced, fearing he’d offended Benny.

Benny clenched his jaw, before taking a deep breath. “All good lil dude,” he patted Connor on the back. “I’m used to these guys being assholes…so…what did you guys talk about?” He raised his eyebrows.

More relaxed now knowing Benny wasn’t mad, Connor told them about how she seemed excited to watch Benny but a bit nervous too. “She mentioned something about how Victoria is going to be there to help too?”

Benny shifted from one foot to another, feeling butterflies in his stomach at the thought of her excited to see him in action. “She…uh…yeah, Vic’s gonna help tape me up before the fight, you’re off the hook, Fish.”

“Ha, I see what you did there!” Connor laughed as they all groaned.

“You've been over there every night this week,” Will observed, taking a long drink of water. 

“Vic has been doing some treatments…to help me with recovery. Now that I’m getting older, I'm feeling it a lot more than I used to…now I know how you all must feel,” Benny smirked.

“Vanessa hasn't been helping you with some extra um…treatmen-” Santiago could barely get it out before bursting into another fit of laughter.

“Hey, you boys are having too much fun,” Lucille joked as she wheeled her trash bin to the curb. 

“Lulu, qué estás haciendo? Trash comes tomorrow not today,” Frankie knitted his brows taking the bin from her and walking it back up her driveway. 

“I thought so, but David told us it was a special day and to take it out to the curb right away and…well never mind,” she shook her head. “You boys are coming over on Saturday, right?”

“Wouldn't miss it for the world, Lulu,” Will regarded her with a soft smile. 

“Are you cooking Lulu?” Benny's hopeful look made her laugh.

“Sí mi amor, I am starting today. And I'm making some extra empanadas just for you…although I hear I have some competition,” she winked.

“What? Someone else is making empanadas?” Benny scoffed. “Doesn't matter, I know where the best ones are made darlin’.”

“Ah well, vamos a ver, I think you may like these more…you boys going to the gym?”

“Yeah, one last hard workout today and tomorrow, and then it's all maintenance, right Benjamin?” Frankie clapped a hand on Benny's shoulder.

“You're coming next week to watch right, Lulu?” Benny's puppy dog eyes made the biggest smile come across Lucille's face. 

“Por supresto mi vida, I’m looking forward to it.”

Eight Days to Fight Night 

Today’s gym session was especially fun because everyone got into it. Connor and Benny started off alternating between jumping rope and running sprints on the treadmill. Of course, they had to make it competitive and see who could jump rope the longest without messing up or who could run for the fastest speed on the treadmill. 

Santiago and Frankie spent time lifting, getting a chance to catch up on each other's week. Will went off to a corner to do an ab circuit. When Benny finished his cardio, he and Will faced each other on the ground to do one of their patented Miller Push-Up Contests. They'd started doing this as kids and it became something Benny would do to lift everyone's spirits during missions. 

Each time they came up for a pushup, they extended one arm out to slap hands before going down for another push-up. Will rolled his eyes because Benny wanted to push the pace rather than go at the slow and methodical one Will set. Like always, they ended up play fighting, with Benny putting Will in some kind of WWE-style hold.

“Ok, ok you two break it up,” Frankie chuckled. “C'mon Ben, let's get some sparring in so we can all go eat.”

Seven Days to Fight Night

"Bean what the fuck is a 'thirst trap' and why did Sarah say she saw it on your Instagram? Jesus I don't even know what half of that shit even means," Joel muttered to himself, pinching the bridge of his nose as he sat in his truck outside of Steph's house. 

“Oh…ah…I dunno man, you know the kids and how they talk, can't keep up,” Benny tried to laugh it off but Joel pressed on until he finally revealed what that phrase meant.

“What kind of picture you posting Ben? My daughter, your niece, is on that app!”

“No, no, it's just a selfie in the mirror at the gym. I had my shirt off, it's what she'd see at the beach, man, nothing worse than that.”

“Hmm…” Joel rolled his eyes, “It's not you I'm worried about…why'd you post that anyway? Not enough havin’ all those stay-at-home moms at the gym goin' crazy for you.”

Benny could practically see the smirk on Joel's face. He knew he could try and bullshit his way around this, but Joel would get the truth out one way or another. “I…shit this sounds so fucking silly, I'm almost 40 for fuck’s sake, but…I was kinda doing it hoping someone would see it.”

“Someone in general or some specific? Is it for Nox?”

“Who the fuck is Nox?”

“Your girl…you said she drove an Equinox, so I’ve been calling her that in my head,” Joel chuckled.

“Nox…” Benny tilted his head. “You never gave Amy a nickname...”

“You didn't answer the question, Bean.” Joel countered.

Benny leaned back in his dining room chair, pausing from the drawing he was absentmindedly shading as he talked with Joel. “Yeah,” he said softly.

“Ha, I knew it. Trying to remind her what she's missing when you're not around?”

“Ahh…well…”

“Y'all’ve done stuff right? Will said you've been at her place like every night this week.”

“No man…I…we almost kissed last weekend but her sister and brother-in-law got home from their date night,” Benny scratched his scalp as he continued, “I dunno…I haven't felt nervous like this around a girl like…ever.”

“Well, she sounds special Bean…I'm looking forward to meeting her.”

Benny sat up straighter in his chair, “when's that gonna be?” He eagerly anticipated Joel's response.

“Well, that's kinda why I called. Dropped Sarah off at Steph's for her two weeks and we got to talkin’…the county is draggin’ its feet on these permits and some of the materials we need for this job are back ordered so I'll have some downtime while Sarah is with Steph…looks like it's going to line up with your fight.”

“Holy shit! You're coming? Fuck yeah!” Benny pumped his fist in the air.

Joel chuckled, “knew that would get you excited. You actually have Steph to thank for this one, she made the decision for me…says I need to take a vacation.”

“I can't remember the last one you went on.” 

Joel shook his head, “Hey Tommy, Sarah, and I went tubing last summer…or was that two summers ago…”

“My point exactly J, plus that wasn't a vacation. So is Tommy coming with you too?”

“That's the plan, as long as he doesn't do anything stupid.” Joel rubbed his eye with the heel of his hand. 

“Oh shit, it's gonna be a hell of a week with you two down here.”

Joel smiled as he drove, listening to Benny go on and on about the different things he wanted to do while his cousins were in town. 

“...and Pope mentioned this cigar shop, we were thinking of getting some to celebrate but I dunno I don't wanna jinx anything and -”

“Ohhhkay Bean, gonna stop you there. I'm about to head in to grab some food. We'll chat later…try and I dunno dance with Nox at the party tomorrow night, put on that Miller charm.”

Six Days to Fight Night

“Mmm, it smells so good in here hermanita,” Victoria walked through the door with Nico and Mariella in tow. 

“Thanks, got the last batch going,” Vanessa said over her shoulder, careful not to take her eyes off the hot oil. 

“Oooo Tia you made empanadas?” Nico bounded over, getting his hand slapped by his mom for reaching for the tray Vanessa had already neatly assembled.

“It's ok Vic, he can take one. Here mi amor take from this plate, those are the guava y queso ones.”

“My favorite! Gracias, Tia!” He managed to say between bites. 

“Cooking up quite the storm huh?” Victoria regarded the counter which included a glass dish full of boiled yucca, a container of citrus-garlic mojo, two types of empanadas, and a tres leches cake.

“We can't show up empty-handed,” Vanessa fished out the last empanada and placed it on the paper towel-lined plate.

“Well you know what they say…fastest way to a man's heart is through his stomach,” Victoria giggled as Vanessa rolled her eyes. “Speaking of his stomach, d’you see his Instagram? Ay Papi! She wiggled her eyebrows. 

Vanessa blushed as she started packing up the empanadas into containers. “Um…yeah…I mean, I think I saw it when I was scrolling.” In reality, Vanessa set up notifications for Benny’s posts, so she immediately saw yesterday’s gym selfie. Not wanting to seem too eager, she waited about an hour or so after he posted before she actually liked it. 

“Hmm…sure. Anyways, what are you wearing tonight?”

Vanessa sighed, “I don’t know…it’s a casual backyard party so nothing too fancy.”

“C’mon,” Victoria grabbed her sister’s hand and pulled her up the stairs holding Mariella on her hip. “Vamos, Nico…let’s help Tia figure out what to wear tonight.”

Frankie took a deep breath as he looked at himself in the mirror. Benny's words from the other day were in his head encouraging him to show off all of the hard work he'd been putting into the gym. As he contemplated which of his colorful, silky buttoned-downs to wear, a thought popped into his head. Earlier, Jo sent him a picture of her outfit before she headed out for the night with a friend. She looked gorgeous, but of course, she did. That photo would be in his head all evening, so he thought it would be fun to return the favor. 

He pushed back from the mirror and pulled the bill of his baseball cap down low so that just his mouth was visible. He checked the angle of his phone making sure he was in the frame before looking down and snapping a couple of photos. He sighed as he scrolled through them. This was so unlike him, but he had to admit, it was kind of fun. He got a little rush of doing this for her, curious what her reaction would be. Having fun like this, being silly and carefree and just being in…love? Is that what he was feeling? It had been so long.

“Alright, let’s see what you think baby…” he muttered to himself as he hit send, immediately putting the phone down on the counter and walking back to his closet to figure out which shirt to wear. 

Bucky enthusiastically greeted Katie as she walked into Megan's house. He was excited to see her, sure, but he was more excited about the tray of little Cuban sandwich sliders in her hands.

“Bucky, no no this isn't for you…maybe your mom can give me one of your t-r-e-a-t-s instead,” she winked as Bucky jumped up on her legs. “Ohhh ok, note to self, he knows how to spell,” she laughed, rounding the corner into the kitchen where Megan and Connor were getting their stuff packed up.

“He acts like we never feed him,” Megan laughed. “You've got it good my man,” she looked down at Bucky who gave her big puppy dog eyes. “Don't…ugh dammit it works every time,” she laughed as she grabbed a Milkbone. “Damn you Benny Miller. He got Bucky addicted to these damn things so I had to go to Costco to get more,” Megan gestured to the new treat container as Connor snorted.

