#but yeah if i really did think ahead and stuff i would put shit up to queue but alas LOLOL

[speakeasier]

OHH BOY, LATE TO POSTING ONCE MORE. but it was partially because tumblr seems to have been acting up today??? part five and we barely alive, let's gooooooo.

a bit more on some relationships!!

-iris' relationship with hera has been rough all things considered. will probably explain more another time. but it's obvious why iris hated her at first. to this day, it's still not the best out there, as there is still some resentment. but it's tolerable. iris has come to gain some respect for hera over time and has learned a lot while serving under her.

-apollo's relationship with the muses is kind of like a manager to a girl group. lololl. the girls can manage themselves well enough, honestly. they can survive without him. (they've been entertaining even before he was born) but apollo kind of knows how to bring out the best of them with a good way of cohesion. he gives them a little oomph factor.

-the muses in turn, while taking apollo under their wing. wishes that artemis would join them more often. as sometimes it would be better to hear someone else other than apollo talk. plus they kind of want to wink wonk at the twins, even if subtlety.

-artemis sometimes hangs during casual down time or practice sessions, but she respects their sacred circle and time, so she doesn't stay long or visit often. she feels like she's a lowkey bother, even though she's not. she loves the muses dearly, and appreciates them a lot since they know how to reign apollo in.

-i feel like i should make some kind of venn diagram sometime. but in terms of the kids. you can kind of split them up into two main groups in terms of who hangs/talk to each other more often. artemis, apollo, athena, ares. and the other, heph, dite, dionysus, and then herms. there's obviously overlap and other intricacies, and honestly herms can even go to the other side. but for the most part, these peeps vibe with each other. will explain more eventually, hopefully!!

-this is kind of mean at least from me speaking on the outside perspective. but. LOLOL. the kids on olympus think seph is more a 'cousin' than a sister. if you ask them, they'll still say seph is a sib. but because she's kind of sheltered and sticks to demeter, her vibes is more of a cousin.

[shojizbae]

Rave Baby

Spencer Reid x Reader

After a long case, some of the team pitstops at your apartment, and Morgan takes the liberty of searching through some memories. He comes across some scandalous photos that light a fire in Reid.

This last case was challenging. To make it worse, the power had gone out in DC due to a blackout. With a chirp, I told the team that I always had a generator and that we could cool with some coronas in my fridge. Hotch had declined, stating the necessity of returning to his wife and son. I had thrown open all the windows and cranked the AC, attempting to push out all the hot air. With my permission, Derek had distributed beers from my fridge and found a bag of chips.

A battery-powered radio was located, and my CDs were run through to find something to unwind with. With a sigh, Emily sank onto my couch and sipped her beer.

"Uhh, I can't tell you how nice your apartment is."

"Yeah," JJ groaned from the corner, holding her hair up and sticking her face in the AC vent. Derek was still looking through my belongings when he came across a Scooter CD.

"Well, well, well, where did a girl like you find this type of music?" I looked at the album cover.

"Oh, that's from my college days." I tried to dismiss it. This isn't the sort of stuff I would share with my coworkers.

"Really? Let's go ahead and pop this in."

"No don't!" I tried to launch it at him before he could open it, but it was too late. A few photos I took the night I bought that CD slipped into his lap.

"Woah ho ho!" Spencer, who had been content to sift through my shitty romance novels, peaked his head up like a prairie dog at the sound of Derek's chuckle. "What do we have here?" He held up one photo, and I hid behind my beer bottle.

"That was years ago," I whined

"What is this?" Spencer came to the group, attention fully peaked

"It's (Y/n). At a rave." Spencer snatched the photo out of Morgans's hand like a cat but Emily nearly yelled

"Shut up, let me see." she slammed her glass bottle on the table and grabbed one of the photos from him

"No way," JJ stated, following Spencer into the circle to look at the evidence. "I could never imagine you at a rave. I've seen you get upset that you left your clothes in the washing machine."

"They'll get moldy," I whined

"Holy shit. Where was this?" Emily inspects a photo of me in a bikini, fluffy leg warmers, and a matching bucket hat. "Look at your butt where were you hiding this." She makes an attempt to check me out, but I sink further into my couch

"I don't know, I was never sober in the 72 hours around a rave."

"Oh yeah? What did you take?" Morgan begged

"All sorts of crap, mostly hallucinogens. My rave mentor told me music is better when you're high."

"So why'd you stop going?" Emily asked

"I grew up."

"You grew up?" JJ asked, putting the photo on the table

"Yeah," I rubbed my hands up and down my thigh and sighed. I wasn't entirely ready to trauma-dump the team, but here I was. "My uncle, who basically raised me, passed on Thanksgiving in the sophomore year of my bachelor's. Hallucinogens made it easy not to grieve, and loud music blocked my ability to think. I would dance around and tell everyone that 'tonight was the night,' and I was 'finally free,' but I would just see him after a while. He would ask me, 'Why are you doing this, my dove?'. I couldn't ignore him anymore, so I just stopped. Put all my teeny bikinis in a box and put it past me." I cleared my throat, realizing that I had put a damper on the mood

"We could play the CD. I think I'll still remember the rhythm." I switched in the discs and let the synth radiate through my living room. Immediately, I felt the groove, letting it carry my limbs airily around me. I felt myself disconnect as the beat continued to pump. Before I could drift away wholly, Emilie's voice brought me down to earth.

"You packed all this away? That means you still have it?"

"Yeah, in a box in the back of my closet." before I could discover my mistake, she darted to the back of my apartment, and JJ took off with her.

"Oh hell, I gotta see this." Derek got up and dropped the last of the photos. Reid dutifully packed them up and sifted through the photos, stopping on one.

"What did you find, Spence?" I crawled toward him slowly. I gasped at the photo. My Rave mom, Zoe, who was only 4 months older than me, and I were posing together. He sifted through the images with it and stacked them. I gasped at the image. The photo on the top was of Zoe throwing up a peace sign, showing the neon pink paint on her palms, and a green hand was playfully on my throat. Both of our bodies had been splattered with neon ain't, but noticeably, I had two big hands brink on the triangle bikini we wore. One pink, one green.

The picture below was of Zoe and I very dramatically kissing. Zoe had made smudged hand prints on my ass. I had a leg up on her hip, and you could see drool and lipstick around each other mouths.

"I hardly even remember that night, and I thought it was trendy to act gay." I pulled the pictures from his hand and returned them to the case. "I'm sorry you had to see that."

"Why are you apologizing? Y-you had fun."

"Yeah, but you're my colleague. This is embarrassing and you probably are ashamed of me."

"Actually, I'm jealous. In college, I had no friends and didn't go to parties. I was, I am, a loser. You had fun."

"Did you not hear my spiel about using drugs not to think?"

"Yeah, but you were hot." That shocked you. He was only two beers deep, and Reid was spilling his secrets.

You laughed in shock.

"Spencer, you can't say things like that." I slapped at his chest playfully.

"WELL!" I could hear Derek's strained voice. "This!" he put the giant plastic tub on the floor next to us. "This is one heavy bucket of slutty clothes."

"I want to try something on!" JJ greedily popped the snaps on the cover. With giggles, JJ and Emily started pulling out bikinis that looked like they were made out of spider webs.

"Woah ho ho!" Derek giggled, holding up a low-rise thong. "I hope you wore a jacket."

"Alright, that's enough!" I grabbed it from his reach

"Hey, could I borrow one of these?" JJ asked. "Will has been asking for something new."

"Yeah, but don't borrow it. I don't want it back." I made a face of disgust

"Yeah, I might want to just wear one around my apartment?" Emily held something balled up

"Take as many as you want. I won't wear them again. I should sell them. I could finally go on vacation."

"Woah woah woah, if you sell these, what will you wear on vacation?" Derek joked

"Clothes." I snatched another piece of hosiery from him. My knees cracked as I stood and got another beer from the kitchen. "Now, get out of my panties." I swatted him with the bottoms as I walked by

by some stroke of God, the lights flicked back on, and across the street, I could see the surrounding building come back to life.

"Well, I've got to get to my house before my ice cream spoils." Emily stood and collected a few pieces of fabric.

"Yeah, and completely unrelated. I have to call Will." JJ juts out her lip in an admission of guilt. They snuck out the door, giggling and tucking crazy fabric in their bags.

"I should get going too, wonder boy. You need a ride home?"

"No, I should be fine. There's a train in the next hour." Reid was still immersed in the photos.

"Well, don't bug her too badly." He left with a wink

"Why are you still looking at those? They're ancient."

"The date on the back says 1998, making you 20 years old. You're 28." Finally, he puts the photos down. "I'm having a hard time picturing you going to a rave. You only read sappy novels from the seventies. I saw three copies of Tuck Everlasting on your shelves." All the talk from my coworkers and the five beers in my system made me more than angry and bold.

Stupid ideas were my biggest export when I was inebriated.

"Well, I know the FBI has kept me in shape. I'm going to my bedroom and try these on." I gave a coy smile as I took a handful of sets and strutted off to the back of my place.

"W-what do you mean you're going to try them on."

"I've gotta see if they still fit."

[ponyosmom35]

first time

Simon Ghost Riley x reader

Liability chapter twenty seven

synopsis: reader goes out with her friends and Simon is worried about her going out without him.

warnings: smut, cursing, angst, mentions of PTSD, oral (f & m receiving)

MDNI

Liability series:

https://www.tumblr.com/ponyosmom35/733401347573088256/simon-ghost-riley?source=share

“Where were you?” 

“Oh shit, I forgot to tell you I went to brunch with the girls, then we went to world market, wanna see the cute stuff I got?” she asks excitedly 

“Uh... sure. Yeah... sure go ahead” He forces a smile 

“So this rug is gonna be for the entryway, I also found these cute candles to add to the shelf in the living room. I also got a basket for some of the blankets and this really pretty mirror that I may need help mounting later” she smiles 

“The rug's fine and the candles are great... and... the basket and mirror are good too. But the real question is... how long were you gone?”

“Few hours why?” she asks 

“Yeah... I missed you, is all” he responds, trying to avoid an argument. She notices his change in behavior and narrows her eyes, she sets down the candles and crosses her arms. 

“Why are you upset with me?”

He pauses before he speaks “I was worried about you... that's all. But you're back now... and you're fine... So forget it” 

“Why would you worry about me?” she asks in annoyance “I was just with the girls”

“Forget it alright? Lets put up this mirror” he tries to change the subject 

“No tell me” 

“I don’t like the idea of you being out on your own”

“Is there something you’re not telling me? Should I be worried?” she asks 

“No, baby... of course not. you're my girl and I worry about you”

“I can’t bring you everywhere with me Simon”

He can't help but raise his voice as he replies. I know you can't bring me everywhere... but you are my girl, aren't you? So you've gotta understand where I'm coming from” 

“No I don’t understand because you aren’t making any fucking sense! Tell me why you’re worried about me going out without you! Stop dancing around the fucking point!” He grimaces as she raises her voice. He takes a deep breath before speaking slowly and calmly. He's not doing a very good job of concealing the fact that he's angry. 

“When you're out without me there are all kinds of things that could happen to you”

“Simon if this is about Las Almas then I’m sorry but you can’t let that worry you! We’re safe here! I’ve grown up with these people, there’s nowhere safer for us in the world! I can’t put my life on hold just because you’re overprotective about possible threats that don’t exist!”

“Don't tell me that those threats don't exist! There are all kinds of people in the city who might want to harm you... what if I wasn't here to protect you? Do you have any idea what kind of shit I’ve seen? I’ve seen the absolute worst form of humanity, forgive me for wanting to keep you safe” 

“ Do you have any idea what kind of shit I’ve seen? I’ve seen the absolute worst form of humanity, forgive me for wanting to keep you safe” 

He sighs “I never want you to lock yourself away, or hide from the world. All I’m saying is that... that..”He searches for the right words that will get through to her. “That you shouldn’t put yourself in danger unnecessarily. You want to go for a walk? Go shopping? Go to the library? That’s fine. But going out without me is something I can’t afford to let you-”

“Let me? I’m sorry since when did I need to ask your permission?” she asks angrily 

“ Don't do that... don't twist my words like that... you know damn well that’s not what I meant”

“I can’t do this toxic shit Simon, I’ve dealt with it before I won’t do it again” she says picking up her keys and walking towards the door. “For the record I survived on my own for 26 years without you, I think I’m okay to go to lunch with my fucking friends!”

Before she can make it out of the door, he grabs her arm. “Listen to me baby.”

“What?!” she asks 

He lets go of her arm and gets close to her. He speaks softly as he tries to calm things down. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I reacted like that. Things have been so good between us, I’ve never been happier. I guess I’m just waiting for the other show to drop and I can’t let anything happen to you. I love you more than anything in this world, please don’t walk out that door lets just figure this out together”

She looks up at him, all of her previous anger disappearing instantly. Her eyes filling with tears as happiness swells in her heart  “That’s the first time you’ve said you love me” 

He looks down at her realizing that she was right, he’d alluded it before, however the three words were never said. They’d been taking things slow, for both of their sakes. Simon was not used to sharing himself with another, his trauma and PTSD was very real and they dealt with it together. Having been able to read each other without needing to say the words. 

“I love you too” she cries, launching herself into his arms, he lifts her up and she wraps her legs around his waist. He kisses her hair and moves it, placing gentle kisses on her neck and cheek. 

“I’m sorry it took me so long to say it”

“I’m not” she responds kissing him gently. 

leaning up and kissing her softly, her hands tangle in his hair while his find her waist. After a few moments it gets heated and she tugs on the ends of his hair earning a groan of delight making her smirk against his lips. She allows her hands to fall from his hair and down his chest to the end of his shirt lifting it. He takes it off and reconnects their lips while he works on the shirt she'd stolen from him. Once he gets it over her head she blushes at the realization that it was finally happening. He carries her up to the bedroom and places her on the ground. Kissing her like she was the air he needed to breathe. 

 He backs them to the bed and she sits down scooting herself back and laying on her back before he crawls on top her and begins kissing down her neck, she gasps in pleasure. She smiles and reconnects their lips once again while getting to work on trying to get his pants off, he groans and pulls away slipping off his black pants quickly and throws them behind him carelessly. He then looks down at her breathing heavy but rather than kissing her again he just stares 

    "what?"

    "you're just so beautiful" he says moving a stray piece of hair out of her face, she giggles and hides her face against his arm

    "we should probably stop" 

    "why?" she asks in confusion, had she done something wrong? His head perks up and he looks at her in surprise

    "I mean unless you don't want to stop"

    "no I don't want to stop" she says pulling him back down to into a kiss

"I love you so much" he says against her lips, he pulls away and places a kiss on her cheek before moving down to her neck where he sucked and licked until he was satisfied with the mark he had created on her, her breath quickens as he lowers himself and moves his hands behind her back unclipping her bra before placing short kisses against her right nipple. She gasps and reaches for his hair, he smirks and moves over to the other giving her even more pleasure. Simon moves back and places more open mouthed kisses down her stomach stopping at the hem of her leggings 

"we definitely don't need these" he comments, taking the black stretchy material off of her, he discards it behind him and gets back to his previous actions. Simon places kisses on her thighs and she squeezes them together unconsciously, he smirks bringing his mouth to the hem of her panties and pulling them down with his teeth before discarding them as well. He places a hand on her thigh rubbing it while the other gently begins to massage her clit, she gasps loudly causing Simon to smirk at her from his position 

"what do you want me to do?" he asks in a low voice

"I - I want"

"what baby?"

"your mouth" she cries, Simon smirks and kisses her thighs before swiping his tongue against her, she arches her back in pleasure as he continues going faster and more aggressively. Her hands reach down and find his hair pulling at it as he brings her closer to her high, suddenly his mouth pulls away from her and she frowns in disappointment. He quickly goes back to rubbing her clit with his thumb skillfully smiling as she writhes underneath him, he switches from rubbing and inserts his finger inside of her sensitive vagina, he pumps in and out a few times before adding another. She whimpers as pleasure begins building in her stomach, Simon then moves his mouth back over her and begins to work his magic with his tongue. By now she was a moaning mess as she gripped Simon's hair desperately trying to ride out her high. The pleasure rushes over her and she sighs happily as Simon brings himself back up to her. She grabs his face and kisses him with passion, he was the only person who could make her feel this way and she wanted to make him feel the same. She then pulls away and gets off of the bed, Simon watches her with confusion but she ignores it and kisses his cheek before dropping to the ground. He instantly reaches forward and grabs her arms causing her to look up at him

"you don't have to do this"

"I want to make you feel good" she responds, he nods and she smirks reaching her hand up and placing it on his hardened penis, she looks up at him and smiles as his head tipped back and his eyes closed. She reaches up and pulls down his boxers watching as it springs out with curiosity, she'd never seen one before. she moves closer to him and takes it into her hand moving it up and down his large member slowly, she had no clue what to do but she figured she was doing ok as a string of curses left his mouth. She moves her hand faster before placing as much as she could into her mouth, Simon curses loudly and grabs onto her arm as she moves up and down making sure to work the rest of it with her hand. After a few moments she takes it out and focuses on the tip swirling her tongue around it smirking as Simon moans lowly. She then places him back in her mouth and does her best as she brings him to his edge 

"I'm close" he says, she removes her mouth and continues moving her hand up and down him until he finishes. He breathes heavily staring at her in awe before grabbing her arms and helping her up, he pushes her back on the bed before disappearing into the bathroom. When he returns his member is cleaned off and he had a happy smile on his face

    "that was incredible" he says crawling back over to her, she nods and pulls his face to hers kissing him passionately once again. His hands explore her body, after a few moments he pulls away and stares at her with a smile 

    "what?" she asks

    "I'm just so in love with you its unreal" he says softly with a smile 

    "I'm in love with you too Simon"

    "are you sure about this? we can stop" he reassures brushing hair out of her face 

    "you're my person, I want be with you in every way possible"

    "if I'm hurting you please just tell me and I'll stop ok?"

