#but if it involves his favorite food he turns his brain off

[startistdoodles]

Meta is immune to all tricks except one

[paleepeaches]

Happy Valentines Day

(Connor Rk800 x Fem Reader)

Warnings: Idk NSFW so 18+

Word count: 2422

Summary: It's Valentine's Day and instead of making Connor dinner you let him fuck your brains out.

A/N: This took way longer than it should have. It's pretty mid.

Tags: If you're still interested @joelsfavoritegirl

You were a festive person. Always have and always will be. Valentine's was your favorite holiday not only because of the pink and red strewn across supermarkets and stores but because it was a day of love: a reason to celebrate you and Connor’s union. You were sentimental. Sensitive and a bit of a sappy girl when it came to things like that. Connor was fully aware of it. He made note of it when you first got together. How you pouted up at him. Your bottom lip jutting out slightly covered in your lipgloss. When things didn’t go your way your pretty doe eyes would water with tears and coat your spiky lashes. Seeing you so whiney and needy all the time was an adorable sight. Especially when it came to him. You’d pout every time he had to leave for the DPD every morning. Today was no different.

“Do you have to go?” You fluttered your lashes up at him. 

Connor turned his head to look at you while he did his tie. His hands skilfully mastered it. He felt his resolve waver seeing you so like that. You’d just gotten up. Hair was a bit messy, eyes a bit tired but what you wore got him. It was the babydoll nightdress. Baby pink in color and the cups on it hugged your tits so nicely. It was sheer and cut off at the top of your plush thighs. He had to resist throwing you on the bed and just fucking your brains out. Poor baby girl didn’t know what you were doing to him.

“I have to. Hank needs me for another case. Plus who’s gonna make enough money to take care of you?” He cooed down at you with his signature smirk. 

You huffed out a sigh nodding in understanding. “Okay but are you gonna be home on time to celebrate? To eat dinner and do….other activities?” You blushed at the hint you threw out. Connor had been balls deep inside of you, lapped viciously at your pussy, and had you whining and calling him daddy yet you were still so timid. He nodded his head trying to hide his amusement at your shyness. 

“Of course,” He smoothed out his jacket and reached a hand out to you. He cupped your face, his thumb brushing your cheek and relishing in its softness. “I’ll never keep you waiting. You know that.” He leaned down and placed a peck on your lips. He could taste that lingering lip balm on you. Cherry. You always had to have it cherry-flavored. He licked his lips tasting it and hummed. He reluctantly let you go as soon as he felt his cock begin to throb to life. Just kissing you was enough to send him into a feral mood.

“I’ll see you tonight.” He promised you and grabbed his car keys leaving you wanting and yearning for him.  

You filled your day with meaningful tasks despite the growing ache of Connor leaving you high and dry. You were dedicated to making this Valentine’s Day one he would remember. 

You had decorated your shared home in heart-shaped garlands and had a few scented candles going. If it was any other Valentine’s Day involving a human with functioning organs then you would have made a delicious meal and set wine out. However, this was Connor an RK800 model who didn’t need food or water to keep functioning. So you had to get creative which was why when he came home he was happy to see the festive decor, the soft glow of the candles around the living room, and the trail of petals leading to the bedroom.

You knew it was a bit cheesy of a tactic and overused but what other things could you have possibly used as a romantic trial? Connor had come home with flowers and of course, a gift for you held in the other hand. “Y/N…” He called out softly as he pushed open the bedroom door. If he had lungs they would have surely strained and stopped his breathing. He’d seen you in proactive wear before but this was the cherry on top. 

You sat knelt on the plush soft bed with each leg under you. You wore a babydoll lingerie top that cupped your breasts, making them sit so pretty on your chest. The top was thin, sheer, and baby pink bringing out the color of your skin. A pretty bow sat in the middle between the valley of your breast effectively accentuating your body. A thong was keeping your pretty puffy lips in place from falling out. Connor could see you went all out this year. He set the gifts for you on the dresser and walked meaningfully towards you.

“You like it?” You giggled softly a playful smirk on your pouty lips. Connor sat down next to you, the bed dipping in the process. “Of course I do sweetie.” He moved your hair aside with his hand and leaned in kissing you on the exposed skin of your neck. You inhaled sharply your eyes softening and body feeling like putty. 

Connor was programmed to analyze and interrogate deviants. So, naturally, he was able to figure out what aroused you and what didn’t. He knew of all the special spots on your lovely skin. His lips skilfully kissed your neck leaving hot wet kisses. You mewled delightfully for him making his cock harden.

He leaned into your ear whispering, “You sound so fucking pretty.” 

It caused a pink shade to cover your supple cheeks. He never ceased to make you blush even when he wasn’t trying to fuck you.

“Lay down, I wanna taste you.” He lightly pushed you down to lay on the bed. Your hair was sprawled across the sheets and your arms were at your side. Connor spread your legs and dragged you towards the edge of the bed. He kneeled before you, slipping your thong off. His fingers skillfully spread your puffy folds revealing your wet slick cunt. 

“I haven’t even touched you and you're already soaking.” He smiled cruelly at you. 

“Connor…” You whined out, hips bucking up to get him to taste you, finger you, anything. 

He laughed at your desperation, “Always so needy.” Connor didn’t want to give in to you just yet. He wanted to draw it out, have you begging for him to touch you. His plans quickly changed when he saw your pleading eyes and fluttering lashes. You looked so docile and cute that he couldn’t help but give in. 

“You’re lucky you’re cute.” He spread your pussy folds further getting a good look at how drenched you were before giving you a long lick. He was hungry for you, tongue swirling around your clit and lapping at your puffy folds. 

“Fuck C-Connor-” Your moans were broken and rough as he continued his assault. Your eyes rolled back and your hands immediately tugged on his hair.

“You taste so good.” He muttered the vibrations of his voice over your clit caused you to throw your head back. 

He took your whines as fuel and dipped his tongue deep inside your hole. He groaned feeling it grip and clench, greedy for anything to fill it. He retracted his tongue humming and relishing in the sweet taste of your juices. 

“Shh baby you’re doing so good for me.” He cooed to you and before you could reply he plunged two long and slender fingers into you. You gasped for air, body squirming under him. He had to hold you in place to keep you from moving.

“Connor I-I think I’m gonna cum-” You choked out, voice cut off by his fingers slipping out with a loud squelch. He smirked down at you and you knew he’d refuse to give you an orgasm. At least not with his fingers.

“Connor, please.” You whined out for him desperately clawing at his trousers and tugging his belt. You wanted to see him, stop this torture, and have him fuck you raw.

He smiled down at you, tilting his head slightly to the side. “You’re so needy Y/N.” Connor slapped his hand down on your cunt making you yelp. It came out breathy and far from painful. His hand smacked you again, hitting deliciously against your throbbing clit.

Connor engrained your reaction into his hardware, studying, and learning. He yanked off your babydoll lingerie, pulling it over your head and leaving you in nothing but your bare skin. 

Connor was quick, fingers deftly opening each button of his shirt. His belt was next, his hands deftly moving to unbuckle it. He threw it on the floor, making it clang against the hardwood. He pushed down his trousers and underwear down and his face fell in relief. His cock sprang free, the head was swollen and leaking pre cum. 

At the sight of it, you felt your hole flutter and clench around nothing. You squirmed on the bed, withering in need. “Connor please, please, I’ve been a good. girl” You mewled out, batting your sweet lashes up at him.

There was something so thrilling and almost primal about you laying before him so vulnerable. The way you begged for his cock had him hardening even more. You never ceased to make his heart clench and cock jump from how sweet you were.“Shh, baby it's okay. I’ll give this pussy what it needs.” He cooed to you so softly.

Connor pumped his cock a few times, his pre cum seeping from the tip and spreading over his shaft. He pushed your legs up to your chest and lined his cock up to your hole. He could see your pretty pussy tighten up in anticipation. An amused exhale left his nose as he looked up into your eyes. They were foggy, glassy with lust and pure need. 

Connor pushed the head of his cock in and he groaned, hand coming down to the side of your head to brace himself. He gripped the bedsheets below you two and his face scrunched up in restraint. He knew first penetration was always hard for you. Your poor pussy couldn’t take so much cock so he had to take his time. He struggled to keep his composure and just thrust his full length into you. He knew if he did you'd cry out, sob, and claw at him. It was thrilling.

He sighed out and smoothed the skin on your hip with his palm. "Relax baby." With each second that passed he slipped in further and further in taking his time to stretch you out.

You were a mess below him, clawing at his shoulders and back. If he were human you would be sure he'd have red claw marks on his porcelain skin.

You panted like a bitch in heat, cunt clamping hard on him. “M-more, more Connor, I can take it.” You pouted up to him.

Connor chuckled at your bold statement. “You can take it huh?” 

“Y-yeah I can take it-”

Connor slammed his cock into you causing a yelp to escape your throat. The big stretch was painful as his tip bumped your cervix. Your body jolted upwards away from him but he just pulled his cock out and shoved it in again.

“Thought you could take it, princess. This is what you’ve been whining about?” Connor smiled down at you cruelly. He folded you in half, pushing your legs farther up to your chest. His cock slipped further in, making a lewd squelching sound.

“Y-yes!” You cried out in response.

“Then stop fucking complaining and take my cock like a good girl.” Connor leaned down and kissed you roughly, tongue slipping into your mouth. His hand gripped your chin as he pumped his cock into you.

His heavy balls slapped against the plump flesh of your ass. The noise echoed around the room, bouncing off the walls and into your ear. Your juices leaked out of your cunt, coating his cock and dripping down his balls. He could feel it warm them and groaned into your mouth. He pulled back from the kiss, leaning his forehead against yours. “That’s my good princess, fuck clench down just like that.” 

You blushed, your pussy clamping down on him just from the compliment. “Ahh! Mphm! Fuck…Connor!” You were loud letting high-pitched moans fall from your pouty lips. Your eyes rolled back and you bit down on your lip relishing in the sweet bliss of his cock.

“Don’t do that. I wanna hear you.” Connor smacked your face lightly and you released your bottom lip from your teeth. 

“C-Connor I’m not gonna- I can’t-” Your words were chopped up, as you struggled to speak. They came out in whiney babbles and Connor couldn’t help but become amused. He thought you looked so cute like that. Your face controted into pleasure, words not even forming sentences just sounds. He loved seeing you completely drunk on his cock. 

“Good girl, just like that.” He praised you. He pressed the pad of his thumb to your swollen clit, rubbing slow and tight circles around it. You cried out, clawing at his back. Your bambi eyes brimmed with tears. You blinked, lashes fluttering and coated in the wetness. Fat tears rolled down your pink cheeks as you came.

Connor noticed but didn't fret. You would cry often due to the pure delight of cumming. He leaned down, cooing to you and licking them up with his tongue. He could taste the bitter and salty flavor of your tears.

That simple act made your walls clench down on his throbbing cock. Your legs locked him in place, wrapped around his waist and not letting him retract further than he should. He pounded into your soaking wet heat. “Fuck!” He cursed as you milked his cock. One final thrust into your spongy sweet spot had Connor spilling ropes of cum deep into your pussy. He gave a few sloppy thrusts helping you both ride out your orgasms. Your cream and his cum oozed out as he pushed his cock deep in, making it overflow and spill. You poor pussy was a mess. All fucked out and painted white.

Connor panted for a few seconds but recovered quickly due to his android body. He placed sweet soft kisses on your red cheeks and your forehead. “You did so good for me baby.” His voice was soft and sweet as he spoke.

You smiled up at him, panting softly, “Happy Valentine's Day.” 

[harmonictechnicality]

Grocery shopping with Steve Harrington should not be such an arousing task, but it is.

It so is.

Eddie swears on all of his calloused fingers that watching Steve strut down the cereal aisle with his little shopping cart is better than hand stuff.

Seriously. He always walks a few feet behind Steve, just to get the perfect view of that award winning ass (Eddie made him a trophy for it last Valentine’s Day - it’s on their mantle).

They’ve been together for what? Eight years? And it never gets any less sexy. Watching him reach for the granola bars on the top shelf, stretching his annoyingly tucked in shirt.

Eddie pretends to peer through imaginary opera binoculars as Steve reads over the nutrition label. Steve flips it over a couple of times because he always forgets which brand he likes better - the blue box or the red box. Eddie never reminds him that his favorite is the blue box because the whole charade is too adorable.

But once Steve figures it out, he tosses the blue box into the cart, and Eddie always lets out this rumbly throat sound at the sight.

Steve turns his neck to look at Eddie. “This again?”

“This always.” Eddie catches up to Steve’s side at the canned food section, slides his hand in Steve’s back pocket. “Never not this.”

Steve rolls his eyes and bends down to grab a few cans of chicken noodle soup. Which holy fuck, seeing his boyfriend at a 75° angle holding his favorite soup preference? Eddie might as well be packaged and placed on the shelf. Cause his mind is turning to liquid. He’s becoming a bowl of horny broth at the sight of Steve all domestic and bent over.

Eddie quickly flicks off his jacket because the entire store just warmed up exponentially. Global warming doesn’t have shit on Steve Harrington holding discounted canned goods.

Steve lightly smacks Eddie's arm. “Pull yourself together.”

“I’ll pull your self onto my self.”

“Really?” Steve snorts. “That was the best you could come up with?”

“Yeah well, the lower quadrant of my brain shut off the second I visualized your ass dimple in the middle of the bread aisle.” Eddie explains, untucking one edge of Steve’s shirt.

“Sorry for the inconvenience to your grocery-kink brain.”

“You should be.” Grocery kink. Steve with a shopping cart kink. Eddie has both, no doubt.

And it’s totally true. The bread aisle is usually where all hope is lost for him. Fluffy breads, kneading dough, squishy carbs all around them. Steve’s sides are just begging to be squeezed in that aisle (amongst other places). The deli employee outwardly gawks as Eddie pokes at Steve's waist, pinching any area of skin that he can get his hands on.