“Speaking of Benny, how’s it going with the training, C? Katie leaned against the counter.

Connor sat at the kitchen table, “Oh pretty good. I feel like this week it's all really clicked for Benny. He seems to be having fun. Plus he got some good news, so that put him in an even better mood.”

“News? What news? Ooo something about Vanessa?” Megan asked.

Connor absentmindedly scrolled his phone, “Nah, no it's about his cousins from Texas they're coming to town.”

Megan and Katie looked at each other, a smirk forming across Megan's face. “Cousins from Texas huh?”

“Yeah, Benny was excited about it,” Connor added.

“I guess we'll see if all of Melissa's detective work paid off huh?” Katie tried to sound neutral but she knew Megan was onto her.

“You gonna give David that bit of news or am I?” Megan raised an eyebrow.

“I mean, your kid was the one who had that little tidbit, so it's all yours Meg,” she winked.

With Frankie headed to a party at Lucille's tonight, Jo finally took her neighbor Bea up on her invitation to join her and some friends for a trivia night at a local brewery. They finished the first round and awaited the results, so she had time for a quick trip to the restroom. She checked her phone out of habit, not expecting to see any messages from Frankie. Her stomach did a little flip when she saw she had a message from him – and a photo at that. Intrigued, she leaned against a wall and looked over her shoulder to make sure no one could see her phone. 

Frankie. Without a shirt. Wow, he looked good. And the part that made the slick start to pool between her legs was the little smirk she could see from under his baseball cap. It reminded her of a week ago, looking up at him as he was buried inside her, one of her legs wrapped around his waist. She pushed her thighs together for some relief before responding.

Jo: 🫦

Jo: Benny is teaching you well there Morales

Frankie: Thought you might like that

Jo: Call me later 

Jo: Actually, we should FaceTime 😈

Giving herself one last look in the mirror, Vanessa fussed with her hair before heading downstairs. She could hear Victoria going over the kid’s nighttime routine with their cousin Maria, who agreed to come over and watch them for the evening. She smiled when she saw Nico lying on the couch playing a game on his tablet, watching him as she turned the corner into the kitchen, she nearly ran into Marcus. 

“Vandy!” He narrowly avoided crashing into her and took a step back to take her in. “Wow…you look beautiful,” he leaned down to kiss her cheek. “He’s going to love it.” He whispered in her ear.

She shyly smiled, “It’s not too much?” 

“No, you look perfect.” He winked as he walked over to the kitchen island to help pack up the food they were taking to Lucille’s.

“You don’t look too bad yourself Buck, is that the guayabera Tio Gerardo got you?”

Marcus looked down at his black linen dress shirt, “Yeah this is the one. Some of the guys wear these to the office and now I see why, they’re comfortable as hell,” he chuckled.

Lucille hadn’t thrown a party like this in ages. It felt nice to have the house full of people, the music playing, and the aroma of food wafting throughout. She was thankful to the boys for helping her get the backyard in order. Frankie and Benny set up a beautiful display of twinkling string lights among her trees while Will and Santiago and Connor constructed a dance floor and moved furniture out of the way.

A group congregated in the kitchen, David holding court as he took stock of all of the delicious food Lucille had on the menu. He let out a loud whoop as the Delta Force guys arrived. All of the neighbors showered them with hugs and warmth. In their own ways, each of the guys relished this. It was nice to have people genuinely excited to see them. 

Everyone decided to take the party outside, helping to carry out various dishes and containers. Once everything was set, Benny reached into a cooler to grab a beer. He heard Lucille excitedly announce that the guests of honor were there. Turning around, he immediately locked eyes with Vanessa, like a magnet that found its other half. He let out a breath as he saw her. Fuck, she looks beautiful, no idiot, she looks gorgeous, he thought to himself. Will patted him on the back, but Benny couldn’t hear what he said. It was like everything was in slow motion. 

Vanessa wore a simple forest green wrap dress with a floral pattern that hugged her curves in all of the right places. The straps of the garment were delicate and the neckline formed a modest v, showing just enough cleavage to leave something to the imagination but also enough to make his mouth water. His eyes honed in on her collarbone, wondering what it would be like to pepper kisses along it as he moved his way up her neck to behind her ear and…

“Ben? Earth to Ben?” Santiago chuckled next to him.

Benny shook his head to bring himself back to the present. “Hmm?”

“You’re staring, Bean. Put your tongue back in your mouth and go over there and say hi.” Will added as Frankie smirked. 

“Shit. Yeah, ok.” Benny smoothed the front of his short sleeve blue button down, undoing another button because it suddenly felt like it was a thousand degrees outside despite it being a very pleasant evening. 

A crowd formed around the new arrivals with everyone eager to welcome them to the party. Benny made a beeline to Vanessa waiting impatiently but respectfully as David chatted with her. 

“Girl! Stunning. Tens across the board on this. I didn’t know you had this little figure on you mama!” David winked. 

“Aw thanks, you look great too!” Vanessa blushed as she caught Benny’s eyes from over David’s shoulder. 

David followed her gaze. “Ah, Benny! Hey, d’you hear we have more empanadas? Vanessa made some too, so now we don’t have to fight over all the ones Lulu made. Although if we did actually fight you’d kick my ass so…” David chuckled.

Benny snorted as David excused himself, taking the opportunity to ask Will about his new motorcycle. “Hi,” Benny looked at her with a soft smile, pushing the hair out of his eyes.

“Hi,” Vanessa replied, a bit shaky. 

For as much as he was in awe of her, she was equally as mesmerized by him. He’d been almost exclusively wearing a baseball cap since they met, so she hadn’t noticed that his hair was getting a little bit longer. His shirt fit him perfectly, showing off all of the hard work he’d put in at the gym. She looked down at his chest, appreciating the fact that he had a few buttons undone. His chain glimmered as it sat nestled into some sparse hair on his chest. He looked like a model and Vanessa couldn’t believe he was standing there talking to her.

“Y-you look absolutely beautiful,” he gave her a quick but appreciative up and down, trying his hardest not to let his eyes linger for too long.

“You clean up pretty good yourself Bun,” she smiled back, brushing some lint off his shoulder. Her stomach did a little flip when he chuckled at the mention of his nickname. 

Benny looked over his shoulder as Marcus and Will moved dishes and plates to make room for the newest additions to the buffet. “D’you make all of that?”

Vanessa nodded, looking down feeling her face getting hot as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Yeah…spent most of the day doing it.”

“Well, I’m excited to taste you…I mean your um…whatever you brought. What ah, what did you make?” Benny rubbed the back of his neck, thankful it was dark outside and she couldn’t fully see how red he was turning. 

“Want me to show you?”

“Absolutely, lead the way boss lady,” Benny winked, letting her walk in front of him so he could check her out, noticing that she put a little extra swish and sway to her hips.

Lucille stopped for a moment as she walked outside with another plate of empanadas and croquettas to refill the trays. She took in the sight of her backyard so full of people, of laughter, of music, it brought a tear to her eyes. She wished her Julio could be there to see how their little neighborhood had grown. With a deep breath, she set down the plate and turned to see everyone starting to hit the makeshift dance floor thanks to David who has commandeered the speakers.

“Vamos bailar Lulu?” Marcus winked, extending his arm out to her which she happily took. 

“Habalas español muy bien Marcus,” she complimented as he led her onto the dance floor.

“Well, I had to learn quickly. Had to know what my mother-in-law and her family were saying about me,” he chuckled.

On the other side of the backyard, David dragged Olivia onto the dance floor, to the cheers of everyone including her husband Chris. They didn’t get out much and were so thankful to Aria for coming over to babysit so they could have a night with their neighbors. Santiago twirled Victoria around, the two keeping up with the quick beat of the song.

In a move that surprised most of the neighbors, Will was eager to get out on the dance floor, bringing Katie along. Although she was a bit unsure of how to keep to the beat, she was pleasantly surprised to see Will take the lead.

“Where'd you learn to dance like this?” Katie giggled as she held one of his hands and lightly rested the other on his shoulder.

“Learned a few things from my exes,” he winked as she rolled her eyes.

“Didn't pass along those tricks to your brother?” She nodded towards Benny who was sulking in the corner nursing a beer as he watched everyone.

Will shook his head as he twirled her, “Tried…we finally found something he's actually not good at,” he chuckled before cutting his eyes over to check in on Benny. With a sigh, he added that Benny's ex used to make fun of him when he tried to dance, one of the countless ways she found to tear him down.

“Aww poor Bean,” Katie pouted, sneaking a look at Benny as Will spun her around again. She noticed Benny's eyes were glued to Vanessa who sat twirling her Solo cup and politely chatting with Ty at a table.

“He'll get his big boy pants on soon,” Will smirked.

“So…your motorcycle is the talk of the neighborhood,” she teased.

“Ha yea,” he twirled her before bringing her back in close. “I have to admit, it's been kinda fun, you should go with me sometime.”

“No way,” Katie shook her head. “Couldn't pay me enough money to do that…but I know someone who would,” she arched her eyebrow. 

“And who is that?” Will looked skeptical.

“Miranda, my coworker. She's been watching this show about a motorcycle gang and it's kind of a thing for her now,” she chuckled, noticing Will's ears getting red. 

Despite the fact that the two of them had moved on from anything romantic, Katie still had love for Will and wanted him to be happy.

“Oh c'mon, I think you'll like her. She's really sweet and super smart.”

“She been helping you with that big presentation for work?’

“Yeah! Poor thing, she's been juggling a lot because of…well, she has a lot of responsibilities at home. But yeah, we both are looking forward to Monday being over with,” she chuckled.

“You gonna dance with her or what?” Frankie leaned against the wall, turning his head to look at Benny who stood chewing on the inside of his cheek and looking down at his feet. He kept missing the occasional hopeful glances Vanessa tossed over her shoulder. Frankie sighed, shaking his head, “Well if you won’t, I will.” He pushed off the wall and strode over to Vanessa.