"ok" He then reconnects their mouths together once again and her stomach fills with excitement and nerves, she was ready for this. She loved Simon more than anything and she wanted to be with him. She stares at him in awe wondering how she got so lucky. He sends her one last look and she kisses him again to show him that she wanted this more than anything. Simon moves himself over her and spreads her legs giving him full access, she gasps as she feels the tip rub against her core and moans quietly. He then slowly pushes himself inside of her and she clenches around him gasping in pain, she grips onto his arms trying to lessen the pain. 

"are you ok? am I hurting you?" he asks with a panicked expression, the girl cannot bring herself to speak but shakes her head. She wanted to do this. He moves himself in fully and she moves her head against his, he kisses her neck trying to comfort her and make it better. He dips his head and kisses her cheek before moving over to her nose

"is it better now?" he asks, she nods and he begins to pull back out slowly, he sends her another look before moving back in a bit faster this time and she sighs as the pain had lessened. They continue slowly and with each passing minute the girl begins to feel better and better. She began to arch her back and move with him as he went faster, her small moans were driving Simon crazy. Simon moves her legs up and she wraps them around his waist crying out as he hits her g spot every time she moves her head to his neck and pulls at his hair. She begins to kiss his neck. She had no idea how long had passed when she began feeling that familiar build-up

"I'm close" she mumbles holding onto his hair

"me too" he responds as his strokes begin to grow sloppy and she cries out as pleasure washes over her body panting and trying to catch her breath. Simon continues going in and out before finishing himself moaning loudly in her ear, he collapses on her chest and she reaches up brushing her fingers through his slightly damp hair. He then lifts himself up and pulls out of her before rolling over, she turns to her side and he instantly pulls her into his arms gently stroking her skin. It was nice being alone, just the two of them, this was not a gift they got often as her brother still hates his guts. But right now nothing could ruin this moment for her, it was perfect, she had her first time with the man she loved and planned to spend the rest of her life with. She looks at him and admires every detail of his face and smiles as he jokingly covers it. she reaches her hand up and traces from his nose down to his lips and finishes it off with a soft kiss which makes him smile brightly.

    "so was it everything you ever dreamed of?" Simon jokes causing her to blush and hit his chest before covering her face in embarrassment, he reaches up and moves her hands from her face so he can see her. Her mind wandered back to the sex dream she had about him after they first met. 

    "did I hurt you?" 

    "no you didn't" 

    " I love you, I don't know how you did it but you made me feel whole again. I want spend the rest of eternity with you, even then It wouldn’t be enough"

    "we can have forever" Simon stares at her with sadness as he knew that his words would not ring true, their forever wouldn’t be as long as she hoped and it was his fault. Simon shakes the negative thoughts of the future out of his head and smiles wondering to himself how in the holy hell he got her. She had the purest heart and he was far from the same, they were complete opposites yet they worked. They both respected each other and never dared to change the latter, they worked well as a team.

Tag list:

@vivi123abc 

[zorobraun]

sexual tension with ghost that leads to sex (but he’s kinda toxic) part two

“bro, did you hear something last night?” soap asks to konig, but the whole breakfast table look at him with curious eyes. “something?” konig raises an eyebrow, and you think you’re starting to sweat. “yeah, like… sex. i swear to god i heard moans all night, and i’m pretty sure i wasn’t dreaming.” holy shit, you almost choke on your pineapple juice. you stay silent, though, not wanting to say a word because you’re a bad liar and it would look suspicious.

“it must’ve been ghost and a girl, he’s a whore, we all know that.” konig chuckles, making soap agree with a laugh. my god, this is so nice; waking up to people saying that the man you casually had sex with, fucked half of the world. “did you hear it too, y/n?” soap looks at you innocently. he probably just wants to make sure you’re not being left out. “uh, not really. i think i was too tired to hear anything.” you smile half heartedly, soap raises an eyebrow.

“you literally share a fucking wall with him, your room is glued to his. shit, you really was tired, huh?” he laughs and you agree, chuckling. you stop smiling when you notice that everybody’s posture has changed. and then, you feel his presence behind you. “good morning, idiots.” ghost suddenly breaks the silence. “i need to talk to you for a second. about something. in my room.” he continues and you pray to god that he’s talking to someone else, so you stay still, staring at the window in front of you. however, no one says a word, and they’re all looking at you, waiting for some kind of reaction.

“w-what?” you chuckle anxiously, turning your body to face him. “i mean, of course.” you swallow hard, forcing a smile. at this point, they probably know that you were the bitch moaning all night. “after you.” he gestures with his hand and you nod, now walking to his room. truth is, he’s not a gentleman, he just loves your ass so much that he can’t help but admire the sight of it in these tight pants of yours. “go ahead.” he encourages you when you stop in front of his door. you nod again, entering his room.

ghost locks the door and suddenly you’re even more anxious. “please, don’t ever say that again in public.” you sigh, sitting on his comfortable chair. “i’ll say whatever i want whenever i want.” he lights up a cigarette and you roll your eyes. ghost sits on the edge of his bed, manspreading like the insufferable man he is, while he smokes his cigarette peacefully. you stare at him and you’ve just realized that he has his mask and balaclava off. fuck you, you’ll never get used to his pretty face.

“what do you want?” you ask, crossing your legs for some reason. he’s undressing you with his eyes and it makes you cheeks flush. “isn’t it obvious?” he has a very serious tone in his voice, but you know him, he’s just fucking around with you. he loves to make you feel dumb. “my body?” you joke, chuckling. “that’s funny.” he answers with no emotion at all, although he’s smirking.

“i need you…” ghost starts, but he looks very unsure about it. you frown, waiting for him to continue his sentence, but he never does. “you need me…?” you encourage him. “i need you to be in charge for a while.” he finally says, but at this point you don’t even know if he’s talking about sex or other stuff. “what do you mean?” you’re very confused as he puts the cigarette away. he’s chuckling because he knows that you’re so fucking dirty minded.

“i need you to be in charge of things here while i’m away. i’ll be gone for five days or something.” ghost explains and your heart drops for a moment. maybe because he’s the only one here that feels like home to you. a wrecked one, but still. “why me, though?” you swallow hard, not liking the idea. “because i said so.” he simply says.

“so… when you’re leaving?” you stand up, he does the same. you stare at each other for a moment. “in a few minutes.” oh. okay. you try to hide your disappointment as you smile half heartedly. “good. okay, then. i’ll try to take care of everything.” you’re terrified but he nods. “thanks.” he says, nonchalant. you know ghost hates to be vulnerable, but this time, you actually feel some kind of sincerity behind his words.

he’s looking at you as if he’s meaning to tell you something that he doesn’t feel comfortable enough to. so you wait for him, you wait for his time. as if the universe is against you, ghost comes closer to you. you hold your breath as he takes a deep one. he places a kiss on your shoulder, making you already lose your senses. “my bed will miss us.” he says in a low tone, almost a soft one, but you know better. he could miss the sex, but not you as a person. his smirk makes you want to punch him and kiss him at the same time.

“the team sure won’t.” you both chuckle. ghost starts kissing your neck and you’re not you anymore. “why’d you say it like that?” you can feel his smile against your skin. “because they heard us.” you answer as if it was obvious, making him stop kissing your neck to look at you. “us?” he raises an eyebrow, holding back a laugh. fucking asshole. “i told you to stop being so fucking loud, you just didn’t care. now face the consequences.” before you could answer, ghost grabs your neck and you immediately give up.

it feels like a breath of fresh air when he kisses you. it’s like you waited your whole life to feel his lips crash against yours again. the way he does it so impatiently but so slowly will always catch you off guard. his eager tongue exploring your mouth makes your heart miss a beat. your bottom lip between his teeth is something that you could get used to, just like the sounds that escape his mouth every now and then when he’s on the verge to fuck you.

“y/n…” he’s out of breath against your lips, forehead pressed against yours. “bend over.” you widen your eyes. his voice is pure lust, his hands wandering all over your body. you’re in front of the desk already, his torso pressing against your back. you can’t deny him, even under the risk of being heard again. so you nod as he unbuckles his belt while kissing your spine.

(…)

seven days later, ghost came back. at first, you were curious about his delay, but then you remembered that you were nothing but a casual fuck to him. therefore, you didn’t really have the right to ask him about his personal life, such as his job. you’re pulled out of your thoughts when you finally hear his voice echoing through the corridor, making you frown in your bed, since it’s four in the morning and you were trying to get some sleep.

“for fuck’s sake, johnny. i’ll take the bullet off myself, go to sleep.” you hear him complaining and you’re preoccupied. well, you hate the fact that you’re your lieutenant’s neighbor. when soap walks away, you open the door, catching ghost off guard. he’s shirtless but his arm is bleeding, so you try to ignore his big and toned torso. you swallow hard when you see the blood dripping down on the ground.

“what the hell, ghost.” you mumble in a certain despair, opening his door as a way to try to help him. he’s looking at you like he missed your face, but he rather die than do vulnerable stuff that implies commitment, so he physically can’t handle your company right now. “i’ll take it from here.” ghost says, pushing you away from his door gently. “let me help you.” you say, touching his shoulder.

“i’ll talk to you later, okay? please.” he sounds in a rush, almost as if he’s afraid of you, as if he has to run away from you as soon as possible, making you nod defeatedly. ghost was going to kiss your forehead but then he remembered that you’re nothing but his casual fuck, so he settled for a kiss on your cheek before closing the door at your face.

(…)

he didn’t talk to you later that day, nor the next one. but he would obviously knock at your door at three in the morning when he can’t cum with his hand and need you to do the job. you almost throw up when you realize that this is so lieutenant ghost. “fuck off!” your scream echoes through the door, making him shush you immediately. you roll your eyes as you stop getting ready to sleep to open the goddamn door. unfortunately for you, ghost is wearing those stupid grey sweatpants and a white tight tee.

“are you trying to wake the whole base up?” he’s visibly mad but you don’t give a fuck. “yeah, got any problems with that?” you mock, holding the fuck out of the door, just in case he decides to come in without your permission. “my only problem right now is your behavior. what’s up with that?” ghost sighs impatiently as he grabs your arm and pushes the both of you inside. slick son of a bitch.

“and why the fuck are you half naked? it’s freezing cold.” he notices that you’re wearing nothing but your pink lingerie. it makes him hard, really. “because i just got out of the shower. i was getting ready to bed when you decided to piss me off.” you sigh, staring at him with crossed arms. ghost stares back at you, placing a hand on his heart for a few seconds just because. “uh huh, so…” oh my god, he literally couldn’t care less. he starts walking slowly towards you, hands on his waist.

ghost licks his lips, taking a deep breath. “i’m sorry about that night, i should’ve been more grateful. you took care of everything while i was gone, thank you.” his breathing is erratic, he must really hate apologizing. you like it, though — the way he’s struggling. his ego is huge, even for a big man like him. “it’s fine, ghost.” you answer in a tired tone. “thanks for being intentional this time.” you smile half heartedly as he nods. ghost swallows hard. being so close to you while you look this good should be a crime, specially when you’re not willing to give in.

“how’s your arm, by the way?” you break the silence, placing your hand on his massive arm gently. “feels like a brand new one.” he lies, grabbing your hand away from it, but he doesn’t let go of your touch. “it seems that it still hurts and it’s not healed yet.” you point out, raising an eyebrow at him. he literally has a bandage around his biceps. “does it matter?” ghost chuckles, just enjoying the feeling of your fingers intertwined with his. “it matters to me.” you simply say, looking into his lost eyes. “it shouldn’t.” before you could answer, he kisses you unexpectedly. it’s not desperate, it’s slow and sensual.

you know this is your lieutenant’s way of running away from feelings. because to him, feelings are temporary. “i’ve missed your body so much.” he mumbles against your lips as you try to ignore the word body. “i’d fuck my fist every night, thinking it was your mouth instead.” ghost announces and for some reason you don’t get mad, you get wet. “did you touch yourself in this pink set while i was gone?” he breathes next to your ear and you shiver when you feel his tongue on your neck, alongside with the cold wall hitting your back.

“careful with that answer, say yes and i’ll break you off.” he emphasizes, you can feel his smirk against your skin. he licks and sucks and you don’t have any choice but to close your eyes in pleasure. “no, never.” you lie in a low whimper. embarassing. “fucking liar.” ghost chuckles dryly, making you wetter than before. “i bet your fingers can’t even hit your spot, not after i’ve been inside you.” he leaves your neck to look into your eyes. “y-you’re right.” you say, already breathless.

“yeah?” he sounds so mean as he pulls you impossibly closer to his body so he can kiss you painfully slow again. “the thought of us fucking so good for the first time must’ve been useful for you.” ghost takes your bra off and you take his shirt off very carefully to not hurt his arm. “what was that about?” he laughs, mocking at your concern. “i’m worried, okay? leave me alone.” you roll your eyes as he holds back another laugh.

“should i fuck you against the wall to show how strong my arms are?” he jokes in a very serious way. “you can fuck me wherever, as long as you make me feel good.” you joke back, placing your hands on his chest. “so self centered.” he starts kissing your collarbone until his lips meet your nipples. you moan lowly with his ministrations. “let me suck you off to show how much i care for you as well.” you whisper as you push him away.

“you better not cum while doing it.” he looks at you, grabbing your neck as a reminder. the fact that you came just by sucking him the last time the two of you had sex is insane, you’re still ashamed by that. “it’s just that… you look so good in my mouth.” you admit it out loud and ghost loses it. “you’re so honest when you’re horny, baby. i’ll get you a sore throat as a reward, how’s that sound?” you hate that you don’t hate his sense of humour at all.

you kneel. he spreads his pre cum on your soft lips. you open your mouth. he grabs your jaw and you stick your tongue out. he spits in it and tell you to fucking swallow because your throat must be so dry due to how excited you are to suck him off. after that, you just do things automatically. you’re so in your head, picturing him and the challenge of making him feel good, that you don’t really care about anything else. it’s like your mind goes blank of how much you’re his to use. and you’re okay with that.

you’re so okay that you choke on his cock just because, you let his hand guide your head just because, you let him hit the back of your throat multiple times again just because. you keep going because he said so and you know he’s so fucking close due to how rough he’s being with you. how out of breath he sounds. how his groans break into low moans. how he’s throbbing so deliciously. “i’m gonna cum and you’re not gonna swallow.” you almost cry at his announcement, since you swallowed it before and it’s surprisingly sweet. his healthy diet and his addiction to fruits is no joke.

so you swallow it anyway. ghost smirks then slaps your face. at this point, you’re so turned on that you liked the sting. “greedy fucking slut.” you stand up, finally. he kisses you passionately. his taste on your tongue isn’t bad, but he prefers yours. it’s a shame he can’t eat you out this time or else he’ll cum just by doing it. “take your panties off, ‘gonna fuck you now.” you nod, lost in his demanding panting voice. “here, though? your arm…” you protest, now fully naked.

“my arm is fine.” he sounds done with you. “you’re giving yourself too much credit, have you ever looked in the mirror? you’re tiny.” he mocks your body proportions while holding back a smile. well, he’s right. you’re very small compared to him, but aren’t everyone? he’s big. in all ways.

“that’s on you, you’re huge.” you smirk as you look down on him. you finally give in, too needy to wait any longer, it feels like you’ve been edged in this room for hours. “and you take it everytime.” ghost breathes with a proud smile, more proud of himself than of you. his tip teases your entrance and you swallow hard, excitement consuming you. “breathe, angel. does my cock make you this eager? i knew you wouldn’t want anyone else after you had me.” he slides in just a little and you hold back a moan.

“why are you still talking?” you breathe, inches away from his lips. his eyes never leave yours and you’re fighting the urge to cry from how much you want him. “i like to see you on the edge.” ghost finally grabs your thighs so you can wrap them around his waist. “maybe if you beg a little more, i can give it to you.” he kisses your temple, enjoying the way you’re struggling to stay still. “jesus fucking christ, just f…” his unexpected hard thrust cuts you off, making you moan out loud. ghost laughs, kissing your neck.

he gives your nipples attention and it only drives you closer to your orgasm. “mmm, i don’t even have to try, i can just slide in.” you hate his mocking tone, so you tell him to go harder because you’re not even feeling it. “that’s crazy, i can literally feel your cervix.” he chuckles and it makes you mad that his out of breath laugh is such a turn on for you. truth is, you can feel him in your cervix too. “you can’t make me mad with your bullshit, baby. not when i can feel you dripping down on me like this. you never fail to amaze me, fuck.” he groans as he goes faster.

you’re so lost in the feeling of his cock hitting all of your right spots that you can’t even say a word to him. you’re just a sweaty moaning mess at this point. ghost feels your warm walls clench around him as you grab his biceps in a tight grip, not even realizing that your fingers are hurting his unhealead wound. he whimpers lowly, more in pain than in pleasure. but you’re so close that you don’t even realize it, so your orgasm hits you like a giant wave.

“i-i’m sorry.” you don’t really know what you’re apologizing for, but it doesn’t matter, because he keeps fucking you to chase his own high and your mind goes blank. “w-wait! fuck, slow down.” you cry out, too overstimulated to keep going. “you can do it, make me proud.” he mumbles out of breath, talking you through it, but his grip on the back of your thighs isn’t firm anymore and you’re starting to suspect that ghost’s sore arm is aching due to the effort he wasn’t supposed to be doing yet.

“do you want another one? i’ll give it to you.” ghost kisses you messily, not quite thinking straight. “i-i can’t, i can’t.” you say almost in a desperate tone. “but you will.” he whispers against your lips, now leaving you empty to walk to your bed. he lays you down and you widen your eyes when you see his previously white bandage covered in blood. “you’re bleeding.” you sound concerned as you touch him carefully, but ghost is almost exploding due to how bad he wants to fucking cum, so he couldn’t care less about his arm.

