#but she? she CHOSE to be bad. like. deliberately.

[katyspersonal]

I am feeling so ill. My mental pain keeps translating into physical one, like something that keeps poisoning me from within, and it can last from very morning to very evening at times. I wish I stopped being reminded of the backstabbing, of how much that person has been lying to us, and how she threw away her empathy and common sense in an instant, as soon as she got enticed with the prospect to feel like a """victim""". When everything was explained and even forgiven prior.

For a Christian, she sure is a terrible one, and really should pray to her God for forgiveness. Because that's sin of vanity if I've seen one. Her sorry pro-lifer ass that can't even use they/them pronouns because it is "not correct in English" and has been following Mico herself before he deactivated must be satisfied with people around with whom she has to censor her true opinions, I suppose? She had all context, she had explanation and apology, she faked having accepted that apology too, lied about not really caring about the "drama", faked patience and lied about always welcoming me back - only to latch at the first chance to backstab me and my friends she got. And the way she conveniently ignored how I took my words back, too.. I don't know what is WRONG with people who think that when a person that has been stalked and harassed for a year lashes out upon feeling threatened - they've shown their """true face""". Nobody is more alien to normal human emotions and reactions than Americans. I guess for them you are either physically incapable of anger, fear and fucking up OR you are a vile dangerous monster.

But the real question - what did she want to ACCOMPLISH? She didn't really feel like a star and gain sympathy like a victim of the """horrible mistreatment""" that me lashing out when she defended my STALKER was - that I also TOOK BACK. From my knowledge, she kept herself anonymous. And of course instantly blocked me, because like a coward she could not answer for her lies. She also lost other friends too - one HATES liars and hypocrites more than anything, another has similar emotional problems to mine so no longer feels safe, third straight up was harassed by that person as well.. "They are still lovely people" she says. And I am not a "lovely" person, of course. Because "lovely" people just smile and shrug off being stalked, harassed and talked untrue shit about for a year, I suppose? Because "lovely" people don't become clingy for someone defending them so loud and proud?

My only theory is that she just secretly harbored hatred towards me all along but was forcing the facade of patience and understanding, until one day finally came what looked like a good justification to drop it. But then why sending me all that emotional support when I fell for suicidal road back in spring? Why write at least two essays to Alfred-chan about her right to interact with me and about how I deserved kindness and compassion? Why acting flattered when I said I loved her (platonically) when in reality she was creeped out? Why bothering to explain me how she did not blame me and always would welcome me back in the blog? Following me for a decent time and all that interacting. Was feeling like a poor victim that fell under attack of the "monster" for like 5 minutes without even revealing her name to the world and losing more likeminded people worth it? Was it worth it? How? How mad you should be at someone for getting attached more than """acceptable""" and for lashing out before learning why you'd defend someone that harassed us, that you'd resort to backstabbing and break all your prior promises? She even told me stuff like "ratting someone out is very condemned in my culture and I'd never do that". Then what DID she do, when she showed the moment of weakness I had 40 days ago, to a deranged ableist that has been condoning harassment and canceling for hell knows how long and she could tell wished me harm?

I want to ask whether it was worth it, but clearly she didn't lose anything of value. One of those "but internet connections are not REAL uwu" people.

I so badly want to say that this is my fault for trusting someone who is not only American but also a Christian, double combination of hypocrite and all you know. Because I just want to find a reason. I want to know WHY, even if the answer is something as shallow as nationality and religion. But this is just not fair to people who are one or both of these things but have common sense to not lie and not be cut throats. I guess the real reason is that some people are just too easily enticed with the chance to feel like the "good" guys, to mark category of people that do not deserve any empathy, human bonds and understanding because they are "evil and dangerous". It is just easier. You feel justified to mistreat a certain category of people because they are "bad" - all while the criteria for why they're "bad" is growing progressively absurd. But this coming from a person that preached kindness and acceptance. Yet she sided with the people that punish me FOR having shown that kindness and acceptance to someone else, and never intend to stop. Why following Mico yourself, then?

I have no skill of forgiving people that do not feel remorse, I am not that kind of a person. It just hurts until I forget or find another thing to worry about. I don't know where to turn to, what superior power to pray to for faster healing from this, because betrayal like this is the worst thing you can do to me. It is fine to refuse to forgive someone's mental breakdown, but why not tell me off in private? Why run under the skirt of the person with bad faith that only supports neurodivergence in the form of being quirky about one's special interests and not for what problems it really brings? Does she really think it is victim's fault when they develop bad trust and abandonment issues upon a creepy stalker trying to ruin their life? The cunt would've doxxed me if they could only over the fact that I said I was gonna reblog from who I want - again, something she herself kept getting harassed over. So was that okay, then? She never meant her words, then, and only flexed her "I interact with who I want" for weird flex of herself as a hero, and not for our friends group?

Well, yes. It has to be that. Until she saw an opportunity to switch sides and find a more compelling "enemy" to stand against. The final punch in the gut is that she assumes my friends are okay with the betrayal either, just goes around as though nothing happened, as though having betrayed someone and still writing them down as vile and unremorceful even after they apologised to her two times was nothing. Yeah, why? If a person failed to meet her personal mark of forgiving, tolerating and shrugging off harassment - then they deserve to be backstabbing and thrown to those cultish ableists. That's her logic.

And I just want to vent all this in a sorry effort to remind myself: "See, she is so petty and callous that she doesn't deserve crying and hurting over! People like that are below you, Kat, just forget it and move on!" But in the end, I just can't stop asking myself why. She did not feel like that type of a person. My other mutual also said it was not expected, since she had that 'wise', thoughtful exterior all along and acted as though she was trustworthy. At this rate I was right in my accusation of her being brainwashed, I guess... The only thing I was wrong is the TIME when it happens.

[capricornsicle]

Normally I tolerate anyone's interpretation of the source material because that's what fandom is all about but if you call her "Malia Hale" you're wrong & I'm blocking you

[warrioreowynofrohan]

A few different people have been observing that Scrooge begins to change more quickly in the book than is often shown in adaptations. The Spirit of Christmas Yet To Come isn’t the one crucial factor breaking his obstinacy, but rather a final message to drive home a point that Scrooge had already become receptive to. I want to trace the shape of Scrooge’s progress over the course of the book and see what it reveals. (There will be some ‘spoilers’ here, since the story seems fairly universally known even among those who are reading the book for the first time.)

After Marley’s appearance, he is disturbed and discomfited, but still trying to hang onto denial and not face what he’s been told.

With Chistmas Past, adaptations often treat it like a psych session - see, you hate Christmas because you were so miserable during it. But in the book, that isn’t the point at all. Scrooge sees times when he was unhappy as a boy, but he also sees what comforted him during those times - reading and imagination, which his adult self would dismiss asfrivolous and unprofitable - and recaptures his joy in those things. He sees times when he was happy, like at Fezziwig’s Christmas party. And he sees how he’s become the kind of person who made his younger self unhappy rather than happy, and how easy it would to be otherwise.

He sees himself asan unhappy child, and wishes that he’d been kinder to the young boy singing carols at the door. He sees himself happily employed with a kind, generous and personable employer, who could create a vastly more pleasant workplace climate at trivial expense, and wishes he’d been nicer to Bob Cratchit.

And then he sees Belle, and is shown that his unhappiness is of his own making and the consequence of hus own choices. His being the selfish, avaricious person he is is not the consequence of Belle breaking up with him; it is the cause of it. She saw him already becoming that person, and chose not to follow him in that path. Her choices left her a happy, loving and loved woman; his left him unhappy and alone. Scrooge cannot bear this, and rejects and fights the spirit rather than face it.

But he has nonetheless already begun to change. Whereas he initially did not want to go with Christmas Past (“a night of unbroken sleep would be more conducive to [my welfare]”), he willingly goes with Christmas Present and expresses the desire to learn and benefit. He sees people in all manner of circumstances, good and bad, choosing to take joy in each other’s company and the comforts, small or great, around them. Many adaptations fail in this, focusing Scrooge’s attention on the idea that people dislike him (Mrs Cratchit; his nephew’s joke) but in the book Scrooge clearly greatly enjoys his nephew’s party, the nephew is being good-humoured and generous and expresses his goodwill towards Scrooge, and Scrooge doesn’t mind the joke at all. He sees the Cratchits making the best of what they have, and how he is making their lives harder than need be. He sees, in many ways and places, how he could be making others happy and being happy himself, rather than making evrryobe miserable, and it is an appealing picture. And Present calls him out, several times, on his past words and sentiments, and Scrooge repents them.

By the time he meets the Spirit of Christmas Yet To Come, he is already willing and prepared to change, and making deliberate plans to do so. The thing that I think is emphasized through the scenes with Yet To Come, as a driving home of the point, is that Scrooge’s actions up to this point have not only made him and others unhappy - they are an utter failure at getting Scrooge the one thing he had prioritized: wordly security, respect, and dignity. In Belle’s words, his turn to avarice in his youth was in hopes of avoiding the “sordid reproach” that the world has for poverty. He was fine, and even pleased, with being feared rather than loved - what he did not want was to be patronized, despized, looked down on.

And now he sees where that got him! His business partners don’t even care to attend his funeral. Men whose respect he hoped to have gained don’t even give him a second thought, and for the brief moment they do, think ill of him (“Old Scratch” is Victorian slang for the devil). His chambers and even his body are plundered (tomorrow’s reading is even more graphic about this, in some lines, than most adaptations). He’s buried in an obscure, untended, weedy churchyard, because no one cares enough about him to make other arrangements. He has none of the worldly respect, regard, dignity for which he turned to money as a protector. Past and Present showed that he was wanting the wrong things; but Future shows him that he wasn’t even achieving the things he thought he did want, amd was in fact achieving their opposite.

The point of Future, then, is not to convince Scrooge to change. He has already chosen that he desires to change. Future alone, without the earlier spirits, would be supremely ineffective; showing Scrooge that his servant and the people around him hate him, without first showing him that he can be happy and make other people happy, would only make him more of a misanthrope. This is not a “scare ‘em straight,” as some adaptations play it. The point of Future is as a final guard against backsliding, against regret: you are losing nothing by changing, because your current path is losing you even the paltry things you sought to gain by it.

Also, I hadn’t really registered this on previous reads, but this is the very near future - the Christmas one year after the period of the book. This is never stated outright, but Christmas Present says of Tiny Tim, “If these shadows remain unaltered by the Future, none other of my race will find him here” - meaning, no future Christmas. And, in the visions with Christmas Future, Tiny Tim has died only a few days ago. In the words of Dante (paraphrased) “the time was perilously short for turning.” The Spirit of Christmas Yet To Come doesn’t teach the lesson - that’s the previous spirits - but he makes sure it sticks.

[inbarfink]

So the thing about Tak’s Holo-Disguise is that it specifically might not be an example of Tak using more advanced technology than Zim.

The implication in “The Nightmare Begins” is that Zim maybe also have access to Perfectly Realistic Human Disguises, probably similar to Tak’s Hologram - but he intentionally rejected them because he saw them as too ugly. He deliberately chose his shitty little costume because he thought that was the only one that looked ‘good’.

And these terrible disguises are also pretty consistent with how the actual official Invaders disguise themselves. If anything, Zim’s got the best costume of the lot!

So with Zim dismissing the more realistic disguises as being ‘ugly’ and ‘stinky’ and those being… basically the most common insults he throws at humans. ..I think the implication here is pretty clearly that Zim’s (and the actual Irken Invaders’) disguises are bad because he doesn’t want to look too human because Irken Imperial Indoctrination has taught him every other species in the universe is revolting and so he cannot stand the idea of looking too match like the people he is trying to infiltrate.

So it is interesting that the one Irken who actually uses their advanced technology to actually look like another species is Tak. Maybe she’s just being a bit of a show-off overachiever. So driven by the need to prove how competent of an Invader she can be she decided to suffer through the indignity of Using a Competent Disguise. 

Or maybe there’s sort of an implication that Tak doesn’t really buy into Irken Ideology that much?

Like, obviously, she’s not, like,  some sort of anti-Imperial pro-alien advocate or anything. She’s still trying to gain the respect of the Tallest, she still wants to become an Invader, she is still willing to sacrifice an entire planet in order to achieve her goals. 

I’m thinking more, like, Zim is 100% a true believer in Irken Imperial Ideology. He wants to be an Invader at least in part so he could use his ‘amazingness’ to contribute to the conquests of the Irken Empire. And he legitimately believes the Tallests are superior beings worthy of his admiration. And he legitimately believes Irkens are superior to all other sapient beings in the universe in general and to humans especially.

Meanwhile, Tak’s main goals might just be to gain as much power and prestige as she can - no matter what or who stands in her way. If she lived in a society that valued dentists above all she would’ve become a dentist. But she was born in the Irken Empire, and the most prestigious not-height-dependent position available to her in Irken Society is the one of an Invader, so that’s what she dedicated her life to. Not out of any ideological commitment to help the Empire's conquests.

She tries to gain the Tallests’ favor because she knows she needs them to get ahead in life, not necessarily because she craves their tall, superior approval the way Zim does. She can kill a lot of non-Irkens on her way to ‘greatness’, but it’s more of a general callousness towards other people - rather than loyalty to the superiority of the Irken people. 

That might also explain why she’s the one Irken with the sense of individuality to customize her uniform

And design her own version of the Irken Empire Flag, based on her own look.

Because maybe she’s not trying to serve the Irken Empire, maybe she’s just trying to serve Tak.