Vanessa heard someone clear their throat behind her and she felt a lump form in her throat. 

“¿Quieres bailar?”

She tried to hide her disappointment that the voice behind her wasn’t the one she was hoping for. Turning around she saw Frankie looking down at her with a soft smile. He looked so much like her ex she had to do a bit of a double take. “You’re sweet. It's ok, Frankie, I don't really like this song anyway,” she forced a tight smile. 

“C'mon,” he leaned down and lowered his voice, “show him what he's missing.” He offered her his hand with a wink.

Vanessa chuckled to herself and with Ty’s encouragement took Frankie up on his offer. She stood up from the table, smoothed her dress and placed her hand in Frankie's as he led her to the dance floor. Victoria cheered and Lucille clapped as she welcomed the newest couple to the dance floor.

Benny scratched the back of his head and took a long swig of his beer, wishing he could get past his insecurities. He watched everyone carrying on and having fun, but really he was only watching one person. He couldn't take his eyes off Vanessa. The way her nose scrunched as she giggled at something Frankie said, the way she tossed her hair, the way her hips swayed.

Frankie kept a respectful hand at her mid-to-upper back, but still brushed against some of her exposed skin making Benny’s fingers twitch. As she twirled around again he saw her smile, a smile he swore could light up a pitch-black room. He was so caught up in this trance it didn't even register that Megan had walked up next to him.

“You know, you strike me as the kinda guy who is the first one out on the dance floor no matter what the music. Didn’t peg you as the wallflower.”

“I…ah…I’m not a good dancer,” he pulled his lips into a tight line. 

“I don't think she'd care,” she nodded towards the dance floor.

As the song ended and another started, a musical chairs of sorts ensued as everyone switched partners. Marcus kissed Lucille's hand and passed her off to Frankie just as Victoria crashed into her husband's arms in a fit of giggles. Santiago danced with Olivia after Melissa walked away from him, while David whisked Katie around, leaving Will and Vanessa. Even though Will had been nothing but sweet to her, she was still intimidated by him, like she wanted to make a good impression.

“Wanna dance darlin'? I’m not as good as Fish but I can hold my own,” he chuckled, looking down with a shy smile that reminded her of Benny. 

“That's ok, as long as you're having fun that's all that matters,” she smiled, taking his hand.

Somewhere between the second verse and the bridge, Will’s eyes clocked Vanessa stealing a glance over at Benny.

“Dancing isn't really his thing, at least not fast songs like these. For as good as his footwork is in the ring, he's not the most coordinated on the dance floor...’specially when there's a pretty girl in his arms distracting him,” he winked, which made Vanessa's cheeks feel hot. “He just doesn't wanna look dumb, it's nothing on you sweetheart.”

“Thanks, Will. Hey, you know for a gringo you dance really well. Took Marcus forever to learn,” she giggled, making Will break out into a huge grin.

As the song neared its end, Will tried to subtly get Benny's attention while also making sure Vanessa was having fun. Finally, he caught his brother's eyes and gave him a stern look that said get your ass over here now and dance with her. 

Benny finished his beer and took a deep breath, willing his legs to move even though it felt like he had cement blocks tied to his boots. Thankfully, the tempo slowed down considerably for the next song, easing some of Benny's anxiety. 

Vanessa's back was to him as approached, which gave him another chance to admire her even though he could feel Marcus and Victoria's eyes on him. He cleared his throat and tried to muster some of that Miller charm, “S’cuse me miss, this guy bothering you?”

Will smirked, looking down to see Vanessa's face light up at the sound of Benny's voice. He let her go putting up his arms in surrender, “just keepin’ her company waiting for you,” he snorted. “Thanks for the dance darlin’,” Will kissed her hand and made his way over to Olivia since Santiago had bounced to Katie.

“Hi,” Benny smiled, suddenly feeling like a middle schooler who finally worked up the courage to ask the pretty girl to dance. 

“Hi,” Vanessa tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. 

“I…um…” Benny's Adam's apple bobbed up and down, his mind went blank.

“Here, give me your hand, Bun,” Vanessa reached her hand out. She guided his hand to her waist, placing it lower than Frankie or Will's hands had ventured. She rested one hand on his shoulder and with her other she threaded her fingers with his. “There, now rock side to side. See? All good.”

Benny shook his head before a mischievous smile danced across his lips. “Not yet.” His fingers dug firmly into her back as he brought her closer, their bodies flush against each other. She let out a surprised giggle which was music to his ears. “There. Now we're good.”

Vanessa dropped his hand, seeing his brows slightly furrow before relaxing again as she wrapped both of her arms around his neck. They swayed side to side, completely off the beat but it didn't matter, they couldn't hear the music anyway. 

Benny willed himself to keep it together but his eyes fluttered closed when Vanessa started lightly scratching the back of his neck with her fingernails. He wanted so badly to feel her fingers through his hair, to feel her tug on it while he….he took a deep breath and tried to think about puppies or baseball, anything that would distract from the fact that his body was pressed up against hers. An abrupt inhale made Vanessa's eyebrow twitch.

“Are you ok?” She recoiled a bit.

Vanessa's words pulled Benny back to the present. “Hmm?”

“Did you just fall asleep on me?” She chuckled.

“No, no…I'm just really relaxed…the way you're scratching the back of my head, it's um…” He trailed off laughing to himself as he shook his head to rid his mind of the dirty thought that flashed through it. 

“Sorry, I…didn't mean to…” She moved her hands back to his shoulders.

He shook his head and with a smile gently placed her hands back around his neck as his hands then traced down her sides, before finally resting on her hips. “No, it's ok, I like it,” he licked his bottom lip, deciding to test things just a little bit. “You’re just distractin’ me a bit is all…” he looked down at his feet.

“Oh…well, I think you're doing a good job.” 

“You're a sweetheart, but you and I both know I'm shit at dancing,” he said with a lopsided grin.

Vanessa's eyes narrowed as she stopped, bringing her hands down to Benny's biceps. “Don't say that about yourself. I'm having fun. Aren't you?”

The corner of Benny's mouth curled up as he nodded. “Course I'm having fun. I somehow convinced the prettiest girl here to dance with me and my two left feet.” 

Vanessa tried to stay calm and coy, but inside she was exploding at not only what he said, but the way he was looking at her.

“Well, you can't get any better unless you practice right?” 

Benny smirked, feeling bolder seeing her reaction to his flirting, “You tryna help me then? Help me…practice.”

“Maybe,” she bit her bottom lip, their eyes locked on one another.

Benny took a deep breath through his nose as one of his hands snaked its way to the small of her back, resting at the top of her ass. Hearing her breath hitch gave him an extra boost of confidence to affirm he wasn't misreading this entire exchange. “Well, darlin' I wonder if I may bother you for some um…private lessons…you know, so I can get better,” he winked.

Vanessa could feel her heart pounding in her ear drums and the wet spot in her underwear growing. She gave him an up and down and leaned in, nodding so he'd lower his head toward her, “I tell you what, you win your match and,” she leaned in further and whispered in his ear, “let’s skip the lesson and I’ll give you a little private dance instead.”

“Fuuuuck,” Benny let out a shaky breath and Vanessa swore she felt him instantly get hard. His grip tightened on her. She smiled to herself seeing the effect she had on him. I've still got it. 

She giggled and leaned into Benny, resting her head on his chest and they continued to rock back and forth. Her mouth was dangerously close to his chest, thanks to the undone buttons. It took everything in her to remember where she was and who was around because all she wanted to do was grab his chain with her teeth and drag him to the nearest bathroom. She hadn't felt like this about anyone since the early days of dating Luce.

Benny cleared his throat and she looked up to see his Adam’s apple bob up and down as he swallowed, sensing he was a bit flustered. “Y’know, it's gonna be a hell of a long week till Friday knowing that’s what’s waiting for me darlin’, but I'm patient. I can wait,” he winked. “Do I get to pick the song?” He raised his eyebrow which made her giggle.

“Nope.”

They continued to giggle and talk in whispers, as one song bleed into the next and the next. They didn't even realize they were the last two on the dance floor. Looking around Vanessa felt a bit embarrassed, but she saw that everyone else was off talking or eating leaving the two of them in their own little bubble. A yawn escaped, the excitement of the day finally starting to catch up with her. 

“Tired?” Benny looked at her with some concern.

“Yeah a little…woke up early so I could start making the food.”

“You um…going to head home?” Benny asked, a little sad that their evening would come to an end. 

“I should…we're talking the kids to the aquarium, so I could use the sleep,” she smiled. 

Benny cleared his throat before locking eyes on her again, “Mind if I walk you home?”

Her first inclination was to say no, that she could handle walking a few houses down the street by herself. But seeing how earnest Benny looked, she thought she'd take him up on the offer. Plus, she knew Victoria would rip her a new one if she left this hanging. “Yeah, I'd like that.”

Victoria saw Vanessa give her the signal that said she wanted to leave. After 10 years of being in the family too, Marcus picked up and saw it too. 

“Should we start packing up since Vandy is leaving?” He asked.

“Not yet mi amor, I think she has an escort home. I still feel bad that we cock blocked them last week. C'mon let's get another drink,” she winked, squealing a bit when Marcus lightly swatted her ass. 

Normally a fast walker, Vanessa deliberately slowed down her steps to prolong the walk back to the house. She and Benny walked closely side by side, their hands occasionally brushing against each other until one time where Benny reached for her hand and she took it. They both struggled trying to mask the massive grins on their faces.

“I had fun tonight,” Benny looked over. 

“Me too. I really like it here, everyone’s so nice. Feels like it was the right decision to move here.” She whispered to herself.

They walked the rest of the way in silence, just enjoying each other’s company. Occasionally Benny’s thumb would rub up and down her hand.