“no shit.” he mocks, tilting his head. ghost sighs, you look so beautiful like this, under him, cheeks flushed, too fucked out. he kisses you gently. “get on all fours before i lose my fucking mind.” you do as you’re told until you’re cumming again for the third time this night. your legs are giving up, but the hands that pull your hair in a ponytail and rub your clit while taking you from behind would never let you fall. “c’mon, sweetheart, fuck me back.” he sounds defeated, but you know he’s close. ghost is being so rough now that your eyes are filled with tears. his groans keep you going, though.

you moan a little too loud when he hits your secret spot for the thousandth time. he grabs your neck, lips ghosting around your ear. “shhh…” ghost places a kiss on your shoulder and you mumble a strangled “sorry.” he throbs inside you and for a moment of consciousness you’re afraid of getting pregnant. you both know that you got an IUD, but still. the two of you have been fucking around too much to not be scared of accidentally having a baby.

as if he’s reading your mind… he pulls out. you feel his warm ropes running down your back as you feel another orgasm consuming your whole body. as you both settle down, you lay back in your bed, too tired to care about his cum on your skin. he does the same, laying beside you. “goddamn, you fucked me up.” he breaks the silence, his breathing becoming more normal now, even though his arm’s still aching.

“oh, shouldn’t i be the one saying that?” you both chuckle, staring at the roof. “you fucked me so good that i almost said i love you, though.” you add, joking, but not really. ghost immediately looks at you, as if you said a prohibited word. he holds back a smirk. “you think you’re funny, huh?” you look at him with a smile that makes him weak, and he hates it.

ghost’s hand is on your waist as he sighs tiredly. “i should go, my arm’s about to fall out. thanks, y/n.” he mocks, slapping your ass. he gives you a quick kiss that lasts long enough to make you head over heels for him before getting out of your bed. “i thought you were my big and strong lieutenant, what happened?” you mock back, making him shake his head with a smile.

“you happened.” ghost answers as if it was obvious. he’s putting his clothes back on and you just admire the heavenly sight. he takes a deep breath, opening the door. the man is clearly falling apart and you almost feel bad for him. he looks at you. “night, dumbass.” ghost winks playfully, leaving you alone.

[daleyeahson]

Girl on Film | Perv!Eddie Munson x Best Friend Reader: Part 3

Summary: After days of not seeing or hearing anything from Eddie, you finally snap. When you confront him about your feelings, it’s not exactly what he had hoped to hear.

Warnings: angst, cursing, I’m just gonna go ahead and say 18+ minors dni mainly bc of what has happened before and that stuff gets briefly mentioned in here so… yeah lol

Word count: 2.9k

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A/n: I’m sorry this took a little longer than expected to get released! I’ve been a little busy and tbh at first I didn’t know where I wanted this story to go so that also slowed the whole process lol thank you guys for your continued love and support! You have no idea how much it truly means to me.. Enjoy! x

It’s Monday morning and Eddie slowly stirs awake. Stretching as much as he could, he turns his head over to look at the alarm clock. 6:45am. He then turns his head to the opposite side only to be met with the sight of your naked body. Your back facing him and the sheets covering just the lower half of you. Panic sets in before he has a chance to really take in the view. He starts to freak out as his questions from last night enter his mind once again.

He tries to convince himself that he’s just overreacting and that you must’ve genuinely felt the same way he did, right? If you didn’t, why would you do all of that with him? Why would you play along with the whole camcorder situation? He began to think that maybe it was just a spur of the moment thing for you. That maybe you just wanted to have fun with this and not get romantically involved. He also thought of how maybe you’d wake up and regret this whole weekend and then things would be forever changed between the two of you.

With every question of “what if?” or “why?” that crossed his mind, he knew one thing for sure. He did not want to stick around and find out. He couldn’t handle the possibility of rejection or the idea of losing you as his best friend. He needed to think things over before diving into that conversation with you. So, without a moments notice, Eddie does what he does best. He runs.

Or at least he tries too. He gently gets out of the bed, trying his best not to wake you and rushes to go take a quick shower. While he’s in the bathroom, you wake up to the sound of the water running. Still a little bit groggy, you slip on another oversized t-shirt since the one you had on yesterday was now torn in two thanks to a certain someone. You decided against wearing pants, not having the energy this morning to deal with putting them on. Plus, at this point, Eddie has seen you in a lot less, so you figured he wouldn’t have a problem with it.

You make your way to the kitchen in desperate need of something to drink. You pour yourself a glass of water and casually sip on it while having your back leaned against the counter. You hear the shower turn off and soon afterwards, the bathroom door opens. In such a hurry to leave, Eddie doesn’t even notice that you’re standing in the kitchen.

“Mornin’ Eddie, sleep well?”

“Jesus Christ!” He jumps at the sound of your voice. “I didn’t know you were awake,” he gives a nervous chuckle, “You scared the shit out of me.”

“I haven’t been up for long.. What’s got you up and ready to go out the door so early?”

“Uh…” Eddie pauses for a second, trying to find what to say. He doesn’t want to bring up the real reason he’s leaving, so he says the next thing that comes to mind. “School! Gotta head off the school, ya know, don’t wanna be late.”

You look at him and say with a raised eyebrow, “Since when did you, Eddie Munson, care about going to school, let alone getting there on time?”

He smiles softly at your comment, knowing that you had a good point.

“I figured dealing with the third go around of this shit, I might actually want to try for once before I end up graduating with Henderson’s class.”

You laugh. You know you’d never let that happen, but it was funny to picture him and Dustin posing for a photo together with their cap and gowns on holding their diplomas.

“Well before you go, do you want some breakfast? I can fix you something real quick. I know the stuff they serve in the cafeteria isn’t the best.”

Growing more anxious the longer he stands there, Eddie shakes his head, “N-no thanks. As much as I would love to, I don’t have the time. Still have to run home and change out of this,” he gestures to his sweats, “and you know how long it takes to get my whole get up on. At this rate, I’ll be lucky if I get there before the first bell rings.”

You try not to show a look of disappointment on your face. You wished he would stay a little longer, but you understood his reasons. If you were in his shoes, you’d want to do everything possible to make sure you didn’t have to repeat your senior year again too.

“Oh, well, I’ve got to start getting ready for work in a few anyway, so no biggie. Give me a call though afterwards, yeah? I’ll be back home this evening, probably around six.”

Eddie doesn’t say anything, just gives you a slight nod and walks out the door. Driving off in his van, he makes his way back home. Once there, he heads to his room and spots the camcorder still sitting in the same spot he left it. He really did plan on going to school, but after seeing that and being reminded once again how all of this got started, he decided to stay home. There was no way he could focus on any of his classes after that.

You started getting ready for work not long after Eddie left. Taking a quick shower yourself and changing into your uniform. You pulled your hair back to keep it out of your face and applied a light, natural makeup look. You weren’t one to really wear makeup to begin with, but being a waitress, it seemed to help get you better tips so you didn’t mind having to wear it while you were at work.

You worked at a small diner right on the edge of town, only a 15 minute drive from your place. It wasn’t the best job, but it paid the bills. It’s not like you didn’t enjoy it, you loved your coworkers and got along well with the regulars you had, but being on your feet for hours on end for most days of the week was exhausting.

Your work day was the same as always. A group of older gentlemen would always come in early for some breakfast which usually consisted of biscuits and gravy all while talking for hours, getting refill after refill of coffee. You gained a few more customers when lunch rush hit, but things never picked up until it came closer to dinner time. You’d always get busy around then, mainly having truckers stop by for a good hot meal after being on the road all day. You didn’t mind though, you loved hearing the stories they’d tell about the places they’ve been and things they’ve seen. It always helped make the work day go by a little faster.

When your shift came to an end, you made your way back home. Feet aching from the day, all you wanted was to get out of these clothes and go to bed. You didn’t even think about the fact that Eddie said he would call. All that was on your mind now was getting some much needed rest.

When Tuesday had came and gone and still no word from him, you started to wonder why Eddie hasn’t been back over or called. You didn’t really pay much mind to it, thinking he must’ve been exhausted like you were last night after playing his gig at the Hideout with the Corroded Coffin boys.

Wednesday was a different story though. That evening, you made your way over to Family Video to pick out movies for the sleepover this weekend. It was supposed to be at Eddie’s place this time, but after not hearing from him for days, you weren’t sure if he even wanted to have it. You walk in and was greeted by Robin who stood at the front counter.

“Hey, y/n! Picking out more movies for you and Eddie this weekend?”

“Yeah,” you say in an unsure tone, “I guess I am.”

“You guess? What’s that supposed to mean?”

You sigh and start to explain everything to her. Just the part of not hearing from Eddie in a while, she didn’t need to know the rest and you still hadn’t even talked about it with Eddie himself. It would feel wrong to discuss those things with another person before him, even if Robin was one of your closest friends.

“It’s just, I don’t know. I’m not sure if he wants to have the sleepover this weekend. After he left my place Monday morning for school, I haven’t heard from him since. I figured maybe he was tired from his gig last night, but I still haven’t heard anything from him today either. It’s just weird not seeing or hearing from him, ya know? He’s never done this before.”

“Wait, you said he left Monday morning for school?” She asks and you give her a nod. “Eddie wasn’t at school Monday. Like at all.”

“What?” You looked at her with confusion written all over your face.

Not at school? What does she mean not at school? Why would he say that’s why he had to leave your place so early and then not go? Maybe he was late getting there and she just didn’t see him.

Robin went on to explain, “Yeah. He borrowed my biology notes and was supposed to give them back to me at lunch, but he wasn’t there. I asked the guys at the Hellfire table if they’d seen him but they said he never showed up that morning.”

What the hell? Why didn’t he go? More importantly, why did he lie to you about going in the first place? Your blood started to boil at the thought of him lying to you. You had been friends forever, why would he feel the need to lie? You explained to Robin that you had to go, not getting the movies you had planned on picking up. You needed to get home to think about some things. What the fuck was Eddie’s problem?

Thursday evening rolled around and still no word. You finally decided to give him a call instead of waiting for him. You knew he should be home from school right now, if he even went this time, and he didn’t have band practice or anything like that. You reach for the phone and dial his number. After a few rings, a mans voice spoke on the line.

“Hello?” Wayne. You didn’t think he’d be home right now. He must’ve been getting ready to leave for work when you called.

“Hey, Uncle Wayne, is Eddie around?” You ask.

Wayne looks over at Eddie standing in the living room, signaling for him to say that he wasn’t there and couldn’t talk.

Wayne sighs before answering, “No, I’m sorry, sweetheart. He’s not here at the moment. I could take a message for him if you’d like though.”

There it was, another lie. Now he’s even getting other people to do it for him? Unbelievable.

“Just tell him to give me a call when he gets a chance, okay?” You tried to not sound frustrated, but Wayne could tell you were upset.

“Will do.” He hangs up the phone and looks up at Eddie once again.

“Boy, I don’t know what the hell is going on between you two, but whatever it is, not talking to her about it isn’t going to solve the problem.”

Eddie looks down at his feet, embarrassed that Wayne is lecturing him over something that he should’ve already taken care of.

“I know, Wayne, it’s just..” he tries to think of the best way to explain this to his uncle without having to go further into detail about it all, “things are just a bit..complicated right now, okay? I promise I’ll talk to her soon. I just need some time to think about things.”

Wayne takes the hint that Eddie doesn’t want to get into the subject of what’s going on and gives him a sympathetic look. Not really knowing what it was that was making things complicated between you both, but knew whatever it may be was causing his boy to be in misery.

Grabbing his jacket and getting ready to head out the door, he turns and with a sigh he says to Eddie, “Well, whatever it is, you guys have been friends all your lives. You’ll be able to get through it, okay? Don’t sweat it, kid.”

And with that he heads out the door, leaving Eddie to stew in his own thoughts about everything.

You on the other hand, were pissed. Outraged. Angry.

How could he lie to you like that? Why would he even do such a thing? And then ignore your call when you finally reach out to him?

No, you weren’t gonna have it. Eddie was going to talk to you face to face about this whether he liked it or not. It was something that needed to be done, and you knew exactly when to do it.

It was finally Friday, you had just finished your shift at work and was heading home to change and shower. Eddie was making his way over to the high school to start setting up for his Hellfire campaign. You knew if he wasn’t going to come to you and talk about things, you’d have to go to him. And that’s exactly what you planned on doing. You knew he wouldn’t miss a Hellfire meeting no matter what, so he would definitely be there. He wouldn’t be able to hide from you no longer.

You arrived at the high school and made your way to the room where the boys would be at. As you got closer to the door, you could hear them screaming at one another. Most likely over something that just happened during the campaign. You then heard a familiar sound. One that usually filled you with joy, but this time it just made you fill up with more rage than you already had.

Eddie’s laugh.

It pissed you off to no end hearing it. Hearing him having a good time, as if nothing was wrong. As if he hasn’t been avoiding you like the plague all week.

Without any hesitation, you burst through the door. The room falls silent as everyone looks over to see who interrupted them in the middle of their campaign. When Eddie’s eyes finally met yours, he could see how upset you were.

“Oh shit.”, He whispers to himself.

You march your way over where he was, sat on his throne, and you point your finger at his face.

“Where the hell have you been? Hm?”

Before Eddie has a chance to say anything, you continue on with your rant.

“All week! You haven’t called or stopped by to see me all fucking week! You never do that. Ever. We have been best friends forever and now suddenly, without warning you decide to just disappear? What the hell is your problem? Why have you been ignoring me?”

Eddie sat there, speechless and paralyzed from shock. He wasn’t expecting you to just show up randomly. He thought he would have more time to think over things before talking to you. He also didn’t expect to be having this conversation in front of the entire Hellfire Club, either.

“Say something!” You yell at him. Still, Eddie can’t find the words. Mouth moving as if he wants to say something but nothing comes out. You were mad before, but now standing here having him just stare at you not saying a word, it sends you over the edge.

“Fuck you, Eddie.” You spewed hatred towards him. “I can not believe after everything you did to me this weekend, you have the fucking audacity to not only ignore me and my calls, but blatantly lie to my face and have Wayne lie for you too. I already know you didn’t go to school Monday, Robin confirmed it for me. I seriously can’t believe you right now!”

You were fuming and after a few seconds of Eddie still not saying a word, you look at him and reach your hand out.

“Give me my key.”

“W-what?” Eddie finally is able to breathe out a word, and of course, it’s not what you wanted to hear.

“You heard me…Give. me. my. key.”

When he doesn’t move to give it, you yell again, still beyond frustrated with him.

“NOW!”

With trembling hands, Eddie reaches for it. He slowly takes the spare key to your apartment off the key ring and places it in your hand. You walk back over to the door, turning to him one last time before you leave.

“Don’t bother calling or coming over anymore. Not until you actually grow the fuck up for once. Until then, I’m done. I don’t need to put up with you and all of your bullshit, especially not after what happened.”

You slam the door shut, leaving the boys there in silence. Walking back out of the school, you feel hot tears running down your face. In this moment, you could care less. You just wanted to go home and forget about everything that has happened this past week.

Eddie is left sitting there, staring at the door trying to hold back the tears in his eyes that are fighting to spill over the edge. Gareth is the first one to break the silence.

“Dude, I don’t know what you did” he says looking away from the door and back over to Eddie, “but whatever it was, you really fucked up.”

Still not saying a word, Eddie thought to himself.

He really did fuck up this time.

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[nonightmareruined]

hello! can you make an angsty rodrickxreader fics? crying and stuff but then it end up with a bit fluff? ty! ♡

Hey, I know it’s been a while since you submitted this but I hope you are happy with it <3

Anniversary

Rodrick x Reader

No one thought that Rodrick and y/n could have a relationship. However they got to celebrate their one year anniversary but it all went down after Rodrick overheard one conversation.

——————————————-——————————

It was our one year anniversary so I convinced Rodrick to have a date night instead of the usual hanging out at his place. Although my boyfriend didn’t like going out a lot, he would go to the movie theater and get some food afterwards with me. He did whatever made me happy. Sometimes it was like he couldn’t believe that I am his girlfriend. I am this straight A student and he is - well he is Rodrick.

At 8pm I arrived at his house.

„Oh, y/n sweet heart, you are waiting for my son, right? I am afraid but he is still getting ready. Why don‘t you come in?“ Susan, his mom, said to me after she answered the door. She brought me to the kitchen and gave me some water.

„So today is the one year anniversary, isn‘t it?“ Susan asked after a while.

„Oh yes, that‘s why we have our little date night.“ I answered her and took a sip from my water.

„Wow that’s a long time for young people. Are you sure you know what you are doing with my son?“ „You don‘t have to worry about that. I am so in love with Rodrick and I couldn‘t be happier about being in this amazing relationship with him.“ I immediately tried to reassure her but Susan still looked very concerned. „Oh sweetie, I think you misunderstood me. I am more worried about you. I don‘t want Rodrick to be the reason you loose focus on your education. I know that he can be a very bad influence.“ I looked at her in disbelief. Was she really talking about her own son in that way? I put down my glass of water and wanted to tell her that I‘d rather wait outside for my boyfriend when I heard a cracking noise. Rodrick stood right outside of the kitchen. He turned around and went back to his room and shut the door with a bang.

I immediately left his mom in the kitchen and went upstairs. I knocked at the door to the attic which was slowly opened by my boyfriend. „Can I come in?“ I asked him. His eyes were red and puffy. He took a few steps back and I went into his room. He cleared his throat before he started to speak. „So y/n, I think that we should stop seeing each other.“ „Wait what?“ I stumbled. Did he really say that? „Yeah, I mean it’s the right thing to do.“ Now I was staring at him in disbelief. „Why should it be the right thing?“, I asked him. My voice wasn’t more than a whisper. I had to fight back the tears. „Don’t be stupid. You have this bright future ahead of you and I - well I don’t have shit. Your parents hate me and even my Mom sees that we can’t be together. So please don’t make this even harder for me and just go.“ He turned around and pretended to look out of his window. „Why should we let everyone decide what the best for us is? How would they know that I have this bright future. And why can’t you have a great future as well?“ He snorted. „What amazing future do I have? Do you want to sit in the attic with me for the next 20 years?“ „Nah, Rodrick, you will be a Rockstar and tour around. You will probably forget me anyways and start seeing crazy fan girls“ „Nah babe, how can I forget my badass lawyer wife.“ He turned around, smiling at me. I took the last few steps towards him and gave him a kiss. He immediately pulled me into a huge and rested his head on top of mine. I heard him sigh and felt how the tension left his body.

