#everybody else looks like they’ve figured it out

[dyingsunsthatlaugh]

blah blah my life sucks this blah blah blah everything is stupid that…have you listened to nonbeliever by lucy dacus? because i know just the way to cure all your ailments..

[lucydacusgirl]

Literally you shook my hand and said goodbye you said you’ll never let me see you cry again.... why would you say that to me Lucy Dacus

[morganbritton132]

Hi, I binge read the entirety of your EMTTS and i absolutely love it! I wanted to thank you for your dedication and for how much you made me laugh. It's really great to find a saga that's funny and also gut-wrenching and written by someone who's a) very talented and b) clearly loves the characters and makes them very well rounded even in little snippets of life. So thank you!!

I also can't stop thinking about the initial "is Dustin a person or a dog" confusion and how much it reminds me of that episode of B99 where everyone's asking subtle questions to their coworker to understand if Kelly is his wife or dog, like "did you two go on any nice walks recently?" and i can see someone like David trying it and failing

Thank you so much for so many kind words and I’m glad that you’re enjoying the series because I am too! (Also, super impressed you got through it because it’s a lot!). I love that cold opening of Brooklyn 99 and it was the inspiration for that tag.

Also, I love the idea of the first-year teachers trying to figure out if Dustin is a person or a dog. That’s brilliant!

And what’s funny is that David’s not even wrong in this situation.

He is like 99% sure that Dustin is the name of Steve’s brother, but he’s been wrong about literally everything else, so this debate continues into its third week at their table in the teacher’s lounge.

David argues, “I’ve heard him refer to Dustin as a kid.”

“People call their dogs their fur babies all the time,” Marissa argues back. “He’s had that dog for a few years, right? Certainly not a baby anymore so, kid.”

It is not helped by the fact that none of them have any memory of ever hearing Steve address his service dog by name. They’ve heard him call him ‘buddy.’ They’ve heard him say ‘c’mon, pal.’ There was even an unenthused ‘Ozz-some’ last week when Ozzy alerted Steve to an impending seizure during his lunch break.

Have any of them thought of looking at the dog’s collar? No.

They haven’t even considered asking a student.

They are in the middle of this debate when Steve comes into the teacher’s lounge to refill his coffee mug for the third time that day. If he notices that the room goes quiet every time he walks in, he doesn’t make any indication of it when he smiles tiredly, “Hey, guys.”

They murmur their hellos and give each other significant looks, daring the others to ask the important questions. No one asks. No one actually says anything until Steve yawns.

“Long night?”

“Yeah, definitely. Dustin had me up ‘til two in the morning,” Steve yawns again. He doesn’t notice how everybody perks up at that. “Poor guy gets so anxious this time of year.”

“Oh, really?” Marissa asks, giving David a look that says ‘see, dog.’. “Because of the homecoming fireworks?”

Steve hums in agreement and shakes his head like he sometimes does when he’s shaking a memory loose. He’s speaking more to himself when he adds, “I think I’m going to take him to the park after work. Get some fresh air, some exercise. He’s been cooped up for too long.”

“Anyways,” Steve says with a smile, tipping his coffee mug to them. “Gotta get back to grading papers.”  

[cheshiresense]

[From Here]

Dithered over which pov to write next, figured I’d try Yuzu.

-0-

When Yuzu gets a phone call from Ichigo that they would be having two guests for dinner tonight, she is delighted. In all the years she’s known him, her brother has only ever introduced one person to them as something of a friend. Mizuiro is half a sibling at this point, trusted enough to be around them even when Ichigo isn’t, but before him, and after him, nobody else has ever caught Ichigo’s eye enough to warrant an actual invitation to dine with their family.

“They’re related to ghost stuff,” Ichigo adds bluntly, and Yuzu understands that to mean that these two will at least be tougher than the average yakuza on the street, even if they can’t match up to her brother.

“I understand!” She chirps back cheerfully. “I’ll let Karin know. I can’t wait to meet them!”

Then she hangs up, rolls up her sleeves, and gets to work in the kitchen. No guests of her brother’s will ever accuse them of being ungracious hosts on her watch.

(Karin comes home from soccer practice half an hour later. She laughs, as Yuzu does, when Yuzu tells her of their impending guests.)

-0-

Two hours later, Yuzu is putting the finishing touches on the meal when the sound of the door being unlocked carries through the apartment.

"Welcome home, Onii-chan!" She calls out, plating the last dish before carrying it over to the dining table. "Dinner's ready!"