[starry-eyed-wild-child]

🌻 tate langdon boyfriend headcanons 🌻

tate langdon x reader

🧡 oh lord, buckle up guys, you're in for a wild one

💛 definitely fell first and 100% harder and you can't tell me otherwise

🧡 we all know how tate is, he's very clingy and he's very very possessive of what's his. and that's how he views you, you're his and nobody else's

💛 would definitely stay hidden at first, just so he could watch you for a bit. at this point, there's nothing about you that tate doesn't know

🧡 when you finally meet, tate swears he could die all over again and he'd die happy

💛 tate would definitely act more innocent than he actually is. this boy knows how to cry on command and he will use it to his advantage, don't think just because he loves you that he wouldn't

🧡 if anything, he does it because he loves you and he can't have you leave him like violet did

💛 i hope you like nirvana, because tate will not listen to something that you like if he doesn't enjoy it. he's not very good at that

🧡 tate always needs to be touching you. all the time. whether it's an arm around you or holding hands, this boy craves physical touch and to be the centre of your attention

💛 will probably try his best to get your friends to stop hanging around you so he can have you all to himself. will deliberately scare them to stop them from coming to the house

🧡 would also certainly lie about ever doing such a thing were you to confront him about it

💛 tate wouldn't ever want you to ever leave the house., if he had his way that is. would hate it if you chose to spend time with other people

🧡 like what did they have that he didn't?

💛 he would 100% be the type that watches you even when you're asleep. or anytime, really.

🧡 would definitely want you to commit suicide, so that you can be with him forever. you of course find this idea insane and don't think he actually means it

💛 he does. he's 100% serious

🧡 i can imagine that tate gives really good hugs though. the warm, bear hugs that you never want to leave because they make you feel so secure and safe

💛 is very big on comforting you after a bad day. he'll listen to your rants, let you cry in your arms, whatever you need him for and he'll do it

🧡 let's be honest though, it's probably just another way he gains your trust so that you won't ever think of leaving him

💛 feels extremely guilty if he ever hurt you in any way, or upset you

🧡 would probably just disappear for a few days because he can't face the fact that he's hurt you. but obviously he comes back because the boy can't help himself

💛 tate is your ride or die. he would die for you all over again if you asked him to and alternatively would kill for you if that's what you required

🧡 makes silly little handmade gifts for you. tate can't leave the house so he has time to be creative

💛 board game nights/dates are very frequent with the two of you. it's even better if it's raining outside, it sets a nice vibe

🧡 loves, loves halloween. the two of you would carve pumpkins together and sit for hours in your room telling ghost stories and drinking apple cider

💛 if tate had his own way, you'd never meet his mother

🧡 you do eventually and she probably hates you lmao, but do we really care let's be real here

💛 tate is the kind of boyfriend that would make a playlist for you as a present

🧡 he'd try his hardest to make sure you don't find out about his past. which lasted about 2 months max because you're not stupid

💛 violet, vivien and moira would try and protect you at all costs. they're like your three guardian angels, whether they decide to show themselves to you or not

🧡 i imagine you'd actually get on with violet really well

💛 this could go one of two ways with tate. he'd love it, both girls he'd loved were getting along, makes his life easier. or, he'd hate it. hate that you choose to spend time with the girl that broke his heart

🧡 isn't really big on nicknames tbh, he thinks your name is the most beautiful word he knows, and so he wouldn't dream of calling you anything else

💛 tate is 100% the little spoon, don't fight me on this

🧡 absolutely lives for your affection. he thrives best on it

💛 would be sweet but low-key toxic, so solid 6/10

[vikkirosko]

Hi I'm not sure if you write for velvette but if you do could you do a reader who makes weapons and is the youngest daughter of Carmilla with step dad zestial(I ship the two of them) I love a little family drama.

❤ Velvette x fem!Reader headcanons Family drama 🤍

Velvette and you have been in a relationship for a long time. She gave you the most beautiful outfits created by her hands, she invited you on dates and took a huge number of photos of you together. Velvette knew what your favorite colors were, she knew how beautiful your smile was, what you loved to eat and how often you could immerse yourself in your work, so much so that you could forget about sleeping and eating. Velvette knew that you were involved in the manufacture of weapons and that was all she knew about your work. She wouldn't have known any more if she hadn't come to the meeting of the overlords and seen you there with a calm expression on your face, sitting next to Clara and Odette. It was at this moment that Velvette noticed how obvious the similarities between you, Clara, Odette and Carmilla were. You were part of their family

Velvette didn't talk to you openly, but she smiled at you and winked, making you blush. This did not escape the eyes of your mother and Zestial, who was your foster father. That is why, as soon as the meeting ended, Carmilla in a firm voice told Velvette to stay. You both knew exactly what it was going to be about. As soon as the other overlords left, Velvette came up to you and hugged you around the waist, then pulled you to her and kissed you on the lips, causing surprised and confused expressions on your sisters' faces, concern on Zestial's face and anger on your mother's face. Velvette and Carmilla didn't get along, and the fact that you were dating Velvette didn't make her happy at all. Your girlfriend saw this and deliberately continued, as if wanting to show your mother how close you were

Velvette bluntly stated, looking at the faces of your family members, that you were dating her and she was not going to end your relationship. Carmilla had a lot to say, but Velvette took you away, saying that the most romantic date imaginable awaits you. It was only in the elevator that she asked you if you even planned to tell her that you were (Y/N) Carmine. You sighed heavily and honestly told me that you are the youngest daughter in your family and you usually make weapons, because this was what you always did best. You knew about the mutual hostility between your mother and your girlfriend, so you didn't tell Velvette about your family and you didn't tell your family that you have a girlfriend. You understood the chaos created by Velvette's actions and when you returned home you had to deal with everything

Upon returning home, you had a long conversation with your mother. Carmilla couldn't understand what you found in someone like Velvette, and you tried to convince your mom that your girlfriend wasn't as bad as she might seem. The result of your conversation was a quarrel, because of which you went to your room, where your sisters soon came, and Zestial tried to calm your mother, realizing that, although Velvette was not the most pleasant person, but you chose her yourself, which means you really loved her. In your room, you told Clara and Odette about how great Velvette could be, and you showed them some photos from your dates. Your sisters saw how happy you were together and how much you, their younger sister whom they cared about, were in love. It was the first time you were so happy and they weren't going to get in your way, at least not until Velvette did something to get them to step in

When you were alone, you called Velvette to tell her what happened. Soon your conversation turned to a completely different topic. Velvette loved hearing your joyful voice and you chatted for hours until you had to go to bed. You both didn't know that Carmilla was coming to your door, intending to talk to you, but when she heard you happily chatting with your girlfriend on the phone, she stopped, not daring to interrupt you. She hasn't heard your happy voice for a long time. It was really difficult for Carmilla to accept your relationship with Velvette, but the happiness and well-being of the family came first for her, and if you needed Velvette for happiness, then she had to try to accept it

[astraariel]

scarlett love

pairing: sanji x fem!reader

summary: you forgot him, chose to let Sanji go, but was that enough? would the universe leave you alone and let you live in peace?

word count: 4.1K

warnings: cursing; spoilers (?) just mention of a character from the whole cake island arc, it’s a modern!au so I don't mention anything about the actual arc!

tags: angst; fluff; hanahaki disease; modern!au; reconciliation; second chances; unrequited turned requited; slight self-hate; happy endings

author’s note: okkkkay here it is. so many of you guys asked for it so here’s pt 2 to eternal snow! I initially wanted to post the mihawk fic first that i'm working on but I can’t finish writing it for the life of me so I decided to work on this one instead lol.

like I mentioned before, this is part 2 to this fic so obvi read that before you read this one!

˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

They say people who have the surgery are doomed for life.

How could they choose to never love again; how could they deliberately go through with the surgery knowing they would never have those emotions again?

But in actuality, it was the choice of forgetting about that love. 

People don’t know the grievances and the strength it takes to choose to forget the love of your life. They don’t know the despair of being in love with someone wholeheartedly knowing they don’t love you back.

That you would never remember those emotions for whom you loved. 

You saw it as this: if you couldn’t live to love your person, you wouldn’t bear to love at all.

So in that way, you won.

You gained the power to no longer grieve for your love because you simply couldn’t remember him.

Since hanahaki disease was rare, there weren’t too many recovery patients to base knowledge on since many of the victims chose to die rather than to be saved. 

So you were honestly going in blind.

Nami would sometimes ask you if you could remember anything, a nervous look on her face, you knew she remembered your past love, but the doctor had told her to not mention anything to you in your recovery period. You think she asked out of curiosity.

Or maybe fear?

But every time you’d just tell her that you couldn’t, your head would hurt if you thought too hard and too long about who you had lost.

If you could remember specific memories, they weren't fully visualized, they were static, like when an old TV was out of range from the signal and would struggle to picture the channel.

All you could remember was his silhouette, his figure blurry and his name was always on the tip of your tongue but you could never place your finger on it. 

You remember during your first check-up, the doctor had asked you if you could describe your past love, 

“I'm not sure.” 

Your voice had been wobbly like you were on the verge of crying. Tears had pricked your eyes, along with the feeling of not being able to breathe even though those damn flowers were gone. 

Not being able to understand why?

That feeling went away a week later.

You laugh at yourself now, chiding yourself for being ridiculous back then. 

At what point could you have allowed yourself to be so deeply in love with someone that it was killing you? You could never understand. 

It was an absurd, abysmal idea that you had ever gotten to that point.

While the doctor said the following months would be difficult getting used to your new life of having one less emotion, you were fine.

It had helped that Nami had stayed by your side, and when she couldn’t Sanji would.

Sanji was an angel. 

He tended to your every need, always made sure you didn’t lift a finger even after you told him multiple times you could do it yourself. 

But he always reassured you he didn’t mind.

You were sad to hear that he stopped seeing Pudding. It was honestly too bad because she was good for him, he deserves someone who can love and care for him just as much as he cares for others.

Nevertheless, you were glad he was here for you. 

The sound of music playing softly in the background comforts you as you shuffle through your kitchen making dinner. 

You and Sanji have recently started having weekly dinners with each other, an idea he came up with.

“We can update each other about our lives, good ole fashion face-to-face interaction.” 

“I don’t think my life is going to change too much in the week we don’t see each other, Sanji”

The sound of the door ringing pulls you from your thoughts, drying your hands with a towel, you walk over to the front door.

The cool November breeze greets you as soon as you open the door, Sanji’s figure fills your view. 

The coat he’s wearing to protect himself from the wind encapsulates him in a way that makes you smile instinctively, you can see his red ears peeking from under his blond hair.

“Come in, come in, I was just finishing up dinner.”

“Oh, can I help you with anything else?” he offers while shrugging off his jacket and hanging it on the coat rack beside the front door. “Or are you not allowing me into your kitchen again?” he smirks toward you.

You roll your eyes and scoff, “It’s my turn to make dinner, you cook for a living, it's my time to shine now, dude.” He chuckles and begins to set the table for the two of you. 

The warm food fills the plate in your hand, placing it on the counter, you grab another plate. “So, how’s work?”

Sanji grabs both of the plates and brings them to the table, setting them down, he looks back at you. “Ah, the old man’s got me working late most days.”

You smile softly at the scene; since you can remember you and Sanji have been able to work in tandem. Back when Nami first introduced you, it was like a pull connecting the two of you, also guiding and leading the two of you in perfect harmony.

It was nice.

Finishing your dinner, Sanji grabs his cup, “That was delicious, thank you.” 

“Well I did have a decent teacher,” you say into the glass smiling, gulping down the liquid you set it back down and look at Sanji.

He goes to say something before he’s interrupted by a cough.

Sanji turns his head and coughs into a handkerchief he pulled from his pocket, he quickly wipes his mouth before looking back at you, “Sorry ‘bout that.”

Shaking your head in acknowledgement you begin cleaning up the dinner table. 

“Oh I forgot, I bought flowers, they’re in the living room let me grab them real quick.” Sanji stands quickly.

Turning, you watch him walk away, not catching the lone petal falling out of his pocket.

♡‧₊˚

Vinsmoke Sanji has done a lot of things.

Some of which he regrets, but others he stands by, but there was one that met both criteria.

And that was you.

He was glad he met you, that he was able to spend time being with you, loving you, and knowing that you loved him back.

But he regrets hurting you. He regrets letting himself be temporarily infatuated with Pudding. Sanji had laughed in the face of fate, and in return, he got what he deserved.

His impending end.

The petals had shown up the day you went into the hospital.

While you were given a second chance at life, Sanji had just signed his away. 

He remembers the memory of Nami telling him what had happened. He had it permanently seared into his brain, never allowing himself to forget the moment. 

Her eyes were red, face hot with anger when she pulled up to his house.

“You absolute idiot.” He hadn’t even fully opened the door before she was swearing at him, cursing him to the ends of the earth over what he had done. “You did this. You caused that pain…if I hadn't found her…,” her hands had started punching his chest. 

“She would have been gone, all because of you.”

A part of Sanji died that day. 

So when he got the same disease you had, he knew he deserved it.

Wasn’t it only right that he got the same death sentence that almost took you away?

It was slow at first, from what Nami had told him about your situation, Sanji knew this was how it started. 

The first few weeks were bearable, he could go about his daily life without causing any suspicion. No one would ask if he was okay or anything, just simply being able to cough into a tissue and discard it quickly.

Then the blossoms came.

After one terrible night of constantly coughing up blood and flower blossoms, Sanji did some research. He knew the full blooms were next along with the finishing blow of the roots. It had only been a month since you had your surgery, and yet his hanahaki was a lot more accelerated in comparison to yours.

A month since he had realized he was deathly in love with you.

But he could bear this burden. Who was he to complain about his death trickling closer than it normally should? 

Sanji remembered the moment he realized his disease would finish him more swiftly, that he was faster along than he typically should be; whether it was because the universe knew you could never love him back or it was simply his punishment for what he did.

Probably both.

Even though he knew he could easily fix the problem, he didn't have the right to get a second chance.

How could he? 

How long did you spend hiding your condition away, not even when he had broken things off, before then? How long were you hurting because you knew he was lying when he said he loved you?

The gall he would have to have to go through with the surgery? 

Absolutely not.

But deep in his heart, he also couldn’t bring himself to forget you. He’d rather be a coward and a liar than choose a life undeserving of him.

He would rather die than forget you, to never be able to love you again would be death itself.

He hated himself for what he did to you. The insolence he had to hurt someone as caring as you, why did he take advantage of that?

He himself every day.

If he had to live with constantly coughing up blood and bending over the toilet puking up flower petals just for you to live your life? Yeah, he could do that. He could live with the pain of knowing that you would never love him back.

That you could never love him back.