We stayed there for a while, just holding each other. Rodrick played around with a strand of my hair. After a while he broke the silence. „Y/n I don’t know how to say this but I don’t think we should break up anymore.“ I had to laugh because of his awkwardness. „Thanks for letting me know“, I said while shaking my head.

„I think we missed our movie.“ Rodrick let go of me and looked me in my eyes. He was sorry for ruining our date night because of that. But honestly, I didn’t care about this anymore after all the drama. „That’s okay, we can just watch some Netflix and raid your fridge.“

[chockfullofsecrets]

Spiderverse: Smile Log

(Read on AO3)

Rating: Gen

Summary: “Okay, we got the time your baby kicked you in the face and you thought you’d broken your nose. Nice, classic slapstick.” “Lyla-” “And then that time an anomaly accidentally tickled him-” “Lyla, no-”

Peter B. asks an unexpected question and gets some information he really shouldn't have.

Wordcount: 1478

--

Oh, Miguel is fully aware of what the other Spiders think of him. Feral this, stick in the mud cabrón that - but for putting up with extended exposure to the Earth-616 version of Spider-Man for the six months that his little experimental society has existed? They should be calling him a shocking saint.

The Peter in question continues to hang off his shoulder, where he’s been since he swanned into the monitoring room ten whole minutes ago without an invitation. “-stay with me on this, I’m building to a point here - hello? Earth to Miguel?”

“What,” he snaps.

Peter pouts, an expression that he honestly didn’t think grown men were capable of until meeting this guy. “Did you hear anything I said?”

Easy. “No.”

And anyone who was, you know, sane, might take that as the insult he means it to be, but Peter just laughs and jostles his shoulder companionably. “You really are a grump sometimes, you know that? You gotta lighten up, you’re gonna give yourself a heart attack one of these days.”

“Tell me about it,” Lyla says from his other shoulder. She likes Peter, talks to him directly more than any of the other Spiders, and she’s programmed to gather information that she thinks he wants, which means - yeah, he’s going to go ahead and ignore the implications of that one.

Peter makes a thoughtful noise. Concerning. “Hey, Lyla, you’re around this guy twenty-four-seven, right - does he ever relax? When’s the last time he, I don’t know, smiled?”

Miguel expects a snarky reply, not Lyla’s glasses flashing opaque the way they do when she’s looking something up. “Hm, let me check. Pulling up a smile log…”

He’s focused on the latest multiverse model, like everyone else should be, so it takes him just a bit too long to realize that they’re ganging up on him. “Wait. Lyla, belay that-”

“Okay, we got the time your baby kicked you in the face and you thought you’d broken your nose. Nice, classic slapstick.”

“Lyla-”

“And then that time an anomaly accidentally tickled him-”

“Lyla, no-”

“And - aw, this one’s cute! - after a mission he helped a girl get her runaway balloon and she hugged him-”

“Lyla!” he snaps, slamming a fist onto his desk, and she finally stops. “Por dios, would you quit that? Why do you even remember that stuff, it’s a waste of storage space!”

She sticks her tongue out at him. “My data, my business.”

“Yeah, yeah, can’t you just run the scans like I asked you to and stop causing trouble?”

They keep bickering over the new extrapolation methods, and Peter -

Okay, look. Miguel doesn’t have a “spider sense” or whatever seems to warn the rest of the Spiders before anything happens, so he has to rely on his own judgment. And with Peter being around all the time, Miguel’s learned to more or less tune him out, figures it’s the only way he’s ever going to get any work done.

Which is more or less why he doesn’t notice that Peter’s still there until someone’s hands shove their way under Miguel’s arms and start tickling, because that’s when his brain decides to turn on the instant reactions. “Jammit - hAh-”

He clamps his arms down automatically, reeling backwards into Peter’s chest just in time for the attack to stop. “Wait - did you just laugh?” Peter demands. “Shit, I didn’t think that was actually going to work, do it again!”

Peter’s fingers start wriggling back into hypersensitive flesh, trapped in his armpits, and Miguel barely manages to keep his mouth shut as more embarrassing sounds start knocking loose inside his chest. Get away, he yells to himself, hit him, move, just fucking move - he can’t remember the last time his reflexes have been anything but overprotective, but right now every fiber of his body insists he has to stay exactly where his is because granting Peter’s hands even a millimetre more of freedom is going to be the death of him.

He refuses to think about the way his mouth is spasming at the corners entirely without his permission even as the rest of him locks in place. Lyla can record that one, if she wants. See if he cares, it doesn’t count. This is fine. All he has to do is stand here until Peter gets bored - the way he acts, the other man might not even know what an attention span is.

Peter sighs, proving his point. “I’m not asking for much, just one laugh,” he laments dramatically, though Miguel can hear the stupid big grin he gets in his voice. “Do I need to be more annoying? I can be more annoying.”

Miguel sincerely doubts it - at least, until Peter flips one hand around from where it’s pressed up against the top of his ribcage, locks onto his elbow, and starts trying to lever his right arm away from his body. “Geez, would you lay off with the triceps? I’m gonna give myself carpal tunnel over here.”

If Peter would just stop tickling for one shocking second, he’d tell him that he sincerely hopes his stupid fingers break off and die. Instead, he wraps his arms around himself in a motion that’s definitely defiant and not at all panicked, getting as far as opening his mouth before the part of his brain that’s being lit up by every twitch of sensation decides to take over. “Nngh - no, nohoho, mierda!”

His entire face burns red as strangled snorts of laughter keep leaking out of him, has to fold over and brace one of his hands against his jaw to regain any kind of dignity - not that it helps, with Peter changing his hold to adapt to even that small bit of movement and using it to finally pry his arm up.

It’s really, really not fair that the most irritating Spider-Man is one of the most competent ones too. Miguel’s pretty sure luck hates Spiders in general, but it seems to love messing with him in particular.

“You know,” Peter starts conversationally, like he’s not wrapped around Miguel and taking half his weight because he’s shaking too hard to do it himself. “I think this is gonna be a good experience for us. Like, ah, coworker bonding. What’d you say we do this every week until you figure out how to loosen up like a normal person?”

Miguel’s going to kick his ass. He’s going to take his watch and ban him from Nueva York in perpetuity, as soon as he can stand up again. Earth-616 has other superheroes, they’ll survive their Spider-Man losing an arm or two.

Peter dodges the frantic headbutts and kicks he attempts and laughs, light and easy - it makes Miguel feel even stupider, twisted up on himself in desperation to avoid just that. “Hey, if it doesn’t work with your schedule you could just say so! I’ll pencil you in for biweekly, then.”

Idiota. Culero. Miguel doesn’t know if he’s cursing himself or Peter out anymore. He’s properly trapped now, sandwiched up against his own desk with one of Peter’s hands keeping his arm pinned and the other wiggling threateningly over a defenseless armpit. “Well? You gonna say something, or do I have to go full supervillain? I do a great Doc Ock impression, let me tell you.”

Miguel painstakingly loosens his death grip on his own jaw and opens his mouth just enough to wheeze out a heartfelt declaration of his undying hatred. Coughs before he can start, his throat raw from attempting to keep his laughter contained. There’s a movement out of the corner of his eye, and he turns his head to find Peter looking down at him with something between amusement and genuine concern.

Fine. Fine. “Can you just. Stop. Before I pass out?”

Peter laughs again, landing firmly in amusement and on Miguel’s list of dimensional threats. “Yeah. Yeah, fine, I’ll let you off easy this time.” He lets go, hovering for a moment and then swooping back in to pull Miguel upright when he can’t quite manage it himself. “Okay, super ticklish and super repressed. I can work with that.”

“Don’t,” Miguel growls, leaning on Peter’s shoulder entirely against his own will as he starts to walk both of them out of the office. Where are they even going? The cafeteria? It’s only been-

Oh. He hasn’t eaten in twelve hours. No wonder Lyla had decided to mess with him. But Peter wouldn’t have known that.

“Nope, too late, I’m invested now. Wasn’t kidding about the biweekly thing, by the way.”

Lyla perks up from behind a screen. “I’ll put it on his calendar.”

“Oye, I’m locking you both out of the monitor room.”

The two of them start talking over his head, planning some kind of break in. Miguel turns his head away so Lyla won’t see him smile.

[theitgirlnetwork]

Better

Ch. 11: Three Months But It Feels Like Forever

Note: Hello! Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate it and just a warm hope you had a good day to those who don't. Another chapter written in the middle of the night, so...you know. Still I hope you enjoy it. Unfortunately our fave couple still has troubles ahead, but there's a fun, a little (a lot) crazy surprise at the end. As always, thank you for all of the love on this story, I'm really grateful for it. It really inspires me and makes this stuff even easier to share. You're all great. I love interacting so feel free to continue. Also this is short but the next one will be longer bc it's something big. Also again, this taglist situation is probably my bad so I'm gonna sort it out, try again next chapter, and then y'all can tell me if it worked, bc atp I'm embarrassing myself. Thanks and I hope you enjoy. <3

Charlotte's Work Party Look

Lip's Work Party Look

“So this is bullshit. He dumps her for one basketball game?”

“That’s not what happened, he was having an inner conflict, and he was only sixteen.”

“Sixteen year old piece of shit.”

Charlotte huffs, continuing to run her fingers through his blond curls. Lip is laid across the couch, his head in Charlotte’s lap, hand underneath her thigh. Debbie is sitting on the floor in front of the television and Troy Bolton had just told his friends he didn’t give a shit about Gabriella. 

“He’s just choosing basketball and his friends.” Debbie protests, breaking free from her basketball boy trance to argue with her brother.

“Basketball and his friends can’t get his dick wet-ow! Charlotte.” he winces, rubbing the spot on his scalp where his girlfriend had decided to bury her hand and tug. “Damn it, I was just sayin’ he’s got like one game left in the season, why does he need to break up with her to play? And that shit she just wrote on the board is wrong-why the hell are we watchin’ this shit?”

“You just don’t get it.” Debbie huffs, pausing the movie. She pushes off of the floor and grabs the popcorn from the coffee table. “Let’s watch try again when he’s not here.”

“Oh excuse me.” Lip rolls his eyes as his sister storms off, running up the steps. When he looks back up at his girlfriend, her cheek is dimpling with her deep frown. “What?”

“You ruined movie night” she fake pouts, rubbing her hand along his chest.

Lip smirks, before indulging her, sitting up and tilting her chin with his finger. “Aw, did I?” he kisses her cheek, “I don’t think I did.” her jaw, “We could go in my room and make our own movie.”

“Yeah?” Charlotte hums, meeting his lips briefly with her own before pulling back. “Can’t. I have work.”

“Stay here,” he murmurs, pulling her back to him. “You can dance for me.”

Giggling, Charlotte lets herself be pulled back in, exchanging kisses with the blond until his phone buzzes on the couch next to him, a dreaded name lighting up on the screen. She pulls back fully this time, standing to go get dressed. “Your professor is texting you. At 8:36 at night.” 

Blue eyes watch Charlotte disappear up the staircase before closing tiredly. Lip had been dodging almost all of Helene’s communications. He would read her texts to make sure they had nothing to do with his job, and only responded when they did.  He’d hoped that was enough, but everytime Charlotte saw that name pop up on his phone she would retract from him. Leave the room, pick up Liam, interact with anyone but him. One morning she asked again, if she had a thing for him, or if they’d hooked up in the past. No matter how much he wanted to, Lip just couldn’t bring himself to answer her with a yes.

“Fuck,” he breathes to himself, before running up the stairs after her. He pushes the door to his bedroom open. “Charlotte-” he pauses, staring at her, taking in her form. She stands in her work outfit, if you could call it that, the only thing offering an ounce of covering is the one leg of a juicy tracksuit she was putting on over it. “Um, what the fuck?”

She turns, meeting him with confusion, giving him a glimpse of the front which only has him letting out a laugh of disbelief. “What?”

“What? You’re gonna wear that to work?”

“Oh,” she shrugs, putting her leg through the other hole and pulling the pants up. “Yeah.” she chirps, reaching past him to grab the matching jacket, zipping it over the small bikini top she has on.

“The only thing that shit covers is your nipples.” Lip says, scratching his head.

“S’a stripclub, Phillip. They’re supposed to see stuff.” she giggles. Her laughter stops when she sees his stoic face. Charlotte makes her way over to him, cupping his cheek, “Hey, you said you were good with this. You’re not?”

Lip looks away from her for a second, shifting on his feet. He’s too embarrassed to admit to her that he thinks he agreed to this whole stripper situation too soon. He’d never been a jealous guy, so he didn’t think it was a problem, but he supposes that jealousy is a new feeling that Charlotte had brought into his life. “No, baby I am, just…shit.”

“What shit. Like shit? Or shit.”

Lip closes the distance between them, waiting for her to meet him in a peck, patting her ass when she does. “Watch your mouth.” he mumbles against her lips.

Big brown eyes just stare up into his blue ones. “M’workin’ for us, remember?” She whispers, wrapping her arms around his neck and rubbing his hair at the nape. “Besides, why would I look at the losers that hang out at the club, lookin’ at me all night when I could come work and be with my sexy boyfriend?”

“Good point.”

“Yeah?” she laughs, letting him pull her into a bunch of small pecks, between matching smiles. The couple starts to get lost in each other again, only breaking away at the sound of Lip’s phone going off again. Charlotte pulls back with a blank look on her face. “Your other girlfriend is trying to reach you.”

Lip rolls his eyes and sighs as she slips past him again, running down the stairs. “Bunny-”

“Just take me to work, Gallagher.”

“You do privates, honey?” A drunken man slurs, leering at Charlotte, waving a hundred dollar bill in front of her face. He’s with a group of older men who’d been tipping shittily and buying the cheapest drinks since they’d gotten there.

“No, sir I don’t, but the ladies that do are on the other side of the club…and they charge more than that.”

The man’s lip curls as he stands, scowling at the woman. Charlotte subtly takes a step back, glancing over at security, ready to call them if he got aggressive.

“Hold on, wait a minute, Trent. That’s my daughter in law you’re talkin’ to.” a voice rasps. 

“Frank?” 

The scraggly man emerges from the crowd of older men on the couch, positioning himself between Charlotte and the other man. “The one and only.” His gaze drops briefly. “Nice outfit.”

Charlotte wraps her arms over her chest and frowns at the man. “What’re you doing here, Frank?” She looks at the group behind him. “Are you in trouble?” 

“Trouble? I’m enjoying the ambience! You and your lovely naked friends are a sight to behold-”

“Oh, God, Frank!” Charlotte gasps, covering her mouth to hide her disgust. 

“What? You have a beautiful form!”

“I’m calling Phillip.” she huffs, turning to go to the locker room, she pauses as a thought passes through her mind. Twirling back around she makes her way back over. “Frank, what are you paying with?”

“Oh,” the older man produces a sock full of cash from his pocket. It’s familiar to Charlotte. Ever since Frank and Monica located the first squirrel fund, Fiona had started keeping the money in a new place. In the dry rotted hole on the floor between the wall and the dryer. Inside of the sock that Frank was currently dangling in Charlotte’s face. “I came into some money.”

“Hey, that’s-” Charlotte tries to grab it, only for Frank to yank it away at each attempt. “For the house! For bills, for Carl’s field trip this month-”

“That’s my house that you’re shacking up in fyi. This is Gallagher money, and therefore it’s mine to spend. Now point me in the direction of the ladies giving private dances. I’m a private man.”

“Frank, I can’t let you spend that-” Charlotte argues, grabbing one end of the sock and pulling. Frank is tugging at the other until he stumbles into a table, causing a couple glasses to fall and shatter, leaving Charlotte with the sock. Charlotte stands over the man angry, disgusted, and feeling a wave of hate she’s never really felt for anyone. Up until this point, she really didn’t consider Frank beyond the far and few in between memories Lip shared. But now she was seeing the man be shitty live and in person. And she was fed up. “It’s for your fucking kids you deadbeat!”

Two seconds later security is grabbing Frank and the manager on staff that night, Sarah, is pulling Charlotte a couple steps away. She can distantly hear Lip’s father yelling and cursing as he’s dragged from the club. “Lottie, what happened?”

“I…Frank is my boyfriend’s father, and he’s trying to spend their house money, and he was being a dick about it-”

“Okay, okay. Well, Frank knows he’s not really supposed to be in here anyway, so it won’t happen again. The new guy at the door must have let him slip through. But, because a personal altercation occurred out on the floor, I have to send you home, babe.”

“Damn, really?” Charlotte whines, looking at the crowd starting to pour into the club, no doubt big spenders. She could practically see the dollar signs fading away. Sara offers her a sympathetic look, shrugging. “Fine, okay, let me call my boyfriend to pick me up.”

Lip had been dead asleep when Charlotte let him know she needed to be picked up from work. He has work tomorrow and so in an attempt to get some real sleep, he was in their room at V and Kev’s house, taking advantage of the quiet. He’d rushed over to get her, grabbing Kev’s car keys without asking and noting to himself that a car should probably be the first thing on their list to purchase with the Bunny Bank. When he pulled up out front she was already waiting there for him, the big burly security man, John waiting beside her to walk her to the car. 

He and Lip exchange nods as Charlotte climbs into the car pouting. “What happened?” Lip immediately questions, barely letting the door closed. “Someone was fuckin’ with you?”

Charlotte huffs, buckling her seatbelt, allowing him to turn the light on and try to check her for any bruises or injuries. “No…kinda, just- your dad showed up.”

“Fuckin’ Frank.”

“Yeah, right, and he had all of your house money, and I tried to get it back, and he wouldn’t give it back, and we fought and I told him he was a piece of shit deadbeat.”

Lip frowns at that. He hates this part of having a girlfriend. It’s fucking humiliating. He doesn’t know how Fiona lets a bunch of different guys get involved with their family shit. Finding Frank drunk in the yard, Monica coming and spewing her bullshit, now Frank was showing up at Charlotte’s job. And she was fighting with him over money he’d stolen from his children. It’s fucking embarrassing. “Yeah, well, that’s Frank, don’t worry about that shit okay?”

“Well he was stealing from-”

“Fiona and I handle it, it’s not your problem, alright?” Lip says, muscle in his jaw jumping in irritation. 