When they finally reached the Pike residence, Vanessa turned around, still holding Benny’s hand. “Well … this is my stop.”

Benny looked up at the ceiling of the porch with a smile before returning his gaze to her, “Yes this is.” He stepped a little bit closer, hearing her breath hitch. All he wanted to do was cup her cheek and kiss her, but he didn't know if it was too soon…or if he'd be able to control himself because he wanted to do a lot more than just kiss her.

“Y'know I didn't have dancin' on my bingo card for tonight, but I'm glad I was able to check that off.”

“What else did you check off?”

Benny gave a mischievous smile, a playful glimmer in his eye. “Hmm, let's see. David made a comment about Frankie's hair. Check. Delicious food. Check. You played a big role in that last one by the way.”

She blushed at the comment, giddy that he enjoyed the food she made for the party. “I'm happy to cook for you whenever you want.” Her eyes darted back and forth between his as he stepped a little closer. “What…um…what else did you check off tonight?”

Benny snorted, “Melissa avoiding Pope, that counts for two.”

“Sounds like a pretty packed evening.”

“It was…pretty awesome night I'd say. But I am missing one thing I was kinda hoping for.”

“Oh yeah? What's that?”

It was now or never. Benny could hear Joel’s voice in his head telling him to go for it, so he took a deep breath. “A kiss.”

“Well, I'm sure the ladies would line the block if you’re offering,” she smirked.

He shook his head. “No, not just any lady. I had a…uh…very specific one in mind.”

She stepped a little closer as he sucked in a breath. “Tell me about her.”

“Well, she's smokin’ hot,” he said with a lopsided grin which made her giggle. “She's got the most beautiful smile, her laugh instantly makes me feel better, and her eyes…” he trailed off. “Yeah, I can get lost in them. But as beautiful as she is on the outside she's even more stunning on the inside,” he ran his hands down her arms and stopped to take both of her hands in his. “She’s smart and kind. Plus she's an amazing cook. She's kind of a catch.”

Vanessa steadied her breath and smiled, feeling like her heart was going to explode out of her chest. “Well, I didn't think Lucille was your type but I can see it,” she teased.

Benny threw his head back in laughter. She loved seeing the way his entire face lit up when he laughed. 

“No way I'm taking Frankie's girl from him,” he chuckled, licking his bottom lip and returning his gaze to Vanessa.

“Well, this…great catch…seems pretty special. I hope you're able to kiss her.”

“Yeah me too.” He looked down, his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed and mustered up the courage. “Vanessa, I…” he let out a little chuckle, trying to suppress that nervous feeling he felt in his stomach before doing something that scared him.

Ever since he suggested walking her home he thought about kissing her. But seeing her now, the way the soft light of the porch glowed around her, she looked like an angel. And she was looking at him in a way that made him feel like the most important person in the world – a fact that made him feel both unworthy but also like he could conquer any obstacle.

He brought his hand to cup her cheek, his calloused thumb caressing her soft skin. He willed his mind to not wander to how soft she must feel in other places.

“Vanessa…I really like you. And I…” he closed his eyes, shaking his head with a chuckle. Composing himself, he decided to just take the plunge. “Can I kiss you?”

She enthusiastically nodded, knowing she couldn't trust herself to form a sentence. All she wanted to do was kick her feet and squeal with excitement.

“Yeah?” 

“Yes, please,” she whispered.

He slowly lowered his head, wetting his bottom lip with his tongue as he moved his hand from her cheek to her neck. Their lips softly touched, both of them stunned but utterly giddy that they'd gotten to this point. 

Benny pulled away, resting his forehead on hers and nuzzling her nose as they both smiled. “That was…wow…can I do that again?”

Vanessa tugged on his shirt, their lips crashing together. Benny walked her backward, his hand extending out behind her so he could catch the wall, guiding her to rest against it. With one hand still cradling her neck, his other trailed down her body. 

She opened her mouth a bit wider, giving him permission to test the waters further. He softly licked along her bottom lip as started to explore. A soft moan from her was all he needed to push himself right up against her groaning as her hands found his hair and tugged slightly.

From a distance, they could hear some whooping and cheering from Lucille's house, instantly transporting them back to reality and the fact that they were making out on a porch. Benny pulled away, his thumb caressing her kiss-swollen lips. 

“Can't believe we were able to do that without getting interrupted.”

Vanessa let out a soft giggle. “I know…Benny that was…”

“Perfect.”

“Yeah.” She brought her hands down his chest, stopping to play with the pendant at the end of his chain as his hands lightly rested on her waist.

He let out a shaky breath, “I want to kiss you again darlin' but I won't be able to stop,” he smiled as she giggled. “I…um…I want to do this right.” He pulled back, both hands moving to rest on her waist. 

“Me too. I don't want to rush this.”

“And what is…this?” He arched an eyebrow.

“Well, I'd like to explore that, if you're up for it.”

“Yeah, I'd like that.” He kissed her again and he'd never felt more invincible like he could take on anything as long as she was by his side. He trailed kisses down her neck, lightly tracing her collarbone with his tongue, in a move that made goosebumps appear on her skin as she mewled. He kissed up the other side of her neck. “I really can't fuckin wait until I win that fight now,” he whispered in her ear as he grabbed a handful of her ass and grinding his hardened length against her.

It was a miracle she was able to remain standing and not dissolve into an instant puddle. Feeling his warm breath against her ear and hearing the need in his voice, it was intoxicating. They made out a little bit longer, neither one wanting it to end but knowing if they continued things would escalate to a place they both wanted to go, but weren't ready for yet. 

Benny kept trying to say goodbye but ended up kissing her, both of them giggling as they continued to explore with their hands and mouths.

Vanessa pulled back, cupping his face between her hands. “We are definitely going to get interrupted soon, I'm surprised we haven't yet.”

“You're right. Can I see you tomorrow?”

“I'd like that. You get home safely Bun.”

“Yes ma'am.”

Next Time on As the Mule Falls: Friends. The long-awaited arrival of Cousin Joel is here. He arrives in the next chapter oh my am I excited. We’ll also gear up for fight night. 

A/N: Hi! Woof that was a long chapter but we had a lot to get through, didn’t we? I mentioned this after the last chapter, but I’m experimenting with doing a few little side stories/extras for this main series. I’ve written two stories - Strike a Pose (Benny x Vanessa) and Weathered In (Frankie x Jo). You don’t have to read them to keep up with the main story, but they add a little extra to the whole experience. We’re gearing up for a storyline I’ve been tinkering with since the fall and am so excited about it and hope you all love it as much as I do. 

On a personal note, I’m headed out for a work trip and then vacation, so I’m hoping to get some writing done but we’ll see. Until next time! Thank you as always for reading, sharing, or sending me a message about this story!

Taglist: @goodwithcheese / @gemmahale / @trulybetty / @noxturnalpascal / @periodtsparadox / @ramblers-lets-get-ramblin / @maggiemayhemnj / @mysterious-moonstruck-musings / @avastrasposts / @meveispunk / @chaoticfestninja / @beboldbebravethings / @casa-boiardi / @katw474 / @laughing-in-th3-purple-rain / @pimosworld / @lynnchun / @anoverwhelmingdin /@lilmizmoz / @pedrit0-pascalit0 / @titlee78 / @noisynightmarepoetry / @inept-the-magnificent / @perennialdoll247 / @for-a-longlongtime / @readingiskeepingmegoing / @harriedandharassed / @musings-of-a-rose / @anavatazes / @sherala007 / @midnightraain / @partyofone3413 / @inthedarkestnight / @millennial-teenybopper / @csarab615 / @darkheartgatita / @southernbe / @weho2kcmo / @itspdameronthings

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[dakotalun]

The Cabin | Eddie Munson

pairing: Eddie Munson X Fem Reader

summary: The older kids decide to take the weekend off and head down to Steve's parent's cabin.

warnings: none for this chapter, just some mutual pining

word count: 2k

a/n: Been thinking of this idea for years now and finally decided to put it down on paper, or screen ig.

*******NOT MY GIF, CREDIT TO OWNERS*******

Eddie’s POV

Steve has been planning this trip for weeks. I mean, I like the guy and all but he can go a little overboard with things. He has been trying to get us all to come down to his family’s lake house for what feels like forever. Just the older kids, Steve, Nancy, Robin, Jonathan, Y/N and I. He says it’ll be a weekend of games, drinking and fun. Which translated to normal language means, raiding his parents liquor cabinet, smoking some blunts and playing kiddie games like truth or dare, and never have I ever. Not that I mind, I’m just happy to be invited, even if I do have to do a shit ton of manual labor beforehand.

“Come on Eddie, it’s only gonna take a few hours,” Steve pleads with me over the phone.

“Dude exactly, a few hours. Do you know what I could be doing in those ‘few hours’?” I’m walking around the trailer trying to not explode my head off as Steve whines at me. 

“I don’t know, you’d probably get high and sleep, or some shit. Just come on! I really need your van.”

“Nope, not happening,” I plop down on the couch and open my tin lunchobox, ready to roll a joint, “I mean why do you need my van anyways, isn’t your car fine?”

Steve sighs over the phone, “Yes but it’s too small. I need help moving some stuff from my family’s storage locker to the lake house. You know that place you’ll be staying in for the next week!”

I finally get done rolling my joint and scour my tin for a lighter, if I’m gonna help Harrington with this I’ll be needing it, “Ugh fine, just let me get some shit first. I’ll be at yours in 20.”

“Fucking- thank you!” Before I can even say a snarky remark he hangs up.

I groan and throw my head back. I am so gonna regret this later.

---

A few days later I’m with Steve at his house, getting the stuff for the trip finalized. We planned that since my van is bigger than Steve’s tiny ass BMW, I’d be taking all the bags and shit with one passenger and he’d take the other 3 and all the food.

“So I’ll take Nancy, Robin and Y/n. You take Jonathan,” Steve says throwing a bag of chips into a bag.