It quite literally was in human nature that he would never be saved unless he did the surgery, since you couldn’t even love anyone anymore.

Sanji’s hand lifts his handkerchief up to his mouth, his body heaving with a hard cough of petals.

He sighs.

♡‧₊˚

The TV light shines on both you and Sanji’s forms as the movie comes to an end, the ending credits miniaturizing as the screen recommends a shitty Christmas movie that has the both of you turning to the other.

“That was an unnecessarily long movie.” Sanji’s comment makes you laugh.

“Right? God, it was dragging on for a really long time.” Shaking his head he stands up to place the popcorn bucket on the kitchen counter. 

You follow him holding the cups that held lemonade two hours ago. “It’s getting late, I should probably go.”

“Yeah, probably, oh wait-I bought something for you, meant to give it to you when we had dinner at your place but I forgot.” Sanji’s voice trails as he goes off to his bedroom. 

You stand there for a couple of minutes before checking the time, “Yo, Sanji, did’ya get lost?” laughing to yourself, you walk over into the bedroom. Your eyes immediately meet Sanji’s form hunched over on the ground.

A gasp falls from your lips as you rush over to him. “Sanji, oh god, are you okay what’s wrong-”

You cut yourself off when you bend down to look at him, there you see a pool of blood on the hardwood floor, petals scattered around the scene with a full flower bloom sitting in his hands. 

“What?” you can’t breathe.

Sanji says your name but you don’t hear him, your brows knit together as you look up at him. “I don’t understand why are you coughing up petals?”

No? This couldn’t be happening.

Your heart breaks.

Who did Sanji love so dearly that he was cursed with the same disease that had you in its chokehold not long ago? 

You would never wish this on anyone, no one deserved to live through the hurt of having unrequited love.

“You weren’t,” he wipes his mouth, “you weren’t supposed to find out.”

“I don’t-why wouldn't you want to tell me? If anything, I’d be the only person able to understand. Sanji, who is it?” your eyes scan his face. 

Sanji’s ragged breathing fills the air between the two of you. “I can’t.”

You furrow your brows even more, shaking your head. “Please just tell me so I can help-”

“You can’t.”

“What do you mean, I can’t? You’re not making sense.”

Sanji closes his eyes. “It’s you.”

You stop breathing, the figure in your memory rushes to the forefront of your brain like a tsunami. 

In the past the figure was always blurry, never in frame in your mind, only being able to trace his silhouette, but now it was different. 

It was like he was right in front of you like you could smell him, feel his hands in yours, his warmth. Feel his lips against your lips when he-

“It was you.” your voice was quiet, “You were the one I loved.” 

His eyes snap at yours, a gasp falling from his lips.

“The person I loved so deeply… that it caused me so much pain.”

And there it was, the fog had been lifted.

“How could I have forgotten?” How ironic the entire thing was.

“Why would I ever forget about my love for you, Sanji?” you look at him, “What grief did you cause me?”

A tidal wave of emotions, affections, all poured out of your soul and into your memories. The months of coughing up petal after petal till they turned to full flower blooms. The fear that a root would pop up once you pulled your tissue from your face. 

The pain and the hurt that Sanji had caused you. 

The pain of knowing that he didn't love you anymore.

It all came rushing back.

“Why would you keep this from me?” you were getting angry, but was it for the right reason?

Hadn’t you done the same with him? Hadn’t you kept it from all the people you loved as well?

“You know why I went through with the surgery? It wasn’t Nami who made me, well not partially, but why I allowed myself to let her drive me to the hospital was because I didn't want you to suffer.” your eyes were burning, the tears threatening to fall.

“I don't understand?” Of course, he wouldn’t.

“You were obviously unhappy, Sanji. If I removed myself from the equation, it would solve everything and at…at first I thought dying was the solution I really did.” your eyes drop, “And maybe Nami finding me was a saving grace but, I originally wasn't gonna do anything.” 

“Week after week, Sanji, I was drowning. I wanted to yell at anyone who would listen and ask why I couldn't have anything, why couldn’t I be happy? That the universe had some sort of fucking vendetta against me.”

“So I decided to let you go, to choose to live a life of unknown heartache, and when I finally thought I had accomplished that. The universe just spits in my face by cursing you.”

“Don’t you see it? We don’t belong together, Sanji.” The anger was gone now, all that was left was emptiness.“We have the signs, we need to heed them and move on.”

Sanji says your name with a plea, but you ignore him. “Just get the surgery, stop hurting the both of us.” 

“It does us no good if you're dead.” And with that, you walk out of the bedroom and out the front door.

♡‧₊˚

The quiet murmurs of the newscaster talking about the weather for the week could barely be heard from the running water you were using to wash the dishes. 

You haven't seen Sanji in a couple of weeks, not since he announced that you were the one whom he was in love with. 

And definitely not since you remembered he was the one whom you had loved before.

And while at first, you were angry. Angry at him for lying and keeping such vital information from you.

It later turned to guilt. 

Guilt for getting angry at him. Guilt for causing him pain.

But it wasn’t your fault, it’s not like you chose not to love him, you physically couldn’t anymore. You signed that ability off months ago.

But you also missed him. Since you weren’t talking to him, you weren’t having your weekly dinners or your impromptu movie nights anymore.

You missed just talking to him. You missed the lame jokes he’d tell in hopes of hearing your laugh, that smile he’d get whenever he spoke about a new recipe.

You missed him.

But you were also confused.

After he had revealed that he loved you and you had remembered that your past love was him, it became too much for you to handle.

Glancing at the moon, you dry your hands on a towel and walk into the living room. The weatherman was currently informing you of a chance of rain tomorrow during the already cold late January weather.

Sighing you go to sit down before something catches your eyes. A picture frame that hangs on your wall glints as you walk toward it.

It was a photo of you and Sanji looking at the camera with wide smiles on display from Sanji’s birthday two years prior. On top of your heads sat a birthday hat colored blue for the sea theme your friends had thrown together as a joke for the blonde that year.

You remember how you felt that day, the anxiety of wanting to get Sanji the perfect gift and when he finally opened it, he had hugged you which had you blushing like crazy while you swatted his “thank yous” away.

God, where did this deja vu come from?

It was weird, you weren't sure what it was.

It felt like your entire being was full. Full of intense and overwhelming emotions, an emotion you shouldn't feel. An emotion that was eradicated from your life when you stepped out of that hospital.

But here it was, rearing its big ugly face once again.

For Sanji.

You stumble back as if you had been shocked with electricity. 

Looking around your apartment you close your eyes.

How could this happen? Why were you still being punished again?

You had endured the pain, chose to get rid of it and now you’ve been having to live with knowing that Sanji also was experiencing the exact same pain.

Sanji.

How could you have been so cold? Telling him to do the surgery? What was wrong with you?

You missed him. You missed your love for him. The feelings you’d get when he’d look your way. Sanji was your ambrosia and you needed him to survive.

But you didn’t miss how you felt when he chose another over you. Those feelings you wished you hadn’t remembered.

You weren't sure how you were still able to feel Sanji's love. But here you were.

An anomaly that you were. 

Guess that shows how deep your love truly was rooted.

How could you have allowed yourself to forget?

The drive to Sanji’s apartment was quiet, opting to not play music or turn the radio on so that you could think clearly with your new (re) developed emotions.

Pulling up to the driveway, you step out of your car. The jacket you have on trapping your heat from the cold winds of the night. 

The few steps to the front door felt like a lifetime. The moonlight provided a little comfort to your restless self.

Exhaling, you bring your hand to knock at the door, a small part of you hoping Sanji wasn’t home so you could go home and pretend like nothing happened.

The door swings open revealing Sanji. His eyes were wide like he couldn’t believe you were standing in front of him.

“Hey…can I come in?” you look up at him expectantly.

“Yeah, yeah come in.” Sending him a quick smile you walk past him and into the living room. 

He shuts the door and faces you, you turn and finally get a good look at him in the light. 

He looked worse for wear, his eyes had bags under them, a sign he hadn’t been sleeping if at all. Whether that was because of your argument or his condition, you didn't know. One hand was in his pocket and the other was fiddling with his handkerchief. 

“How are you…” signaling your hand at him, “I mean physically, how are you? What stage?”

He looks away, “well…I’m still living,” he chuckles quietly.

You sigh. 

God the two of you were truly messed up.

“It all came back.” 

“What?” he questions.

Your eyes begin to glaze over, “My memories, everything.” you wet your lips, “All of it, Sanji.”

“It just-all came back…on top of our argument, of you telling me you loved me.” Tears fell down your cheeks. “Of how I felt when you were-when you were with Pudding.”

He says your name.

“And I hated it, I hated remembering how I felt, Sanji. I remember pitying myself, wondering what I had done wrong, why you hadn’t loved me anymore,” he says your name again, “but I also remembered how I felt loving you.” you look up at him with your tear-streaked face.

“And I will never regret loving you, not then, definitely not now. I also don’t regret forgetting, because I understand why I did it. I loved you enough to be able to let you go. To be able to know you’ll live your life happily, whether that’s with me or someone else. I didn’t care. Just that you were happy.” 

“But I wasn’t-”

You cut him off, “I knew you didn't love me how I loved you, but I still knew you cared. So if I had died, even from death, I would have hated myself for hurting you. So I chose to forget.” you wipe your cheek, “I just wish you had never gotten that godforsaken thing as well.”

“Sanji I…I love you wholeheartedly. You encompass my entire existence. I live for you. Even now, when I didn't remember how I felt for you. It was there. My love for you was still inside. And it always will be. I think even if you hadn’t told me you loved me now, I would have remembered anyway. Simply because that’s who I am, I am my love for you, you consume my entire soul.” You probably looked like a mess.

“You look beautiful.” Did you say that out loud?

You smile softly, “So when you admitted that you loved me, that I was inadvertently hurting you, I couldn’t take it. I had been the monster I sought to eliminate. So I pushed you away.” you sigh, “I pushed you away because I didn't want to go through the same pain again. I was selfish if you had just done the surgery, I'd be able to forget about this again and you wouldn't even remember.” you walk toward Sanji. “I’ve learned that I can’t run away from you anymore. And I’ve realized that I don’t want to lose you again.” 

“So let me save you.”

Sanji’s face was red, his eyes were blurry with tears, his fist clenching his handkerchief filled with petals and blooms.

“I’m so sorry.” Sanji’s voice trembles, “I am so sorry, I caused you so much pain, if I could take it back I would. And I don’t even deserve you, I’m not worthy of your love, but if you allow me, let me make it up.” 

You close the gap between the two of you and pull his lips toward your own. They’re slightly chapped and both of your guy’s faces are wet but you don’t care. You feel his fingers carding through your hair, pulling you deeper. 

This kiss was different from any others before, this one was filled with desire and want but it was also filled with joy and love.

You were finally happy.

You pull away first, breathing heavily and your face flushed, “You already are.” 

“I love you so much, please never forget.” you wipe a stray tear, cradling his face. 

You want to commit this memory in your brain. No more forgetting, no more letting go. To make sure that for the night, no cough was to be heard, no petal was to be hidden, 

just two lovers finally with one another, forever.

[sweetracha]

Dumb Bunny

Sugar Content: Spicy Sweet (SMUT!), Sugary Sweet (Some Fluff)

Allergy Warning: Mommy Dom Felix, Miss Dom Han, Sub Reader, Edging (Han), Overstim (Felix), Humiliation, Messy Sex, Oral, Heavily Implied Sub-Space, Degradation, Praise, Dumbification, Illusions to Aftercare.

Confectioner's Note: I got so carried away with this one. It was meant to be a short Kinky Sprinkles. Thank you @kaciidubs for the idea!

You didn't mean to disobey. Okay well, you did but you didn't mean to get caught. The boys were out celebrating after the VMA's, and at this point, they should be halfway gone from sober at their third party of the night. You were still a secret, a little gift Han and Felix kept greedily for themselves. A situation you were more than okay with.

They just looked so good. Their carpet outfits, their presence when accepting the award, their performance…god damn their performance. You couldn't help the wet patch that grew in your panties. Good thing Felix always came prepared. You quickly riffled through his luggage to find your rabbit vibe. Clothes were discarded all over the floor on your trip back to the bed. Once the head came to life and the weight sat heavily on your clit, you were gone.

So gone in fact that you didn't hear the door to the room open. You didn't hear the small gasps and tsks of disappointment. Nor did you hear the footsteps leading to you. What broke you out from your bliss was two sets of hands staking a claim on your thighs as you felt both sides of the bed dip.

"Poor poor bunny…" Felix faked a sigh. You attempted to force your legs shut but their strength combined spread you open even further. "We are just terrible doms aren't we Han?"

"The worst! Oh, baby, you don't deserve to be treated like this. Maybe we should leave."

"NO! No…you are the best, please!"

"Oh?" Han acted as if his curiosity was peaked. "What would ever possess our good girl to act so naughty if it wasn't that we were bad at our jobs? It couldn't be that she decided to act like a slut tonight instead, hmm?"

"We even skipped the after-parties to come celebrate with you, bunny. We knew we had a good girl waiting for us." Felix came in close to your ear and dropped his voice scarily low. "Right, baby? You wouldn't happen to not be our good girl. Would you?"

"I'm sorry!" you cracked and the boys looked shocked at one another, obviously still a part of the game they were playing. "I was so horny without you! I kept watching your performance and and and I COULDN'T HELP IT" you cried out.

"Oh poor bunny, Mommy is so sorry. You seem so desperate right now. Of course, your dumb little horny brain couldn't handle more than a day without our cocks. We should have known. Just our slutty little bunny." Felix took a hand to caress your face, he smirked as he saw the glass form over your eyes. So close, they were so so close.

"But that doesn't mean you can go unpunished, baby. You know our rules and you still decide to break them. You might be able to trick Mommy with that 'dumb bunny' act, but Miss knows better. Baby, you deliberately chose to be naughty. Don't lie, honey, I already know." Han's hand cupped the other side of your face, thumbing your lips. That was the final move. When the thumb slipped past your lips and you began to suck, they saw you were exactly where they wanted you.