From the corner of his eye he can see Charlotte stare at him with a hurt expression for a moment, before sitting back in the passenger seat, facing forward. “Okay.” she drops the sock full of money on his lap.

The rest of the ride is quiet, Lip drives her through dingy streets, in a borrowed car and wallows in shame. Charlotte is leaning as far into the door as possible, far from him. When they pull up to their neighborhood she hops out of the car before Lip can open the door, going over to Kev and V’s house. Lip follows a couple paces behind quietly, assuming the fact that she’d left the door unlocked was a sign she still wanted him to come with her. 

As he enters the room he finds Charlotte already in her pajamas, curled up on the bed facing the wall. Small movements let him know she’s crying. The blond quietly slips behind her, wrapping his arm around her waist and resting his face against hers, pressing soft quiet kisses against her cheek. “M’sorry, baby.”

She just offers a sniffle in response.

Lip sighs loudly, dropping his head to the desk. His eyes fucking burn. He got little to no sleep after he’d basically told Charlotte off and made her cry, and she was quiet as hell this morning. He was such a screw up. “Fuck” he curses, grabbing a cigarette and his lighter from his bag, leaning back in his desk chair as he sparks it. 

“Gallagher! You have a visitor!” Eric calls from the hallway. Immediately, Lip’s mind goes to Charlotte. Maybe she was feeling better and didn’t fucking hate him for telling her off for caring about him.

“Let her in!” 

The door creaks open revealing Helene with a condescending smile plastered on her face. “You’re a hard man to hunt down, Phillip Gallagher.” 

He just sighs, exhaling a cloud of smoke into the air. “M’busy.”

“With what? Work or your girlfriend?” Helene sits in the chair across from Lip, crossing her legs, rolling her eyes when he doesn’t bother answering, taking another drag. “I’m kidding. But you have been ignoring my calls.”

“Well, you’re here now. What’d you wanna talk about?”

A muffled voice that could only be Eric’s is heard through the door. “His office is this way. You look great by the way.” The door to Lip’s office pushes open again, and who enters this time has him shooting out of his seat.  “Gallagher, your girlfriend’s here.” Eric grins, tucking his hands into his pockets as Charlotte slowly makes her way in, eyes flicking between Lip and Helene.

“Fucking shit, okay-” Lip mumbles under his breath, holding his arm out for Charlotte to come to him. He watches as she rolls her shoulders back, standing straight and walking behind Lip’s desk, leaning into him. “Hel-Helene, this is my girlfriend Charlotte, Charlotte, this is my old Professor Helene.”

“Nice to meet you, young lady.” Helene says, holding her hand out.

Charlotte takes a deep breath before setting down the bag she was carrying in her hand, reaching over and taking Helene’s hand. “Nice to meet you too, Mrs.-”

“Miss.”

“Ms. Helene.” Charlotte finishes, a tight smile on her face. 

The blonde woman laughs, tossing her head back. “Just Helene is fine.”

“Mm well, I dunno. Doesn’t seem right.” Charlotte shrugs, leaning further into Lip. “Thank you, by the way, for helping him get this job, it’s been wonderful.”

“You’re welcome. It was no problem at all, Phillip is a special boy.”

“I know,” Charlotte grins even harder, roughly patting Lip’s cheek. “A very special man. So proud of him.” 

Lip watches the exchange trying to figure out if he should be nervous, laugh, or think it’s hot that Charlotte is staking her claim right now, running her hand along his hair, face and chest as she pretends to smile at Helene. 

Eric clears his throat stepping further into the room himself. “Charlotte, something smells great, and it came when you did so either you smell amazing or you cooked something.”

“Oh, I,” She takes a piece of blue tupperware out of the bag, placing it in front of Lip. “I made you lunch, you didn’t eat breakfast this morning and you didn’t take lunch so…I thought we could eat and talk, but, I see you’re busy.” 

Lip turns to her, voice softening as he grabs her hand. “Bunny, I’m sure I can-”

“Oh, that reminds me.” Eric sighs, tapping his own forehead. “I meant to give you some assignments from my dad, I know it’s your lunch break, but you’d have to stay late otherwise.”

“Fuck.” Lips breathes, running his hand through his hair. 

“It’s alright bro, I could take Charlotte to lunch.” Eric offers, not withering under the looks he received from the couple. “My girlfriend and I are meeting up anyway, let the girls hang out and spend my money, Becca’s always looking for a partner in crime.”

Charlotte looks at an apprehensive Lip. And she knows it’s wrong, but the way he and the cradle robber across the desk interact makes her feel petty. “Sure, if Lip’s busy.”

Lip fixes Charlotte with a look of betrayal that has her questioning her decision, but Eric is already guiding her away from him out of the door. Yeah, fuck that. Lip thinks, grinding his teeth as he goes to follow them out of the door. Helene’s hand shoots out to stop him before he can get far. “Oh, and Lip, before you get back to work, there’s a work dinner for all of the different departments that I’m hoping you’ll attend. I mean, I know your boss, Mr. Avery is excited to meet you there.”

“Look, uh, Helene, I mean, thank you for all of this. For the job, recommending me and shit, but,” He scratches his nose, “the texts, the calls, they have to stop. Like, now you’re visiting, and that’s weird, you see I have a girlfriend so…”

“Of course, I wouldn’t ever want to disrespect that, I just thought, after everything, we could be friends.” Helene stands, grabbing her purse. “Well, I can see now that’s inappropriate. But you really should come to this party. It’s good for your career to make friends and shake hands. Bring Charlotte with you.” 

Lip tucks his head, “I dunno, I don’t…don’t really think Charlotte is gonna be in the mood, we uh, need to talk.”

“No matter what was going on, my husband and I always made it to each other’s work functions. We always supported each other’s careers. If someone can’t do that for you, are they really the one?”

The young man recoils, frowning at the implication. Yes. She is. Period. Full stop. They were out of tune today, but Lip knows what he knows. And he knows he and Charlotte are there for each other. He knows they love each other. He knows that these past few months were the best of his life. Even when he and Charlotte weren’t on good terms, he knew he wouldn’t want to be struggling to communicate with anyone else. “You uh, mean ex-husband. And she’ll be there.”

Helene barely hides the hurt look on her face before she lets out a short, “Great.” 

“Do you think this is okay?”  Charlotte twirls, the skirt of her brown dress flaring around her gives Lip ideas that he knows he shouldn’t be having. Especially while they were fighting. Kinda. Something else he’s learned over these last few months is that Charlotte holds stuff in. When she’s upset she doesn’t explode like his family does, shit like he does. Breaking property, getting arrested, fighting. She doesn’t withhold affection like Helene and Karen used to. No, she still let him touch her. Quietly letting him press his lips to her cheeks, not moving when he rubs his hips, bringing him lunch. It was the stillness. The angry tears. The lack of warmth that let Lip know things were strained. And it hurts. 

“You look great, bunny. Fuckin’ beautiful.” Lip says from his bed, tapping his cigarette ashes into Ian’s ashtray.

“Okay, good. You ready?” Charlotte asks, smoothing her hands over her dress as she looks in the mirror. Her voice is so devoid of emotion, but her eyes are extremely expressive. Big brown pools full of sadness as they meet his in their reflection. 

But Lip is new to this. New to trying to maintain. New to trying to keep someone of value. “Babe, uh, should we talk or somethin’?”

Charlotte takes a deep breath before turning to Lip with a tired smile. “Later. Let’s get you to your work thing and after you wow them with your big genius brain, we’ll leave early and try to get on the same page.”

“Yeah?” he stands, looking down at her.

Charlotte just shrugs, reaching over and adjusting his tie with a small smile playing at her lips. “Yeah.”

And that’s the game plan. When they arrive at the party, which they find is being hosted at a friend of the company’s house. If one could call it that. It looks like a fucking mansion, down to the marble columns. Lip felt out of place, everyone here looked so…expensive, and not in the ‘I worked my ass off way’. He felt different than he did when he’d met Helene’s friends back when they were hooking up. The only thing preventing the bounce in his leg as he basically paraded his intelligence to the highest bidder with the future of his family on the line, was Charlotte’s soft, steady hand on him at all times. Fingers intertwined with his. Rubbing circles on his back. Rested on his thigh as she leaned into him. All Lip could think about was the fact that he was here for her, for them. He could secure their futures together if he turned this internship into a permanent job. He could…could…shit. Is that what he wants? Hell, is that what she wants?

Lip’s thoughts are interrupted by Eric and Rebecca’s entrance. The latter immediately beams as she sees Charlotte, squeezing her way between crowds of people, turning her nose up at a tray of hors d'oeuvres being passed in front of her face. “Lottie!” she cheers, tugging Charlotte up by her hands, pulling her into a hug. “You look gorgeous my love, who are you wearing?”

“Um, I’m sorry, my mother got me this dress, but if you wanna pull the tag out-”

“Oh, no, honey it’s fine. You can call me with outfit details later, I need to go find Eric’s bitch of a mother.” she murmurs under her breath. “Sorry I couldn’t make lunch earlier, but thanks so much for reminding that asshole to bring me something. It’d be just like him to go to my favorite restaurant and bring me nothing.” Rebecca scoffs, tossing her hair before fixing a fake smile on her face, leaving to find her boyfriend’s mother. 

“You,” Lip pauses, laughing in disbelief as he stands, looking between Eric and Charlotte. “You went to lunch together. Alone.” He nods to himself, still chuckling, slowly walking closer to Eric. 

“Phillip.” Charlotte tries, putting her hand on his arm. “Phillip, we were already there when Rebecca said she wasn’t coming, stop.”

“Yeah, man, it’s nothing serious, I just took your girl to lunch, she’s probably never been to the nicer restaurants in Chicago before-”

“Man, I’m about to knock your fuckin’ head off.” the blond continues, calmly putting his drink down, the force making a sound that gathers the attention of passersby. Charlotte tugs at Lip again, pleading to him his ear, telling him to go get their jackets and she’d use the bathroom. 

“Please, Phillip. Please. Just go get the jackets. Please. We don’t have to talk to him. Please.” she begs, cupping his face. Eric huffs as he watches the woman coddle her boyfriend and takes a deep swig of his drink wandering off to go find Rebecca. 

Lip runs an angry hand through his hair stalking off to the room where the jackets are being kept without saying a word, trying to maintain his temper. But of fucking course. Of course he’d meet a girl like Charlotte. Of course she’d make him fall in love with her, and like a fucking idiot, he would. And of course they’d meet a jackass like fuckin’ Eric who wanted her, who could give her the things she deserved like nice dinners, cars, houses, the pretty fucking outfits she likes to wear. He could give her that without planning for months, saving, taking money in and out of their joint savings to take care of his batshit family. Lip slams the door behind him, going to sift through the coats before pausing, hearing sniffling from the other side of the room. “Uh, hello?”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” a watery voice says, stepping out from the closet area Helene is clutching a tissue in her hand, going over to Lip. “I’m sorry, it’s just-” her words are cut off by sobs.

“Uh, shit, sit down.” Lip says, guiding her to sit on the bed in the room. 

“I…my son just called, let me know he made it back to school okay. And…it slipped in conversation, his father went on a date. He’s started seeing someone. I’d thought…he’d maybe surprise me by coming here. Oh, and I was so rude about Charlotte earlier, but my partner is the one not here.”

Lip watches awkwardly as the older woman sobs, placing his hand on her shoulder after a moment, glancing around. Sure he felt bad for her, but after all this time, he’d realized she really had been a bitch to him. And her ex-husband. He’d thought so highly of her before, thought she was the best thing that would ever happen to him. Now she was crumpling in front of him and he could barely bring himself to comfort her. “Sorry. But, I thought that was like…you guys’ thing. Fucking other people.”

“No, that was more me, he…tolerated it.” 

“Oh. That’s…shitty.” Lip whistles.

“It is.” Helene sighs, sniffing one last time. She wipes her face before fully looking at Lip. “I think I was filling some kind of void you know? Low self-esteem, issues with aging, I have them all. The only relationship I had outside of my marriage that meant anything is you.” 

They hadn’t even heard it. At least, Lip hadn’t. The door opening. The sound of Charlotte coming to check on him since he hadn’t returned with their jackets. But he did hear her curse before slamming the door. He couldn’t move fast enough, leaving Helene behind he slips between the bodies of movers and shakers in scattered throughout the house, swinging open the door and running down the steps, finding Charlotte stumbling in the grass as she kicks off her heels, grumbling. “Charlotte!”

He catches up to her quickly, grabbing the car keys from the valet stopping at Kev’s truck. The woman keeps walking, head held high as she limps out of the gate. “Charlotte, are you serious? Get in the car.”

“No!” 

“Fucksake.” he growls, getting into the car and backing out of the driveway, following alongside her slowly as she makes her way on foot. “It’s fucking dark, get in the car.”

“Leave me alone.” she huffs, crossing her arms, whining to herself about the dirt touching her feet.

The muscle in Lip’s jaw jumps, his scowl going deeper. He reaches over and lights a cigarette, smoking out of the window. “You know, you’re the one who went on a fuckin’ date with someone else today.” 

Charlotte laughs, speeding up. “It wasn’t a fuckin’ date. His girlfriend was supposed to go, and she canceled. We were already there, and you were too busy eye-fucking that old professor that you conveniently left out you used to literally fuck.” 

“I really don’t wanna talk about eye-fucking when you get naked for half of Chicago, alright?” Lip grits. Too far. He knows it immediately. He watches her stop, and look at him with hurt he never wants to see, her tear tracks shining in the lights from the streets. His own eyes glisten with unshed tears. He puts the car in park, cigarette still balanced between his lips as he hops out walking around the side and grabbing a kicking, protesting Charlotte by her waist, tossing her over his shoulder. Lip places her in the car and slams the passenger door before getting back into the driver’s seat, staring forward at the road.

Charlotte pettily snatches the cigarette from his mouth, opening her window and flicking it to the road. “Why didn’t you tell me you dated her?”

The blond takes a deep breath, letting his eyes slip closed. “I was embarrassed, and I thought it’d freak you out. That you’d ask me to quit cause she helped me get the job. And I would if you asked me to.”

“I would too. Quit. If you asked me to.” Charlotte sighs.

“I don’t wanna ask you to do that. You like it, it's good money, shit you just started. But I do hate it. Thought I wouldn’t, but I do.”

“So, we’ll talk about it more. Until we both know where we stand on it.” she says, facing forward too, she's quiet for another beat before speaking again. “I’m telling the truth about Eric.”

“I know.” Lip scrubs his hands down his face. “I know. And I am sorry that I yelled about that stupid shit with Frank. That bullshit just shouldn’t be your problem.” 

“I want it to be my problem. I love your family and I love you. I want to be part of it. I want…I want to be your family. So I care about the money you guys saved being stolen, I care if Liam’s diapers get bought, and I care if Carl gets to go on his field trip.”

“Fuck, bunny, I know you care. I just don’t want you to deal with that shit, it’s fuckin embarrasin’ you having to see my family like that. Having to kick in money for the house.”

“It’s stuff I wanna do. Ian doesn’t walk on eggshells with Mickey. None of you do. You treat him like an honorary Gallagher. Why can’t you do that with me?”

The couple turns to each other now, Lip reaching over the console, grabbing Charlotte’s hand. “You’re fuckin’ better than us, bunny.” He says, one tear finally falling.

Charlotte reaches up, wiping away the drop before smoothing his hair. “You’re gonna stop talkin��� about my boyfriend and our family like that. Nothing is better than you.” She smiles as Lip brings her hand to his mouth kissing her hand. “Well, except Chad in high school musical, I mean, I let the Troy slander go, but he’s different-” she laughs into the kiss that he pulls her into, the two of them smiling into the embrace as they share soft, tender kisses. 

The pair stays like that for a while. Wrapped up in each other. Sitting in the dimly lit car, running Kev’s gas on the side of the road without a care in the world. After a few moments of peace Lip decides to take a risk. It’s a big one, a very Fiona style decision. But those were random loser fuckers who got her off when she was vulnerable. This, this is Charlotte. His Charlotte. Who'd singlehandedly made his life better in the short time she'd been here. Who he loves an unexplainable amount that almost pisses him off. And he’s scared. Fuckin’ terrified. But he has to try.

“Sweetheart, how long have we known each other?”

Charlotte scoffs, playing with his fingers with an absent smile. “Well, three months, but it feels like forever. You know, I never know if people mean that in a good or bad way. I mean it the good way, obviously.” she beams at him, looking into his eyes and finding him with a serious face, her smile fades. “What?”

“Do you work tomorrow?”

“Hm, nope, not supposed to. You?”

His chest tightens as he answers her. He doesn’t believe in stars aligning, or cosmic whatever, but he thinks that this might just be the fate shit that Debbie is spewing all the time that makes no scientific sense. “Nah, I uh…threatened my boss, so I gotta see if I still have a job. I think he has a thing for my hot girlfriend that I’m..I’m uh really in love with.”

“If he does, he doesn't stand a chance. Because I really love my boyfriend.” she hums. If anything was gonna be his confirmation, Lip thinks this is it. Those words were enough. “So what’s with the questions? You wanna do something?” she asks cutely, leaning her cheek into his hand.

This is it.

He looks down into her brown eyes and decides this is what he wants to see forever. Looking at anything else sucks anyway. 

“Yeah, um…”

Just fuckin’ do it pussy.

“You wanna go get married?” 

[the-kipsabian]

He doesn't really need a tag partner (I'm sure there are people he trusts enough to team with) but if Chuck is out forever can we have Kip step in and be a person for OC to lean on? I mean we could get him on TV possibly weekly (win win in my book) plus maybe we can get OC corrupted and boom it helps push the storyline with Trent? IF Chuck is able to come back, maybe he uncorrupts him? Thoughts?