"Just making sure the products are nice and fresh!" Eddie shouts to the employee, hugging Steve firmly from behind. The poor meat-slicing guy laughs nervously before scurrying into the stock room. Honestly, Eddie should probably feel more sympathetic but it's so hard to focus on anything else when Steve kisses his cheek. Accepts his weird affections fully.

"These people don't get paid enough to put up with your shit." Steve is laughing as he says it though. Clearly not that bothered by all of the attention he's getting. That's part of the reason they work so well together. They're absolute attention whores, equally.

"Okay, cut it out." Steve wiggles out from Eddie's grasp. "You're gonna smush the sourdough."

Eddie freezes. Mulls over the consequences over the next thing he's about to say. "Is that an invitation?"

"Ew."

"You said it."

"You twisted it."

"How could I not?"

"You need help." Steve turns down the next aisle, still speaking as he stays on task. "Preferably the kind that involves a person with a legal pad and a couch that you can lie down on."

Eddie snickers, thoroughly loves it when Steve bites back. Makes the chase feel like it just started, even after all these years.

He keeps it together for roughly twelve more minutes, which is probably a record. Eddie also deserves a trophy on their mantle for that - he's gonna hint to Steve about investing in one whenever they get back home.

But the aisle where Eddie’s composure levels malfunction entirely, is the frozen food section. See, whenever Steve opens the door to get milk or eggs or whatever essential dairy item they need, a rush of frigid air blows out. Makes Steve’s already bitable skin all bumpy. His neck is covered in little chill bumps, all of his baby hairs stick up with his raised skin.

This is the only instance where Eddie mildly wishes he were a cannibal, just to give Steve a little chomp. A little nibble at his change in skin texture. Eddie's not even sure why the chill bumps send him over the edge but they do - every damn time.

“Baby, we’ve talked about this.” Steve says once Eddie gets him pinned up behind the corner freezer in the very back.

"There were no snoopy old ladies around this time." Eddie licks all the way up to Steve's ear, tugging gently around the edges. "I checked."

Steve huffs once before taking Eddie's face with both hands, kissing him deep. The rest of his body is cold from the surrounding freezers, but Steve's lips are warm. Hotter every time Eddie's mouth connects to his again. Steve still tastes like the nectarine samples they had back at the produce aisle. The taste drives Eddie to suck on Steve's bottom lip, drinking up any leftover flavor he can. Make Steve's natural pout even more plush than it normally is.

He untucks the rest of Steve's annoying polo - lets his hands slide all the way around, landing at the small of Steve's back. Eddie presses his fingers into Steve's skin, making him shiver. Causing more chill bumps to rise. Ones that he created this time.

They've kissed like this over a thousand times by now, but it always feels different. It’s a new kiss on a new day.

And Eddie couldn't give a single fuck if the deli employee or the snoopy old lady saw them making out next to the lactose-free cheese selection. He'd show off his stupidly gorgeous boyfriend everywhere, make a complete spectacle out of it every damn time.

Steve would let him do it too. Eddie bets that Steve would let him get away with a full anarchist uprising if he wanted. Which he does. Kinda. After they're done kissing, obviously.

They stop only because Steve lets his lips part and his fingers drag down Eddie's chest. And whenever Steve does that move, he's approximately thirty seconds away from moaning explicit words. Loudly too. Eddie knows all of Steve's physical indicators by heart now. It’s practically Eddie’s native language, he would speak only that one if he could.

Eddie takes the cue to stash all of his hormones away - goes back to dotting small pecks all over Steve's face. He needs to get Steve laughing instead of panting. It's safer that way. Eddie isn't trying to get arrested in a supermarket for christ's sake (although that would make one hell of a story for family reunions).

They're sort of blotchy, all pinks and reds, as they get to the checkout line. The cashier must think their complexion is permanently like this. Every time she’s seen them, they’re blushed-up like Vegas showgirls. Eddie is immune to the embarrassment of the situation. He's pretty sure Steve is too - he can tell by the way Steve is still leaning all over him while he fumbles to get his wallet open. All love-drunk and kittenish.

They head back to their car, and Eddie gets one last look at Steve's signature shopping cart strut. He sighs dramatically - crushed inside that he'll have to wait till their next grocery run to see it again.

"That's it." Steve says after Eddie sighs for the fifth time. "You're returning the cart."

"Why?"

"It's punishment for your ridiculous behavior."

"Rude."

"Necessary."

"Fine." Eddie snatches the handle and stomps all the way to the cart corral at the front of the store.

This is an outrage. Steve should know that his sexy cart-walking encore is the best part of Shopping Day. Seeing him walk further away before returning - always doing a little hair ruffle thing as he comes back. It's Eddie's own version of Baywatch and Steve is ruining it.

He slides into the passenger seat, slamming the car door to emphasize his anger.

"Steve Harrington, I'm so fucking mad at y-"

Eddie can't even finish his sentence before Steve's mouth is on his. It's a messier kiss this time, Steve is doing all the moving while Eddie tries to figure out what's going on. He pulls back, raising both eyebrows.

"I get it now." Steve answers Eddie's nonverbal 'what the fuck' question.

"Get what?"

"The shopping cart thing." Steve looks Eddie up and down. "I get it."

Holy shit. "Were you checking me out?"

Steve nods. Shrugs. Nods again.

"How much time do you think we have before the ice cream melts?" Steve motions to the backseat, tucking in his lips, hiding a smirk.

Oh. That. They're doing that.

"I'd say we have..." Eddie checks the nonexistent watch on his wrist. "More than enough time."

They haven't had desperate car sex like this since their first year of dating. It's so good that Eddie wonders why they stopped having desperate car sex.

For the rest of the car ride home, they're obnoxiously touchy-feely. Eddie's hand stays glued to Steve's overpriced jeans. The denim is much softer than any pair of jeans that Eddie owns. Maybe that's why they cost a fortune.

Steve takes one hand off the steering wheel whenever there's a straight shot - rubs his fingers over Eddie's knuckles. Bounces off his rings like stepping stones.

They're nauseating. If Eddie saw any other couple act like this, he'd throw tomatoes ate them. Taunt them mercilessly.

But Steve Harrington is the prototype that future scientists will use one day to build their genetically flawless human race. So Eddie is allowed to be as nauseating and revolting as he wants.

Their plan failed. The ice cream is completely melted by the time they get home. But who fucking cares? Eddie is dating someone with his same weird shopping cart kink and that's all he could ever ask for.

And besides, that just means that they’ll have to go grocery shopping again.

[jellinuy]

(saw your announcement so imma get this in real fast) post jjk! ( everyone lives bc gege is a menace) gojo, reader, and suguru living together :3

( roommates! )

౨ৎ incl. satoru and suguru.

౨ৎ a/n. first time i've actually written something that's NOT a drabble in like forever. can't decide on a format!! also i thought of reader being like their shoko, so this is completely platonic! urrghhh sorry this took me forever

living with the strongest duo would include...

Big house, first of all, because Satoru bought it. I’m talking, like, the three of you live in a penthouse, big.

Two VERY different sides of the house. Satoru's messy room consisting of strewn socks on the floor and food containers littered across his desk and an unmade bed and not a single cell in his brain to fix any of it until you or Suguru get on his ass: he says he has other things to worry about.

On the other hand, Suguru is something of a nagging mother when it comes to his sector of the house. Clean sheets every week, clothes in the hamper immediately after taking them off, shoes in his closet in a neat row, etc. You and Satoru like to joke about him having OCD.

Late night snack runs!! It usually starts with one of you complaining about being hungry at an ungodly hour, way too late for snacks but craving snacks anyway. It’s usually Satoru who gets you two up by video calling you from his room, making noise until you can’t take it anymore and decide to get up.

Suguru does most of the cooking. Satoru isn’t bad at it, per se, but he’s too lazy to try and so are you, let alone make big enough batches for three people.

Suguru is also lazy at times, but less than Satoru, so you two designated him as your personal chef.

Of course, there are always days when none of you feel like cooking — those are Satoru’s favorite days. You’ll order takeout (with his money), heaped in a tangle of legs and arms across the couch as you eat and binge watch whatever you three happen to find.

Suguru usually makes you guys lunch for work or school if you ask. Or even if you don’t.

Pillow fights! Or any kind of play-fight that involves throwing things at each other. They're usually initiated by Satoru when the mood strikes, and he'll literally beat you and Suguru over the head with pillows until the stuffing is everywhere or until you physically can't breathe.

A group chat! Satoru’s a frequent texter, Suguru not so much, whether it’s to show you two a picture of a stray cat he found, to ask what’s for dinner, or to beg for something.

Strangely though, when you or Suguru question him on why the trash isn’t taken out, he goes quiet.

Those two are the kind of boys who come into your room to knock something over and just leave without closing your door.

Movie nights are a must on weekends, unless one of you is extremely busy. That’s how the three of you unwind without really saying you need to unwind. You cuddle up on the couch in pajamas in one big messy heap and turn on a movie (based on who wins rock-paper-scissors) with a mountain of sugary and salty and spicy snacks at your disposal.

The three of you trust each other completely, so deep conversations are occasional, but comfortable. Neither of them would judge you for crying or being anxious or anything, and vice versa. When you need a hug, they’re there for that, too.

It’s not rare for the three of you to share a bed, or even cuddle. Granted, it took some getting used to at first, but now none of you find it weird, and it’s comforting to have a 6 foot heated body pillow, especially during the winter.

You three have an insane amount of inside jokes, and you bicker like siblings. Anyone who doesn’t get it would probably be concerned how much you insult each other.

“Shut the fuck up Suguru, didn’t you used to swallow balls?”

“Oh, shit.”

“Satoru, aren’t you still a virgin??”

“Fuck you! Y/N, what the hell are you laughing at, didn’t your date flake on you the other day??”

“Suck my dick!”

And then you’ll go back to whatever you were doing before like it didn’t even happen.

Whenever you or Suguru need to go shopping, you usually ask Satoru to Cashapp you before you go. He pretends to put up a fight, but to a guy who sees $2,000 as pocket change, he really doesn’t care. Hell, take one of his cards, go nuts.

[carolperkinsexgirlfriend]

Steddie Upside-down AU Part 15

Part 1 Part 14

“Demogorgon?” Eddie demands. “That thing does not look like a Demogorgon!”

He can feel himself unraveling. He and Steve are barely unraveling and now they’re supposed to keep this kid alive somehow? They’d planned to fuck off and die of starvation, but now there’s a fucking kid in the mix, they’re going to have to fight that thing again and figure out a way to get out of this mess alive.

“What’s a demo—”

“It’s a D&D monster, Steve.” He’s being too loud, and he realizes it even before Will shrinks back, looking between Eddie, and Steve, and the door, like he can’t figure out which one is more of a threat.

“Oh, that’s cool,” Steve says, like a jackass. Will smiles hesitantly over at him.

“It is not cool, Sir Steven,” he hisses, keeping his voice down this time. “That is not what a Demogorgon looks like, and in cause you’ve forgotten, it tried to eat you! What about that is cool?”

Steve holds his hands up, palms forward like he’s trying to calm a spooked horse. “Alright, man. Ease up,” he says. “Let’s just sit down and like, talk this out.”

As if to demonstrate the act of sitting, he folds himself gracefully to the ground, legs crossed in his usual sitting position. Eddie hates him just a little. But Will sits too, knees to his chest, arms locked around them, so Eddie slides off the couch and joins them.

“Why do you think it’s a Demo-whatever?” Steve asks, rolling his eyes as both Will and Eddie correct him in unison. “Yeah, Demogorgon, whatever.”

“I rolled a three,” Will says. “In the game. I rolled a three, and it got me. And then it got me in real life.”

Steve reaches out, patting the kid’s ankle. “Are you hurt?” Steve asks.

Will holds out his palms. They’re scrapped, a little bloody on the heels, but not too bad. Kid’s faired better than they have, that’s for sure.

“Just these,” Will says. “I fell off my bike.”

Without getting up, Steve stretches out to grasp the handle of his backpack, pulling it toward him. He pulls out their meager first aid supplies, even though the blood looks old and dried. He scoots forward on his butt until his knees knock into Will, and then he holds out his hand.

It takes a few loaded seconds, but Will puts one of his hands into Steve’s. Steve holds it up to his eyes, hemming and hawing over the minor cuts like they’re battle wounds.

Then the best thing happens – Will Byers laughs. Is Steve Harrington good with kids? Eddie is going to lose it.

“I think you’ll live,” Steve says, wiping the dried blood and dirt from his hands with one of the few remaining wet wipes, careful of the scabs. He pats them dry with the hem of his shirt before gently securing bandages across them. “There,” he says, with a private little smile. “Good as new.”

Will smiles up at him, cheeks pinkening in a way Eddie empathizes with. If Steve Harrington tenderly cared for his wounds, he’d disintegrate and blow away on the wind.

“Now what?” Will asks, looking around at his surroundings curiously, as if he only just realized he’d followed two strangers to an unknown location. “Where are we?"

Eddie jumps up, bowing theatrically. “Welcome to my humble abode.”

A small, competitive voice in the back of his head crowed in delight when he made Will laugh this time. Screw you, Steve Harrington. He was going to be this kid’s favorite.

“We should compare intel,” Steve says, like someone who’d watched too many James Bond movies before his brain was fully developed. But they do.

Steve and Eddie take turns describing a kid-friendly version of what they’d been through. The raging party turns into a small get-together, sans drugs and alcohol. The “Demogorgon” attack in the alleyway involves not injuries, and it never broke into Steve’s house at all.

They don’t mention the lack of food, but Eddie begins sifting the water when it becomes clear Will hasn’t had a drink in a while. He doesn’t let the kid see the residue left on the shirt that had once been in the water he’s now greedily gulping down.

Steve’s fidgeting, straightening, and recrossing is legs periodically as they wait for Will to finish drinking and catch his breath.

“And you?” Steve asks, when he finally lowers the bottle, wiping the water that’d dribbled down onto his chin with the sleeve of his flannel.