Han and Felix took their parts like perfectly trained actors. Felix was your mommy, sweet and kind laced with humiliation. Han was Miss, the dom that lived to see you crumble and take you to your breaking point.

Positioned flat on his back, Han shot Felix a knowing look. Felix quickly took you by your bare waist and placed you right above Han's face. But this part was new. Instead of facing the headboard so Han could eat you out like you were his last meal, you were turned to face outwards. Meeting eyes with Felix who was straddling the other dom's thighs.

"Confused bunny? You are so lost in that empty head of yours. Lower yourself on his tongue, Miss is going to make you feel so good."

You were not going to break any more orders tonight. It all made sense as you lowered yourself, your soaked clit meeting his fat tongue. Doubling over in pleasure and crying out, Felix had to reposition you. Before you could stable yourself Han got to work.

You threw your head back in a whaling cry as he played with your puffy cunt. The rapper knew he had a way with his tongue. Messy sex didn't even begin to explain what Han liked. He wanted slick, split, and cum. He needed it wet and sticky, you were capable of giving it to him.

The room around you began to blur, eyes crossing from pleasure. One tap to Han's thigh form Felix made him lift your hips quickly off his face. Instantly tears threatened to spill. You let out a groan of desperation which was met with a sharp smack to your ass.

"Oh Baby" Han caught his breath. "You think Miss would let you off that easily? No. This is a punishment for being such a slutty little thing. Now back down." A double tap to the reddening spot followed his command.

This repeated 3 more times, each soaking your face in more and more tears. The bed was drenched under you. Squelching became the dominant sound in the room. Nonsensical pleas left you. A sweet hand was placed on the back of your head, glassy eyes met dark ones. Felix leaned in just close enough to kiss. He might let you finally tip over the edge. Right before your lips met, he shoved your head down. Now hovering over Han's angry cock, Felix's hand brought it to your lips.

"Suck his cock, bunny. Make miss cum and he will let you finish. That is easy enough for you to understand, right baby?"

You didn't respond, not even a nod. You just slotted his cock in your mouth and began to suck. Han took advantage of this new angle. Rough hands spread your ass apart as he sunk his tongue in even deeper. His new hold on you allowed for more access to all the spots that drove you over the edge. It was clear he was following your actions. Suck fast? Lick faster. Deep Throat? Deeper fingers. With this information, you quickly brought both of you to the edge. Using your last trick, you took Han all the way to the base and gagged. He went crazy when he felt your thick saliva drip down his cock. Han filled your throat with cum as he pushed hard on that spot deep inside of you. You blacked out before you even heard your own moan.

A gentle tap to your face brought you back to reality. Soft shushing met your subtle cries. Soon you were lifted into a pair of arms and brought to a bare chest. The skin on your skin grounded you.

"Color Bunny?" Han's voice was so gentle like he worried it would break you.

"Green" it came out rough due to the abuse on your vocal cords. "Let Mommy please you, Bunny. Then we will take care of our subby baby." Han tucked a strand of hair behind your ear.

You were moved so your head was cradled between Han's thick thighs, back flush to the sheets. Felix lifted your legs to pin your knees to your chest. You didn't have to worry about staying in place, Han's job was to hold you there.

It was easy for Felix to enter your soaking cunt, Han made sure you were more than wet enough. It only took 3 strokes before you were ready to cum again.

"Bunny, you are so sensitive. Oh my god-- fuck bunny, you are squeezing me so hard. Cum baby, do it. Cum for Mommy" and cum you did.

You couldn't even come down from your high before Felix was building you up again. Each time you came, Felix sunk his thrusts in deeper. Han edges, Felix overstims. A hand crept up to your throat, halting.

"Mommy is making you feel so good, isn't he baby?" Han whispered in your ear.

"Mhm y-ye- mhmm"

"Shhh Bunny, you don't need to answer. Miss was so mean, wasn't he? Awh poor baby, he made such a mess of you."

"Oh she loves it, don't you baby' The hand previously on your throat spread across your face, hooking three fingers in your mouth. Han pulled open your jaw so spit pooled and ran down your face. The sounds of your moans leaving your open mouth made Han hard all over again.

"One more for me baby, Just one more for Mommy, I know you can." You nodded as best you could. "Good girl bunny"

Felix gave it everything he got. Shoving your knees further into your chest, he spread you painfully open as he took his new position. He pistoned in and out like a machine perfectly programmed for you. You shook so hard Han's grip was going to bruise in the morning. You came with a scream as a low groan indicated Felix was emptying into you.

"Fuck bunny..fuck" Felix wore a drunken smile.

"Here baby, let me help you" Han slowly unfolded you like a piece of tissue paper. He felt a bit bad when he heard your joints pop.

"Where's Mommy?" your slurry speech made Han smile, pulling you closer to his chest.

"I'm right here bunny, is Miss comfy?"

"Mhmmm" The two shared a look of absolute love.

"How far gone is she?" Felix whispered to Han as he lifted you.

"Pretty far, the bath will help. I'm okay with an extra snuggly bunny though." He brushed your spit-dried hair back.

"Our little Bunny" Felix kissed your nose, whisking you off to the bathtub.

The Sweetest Batch: @goblinracha, @xx3rachaslutxx, @j-onedrabbles, @lixiesweetbrownie, @marrivmel,@lyramundana, @raaaaaaahhhh

[portgasdwrld]

📞Wait a minute while I make you mine

Featuring: Ace x fem!reader

Warning: suggestive, mention of NSFW content, slightly angsty at the end lol

Summary : fun pool day with Whitebeard crew and the reader and Ace being awfully flirty.

Part.2. Part.3

The photo is found on Pinterest, credits to its owner

Note: this idea came up to me at work, enjoy my first short story!! 🫶🏻 part 2 maybe ?

You had just changed into your new swimsuit that you bought few hours ago from the shops in the resorts. The little fabric was complimenting the curves of your body beautifully, leaving a little gasp even from between your own lips.

You smiled knowing someone else might also enjoy it. You pushed back your hair glancing one last time at the mirror with a satisfied smile. You grabbed your sunglasses and left them resting on top of your head.

Your close friend, who was one of the few nurses on the ship, called Livia, was waiting for you outside of the changing room. She glanced up at you and smiled.

-This is just so sexy.

She commented while making you turn and checking you out. You grinned and nudged her arm playfully. You blushed a little and intertwined her arm with yours. With your other hand you played with the gold necklace pending on your neck. You two started walking towards y’all fellow pirates.

-Right? I think the women had the perfect eye. Good thing I got it.

- She did, Ace is gonna loveeee it~

You rolled your eyes and gave her a quick glare before shyly smiling.

-I’m definitely not wearing this for this idiot. Im being hot for myself.

-Yeah, and I’m a man with heavy hairy balls.

Her answer earned a laugh out of you. She gazed at you with a floating teasing smirk, thinking it was cute how hard you were refuting your obvious crush on the infamous commander of the second division.

-I can already picture him drooling over you.

-He’s not the type to drool, you retorted with a frown.

-Right, he only drool over food. Okay then, he would blush and look away like you don’t exist while he has a raging boner.

-This version doesn’t so bad now.

You nodded quite satisfied with your friend storytelling abilities. She pushed her blond hair behind her shoulders and winked at you.

-I know. To be fair, y’all would’ve probably fucked already, but you deliberately chose to blue ball yourselves.

She said with a disapproving expression. You scoffed thinking it was quite funny how invested your friend was with your « love life ». Ace and you were kinda just friends… yeah?

-You are talking a lot for someone who hasn’t done a move on their crush for months. How’s you and Imani going?

-Imani..she-she’s just so gorgeous. I get super shy when I’m around her and she’s also like one of the top nurses on the ship so it would be inappropriate.

-You have been saying the same excuse for weeks.

You exclaimed exhausted with your blond friend. She looked at you with puppy eyes like she was about to reveal the best excuse in the cutest way.

-Yeah but you know what ?? She had those beautiful butterfly’s locks done at the last island we stopped and she looks even prettier. I’m hopeless. I have fallen for a goddess while I’m a commoner.

-You are being dramatic. Imani is gorgeous but so are you.

-Im a Pisces.

-Livia, that’s not an argument.

-Arent you the astrologer here?

-Yeah and what about it ?

-Tell me about Imani and I compatibility!

-Livy, I make sky map… and I have already done it, i told you it was a green light.

She removed her arm that was intertwined with yours and brought both of her hands to her face to hide her blushing cheeks.

-OMG!!? Can you imagine me going out with her?!

She asked with heart eyes and an almost perverted expression that almost made you frown in fear. You patted her back to help her calm down.

-Collect yourself, blood is almost coming down your nose.

You joked with a defeated chuckle. She nodded quickly while patting her hair on top of her head to gain some senses.

-Okay so about you and Ace-

-Oh look the guys are over there, you cut her off while running towards Marco who was sipping on some refreshers while speaking to some others men.

-Y/N! WAIT FOR ME!!

You heard her yell as she ran behind you. You crashed into Marco because you foot slipped on the water on the ground, making you lose control over your body. He sensed you and was quick to grab you and pull you up to your feet again.

-I thought we only had to say to kids not to run near pools ? He said while raising one of his eyebrows with a disapproving look.

You pulled you tongue at him and crossed your arms under your breast.

-Well, the water just could’ve been somewhere else.

-Y/N! ARE YOU OKAY! AHHH-

Livia ran towards you but a similar situation happened and she fell right into you. You groaned as the weight of her body crushed on yours. You pulled yourself on your elbows and gave her a bored look.

-Why are you running around a pool?

You asked while rubbing the back of your head that had just hit the hard floor.

-LIKE YOU’RE ONE TO TALK!!

She yelled at you as she pulled herself up of your body. Marco watched the scene with a chuckle and pulled his hands, offering them to both of you. You took one and chuckled.

-It’s so good to be able to relax a little bit, you exclaimed while stretching your arms, enjoying the way the sun was warming up you exposed skin.

-Let’s jump in the pool already, I’m sweating.

Livia complained as she grabbed her hair and pulled them up to allow some air to hit the back of her neck. You saw few of the men on the ship give her heart eyes. You chuckled knowing that Livia was probably the most lesbian girl you have ever knew and those guys could only hold into their fantasy. You truly hoped it would work out with her crush though.

Imani was a beautiful dark skinned women who was working hard to keep up with Whitebeards health as much she possibly could with of course the help of Marco. She was one of the popular member on the ship, known for her beauty and intelligence. So it wasn’t surprising to know that a lot of people liked and admired her.

-Yeah, enjoy it! Not everyone can enjoy the pool freely, Marco replied referring to him being a power holder. He suddenly snorted and he quickly excused himself while a chuckle left his lips.

-Whats wrong ? You asked curious of what he was laughing at.

He moved his head pointing behind you with his familiar smirk. You frowned confused and looked behind you, only to see your freckled friend trying his best to swim with a unicorn swimming ring, two orange arm floaties on each of his biceps and water googles. You couldn’t help but burst into a laugh.

You whipped the tears at the corner of your eyes from laughing. The view in front of you was so different from the cocky and confident man you knew.

-OI, ACE ! You look like a kid who’s learning how to swim!

You yelled while holding into your stomach. The tall man looked at you confused and a red blush tinted his freckled cheeks. He removed his googles to let them rest on top of his head.

-LEAVE ME ALONE !

He yelled back with an embarrassed frown.

-He’s so cute, you mumbled under your breath but loud enough for Marco and Livia to hear it.

-How about you join him?

Livia exclaimed while pushing your body into the water. You didn’t even have time to react that you felt your body entering the cold water of the pool. You fought back a little in the water as you were taken out totally in surprised. You finally pulled your head out of the water and pushed your soaked hair out of your view.

-LIVIA! What was that about ?! I almost lost my glasses.

You yelled at her slightly annoyed as you pushed your sunglasses at her. You definitely had water in your nose. She laughed at your slight frustrated expression. She threw your glasses to Marco, before jumping into the water too, splashing you , making water enter your eyes this time.

You waited for her to emerge out of the water to splash her eyes back with constant water waves.

-Im sorry, I’m sorry ! She pleaded while putting her hand up in defeat.

Marco shook his head wondering why two young adults like Livia and you were acting like total children.

-THAT WAS A GOOD ONE LIVIA! THANKS!

You heard Ace suddenly yell with his stupid grin. You smirked and started to swim towards him. You saw his eyes grow big when he realized that he was the one in disadvantage. He tried to « swim » away but some kids was pulling into the unicorn head of his swimring. So he was mostly fighting against sinking because of the kid.

You finally arrived next to him and looked up at him with mischievous eyes. Your propped yourself on his floater.

-Did the kid and you planned this ?

He asked a little bit annoyed but you could feel he was tense. You glared at the annoying kid and pulled his arms off of Aces unicorn.

-What do you think you’re doing?

You asked him seriously. He looked up at you, lips suddenly trembling. He quickly left while screaming for his mom. You looked back at Ace and started to laugh. You swam back to his floater and so your arms and chest were resting on the huge swimring.

His eyes travelled down to your breast and then to your lips but he looked away with a blush.

-Get off, you are gonna make me sink.

He said while gazing at your wet body once again and then at your eyes.

-I dont feel like it, you replied with a pout while tilting your head.

He rolled his eyes and he licked his lips as he brought his face closer to yours. He smiled with his familiar mischievous eyes that you loved so much. You felt butterfly in your stomach at the sudden proximity.

-You really like being a brat, huh?

You grinned and pushed back his head with you finger on his forehead.

-Maybe I do~

You retorted in a calm voice that came off more seductive than you intended to. You saw Ace’s eyes squinting slightly at you as he gave you his infamous smirk.

-Alright, then would you help me get out of the water?

-Already tired ?

-Yeah, I don’t have the thrill anymore to worry about sinking especially because of a kid or you.

-Pfff, like I would really sink a hottie like you.

-So now you think I’m hot?

-Yeah well, you are made of fire, you retorted with an obvious tone while furrowing your eyebrows. He looked at you speechless for few seconds before he shook his head and slowly started making his way outside of the the pool.