“Oh hell no. Why do you get all the girls?” “Um maybe because then they’d have to deal with you for 2 hours,” I pick up a pack of marshmallows and throw them at him, “Hey! Fine, take Y/n I don’t care just stop throwing my shit.”

“Thank you,” I walk over to him and sling an arm over his shoulder, “That wasn’t so hard was it big boy?” He pushes me off and I stumble back as the doorbell rings.

“I’ll get it, you finish packing the food.” I straighten my back and put my hand to my forehead like a soldier, “Aye aye Captain!” and solute him as he leaves the kitchen.

I hear him open the front door and the voices of Nancy and Robin. The three of them come back into the kitchen laughing at something Robin had said.

“Sup ladies.”

“Hey Eddie,” They say in unison before turning their attention back to Steve. Before I met them I would’ve thought that they didn’t like me or that they only pretended to be my friend out of pity, now that I know  them, I know that that’s not the case, they simply wanted to finish their conversation with Steve first.

“Hey hey!” The loud bang of the front door wakes me out of my daydream as Jonathan waltz’s into the room. Nancy gives him a quick kiss while he wraps his hand around her waist. 

“So we all reday to go? I can’t wait to go skinny dipping,” He gives Nancy a smirk and wink before he bursts out loud at his own stupidity.

“Yeah pretty much. I just gotta get y’all’s shit into my van and pick Y/n up and we’ll be good.”

“Great. I’ll help load the rest of the stuff into the cars,” Steve heads out of the house with Robin and Nancy’s bags, “Hey Nance and Rob could you put those last few food bags in my trunk please?” Steve yells halfway out of the door.

They both agree in unison before grabbing the bags and heading outside. I sit there for a minute just thinking about what this weekend might intell, firstly I have to spend 4 hours in my van with the girl I have a crush on and secondly, I have a whole week of being with her, and my other friends but this is the longest we’ve hangout together and it’s not like I can just hop in my van and drive away when I do something stupid. I shake my head and join my friends outside, shutting the front door on my way out.

---

I pull up to Y/n’s house not even 5 minutes after calling her that I’m on the way. I see her parent’s cars in the driveway and pull up behind them. I jump out my van and rush to her door, maybe a little too eager to see her. I knock 3 times before the door is swinging open and I’m greeted with the big, bright smile that I like so much.

“Hey Eds! You got here quick, let me just grab my bags real quick, stay there,” She turns and her scent wafts in my face a little, she smells like vanilla and flowers. I wonder what she uses, vanilla shampoo and floral perfume? Maybe it’s in both, vanilla and flowers in body wash, shampoo, and perfume?! God what I would give to find out.

***

Y/N’s POV

I leave the door open as I run into the living room to grab my bags. I try my best to conceal the blush rushing to my cheeks upon seeing Eddie. I've never seen him in a muscle tee before, and if I’m being honest he looks hot as hell.

I quickly say goodbye to my parents and head back to the foyer, I don’t wanna waste another second here. I close the front door behind me and I feel a hand on my duffel bag as I turn back towards Eddie.

“I’m just gonna put these with the others in the back, go ahead and get comfy in the car,” He walks off towards the van, unlocking the doors for me to hop in.

“Actually,” I grab my small backpack from him, “I’m gonna keep this one with me.”

“Alright,” He walks off towards the back of his van.

Once I get in the car I set my bag down at my feet, opening it to get out my blanket and book. Eddie rounds the corner of the car and hops in along side me, buckling his seatbelt before starting the engine.

“Did you really bring a blanket?” He give you a small smile at the thought that I’d be prepared with a blanket for this ride.

“Yes I did. It was my grandpa’s so I bring it with me on trips. Don’t judge me.” I scowl at him but then flash him a little smile back.

Eddie’s heart warms at the thought of me being so close to my grandparents that I keep their things even after they are gone, “Hey no judgement here,” He holds his hands up in mock surrender, “if I had stuff from my grandparents I’m sure I’d keep it too.”

I laugh a little and Eddie pulls out of my driveway beginning the long journey to Steve’s lake house.

---

Roughly half an hour into the drive I start to get a little bored and hungry so I riffle around in my bag to find the cheez-its and book I packed. Upon finding them you pull your feet up on the chair and begin reading and eating your snacks. 

You’ve always loved road trips, especially in the summer, the way you can just let the windows down the warm air blowing in your hair cooling you down while also keeping you at a nice temperature. This was no different, other than it was with Eddie, not your parents. It felt good to be with Eddie listening to his music as it plays over the speakers and hearing his rings knock against the steering wheel as he taps along to the beat of the song.

You feel relaxed, and happy. A feeling you haven’t really felt much recently. School had become really stressful with all the college applications and decisions to be made. And then getting ready for all the AP exams you’d be taking in late April, then the actual finals for your classes, it was all just so stressful. So when Steve and Robin approached you about spending spring break away from the gloomy town of Hawkins, who were you to deny them.

You’re reading your book and can’t focus well because you feel eyes on you. You look up from your book and over at Eddie, who is just glancing back from the road to you with a questioning look on his face.

“What?” You ask turning your body towards him a little.

“Nothing,” He looks away, focusing solely on the road again.

“You wouldn’t be staring if it was nothing. So what is it?”

“I just dont get how you can read in a moving car? Like doesn’t it make you nauseous?”

“Uh no I guess not. I didn’t realize that this was a weird thing to do? Can you not read in a car?” You’re genuinely asking, wondering if you’re weird or not for being able to do this.

“Hell no, I get sick just being in the passengers seat,” He laughs a little at the weird way his body works, “I don’t know I guess it something about focusing on the road helps calm me,” He looks over at you for a second, taking in your position. Feet tucked under you, blanket thrown over your legs hanging low, book resting face down on your knee and cheez-its between your arm and the door. He has to admit you look cute like this, “I’ve just never met anyone who can read in a car. It’s pretty cool.”

“Thanks, I guess.” You smile at each other before Eddie resumes his focus on the road and you on your book.

Before you know it you’re passed out in the seat while your book dangles off the endle of the seat. Eddie notices that he needs more gas so as soon as he can he gets off the highway and heads to a station to fill up. While getting gas he notices how peaceful you look sleeping in his van, sure you may be laying a weird position but you look calm. Eddie gets back in the van but before pulling out of the gas station he takes your book, places in your bookmark and sets in down near your bag. He knows how much you’d hate if anything happened to it while you slept.

3 and a half long hours later you guys finally make it to the lake house, but you can’t see Steve’s car there. Eddie hops out of the van to give him a call quickly.

“Hey,” Eddie says through the speaker.

“Hey- No we are not stopping again! Get it together we aren’t that fucking far! Hey dude sorry I know we’re late but someone keeps insisting on us stopping for bathroom and snack breaks,” Eddie can hear the disdain in his buddy’s voice knowing exactly who the someone is.

“It’s no problem dude, just remind me what the code to get in is again, we can start getting everything set up while you get here.”

“Thanks dude. The code is 3957, just make sure to turn on the water and power too.”

“Sure thing, see you soon.”

“Bye- Rob I told yo-” And then the line goes dead. Eddie laughs a little to himself before putting his phone back in his pocket and heading to your side of the car.

[writercole]

Manspreading

Summary: Public transportation comes with many potential hazards, including sharing a seat with someone you don't like.

Squares: Sat in their lap - spnfluff // Neighbors - Resa's 3k

Words: 2371

Warnings: Innuendo, Jake's cocky ass.

Credits: @ryebecca for the idea. @princessmisery666 for the beta and the squeal.

A/N: This was borne out of Bees complaining about riding with men on the subway. It didn't take long to figure out that it was a rivals to lovers. Gotta listen to the characters. It's their story after all.

It had been the longest day of my life. Traipsing up and down floors in LouBoutain pumps killed me, I hadn’t slept the night before, and lunch was a snickers bar. So when I walked onto my train and found that there were two empty seats beneath some jackass’s manspread legs, I snapped. 

I walked right over and sat on his lap. How I didn’t chicken out halfway there confounded me.

“Excuse me, this seat is taken,” his voice rumbled in my ear. I froze immediately. I knew that voice.

“Well, Jacob, if you weren’t manspreading across three seats, I wouldn’t have to be sitting here,” I spat, not turning to meet his eyes. 

“Come on, darlin, you knew you were just looking for an excuse to ride my thigh,” he drawled. I knew I’d see a cocky smirk on his face and refused to look at him.

Instead I shut my eyes and growled, regretting several decisions that led me here.

“Oh, that was sexy. Do it again.”

My eyes snapped open and I finally met his gaze, finding exactly the expression I expected, the one he used on female clients to get them to swoon and give him anything he wanted, a smug charm that made my stomach flip. “If you’d just move your leg, I’d be out of your hair.”

I wasn’t prepared for him to bounce his leg like  I wasn’t sitting on it , like I weighed nothing. God I hate this man. 

“I am not in the mood to play games with you, Seresin,” I grumbled. “I have had a long ass day, these heels are killing me, and I haven’t had anything but a Snickers bar and a protein shake all day.”

“Then I guess you have to let me buy you dinner.” The way he winked at me made my panties dampen and skin burn. I refused to let him know that, though.

“I’ve had enough of your insufferable face at work today, thanks.”

“Insufferable, huh? I bet I could change your mind in one night.” 

I looked him up and down and leaned in close, watching the amusement and victory in his eyes as our noses brushed. “In your dreams, asshole,” I whispered, pulling back with a satisfactory smirk at his bewildered stare.

Unfortunately for me, he recovered quickly.

“You’re in my dreams often enough, sweetheart. And believe me, I have no problem changing your mind there.” 

“Does that line actually work?” My patience was wearing very thin.

“I’ll tell you,” he promised,” Over dinner.”  

“I’m not hungry,” I shrugged. Of course at that moment my stomach decided to growl and betray me.

“You have had a protein shake and a snickers bar today,” repeated Jake, “let me buy you dinner. You can even continue to throw shade at me if you want.”