“I saw it in the woods,” he starts, handing the bottle back to Eddie and pulling his knees back up to his chest. “It made me crash my bike.”

“And it got you?” Steve asks, quiet and gentle.

Will shakes his head. “I made it home, but no one was there, and all the lights were flickering. So, I went to the shed, and I got Lonny’s gun. And—” he swallows, voice sounding thick. “I shot it, but it took me here anyway.”

“How long have you been here?” Eddie asks.

Will shrugs, less like he doesn’t want to say, and more like he doesn’t know. “My Mom’s looking for me though.”

Eddie’s jealous of that level of faith in a parent. He swallows it down, says, “of course she is.”

Will shakes his head, hair flying with the force of it. “No, you don’t get it,” he says, adamant. “I’m not just saying that. I talked to her.”

Eddie’s eyes shift to Steve’s face, sees the same skepticism he feels reflected back, hope it doesn’t show on his face quite as much. Okay,” he says, drawling the word out past its usual thresholds, “how?”

“With the phone in the kitchen. I called and she answered,” Will replies. There are tears running down his face now. “She sounded so worried.”

“…what did she say?” Steve asks. He’s picking at his cuticles again. Eddie wants to reach over and grab his hand. He doesn’t.

“She said she’d find me,” Will says. “But then the Demogorgon came.”

There’s silence for a minute besides Will’s quiet crying. Steve scoots closer to him, nudging their knees together companionably.

He meets Eddie’s gaze, something that looks alarmingly like hope shining in his eyes. “You got a phone in here, Munson?”

Part 16

[rafesgoldrings]

Let Me Help

Pairings: Rafe Cameron x reader, Topper Thornton x reader, Kelce x reader

Warnings: potential season one spoilers??, light smut, oral sex (f receiving), blood, violence, guns, fighting, reader threatens to kill someone, suggestive ending, language, reader is a bitch

Summary: after hearing what JJ and Pope did to Topper, you decide to join in on the plan for revenge. Turns out you like seeing your boys get mean way more than you thought

A/N: since reader is said to be wearing a skirt, the outfit above is exactly the kind of outfit i pictured

Okay but imagine Rafe, Kelce, and Topper using you as bait for Pope and JJ after the boat thing. You’d all been best friends for years and while it was purely platonic, they couldn’t deny that you were easily the hottest girl on the island. So when they decide they’re going to jump them at the movies and you overhear, you step in with your own idea.

“Let me help” they all gave each other hesitant glances not wanting you to risk getting hurt. But you were stubborn and refused to accept no as an answer so they reluctantly agreed, all realizing that maybe this was actually a great idea.

JJ was easy to lure in. All you had to do was flash him a pearly smile while wearing a tiny little skirt and crop top and he was on his knees for you. Literally, on his knees eating you out in the bathroom before it got dark. If you were going to be involved, you at least wanted something out of it and JJ just so happened to be an expert with his tongue. He was so lost in your cunt that he didn’t notice the way you grabbed his bag and took the gun.

‘Stupid fucking pogue’ you’d think to yourself as your orgasm washed over you.

“That was great JJ, meet me behind the projector tonight and i’ll gladly return the favor” he nodded eagerly, standing up and giving you a sloppy kiss. You left the stall, making sure to sway your hips to really lay it in, and scanned the crowd for your next target.

Pope was a bit harder, you couldn’t lure him with sex because he was such a virginesque geek. So you had to actually use your brain and think of something that would be effective but not too obvious. You tried to remember all those times you’d overhear him at parties when suddenly it hit you, his weird fascination with becoming a coroner. Now this seemed like a weird route, but you happened to have an uncle that taught forensic pathology at the university and you could easily play it off like you were giving him a good word.

“Hey Pope” he’d walked up to the food stand to get some popcorn not noticing you at first.

He wasn’t exactly a fan of you, but he didn’t not like you either. He knew you were friends with the whole ‘death squad’ but also heard that you were incredibly sweet and crazy smart so how bad could you be?

“Oh, hey Y/N” the smile on his face was forced and you knew that, but you knew how to work your charm.

“I hear you’re wanting to go into forensic pathology, did you know I have an uncle that teaches that at the university? I could put in a good word for you if you wanted” your signature bright smile on display, head tilted slightly.

His eyes went wide when he finally understood what you said. This could be huge for him, he’d be crazy if he declined.

“Really? That would be great! Do you think there’s any way you could get me into contact with him?”

“Of course! Just meet me behind the projector tonight and we can swap contact info yeah? Don’t want anyone knowing i’m playing favorites” he quickly nodded, a large smile on his face. Sucker.

“Cool, see you around Pope” your hand brushing his arm as you gave him a flirtatious wink and walked away.

When you returned to your boys with the results, they each kissed your cheek. Kelce bowed down to you and the other two followed shortly after, the laugh you let out enamoring them completely. Now it was just a waiting game.

Nightfall shortly came, the movie playing on the screen not anything you’d cared about. The only thing you cared about was teaching those dirty pogues a lesson, and when you noticed JJ sneaking off from his friends you knew it was go time.

“Hey! Get ready boys, we’re about to have a real fun night” you hit Rafe on the shoulder before standing up, pulling your skirt down and ignoring the very obvious stares from the guys.

‘Typical’ you thought, rolling your eyes and walking towards the direction JJ went. But not before winking at Pope and signaling him to follow you, the others following behind unnoticed.

When you and Pope arrived behind the projector, JJ found it weird. He’d totally still get his dick sucked in front of Pope but like, why did you invite him there to watch? Unless you were just into shit like that, then he was all for it. Whatever got him that blowjob that was promised.

Pope was confused why JJ was there with a raging erection for a discussion about your uncle who’s a forensic pathology professor. That seems like a weird thing to be excited over, even for Pope.

But when Rafe, Topper, and Kelce surrounded them and you had a sick smile on your face, they understood they’d been set up. It was like vultures circling their pray, JJ immediately went for his bag to grab the gun and panicked when it wasn’t there.

“Looking for this?” you waved the gun in the air, your voice low and taunting.

Your boys looked proud that you managed to steal it while Pope and JJ were scared shitless. Pope, not thinking clearly, lunged for Topper which set off a chain reaction. Rafe was hitting JJ, Topper was hitting Pope, Kelce was going back and forth between the two trying to help whoever needed it. You just stood back watching in satisfaction. That was until Kie decided to join in, jumping on Toppers back and punching him to try and get him off Pope. Rafe grabbed her and threw her to the ground, you tried pushing that feeling of jealousy down but it was far too intense to do so.

“Reach for that lighter and I promise you i’ll kill you Kiara. Don’t fucking test me” Kie froze at the feeling of cold metal being held agaisnt her temple and she knew it was a gun.

She slowly stood and backed away from the bag having no choice but to watch her friends get beaten. Pope was in a chokehold, Rafe and Kelce were holding JJ back and landing blow after blow to his stomach. It wasn’t until Pope was nearly unconscious that you decided to stop it.

“Okay boys, we’ve had our fun. Can't exactly kill him here at least, let’s go home. I’m bored” an exaggerated yawn filling the air.

They let go of them and walked over to you, blood on their faces and knuckles from the punches, and the four of you walked to Topper's jeep. There was a silence that fell over you when you’d gotten in, not necessarily an awkward one, but also not very comfortable. It wasn’t until you spoke that the tension was broken.

“That. Was. So. Fucking. Hot. Oh my god i’m so turned on right now” they looked at you in shock, you were never this bold in any scenario.

“You’re so fucked up Y/N. Such fucked up little whore.” Rafe was the first to speak, turning to face you with a smirk on his face.

“You like that? Like seeing us beat the shit out of those dirty pogue pretty girl?” Kelce was the next to speak, turning around in the passenger seat to look at you more clearly.

“Didn’t know our innocent girl was so dark, how should we take care of that baby?” Topper looked at you in the rear view mirror, noticing how at some point in between then responding, you’d taken your panties off.

“How about each of you take turns with me? Show me what else those hands can do?” you had such an innocent look on your face and that mixed with your pouty lips, the sweet scent of your perfume, and your glistening cunt in the moonlight drove them crazy.

“Oh that can be arranged princess” Rafe growled, the others humming in agreement before Topper started the car and sped home.

This was going to be a very long and fun night for the four of you.

[azulock]

Sfw relationship hcs for shidou ryusei

- we know he's insane but he gives off puppy dog vibes

(momma boy vibes too)

He's insane but he's the fun kind of insane, so ideally you gotta be the same type of insane so you can both do weird shit together. Which is the best way for a relationship to work, just find someone who is your kind of crazy and do crazy shit together.

ryusei shidou sfw relationship headcanons

⟳ Like, first up, you can only date this dude by being on the same wavelength as him. Not the type to control himself just cause someone is uncomfortable with who he is. So you either enjoy his way of life even if you don't share it or you actually are just as crazy, which is even better.

⟳ Big on communication, but sadly he can't modulate how he speaks properly so it's always aggressive communication. He doesn't mean any harm and once you get used to it it's pretty easy to tell when he's just excited and when he's angry. But he is always very honest and straight forward which is great.

⟳ The "will try anything once" kind of guy, just in general. Will try your hobbies and favorite games and shows and what not. If you don't want him getting involved in something you gotta say it, cause he doesn't understand you sometimes need something that's only yours. If he doesn't like something he won't do it again, but you are guaranteed one attempt.

⟳ Overly excited and a bit too intense - yes, like a hyperactive puppy - but that's only because he cares. His way of showing affection includes wanting to involve you in his things, so get ready for adventure I guess. If you really don't wanna do something you can say, he's gonna mop a little but will recover. Do try to give things at least one chance, tho.

⟳ The naked neighbor, cause a body is just a body, and everyone got one, there is no shame in that - and no body part is inherently sexual so fuck it. He's comfortable with being naked so you'd better get comfortable with him being naked, and maybe get comfortable with your own naked body too. Of course, sleeps naked.

⟳ On that note, naked cuddling - might turn sexual or not really, he just likes skin contact. Lots of physical affection from him, tho not always cute. He is one of the haphazard cuddlers, just throwing himself over you without care. Also a biter, randomly chomping on you when you least expect it. And oh yeah, he doesn't care what people think, so he doesn't mind PDA.

⟳ Very genuine but not very romantic, so his type of dates won't be the going on a cute picnic or taking you to a fancy restaurant types. It's gonna be more like, going to some shady unknown place with weird ass food, taking you to a midnight double feature of old horror movies, skinny dipping in a beach late into the night when nobody's watching. It's always an adventure with that one.

⟳ Not very good at remembering things tho, like anniversaries and birthdays as well as tasks and other run of the mill things. He doesn't mean any bad from that but it's just not something his brain focuses too much on. He's more a spur of the moment type of guy so ordinary things can get left behind. Requires a bit of patience but it can be worked around.

[alwritey-aphrodite]

Can you please do Rain through an open window with Jamie Tartt x reader?

2024 Summer Blurbs

The older you seem to get, the less magical summer seems to become. Sure, you get weekends and evenings off to indulge in all your favorite summer activities, but sitting at a desk all day while the weather is perfect seems like a crime. With Jamie’s hectic schedule, you don’t even really have control over your weekends with a handful of exceptions. On those weekends, you make sure to plan out your days to include all your favorite summery plans while still making sure you’ll be able to get your well-deserved rest after working all week.

Unfortunately for you, though, summer seems to revolve around being outdoors, and London loves to rain.

You don’t mind the rain while you’re working, as it seems like the perfect way to rationalize spending all day at a desk, and you enjoy the rain while you sleep, but during the weekends, you want the ability to decide what you’re going to do and where you’re going to go, not wanting to be constrained by the unpredictable weather.

When Jamie returns from his morning run with his hair plastered to his forehead, you know you might as well scrap any plans you’d had for the day that didn’t involve staying inside.

“It’s raining,” he announces when he crosses the bedroom to plant a kiss on your forehead. He doesn’t seem all that bothered by his rare day off getting ruined by the London weather, but he’s always been the type to just roll with the punches and enjoy the ride.

While he showers, you trudge your way downstairs, leaving the comfortable darkness of your bedroom for stormy skies and gray lighting, and you sigh when your sleep-addled brain recognizes that this isn’t a summer rain shower, but a full blown storm. You feel groggy and grumpy, standing and staring at the open fridge while the rain hammers against the side of your house.

Jamie, who’s been up for hours at this point, joins you soon after with a slightly annoying spring in his step, but he just lovingly directs you to the couch while he makes breakfast, knowing that you’re upset about your weekend being ruined even without you speaking a word.

“We’ll get to finally finish that show, huh?” He says with a smile when he brings you your plate, settling onto the couch next to you. With a plate of warm food and Jamie smiling next to you, your mood lifts and you feel much less doom and gloom than you did when you woke up and saw the storm. You dig in, cradling the plate on your lap, but Jamie sets his own food down before standing and promising to be right back, disappearing deeper into the house.

When he returns, it’s with a pile of blankets that he’d definitely taken off of your bed, but he plops them onto the couch with the biggest smile and you can’t even fathom being a little upset, especially because you hadn’t even bothered to make the bed when you’d woken up. You expect that Jamie will finally settle down and pull you in for a cuddle, but instead he turns towards the windows, unlatching and pulling them all open just enough to let the sounds of the rain in, filtering in some of the cool outside air. You hadn’t even realized how stuffy it had gotten inside.

Satisfied, Jamie finally settles next to you, pulling you into his side and covers the both of you in a mountain of blankets, starting up the show you’ve been watching together before eating his own breakfast. It’s probably cold and you know it’s difficult to eat with one hand, his other drawing shapes on the soft skin of your side, but he looks more peaceful than he has in weeks.

Between the blankets and your full belly and Jamie next to you and the gentle noise of the rain just audible with the TV playing, you’re asleep before the first episode ends. Jamie notices immediately, remembering the scene where your eyes first closed so he can go back and watch it with you again later, content to relax and let you sleep with your head against his shoulder. In his mind, there’s no better way to spend a day off, even in the height of summer.