You laughed as you got off of his swim-ring and helped him by pulling him and swimming forwards. By the edge of the pool, Ace removed his unicorn with your help and quickly pushed himself outside the water. He sighed relieved as he walked slightly away.

-Thanks

-No worries~ Well I guess I will see you around.

You said while glancing at his tone body glistening with the water. The way his back muscles moved as he slightly turned to your direction. He looked over his shoulders as he was removing his arm floaties.

-Uh..yeah sure.

You waved at him with a smile and searched for Livia somewhere in this sea of people. He watched you walk away from him. He wished he proposed you to eat an ice cream and maybe talk somewhere in this big resort, maybe learn more about you if you allowed him to. But he wasn’t sure of how you would take it.

You were always big on being independent and it was something you had proud in. He didn’t even know if being in a relationship was even something you thought about. Maybe you were more about fucking and not talking to that person ever again, but as much as he wanted you, he wouldn’t break his own heart by having too much hope for something he couldn’t possibly have. You loving him is impossible.

He sighed as he felt a sudden heavy weight on his heart. His throat slightly chocked up. He shook away those thoughts and decided to just distract himself with his friends, the weather, other girls maybe too…

[akiizayoi4869]

I don't understand why people make excuses for Ursa. It is true that she got into a bad situation with a bad husband. That doesn't excuse her. She is still a bad mother to both Azula and Zuko. Her actions in the comic led Ozai to deliberately start treating Zuko worse. Ursa decided to hide behind the baby just to see if the pet tyrant was reading her mail. She just took advantage of the child for her own gain. Just like Ozai. Ursa's favouritism was bad for Zuko and distanced him from his sister. Ursa's indifference led Azula to Ozai

They make excuses for Ursa because she was in an abusive/arranged marriage, and they think that she had zero agency or control over anything. Which isn't entirely true. Because if that was the case? Her relationship with Zuko wouldn't have been what it was. She could still make choices in how she raised her children. And sadly a lot of her choices weren't great. Like you and plenty of other people have said, anon, her favoritism towards Zuko screwed up Azula. It also didn't do any favors for Zuko either. You aren't supposed to favor one kid over the other one, I don't care how "difficult" you think the other child is. And it's crazy because we see how favoritism is like a curse in this family. We are told by the narrative that playing favorites with your children is a bad thing (unless you favor Zuko apparently, then it's all fine and dandy🙄) and that you shouldn't do it. But you see what I just said in the parenthesis? That's where the problem is. We're shown/told that the favoritism is wrong.....unless the favoritism is towards Zuko. Both Ursa and Iroh, two adults that were considered "good" in comparison to Ozai, favored Zuko over Azula. And this is shown not as a bad thing, but as somethings that's fine and accepted because he is the "good" child, and that he acted in the perfect way an abuse victim is supposed to act in society's eyes, while Azula wasn't. Therefore she wasn't deserving of anyone's love like Zuko. Which is an extremely fucked up thing to do to a child who had no control in anything. I mean seriously, the fact that Ursa had Azula thinking this?

100% shows that she was a bad parent, plain and simple. Like I'm sorry but if the impression that I gave my child is that I feared them and thought that they were a monster, I'm not patting myself on the back and accepting the mother of the year award. Being in an abusive marriage does not absolve you from doing shitty things to other people, and I'm so tired of this fandom acting like it does. What I find to be so ironic about this though, is that these are the same people who, when we point out that Azula is a victim of abuse and that's why she is the way that she is in the show, they'll say "so what, that still doesn't excuse her. She could have changed but she chose not to." Say this to them about Zuko and Ursa though, and suddenly they start singing a different tune. Funny how that works.

[katelynnwrites]

12. "I love you! Is that what you wanted to hear? Are you happy now?" With the one and only Laura Freigang

this is me trying. (prompt 12, laura freigang)

you should have known that you’d gone too far when there’s a loud and incessant knocking on your door.

at this time of the night, or should you say early morning, there is only one person it could be.

your guess is right and you open the door to see a certain blonde.

her makeup is awfully smudged and there’s still fresh tears running down her cheeks.

immediately you feel bad because you have definitely crossed an unwritten line now.

laura looks completely and utterly broken, her usually blue eyes taking on a greyer shade.

‘i’m sorry.’ are the first words out of your mouth but you know that they aren’t enough.

‘did you know there would be cameras?’

feeling your heart grow even heavier, you nod. it had been a deliberate decision on your part.

laura whimpers involuntarily, her hand coming up to cover her mouth.

the very sound causes you to flinch.

‘did you care at all? did you for a second, stop to think about how i would feel seeing photos of you dancing with another girl at some party being posted everywhere on social media? she was all over you!’ the german woman demands.

‘laura-’

‘i love you! is that what you wanted to hear? are you happy now?’

‘lau-’ you begin, eyes wide at her outburst.

the blonde doesn’t let you speak, giving you a shove, ‘are you happy that i looked at those photos and wished with my entire being that i was that girl?’

you’re terrified you’d misheard her.

‘you what?’

‘i wanted to be her.’ your ex girlfriend quietly admits.

there’s a moment of stunned silence.

then you say, ‘i did it on purpose.’

laura looks at you like you’ve gone and hit her. such is the depth of the pain and despair written all over her features.

‘i went to the party and chose to dance with her because i knew the media would be there. i let her put her hands all over me but laura, the entire time i was wishing that they were your hands. i love you too laura and i only did all that to make you jealous.’

your ex girlfriend buries her head in her hands for a moment, a weak sob escaping her.

you stand rooted to the ground, wanting desperately to comfort her but knowing that you have no right to when you are the cause of her agony.

the german woman takes in one, two and then three deep breaths before she looks back up.

her eyes meet yours and she murmurs, ‘you have a funny way of showing that you love me.’

‘i’m sorry.’ you apologise again.

‘you could have just told me that you wanted to get back together.’

you shrug defeatedly, ‘we broke up for a reason.’

‘i can’t remember what that reason is now. do you?’

‘no…’ you answer, not knowing what the blonde is getting at.

‘good.’ laura states with finality, surging forward and capturing your lips with hers.

[wildpeachfarm]

been browsing the reddit and there is an interesting point they bring up that i think a lot of people are afraid of pointing out for fear of coming off as victim blaming. and its the fact that people are very quick to dismiss accountability on caitis side, with most people pinning it all on her friends. and im guilty of this too but theyre not wrong in that caiti deliberately chose to word her first stream like that, she chose to leave information out/lie, and she chose to share that screenshot even though it was fake and said nothing to clear it up. even if her friends have influenced her, she still chose to go through with it. her friends did not hold her at gunpoint and force her to do those things. and i guess its because i was thinking about the framing of "freshly 18" and the way that people are accusing george of sexually assaulting a "young girl". like we pushed back on those things because 18 is an adult, she's not a child and infantilizing her is weird in an attempt to smear george. but i think by pinning all the blame on her friends, we kinda circle back around to making it seem like shes just a helpless little girl who cant make decisions on her own. and i 100% understand that her pain couldve caused these things, maybe she really didnt remember things well, maybe she was afraid if it didnt sound bad enough no one would take her seriously, i dont know. and i empathize with that but also she needlessly demonized a man to a wild extend and i do think she needs to take responsibility for not portraying things faithfully at some point. being hurt doesnt excuse you from hurting others. saying that caiti made mistakes too can coexist with her being hurt by what george did that night.

really well-worded anon and i think this last bit really sums up everything. Caiti was not a silent, non-moving piece of this situation. She was the one who consciously made the choice to stream, use that specific extreme language, initially withhold proof, not verify screenshot sources, not talk to george privately first, etc. and while she can be hurt by what happened and possibly have made poor choices in response to what happened, it does not absolve her of any responsibility for this chaotic fallout.

I don't think that is victim blaming, i think that's honestly just not convincing yourself that the way she handled this and the things she did were perfect.

[aohisworld]

MAGNETIC PULSE! 01

ʚɞ ⁺˖ ⸝⸝ Aohi is signed into a CO-ED contract and meets her future members alongside another female member, but she’s not necessarily welcome..

ʚɞ ⁺˖ ⸝⸝ eventual poly!ot7 x added member!oc. (ri-ki centric). content warnings: bickering, a bit of cursing? a little cringe writing.

| : ̗̀➛ MINTIE’s NOTES: Enhypen was considered a boy group prior to this chapter. Aohi was tied to girl group, XG before Enhypen. (ft. members of XG, other idols.)

| : ̗̀➛ WARNING! How I write ENHYPEN is not meant to portray the idols irl, this is my au and I write this for fun. contains angst and a little bit of bickering/awkward tension.

✧. ┊   AOHI wasn't one to be a leader, and she knew that from a very young age. She loved to follow the crowd, keep up with trends and go along with any flow her friends set.

Aohi also knew she was one to set things in stone once planned, she was always ready to do things, anything her friends asked of her or plans they wanted to do, she followed orders, that was her whole thing but..

When Aohi had to face the decision of basically being kicked out of her group, being singled out by the company for reasons she didn't know yet, all she had to work with was her manager's soft and sympathetic gaze on her, and that wasn't much.

The rest of the meeting went through one ear of hers and out the other, I mean, why wouldn't it? Why wouldn't it when the group you trained so hard to join was finally gaining recognition, and only now, did management think you weren't right for the concept and kicked you out?

"I'm really sorry, Aohi. You'll do great things, just... not with us." Yuzi spoke softly, Aohi knew her as one of the higher-ups, her manager's boss.

"But...I worked so hard.." Aohi could only blurt out, standing up from her seat. "It's not that you'll be sent back, Aohi," Yuzi did what she could to cool any emotion down before they could leave Aohi's lips.

"You're just, not the concept we want, not.. now." Yuzi chose her words deliberately as to not spark any unwanted feelings inside of Aohi, Yuzi wasn't a bad person, nor was she heartless, hell, she even treated the entirety of XG as her daughters, so Aohi couldn't be mad.

"What do you want me to do then? Where will I go?"

"You'll be moved into a co-ed project, the higher ups, and Hybe, wanted to create something new, and they picked you, Aohi." Yuzi spilled, reaching over to hold a motherly hand over the young girl's shaking fingers.

"So I'll just be put into a new group? That's it for me?" Aohi asked after a slight pause, her head was in a ramble trying to process the information given to her.

"You'll be put into Enhypen." Yuzi confirmed, Aohi paused for a bit, she was versed in various k-pop groups, being the sole reason on why she was an idol now.

"But isn't that a boy group? Why would they want to turn it into a co-ed project last minute?-" Aohi's eyebrows furrowed as her personal manager finally made a move, placing a hand on Aohi's shoulder as if to tell her to calm down. she had been sitting in the corner for a while, listening in on the conversation.

"Aohi, calm down, okay?" Her personal manager softly whispered, her hand squeezing at Aohi's shoulders, trying to ease the girl into a calmer mindset.

"I don't know-" Yuzi couldn't even continue before Aohi is being sat down by her own manager.

"How could you not know?" She challenged back, her hand retracting from under Yuzi's hold and combing itself through her hair.

"I just don't, Aohi!" Yuzi was starting to get frustrated quickly.

Aohi's questions and irritated feelings was starting to frustrate her as she couldn't explain why, why BE:LIFT decided to pick Aohi, why she had to let her go—

"Listen, you don't have to do it, but it is a choice." Yuzi spoke in a tone that felt finalized, in other words, she was telling Aohi to make a choice.

"I've seen your progress, and I don't want a talented person like you to go back to Fukuoka without a chance." Yuzi continued.

Aohi could only stare back at her, she could feel the shock buzz in her body, her jaw threatening to slack open.

"Aohi, please take this offer, I promise you, it'll be worth it, you won't get far with us, with staying in our company." Yuzi had surrended to begging Aohi.

As a motherly figure, she didn't want Aohi to give up because she wasn't in XG— this whole decision to let her go so that HYBE could bring her up for their co-ed project, was better than any offer they could've gotten for Aohi.

Silence filled the room for a few moments, but to Aohi it felt like forever.

She didn't want to give up easily, XG was her group, she basically grew up with the members like they were her older sisters.

Aohi knew they wouldn't want to see her retreat back to Japan, not when she worked so hard to train to be an idol.

"Well?" Yuzi asked after a moment of silence from Aohi. "Aohi, you have the choice, but you need to make it now."

Aohi's throat felt dry as she wondered, if she returned back to Japan, would her family be disappointed, seeing her come back, not even a year after debuting?—

"Okay, I'll accept the offer."

— It felt unreal, Aohi staring at her old dorm bed, which was hers for not even a year, sitting down on the bare bed, running her hand through it. God, she really didn't want to go— nobody did.

Hinata just watched Aohi silently sit in their bedroom for a while with a heavy heart. If she could just keep Aohi here, with them, she would've.

"Ready to go, batsy?" Hinata's voice broke Aohi out of her thoughts, making the girl look up at one of her sister figures. "Nata-nee, won't you miss me?" Aohi sadly mumbled, looking back down at the bed, still unsure of her decision.

"Aish, just because I'm not crying doesn't mean I'm not sad that you're leaving." Hinata sighed, forcing Aohi to scoot over her bed as she sat beside her.

"You don't know how upset I was when I heard of your termination from XG." She spoke, rubbing gently at the younger girl's shoulder.

"We adore you so much, batsy. You don't even know." Hinata squeezed Aohi's shoulder, feeling her eyes sting at the threat of tears.

"Sometimes, things go this way, and just because we won't be idols together, doesn't mean that's it for you." Aohi looked up at Hinata, sadness evident in her brown orbs.

"What if Yuzi was wrong? What if I'm not well received?" Aohi asked, she felt like she had regressed back to her childish self, asking her older sister things she wasn't supposed to be worrying about.

"Well, then you have us, we'll always be here for you to fall into. We'll be your safety net." Hinata smiled, pinching at Aohi's nose, trying to cheer the younger up.

"Let's go, we've wallowed long enough, it's time, Aohi." Hinata slowly stood up, holding Aohi's hand like a sister would to her younger sibling, squeezing tight in reassurance.

Aohi left the old dorm room, an ache of emotions beating in her chest.

"Aohi, take care of yourself out there, okay?" Harvey approached the young girl.