She can hear Karin leaving their bedroom and coming down the hall on deliberately heavy footsteps. She appears just as Ichigo comes in from the front, Mizuiro a step behind him, with two men bringing up the rear, vaguely middle-aged at first glance, younger at the second, and then just ageless the more you stare.

They're tall, is Yuzu's first thought, but everybody's tall from her perspective. Still, they're taller than Ichigo, especially the one in the very back, and bigger too, even if they've got that same elegant dancer's gait her brother walks with, the one that whispers danger in the hindbrain even to those who don't know what to look for. They're also both blond, one darker than the other, but both with hair that nearly reach their shoulders. One wears modern clothing, the other more traditional, and one is empty-handed while the other carries a cane, but both of them take in the whole room in one calculating sweep that misses nothing. And they're both already smiling politely as they walk in, one with a harmless playful edge, the other with a harmless mysterious air, but both as fake as each other.

Yuzu exchanges a glance with Karin just to check she's not seeing things. Karin gives her the eyebrows that means she's noticed too.

Mizuiro had given off a far less dangerous aura when Ichigo had first brought him home. And he still feels much less threatening than these men now, no matter how much Guest One and Guest Two are probably trying to play it down. But back then, Mizuiro had also come in with sharp eyes and a guileless skin-deep smile, and that at least is exactly the same.

Their big brother sure does have a type. Yuzu sometimes wonders if Ichigo goes out and picks the most suspicious and unsettling people he can find to entertain him, or if he just somehow attracts them with his innate charm.

"My sisters, Karin, and Yuzu," Ichigo introduces without suspense, then jabs a thumb at Mizuiro. "And Mizuiro lives next door but he eats with us when we're here."

Then he gestures at the two men. "This is Hirako Shinji and Urahara Kisuke." He pauses for a brief half-second, and his eyes flash gold in Yuzu's, and Karin's, direction. "Hirako's a bit like me." He pauses again, and a funny half-smile hitches at one corner of his mouth. "They both are actually."

He says nothing else, so Yuzu takes that as her cue to sketch a neat half-bow paired with a bright smile. "Hello! It's nice to meet you!"

Beside her, Karin parrots the motion, if in a more perfunctory manner, but they weren't raised in a cave, so they know how to be courteous.

The men murmur back their own greetings even as their gazes shift back and forth between them and their brother like they're trying to pick up on a second unspoken conversation, but it's not as if there's anything for them to hear either way.

It's just that the introduction was short, names and little else, so Yuzu knows that they're equally untrustworthy, which makes sense because Ichigo couldn't have known them for more than a week or two. But the little else he'd tacked on had been a sign as well— not just that they're like him in some ways, in different ways, but also that Ichigo likes Hirako more than Urahara. Nevertheless, the fact that he'd brought them here at all means that they're interesting enough to make them both tolerable.

Yuzu understands, as does Karin, but they give no indication of it as everyone shuffles around to wash their hands, and Yuzu quickly scoops out a bowl of rice each for everyone in attendance.

"Onii-chan never invites anybody over, so I made a lot of extra food today," Yuzu tells them happily. "Please eat as much as you want!"

"Everythin' looks delicious," The darker blond, Hirako, grins at her, and this time, the expression seems more genuine. At the very least, it gives her a warmer feeling than the other blond, Urahara, who also smiles and trills agreement but radiates more distance than an overseas phone call.

Everyone settles around the dining table, although Mizuiro spares a moment to pull an exaggerated moue of aggrievement. "Never invites anybody over? Have I been forgotten, Yuzu-chan?"

Karin rolls her eyes while Yuzu giggles merrily. "You don't count, Mizuiro-nii-chan. You already eat with us almost every day anyway."

Mizuiro drops the act in favour of a smirk, though he looks pleased too, to be counted as family, as if the novelty of it still hasn't worn off. To be fair, it had taken a whole six months before Ichigo had been willing to leave him in the same vicinity as Yuzu and Karin on their own, and Yuzu knows that being trusted like that by her brother is no small feat.

Conversation drops as everybody begins digging in, and Yuzu lets her gaze drift casually over to their guests as they too pick up their bowls and chopsticks.

It's Urahara she lingers on first because he's the one who lifts his bowl to his mouth, only to stop at the last second, chopsticks poised. His expression doesn't really change, and the lapse only lasts a fraction of a second before he's moving again, smoothly pretending to eat a mouthful before lowering his bowl again, chewing and swallowing thin air masterfully. Even Yuzu only spots it because she's been watching the whole time from behind lowered eyelashes as she grabs some eggplant from one of the vegetable dishes.