[icemavs]

homecoming

Bradley is finally home (explicit, 4.4k, ao3)

Bradley woke up to the loadmaster on the C-17 telling him that they were close to landing in San Diego and he needed to get in his seat. He pulled himself off the cold floor and cranked his neck to the side to get all the cricks out before buckling himself back into the jump seat. Sleeping on the floor of a C-17 wasn’t his favorite thing in the world, but if it meant he could get home to Jake early, then he would take it over the bunks on the ship any day.

His tenure in Japan was over quickly, just a few stops at three different bases to impart some knowledge on the pilots stationed there and then he could go home. Bradley had been attached to one of the squadrons on the Lincoln in the past, so it was easy for him to jump in for a couple months to get him out across the sea. Plus, it was always fun to see Coyote and the other guys and fly with them for a few weeks.

Japan was one of his favorite places to go on a deployment, he enjoyed the western Pacific much more than the Mediterranean. Even though the weather was usually better in the eastern Med, the amount of green he saw in Japan and the Philippines was no match. He loved the amount of outdoors stuff he could do – hiking, snorkeling, kayaking, and so much more – and the food was his favorite. They didn’t stop in Okinawa very often with the carrier, but he would travel down there to talk to the Marines sometimes, and his favorite ramen place was on the island. He even had his picture on the wall after trying and finishing a bowl with the highest spice level. Japan was also special to Bradley because that’s where he had met Jake for the first time.

They both were on the same carrier, but different squadrons, so they didn’t interact too much outside of sometimes flying together. One day, they were mission planning and trying to get the same airspace despite there not being enough room for both flights to happen there. They met in one of the briefing rooms with their instructors to talk about who had precedence, but the discussion turned to an argument between Jake and Bradley and almost turned to blows at one point. Their instructors had to pull them apart to keep them from ripping the other’s head off.

Once he had gotten back to his own squadron’s briefing room, Bradley had felt the anger simmering just under his skin and he was trying to get his breathing to return to normal. At the time, he was sure it was just anger, but as the years went on the lines got blurred. They worked with each other a few more times after that, nearly crossing paths at TOPGUN the first time. It was probably for the best that they weren’t in the same class, it may have ended badly for everyone involved. When they eventually ended up on the mission together with the rest of the team, the uncomfortable tension that filled every room they were in came to a head one night in the showers. They had started yelling at each other and were eventually standing nose to nose when Jake leaned forward and pressed his lips to Bradley’s. Bradley was surprised right away, but his body caught up before his brain and he pushed Jake against the shower wall. Before he really registered it, Bradley was on his knees faced with Jake’s cock hard and hanging in front of him. The rest of the time before the mission and leading up to the present day had flown by.

The plane jumped from turbulence and Bradley was jolted back to the present day. He grabbed his backpack from the floor and hugged it to his chest. He was exhausted but so happy to be home. Being away was part of the job, but it never got easier. It was nearly torture being away from Jake and his mom and Mav and Ice for so long, even though it was only a couple months and not a year at a time like it used to be. A few long minutes later, the C-17 touched down at North Island and Bradley could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

He heaved his backpack onto his shoulder and stepped down onto the flight line. The San Diego air was warm and thick with the March rain that must have just fallen. When Bradley stepped into the hangar, he was hit by a warm force from his left side that nearly knocked him off his feet.

“Oof!” was the surprised sound that escaped his mouth. He turned his head to the side and saw it was Jake. Looking just a bit farther, he saw his mom, Mav, and Ice standning near the door smiling as they watched Jake ambush Bradley.

When Jake peeled himself away, he looked up at Bradley with a smirk on his face and a slight blush dusting the tops of his cheeks.

“Bradshaw, as I live and breathe,” Jake breathed out when he’d composed himself a bit more.

“Jake, you look good, baby,” Bradley said to him.

“I am good, I’m very good.”

Bradley just laughed and stepped forward to press a kiss to his lips. It was heated and full of everything Bradley had wanted to say to Jake about how much he missed him while he was gone. Jake made a small sound Bradley pushed his tongue into his mouth. When he pulled away, Bradley leaned forward a bit more to whisper in Jake’s ear. “We have an audience now, but just wait until we get home,” he said. Jake shuddered under Bradley’s hands and the blush on his face grew to a deeper pink. He grabbed Jake by the hand and started walking toward the others. “Hey, everyone, I missed you guys,” he said to the group. Bradley hugged his mom and gave Mav and Ice a firm handshake each.

The group stood around and chatted while they waited for Bradley’s bags to get unloaded off the plane. Bradley told them what he could about his trip, mostly for his mom’s sake since he would tell Ice and Mav more about it later when he eventually got back to work. When it started to look like his bags would be a while, the rest of the group left Jake behind to wait with Bradley. He waved goodbye with the promise of getting lunch with them the next day.

Shortly after, it was just Jake and Bradley standing in the hangar while some supply troops unloaded the cargo. They were standing close enough to each other that Bradley could feel the heat coming off Jake’s body. Their silence was comfortable, as it usually was, but this time it was charged. Bradley had been half hard since he kissed Jake, and he assumed Jake was in the same boat.

Jake cleared his throat. “So how was the flight?” he asked.

“It was fine, a little bumpy over Washington, but overall not too bad. I’ve had worse,” Bradley said. “I’m ready to be home, though,” he finished with a wink in Jake’s direction.

“Uh huh, I’m sure you are.” Jake smiled at Bradley, but there was an underlying message in his smirk. Once that Bradley was sure to enjoy later.

All Bradley could think of once they’d fallen back into their comfortable silence was taking Jake on the floor of the hangar where they stood. He was ready to deal with the consequences of his knees on the concrete if it meant he could get his hands on Jake. Bradley’s bags were finally unloaded off the pallet and he was allowed to leave, Jake in tow.

The car ride started silently, Bradley allowing Jake to drive the Bronco because two months of driving on the opposite side of the road was something that took some time to snap out of and he really didn’t want to get into a car accident. Instead, Bradley let his hand wander over to rest on Jake’s thigh as he drove them down the highway. Jake’s breath was steady as they conversed casually about the weather and how much it had rained that day. Bradley moved his hand slowly up Jake’s thigh and massaged the muscle gently and Jake took a sharp breath.

“Bradley,” Jake warned from the driver’s seat when their conversation had waned.

“Yes, Jakey?” Bradley said innocently with a smile on his face.

Jake didn’t say anything more and just shook his head. They kept on like that, Jake driving in relative silence with his eyes locked onto the road and Bradley’s fingers gently squeezing for drawing circles on the inside of Jake’s thigh. Based on the cadence of Jake’s breathing, Bradley could tell that he was incredibly turned on, but so was Bradley. He moved his hand up slightly to start massaging the space next to his dick. Jake’s mouth dropped open with a small gasp but he kept his eyes forward. Bradley could feel that he was rock hard in his shorts and he smiled to himself. Knowing how much of an effect he had on Jake without having to say anything was making Bradley just as turned on as Jake was. Jake shifted in his seat but still kept his thoughts to himself.

After just a few more minutes of Bradley torturing Jake, they pulled into the parking lot of their apartment building. It was a quick walk up as they had opted to leave Bradley’s large bags in the car for the night and just take his backpack with his essentials inside.

As soon as they were through the door, Bradley dropped his backpack on the ground and locked the door behind him. When he turned back around, Jake was already on his way down the hall to the bedroom. Bradley laughed out loud to himself and kicked his shoes off.

When he got to the bedroom a few short minutes later, Jake was sprawled out on the bed in just his tented boxers with his arm thrown across his face.

“You’re going to be the death of me, you know,” Jake said without moving.

“Why’s that?” Bradley asked as he bent down to shed his flight suit and crawled into bed in just his t-shirt and boxers. “Because I’m just so charming and lovable?”

“Yeah, that,” Jake replied with a snort.

Bradley finally sat down next to Jake and rested his hand on Jake’s stomach. Jake still didn’t move, but his chest jumped with a silent gasp. Bradley laid down beside Jake and started pressing kissing along the side of his neck.

“You’re not allowed to leave me anymore,” Jake said with a sigh. “I can’t do phone sex and FaceTime sex and whatever forever. It’s never gonna be as good as the real thing.”

“You’re right, it’s not,” Bradley told him between kisses. “But every time I get off in my hotel room, it’s with your name on my lips.”

Jake groaned and rolled onto his side to press his lips to Bradley’s. His hands started to roam around Bradley’s body, grabbing hold of anything he could.

“God, Bradley, you kill me,” Jake breathed. “I tried using my fingers most nights but it just wasn’t enough. I need you so bad, Bradley.” Bradley captured Jake’s lips in another kiss, but this time it was more heated than the first.

Bradley rolled Jake over onto his back and crawled on top, trapping Jake’s hips with his own and holding Jake’s arms above his head. He licked his way into Jake’s mouth for a few minutes and held him steady.

“God, I missed you too much,” Bradley said. “Maybe you’re right, I can’t go on deployments anymore, no matter how short.” He paused. “Unless you come with me next time.” Bradley leaned down to kiss Jake again.

Jake pulled back before their lips could meet. “And have to get away with either fucking in a tiny bunk or having to not get fucked while you’re right there for a month while we sail?” Jake scoffed but paused and actually thought about it for a moment. “Actually, yeah that could be fun. Like old times.”

Bradley laughed but ground his hips down into Jake’s at the same time. Jake groaned and threw his head back. Bradley took advantage of the opening and leaned down to suck a mark onto Jake’s neck.

“Fuck, Bradley, I’m gettin’ real desperate down here,” was all Jake could force out while Bradley continued to grind his hips and suck on his neck.

“I know, baby,” Bradley said into Jake’s shoulder. “Soon.”

Bradley worked his way down, pressing kisses along Jake’s torso as he moved. Jake squirmed underneath him, clearing feeling a bit more ticklish after not being touched for two months. When he got all the way to where he wanted to be, Bradley quickly rid Jake of his boxers and moved to kiss the area around his cock, now that it was free. Jake’s cock stood tall, precome pearling at the tip like it most likely had been for several hours at this point. Bradley pointedly ignored it and decided to take Jake’s balls into his mouth instead, one at a time, while a free hand grasped at Jake’s chest.

“Bradley, fuck, please, come on,” Jake begged from his spot on the pillows. “Please.”

“You’re so good for me baby, you’re so patient,” Bradley said.

Finally, Bradley got his mouth where Jake wanted it. Jake let out a long, loud groan, and Bradley smiled to himself. He was still in his boxers and t-shirt, his own hips grinding against the bed uncomfortably in the position he was in but he couldn’t help it at this point. Jake was the perfect size in his mouth, not too long, not too thick, but still thick enough that there was a little bit of a stretch on the corners of his mouth. Bradley loved the way Jake tasted, sweat, salt, and something earthy mixed with the cologne he wore that smelled like the ocean.

Jake brought a hand down from where they were still resting above his head to land in Bradley’s hair. Not gripping tightly, just resting, guiding. Bradley slowly began to bob his head, taking a little bit of Jake’s length at a time, with his hand wrapped around what he wasn’t covering with his mouth. Jake was making the most beautiful sounds, almost like he was trying to stay quiet.

Spit was gathering at the sides of Bradley’s mouth, his jaw was getting tired, but he wasn’t a quitter, he was going to make Jake come more than once tonight if he had anything to say about it. He sped up, his mouth now able to replace the length his hand had previously covered, and Jake’s breathing began to speed up as well.

“Fuck, Bradley, please don’t stop,” he cried as his grip in Bradley’s hair got a little tighter. Bradley moaned around Jake’s cock in response and he knew how the vibrations felt to Jake. “Bradley, Bradley please, I’m gonna come, please.”

Bradley didn’t slow his movement, just kept his pace and continued to work Jake through it when he finally came down Bradley’s throat. Bradley swallowed every last drop, the taste was like heaven on his tongue after waiting for so long, and kept shallowly moving his head up and down the length while Jake’s breathing slowed.

Jake didn’t say anything, his arms moved back to cover his eyes the way they had when Bradley initially walked into the bedroom.

“I missed you so much, Jake,” Bradley said as he peppered kisses on Jake’s thighs. “Thought about you every night, on and off the ship.” He tapped Jake’s side in a silent ask for him to turn over onto his stomach. Jake complied with a soft groan and lifted himself onto his knees, already anticipating where this was going. “Imagined you on your knees for me in the shower the second I got to my hotel in Tokyo. Had a picture of you spread out underneath me in my big hotel bed while I ate you out and then fucked you into the mattress.”

From his position behind Jake, Bradley could see Jake’s not yet soft cock give a small twitch of interest at that statement.

“You want me to eat you out?” Bradley asked. “Open you up with just my tongue and then fuck you?”

Jake moaned and pushed his hips back. “Please, Bradley, anything, just fuck me already.”

“Tsk, tsk, so needy tonight,” Bradley scolded jokingly.

Bradley sat up on his knees and grabbed a handful of Jake’s ass in each hand. He kneaded the muscle for a few seconds before leaning forward.

He exhaled a soft puff of warm air around the tight ring of muscle and Jake shuddered. Bradley licked a stripe up from the spot behind Jake’s balls to his hole with a flat tongue just before really diving in. He speared his tongue and got to work.

Jake must have opened himself before he picked up Bradley in anticipation of something like this so he was already pleasantly loose and ready.

“Oh fuck Jake, baby, did you open yourself up for me already?” Bradley asked.

“Didn’t want to wait anymore,” Jake breathed. “Wanted to get this show on the road,”

Bradley laughed a bit before dropping a glob of spit onto his fingers in lieu of wanting to grab more lube. He started with just one finger alongside his tongue and Jake cried out as he planted his face into the mattress.

“Bradley, please,” Jake moaned.

“Tell me what you want, baby,” Bradley replied, pulling back. Without waiting for an answer, Bradley added another finger and hooked the two to press into the spot he knew would make Jake shiver. Jake moaned loudly and tried to drive his own hips into the mattress but all he made contact with was empty air. Bradley crooked his fingers once more and got the same result.