SO. im sorry ahead of time that this will get longwinded and probably not gonna make a lot of sense but i have A LOT of thoughts regarding this whole situation

so this has been a very common thing to discuss in my dms ever since the shades of the best friends betrayal started when trent and oc entered into the tag team tournament (also shoutout to bugs for dealing with my shit constantly cause i know i can be unhinged ough), and what we dubbed as savior!kip has become a very intense hope in this storyline so... yeah ive been thinking about this possibility a lot ngl

im gonna put the rest of this under the cut cause lmao yeah. im gonna go off the rails

i wanna start this by saying that while i do want chuck to come back, im specifically hoping that he'll come back to team with trent again and to torment oc, that all of this has been one big ruse to see if oc really is their best friend or not (spoilers: hes not. trent is right about everything he said dont @ me). and oc is slowly starting to lack friends; seeing how things are going, things with kris arent that great. shibata and hook have their hands full with so many other things. rocky is obviously siding with trent, even if he doesnt say it directly out loud but roppongi vice forever basically, and the rest of chaos is mostly in japan (and okada is evil now so...). danhausen basically doesnt exist anymore. everyone oc has had around him has slowly disappeared, for one reason or another

so where does that leave us, exactly? you turn to the other side (or more in this case, the other side turns towards you to help out)

kip has been critical on twitter about the don callis family, and basically saying he would never join them due to disrespect from don. and we all know how much kip loves and cares about oc (i dont have to proof this to you you have seen all the sweet tweets and other stuff. this man used to use the kissy face emoji frequently while tweeting at or about oc come on now), so seeing these two words colliding would probably not sit very well with him, i'd imagine. while someone could argue that kip has lost interest in oc since he has dropped the title and thats all that was ever about...

first of all, the "sweet little clementine" nickname has been used multiple times throughout the timeline. this wasnt just a mind game trick to get into ocs head during the title feud, it was in there way way before that ever happened (i believe we are talking about full gear 2020 if i recall my timelines right [its around 3 hours and 9 minutes]); he has always been affectionate about oc in a really weird way (hes british tho so thats probably why). second, how many times has kip been after anyone else between ocs title reigns and after? exactly zero. when mox and fenix were champs, he didnt say a peep (he did, whoever, put out my favorite tweet of all time when oc lost the title to mox). after oc gained the title, he started tweeting again about it. and again when oc lost it, not a word. kip hasnt said anything about the international title or rodney since then; the only time he did post, he told rodney to fuck off cause clementine was his. and since then? kip has been keeping an eye on the best friends feud so... do whatever you wish with that information (1, 2, 3)

the point is, the obsession was NOT with the title; hes just always been affectionate about and towards oc, but in a really weird and obsessive, kind of a destructive way

why is this necessary to bring up? well...

do you really think he would stand idly to the side to watch oc align himself with someone like don callis when all his other friends have abandoned him, all these things considered?

do i need to remind you of something? cause i will remind you of my favorite post

throughout this entire time, kip never gave up (im aware this is technically non-canon as this is a quote from stream but. if you know their history over on twitch, it counts. the feud bled over there during its prime too). yes this technically had everything to do with him tearing ocs friends away from him when this was posted, but.. dont you think its fitting tho? considering the situation oc is in now? and while yes it might seem that kip is taking the side of trent in this whole thing, this was specifically before don callis inserted himself into the situation by whispering whatever the hell into ocs ear

and what better time and way for kip to insert himself back into ocs life as the one person he can still rely on than right here and right now, when oc is so desperate for a connection and friendship that he'll take don callis of all people?

if we want to dig more into my personal observations, kip has never felt as respected or perceived as he did/does when hes across the ring from oc. this feud was the highlight of his career since the comeback (and arguably, his [and miros] feud with the best friends ending with arcade anarchy was the other, so these two have always been connected more or less), its the one thing people keep talking about in reference to him apart from the box; how he should have been the one taking the title from him, how kip should have been elevated from that point forward too. how people talk about him almost only when he has faced oc in the ring afterwards (which has been at least three times if i recall right from the top of my head) or had a chance to challenge again for that title before oc lost it entirely

so what is the conclusion i wanna draw from this? kip keeps bringing him up. he keeps on leeching on him. he wants that attention off of oc, but also from oc. and what better way to do that than to now befriend him, show him support, be there for him when everyone else has abandoned him?

except its not entirely malicious. it might start as such, but its definitely mutually beneficial, more so than intended; sure maybe kip takes the chance to get to oc when hes down and vulnerable, but theres also that high chance that he'll see he can actually help. kip can help pull oc back up and help rebuild him. kip can be useful and important in this equation too, not just oc (which.. its gonna show kips true colors tbh. considering how kip treats oc as a whole, but he was taking trents side earlier about everything when best friends broke apart so...)

i think this is enough of me rambling, so im gonna get to the point of the ask lmao; but yeah, while i'd love for chuck to come back, i dont think he needs to be the one to uncorrupt oc from under kips spell. cause there wont be a spell to begin with. while yes it might start more or less as a corrupting relationship if they got to tag together with oc, i dont think ultimately it would be harmful to him. just like kip would be there to be supportive of oc, eventually he would return the favor by helping kip flourish, like he has done more indirectly in the past. they are mutually beneficial to one another, for better or worse maybe, but its not going to lead oc down a dark path in my opinion. if anything, oc is uncorruptable at this point (especially without the belt but i feel like that story has completely died by now with roddy holding the title so im not going to touch that rn), and him getting love and support from someone genuine, although surprising in this case, it would just make him more likely to return that favor than to turn against it. what i mean is, oc would be the one to uncorrupt kip, if anything

thank you for coming to my tedtalk and im soooooo sorry for all of this

[choke-me-joey]

Ch1/ Ch2 /

Summary: As Joe's long-term girlfriend, you reflect on your relationship over the last 4 years.

Content warning: 18+ so minors are not welcome, real person fiction (don't like, don't read, don't bitch), smut, fluff, angst, probably inaccurate timelines and processes but does anyone really care?, alcohol use, smoking...if I've missed anything please let me know!!

Author's note: okay so I was not expecting people to like this as much as they did 🥹 so here is chapter 2!! I'm currently juggling this, Hoe-vember and Matching Tattoos part 2 sp bear with if there are mistakes! I originally wrote this in first person (ick) so if you see any 'I' or 'my'.....mind ya business 🫣

London, England

September 2018

"-mum, I've really got to go, I'm running late...yeah, yeah, yeah, I'll make sure to call her, okay? Bye, mum, love you!"

You hang up the call and groan in frustration, shoving your phone in your bag with one hand, balancing your coffee and your Oyster card in the other. You manage to get through the gate without causing too much of a hold up, bolting down the escalator to the platform.

"Fuck!" You growl, as the train you were running for left the platform within seconds of your feet touching the ground. You sigh, taking a seat on the grubby bench and waiting for the next one, which, thankfully what with this being London and all, wasn't long.

You jump up, protecting your bag and coffee as you get on the already insanely crowded train. You look around desperately for a seat, of which there were none, so you stand in between a very miserable looking middle aged woman and a taller guy with curly brown hair. He has his back to you, engulfed on his phone. You squeezed in and took a hold of the bar above your head as the train began to move.

You stare awkwardly ahead of you, sipping your coffee with your free hand, being careful not to bump curly haired guy with your arm. As the train approaches your station and slows, people scramble towards the door. You wait patiently rather than getting caught in the sea of people.

You don't notice curly hair guy next to you moving his arm to put his phone in his back pocket, and before you know it you’ve been elbowed in the boob at a rather vicious velocity. The pain that follows makes you want to cry.

"Fuck!" You hiss, and the knee jerk reaction to jump away from whatever has just hit you causes you to spill your 'travel friendly' coffee cup and its contents all over your jacket. The cup crashes to the floor and everyone stares. "Oh shit!" You curse, staring down at your stained jacket.

"Oh shit, I'm so sorry. Are you okay? Oh shit, here let me-"

The guy bends down and picks up your cup, handing it back to you. You look up from the damage to your jacket and into the most beautiful pair of big, brown eyes you have ever seen.

"Thanks," you mumble, taking the cup back from him. The next thing you know the doors have closed and the train is moving again. "Oh goddamn it!"

"I am so, so sorry." The guy next to you says again, looking extremely guilty as coffee practically drips off you. Luckily, a sweet old man hands you a pack of tissues, and you thank him, dabbing away at your clothes as best you can with the hand that wasn't holding your cup and bag. "Please, let me help, it's the least I can-"

"It's fine, really," you say, a little too quickly, and he looks a little hurt. You sigh, passing him your cup and bag. "If you run off with my stuff, I can't be held accountable for what I do." You warn him, and he chuckles, shooting you a smile that literally makes your knees go weak. Even though he almost de-boobed you and potentially ruined your favourite jacket, you can't help but think he is fucking gorgeous.

"I wouldn't blame you, to be honest," he says, still smiling. "Is it fucked?" He asks, his eyes flicking to your jacket.

"I dunno, if I'd have gotten off at my stop I would have been able to get home quicker to throw it in the washing machine and hope for the best," you sigh, almost reaching the end of the pack of tissues. A look of guilt flashes across his face again. "Sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"No, it's fine, I just feel really bad, it's a nice jacket." He bites his lip as you give up trying to dry yourself with the tissues, and take your stuff back from him. The train pulls into another station, and you figure you might as well get off here, and try to get home another way.

"Yeah, it is, but don't beat yourself up about it, accidents happen," you give him a reassuring smile, before getting off the train.

"Wait!" He yells, and you turn around on the platform, seeing him fight his way through the crowd of boarding and departing passengers. He stands in front of you awkwardly. "Um, listen, let me get your jacket dry cleaned for you, to apologise?"

You frown slightly.

"Honestly, it's fine..." you trail off, realising you don't know his name.

"Joe. And please, it'll make me feel less guilty for basically assaulting you."

You sigh, unable to stop a smile spreading across your face. He really was too adorable.

And hot as fuck.

"You're not going to take no for an answer, are you?" You smirk, and he returns it.

"Nope."

"Fine," you roll my eyes dramatically, peeling off your jacket and handing it to him.

"Can I get your number?" He asks, and you're a little taken aback at his confidence.

"Excuse me?"

"I-I'll need to let you know when it's clean and stuff, so I can return it to you," he's blushing now, and you swear your heart is melting. "That's all, i swear I'm not some pervy creep."

"Hmm, I'm pretty sure a pervy creep would say he's not a pervy creep to try and persuade people he's not a pervy creep," you muse, and he laughs, loudly. "But, I'll trust you."

He grins, handing you his phone for ypu to put your number in, under the name "Underground Boob Victim". Once you're done, you pass it back to him, he laughs loudly at the name and then puts his phone back in his pocket. "Okay, well, i should really get going, but thank you, Joe. Just drop me a text or something and I'll meet you to grab my jacket back. It was nice to meet you, despite the whole GBH thing." You tease, hitching your bag up on your shoulder, offering your hand out to him. "I'm Y/N, by the way."

"You mean to tell me Underground Boob Victim isn't your real name?" He smirks and I shrug.

"It's a bit of a mouthful so Y/N is a much easier nickname." You wink, and he laughs again, making you giggle.

"Well, was nice to meet you too, Y/N, sorry again." He takes your hand and shakes it, and you can feel your heart speeding up. "I'll speak to you soon."

--a few days later--

'Hey, it's Joe. Just to let you know your jacket is ready to pick up from the dry cleaner's, if you wanted to meet me in about 30 minutes?'

'Hi! Yeah that's great, thank you so much!'

'It's cool. If you don't mind, i was thinking (ironically) maybe we could go for a coffee or a drink or something after we pick your jacket up? It's okay if you don't want to though!'

'Hmm i dont know if i trust you around any liquids that can stain fabric...but clear alcohol sounds life a safe bet. I'll be there soon!'

-- a week later, still September 2018--

"I'm freaking the fuck out."

"It's just dinner, Y/N. It's not like you've never been out with a guy before! Besides, you've already been out for drinks with him, technically this is your second date" Your best friend and flat mate Zoe is laid on your bed, currently watching you pace up and down your bedroom, chewing your nails as you do. "I swear to god if you don't stop chewing those nails I slaved over, I will end you."

"Sorry, sorry!" You quickly stick your hands in your pockets, sparing Zoe's hard work. "Well, firstly the drinks thing wasnt really a date, he was just giving me my jacket back and just so happened to ask me out. Amd secondly, this isn't just some guy, Zoe, he's like...really hot. And cute. And funny. And he's so easy to talk to. We ended up just chatting shit for two hours in a Starbucks the other day, totally unplanned. He was walking in as I was walking out."

"Cute, maybe you guys can move in together and I won't have to listen to you chat shit for hours every day." Zoe teases and you let out a sarcastic laugh.

"You're just jealous because you dont have anyone to chat your own brand of shit with right now." You tease back, laughing as she flips you off. "He lives with his best friend, maybe if tonight goes well we can double date?"

"If you set me up with a complete and utter loser whilst you make off with the hot one, I'm going to hurt you."

"I've seen a picture or two, he's pretty cute," you laugh, holding up a black roll neck jumper and black skinny jeans. "With my black heeled boots?"

"Perfect, it shows him just how soulless and depressing you really are. You know it wouldn't kill you to wear colour just once."

"Ugh, I would rather die." You mock retch before heading into the bathroom to change.

Forty minutes later, you're dressed and ready and in the back of a taxi headed to the restaurant you and Joe had agreed on, your heart feeling like it's going to burst out of your chest and your stomach churning with nerves. Your phone vibrates in your hand, it's Joe just texting to say he was already at the restaurant, waiting for you in the lobby. You swallow hard, before texting him back that you were on your way.

The taxi gets you to the restaurant exactly three minutes before 7.30pm, when your table was booked for. You spot Joe immediately as you step inside, dressed in a shirt and trousers. He looks up from his phone when he hears the door open and his eyes meet yours, and you both simultaneously break out into a grin.

"Hey," you walk over to him and give him a hug, as per your usual greeting. His usual cologne surrounds you, but it smells a little stronger tonight. He hugs you back just as tight. "Now I feel like I should have dressed up a bit more."

"Don't worry about it, you look really good." Joe assures me.

"Thank you, so do you." You can feel your cheeks warming a little to your utter frustration. Something about Joe always turned you into a fucking giggly schoolgirl on the inside, but on the outside thankfully, you managed to play it off. "Can we go get food now? I'm fucking starving."

Joe laughs loudly.

"I knew there was a reason I liked you."

***

"So, seeing as all our interactions have been totally random and unplanned, I think I should be totally cliché and say, tell me about yourself?" Joe smiles as you pass your menus back to the waiter, having just ordered your food.

"Well, I mean, I don't wanna send you to sleep before the food gets here." You joke, sipping on my glass of water. Joe chuckles, doing the same.

"That's fine, just wake me up when it does get here," he winks and you roll your eyes laughing. "No, I'm just joking, come on, I wanna know stuff about you. Like, what do you do for work? How long have you been living in London?"

"So basically you wanna play 20 Questions?"

"Yep, now go."

"Ugh, fine. I'm a freelance photographer but currently I'm doing a stint as a retoucher for a studio in Central London, I've been living here for a few years as I went to Uni here, but my friend Zoe and I have been renting a flat from her uncle since we graduated. I have a degree in Editorial Photography, I like horror movies and music...that's all I can think of right now...what about you?"

"Um, I'm an actor." He says, looking almost embarrassed. Your eyebrows raise.

"No way?! That's so cool! Anything I'd have seen you in?"

"Uh, maybe, I've been in a couple of TV series, I was in something called Dickensian a couple of years ago, a show called Timewasters, and then last year I was in Game Of Thrones and another series called Howard's End."

"Game of Thrones?? Holy shit, that...wait a minute, Dickensian...shit, I think I watched that with my parents over Christmas when it came out. Oh my god I can't believe I didn't recognise you!"

"Honestly, it's nice that you didn't." Joe admits. "I'm not that well known but I've had a couple of people stop me in the street and it's...bloody weird. Flattering, but weird."

You nod. "I can understand that. So, are you working on anything cool right now?"

"Well not right this second, but this year has been mental. I've done a couple of series and a got a lead in a small film." He grins, clearly less embarassed now.

You can't help but mirror his smile. The waiter comes back with your food and tells you to enjoy.

"So, I'm having dinner with a celebrity right now?" You tease, raising your eyebrow and smirking at him. He rolls his eyes and tells you to shut up, but he's smiling.

A few hours later, your main courses and desserts long gone, you're still sat in the restaurant, deep in conversation. You've covered everything from your childhoods, your favourite movies, tv shows, your families, music, food...the list was endless. As the restaurant closes, you call the waiter over to pay the bill. You rummage around in your bag, pulling out your purse.

"Don't let her pay you." Joe says to the waiter and you glare at him.

"Joe, its fine-"

"Hey, I asked you to come out with me right? Therefore I am paying." He argues, handing over his card to the extremely bored looking waiter, who disappears to get the card machine. "Don't look at me like that, what kind of prick would I be if I expected you to pay on a date?"

You say nothing, but you smile at him, putting your purse away. "If you really want to, you can pay next time."

"There's going to be a next time?" You ask, a teasing tone to your voice, but your inner giggly schoolgirl has practically dropped dead from excitement.

"Well, only if you want, I've had a really good time tonight." He admits, quickly pausing as the waiter comes back and prompts him to enter his card details. "Plus, I still feel guilty for the whole tube thing. But that's not why I asked you out. Fuck, that came out wrong-"

"Joe, its fine, I know what you meant," you laugh, as you stand up, ready to leave. You head outside, and he offers to walk you home, and you continue your discussion about everything under the sun, and more. The whole time, your heart would not calm the fuck down, and you were actually worried he could hear how hard it was beating, especially when his hand accidentally brushed yours.

He pulled his hand back quickly as if he'd been burnt.

"Sorry!" He mumbles, looking as guilty as he did when he elbowed me on the Tube. You can't help but laugh, reaching out and linking your fingers through his.

"There, the scary part's over." You wink at him and he immediately looks relieved, giving your hand a small squeeze. You continue to walk hand in hand to your flat, stopping in front of the steps when you inform him that this was your apartment building. "Thank you for tonight, it was really nice."

"You're welcome," Joe smiles, his fingers still laced with yours. His eyes drift upwards and slightly to the side. "I'm gonna guess that's your roommate?"