There was barely any sunshine outside, it was as if the world knew how upset Aohi was, her emotions controlling the weather.

"I don't want you to go, I really don't." Juria said in hushed whispers beside her, hooking her arm around Aohi's tightly, hoping her grip could possibly make Aohi stay.

Juria whispered her words to Aohi because she felt like she would be reprimanded if anyone even heard her loud enough.

"I don't want to, either, Juria." Aohi rubbed her hand in the tired girl's head, trying to comfort her however she could.

Aohi sighed, the girl barely keeping her composure before dropping her grip from her luggage and pulling Juria into her arms, holding each other tightly.

"Be strong, batsy." Harvey approached the two as she placed her arms over their embrace, hugging Aohi and Juria tightly.

It was ironic though, being told to stay strong when Harvey's morning skincare was easily ruined by the salty tears that ran down her face.

"They better treat you well at be-lift." Cocona punched Aohi's exposed shoulder, laughing through her own tears.

The rest of XG joined along, trying to turn the sad moment into a memorable one. They wanted to remember their batsy in good spirits.

It felt like time had fastened for Aohi, because their manager couldn't be any faster when she had entered the girls' shared dorms. Aohi could hear her name being called, a shaky sigh leaving her lips.

Aohi picked up her luggage, trying to pull it out of the dormitory. Their manager offered her help with the bags that didn't fit in the suitcase, throwing it over her shoulder.

As Aohi walked further and further away from the girls, she dreaded leaving the dorms even more, because she knew— she knew that if she steps out, she won't be considered a part of XG anymore.

She'll be leaving her sisters behind. She—

As if her thoughts was easily read by the girls, Jurin called after Aohi one last time. Her sisters called her name. "Aohi!" She swore the world stopped for a moment, just for them.

"You have a home here, with us. If everything gets too much, you can always run to us." Jurin left her with words of reassuring.

Even as Aohi was leaving Jurin's duty to lead, to care for her members— to be a pillar of stability for her sisters, shows.

Aohi let out a breathy laugh, shaking her head. "Always such a leader, Jurin-nee."

AT HYBE HEADQUARTERS, TUESDAY, 9:32 AM—

✧. ┊    The meeting room could be considered empty the way it was silent, The current members of ENHYPEN had woken earlier than they should be to meet up; per their management's request, to meet the potentially new members of ENHYPEN.

"Are they here yet?" Heeseung grumbled from his seat. A tired Ri-ki was on his shoulder, using his hyung as a pillow to try and catch the hours of sleep he's missing by being at the meeting.

Sunghoon was busy spacing out by his seat, while Sunoo was trying not to doze off in his own chair.

"Just be patient a little longer, boys." Their manager tried to soothe the boys' tired annoyance.

"Sorry, sorry!" An unfamiliar staff member entered into the room, two masked girls entering after them. Heeseung looked up, slightly curious.

He assumed from the way they seem to stick to the staff member, and how their own manager lit up at the sight of them, they must've been the reason for the meeting.

"Took you while enough." The manager glanced at the staff member in charge of the girls. Heeseung wasn't sure what to think of the two girls who huddled together.

Aohi already felt close to her member, well, even if they only met a few minutes ago, it was a few minutes longer than the boys of ENHYPEN. Aohi had gotten to know her unnie’s name, Xiulin.

Xiulin was in a similar situation as Aohi, picked off from a group to join Aohi in the co-ed project, 'How considerate.' Aohi thought at the time, at least she didn't feel like she was alone.

Of course, Aohi felt awful that Xiulin had gone through the same thing, especially when she had heard that her unnie was the leader of her own group.

Aohi could only imagine how Xiulin felt.

"Boys, this is Aohi and Xiulin. They'll be the new additions to Enhypen." The staff's gaze turned from the boys to the girls, Ri-ki and Sunoo were now at full attention, glancing at the girls with an awkward look.

Although, the silence must've been unbearable since after just a minute had passed, the staff ushered any one of the boys to say something.

"Yang Jungwon, it's nice to meet you two.." Jungwon took the first move for the group, bowing professionally before reaching his hands over. A handshake, Jungwon was waiting for a handshake.

Aohi hesitated for a bit, looking anxiously at Jungwon's hand, but before she could even decide to shake his hand, Xiulin reached over and took his hand for her.

"It's nice to meet you, Aohi and I look forward to working with you, please take care of us." Xiulin spoke gently, bowing as she held Jungwon's hand. Aohi could only look in awe and admiration at Xiulin.

Xiulin reminded her so much of Jurin.

Aohi quickly snapped out of her awed gaze before turning towards Jungwon and shaking his hand as well, bowing politely, showing her respect to him.

In Jungwon's head, he kind of thought of Aohi as peculiar, Xiulin had a mature personality and was willing to take over for her members, shaking his hand for Aohi was already proof of that.

Aohi has not spoken a single word since they had seen her, only opting to follow after her unnie, sitting down alongside her.

"So, let's get the gist down for what will be Enhypen's schedule now that Xiulin and Aohi are here—" The manager sat middle of the members.

"Enhypen, was always planned to be a co-ed group. We wondered adding female contestants into I-land, but there was never a right time to introduce them." The manager seemed to open a folder of sorts, Aohi and Xiulin listening intently to her words.

"I'd like to think we were doing well on our own, as a boy-group.." Sunoo softly spoke, looking slightly apologetic to Aohi and Xiulin for his opinion.

To an extent, Aohi understood why Sunoo thought so and his hesitance to the addition of girls into the group.

Aohi knew that if she were on the other side of the meeting table, she would be confused, and even frustrated if XG made member additions, much less of the opposite gender when they were told it was strictly a girl group.

The teenage girl looked around the room, observing the other members of ENHYPEN.

As an idol, it would be embarrassing if she didn't know her future members and their names, so she made the courtesy of at least learning their names and faces.

Aohi's gaze landed on Jake, at least she hoped it was Jake? His features was somewhat displaying a perplexed look, spinning in his chair as he seemed deep in thought.

"Well, yes but— see, the co-ed plan was set before Enhypen was even formed as an idea." The manager replied to Sunoo, making the boy deflate as he leaned back to his seat.

It wasn't a secret that their stay in I-land or anything relating, was exactly fun. It was something the members were unsure to explain.

The boys struggled a lot with trying to debut, their journey was turned into a source of entertainment. It was called a survival show for a reason.

Heeseung seemed to struggle at wrapping his mind around the fact that these girls were just being added, firstly it felt unnecessary, and the girls would just not understand.

Jungwon was more frustrated at the fact that this means the girls would have to debut at a later album and it'll complicate what the group was already working on.

"Do they have to join our group? Wouldn't it be better to place them with a group that'll debut together?" Jake bluntly asked, Aohi couldn't lie and say she wasn't offended, because she was.

Aohi was taken aback by Jake's sudden question, so shocked in fact that she could just feel her jaw slacking before it even attempted to open physically.

"What Jake-hyung meant was that, the girls will struggle with our concept- as well as our fans might not receive them well and—" Sunghoon tried to save face for his hyung in front of the staff members and the girls.

Xiulin stared at Jake offended while Aohi only looked appalled.

"What can you do? I mean, these girls have nowhere else to go but be here." The manager's fingers pointed down at the table, emphasizing her seriousness with the taps to the table.

"Their companies have already terminated their contracts, their idol dreams end here if they don't debut with you boys."

The manager no longer felt lenient with the boys, at first, their manager wanted to be understanding, knowing it was an incredibly big change for both sides.

"We've already debuted a while ago, they'll struggle to keep up." Jay wanted to defend his brother, sitting up in his chair.

"If you think we can't handle it, I assure you Xiulin-unnie and I can keep up." Aohi replied, speaking for the first time after she entered the room. She frankly felt offended that this group, was so against them debuting with ENHYPEN.

"You don't know that." Jungwon retaliated, "You don't know us either." Xiulin countered.

"We both left our groups so we could debut with you, I went through that so I could be here," Aohi sighed, "I understand why you're upset, but I've sacrificed more than what I was willing to give to be an idol and I'm sure Xiulin-unnie had to as well."

Aohi had a determined look in her eyes, it was clear that the girl wasn't going to take no for an answer.

"So I'm going to debut, whether you guys like it or not."

"Fine. If you want to debut, don't expect us to help," heeseung replied after a few moments of silence. "Show us you're worth adding into our group."

"Heeseung! That's not—" Their manager scolded the eldest, Heeseung only glancing at her with a blank look, his gaze returning to Aohi.

Heeseung and Aohi was somewhat stuck in a staring contest, as if trying to test each other's patience.

Aohi could feel her jaw clench at this, just what was this group's problem?!

"We will, just see."

— ENHYPEN APARTMENTS, GIRLS DORMS, 11:18 am—

✧. ┊ AOHI just met her new bandmates, and they already dislike her. Well, the seven of them, at least. Xiulin seems to like her! She hopes…

Silence filled the new dorms as Xiulin and Aohi unpacked, both girls focused on returning a sense of familiarity in an unfamiliar space.

Aohi tried her best to replicate her old room, using trinkets given by Harvey and Jurin to give her comfort. Aohi sat down on her bed, it was too soft for her liking. She could feel her lips start to tremble when the situation sinked in.

Thankfully, Xiulin noticed before she could say anything.

"Looks good." Xiulin spoke from the other side of the room. Aohi sniffled, looking up as if wondering what she meant.

"Your part of the room. It looks nice." Xiulin repeated.

Aohi stared at her unnie for a second before returning her gaze to her hands, responding. "Thanks."

"Worried?" Xiulin continued, taking her response as a green light that Aohi was up to talking. Xiulin folded her clothes as she spoke, placing it on the side in a neat pile to store for later.

Aohi scoffs at her short question— as if it wasn't obvious. "Is it that obvious?"

"If this is about this morning, I'd rather either of us not worry about it."

Xiulin stood up from her spot, bringing her clothes into the dorm's closet, disappearing for a few minutes.

"Didn't you hear them though? We're on our own, and the first album we release with them will be a disaster." It was Xiulin's turn to scoff, Aohi looking back up at the sound of that. "Don't tell me you believe his bluff."

"How would you know it's bluff?" Xiulin sighs, she knew it like it was the most common thing in the world. "They can't leave us to fend for ourselves, how we perform affects them too."

"If you make a single mistake, or cause a rumour, it'll ruin all of us, not just you."

Aohi furrowed her eyebrows, looking down at her fingers. "Maybe, I'm not cut out for this—" Xiulin laughs, catching the younger girl off guard. "C'mon, don't let those boys scare you, we worked just as hard to get here."

"We got this, don't you worry."

BE:LIFT PRACTICE ROOM, THREE WEEKS LATER, 6:43 PM—

— Aohi loved dancing, sure, she wasn't a prodigy or anything, but her dance style was one to lure you into the performance.

Any concept and she's got you, hook, line and sinker.

For some reason though, Aohi felt like her ability was sucked out of her, the way she couldn't even keep up with the practice Ri-ki and Jake gave her and Xiulin.

"It's not that difficult! Switch your feet and you got it." Jake groans. Xiulin and Aohi have been bickering with Jake for the whole practice. The girls could only feel bad for the maknae, who stared at his hyung with an embarrassed look.

Honestly, it felt like Jake was only ever talking to prod at the two girls.

"We're not even used to the steps yet! Give us time!" Xiulin huffed out, glaring at Jake through the foggy mirror of the room.

"Seriously! We're trying, yelling at us won't magically make us do better!" Aohi followed after Xiulin's words. A small silence washed the room, Jake looking at the two girls with a tired and annoyed expression.

After a bit, Jake just turns away, he runs his hand in his hair, walking away. Ri-ki looked up at Jake, wondering what he was doing.

"They really are trying, hyung.." Ni-ki spoke softly enough for Jake to hear. The youngest was obviously trying to soothe the tension between the new members and his hyung.

"Well, obviously not hard enough." Jake replied, taking one last glance at the girls, who looked appalled at his words. Before either girls could retaliate, Jake leaves the practice room, slamming the door behind him.

Ri-ki could only hope that Jake would return after a breather.

"Gosh! The nerve of that guy!— Whatever, I'm going to steam off!" Xiulin grumbled, standing from her spot on the floor and walking off, slipping out of the dance room.

Only and Aohi and Ri-ki were left alone in the practice room, the tension being replaced with awkwardness. This was the first time Aohi was left alone with her male bandmates without staff.

Aohi only ever spoke to her members when it was necessary. Aohi has never freely chatted with any of the boys, not even the youngest.

Aohi positioned herself from the middle of the practice room, to the sides, sitting down to wait for Xiulin to return. She tried her best to keep her distance from Ri-ki, since she already assumed he wouldn't want to talk to her.

Ri-ki, unsure of what to do, sits beside her, a reasonable feet apart. It was quiet, the hum-buzz of the air conditioning was the only sound accompanying the two.

"I'm sorry about Jake-hyung." Ri-ki softly mumbled towards her, picking at the skin on his nails.

"Why're you apologizing? Unnie and I want to hear it from him." Aohi replied curtly.

Ri-ki sighed at this response. Ri-ki was a very understanding person, he knew why his hyung was so easily frustrated by anything. He also knew that frustration wasn't an excuse to take it out on Aohi or Xiulin.

"Jake-hyung's just upset, he's trying to adjust." Ri-ki felt like he needed to defend Jake first, despite feeling guilty about the way the boys and the girls bickered all of the time.

"And what makes you think we aren't as well?" Aohi poked. "We're already trying our best trying to follow his instructions,"

"It only makes us even more exhausted that he keeps prodding at the little thing we do wrong." Ri-ki listened, turning to Aohi, "And to think we left our groups for this.."

Ri-ki felt like a dim lightbulb went off of his head— ah, he remembers, their first meeting. Ri-ki would've thought that the girls were picked exclusively.

"Which group?" The younger boy softly spoke, trying to change the subject subtly, trying to keep the neutrality of the two people going.

"XG, my sisters. I left XG to be here, so I could debut with you guys." Aohi nodded along with her words, her fingers fiddling with each other in her lap.