All at once, Bradley pulled his fingers from Jake’s hole, earning himself a loud whine from Jake. Before Jake could say anything, Bradley replaced his fingers with his tongue. He knew it wasn’t what Jake wanted, but he had waited months to get his mouth on Jake and he wasn’t about to wait any longer. Soon Jake’s whine was turned to heavy panting and Bradley had saliva running down his chin. His hands grabbed handfuls of Jake’s ass and his back was arched just enough that his cock grazed the bedspread. After a few minutes of licking his way into Jake, Bradley couldn’t wait any longer. Bradley pulled back and flipped Jake onto his back, resulting in another whine from Jake.

“You ready, Jake?” Bradley asked, even though he already knew the answer.

“Yes, God, yes, please Bradley,” Jake breathed. “I missed you so much, I need you in me so bad.”

Bradley reached over to grab a bottle of lube from the nightstand and then situated himself between Jake’s thighs. He leaned down to press a kiss to Jake’s lips. He meant it to be light and quick, but Jake drew him in. The kiss was heated and hungry, Jake bringing his hands up to twist in Bradley’s hair and his legs wrapped around Bradley’s middle to pull him closer. Finally, Bradley was able to pull away, albeit reluctantly, and a string of spit connected their mouths.

“God, I missed you, too,” Bradley whispered with a smile.

Jake grinned right back at him as Bradley leaned back farther. He sat back on his heels and squeezed lube onto his cock. As he lined himself up with Jake’s hole, Jake let out a long, high-pitched moan when Bradley made contact. Bradley sank in slowly, just an inch at a time, keeping his eyes trained on Jake’s face to make sure he was comfortable.

“Hurry the fuck up, Bradley,” Jake said through gritted teeth.

That answered that question, and Bradley pushed in farther. Jake was so, so tight and he felt so, so hot around Bradley. The time they spent away from each other always made the first time back feel that much better, no matter how many times they did it. Bradley relished in the feeling of Jake around him and sank in the rest of the way slowly.

“You’re so tight, baby,” Bradley told him. “You feel so fucking good.” He started to pull out slowly. “Missed this so much.” He punctuated the last word with a quick push back into Jake.

Jake gasped as Bradley began to work himself in and out at a steady pace. His hands were searching for something to hang onto, alternating between the pillow behind his head and the sheets underneath his body, but Bradley could tell neither did the trick. Bradley gave Jake a light tap on his hip to get his attention and then held out his hand for Jake. Bradley spread Jake’s legs a little farther apart so he could lean forward to hold Jake’s hands above his head. From this position, Bradley could easily lean down to give Jake small kisses along his neck.

They stayed like that for a while, Bradley steadily thrusting himself in and out of Jake while kissing up and down Jake’s neck, with the occasional peck on the lips, and Jake hanging on for dear life, searching for the one thing he wanted most. The only sound in the room was their heavy breathing supplemented by the slap of skin on skin.

“Bradley, please,” Jake started after a bit.

“Please what, baby?” Bradley asked him.

“More,” was all Jake said.

Bradley got the message and sped up slightly. He took both of Jake’s hands into one of his own and brought the other down to grab Jake’s ignored cock from where it lay between their bodies. As soon as he did, Jake cried out with each thrust from Bradley. Bradley fisted Jake’s cock in time with the snap of his hips, the slide made easier by the stream of precome coming from Jake. He knew Jake was close, and Bradley was too, but he didn’t care about his own pleasure until Jake got his.

Not too long after, Bradley could feel Jake tightening even more around him and trying to tell Bradley what was coming but not able to get out more than a few nearly silent whimpers. Bradley kept going with his pace and a few short second later, Jake was clenching down around Bradley and throwing his head back in pleasure. Thick white ropes of come painted Jake’s chest and Bradley’s fingers.

Bradley tried his best to work Jake through it, and did almost till the end, but the tight heat of Jake’s hole became too much. Before he knew it, his hips were snapping erratically and he finally gave one last weak thrust and his hips stalled, his own orgasm hitting him hard. Bradley saw white around the edges of his vision and fought to keep himself upright as he reached the end. After a bit, he finally slowly pulled out of Jake and watched a bead of come follow his cock out of Jake’s hole. He scooped it up with two fingers and gently pushed it back in. Jake groaned at the sensation but didn’t protest.

Beneath him, Jake was quietly whimpering and trying to slow his breathing. Bradley carefully collapsed onto the bed next to Jake. He ran a few fingers through the come on Jake’s chest and brought his hand to his mouth to lick it clean.

“That was nice, Jake,” he said.

Jake huffed a small laugh. “Nice?” he said incredulously. “You fuck me within an inch of my life and all you have to say is ‘nice?’”

Bradley laughed and pulled Jake’s face to his own to press a gentle kiss to his lips. It was slow and soft, different from how the rest of the night had gone. Jake moaned a little when he could taste himself on Bradley’s tongue still, and Bradley deepened the kiss just slightly.

When Jake finally pulled back to suck in a breath, his eyes were half-closed. “‘M sleepy, B,” he said quietly.

“I know, baby,” Bradley said. He started to move to head to the bathroom but was met with a hand on his chest, holding him down. “I’m grabbing a washcloth to clean you up, honey. So you can sleep without having to get up.”

Seeming satisfied with this answer, Jake moved his hand and allowed Bradley to complete his task. Bradley walked quickly over to the bathroom, ran a washcloth under warm water, and hurried back. When he saw Jake, he was sprawled out the same way he’d been twice earlier that night, star-fished and with an arm thrown over his face.

Bradley walked over and gave Jake a few gentle taps to get him to roll over. Once he did, Bradley quickly cleaned him up as much as he could, but he knew Jake would complain about the come in the morning.

After tossing the washcloth in the direction of the dirty clothes basket, Bradley climbed back into bed and pulled the mostly clean comforter over the top of the both of them.

“Missed you so much, Bradley,” Jake said quietly. “Don’t want you to leave anymore.”

Bradley’s heart tightened. He hated leaving Jake, but he loved his job. It was hard being away from Jake, but the homecomings were always so great. He figured he would just talk to Ice about getting shorter trips or making sure Jake could come along. It wasn’t always Bradley leaving either, Jake would often get sent on the same type of deployments. The distance was tough and the homecomings were just as good, but the time apart wasn’t any easier. Plus, if they got to travel together more, they could fuck and fuck around in more places.

“I won’t have to leave you again for a while, baby,” Bradley told him. “And I’m here now.” He wrapped an arm around Jake and Jake settled into Bradley’s side. I love him, Bradley thought suddenly, though not for the first time.

“You’re here now,” Jake repeated into Bradley’s chest. He pressed a small kiss there and not long after, he was sound asleep.

I love him, Bradley thought again and again until the exhaustion from his trip and the rest of the evening caught up with him and he fell asleep, too.

[romanitas]

look at me go, it hasn't even been a month! we're back with (i think) the penultimate part of the spy au !! thanks to @perseannabeth who helped me figure out some plot points literally irl for the final stretch. there's always been a vague plan for the end, hopefully it lives up! also again available on ao3 if tumblr formatting screws up.

-

Annabeth hasn’t seen Percy for four and a half weeks. She’s been off the Jupiter Industries case for just as long, what with Luke Castellan’s involvement; they’re currently restructuring the plan forward. She’s not used to boredom, but she’s not sure she could consider it full boredom when her brain will not stop churning. She’s aware it’s usually a stomach churning, but no, in this case, her mind is on the go in a thousand different directions. She doesn’t feel nauseous or sick - just overwhelmed mentally, which as far as she’s concerned is one of the worst kinds. She’d rather be vomiting.

She’s back at her apartment - her real one. It’s nearly as empty as the fake one. She doesn’t keep a lot of things around, not wanting too many distractions on top of the fact that she feels like she spends very little time actually in it. The most personalization is an owl throw pillow with a matching blanket on the couch and a few architectural prints across her walls. It feels emptier than it ever has, and she cruelly imagines what it might be like if Percy came here. She really, really needs to stop thinking about him, but it feels impossible, because if she’s not thinking about him, she starts to think about Luke. And that’s worse.

She faceplants directly into the owl blanket with a groan and lays there, ignoring the wafting smell of her Korean BBQ takeout sitting on the countertop. This has been her life each day for the last week: different dishes but a very familiar static and face full of fluff, followed by dejectedly eating lukewarm food. And then she just gets mad at herself for being such a sad sack. She’s Annabeth fucking Chase. What the hell did Percy Jackson do to her?

Reyna checks in periodically. She sends minute updates, but not enough for Annabeth to start doing her own poking and prodding. Frank stops by a few times to make sure she’s eating, and she does welcome his company in an absent way. He brings some of the best takeout, but he knows all her favorites. He carries the conversation in directions that serve the best distractions.

“You should use this time to get out,” he says one day, dragging some naan through the rest of his curry. When Annabeth stares at him, he clarifies. “I mean, maybe think of it like a vacation? You never take a vacation. Do things you’ve always wanted to.”

She grumpily shoves her own naan into her mouth to avoid answering him. But maybe he has a point. Maybe she does need to leave the house more often, if only to refresh herself. To get back on her feet. It’s only a matter of time before they give her a new assignment, and she refuses to fall into distractions again next time.

She takes herself out. She ventures further than a ten block radius and tries a new Pho place she’s been wanting to check out. She looks up a current run of temporary exhibitions around the city, buys tickets for three of them. She makes a reservation for herself at one of the museum restaurants, uncaring that it’s definitely overpriced and she can get a burger down the block for half the cost. She is utterly determined to give herself a good, clean, solid break from her time with Percy, so she’s prepared for the next chapter. Whatever it brings.

Naturally, it’s at one of the exhibitions that she runs into Sally Jackson.

Annabeth isn’t sure she could have been caught more off guard by Luke. She turns the corner and nearly runs into the woman, but her instincts make her sidestep at the last second. She’s not fast enough to avoid eye contact, because Sally moves at the same time, an apology on her lips.

“I’m so sorry - Annabeth?”

Why is this her life? Annabeth freezes, and she can feel the guilt rain down on her like a tsunami. She’s very rarely caught off guard like this, but this warm, wonderful woman unnerves her in an unexpected way. She just assumed she would never see her again, another casualty of her break with Percy.

Despite it all, Sally offers her a small, tentative smile. “Hi,” she says, tone infused with that very same warmth Annabeth knows she doesn’t deserve.

She swallows. “Hi,” she replies, weakly.

Sally reaches out to give her arm a gentle squeeze, and Annabeth nearly combusts on the spot. But the older woman can sense her discomfort, because she pulls her hand away just as quickly and sighs. “Will you get a coffee with me?”

Every single part of her is telling her to say no; every rational, logical piece of her being knows this is a bad idea, but there’s a quiet desperation that wins out against her better judgment, and Annabeth nods mutely. Sally smiles again, then walks them both towards the museum cafe. She orders Annabeth’s coffee exactly the way she likes it and orders herself a chai latte. By the time they sit down at the table, Annabeth’s nerves are shot, so she just wraps her hands around the cup and takes a sip, burning her tongue immediately. She winces, and Sally offers her a napkin.

“Percy told me you broke up.”

Annabeth almost laughs, hollowly. There’s no way he would have told her anything - Percy might have been royally pissed at her, but he’s also not cruel, and she knows he wouldn’t jeopardize her by spilling all the beans to his mother. He also wouldn’t want to put his mom in danger. Instead, her shoulders sink, and all she can do is nod once.

“He didn’t really tell me why,” Sally continues, wringing her hands around her own cup. She gets a thoughtful wrinkle in her forehead that looks so much like her son Annabeth almost flinches. “He said it wasn’t his place to share your history, but he did tell me you lied about a lot.”

She doesn’t know if hearing that from Sally is worse than her whole exchange with Percy a month ago. She doesn’t say anything, but her lack of answer is its own confirmation.

“My son is everything to me,” she says, and Annabeth prepares to be reamed out. Why wouldn’t she be? She just broke this woman’s son’s heart, and they’re two of the kindest, best people she’s ever met. “And I have never seen him so miserable.”

It’s not yelling, but it might be worse for real this time. Which is why the next thing Sally says is the most surprising part of all.

“I think he misses you.”

Annabeth’s head whips up so fast, and she says the first thing since her awkward greeting, which isn’t much more articulate. “What?”

It’s Sally’s turn to be quiet, again looking thoughtful as she finally takes a sip of her own drink. “I’m only telling you this because I know he was happy with you. Happier than I’ve seen him in a long time. And I know what he’s like now. I’m not going to ask you what happened. I know you hurt him, deeply, and I know maybe it’s not my place to sit here with you and tell you all of this. I know maybe things have been damaged too greatly. I know it’s his life, not mine. But what I want to ask you anyway is if you want to fix it, and if you still love my son.”

Annabeth’s eyes well up. She can’t answer this one with a nod. It’s everything she’s been trying to push away, the impossibilities of Percy chasing her down more harshly than Luke in the alleyway. “I love him,” she admits, and saying it aloud to someone else nearly knocks the wind out of her. “But I don’t know if I can fix it. I really, really hurt him, and there are parts of it that feel too broken.”

She shouldn’t be sharing this with Percy Jackson’s mother, but there isn’t another person who’s spoken to her about Percy specifically like this. A person who prioritizes Percy the way he should be, no matter what her own stupid heart and head are doing. Frank worries about her, but she’s the one who needs to grovel, and Sally will always, always put her son first.

Sally takes another sip, watching her carefully over the brim. She’s never felt more scrutinized in her life, and she’s a goddamn spy. Annabeth’s been alone for a very long time, and those months with Percy and his friends and his family were the closest she felt like a real, normal person in a long time. But she isn’t normal. She can’t just slip into a real architect’s life and become a new Annabeth Chase.

“Are you willing to try?”