“Look, Jake,” I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose, “I really just want to go home, order a large pizza and curl up in my armchair with my favorite blanket and a good book.”

“Tomorrow, then,” he suggested, his tone persistent but with a hint of what sounded like hope. The train started to slow, preparing to stop at the next station. “This is my stop, darlin. Unfortunately, I’m going to need you to get your pretty face up.”

Maybe I was more lethargic than I thought because that trace of genuine hope had me a little dazed. So much so, I almost didn’t realize this was my stop too. How had I never seen him on the train before?  

“Dinner, tomorrow,” he called over his shoulder as he joined the crowd of people gathering at the doors. 

I shuffled along behind them, running through everything that had transpired since I’d boarded the train. Somehow, my main competition at work took the same train and got off at the same stop and had an answer for everything I said. 

I was lost in my thoughts when a shove came from behind me and I was pushed into the solid mass of the person in front of me. He whipped around and I was prepared to utter a stream of apologies until…

“You could have just said something, darlin, you didn’t have to run into me.” I just wanted to slap that grin off of his face.

“I was shoved.”

“That’s one way to get my attention, though.”

“Don’t flatter yourself.”

“You’re doing enough of that for me.”

“I didn’t realize you were into degradation, Seresin,” I snorted as I made my way towards the stairs.

“I could be into a lot of things for you.”

“You have the opposite effect on me. You could drive me out of things I was into,” I chirped as I tried to get away from him.

“Oh really? And what would those things be?” It was infuriating how easily he was keeping up with me.

“Haven’t thought about it.”

“Fine, but I bet you’ve thought about me naked,” he called.

“Oh no, am I really that transparent? I want you, I need you, oh baby, oh baby,” I sassed with a roll of my eyes, something that I’d been doing quite a lot today, and sped up through a gap, leaving him behind me.

I finally reached the top of the staircase, ready to duck into the nearest shop I could find to avoid him further until I caught sight of Conner. My ex was heading my way with his arm around a beautiful, thin, perfectly proportioned blonde. Giggling. 

My eyes widened and I spun around, ready to head back into the subway, but instead found Jake cresting the top of the stairs. I grabbed his hand and pulled him close, silencing any protests when my lips met his. He hummed and his arm slid around my waist to pull me close while his other hand tangled in my hair. His tongue parted my lips expertly and he deepened the kiss, only to be interrupted by Conner calling my name. 

I gave Jake a look that screamed ‘please go with it’ as I wiped my mouth and turned. “Oh, Conner, hi,” I greeted, a little light headed. Perhaps it was the lack of sustenance, but I think it had more to do with the kiss from the man standing beside him, with a smug grin and a hand firmly on the small of my back.

“Uh, hi. You, uh, you look good,” he stuttered. His focus was on Jake by my side instead of me, instead of his date.

I guess I should have been proud. Or maybe offended?

“Who’s this, sweetheart?” Jake asked, tugging me tighter to his side.

“This is my ex-boyfriend, Conner,” I introduced, “Conner, this is Jake, my boyfriend.”

“Nice to meetcha, Conner,” Jake said, extending his hand.

Conner just looked at it and then directed his attention to me. “Moving on, huh?”

“Looks like you did the same,” I quipped, turning to the blonde. “And what’s your name?”

“Alyssa,” she squeaked as she tucked herself into Conner.

“Conner, Alyssa, it was nice meeting you both, but we’re late for our reservation,” Jake interrupted. “Come on, sweetheart.”

“Nice to see you, Con,” I shrugged as I let Jake pull me away. We walked a block before I stepped out of his grip. “Thanks for that,” I told him quietly.

“It wasn’t a problem,” dismissed Jake. “But I think you should tell me what that was about over dinner.”

I sighed heavily before responding. “Fine, but I’m buying. It’s the least I can do for assaulting you.”

“That was assaulting me?” he grinned. “Where do I sign up for you to do that again?”

I just rolled my eyes before heading towards my favorite pizza shop. He caught up quickly and we walked in silence, Jake keeping his mouth uncharacteristically shut until after our orders were placed.

“So what’s the story with Conner?” he asked quietly.

“Um, so, we dated for a year,” I started, “maybe a little longer. He kept saying things about how he couldn’t wait to move in together and how excited he was that my lease was going to be up soon and maybe we should just buy a house for when we have kids. I kept thinking I’d find feelings like his one day but it never happened. 

“Then, during the last charity gala, he proposed. Very publicly.” I paused for a drink. Jake was there at the gala. He knew what had happened from there.

“Ah, yeah. I remember that,” he chuckled. “That was you?”

“Mhmm.” 

“That was the talk of the office until…until Jerry flubbed that presentation.”

“Anyway, I threw myself into my work and started pushing hard for that promotion. I couldn’t think of any better way to prove I was fine except succeeding in my career.”

“And you have. So why the panic?” 

“I may or may not have insinuated that I could do better than him,” I admitted, avoiding his gaze. 

I had no idea why I was telling Jake all of this. It’s not like I knew him, it’s not like he cared. But when I looked up, I wasn’t met with derision and mocking, I was met with a softness and understanding. 

“I get it. You wanted to show him up. But why me?”

“I was honestly going to go hide in the crowd. I didn’t plan on kissing you. I didn’t even know I was doing it until you hummed.” Might as well stick with honesty.

“Oh, so it wasn’t because you decided to take me up on my offer to change your mind about me?” he teased, wagging his eyebrows at me across the table.

I laughed and shoved his arm, making him chuckle as well. It surprised me how easily conversation flowed between us. For the longest time, he’d been a bitter rival of mine and now, here he was, almost like we were friends.

This was a different side of the Jake I’d see around the office. He’d ditched his jacket and loosened his tie, even going so far as to roll up his sleeves. He talked about tv shows he watched and criticized my taste in movies with a teasing smile. 

He asked questions about me and my life and friends and for every detail he learned about me, he dished out one about himself. None of it surprised me until he said he’d spent time in the Navy.

“You joined the Navy right out of high school? Why?”

“Family tradition,” he shrugged. 

“So you joined the Navy because your family wanted you to, you’re in the business world because your dad forced you into a business degree. What do you do because you want to?”

“What do you do?”

“Promise not to make a joke?” I asked. I’d never had a good reaction when I revealed my hobbies.

“I will do my absolute best not to make a joke but if you tell me you’re a mime, all bets are off,” he laughed, his hands up in surrender.

“I write.”

“Why would I make a joke about you writing for a hobby?” he questioned.

“Because it’s dumb that I write stories when there are so many that I could just go read,” I explained, using the words that several people had used to devalue my likes and the way I spent my time.

“Who cares if there’s a bunch of stories you can go read? The ones you write are going to be in your own voice and reflect your own experiences,” he countered.

“Well, what do you do?”

“I draw,” he shrugged.

That surprised me. “You draw?”

“Yeah. I started in high school when I needed to escape from the insanity of the perfect world my father wanted. My art teacher said I had a talent but it never felt like something I wanted to do for other people. It was more…”

“Something you wanted to keep for yourself,” I supplied, nodding along with the words.

“Exactly!”

I checked my watch and saw that we had been in the pizza parlor for three hours. “I should probably get home. It’s getting kind of late.”

“Oh damn,” Jake exclaimed when he checked the time. “I’ll walk you home.”

“You don’t have to do that, Jake,” I protested, “You were at the office before me this morning. You have to be exhausted.”

“I don’t have to do anything,” he rebutted, “but I want to walk you home.”

I paid the bill and we stepped out into the night. The streets were closer to empty than they had been all day and the temperatures had dropped enough that it was almost chilly. A shiver crept up my spine and before I’d finished shivering Jake’s jacket enveloped me. I looked up at him, seeing him in a different light, both literally and figuratively.

“What?” he questioned. “Do I have sauce on my face?”

“You’ve surprised me at every turn tonight,” I admitted with a smile.

He just hummed as we walked along, his hands in his pockets and his jacket wrapped around me. 

“This is me,” I mumbled as I drew to a stop in front of my building.

“Well, at least it’s a short walk home for me,” he quipped. I furrowed my brow and he gestured across the street. “The only dark apartment on the fourth floor.”

I looked up at my building and laughed. “Same.”

Jake joined me, his deep chuckle rumbling through the space between us. “I can’t believe we live across from each other, on the same floor.”

“Seems crazy, right?” 

“Yeah, crazy. Or maybe…” he trailed off.

“Maybe?”

“Walk you to work tomorrow?” he offered.

“On one condition.”

“What’s that?”

“You don’t take up three seats with your manspreading,” I demanded, a slight smirk creeping onto my face.

“How am I going to get you back in my lap again?”

“I’m sure you’ll figure something out.”

He nodded, his expression contorting to one of ponderance. When his gaze met mine again, he smiled and stepped closer, his hand cupping my cheek before his lips met mine, softly asking permission for a real kiss. 

I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him back, melting into his warmth. He smiled softly when he pulled back, caressing my cheek with his thumb.

“I should go,” he whispered.

“Or you could stay.”

“I don’t want to rush into anything. I’ll see you in a few hours.”

“Progressing from dinner to breakfast seems to be moving pretty quickly buuuuut..I’ll allow it,” I giggled. “Goodnight, Jake.”

“Night, sweetheart.”

[corvuscorona]

"You Never Forget Your First Love."

The other day, a mutual (hi! you know who you are I think probably hello hi! thank you for the Posting Impetus!) said something that made me curious (for, like, the 80th time, actually; lol. I Have Thoughts) about something: what's the split on people who subscribe to the "Stranger of Paradise probably intended for us to believe that Jack & Sarah were in love" mindset, vs. not? In general, but ESPECIALLY around these parts.

I genuinely didn't read it that way myself (& I do NOT normally give media (general) this much credit, but the writing in this game is sublime; I had no choice but to fully engage Scholar Mode on it), + I think it's interesting that SPECIFICALLY any of my fellow tumblr people / AO3-heads / Gay People Online / etc. seem to have. (I expect nothing from people who haven't been basting themselves in the same online sub-subcultures as me for over a decade. They're allowed to write wrong things on wikis, and have done so already; it's whatever.)