"Did you grow up with them?" It was Aohi's turn to look at Ri-ki, the way he looked at her curiously made a ghost of a smile appear on her lips.

"Eung.." Aohi confirmed, "I didn't join XG until I was about sixteen, then I started to train with them." She shrugged, thinking about her earlier years. "I'm sorry you had to leave." Ri-ki expressed, making the girl shrug.

Aohi didn't really expect Ri-ki to apologize, especially when he was one of the only members who didn't argue with her and Xiulin at every chance.

"You don't have to apologize, at least you're nicer than your hyungs, hm?" Aohi mumbled, giving Ri-ki a lopsided smile before tilting her head back, hitting the wall with a thud.

Ri-ki followed suit, turning away and staring straight in front of him.

"Aohi-noona?" She hummed a response, expecting a question. "Yeah?"

"Where did you grow up, you know, with your group?" Ri-ki spoke back, scooting closer to his noona, feeling a bit more comfortable around her.

"Fukuoka, Japan."

"Ah— you're from Japan too?!" RI-ki's face turned from relaxed to shock, almost gaining whiplash at the way his face whipped to look at Aohi.

"I thought you knew, Ri-ki-san." Aohi used an honorific to tease the boy, who just smiled brightly. Ri-ki was happy that he could have someone to talk to, not just in korean.

"I didn't! Now, I really am glad." Ri-ki laughed, "What?— Why?" Aohi laughed back, finding Ri-ki's starstruck eyes pointed at her amusing.

"I just, miss it there. I mean, Jay-hyung speaks Japanese but, it barely lessens the loneliness.." Ri-ki replied, his wide smile morphing to that of melancholy, Aohi could obviously tell that the younger boy was reminiscing in his head.

"I get it." Aohi spoke in a soft tone, one that gave made Ri-ki feel a little less homesick. Aohi approached the boy, before hesitantly wrapping her hand around Ri-ki and gently patting his shoulder.

"I miss my hometown a lot as well, not just in Japan, but in the Philippines as well."

Aohi felt Ri-ki relax in her hold, allowing her to continue. "I had the girls in XG help me with that homesickness, but you—.." Aohi leaned into him, making him move slightly to the side.

Ri-ki just stared beside him, looking at Aohi with a soft look, wondering what the girl could possibly follow up with. "The point is, I don't think I'll be kicked off anytime soon.." Aohi sighed, removing her hand from off of his shoulders.

Ri-ki felt a little sad, slightly missing the warmth her hold had, but it was the less of his worries.

Aohi didn't really know what she was trying to say after that sentence, she wondered if it was better just shutting up.

"I'm saying, I'm here now, so if you feel homesick, at least we can be homesick together.." The girl gently punched at Ri-ki's shoulder, trying to cheer the boy up.

Ri-ki just stared at Aohi in awe, they've only seriously talked, like one other time, and it wasn't even as personal as this, who was this noona to just declare that for him?

He was astonished at the way Aohi just seems to wear her heart on her sleeve.

"You mean that?" Ri-ki hesitantly asked, "Look, we might not know each other much, but I'm serious, especially about that." Aohi replied, in reality, it just really slipped her lips, but she also knew it came from her heart.

Aohi was weak to those who's got similar experiences, and she was always one to mediate and make people feel better.

Ri-ki looked back down at his lap, a shy smile on his lips at the thought of Aohi staying true to her words, someone to talk to when you feel homesick? It gave a Ri-ki a small warmth in his chest, spreading happily throughout his body.

"Hey.." Aohi caught Ri-ki's attention, making him look up. The girl gently offered her closed fist, a truce of some sorts, a fist bump.

Ri-ki happily took the offer, raising his own fist and bump it against hers, their rings clanking against each other, a dull 'clink!' being heard.

"You're not so bad." Aohi amusingly spoke, a soft smile on her face. "And you're really pretty, noona." Ri-ki replied, mirroring Aohi's smile with his own lips.

It was the way Aohi almost choked on her own spit had she not caught herself. "Yah! Ri-ki-san!" Aohi jokingly scoffed, slapping his shoulder, a form of expressing amusement.

"What was that for?"

"I thought I should just let you know, it was a compliment!" Ri-ki giggled, his smile turning from mirroring Aohi's to one of mischief.

"You don't just tell girls they're pretty, Ki-ah." Aohi smoothly used a nickname she made for the younger boy at the spot, making Ri-ki buzz at the new nickname.

"They'll think you're in love with them and then they'll fall in love with you!" Aohi jokingly scolded the younger boy, Ri-ki's cheeks flushing as he realized.

Aohi's cheeks weren't any different though, despite being a rising idol, she still wasn't used to the compliments anyone gave her.

"Well, are you?" Ri-ki asked, his mischevious grin turning to that of a soft happy one. Ri-ki felt relieved to smile like that for a bit, epseically with his hyungs being down in the dumps with the girls.

Aohi snorted, unsure of his seriousness deep inside and deciding to laugh it off.

Suddenly, the easy atmosphere of the practice room was sucked out, when Jake returned, a weird look on his face. Aohi and Ri-ki instantly jumped away from each other, just now noticing their close proximity.

"Manager wants us up." Jake spoke slowly, still suspicious of the two and what he had possibly walked in on.

"Well, that's us," Aohi replied, standing up and dusting off the imaginary dust on her pants.

"C'mon, Ki-ah."

"Ki-ah?" Jake mumbled, his eyebrows furrowed as he stared at Ri-ki and Aohi, just what happened while he was gone that the two were all buddy-buddy?

Ri-ki just nods, standing up as well, using the wall as a support. Aohi looked on with a slight smile on her face, she was satisfied that she didn't have to fight with one of the boys today. (except Jake, of course.)

It meant, to her, that she was making progress, and she was happy with that.

Aohi hopes that Ri-ki's friendliness wouldn't last just for that day, because she intends to keep her promise to Ri-ki, and it can't happen if they're going back to being awkward.

She walks towards the door, bag in hand as Ri-ki tailed after he like a puppy. Ri-ki and Aohi left that room giggling with each other like the teens they were.

Jake just looked at the pair, tilting his head like a confused dog.

For once, Aohi thinks, that maybe, just maybe, the boys could learn to accept her.

[autistichalsin]

I wonder if you have thoughts on like.... the other members of his grove? and halsin relating to them? bc apart from rath and maybe two more, they all seem very dicky to me 🤔 and ya, halsin said it's been a burden, and being a kind-hearted dude like him leading a bunch of bastards that think so highly of themselves could definitely contribute to the stress. I guess i don't get it? the one at the steps by the bear is like 'hold on give them a chance' @ the bear when we come in but then in the same breath is like 'no step further or i show you my claws' and seems like has to be talked down from being hostile by third druid; then later when we stop the ritual she's like 'we stopped the chanting but that doesn't give you the right to be disrespectful to this place' and some rando other druid went something along the lines of 'you're overstaying your welcome' - im just thinking how horrible halsin's life must have been surrounded by pricks like that 😔

Short version: yeah, everyone but Rath, Nettie, and Apikusis suck lol

Long version: everyone but Rath, Nettie, and Apikusis suck, BUT you can see several who are having doubts about what they're doing, and many of them come back to themselves once Halsin returns.

There were, I think, multiple things going on here:

By his own admission, Halsin wasn't a very strong leader. He never had leadership skills taught or modeled for him before becoming Archdruid, and further, his promotion was under incredibly traumatic circumstances. The survivor guilt, the admiration he had towards the previous Archdruid, likely left him not wanting to fully engage with the role out of fear of replacing him or at least seeming to do so.

The refugee situation was noted to be causing stress at the Grove as supplies were dwindling (I guess we're supposed to forget Goodberry is a spell ANY Druid can do, lol). This would have not only sown resentment against Halsin and the refugees for putting them in this situation, but crucially, it would have given an outsider enemy for the Grove. Cults (like the Shadow Druids) operate at their strongest when they have a threat, or appearance of one, to unite members and potential members under. "We are the only ones who can keep you safe from these outsiders who may be from hell itself, who are using all your supplies and contributing nothing, who are the reason you're being attacked by goblins every other day." And Halsin, as much as I love him, showed poor judgment in going with the goblins at that precise moment, and with little explanation to the others. It shows where his heart and priorities are- always with the Shadow-Cursed Lands first- but that would not be an endearing things for his stressed Druids.

Kagha not only fell in with this cult, but unfortunately, she had a lot of what Halsin was lacking as a leader- she just chose to use this skills for evil. She was persuasive (something Halsin admits he wasn't so good at), she presented herself as being concerned with the group's welfare in a way Halsin wasn't quite able to do (since his heart was elsewhere), and her zealotry seemed preferable to the other Druids in contrast to Halsin's mixed attention.

This cannot be understated: the Grove was deliberately targeted by Ketheric Thorm. He knew from experience that the Grove posed a significant threat, and he ordered his underlings to make contact with the Shadow Druids and send them to the Emerald Grove, to either persuade them to carry out the Rite of Thorns or at least cause so much division that the social bonds collapsed entirely and the Grove was left too divided to be able to accomplish anything. Ketheric and the Shadow Druids were able to find all of the above weaknesses and exploit them effortlessly.

So then it became a game of scapegoating, which is a favored recruitment technique of cults. "We're here because of the Other, and because our leader was too weak to fix the problem before it got this bad. We need a new leader; a leader who cares only for us and isn't afraid to tell the truth about these immigrants refugees who want to destroy America our Grove by leading gangsters and drug lords goblins right to us! Build the Wall Perform the Rite of Thorns!"

No one is immune to propaganda and everyone is a potential target for cults. It very well could be that all of the Druids, even Kagha, were once genuinely kind people who were manipulated by the cult into believing their kindnesses would get the Grove destroyed; they took on the "it's us or them" mentality.

For the timeframe to work, it either would have had to be happening in secret before Halsin left, or Halsin would have had to be gone for a while; since we know it wasn't TOO terribly long but hadn't JUST happened either, my guess is that Kagha had been spreading Shadow Druid doctrine in secret for some time, and had been planning to usurp Halsin's position even if he hadn't been kidnapped. That just made it easier once it happened. (There is a formal process within the Druids to challenge an Archdruid for their position; I don't know if Halsin even would have fought Kagha that hard if she kept her true intentions a secret. He had faith in her at this point after all, and didn't want the leadership position. That's a terrifying thought.)

So, then, Halsin comes back, and sees evil ideas spreading in all his Druids, starting with Kagha. Depending on the player's actions, he may or may not know it goes deeper than her. He can also see that his reputation has been severely damaged, if not ruined, in his absence; almost none of the Druids have any respect for him anymore. So he makes the wise decision to bring in Francesca, who they have no choice but to respect, and backs away himself. At this point, he intends to return someday when the Druids have been deprogrammed, but of course, later he decides it's not worth it anyway.

So back to: how bad must his life have been surrounded by that? Well, as mentioned, my headcanon is he wasn't surrounded by it very long, if at all. He thought everything was just normal, until he got back from being kidnapped and quickly found it very much wasn't. Whether that's better or worse, though, is up to interpretation. What's worse- seeing those you love fall victim to a cult, or thinking everything is completely fine, and then one day discovering they've been sucked in deep and there's nothing you can do to persuade them anymore since they've come to see you as The Enemy?

In any case, Halsin deserved much better, and I like to think he keeps in touch with Nettie, Rath, and Apikusis after the epilogue, even if he keeps his distance from the Grove itself.

[sorchathered]

Sacred New Beginnings

Chapter 5

A/N- this is NOT a finale guys! After much deliberation I decided I have too much to say for only 3 chapters, so we are on this train until I’m ready to give it up! 😂

Summary- it’s the morning after Mav and Penny’s wedding, and there are revelations to unpack as new drama unfolds.

Song inspo- Sunday kind of love- Etta James, You send me- Sam Cooke, Ironic- Alanis Morissette, Karma- Taylor Swift

Pairing- Jake Seresin x reader (oc Stormy)

Warnings- language, drinking, smut (wrap it up kids) minors dni.

Bradley wakes up to one of the worst hangovers he’s had in his adult life. He made it home and proceeded to drain most of his liquor cabinet after the wedding, it had been a bad day all around and seeing you and Jake wrapped up in each others arms after years of worrying was the icing on the cake. He knew logically he had no room to be pissed off, you knew everything now and there would be no salvaging your love life. He had hoped to explain it himself, maybe find a way to convince you it was nothing but in reality he knew that wasn’t the case. He’d continued a relationship with Mirage after you left, whether or not it was just sex didn’t really matter, he’d slept with someone else. His therapist had told him weeks ago that he believed Bradley was in love with the idea of love and having a family, less in the people he was in relationships with and while it had hurt to hear he knew somewhere in him it was true.

He’d loved the attention and adoration from his partners, and some part of him had loved Stormy once; but the two of you disagreed fundamentally on so many things. You were career driven, he wanted you to retire in the next 5 years so you could start a family, he wanted to stay in California and you had always dreamed of settling down south near your grandmother’s old home. When he’d seen you becoming more successful than him it had set a fire in him and he used it to burn your relationship to the ground. He didn’t deserve you, and he certainly didn’t get to dictate who you chose to be with after him.

As he stumbled through the house to let out his dog he appraised the damage. His clothes were scattered everywhere, liquor cabinet raided and somehow he’d left the fridge open. He was a mess right now, if his mother could see him she’d be so disappointed. He finally finds his phone in the couch cushions, messages and missed calls from Nat and Rueben clogging his notifications. He couldn’t dig into all of that right now, so he just called Nat to let him know he was ok, yanking the phone from his ear as she screamed into the phone.

“WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?!”

“Jesus dude I was asleep what the hell is wrong? You have a key you could’ve just come over if it’s that serious, who died?”

“Bradley. You haven’t been on instagram today have you?”

“No, but I already know about Jake and Stormy so if they went instagram official I’d rather not-“

“Wait what?! Never mind that’s not what this is about. You need to go to Mirage’s profile, right now.”