She’s taken aback by the question and the way it connects to her thoughts, and she’s sure the surprise is on her face. “I don’t think he wants me to. It should be his choice, not mine.”

Sally hums. “Will you give me your address?”

“He’s not going to come to my house.”

“It’s for me. Not him. I won’t give it to him.”

She hesitates. She’s unlisted for a reason, her residence deeply under wraps. She still gets mail, of course, and it’s not like she lives there most of the year. But then she stubbornly takes the receipt from the drinks, scribbles the P.O. box on the back before she can second guess herself, and slides it back over. “Can you memorize it and burn it?” she says teasingly, trying not to feel ashamed of joking about it.

Sally slides it into her pocket. “I’m giving you a chance now, because I love my son and I want his happiness more than anything else, but I can see you're in just as terrible a state as he is. I wanted to see for myself, after I realized it was you.” She lifts her drink again, and Annabeth’s not sure if the pause for dramatic effect is intentional or not. “This is not forgiveness. It’s not my place to give it. This is me having a conversation with you, because you’re a very smart, put together woman who has spent a significant amount of time with Percy.”

Annabeth doesn’t feel very put together at the moment, but she’s hardly going to interject.

“And above everything, Percy is my son.”

It’s not a threat, but it almost feels like one. In lieu of another response, Annabeth takes a cowardly sip of her coffee.

“Thank you, for having coffee with me,” Sally says, and it sounds like a goodbye. Like this might be the last thing they ever say to each other. They sit in silence for a few more minutes, finishing their drinks, and it’s Sally who leaves first. She climbs to her feet in a cool movement and adjusts her bag before giving Annabeth a nod, then walks away from the table.

Annabeth sits there for another thirty minutes, though what she spends it thinking about, she doesn’t really remember.

-

Three days later Annabeth receives a package in the mail, with Sally’s return address. She holds the box in her hands and doesn’t really know how to process it. She sets it on the kitchen island and stares at it, afraid of opening it for stupid reasons. Watching it out of the corner of her eye, she heats up a box of frozen mac and cheese, then reaches for a steak knife to slice open the packing tape as the microwave beeps.

Inside she finds a dozen chocolate chip cookies, wrapped up neatly in a transparent blue bag. Underneath them is an envelope, which she nervously lifts and carefully opens. There’s a note inside, and what looks like two tickets to - to an aquarium. Not just any aquarium, the one where she met Percy - or rather, where she orchestrated her meeting of Percy. Puzzled and sad all at once, she reads the note in Sally’s loopy writing.

Annabeth,

I bought these for you both a month ago. I’m giving them to you alone now as a final gift from me to you, and I hope you use them. Use the time to think about everything. Don’t try to return them.

Perhaps one day we’ll see each other again. Take care.

Sally

[lazy-cat13]

I'll post the Invi and Ash connection tomorrow

Day 4: Dreams.

This'll be my first fanfic I think wish me luck

Black=Ash

Red= brain

Pink= Ash's chirithy

Orange=brains chirithy

Cursing (rarely)

The two hold hands and hug, but it's platonic. They're besties.

I did my best don't judge

@khoc-week

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

(Ash pov) It's a peaceful sunny morning in Daybreak Town. No Lux collecting this morning, nothing big. Just me and Brain going out to get croissants and cocoa like any other day. Hopefully it's like this for the rest of the day, I don't really want to get caught in a fight. It's coming too common and it's too hard to ignore now.

"You seem stressed." A voice startles me.

"ACK! wudduya want?!"

"Jeez, relax, just me." Oh. Just Brain.

"Sorry, just scared me. . ." I tuck my hands into the pockets of my sweater.

"Eh, don't worry about it. Seriously though, you're really tense, something is bothering you."

Yeah. . . Something is, but I don't wanna stress him out too much. There's already so many things going on, street fights, a war between unions, joining the Dandelions, don't want to add another thing on his plate. . .

"Nothing! Don't worry about it!" I smile trying to hide any sign of stress.

"uhh huhhh. . . We're gonna have to talk about this later then. . ."

"ugh, fine. Let's get food first."

We enter Fountain Square (that's what I like to call it not sure if that's the cannon name) just to see another fight start to break out.

"shiiittt. . ." We both say in unison.

I shakingly put on my headphones to block out some sounds. While Brain tips his fadora

Don't involve me, Don't involve me, Don't involve me, Don't involve me. . .

My breathing picks up.

Brain says something but it's muffled by the headphones. Then he grabs my hand and power walks through the streets of Daybreak Town.

We walk into an alleyway away from people, and he pulls off my headphones.

"It's alright now. . . We're away from crowds. . . Breathe. . ."

I sat down on a box, breathing slowling, but my foot starts to tap vigorously.

A feline wearing headphones poofs next to me.

"Ash! There you are! I've been looking for you back at the apartment!" Oh. It's Chir

"oh no! What happened?!" She runs over to me and sits on my lap giving me a hug.

"well, we were on the way to the cafe, then we ran into a street fight that was going to break out, and we got outta there as quickly as we could. They've been off all day"

"you've been having that dream again, haven't you Ashy?"

"yeah. . ." I finally answer

"Dream?" Brain tilts his head.

Chiri turns around "they've been having a lot of bad dreams lately, waking up crying in fear. . ."

I look away

Great. . . Now he's gonna be stressed. . .

Brain sighs "how 'bout we talk about this after we get something to eat. . . Sound good?"

"yeah. Can we try avoiding crowds?"

" 'course. And we can get our chirithys a sweet treat too." He smiles at chiri

"Woo! Chocolate croissants!" Chiri jumps in excitement.

I giggle a little "all right let's go."

He gives a soft smile "if you need anything, remember we're here for you."

"yeah, yeah. I know. . . Thank you."

"it's nothing. . . Let's go before anything else starts up."

We hold hands for comfort before getting to the cafe and we order some pastries and a cocoa for each of us. and we make our way to the hill. I carried the cocoas while Brain carried the pastry box. Once we made it to the top of the hill I handed him his cocoa while he handed me my croissant.

"chirithy!!"

"yeah Brain? Oh hi Ash!" I wave to his chirithy

"here chocolate croissant! Your favorite!" He tosses the feline a croissant

"Oh! Yummy! Thank you!" And they take a bite

"chiri! Croissant!"

Chiri poofs in my lap in excitement grabbing the croissant

"Thank you!!!"

"so. . . You gonna tell me about this nightmare?"

I take a sip of cocoa

". . . Well, it's about the war. . . I know it's gonna happen but. . . I don't want it to, so I keep having nightmares about being a part of it. Getting killed by someone I might know, don't know, or a union leader. . . Hundreds of deaths, keyblades everywhere. Every dream is a little different , whether I live or die, who I die from, what side I'm on. It's like I'm someone else Everytime. . . It's just scary!" Tears start welling up.

"sh, sh, shhh, it's alright. . . It's just a dream, remember. . ." He brings them In for a hug "chiri, how long has this been happening?"

"past week. . ." She puts down her croissant and joins the hug. Eventually brains chirithy joins too

Safe, I feel safe.

"how bout we stop by the book store on the way back?"

"heh, could always use another sketchbook."

"didn't you get one last week?"

"already filled it."

"What am I gonna do with you?"

"I 'unno." I shove a half eaten croissant in my mouth

"HEY! IS THAT MY CROISSANT?!"

"yep."

Brain reaches and steals my croissant that was sitting on a plate

"hey!-"

"oi, you're one to talk, you just stole mine!"

End.

It's 2Am and hopefully I don't cringe at it when I wake up, this can also count under connection .

[cosmichorrorsarestillnicerthanme]

Maki Zenin, Mai zenin and Nobara kugisaki with a Boyfriend who's pretty airhead and but he's incredibly strong, like he's either a Grade 1 or special grade Sorcerer but deslite his strength hes really affectionate towards his girlfriend.

Your Wish Is My Command! 

(My first JJK ask and my first one back after my break! Hope I haven’t gotten rusty! But this ask gave me a pretty fun Idea for a simple but powerful technique! I also added Miwa because I’m weak to her in the same way I’m weak to Kobeni)

Spoilers For Certain Events During The Shibuya Arc For Mai and Maki’s Parts

Maki Zenin

Maki got paired up with you at the last minute because Panda was already on a mission and Inumaki nearly blew his throat out, again, and now is on watch.

And well Gojo felt like committing a smidgen of trolling.

So.

Here the two of you are.

(Barbecue sauce on your tiddies)

In this spooky ass old carnival, during the off season, which means it’s the on season for jujutsu sorcerers.

Hunting a, drumroll please!

A SPECIAL GRADE ONE CURSE!!!

Y’know if Maki didn’t know better she would think that her family was trying to get rid of her!

But that would require acknowledging her as a threat which is highly unlikely.

Then there was you.

From the look of you she thinks, grade three.

maybe MAYBE Semi-Grade two.

Which leads to now where the two of you are starting to comb through the old carnival and her starting to try and figure out why you were sent out here with her.

Her prevailing (And only) theory was because you had less going on upstairs than Itadori (bless his soul), but much like Itadori it was in an endearing way, like an exceptionally stupid puppy.

Then the Giant ass clown centipede fucker decided to crawl out of it’s hole.

Where you promptly literally and figuratively folded that fucker into the size of a washing machine.

As the cube of meat fell and splattered to the ground before fading away Maki had several questions run through her mind.

The most important of those being.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

“WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT!!!” Maki shouted in confusion.

You simply turned to her, gave her a thumbs up and said “That was my cursed technique! Fold!”

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Afterwards she decided that she wanted to figure out who the hell you were.

So she decided to look you up that night in the Library with some junk food and soda she managed to smuggle in.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

“Let’s see, Date Of Birth, Boring, Name, I already know that, Favorite foods, yadda, yadda, yadda” Maki thought to herself as she scrolled through your profile and took a swig of her favorite soda.

Then Maki saw your Grade and promptly spit all of her drink out onto the computer screen with the words “SPECIAL GRADE JUJUTSU SORCERER” scrawled onto the bottom of your file.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

The next time Maki saw you was because Gojo assigned the two of you to work together because of your “Teamwork” on the last assignment.

But the smug smile on his perfectly punchable face told Maki that he knew something or there was a betting pool that he was determined to win and she was somehow involved in.

And let me tell you now, Gojo is going to win that “Hypothetical” bet pretty soon.

I say this because as soon as the two of you got back Maki asked if you wanted to grab a bite before submitting the report because both of you were tired as fuck.

Things rapidly snowballed from there.

So now let’s get into the relationship headcanons.

Out of everyone here Maki is the one most eager to start a relationship.

She’s also the one who would take the longest time to move forward with anything in the relationship simply because of one reason.

She’s afraid.

Afraid something will happen.

Afraid that she’ll get attached.

Afraid that you’ll get attached.

Afraid she’ll lose you.

Afraid you’ll lose her.

With you around she is both the bravest and most afraid she’s ever felt and that carries over to when you fight together.

Maki is the brain and you're the cursed energy muscle.

Anything out of her spear or sword's reach is well within yours.

Now with all that said the moment she most clearly remembers as the point where her crush started to develop was when you asked Naoya to “spar” with you after she told you a few weeks earlier about how shitty the Zenin clan was.

Long story short, you beat the everloving crap out of him and proceeded to fold him into as many shapes as possible without killing him.

Naoya wasn’t even able to get a hit in but then again I do suppose folding someone’s legs into themselves has a really big effect on their mobility and concentration and slowly folding them back out even more so.

Following all that you turned to Maki with a smile and said, “I’m hungry, let’s go get some burgers!” like you hadn’t just committed several violations of the geneva conventions.

Half a week later the two of you were dating.

And half a week after the “Sparring Session” Maki was back to comparing you to a really stupid and energetic puppy.

You followed her around almost everywhere.

Almost had more manic energy than Yuji and Todo combined.

And somehow could pop out of anywhere whenever you wanted to like Goro Fucking Majima from the Yakuza games.

And she wouldn’t trade you for anything in the world no matter how much she wanted it.

The two of you just *Clicked* when you were together kind of like the last puzzle piece that was lost but now that you found it you can finally see the whole picture clearly.

Along with being her second best friend (Sorry, Nobara has held that position for a long ass time and she ain’t giving it up for nothin!) and the love of her life, you were here partner, her cheerleader, her biggest fan, and one of three or four people she would actually take criticism from to improve, you were her northstar that kept her from pushing to hard, that kept her from getting sick, that kept her from being reckless, that kept her from giving in whenever she wanted to most. 

Even after the entire shitshow that was Sibuya you were still there to temper her, to ground her into place.

It was also during this time that she noticed you looking her over more.

Well if she was being honest with herself it was ogling not looking.

When she confronted you about it all you did was something about her hair suiting her and her muscles but she wasn’t able to make it all out.

I’ll leave you to do with that what you will ; ).

Mai Zennin

Mai and you met entirely by accident.

And not in the fun “Hi new person I just ran into on accident and made a mess of” way, I mean in the “You looked at me wrong so I’m gonna cave your fucking skull in” way.

So, now the two of you are sitting in the nurse's office, looking like the two of you just got into a schoolyard brawl.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

“You killed my gun,” Mai said irritably.

“You folded it into a cube, that would be impressive if it wasn’t for the fact that it was MY gun you killed” Mai said as she glared at you with an Icepack over one of her eyes.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

The next day Mai walked into class where a box was on her desk alongside a bar of chocolate.

Mai asked Utahime who left this here.

Utahime proceeded to describe someone who looked exactly like you.

Inside the box sat a brand new revolver with a note that read “Sorry for killing your revolver, but at least you have a new paperweight now!”

All Mai had to say to this was a laugh and to call you a cheeky bastard while her chest started to feel a little weird, she should probably go and get that checked huh?

And for the rest of the month Todo was on his best behavior, almost like someone scared him into being as good as he could be.

Quite honestly it was pretty much as close to heaven as Mai could imagine.