You follow his eyeline and sure enough, Zoe is sat in your bedroom window, waving down at you both, a shit eating grin on her face. You groan, rolling your eyes and flipping her off.

"I'm so sorry, I'm gonna murder her," you sigh, feeling mortified as Joe waves back, laughing loudly. "Don't encourage her!" You grab his waving hand and hold it by his side, failing to keep an angry face as you start laughing along with him. "Fuck, I'm sorry, you must think I'm so weird."

Joe raises an eyebrow at me.

"You do realise you're speaking with someone who makes a living from being dressed in bloody period clothing half the time, right?"

"Well actually no, I don't as I've not watched most of your stuff, so there," you grin, poking your tongue out at him. You eventually say goodnight, and he gives you a hug, which you note lasts a few seconds longer than usual. He lets you go, and you slowly walk up the steps to the main door. "Oh, Joe?" You call out as he begins to walk away. He stops and turns.

"Mm?"

"I'll pay next time." You smile, before heading inside and closing the door.

[andbrokenmemories]

So it's weird how like. The Kennet girls are good at everything, aren't they? [pale spoilers ahead]

Like that's obvious, it's textual -- it's very textual, other characters being in something like awe over it over and over and over across the story. The girls are very good at this, and they have a deep well of power. This comes up continuously.

what's weird is thaaat a lot of the fanbase seem to like, enjoy that. Enjoy having protagonists who can play around with magic in a way Blake never ever could have. I kind of get that, I won't like shit-talk it too hard. (I do like Verona, y'know?)

But it's an interesting fact. Because Wildbow's the underdog protagonist guy! At least in action scenes, that's his whole thing! Taylor and Blake have to eat shit and die to claw their way to victory, and often those scenes work for me. And it's one of the things I think WB gets the most praise for? Like, from his established base. It's a conscious choice to not do that for Pale. He like, introduced the idea that this kind of wild practitioner would be especially powerful. He made that up for this book.

I wonder what that decision looks like -- after Ward, and Ward's issues, especially, since that seemed to be the first break from this. Underdog protagonists seem to be the default, for him; the thing he has most experience with. I've seen posts from him describing his process -- put characters against the wall without having a pre-planned out for them, so WB himself has to puzzle out exactly what they can use to make it out alive -- and he seemed to derive like... An actual enjoyment, out of it?

Yeah, there are fights in Pale where they're up against the wall... even one where, with Dire Consequences for us all, Wildbow had them lose because he couldn't see a way for them to win!

But it's not the same. I'd honestly say they usually lose because of their like, lack of full maturity -- their child soldier-y emotional rawness and uncertainty -- their lack of cohesion, as the book usually plays it. Lucy cannot stop John from joining the Contest because she can't hold her nerve against him. The girls cannot stop the murder plot from coming to fruition because they lack unity, aren't working together as a team. Emotional stuff. The girls have more tools in their box than any Wildbow protagonist before them, by far, but they can't always use them properly to get the W, for emotional reasons, for character reasons.

In theory, that's an interesting direction (maybe, possibly), and I should be relieved that Wildbow is trying something fresh. In practice... I've said I don't like Pale's fight scenes. I think Wildbow is plainly worse at this than the content of his previous works.

Part of this is seen in the Contest. Or, at least, how Wildbow Posts about it. If you can't tell, a specific WoG lives in my brain: Wildbow said once that he kept the story going past Break because he genuinely did not believe the trio could beat Maricica. I can imagine him doing his typical calculus for this, and what led him to that conclusion, maybe. For example, we've heard a lot about the ability of the Fae to manipulate stuff, aaaand to have the girls come along and undo all of that with minimal information to begin with wouuld sort of. Damage our belief in Faerie significance. Still, though -- cards on the table, here -- I think this was a Dumb and Bad choice. (It's a sidenote to this post, but I think it's very strange that, in-story the straw that breaks the camel's back is shown to be the Alabaster allowing shit to go on rather than throwing in with John, effectively a betrayer revealed moment -- a thing that, even if sorta his intention from the start, he could simply say 'aw beans i never really planned this out far enough' and just drop. for the sake of wrapping up a better story. and naturally i believe this would have been better also because it means we never would have fucking gotten White Woman Animus!! i digress. i digress.)

Maricica had weaknesses the story gave us to nibble on, and those weaknesses... are just kind of dangling threads, now? As of where I hopped off? like, guess she can't be that inexperienced with people if she became a goddess and started a cult and helped with all that red heron shit lol

So it's that thing I said, about fight scenes being more character driven. But then also, he's clearly thinking about this the same way as ever! As shown by his weird logic with framing the story going past Break as a thing he Had To Do, for Logical Reasons, or at least that weighing on the decision. a thing that is silly and i disagree with on it's face. right?

And then this shows in the sheer quantity of fight scenes -- if the girl's main limiter is internal emotional context and stuff........... uh... why are there so many fights? Why wouldnt the story naturally curve towards. having fewer fight scenes when theres no other way to square things away. that progress character arcs. whyyy do i care about fight scene 129 when i know how strong these girls are. whyyy are we fighting so many random others, and dedicating genuinely long segments of story to them, rather than montaging that shit? Getting it over with? If it has to be there at all? (for reference -- I just tried to think of a Random Pale Fight i fully don't think mattered. i selected the random like. angel summoner guy? with the fortnite constructor angel. that's a part of the musser invasion or whatever. this is a character with literally no substance, just a musser-side goon. From him entering the ongoing! fight to Lucy getting out of dodge is 4.6k words. Plague 12.7, the Mannequin fight, up to Mannequin leaving -- that's almost the entire chapter -- is 6.9k words. on the worm wiki, i saw there's a brief 'major events' summary of that chapter. i couldnt tell you the major events of the Pale chapter, of which that section of fight is like a third, maybe. lucy gets a bit more upset. lucy gets in a few quips against musser-side characters that actually matter but actually dont matter much to how that broader conflict is resolved. i guess.)

Wildbow writes any random fight the girls get into as being worth as many words as his fights in the past! the scrappy, pay-offy ones. bleh. My point in all this: you cannot simply set your protags up in the way I'm positing, here, and then continue to use the same vocabulary of every other serial anyway. it straight up doesn't work. it's exhausting. The Future is An Eternal Slaughterhouse 9000 Arc. Look, thats a criticism that boils down to 'web serials are too long'. And I'm not sure I care too much about web serials being too long! I have read longer web serials with longer fight scenes! I have written fiction with a longer average word count per chapter than Wildbow, at least during Worm! its a real criticism, but its not one im amazingly interested in personally. But the Kennet three could've had weaknesses to play around -- or at least, more weaknesses. We are in a Post-Pact world, and in this Post-Pact world, the magic in Pale really barely feels like it, uh, relies on discourse and presentation. like at all. And that seems like an option to give these characters obstacles! An option Wildbow gestures at during the Musser meta-arc!

but what struck me getting that word count comparison earlier, skimming that fight? The girls just aren't operating in that world. There's never a thought for presentation -- maybe sometimes, for a slight edge. But it never really matters, certainly not after the blue heron. They're using glamour as a workhorse tool, covering goblins in it for brief misdirects to get an edge in a fight; they're calling on the same shrine spirits over and over. They don't build up tools over a portion of story then cash them out for a satisfying win, they're just... strong. They have more items in their bags than Wildbow probably knows what to do with. Strong enough for just Lucy to dunk on any random set of practitioners, but not strong enough for the story to just skip that part, and not strong enough to just solve the plot until it's time to go fuck up Charles and end the story.

I know you could argue that I'm making this up, or that it's what some people prefer to what Pact was doing. But I just think it's not even what wildbow is good at! (and i always theorize that when wildbow is writing kind of bad, it's probably because he's not actually engaged or happy with what he's putting himself through. did he read a specific thing that made him personally excited to make the girls so versatile? I don't really know, but I don't get that vibe.)

And I have a couple of specific things I want to point out to try and prove this is like. a thing at all, to wrap up on: First, Glamour is used as this very, uh, soft magic thing, this very basic narrative tool. A pure mechanic of, like, mental states. If you're shaken, if you're uncertain, your glamour gives out on you -- if you shake your opponents, make them skittish, your glamour is better at misdirecting them. This is fiiine? But too vague for what Glamour is. Wildbow simply failed to properly present tradeoffs to one of his character's main action verbs, one that literally had those tradeoffs in Pact. And one last example to try and prove this: they dont even wear the hats and cloaks anymore duuude. Like, in my eyes: there was a very simple to read gambit being made, with the hats and masks and cloaks? You are awakening early, you will always have awoken early: You accepted an early shield against what that meant. A constructed image in place of the image of a fully-fledged adult, masking that youth; Whimsical and inherently magical, inherently wild. It's a very basic tradeoff, and one the story promises you it knows: even if they really would rather not have to go through the whole song and dance of suiting up, if it's tactically suboptimal or else they mature out of it and realise it's not for them, they will never be able to escape it -- not without giving up power. A mark accepted that cannot be given up. A mechanical restriction on their powersets to make up for some of their advantages, that also has some character relevancy. The Good Stuff.

except yeah it can. be taken off. it doesn't super matter. not really. they do plenty of magic without all the stuff on or even any of the stuff on -- it's rarely presented as an obstacle. it doesnt really matter. Because then, you see, they couldnt mature out of it and do cool stuff! it'd be. annoying. frustrating. they'd have to like. deal with changing past the natures they made for themselves. they'd have to. be characters. with character issues. that present themselves in fight scenes. you know?? what are we doing.

[welcome-back-to-hoimycraf]

Lizzie thought it a bit strange to have her husband’s severed head tucked into the same furnace her food was prepared in. She thought it even more strange that his head could keep talking after being detached from his body. Admittedly, she was probably the weird one for sticking him in there in the first place- but she panicked, alright! It’s not every day that your dear spouse’s skull starts melting off their torso! Actually- she was getting ahead of herself. How did this all start again?

-------

The ocean was beautiful today. Well, it was beautiful everyday- but that wasn’t the point. The point was, Lizzie was ecstatic. Today was the day she’d finally teach Joel to swim. 

Somehow- despite living mere meters away from the water- he’d never learned how. When asked why, all she got was a shrug and a half-baked excuse about “not really getting along” with the sea. How could anyone not like the waters she called home! Well, today was the day that would change, she’d make sure of it.

Her giddiness only grew as she watched Joel’s small rowboat tread over, making his way ever so slowly to the lilypad she was rocking back and forth on. He was crawling along like a baby moving on their own for the first time, but it didn't matter. She’d help him face his fears. Even if by force. 

Eventually, the Mezelean couldn’t stall any longer and came to a stop at his wife’s feet, barely able to look up at her before being pounced on. The boat rocked dangerously as Lizzie squeezed the life out of him. He shrieked in a rather unmanly way. The Ocean Queen thought it was cute, at least.

“Oh, Joel, I’m so happy to see you!” She bounced up and down as the man stepped shakily out of his boat, looking like he’d just watched his whole family be murdered. Nothing a bit of sweet talk couldn’t fix.

“Yeah- well- you almost knocked me out my blummin’ boat!” Joel huffed and ran his hands down his face.

Lizzie just grinned cheekily and poked his shoulder. “You know you love me.”

He sighed again, looking away defeatedly. “...I do.”

That was what brought him here in the first place. His love for his beautiful, lovely wife trumped all fear and wariness he could muster; something that would probably lead to his downfall one day. But for now, that only led to her convincing him to face his fear of water. 

It was an irrational fear, he knew. Void, he’d only ever touched the stuff once in his twenty-six years of sentience. A small perk of being made of clay: you don’t have to bathe. 

Anyway, he was getting off-topic. The only time he’d ever been in the ocean was during an accident while at sea, ending with him being tossed in the drink. He had barely any memory between hitting the water and waking in the Palace infirmary- besides meeting Lizzie, of course.

Speaking of Lizzie, his wife was bent down to his height, staring at him with those (oddly predatory- like a shark cornering its prey) adorable eyes filled with curiosity. 

“Whatcha thinkin’ about?” She asked, head tilting to the side like a dog.

A fond smile spread across his face. He could never resist her puppy (guppy?) eyes, even if she annoyed the shit out of him sometimes. 

“Thinking about the day we met,” Joel cooed, putting on a sappy expression, leaning closer and topping it off with smooch-y lips for the full effect. 

Lizzie’s face twisted into a look of amused disappointment, pushing his face away. “Ugh- why’d I have to marry such a weirdo?”

He cackled. “Hey! I was telling the truth!”

The Ocean Queen’s expression morphed into something more fond. “Really?”

“Really.” Joel would never pass up a chance to tell his wife how much he loves her, and he won’t stop until he’s dead and gone.

“Well if that’s the case, you might be up for a swim!” And with that his feet were swiped out from under him, leaving Joel in a bridal carry in Lizzie’s arms. He gripped her around the neck in panic, a high-pitched yelp tearing out of his throat.

“What? Wait, Lizzie-!”

The splash that followed was sizable and absolutely soaked the axolotl. She mustn't have minded, seeing as he could vaguely hear her slightly-crazed laughter through the waves he’d created. It felt like he was floating and sinking at the same time, as if his body didn’t know whether to fold to his weight or let the air pockets where his organs would be lift him to the surface. 

After what felt like years, the sea finally decided to release him. He gasped as he surfaced even though he didn’t have lungs. A habit he’d picked up from other cultures, he guessed. After blinking the water from his eyes, he was met with his wife’s face centimeters from his. He screamed and fumbled backwards, forgetting he wasn’t on solid ground until he started sinking back into the depths. When he resurfaced Lizzie was crouched to the ground with her arms wrapped tightly around her middle, almost crying with laughter.

Joel spit out some seawater that had found its way inside his mouth as he climbed back onto the lilypad beside her, scowling. He wrung out his tunic, watching as the water poured out of it. “Yeah- you’re lucky I thought to wear less expensive clothes for this!”

His wife’s laughter slowly tapered off and she wiped a clawed finger under her eye. “But it was so funny! Plus, it got you used to the water!”

He huffed. “Used to it? You blummin’ threw me in!”

She put her hands to her hips as she stood up. “There’s no better way to teach a person something new than to throw them straight in!” She paused for a tick. “Literally,” she added. 

Joel shook his head and chuckled softly. How did he end up with such a strange woman? He looked back up to see her tying up her long hair, tongue poking out with concentration, and suddenly remembered why he married her. 

“Are you going to just sit there and admire my beauty, or are you gonna get in the water?”

The Mezalean was snapped out of his thoughts to see Lizzie already in the water. He cleared his throat, a flush creeping over his cheeks. “But you are gorgeous!” He grinned as he gingerly slid off the lilypad and watched as she giggled, flushed, her fins wiggling with giddiness.

“No buttering up the teacher!” She teased, splashing him lightly.

The lesson said “teacher” gave afterward was much less fun than how it began. Don’t get him wrong, Joel loved spending his day with his wife, pressed close to her (even if out of fear at times) and feeling her presence. But his… relationship with the water won in the end.

The first time things seemed wrong was when he slowly started to feel more and more lethargic. His arms felt too heavy to paddle and his legs were fighting to kick. Lizzie suggested they take a break, assuming he was just getting tired. It seemed to work after eating lunch on the lilypad, taking in the sun. But when they got back in the water, things got worse. Way worse.

They were in the middle of him learning to float. Joel had been on his back, Lizzie holding her hands under his back to guide him and make him feel safer. The two had been having a nice conversation about the new additions to Matral Palace’s horse head wall when Lizzie stopped talking suddenly. Joel looked over at her, taking in her confused and slightly worried expression. “Lizzie?” 

“Uh, Joel-” she paused like she didn’t know how to continue. “Are you prone to… melting?”

“What?” He went to sit up, forgetting he was floating, and sunk. He attempted to swim back up like how Lizzie had taught him, but only sunk deeper. He felt heavier than usual, which made panic flare up in his chest. He wasn’t worried about drowning, since he couldn’t. No, compared to his real fear, drowning was nothing. He was scared of sinking to the ocean floor, never to be seen again. As his arms unsuccessfully flailed in the water, he watched as, slowly, chunks of him started to slough off and float up to the surface. He guessed he knew what Lizzie was talking about now. 

He had almost come to terms with the idea of being swallowed by the ocean, but he soon realized that he was in the Ocean Empire and that his wife (and everyone else) knew how to swim. Lizzie was making her way down to him fast, a few of her guards not far behind. When she spotted the state Joel was in, she chattered a few words to them in Oceanic he couldn’t understand. The King watched as the guards started to collect pieces of him from the water. He was thankful they’d come off clean in big chunks, not wanting to lose small, microscopic pieces of himself. Lizzie ended up grabbing his head first- he hadn’t even realized it had separated from his torso. She said something that sounded close to her asking if he was ok. He started to nod before realizing he needed a torso to do that, so he settled for letting out a watery, “Yeah.”

The process of his rescue was a bit of a blur. He supposed it might’ve been the shock, or something like that. He wasn’t sure how, but the next thing he knew, he was back on the lilypad. Lizzie was leaning over him with an expression that was a bit too calm for just seeing her husband break apart. “Joel?”

“Is it bad?”

She glanced back down at where the rest of his body would be. He couldn’t be sure it even was, not that he could move his head to look. “Erm- I don’t know how to say this.”

He breathed out a dry laugh. “Tell me, doc, how much time do I have left?”

“Shut it.” She smiled thinly and flicked at his face, grimacing when the impact left a slight dent in his cheek. Lizzie cleared her throat quickly before continuing. “So, I may have forgotten that you’re made of clay and that clay doesn’t do so well in water…”

Joel hummed. “Yeah, I kinda forgot that too.”

His wife looked at him guilty as she gingerly picked his severed skull from the ground, pressing it to her chest. “Oh Joel- I’m sorry!” She whined, resting her cheek on the top of his head, smearing some of what would be his hair onto her face. 

The Mezalean just chuckled. “It’s fine, Liz. Just patch me back up and I’ll be good to go.”

She leaned back to show him her watery eyes. “Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

-------

Oh, right. She remembers now. 

“Lizzie? Are you even listening?”