Bradley scrolls through the app and clicks on her profile, expecting to see she decided to stop waiting on him and find a boyfriend now or something stupid like that, only to be met with a carousel of photos. Pictures of the two of them, and at the end a picture of a pregnancy test, two pink lines confirming something he never dreamed of. Not only had she hard launched them, but she also told the world he was going to be a father…without confirming with him first. He was fucked.

——————————————————————

Meanwhile on the other side of North Island Jake is waking up to his version of heaven. His bed may be empty but he can hear the soft sound of you singing, and the smell of coffee and pancakes has him wandering down the hall. Your hair is in a messy knot, you’ve got one of his Texas longhorn t shirts on and you and Patsy Cline are crooning “Walking after midnight.” Flitting back and forth between chopping fruit and flipping pancakes, you sway to the song (your grandmother’s favorite) and he’s sure this is the best morning of his life. He sneaks up behind you to spin you and you shriek and giggle, swatting him with the spatula as he kisses your cheeks and forehead.

“Morning Tex, how’d you sleep?” You say with a big grin, running your free hand over his tanned torso and you catch him close his eyes and shiver into your touch.

“Mm, I’ll be honest darlin’ might have been the best night of sleep in my whole life, ‘cept I woke up alone and almost thought you were a dream.” He plucks the spatula from your hand and hip bumps you away from the stove, taking over your spot cooking and you make your way to the coffee pot to pour him a mug.

“I uh- I cancelled my flight for this afternoon” you’re trying to be nonchalant about it but you can tell by the way his head snaps up he is holding on to your every word.

“And I may have asked Uncle Beau for a favor and extended my leave for the rest of the week… I hope that’s ok, I’m not ready to leave you yet.”

You look a little nervous as he turns the stove off and looks at you, but he takes two big strides and yanks you into his arms, pulling at your (his) shirt and kissing you hard and you know you had nothing to worry about.

You both laugh into each other’s mouths, he’s hoisted you into his arms and delicately places you on the kitchen table, rucking your shirt above your breasts as he nips and sucks on the exposed skin.

“Jake- breakfast” you breathe out and he grins up at you between your thighs

“I want you for breakfast first baby, then we can have pancakes. Be a good girl and take it ok?”

He brings you to your release three times before he lets you up, grabbing the plates from the counter and sitting you in his lap. Between bites you reach into his shorts and pull him free lining yourself up with him and he hisses into your mouth.

“What’re you up to sweet thing?”

“Shhh, wanna be close baby, need you”

You take turns feeding each other while you slowly rock yourself on Jake, and it definitely is the best morning either of you have ever had.

——————————————————————

Neither of you had even touched your phones since you left the wedding the night before, it was nearing 5 pm and you had spent the day watching movies and letting Jake fuck you in every room of his house, finally deciding the two of you needed to eat you dragged yourself to his room to get your phone off the charger to order takeout. When you turned your phone on you were bombarded with notifications, nearly deciding to just turn it back off once you noticed you had a notification from Bradley. You ordered dinner and continued to ignore the overwhelming amount of messages, annoyance etched on your face when you came back to the living room, and Jake reached for your phone already knowing you wouldn’t want to pop the perfect bubble of the day.

“You don’t have to look at any of this shit today if you don’t want to y/n, we can worry about it tomorrow.”

You sighed and ran your hand over your face, it wasn’t that easy even if he tried to make it that way. “Will you just look for me? Tell Nat I’m not interested in hashing out the drama tonight and we can talk at lunch.”

He nodded and scrolled through, but as you watched his face you immediately knew something was wrong.

“Ok maybe you do need to tell me, what happened? Is someone hurt?”

He shook his head but looked almost nauseous, so you yanked the phone from his hands, he didn’t even bother to try and keep it from you.

On the screen was almost 30 messages from Phoenix, begging you not to check instagram. It had been hours since her last message but she seemed insistent that you call her first. She picked up on the first ring, screeching into the phone before you could say anything.

“Jesus! Where the fuck have you been Stormy? I had half a mind to come over to Hangman’s to beat the door down.”

“We decided to shut our phones off, sorry Tash. What is wrong? Please tell me everyone is ok.”

“Everyone’s safe, it’s not that kind of emergency. But it’s not good y/n. Bradley apparently saw the two of you last night, and then…”

“Then what? What Nat?”

“Y/n…Mirage is pregnant.”

——————————————————————

You knew it was the wrong way to respond, Jake had dropped his fork right out of his mouth at Nat’s declaration; that definitely seemed like more of a normal response. You on the other hand looked unhinged as doubled over in laughter, gasping for air as tears poured from your eyes.

“Seresin, what’s happening? Is- is she laughing?”

Jake looks at you like you have 3 heads but still manages to take your phone from your shaking form,

“Yeah Phoenix it looks like it”

“Do we need to be worried?”

“Too soon to tell, let me figure this shit out and we’ll call you later.”

He hangs up and takes your hand, you’re coming down from it now as you swipe the tears from your face, still trying to stifle giggles.

“Oh God,” you gasp out “I’m so sorry, but you seriously can’t make this shit up can you?” You erupt into another round of giggles and now Jake can’t help but join in, this really is a shitshow.

Finally you settle and he looks at you with concern, but you wave him off and move your take out boxes to the coffee table as you scoot into his lap. Running your hands through his hair you lean in to kiss him and as much as he doesn’t want to he pulls back to get you to look at him.

“I’ll let you bury yourself in me if you need baby but you still gotta talk to me ok? What’s going on in that pretty head?”

You shake your head at him and peck his lips, you knew he wouldn’t let you get away with pushing it aside.

“Is it strange that I almost feel bad for him? He’s burned his whole world down, knowing what I know now I would never want to be around him let alone with him again, and while I have thrived in his absence he just keeps ruining his life. I don’t miss him, but I pity him. Does that make sense?”

It’s definitely not the response he expected, he thought you’d be hurt and that it would rehash all the emotional damage you’d dealt with, he can’t help but be impressed.

“You’re taking this a whole lot better than I thought sugar, I gotta be honest.”

You pull him close as you straddle his hips, running your nose along his cheekbone and press kisses to his face.

“Like I told you, I don’t miss him. I don’t want him. I want you. This isn’t avoidance Jake, I moved on and I want to spend the rest of my life with you if that’s what you want too. So can we stop worrying about Rooster and his emotional bullshit and just go back to being us?”

He lets you take the lead, settling into the couch with you and switching the long forgotten movie back on, whatever his wingman’s problems are don’t include him after all. He’s got bigger things on his mind, like getting you back to San Diego or requesting a transfer to Pensacola. Maybe getting the two of you a bigger house with a yard, a dog or two and a backyard big enough to fill with your own kids. As he falls asleep trapped under your warm embrace visions of what could be dance behind his eyes, and he makes a mental note to ask his mother for Grandma Seresin’s engagement ring.

Jake Seresin Masterlist

Thanks so much to @sailor-aviator, @mamachasesmayhem, and @bobgasm for talking me through this chapter!!

Tagging- @mamamaystbr @mamachasesmayhem @bobgasm @attapullman @roosterforme @pinkdaisies9285 @djs8891 @jessicab1991 @the-aspiring-fanfic-writer @mygyn @angelbabyyy99 @86laura11 @shanimallina87 @floydsglasses @jostan456 @kmc1989 @dempy @its-the-pilot @mrsevans90 @purelyfiction @nouis-bum

Let me know if you want to be added to the tag list!

[ravcns]

Runaway

Batfam x batsis!reader

summary: at the gala regular shenanigans with friends ensue and after bruce confronts the reader about their antics threatening to take away the mantle of batgirl

part 1 2 3 4

The manor was quiet when you woke up, Cass was also gone from the spot next to you. Retreating to your bedroom you checked your phone to see what you had missed; a few good morning texts and just a random conversation they were having in the group chat. Technically you didn’t have to do anything today until four when you had to start getting ready for the gala, going back to sleep was the best choice.

When you woke up again you decided to get ready; the black dress you were going to wear already on display, hanging on your closet door. You took your time getting ready since there was no rush and it would benefit you to be meticulous with your appearance for this event; after all it would reflect on your family. Speaking of family things looked quite tense in the moment; the group chat was dry, you couldn’t hear any noise in the manor which was uncommon since someone was almost always screaming, peeking out the window you noticed Cass’ car was gone, and most importantly you felt like you were on eggshells since Bruce would be speaking to you after the gala.

Later the ride to said event was quiet; you and Dick just sat in his car neither of you uttering a single word. This would be your first time seeing Bruce and the nerves were practically eating away at your soul like it was the last meal. Finally when you arrived your brother spoke, “Loosen up we’re about to go through the paparazzi.” As if that would do anything to help, but you knew if there was a slight insight that something was off in your expression they would have a field day. Like many times before you stepped out of the vehicle with a fake smile plastered across your face, following behind the other members of the family who had arrived. You deliberately chose to stand by Cassandra for pictures also she happened to be further away from Bruce so it was a win win situation.

It was a long line of people approaching you, pretending to be interested in your life and well-being. By the time the whole ordeal was done a bad idea had blossomed into your head to help ease the nerves and boredom. One hit wouldn’t hurt plus what’s the point of sitting through a gala if your not on something. You retreated to the safety of one of the bathrooms at the furthest end of the hall, knowing that most people didn’t bother walking this far and even if there was a line at the other ones they would still wait. Your phone buzzed and when you opened it you realized that Marie, Kim, and Jake were here. “meet in the girls bathroom at the far end.” You texted. “Should I even be in here?” Came the voice of Jake a few minutes later. “Hurry up and go in before someone notices.” Kim scolded him. “Love open up.” Marie said knocking on the stall door. The four of you crowded into the medium sized stall, thankful that there was no crack at the bottom of the door.

The thing is being with friends causing you to lose track of many things like time, the sounds of your phone, how many hits you each took, or how much you all drank out of Jakes alcohol stash. You stood in front of Marie as she had her arms around you, engulfing you in the smell of her floral perfume as you looked at Kim. She was currently arguing on how even though these events suck you all still had to be careful. Kimberly James always came prepared because she had perfume on hand and had a bottle of water. “We should have just skipped and hung out somewhere.” You said. “Y/n, your family would have your head if you didn’t show up.” Marie reminded. “Oh shit don’t you still have to talk to your dad after this?” Jake asked. You went to take another hit when Marie stopped you. “No more let’s just spray the perfume and walk back. We can just sit at a table.” She said. You obliged to your friends request and once everyone was presentable the group left, snagging a table in the corner.

As time went on eventually the night was coming to an end; even snotty business men couldn’t brag about how rich they were forever. You all conversed but also watched how the size of the crowd slowly shrunk. “Eunwoo asked if we wanted to go on his parents yacht tomorrow since it’s a sunday.” Jake mentioned. Everyone agreed that it was a sound plan and they would be down to go. “Are you sure Y/n, isn’t your dad super mad?” Kim questioned you. “Since when has that stopped me. He probably won’t even be around to say no.” You responded. “She could take a weekend vacation to Italy and that man still wouldn’t notice.” Jake said, causing you to laugh. Finally it was time for you to leave and say your goodbyes. You knew not to hug Jake so you guys just did your handshake; people gossip it’s an activity of most Gothamites. Kim and you shared a quick hug, “Make sure to update us.” She said. Then it came to Marie and when you guys hugged she patted your back, “Please don’t say anything stupid when he talks to you. I know your upset but don’t worsen whatever punishment he may dish out.” She whispered. You thanked her in return. “Stay safe out there pookie.” Kim said as you walked away.

It was stupid to think you could embrace the comfort of your room when you arrived back at the manor. “My office, now.” Bruce said with an even tone. You followed behind him, heels clicking on the floor. He took a seat in his big chair and you stood in front of him. The silence wrapped it’s hand around your throat, causing every breath you took to feel strained. “Are you gonna tell me why you were smoking on school property?” All the air rushed to your lungs and you almost felt dizzy. “I have no excuse and I’m sorry.” Came your response, remembering Marie’s words from earlier. “Not only have you embarrassed yourself you made this family and me look bad Y/n.” He stated. You didn’t know why but the way he worded it pissed you off. “This family?” You scoffed out then continued, “What about our family or what’s even left of it?” Bruce took a sip of a drink he poured himself, “You are apart of this family and I don’t know what you’re trying to get at here Y/n but get your act together.”

You should have left it at that you know you should have. “I fight the most dangerous criminals in Gotham day and night but you draw the line at me getting caught smoking. You guys are acting like I committed some heinous crime when I did something that I’m sure other people in our family have done.” Bruce was visibly showing that he was upset now, “That doesn’t matter you’re supposed to be setting an example as an eighteen year old I shouldn’t be hearing about stuff like this.” You wanted to crawl out of your skin and go anywhere but here. “You only care because I got caught not that I’m smoking weed in general because you’re absent but you aren’t that absent to the point where you can’t smell it on me. You just choose not to say anything and only care when it’s convenient for you or I’m putting your so called reputation in jeopardy.” You grit out. He slammed his hands on the desk, “Gotham doesn’t need a hero who acts irrationally and irresponsibly.” That one stung and you couldn’t bite your tongue any longer, “Well news flash that’s majority of all vigilantes and the Justice League.” “Keep this up and I’ll have Stephanie be Batgirl again.” He taunted. Oh but he had to have known that was a sour spot he knew how much you loved being Batgirl and included in the family’s night job. “And there won’t be a new mantle for you to pick up if I do so. Do you hear me?” He asked. You didn’t think you had paused for even a minute before he said it again, “Do you hear me?” “Yes, loud and clear Bruce.” You answered. “Go to bed it’s late.” He instructed you.

Being the petty person you were you slammed the door on the way out. “Shit!” You jumped when you were met with Dick, Tim, Damian, Jason, and even Cass eavesdropping outside the door. You didn’t even want to bother picking apart the emotions displayed on their features. So you just pushed past them, ignoring the multiple shouts of your name. When you got to your room you locked the door not bothering to move an inch from your bed after you got changed and multiple knocked sounded.

a/n not my best work although i do appreciate how many people have been interested so here we are i hope you enjoy and i will release the next chapter soon hopefully also i wanted to tag other people but for some reason it wouldn’t let me and i don’t know how to fix it

tags

@agent-nobody-knows