And now she was interested to learn about you

So she swiped some food from a vending machine and went to search you up.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

“Let’s see, nope, nope, nope, nop- oh wait there you are!” Mai quietly exclaimed to herself as she took a bite out of her chocolate bar that was coincidentally the same brand of chocolate you got for her when you gave her her new revolver.

“I have started to buy a lot of that brand of chocolate recently now that I think about it” Mai thought to herself as she listlessly scrolled through your file.

“Yeah, I’m not going to read into that too much,” Mai told herself as an unfamiliar heat started to spread on her face and she reached the bottom of your file where she then proceeded to stare at the screen for several minutes before shouting so loud she could be heard in Tokyo “THAT DUMBASS IS A SPECIAL GRADE!!!”

Coincidentally during that day you sneezed far more than you should have for the time of year it was.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

The next time you ran into Mai was when the two of you were in the same area on patrol.

After the two of you finished patrolling Mai asked you if you wanted to visit a local cafe which you accepted because food always tastes better when it’s not all on your dime.

But now that we have the set up out of the way let's get to the headcanons.

Out of everyone here Mai would take the longest to actually ask you out but the one who would want to move forward the quickest.

The two of you had one of those relationships where EVERYONE who saw the two of you together thought you were dating when you weren’t 

Oh and fair warning Mai is most definitely a Tsundere.

And I don’t mean Tsundere in the “It’s not like I like you” way 

I mean Tsundere in the “*Fucking Kills You Out Of Embarassment If The Two Of You Are Called Cute Together*” way.

The two of you quickly become a duo capable of taking just about anything down, A duo that fully trusts in the other no matter what, A duo that fights in a manner more akin to orchestrating a symphony and dancing to its destructive tune.

A duo that helps improve the other to make them even better than they used to be.

And

a duo who lives to be a massive headache for the other.

Which leads into people saying you argue like an old married couple.

Which leads to more of Mai being a tsundere.

That being said.

You are Mai’s carer.

You care so she doesn’t have to.

She loves your energetic nature but it can be a bit much for her at times.

She’s a kitten and you're a puppy, and as long as the two of you listen to the other everything will be fine!

Her favorite activity with you is just sitting with you watching TV in her happy clothes.

Her happy clothes are sweatpants and a hoodie.

Her second favorite activity is when you stroke her ego.

During the Shibuya Debacle you and Maki saved her life through sheer stubbornness, being loud as hell, and folding her wounds closed.

Mai was simultaneously greatly displeased and overjoyed by this.

Here she was being a complete badass and then bam the two of you wouldn’t shut up or stop making a racket while you beat her sperm donors face in, it was extremely inconsiderate!

But despite all of this bluster and cocky attitude Mai still “died” the two of you managed to bring her back but Mai was… off for a long time after this.

She probably never would have been the same if it wasn’t for you and your antics.

Be glad about that.

Because now the two of you are officially dating and have your entire lives ahead of you.

Kugisaki Nobara

Nobara and you met when her group affectionately and officially named by Principal Yaga “The Four Idiots Of The Apocalypse” which consisted of Gojo, Yuji, Nobara, and Fushiguro went to a pretty packed restaurant and the gremlin that is Gojo was able to spot you.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

“Heeeeeey there old buddy old pal~! You don’t mind if me and my friends sit with you right?” Gojo asked.

You opened your mouth to politely decline but he had already shoved Nobara next to you and thrown Fushiguro and Yuji into the booth you were sitting in as he stole a chair to sit down in.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

So now you were eating lunch with The Vessel Of Sukuna, The World's Strongest Living Sorcerer, The Son Of Toji Fushiguro, and one of Maki’s few friends (Which is a far more impressive feat than it probably should be)

And your day was about to get even more hectic when Yuji asked Gojo how he knew you.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

“Oh this little ball of chaos? I know 'em because we run in the same circles inside the sorcerer world~! He is a Special Grade after all~!” Gojo jubilantly exclaimed

All hell broke loose soon after as Nobara and Yuji scrambled into your face and exclaimed “YOU’RE A SPECIAL GRADE!!!”

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

After that you started to run into Nobara more and more often who was usually confused about how she got somewhere when you found her.

(Gojo it was fucking Gojo playing matchmaker)

Because of this Nobara has gotten to know you pretty well.

She also got to see a firsthand demonstration of your technique when you stopped a bag of hers from falling to the ground by folding the space between you and the bag.

She thought it was pretty cool.

But unfortunately for you that means you have been marked as one of her bag carriers, god bless your soul.

But unlike Yuji she actually buys you some things when you guys are out shopping.

Now that the set up is out of the way let’s get to the headcanons.

She loves your energetic personality.

She also loves how you dote on her and Stroke Her Ego compliment her beauty.

Out of everyone here she moves at the most normal pace, not too fast or too slow.

You and her have made some pretty out of the box combos together, like folding the trajectory of her nails to throw curses off balance.

Her favorite activity with you is dancing and eating.

The two of you play off each other and with each other all the time.

Things like little pranks and cheering each other on all the time.

That said Gojo makes it his job to interfere in everything because fuck you I do what I want.

Yuji lives in fear of you two.

Kasumi Miwa 

Miwa knew of you professionally for a couple years and met you a few times while she was off duty at a hole in the wall restaurant popular with other sorcerers, she heard that you were a very competent sorcerer despite your… less than intelligent nature.

Despite that, she never realized your rank until Principal Gakuganji called her in to bring him some papers to him in a meeting between the principals and highest ranking Jujutsu Sorcerers.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

“Here are the papers you requested Principal Gakuganji'' Miwa stated professionally with a bow.

“Oh thank you Miwa, while I have you here I would like to introduce you to someone who has requested to meet you personally” Principal Gakuganji explained to Miwa.

Miwa’s stomach dropped as she thought in a panic “Who in the world would want to meet me! Oh no! DID I OFFEND SOMEONE!!!”

Principal Gakuganji then pointed at a pair of empty seats next to him and near Gojo and Principal Yaga before saying “The person who requested to meet you is currently doing a favor for all of us so if you would not mind please sit there until he returns.”

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Miwa was sweating bullets.

She felt like she was about to throw up, cry, and explode all at once.

What made it worse was the fact that she was sitting with Gojo Satoru near to her and Principal Yaga right next to her.

She had both of their trading cards and she desperately wants them signed.

Luckily before she could die of a stress induced heart attack you kicked open the door and cried “LUNCH IS HERE!!!”

Food was then passed out among the sorcerers.

She was very surprised when you sat down right next to her and Principal Gakuganji and you gave him a couple of burgers rather than his regular tempura.

She was even more surprised when you set a bowl of her favorite type of stew infront of her.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

“Kasumi Miwa I assume?” You asked her with a smile.

“U-uh yes that’s me!” Miwa hastily exclaimed.

“Principal Gajuganji speaks highly of you, he greatly admires your work ethic and wishes that your peers had the same drive as you.” You started as you sat down before continuing by asking her “You use New Shadow Style correct?” 

“PRINCIPAL GAKUGANJI ADMIRES MY WORK ETHIC!!!” Miwa thought happily to herself before answering the question.

“Wonderful! After this meeting is over I would like to speak with you more about New Shadow Style, perhaps we can talk over dinner?” You asked Miwa.

Miwa, who was still in a haze about the compliment and the stress of being in this room, accepted, neither of you realizing how this exchange could be seen.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

With the set up out of the way let’s move on to the headcanons.

Miwa and you have a very naturally progressing relationship.

Until she introduced you to her siblings.

The little shits took a shine to you.

And every day she comes home it’s “So… Do we have a big bro yet Big Sis?”

The poor girl is flustered red everytime she sees you because of this, especially when the two of you are actually dating.

She is by far the easiest person to fluster on this list, also probably the horniest but That’s not a rabbit hole I’m going down yet.

Her favorite activity with you is eating all kinds of food.

She’s very surprised that your Fold technique is based on the core of shadow style.

This has led to quite a few off the walls Ideas in fights.

With the two of you in one room it's a battle of who’s more energetic about awesome things.

She has your trading card, you’ll never know this unless you ask her to show you and even then she’ll try and come up with an excuse of some sort.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Confession Time: I didn't Like Maki's new design at first but then I saw a colored version and my opinion quickly changed.

You know for my first ride back in the saddle I think I did good sure there are a few things I'd like to improve but I'm happy with this-Cosmic

[honest-moth-of-silver-grove]

BG3 Companions: How They Spend Valentine's Day ❤️️

A/N: For the sake of this hc, imagine there’s a Valentine’s Day in Faerun, okay? And sorry it’s so short. This has been a week from hell lol.

TW: Mentions of Sex; MDNI

Astarion:

Wine.

Sex.

Did I mention wine?

NOT because it’s Valentine’s Day, but just because he was in the mood. 

Really hates the idea of having to ‘perform’ for a certain day. It reminds him of… less-than-pleasant things. 

Appreciates it if you make your own holiday, an Anti-Valentine’s Day. 

Spends it downtown in Baldur’s Gate where the two of you sit and couple watch, whispering mocking commentary back and forth. Celebrates tf out of that with you. 

Gale: 

Makes plans months in advance then forgets about them the week of.

Surprises you with matching house robes and chocolate after Tara reminds him.

Has to take a bouquet of flowers to his Mother but promises you the perfect evening once he returns. 

Candlelit dinner, wine, a homecooked meal… the works. 

And yes, you can bet your bottom dollar the works involve a Gale astral plane threesome come nightfall. 

Wyll: 

Romantic af about it

Greets you with roses and chocolate before kissing the back of your hand.

Extra affectionate, as if you’re still in the infatuation phase, no matter how long you’ve been together/married. 

Has important work to do around Baldur’s Gate but takes you out for a romantic dinner at a fancy local restaurant. 

Karlach: 

Gets Withers to send you two to the surface for the entire 24 hours.

Plans on taking you everywhere and experiencing everything

Shows you off around town, complimenting you loud enough for everyone to hear.

Sets aside a large chunk of the nighttime for sex. Enough to ride your brains out. 

Seriously, all the sex. 

Shadowheart:

Very coy about it. 

Spends most of the day as if it’s just another borning on.

Surprises you with a night in, your favorite food, and some soft music playing in the background. 

Plans a romantic bath for you two, with bubbles and floating candles, and of course, tall glasses of wine. 

Wants it to be special, but also relaxed.

La’zel: 

Acts like she doesn’t care for such a indulgent day

She does, like totally does.

Lowkey expects YOU to surprise her. 

But she will relent eventually, telling you all the things she appreciates about your relationship as the two of you share a meal. 

It’s as vulnerable as she gets.

And of course sex. The kind that leaves you walking funny for a week after. 

Halsin:

Whittles you a figurine of two bears kissing in front of a heart-shaped moon. 

Spends much of the day with the children, helping them write Valentine's letters of their own. 

Plans an evening where the two of you can go off camping alone, and spend time just with each other in nature, under the stars. 

Bear sex? Bear sex.

Okay well, maybe just old-fashioned non druid wild shape sex but he makes sure to emphasize YOUR enjoyment.

Minthara:

Plans a coup for the very same day.

Only celebrates your holiday if the two of you win.

Drinks to both the fall of your enemies and her affection for you. 

Makes sure she gets her rocks off first in any intimacy you share. 

Then you can get your turn.

But her first. Always her first.

[offbeatcappuccino]

i'm back boo ~ my demon (episodes of 1-6) ramblings

The past two years have made me feel like an unfinished work of pottery struggling to stay together on a tilted pottery wheel. Through this process, not only has my sense of normalcy, but also my idealism towards romance and love has greatly dissipated. This might be a digression, but as a 23 year old woman ( 14 at heart and cognitive ability), I am frankly exhausted of the convoluted "chase" involved with modern day romance. The mere preponderance of dating apps, texting culture, situationships, and avoidant-anxious pairings make me feel like I am seconds away from having a brain aneurysm explode. It is in this relational climate that the flurry of contract marriage k-dramas that have been presented to us this winter feel like a breath of fresh air. One of these shows is "My Demon" (on Netflix) starring Kim Yoon Jung (Backstreet Rookie, 20th Century Girl) and Song Kang (Nevertheless, Love Alarm, Sweet Home), who play Do Do Hee and Jeong Gu Won respectively.

My Demon is a fantasy romance rooted in Catholicism (with a uniquely Korean flavor). Jeong Gu Won (Song Kang) is a centuries old demon tasked with exploiting man's innate greed, whether it be for wealth, love, or merely to be alive. He uses his powers, which emanate from a cross tattoo on his wrist, to seek desperate humans to make decade long contracts, where in return of him fulfilling their wishes, not only die by Gu Won's hand in ten years, but also are placed in eternal hellfire. There are many parallels between Gu Won and other supernatural beings we have already seen in other kdramas such as Myul Mang from Doom at Your Service. Both characters have a rigid adherence to their divine responsibilities, leading to bountiful disdain for humankind and scant mercy for their victims. However, unlike Myul Mang and other supernatural beings, who detest the burden of immortality and yearn to become "human", Gu Won has no such desire. He relishes the eternal youth, immortality, and wealth that has been granted for him and the power that he wields.

The female lead, Do Do Hee, comes from an equal position of affluence, as the adopted daughter of the Mirae Group, a fictional and powerful industrialist family, helmed by matriarch Joo Cheon Seok, and the CEO of Mirae F&B, a successful food and beverage company that she started after college. As the adopted daughter and Chairwoman Ju's favorite, Do Hee earns the contempt of her other power hungry family members, who not only constantly plot However, this love also puts Do Hee in a precarious position as other members of the family constantly plot to not only undermine her company's success, but also kill her. While Do Hee as a character checks off many k-drama protagonist tropes like having a history of childhood trauma and having a strong sense of morality and loyalty, it is important to note that Do Hee is not kind to the point of being naive and foolishly selfless. She is an assertive and ambitious twenty something year old and can be considered to be an "ethical girl boss of sorts".