Joel’s muffled voice snapped the Queen out of her thoughts. “Huh?”

“I asked if you were listening to me,” he repeated, fondly rolling his eyes.

She smiled. “Well, it’s a bit hard to hear you through the door. And the fire.”

“Fair.” He looked to the side for a second before returning back to her gaze. “How long do you think it’s gonna take to firm the rest of me up?”

Lizzie grimaced and looked out the kitchen’s window. “Erm, no idea.”

“Great,” he sighed. 

A beat of silence passed before either of them spoke again, Joel ending up breaking the awkward air. 

“You know you’ve just given me more of a reason to never swim again, right?”

The axolotl smirked at that. “Is that a challenge?”

He scoffed dramatically. “I just blummin’ fell apart and you want to put me back in the sea!”

She hummed in thought. “Maybe I should get you glazed.”

“LIZZIE.”

[noonaishere]

Music of the Heart [J.YH] - eighteen | thinking about hats

You walked into the recording studio to find Hongjoong sitting by himself. “Oh, good, you’re here.”

He turned as you walked in and put your stuff down. 

“Something up?”

“I was thinking about one of the group's backlogs-- Desiré?”

“What about it?”

You sat next to him. “Have you ever checked the line distribution on that group?”

Hongjoong rolled his eyes. “If you’re going to tell me you hate it, that was done by the producer that left. I kept trying to reign in one of the girls who wanted more lines but he kept overriding me.”

“Ah-- well… that’s the member that left, right?” You looked at him expectantly.

“I know I shouldn’t talk shit about other people - especially if they no longer work here - but, yeah. It was her.”

You nodded. “Okay, so, she left and they haven’t had a comeback since then, so I was wondering what the plan was for them, going forward. Are they still under contract?”

“Umm…” he thought. “I don’t know if they’ve been approached about a comeback yet. Why?”

“Well, I think we can maybe correct some of the issues that… the guy who left caused.”

“I think I know what you might bring up, but, go ahead and tell me.”

“I don’t think Guy Who Left knew how to utilize their rapper properly.”

“What do you mean?”

“She’s barely in the song and then when she does show up, her flow is the same in every single song. It’s always at the same bpm and it never varies in any of the raps.”

“Well, I think our ‘friend’ wrote the raps himself.”

You scoffed. “He wasn’t very good at it.”

Hongjoong snorted a laugh. “Was that all?”

“In almost every song the rapper had nothing to do until her part. Why even have her?”

“I think it’s because of their time of debut: everyone had to have a rapper, even if they didn’t use them.”

“Can she sing? Maybe we can give her a few more lines in the bridge or something so she has something to do.”

“If she’s not opposed to it, I don’t see why not.”

“And for her rap verses, I think we should add more of an exaggerated beat behind them. It would make sense when it’s the bridge, and it would help to emphasize her part more. Or maybe we can pare down the melody so it’s not fighting against her. We should also vary her flow so every song doesn’t seem like it grinds to a halt when she starts rapping.”

“That’s good feedback. Unfortunately I think their songs might be handed over to another producer for their next comeback.”

“Oh… really?”

“Yeah. I believe it was a request they made before our ‘friend’ actually left, and before the member who left also left.”

“They didn’t leave together, did they?”

“Separate things.”

You sighed. You got up and got your notebook out of your bag. Hongjoong was quiet for a few moments before breaking the silence.

“You had a lot of ideas though, huh?”

“Oh,” you shrugged, “just stuff I thought about while I was transcribing.”

He nodded. “It’s always a bit sad when you think of things and can’t realize them creatively.”

You nodded.

“But, we have more groups and soloists than just Jongho who will have comebacks, so maybe you’ll get to be more involved with one of them.”

You looked at him for a moment before nodding. He was probably just being nice. After all, how much could a bassist affect the production or sound of an album?

“Hey everyone.” Maddox sang as he walked through the door. “Look who I found in the hallway.”

Jongho followed him in with Yunho carrying his stuff behind him.

“‘Found’ hyung? We were in the lobby before you.”

Maddox put the coffee carrier on the table and hung his coat up. “Po-tay-to, po-tah-to.”

“I thought it was ‘to-may-to, to-mah-to.’”

Maddox sighed dramatically. “Well, we’ll have to call the whole thing off. And I had booked such a nice venue, too.”

You chuckled and got your order from the carrier, placing everyone else’s on the table so they could grab them.

“T/n, can you come in later than me once in a while so I don’t have to always get the coffee order?”

You smiled. “I wasn’t aware my promptness was putting such a damper on your life.”

Maddox smiled in response. His request obviously wasn’t a real one.

“He’s our beloved Goldfish Boy. It’s impossible for him to come in on time, no matter how many times I’ve told him to.”

Maddox’s cheeks reddened with a slight tinge of shame. “But hey! I always get everyone’s coffee. If it weren’t for me, you’d have to get it yourselves.”

“Truly our lives would be for the lesser,” you nodded.

“I can’t tell whether you’re joking or not.”

You smiled. “I’m not.”

Hours later, as recording dragged on, you had all decided a break was in order. Hongjoong left for the bathroom, Jongho was listening to the track again while Yunho looked at his phone as he sat at the table. You were sitting on one of the couches with your bass, working on a bassline, and Maddox was slumped in one of the couches looking at his phone.

“Hey.” He said as he leaned over.

Upon looking up his face was so close to yours that you jumped back in your seat. “--What?”

Out of the corner of your eye you could see Yunho look up at your startled question. He stared at you and Maddox. 

You moved back further. “What?”

He shoved his phone into your face. “What’s this called? A cap?” He had the hat section of a clothing website open. He pointed at the type of hat he meant.

“Are you trying to make me blind?” You pushed his hand back as you tried to make your eyes focus on the screen. 

Yunho looked back down at his phone.

You looked at the hat for a couple seconds. “A snapback?” 

“Ahh, yeah! Snapback.”

You laughed softly.

He leaned back and looked at the screen wistfully. “I want to buy one but they don’t go well with my face.”

“No?”

He shook his head as he scrolled.

“Try… maybe a cadet cap then? If you really want a cap-type hat. Personally, I would suggest something with a full brim like a fedora or a panama hat. If you wear it further back on your head so it frames your face, that would look nice.”

He turned to you. “You think so?”

“Mhm.”

“Hmm..”

He went back to scrolling and you left him to his millineristic thoughts.

About two or so hours later, after Jongho and Yunho had left for the night, you and Maddox became aware of a constant drone of Hongjoong’s keyboard. The two of you looked up from what you were doing and looked over at Hongjoong. He was slumped over his keyboard, most of the keys on it being pressed down by his torso, arms, and face as he slept.

Maddox looked at you for a moment in astonishment, stood and checked him. “He’s alive.”

You stifled a laugh.

“But dead asleep.” Maddox shut off the keyboard. “Let’s go home.”

“You’re going to leave him like that?” You asked quietly.

He nodded and responded as quietly as you did. “Laying like that? He can sleep through anything. I didn’t even have to turn the keyboard off, he would have slept through it.”

You laughed as quietly as you could as you both put your things together and left the studio.

“But I’d rather we don’t get yelled at for the electricity bill.”

You exhaled another laugh.

*ᵐᶦˡˡᶦⁿᵉʳᶦˢᵗᶦᶜ ⁻ ᵒᶠ ᵒʳ ʰᵃᵛᶦⁿᵍ ᵗᵒ ᵈᵒ ʷᶦᵗʰ ʰᵃᵗ ᵐᵃᵏᶦⁿᵍ ᵒʳ ʰᵃᵗˢ

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luvvvx • iamthehotdemon • 

[tobiasdrake]

Looks like it's all over. Haruhi has been vomited back up and all that's left is the denouement.

In an isolated location and with no warning whatsoever, Yuki ate Haruhi over wifi and then rewrote all of time and space in like three seconds. I would love to know what exactly Itsuki's bosses think he could possibly have done to stop this.

"Yeah, Suzumiya-san was dragging you around by your tie as she does and then you said some shit and she shoved you, not realizing a stairwell was behind you at the time. Fortunately she cheesed it out of there immediately to avoid getting in trouble. Then a passing student found the bloody Kyon Heap and called for an ambulance.

We've planned a memorial service to mourn your passing during the Christmas Party. Suzumiya-san will be thrilled to hear that you'll be in attendance."

Okay, I love the implication that Future Kyon and the two Asahinas stabilized Kyon, got him into a not-dying-immediately condition... and then Future Asahina threw him down a flight of stairs.

Just. Fireman carried his stitched up and unconscious body into the top floor of the school building and then hurled him and let gravity do what it may.

I will forgive Mikuru's uselessness and the skipping of the Ryoko and Yuki resolution in the climax of this movie if they animate and show us that scene. I need Mikuru hurling Kyon down a stairwell.

That "I fell down some stairs" is a stereotypical code for domestic violence in the U.S. makes this line extra funny from an American perspective.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA THAT'S ADORABLE HAHAHAHA

See. I have never bought for a second that Kyon secretly enjoys all of this or has feelings for Haruhi but Haruhi having feelings for Kyon is something that the show has actually put the work into demonstrating repeatedly.

This is perfect. I love that she did this.

No, you won't; The show got cancelled.

I like how Yuki gives this technical explanation for why it was logistically non-viable to warn Kyon ahead of time that she was going to eat Haruhi.

And then he just cuts right through it.

Like. She didn't tell him because she wanted him to make the other choice. She stands by what she did. As she says at the start of this conversation,

She's not sorry. She just. Failed. She had an emotional breakdown and tried to rewrite the universe in a way that honestly wasn't even bad. But then Kyon stopped her. And now we all have to. Just. Like. Move on from it.

I like the way this ending is so sympathetic to Yuki despite technically being the film's chief antagonist. Because what she did wasn't even so bad and she did it for completely understandable reasons.

She just wanted to rest. And to feel. And to have her friend back. Again, I am actually more on Yuki's side of this than I am on Kyon's.

"I'll tell Haruhi that you deleted one of her besties and then she will come for you like a firestorm in the source code of reality and time. You've seen the shit she does to people she likes. You really want to find out what she looks like when homicidally pissed?

You touch Yuki and you are going to be Haruhi's laptop before you even know what happened. Your entire existence will become googling inane teenager things and stuff that gets her put on a No-Fly List for the rest of her life."

I would love to know what exactly Kyon thinks Mikuru and Itsuki are going to contribute to a retaliatory crusade against a cosmic AI from beyond time and space.

And then she tried to stab you.

Twice! And one of them succeeded.

My dude, I don't think Ryoko is the example you want to use here. Yeah, they did make an AI who's cheerful and personable and has a social life but she also very much did try to stab you half to death once and then successfully stab you half to death again.

I mean, I'm down for a Yuki that stabs you with a knife every time you join in the gross Mikuru shit. But I don't think that's what you're looking for.

"...from the SOS Brigade. I need to remember to raise a toast to US: The cause of and solution to all of the world's problems.

[qqueenofhades]

seeing the maneuvers by Biden and his team in recent days/weeks really makes me appreciate the good that experience in legislating does for actually getting things done!

I mean... yeah. Dark Brandon really went OFF yesterday, and it was very satisfying to watch. Whether it was the White House official twitter account dragging (by name!) all the Republicans whining about student debt relief since they had their much larger PPP loans forgiven, or Biden repeatedly calling out the MAGA Republicans (protip, my man, there's nothing "semi" about their fascism, they're just fascists), or unveiling a fairly comprehensive student debt reform plan that represents the largest attempt to fix multiple aspects of this issue in literal DECADES, they've definitely put on their Get Shit Done underpants in recent weeks, and I'm all for it. Also, let us not forget that Biden flat-out promised that if Dems keep the House and expand their Senate majority, they will BAN ASSAULT WEAPONS. That is a) incredibly important, and b) incredibly strong, since Democrats have usually meekly tiptoed around the gun-control issue and ceded way too much ground to the loonies. The vast majority of America, as they should, wants assault weapons to be outlawed again, so actually saying that the Democrats will do it is Major.

At this particular moment, I think the administration is doing a genuinely great job, and this comes after I was considerably critical of them, and Biden personally, for the initial response to Dobbs and the pacing of the DOJ investigation into Trump. They got the IRA passed by completely faceplanting Mitch McConnell, they slipped in that provision that once more allows the EPA to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, they are actually going on the offensive, widely publicizing their accomplishments, and calling out the danger of the Republicans. It also does seem that this strategy is working; Democrat Pat Ryan just won a special House election for NY-19, which is a rural, upstate, swing NY district where his Republican opponent was supposedly ahead by eight points on the day of the election. He also did so by focusing almost entirely on the issues of safeguarding the right to abortion and protecting democracy from Trump. If that message can win in red rural NY, it can win nationwide, and hopefully other Democrats in competitive races are taking notes.

Back in May, when Biden's approval rating was in the mid-30s and gas was above $5 a gallon, it did feel more like we might have been heading for a red wave, which would have obviously been calamitous. But there's been a major shift in the political winds in the last few weeks, Biden's approval rating is picking up steam, and all the actual elections we have had have shown Democrats drastically overperforming for the expected disadvantages of a new president's first midterm year. This definitely is not a normal election cycle, and if we keep up the pressure, we can get a more favorable Congress and do even MORE on all this stuff. But they've made at least a start on pretty much every important left-wing issue, and I'm absolutely willing to give them kudos for that, considering the incredibly difficult political environment and the ungodly mess that they inherited. So yes: it's almost like electing people who have a lot of experience and know how to do the job, instead of acting like kooky "Outsider Mavericks!!" who have no clue what they're doing and are only there to fundraise and posture on social media, is a GOOD thing. Who knew.

[pinkhorsepro123]

So, I just recently watched the 4 episodes of Hazbin Hotel, and MAN IVE GOT SO MUCH TO SAY

Spoilers underneath the read more!

I will be critical of some things, as a writer it's kind of in my blood to be lol.

But I want to first say, it was WELL WORTH THE WAIT. I usually don't like these type of adult shows, yet I still loved watching it, and am having trouble not rewatching it already lol.

I'm going to go over my few criticisms first before I go over the, many positives. (Not all of them, I'll be here writing this all night lol

My main problem is the fact that those who watch it without knowledge of the Pilot will be quite confused. I feel like, they should've either remade it or even put it on there as the first episode.

Also, at first I found the musical bits to be embarrassing, but at the same time they're perfect. If it didn't have them, I don't think it would be Hazbin Hotel.

Katie Killjoy, her voice is not, right- I understand though if that's the only time we'll hear from her. If not though, definitely needs a new one. The only other voice I despise is Val's, it might be because I love how ParanoidDJ does him. It just, doesn't scream the pimp to me. The rest, even if at first I found it meh, as time went on I grew to love them. (Nothing against the voice actors of course! Just doesn't fit the characters)

For EP 4, my only complaint is that there should've been a content warning before it. Even just saying that there's triggering topics ahead would've sufficed. Although those who know Hazbin Hotel knew what Angel was going through, there will be a few that join without knowing that, only to stumble upon a real fucked up situation they weren't prepared for.

On the situation, I didn't know of the leak I've seen people mention, but istg if I see one more saying it was abuse being sexualized-

It was the purest form of abuse, rape, addiction and sex trafficking, uncensored forcefulness. Angel Dust is a bdsm porn actress who is owned by his pimp. Obviously he's going to have shit done to him, and a lot of it is stuff he's high as a kite while doing.

How the fuck is that sexy? It's one, a song about being fed "poison", shows just enough that you know what's happening but doesn't show more, and in the end he's having a meltdown wishing for help. If it had full sex scenes I could understand that line of thinking, but it doesn't. So yeah, I don't understand it.

Ok tangent is done-

That's pretty much all of my complaints, now for the positives!

The 1st episode finally fixed the major plot point in the pilot, being the angels themselves. It wasn't explained why the angels themselves kill sinners, and the whole just why it's considered overcrowded despite not seeming bursting at the seams (especially considering all the dead bodies around-). The story makes a lot more sense too, the background of why Lucifer and Lilith are the way they are.

Adam, is fucking hilarious. Like seriously, if you can make that kind of character funny you're doing something right. Charlie is perfect, they did a really good job at making her not too innocent. Vaggie and Charlie's relationship is amazing, the fact that they're equals and all.

Angel Dust, they did a pretty good job on showing how good his mask is, yet showing the small cracks every episode. Husker's voice, I was unsure about it at first but by the 2nd episode I loved it. Alastor, perfect. The fact he's so powerful yet still wants recognition is great in showing he is human.

The three V's time!

Vox, well disregarding personal hc's for him, he is GREAT. His personality is funny, and makes so much sense, his voice actor is great, his design mwah, what else can I say?

Velvette, I fucking LOVE HER. Her accent, new design, personality, amazing! There was so little content for her I always wondered what was going to happen. Now, I can say with confidence they did her well.

Other than his voice, Val is done really well. His act in front of Charlie is perfect, and the fact that he seems to love pushing others buttons for entertainment (as shown by Vox) makes so much sense. His narcissism and abusive nature is on point.

The Overlord meeting was really cool. The characters, the way they interact, their designs and voices, love them. Alastor just being on the side is hilarious too.

As a multi shipper, I love both RadioDust and HuskerDust(and many more, basically if the ship is healthy and cute I'll probably like it) ... So I can safely say THAT DUET WAS FUCKING AMAZING-

It's so them too, the fact Husker is horrible at comforting others but still manages to, Angel at first being suspicious, only to slowly let down his walls and join in.

Charlie at Angel's place, I never expected honestly. I didn't know how I expected it to happen, but not in the studio-

Their relationship is really pure considering everything, and it's nice to see.

I think that's, about all I have for my critiques and compliments, well as much as I can give before I explode-

There's only a few things I'm gonna be disappointed if they don't talk about in the series, the main thing is how Charlie is trying to "redeem" Angel Dust by getting him off drugs, completely incorrectly-

I hope it'll be talked about- and finally, I hope Vark is going to be a thing still, the little guy was so coot.

Even if he looks completely different I'm just fine with that. He's a shark pet! What more could you want lol

Ok My head hurts I've stared at this screen for much too long.

Thanks for coming to my Ted talk