I wanna metapost badly again, so let's go. Join me. No poll. If you have an opinion on this, I'm looking directly into your eyes and beckoning you towards your own keyboard + also the reblog button / comment section, like a weird ghost. What did you think when you first played the game?? What do you think right now? What are you about to think after you have read a bunch of my words. Tell Me. I Need To Know This.

Spoilers for, idk, everything? Today we will use everything we've got to talk about Princess Sarah.

1. As a Narrative Element

This game makes a point of referring to Sarah as things like "a symbol of hope and peace" as often as possible, & when it isn't doing that she's usually in the role of An Object Or Device Of Some Kind, anyway. She's important because she's capable of holding light and dark in balance & SOMEONE'S gotta hold onto this dark crystal for safekeeping, and also we're gonna need to upset that balance on purpose later. There's that conversation in the Wicked Arbor about whether the Strangers would "choose" her (as opposed to "treasure") as the "reward" for succeeding in their mission[1], & there's the one in the Sunken Shrine where Jed asks Jack what he thinks of her and Jack says that he doesn't care about her as a person[2] BUT that protecting her is mission-critical (lol), too.

Sarah's death is metaphorically charged. It's the point of no return: the dark crystal breaks, the balance of light & dark gets extremely ruined, & Literally All The Darkness In Cornelia converges in one place (Fool's Missive XXVII). That's the payoff for the "symbol of hope and peace" motif, and communicating this idea that "the metaphorical light of hope just For Real Died, Like Catastrophically Imploded, No Take-Backs" feels to me like it was the highest priority here. Second-highest goes to "Jack had way more humanity before, but he set it aside on purpose and is actively in the middle of losing the rest of it." "Sort of." "I'm not getting into what counts as humanity or doesn't because if I did we would be here forever."

Basically, I'm saying that the tidiest read on the situation is "Jack despairs because Sarah dying means in a very literary and final way that everything is ruined forever, which doesn't necessarily have anything to do with, like, Love (romantic)." I don't think the text of the game is particularly signaling that Love (romantic) is involved, and I think that if it meant to, it would be more obvious about it. You could bundle "an romance" into the "humanity" thing if you wanted to, but I'm not inclined to, based on some additional list items that you can read below this one.

[1] The fact that Neon ALSO says she feels bad for her for being thought of in this way only reinforces my conviction that the game is pointing at Sarah & yelling "REMEMBER THAT SHE IS MOSTLY A SYMBOL!", tbh. Who wants to go point out how freaky the mechanics of Being An Royalty are w/ me and the boys??

[2] I will give the Wiki WrongPosters this: I can totally see this as some kind of irony thing, given that he's still missing like a fucktillion of his memories when he says it. However! As mentioned above, I have other reasons not to read it as evidence that he was ever, like, romantically interested in her.

2. As a Sheltered Youth™

We don't have a TON of information to work with RE: Sarah as, like, a person, but here are a couple of hard facts to start with: she's 19 (per the data book, but she'd have to be somewhere in the 18-to-early-20's age range regardless or her whole deal wouldn't really make much sense, imo. She's a baby...!), and she's royalty. I think this ties into her utility as a walking metaphor, among other things; she's archetypically young, fresh, & idealistic. I'd call her naïve but the game obviously isn't interested in portraying it as a weakness, so positive words only; why not.

You could argue that people look to her as a symbol of hope because she hasn't directly experienced enough strife to exhibit hopelessness or fear in response to bad news in the abstract. I find it interesting that before Jack, like, knocks the wind out of her & tells Sophia to take her outside so she can see for herself how bad things have gotten at the end of the game, she says that her duty is to die with her people if she has to, & it doesn't even seem to occur to her that she could lead at least some of them away to safety...? When she changes her mind, she still talks about herself as a symbol before she ever uses the word "leader". She sees HERSELF in terms of symbols and metaphors, and takes action based on her designated role As One Of Those. Not very practical.

There's also the dialogue you can have with the queen the first time you're allowed to run around in the throne room at the beginning of the game, where she asks Jack to smile in front of her daughters (NOT just Mia; daughters, plural). Even if she only means "dude can you be polite please," the fact that this is The thing she has to say to Jack is telling. Is it going to upset your 19-year-old daughter to see that the Guy Whose Job It Is To Kill Monsters looks serious? Why do you think this? Does your 19-year-old daughter understand how serious the situation is, generally speaking? Do you not WANT her to for some reason? Boats don't work anymore unless a weird elf messes with them first. Not thinking very hard about the implications of this is something a sheltered person does.

Residual time loop un-memories aside, a young woman in this situation is so obviously going to have a huge crush on Jack Garland no matter what. He Is So Cool, first of all, & he's also Different from the adult men she gets to see on an everyday basis (family, guards, rando townspeople[3]...). It's not like the political social scene could POSSIBLY be thriving in this world, either; it all seems to be one kingdom we're dealing with and they're kind of busy with the external threat of being Under Fucking Attack By Monsters. Does she even get fun treats like "handsome visiting dignitaries" & what-have-you? The game doesn't present us with any potential options, here. Jack is mysterious, he has special-boy Warrior of Light status, his one job & apparent life's purpose is protecting the kingdom she loves, he's pretty nice to her (even in later cycles he at least goes out of his way to be polite!), & additionally, he's shredded. THIS makes sense to me.

There's a Q&A in the data book that has something to say about JACK as a symbol & what that has to do with this whole thing but we'll get there. We'll get there.

[3] Tangent: what's up with how Cornelia's entire adult male population appears to consist of aging queens. Why did they only make models that look Like That for the NPCs? It's awesome but I have 1 quastion

3. JACK JUMPSCARE !

I'm not about to say that he's just humoring her, or anything, but please humor ME for one second & put yourself in Jack's shoes. Not the default shoes; we can have more fun than that. Maybe the Banded Boots. Blurple ones? Shaped like a cartoon would wear them? Big spikes on the back for no reason? I love those things. Anyway, you're Jack. You're working for literally the king, & the work means Everything to you for reasons you can't even necessarily explain except to say that it JUST does. The king's eldest daughter (very young adult; Never Been Outdoors; a little overly-sociable but nice enough & what do you expect from a princess, anyway) has imprinted on you like a duckling for whatever reason. You would be nice to this person, yes? You'd be patient with her while you're in town. You have Brutal Murders to be doing, but not until, like, 2 days from now, or whatever; you're sharing space with her in some capacity in the meantime & it's in your best interests to keep her happy. (You probably even enjoy doing this, if you're Jack of a Way Earlier Cycle; I'm in no way ruling that out. Sharing your music collection with an enthusiastic Baby Adult? That's fun. I think he was probably having fun. Okay, you can step out of the fun purple shoes if you want; the Humoring Me Minute has concluded; thanks.)

Also, @2000sanimeop and I think that if Jack felt that way about her Astos would have been a little More Something about how much it was gonna suck for him when she died. In Fool's Missive XXVII he uses the word "painful," but that's about it. He doesn't even bring it up in XXV, which is the one where he says he's curious about whether she'd survive being turned into a fiend (side note: Astos fucking rocks. Why did he write that down?? I love him). & Hey SPEAKING OF ASTOS,

4. I wouldn't put Jackstos on a wiki, either.

The writing in Stranger of Paradise, SERIOUSLY, WITHOUT EXAGGERATION, is some of the best I've seen in literally anything ever. It suits not just its medium but also its sort of Place in History Relative to Other Video Games & the things it chose to DO with that medium & that niche INSANELY well. It is CUSTOMIZED. It's SO INTENTIONAL. I can't get too far into this or we'll be here all day, but the essence of what I want to say here is: there are relatively few facts presented to us by this game, compared to the implications we can go about drawing from those facts & other, external sources of context.

Sarah calls Jack her first love; that's a fact. No facts are presented to us that REALLY say much one way or the other[4] about what Jack thinks of this, himself; "fucktillion memories missing" Jack says he doesn't care, but he's missing a fucktillion of his memories, and DLC2 Jack has a set of dialogue options (hi Anne the Malboro I love you Anne the Malboro) that can point either way depending on what the player chooses, which is kind of nothing, on balance. As the audience, we can (should!) draw whatever conclusion we want about it, but none of those conclusions are text.

[4] I WILL GET TO THE DATA BOOK IN ONE SECOND. HOLD ON.

And, okay, please let me level with you. Let's be on the same page. Jack & Astos had some kind of thing going on, imo, OBVIOUSLY, but I want to be CLEAR and I want to get CREDIT for the things I'M bringing to the table to help generate this conviction. I drew that conclusion & I read that reading based on subtext, context, personal history, personal preference, & sheer gay zest for life. It is also, emphatically, NOT TEXT.

Astos refers to Jack with the ol' "...friend" in Fool's Missive XXI. He calls him "my Jack" in Fool's Missive XXXI. Canonically, textually, he has some big fucking COMPLICATED fucking feelings about this man. These are facts. If you're playing this game as Some Guy, I can see how you could potentially absorb these facts & still pay them much less regard[5] than I did & continue to. My argument here is that god I wish I lived in a world where Some Guy could extend the same courtesy to me and not treat Sarah's textual affection for Jack as something that necessarily indicates Some Kind Of Reciprocal Romantic Whatever, Definitely, Obviously, Of Course.

[5] Longer Tangent: I have been informed that the Some Guys of the world are currently pretty good at Recognizing a character that behaves in a way that's Pretty Gay, but tend to stop there, possibly for the combined reasons that A. they're not very familiar with a lot of the the ways gay relationships often work (you know, soul resonance. mutual recognition. sharing a brain etc.) and B. the Object Of Affection is usually the player character and they subconsciously shy away from thinking of a Guy They're Supposed To Identify With as gay. This is practically a lead-in to an entire separate post I could make, so I'll leave it at that, lol.