It is due to Do Hee's precarious state that Gu Won and her meet for the second time in the first episode (the first time being a hilarious mix-up of a blind date) when she is being chased by a psoriasis-ridden murderer. Seeing his next possible victim, Gu Won arrives at the scene, hoping to make his next deal with desperate Do Hee in return for saving her. However, things take a turn and both end up falling over a railing and into the ocean. As Do Do Hee struggles to pull the unconscious Gu Won and herself up to the surface, something interesting happens- the cross tattoo that was once on Gu Won's wrist is transferred to Do Do Hee's. It is this transfer that ends up being a pivotal turning point in the story and forms the crux of the plot.

What ensues over the next few episodes is the gradual development of a push-pull dynamic between the two characters when they realize that the murder attempt from before would not be the only effort to take Do Hee's life and the fact that without the tattoo, Gu Won's powers only work when he holds Do Do Hee's hand. With Gu Won needing Do Hee to harness his powers and continue to maintain his immortality and Do Hee requiring Gu Won's powers to protect herself, this sets up the perfect premise for what is initially a relationship of convenience between bodyguard and employer and later husband and wife.

My Demon isn't meant to be the show that leaves its viewers with sleepless nights pondering purpose of their existence or the meaning of love. At its core, it's a hilarious, appropriately paced, and well executed romantic comedy with strong willed protagonists overcoming their egos to realize that their need for the other is actually an insatiable want. This is evident in the characterization of Gu-Won, who Song Kang delightfully brings to life. There's something about Song Kang that allow him to play morally grey characters in a palatable and comical manner with ease. Even though he's an arrogant and narcissistic jerk, there is an inherent innocence and vulnerability that you can't help but root for. As Gu Won's relationship with Do Hee deepens, he starts to gradually becomes less demon and more human both literally and figuratively. Not only does Gu Won faced with the limitations of losing his powers, but he is also forced to address the burgeoning emotions and attachment he develops with Do Hee. While he asserts his superiority externally as an all powerful being, internally he is conflicted by the gradual shift in the dynamics between him and Do Hee as he starts to develop empathy, love, anger, and jealousy. One particular scene that exemplifies this is the funeral scene in Episode 3 when Gu Won comforts a grieving Do Hee by changing the color of her funeral outfit from black to white, so that the passed individual's soul can recognize her. It's a simple but beautiful gesture by a being, who before meeting her became so accustomed to taking lives and did little to no reflection of the gravity of death and its impact on the living. It is through several similar encounters that Gu Won is forced to confront his humanity, which he had long repressed in his transformation into a demon.

This isn't to say that the show is mind-numbing entertainment and there are profound moments of introspection. Gu Won and Do Hee's relationship serves as medium for a larger ideological dilemma on right versus wrong. This is again exemplified in Episode 3 when Gu Won and Do Hee visit a pediatric cancer patient at the hospital for Gu Won to make his next deal. Gu Won brokers a deal with the child's desperate mother, promising to cure her daughter in return for her agreeing to go to hell in ten years. Do Hee is rightfully horrified by Gu Won and what she believes is him selfishly exploiting the mother, so that he can continue to prolong his existence. Furthermore, she believes that by proposing the deal, Gu Won did more harm than good because the pediatric patient would have to prematurely lose her mother.

On the other hand, Gu Won claims to have helped the mother by saving her child's life and states that everything has to have a price. Later in the episode, both Gu Won and Do Hee independently interact with the patient and her family. When Gu Won talks to the young girl, he is surprised that her wish is to not be discharged from the hospital but to not be a source of suffering for her parents. On the other hand, when Do Hee watches the family celebrating the girl's birthday, she realizes how Gu Won provided transient yet meaningful happiness for the family and reduced their suffering. These scenes poignantly depict how both characters are forced to reckon with each other's definition of justice and the complexity we face as beings with the freedom to choose but not the freedom to escape the consequences of our actions. I believe that it is the show's ability to delve into these larger themes, which allows it to retain both the best elements and escape from the mundanity of ascribing to a trope.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

[what-gs-watching]

"If you have to ask, you're streets behind."

Welp. This week on What G's Watching: comfort shows.

Because gang, I got (somewhat surprisingly) laid off yesterday. Internal politics, blah blah blah, a lot crying, a lot of beautiful messages from coworkers, some insomnia, more crying, cleaning random things, turning my airpods up as high as they go and screaming through playlists. You get it. 

So if I thought I was watching everything before, just kidding. It's about to get so much worse. Which means, right now, I need comfort shows.

Today's comfort show highlight? Community. A pure and beautiful masterpiece.

Here's the thing: I watched Community from the beginning. Like, when it started airing weekly on NBC in 2009. From the very first episode. Because I'm ancient. I was a fan of Joel McHale from Talk Soup (oh yeah, we're going back that far) and I would have watched him in anything, so I was down for a show about a community college, hell, I'd even gone to one for a little bit.

But it's so much more than that. It's hilarious and real and way too meta for most people and all of the characters are imperfect and ridiculous and some of the plots are so dumb, but it makes you feel things. 

The overall point of the show was that Jeff was a lawyer who lied about having a bachelor's degree and got caught so he goes Greendale Community College to replace it. He lies about having a spanish study group to hook up with a blonde in his class - Britta - and ends up creating an actual study group with the help of Abed, who I'm not gonna lie, might be my favorite character. 

Group of the usual suspects, right: 

- Jeff is the handsome manipulative one (I'm still not quite sure why Joel McHale is handsome, like, its WEIRD but I'm here for it)

- Britta starts out as a chick in her late 20's who maybe got lost along the way and was trying to clean her life up and then she kind of becomes a caricature of herself later on, but it works

- Shirley's a mom going through a divorce, wanting to start her own business

- Pierce is a rich old guy that's been going to Greendale for years just for something to do (Chevy Chase returning to TV, which sounds great but then it gets weird behind the scenes)

- Abed is sweet and magical and likely on the spectrum (and the best unreliable narrator)

- Troy is a former high school football star that suffered an injury (he's Childish Gambino! Before anyone knew he was Childish Gambino! But he will ALWAYS be Troy to me)

- Annie is young and a perfectionist and a control freak who had a pill addiction that landed her there (Allison Brie becoming Allison Brie)

and it starts out as you would assume it should, but it gets unexpectedly hilarious. And I give that credit to Dan Harmon. For his flaws, Dan Harmon is a tortured genius and I will, and mostly do, watch anything that man is involved in. He puts shit in your face that you never wanted but in a way that makes you laugh out loud and then hurt a little bit, for a while. 

Honestly the charm of the show comes from the fact that it never truly takes itself seriously. Abed relates to the world through media (hi it's me, I'm the problem, it's me) and he insists time and again that they're in a tv show. Episode about everyone turning into Zombies because of tainted food at the Halloween dance? Completely plausible. 'Bottle' episode because Annie lost a pen and she can't fucking take it anymore, someone must have stolen it? Yes. Series-running story about the "Ass Crack Bandit" that drops a quarter on you when you least expect it, resulting in one of the best episodes of the later seasons? 100%. 

Abed deciding that by rolling a dice to see who goes down to get the pizza being delivered, six different timelines are being created? That one will knock you on your fucking ass. And it makes no sense, but it really, really does. 

This show has given me a lot of random things that still rattle around in my brain, even now N rewatches deep. Way back when offices were a thing, I'd once shouted "BOOKS!"when it was particularly quiet and a single engineer stood up across the room and just pointed at me, incredulous. After that he and I didn't stop terrorizing the entire team with random quotes. I still find myself humming 'Daybreak' (IYKYK). Yesterday while I muddled through my feelings I started yelling "I'm high as hell and I'm about to get SHOT!" It's infectious, it gets in your bones.  

The best part of course is the relationships, complicated but sweet and endearing. Troy and Abed form a friendship that makes me sad almost because it's childish and pure for a while and it does (what I think, I'm not an expert though so who knows) a pretty good job of portraying the bond that can come out of accepting someone on the spectrum wholly and fully. 

They build a blanket fort. They pretend to have their own morning tv show (🎶Troy and Abed in the mornnnniiiing 🎶). They dress up in coordinated Halloween costumes. They get obsessed with Inspector Spacetime (we're gonna get to Doctor Who, I promise). They spout off the best random Spanish rap and create 'Baby Boomer Santa'. They invent the Dreamatorium. They pillow fight for hours because they think if they stop, their friendship will end. 

The two of them desperately make you wish you had a friend like that in your early twenties to just get real WEIRD with, because they'd always go along with it and have your back no matter what. I still, very much, want to build a blanket slash pillow fort half as majestic. (Which, maybe I should. I have a fuck ton of time right now.)

Honestly, Community is one of those things I sometimes measure people against. Seen it and loved it? You rank a little bit higher with me. Season 4's your least favorite? it's okay bud, we all agree. You wanna use your name in poorly concocted puns? That's you're i-dean-tity, I'm with it. You found something that's streets ahead? YES. Be my best friend.

I know a lot of people feel a certain way about Friends, like, oh they're the friends everyone wishes they had, but I'm sorry. No. The friends you wish you had are the Greendale Seven. And there's too many moments and too much to go into here, but you need to trust me on that. Because they're all just flawed people trying to do better in a flawed place that manifests a little bit of the mania we all feel. And it lets you feel it, but it always wraps you up safe at the end. Jeff always brings it home with a perfect Winger speech. And sometimes I really wish life was a little bit more like that. Because sometimes we suffer a fucking gas leak year in our existence, sometimes it's like that, and it'd be nice if everyone just shrugged that off, if everyone just accepted the fact that we're all flawed, selfish people is actually a strength. 

At one point in the first season, Abed gets obsessed with "The Cape" (which was a real show, y'all) and he's skulking around in this ridiculous get-up and Jeff yells "That show's gonna last three weeks!" and while Abed runs off he yells "SIX SEASONS AND A MOVIE!"

During the show's run, #sixseasonsandamovie became a mantra, because it was always on the brink of cancellation - season six was revived by Yahoo Stream, which isn't even a thing anymore - and I still think about that when I want something to last. I want #sixseasonsandamovie for everything that I love. I want everything to have that little bit of magic and faith. 

I started my latest rewatch a couple of weeks ago, compelled to seek out the comfort for some reason, my brain trying to tell me something was wrong. My brain had been right. So yesterday I eventually climbed into bed with puffy eyes and I got back into season five. I'm already into the part where the show starts to dismantle a bit (the second half of season 5 and all of 6 are distinctly different but still perfect), and that makes sense for me right this second, it's fitting. Sometimes things fall apart. Sometimes people leave. Sometimes you have to clone yourself in a game of 'the floor is lava' so you can properly say goodbye. 

I'll finish it again in the next couple of days I'm sure, and I'll put it down for a while (until the next time my brain is trying to tell me something). But I'll be thankful I had something to turn to while I attempted to sort myself out. 

Greendale is always the perfect place to sort yourself out. 

[avintagepumpkin]

Stu Macher-HC

Trigger Warnings: Stu being manipulative and also pretending to be a young girl

Not proofread

*He's genuinely sweet and kind, and he's constantly making friends.

*Bullying is off limits for him. You know if he picks on you, he thinks of you as a close friend, and it's out of love. Poor Randy is usually on the receiving end.

*He has no filter, that or his brain just doesn't register, so small arguments happen due to misunderstandings.

*Since he has a long tongue like his dog Percy, he will lick up your cheek, and he calls them Percy kisses. Billy really hates this Stu trait

*He laughs at EVERYTHING.. especially fart jokes, boy loves them. He swore he heard Tatum fart once, so every time he tries to retell the story, he can barely talk and breathe from laughing too much.

*Movie nights are basically you watching some movie he put on and listening to his loud snoring. If you wake him, he pretends he was watching.

*He chews loudly, Billy swears it's only to get on his nerves, but you believe he's just a loud chewer.

*He has a crush on everyone. You smile at him... Crush, you actually know his name... major crush

*He doesn't drink a lot. He will drink a beer or two, but alcohol doesn't really have an effect on him, so he just does it socially. He often just pretends to have a buzz to get attention

*He loves all sports. He wears his favorite team jerseys on game day. If his team is losing, he's yelling obscenities at the TV. If his team is winning, he's yelling obscenities at Billy and Randy.

*He doesn't spend much money on himself, but is always buying things for friends. He once bought you a $1000 necklace because it had your name on it, and paid for all of you guys to go to Disneyland, paid for tickets, food and souvenirs, his parents cut his card off for a while.

*Has a corvette that he drives at obscene speeds. Once, he tried to show Dewey his boobs to try and get out of a ticket.

*His parents are often gone, so one of his friends is usually staying the night.

*Loves his parents more than anything, and it kills him that they're gone a lot

*He enjoys being the only child because when his parents are home, he gets loads of attention, and let's face it, this boy loves attention

*He plays video games and is very competitive. He hates to lose, so he practices when no one is around so he can learn all the tricks. Will complain if he thinks you might have cheated, even though most of his game play involves cheating

*He loves to pretend like he speaks different languages, convinced the principle that he knew Portuguese so he could show the new hot foreign exchange student around. He was suspended for 3 days

*Isn't allowed to order the pizza anymore after the big Anchovies fiasco, he knew the guy who ran their favorite pizza joint, so he paid him to load the pizzas up with 3 times the amount of Anchovies. The smell made Tatum sick, and she ended up vomiting when he licked a slice.

*He's no longer able to babysit his niece and nephew after he told them the story about Victor the Snallygaster, who eats children from their feet up, leaving just their teeth so their parents can still collect the money from the tooth fairy. When they went to bed that night, it turns out Victor was under their bed. Their parents couldn't get them to sleep on their own for 2 weeks.

*Once, he met a man from online after he had pretended to be a 15 year old girl. The dude took off the minute he saw Stu. Sydney asked why he would do such a thing. He said he was just bored

*When he was 5, he caught the rug on fire. He put it out by peeing on it

*When he was 6, he stuck a penny in the wall socket, spent 3 days in the hospital

*When he was 9, he ate a 5lb tube of raw hamburger meat to see if he could get a tape worm