The writing is too good for that kind of assumption! I'M SERIOUS!! It's mind-blowingly subtle & endlessly fascinating to hold up to the light & view from every possible angle, and "Jack & Sarah were in love" + "Jack & Astos were in love" are BOTH ANGLES. I'm personally very very interested in giving the text credit for that. I think it's impressive. I think it's really, really cool, and I think it was on purpose. Speaking of which,

5. Word of God agrees with me, btw

This is from the Q&A section on page 156 of the Confidential File. The translations below are my own (I think they're straightforward enough, but lmk if you know more than me & I'm actually being stupid in there somewhere. Alt text has the JPN, if you want to copypaste it or something). Someone asked:

Why is it that you established Garland as someone Sarah has a romantic interest in?

The answer is from Daisuke Inoue (director, one of 3; the other 2 are from Team Ninja; he's from Square Enix):

That was because, from a narrative standpoint, we wanted Sarah to be the kind of person who holds onto hope. You can imagine that she saw the "hope" to save the world in Jack, a potential Warrior of Light. Sarah is seen by her people as a symbol of a bright future, but if there were nobody to give her hope, that might destabilize her emotionally. As for whether she felt genuine love for Jack, or just mistook her feelings of admiration towards him for "first love," we'll leave that to your interpretation.

The first time I read this, I thought the question was implying the aforementioned Reciprocal Something, but on closer inspection that doesn't even seem to be true! "思い人" seems to indicate a directional relationship; as in, the question assumes that Jack is an object of affection to Sarah, but assumes nothing about what Jack thinks.

Also, the answer uses the word "初恋" (hatsukoi), which is a very established Concept as far as "first love" goes, but in that one cutscene, Sarah says "初めての恋" (hajimete no koi), which is. Different, but I couldn't tell you how, lol. It's Not The Exact Same Phrase, but I'm not sure whether it's meaningfully different in this context. If I had to guess, I'd say that IF ANYTHING it could be a way of saying "first love" without invoking the cultural CONSTRUCT of First Love (as much)? But it's whatever. The localization holds up. All sources show that Sarah had Feelings about Jack, and all sources CONSPICUOUSLY neglect to mention Jack's feelings about her.

It was on purpose. This is my license to be as annoying as I want for one second here. I am right. All the other writing in this game is notably subtle, efficient, intentional, and skilled, AND ALSO, WHEN do you ever see anyone write such a richly beautiful, mostly-subtextual relationship between two men, which can easily be read as a romantic thing, and NOT explicitly canonize a very possible romantic relationship between at least one of those men and a woman, like not even in an interview or anything. What the fuck, man.

I'm putting away the Respectable Scholar Hat now. This is so funny. The person asking this question didn't EVEN go as far as assuming Jack & Sarah had any kind of Actual Romance going on, & the answer STILL dials it back to "she might have been conflating her feelings about Jack AS A SYMBOL with actual affection, also. We'll let you decide : ) ". This game is everything ever.

[queerlilchinchin]

Chinchin's WiYS Stream Official Post

This is the official post announcing my Write in Your Style writing stream.

--

Hello, everyone! Welcome and thank you for your interest in my Write in Your style writing stream.

Stream Description:

To start off, let me describe to you what I envision this stream to look like. Twice a month (every 1st and 3rd Tuesday), I will be getting on my writing streams. Probably somewhere around noon Pacific Standard Time. I will be starting the streams with that stream's strip of writing, then I will read the last stream's submissions.

Of course, I've got to start somewhere, so the first stream will be announcing the start of the streams as well as giving the first prompt. I will be doing livestreaming on twitch, which will then be downloaded and posted on youtube and tik tok. You are welcome to join me on my livestreams. I will open the stream up to questions at the end. It can be questions about the prompt or the concept or whatever else pertaining to the streams.

How to submit writing:

I will likely be making a new blog for it, though I already have a lot of blogs. This blog will be mostly for asking questions about the streams and gaining more interest in them. You may also submit here if you don't wish to e-mail yours to me, which will be the other way. Any submissions left via comments will not be used simply because I don't want to make it easier for others to steal your writing or risk anything like that.

Stream Start Date:

The streams will officially start beginning of December, so the 5th will be the first stream (unless something happens to prevent it starting on time).

Days of the week that the streams occur may change due to my life circumstances being kind of up in the air right now. I'm looking for new work, so my days off may change.

How writing works:

I've had some questions about how exactly the writing part will work and how long you all will have to write. As the streams are bi-weekly, you will have nearly 2 weeks to submit your writing. They will be short pieces of writing, so it shouldn't take terribly long to finish them.

For now, it will only be my original writing that will be used, but as time goes on, I may open up the streams to other writers who wish to also submit their own writing for the original writing for others to rewrite in their own styles.

You may write them however you wish to. It just has to be the same story as the original put in your own way (don't turn a romance about a valkyrie and a demigoddess into a horror about the two characters). You're just recreating the writing, just like draw in your style.

Who can write:

Absolutely anyone is more than welcome to write. I will be reading your submissions for now, but as I figure out the features of streaming, I may open up the floor to writers reading their own writing if they wish. I will also be giving credit in any form you wish (if you just want your name or your tumblr blog or your Wattpad/AO3 accounts linked).

Stream Account Links:

Gotta link you guys to the accounts that will be posting the streams!

YouTube

Twitch

TikTok

Blog

@wiys-streaming

Ending Statements

WiYS streams are really a way to showcase and remind writers that we all have our own style of writing, even if it seems like you don't. You are capable of taking a story that was already written and make it your own (not that I'm encouraging copying, but you know what I mean... hopefully). Being a writer can be really disheartening sometimes, especially when you feel like your ideas aren't original, but sometimes the most unoriginal ideas can be home to the most incredible stories. Cliches are/were popular for a reason. Tropes become tropes for a reason. People love what they love and if they love the thing that you are making that is so "unoriginal," they will love your writing.

Don't forget that originality is not synonymous to good. Or creative. You can write something "trite" and make it incredible. I hope that this new stream will remind writers of that. :)

Thank you for your time and if you have questions, please feel free to send them to @queerlilchinchin.

WiYS "tag me to everything" taglist: @nerd-in-distress, @jvten, @steh-lar-uh-nuhs (fyi, tumblr won't let me tag your other blog or I would have), @aether-wasteland-s, @mjrino, @cheezyratz, @accountusername, @perasperaadastrawriting, @mrblazeflappybird, @forthesanityofstorytellers, @mangofen, @bigwipscholar, @pluttskutt, @doublegoblin, @crazytechpersonzreal, @sitiart, @ashesinthewritten, @achildweanedonpoison6, @quotidian-oblivion, @world-of-my-imagination, @marmeegle, @alesseia

WiYS "tag me to important stuff" taglist: @distortedwhite, @lyssentome, @ah0yh0y, @grollow, @perlen-gold, @saltysupercomputer, @vshushmshu, @lordkingsmith, @gummybugg, @quisyop, @enne-uni, @cometkov, @shado48, @cryscal, @mary-is-writing, @elizababie, @squintclover, @schmem14, @foursixtwonineoh-pieces-of-lego, @wakkoroni

[yukidragon]

hi im super new to swwsdj and its lore and i gotta ask, how exactly did jack die? was he murdered was it an onset accident and if so how did that accident go? if we dont truly know then whats ur hc for what happened to him? u seem to be the leading authority on the game since anytime i google it, ur blog shows up pretty prominently.

Wait, me, a leading authority of the game? Prominently featured in google searches? WHAT?

Pardon me, I was just a little overwhelmed for a second there. I'm flattered and flustered all at once. I'm just a silly fan who likes to ramble all the thoughts I have for this lovely game. I had no idea that I rambled enough to be a prominent search result on google. Wow.

The real authority of the game are the kind folks over at SnaccPop Studios. You can check them out over at their patreon, twitter, and tumblr. Also, there's an official tumblr and twitter for Sunny Day Jack that you might consider checking out.

While I'm getting disclaimers out of the way, I also want to make sure to credit them and the awesome Sauce for their lovely art and for being cool with me putting their art in posts like these to help discuss their fabulous game. It really helps illustrate what I'm talking about when I can show the actual illustrations.

Also, remember not to share anything privately posted on the patreon!

Anyway... back to the topic. While we can't say with complete certainty what happened to Jack in 1984 on the day he died, since the game's story is still in development, evidence strongly hints that he was murdered. I theorized in the past that he was shot due to some teaser art and some sprites Sauce was kind enough to share that show him with what look suspiciously like gunshot wounds.

How the incident went down exactly is unknown, but this teaser certainly shows the brutal aftermath. Not to mention the demo shows us hints in the form of childish doodles before the start of the game. It seems there were children in the audience who witnessed the final moments of Sunny Day Jack...

This bit of lost media from Sauce's old twitter is still so chilling to think about. Any development art can't be technically counted as canon if it's not on any official SDJ page, but this heavily suggests how the incident went down.

As for my headcanons about what happened... They've developed somewhat over time, as you can see in a few of my previous posts here, here, and here. I also touched on it in a potential storyline idea for my fanfic, Sunshine in Hell, with my version of his sunshine, Alice, being the reincarnation of someone who unfortunately witnessed the incident. I also played with an AU idea where MC/Alice time travels back to 1984 to stop the murder from happening.

While we do have hints that Jack was the victim of murder, and even what might have been the cause of death, we don't have any clues as to why it happened. We also don't know why his soul was trapped in the tape and turned him into the ghost(?) we know and love. We have a lot of speculation, from his past as Joseph Cullman catching up to him in a violent way, a jealous co-star wanting to take him out, or even a conspiracy set up by LambsWork Productions itself. It could go in any direction at this point.

Sorry I can't offer a definitive answer as to how Jack died or why, but I hope this at least gives you a few things to think about. I'm definitely looking forward to finding out the answers when the full game is released.

@channydraws @earthgirlaesthetic @sai-of-the-7-stars @cheriihoney @illary-kore @okamiliqueur