She lets her gaze drop completely when she feels the man's eyes move from the food to her and then to Ichigo. Still, she can't quite suppress a pout, although she supposes she can't be too disappointed either since Hirako at least eats a good five bites of his rice before suddenly stiffening, glancing down sharply even as his eyes flicker with the same burnished gold colour that her brother possesses.

Then he looks up, looks at Urahara, looks at her, looks long at Ichigo, and then-

-he laughs. It's a bark of one that echoes with a snarl, except the mirth in it is also entirely genuine, enough for Yuzu to glance up with startled eyes. But the rest of the table does as well, so at least she doesn't stand out. Of course, that doesn't prevent Hirako from grinning at her, all teeth, with a bite that would feel like claws at her throat if not for the fact that it's coloured by something even warmer than when he'd complimented her spread. Appreciation, maybe.

"Is it the rice?" He muses candidly, and then actually eats another bite. "Nah, can't be, it was from the same cooker. It's the bowl, right? Not bad, I can't smell or taste anythin'."

Yuzu blinks and shares another look with Karin, who looks largely bored by the proceedings and hasn't stopped eating. Soccer practice always makes her hungry. But she also shrugs in agreement that Hirako is being sincere, so Yuzu relaxes and looks at her brother next.

Ichigo also hasn't stopped eating, although he isn't shovelling food into his mouth as speedily as Karin is. He swallows, glances leisurely at their guests, then looks back at her. "Not bad. Nothing in the food though?"

Yuzu frowns. "It's the first time you've invited them over, Onii-chan. I didn't want to scare them off."

Also, they're tolerable, and Ichigo even likes one of them, so she'd chosen the mildly poisoned bowls over the severely poisoned ones.

Ichigo just looks amused. "They don't scare easily."

Yuzu pouts again before glancing at their two guests, who are both watching them openly now. Hirako still looks like he's just heard a grand joke, while Urahara seems more than a little bemused, but neither of them feels angry.

Her big brother really is an excellent judge of character.

"You really didn't notice anything at all?" Yuzu asks in earnest, peering at Hirako before squinting at Urahara. "Then how come he did? And did you already shake the poison off?"

Hirako snorts and reaches for the communal chopsticks to swipe another chicken wing. "My... constitution's pretty good at negatin' toxins. And Kisuke's trained for this sort of thing."

Trained? Yuzu stares wide-eyed at Urahara long enough for the man to stop exuding caution and start manifesting awkwardness, which isn't what she wants so she hastily blurts out, "Are you really? So you can identify any poison? But the one I made is an original, so you shouldn't have come across it before."

Urahara stares back at her for a long blank-faced moment, not even bothering to stitch on a smile anymore, and like this, he matches the flat undercurrent of his emotions much better, like ice over water, except the water is the ocean and you don't know how deep it goes or what's waiting underneath.

"Ah," The man finally says, lifting a hand to his hat for a moment and pressing down on it so that his eyes are hidden. Then he looks up again and eyes her like he's seeing her for the first time and is pleasantly surprised by what he's found. "I may not know the exact poison, but I could still tell there was something off. Also, it's plant-based, isn't it?"

He pauses, and then, just like Hirako, he picks up his rice bowl again and swallows a decent mouthful, chewing almost thoughtfully beforehand. "And refined with reiatsu. That's actually more difficult to hide from me. Your technique is clumsy too. Give me an hour and I could probably also tell you the strains you crossed to make it. For now, at the very least, I can say there's definitely wisteria in this."

Yuzu is rendered speechless for a full five seconds. And then she snaps out of it and rounds on her brother with the best puppy eyes in her arsenal. She knows they don't actually work, but Ichigo tends to give in to her when she pulls them out anyway because it means she really wants something. "Onii-chan, you'll invite them back again, won't you? Urahara-san is amazing! I could learn so much if he teaches me!"

Ichigo's eyebrows go up for a moment in a way that speaks of indulgence, but he also glances lazily at Urahara before going back to his food. "Ask him yourself."

Yuzu pulls up short, always slightly stunned whenever her brother refuses her, even when it's not a direct refusal. But generally speaking, if she or Karin wants something enough to ask for it, Ichigo has always been the sort to simply make it happen for them. The only times he's ever refused is when he'd thought it too unnecessary - Karin really shouldn't have asked for a flamethrower for her birthday, it's unwieldy and she can't hide it in her backpack, plus they know how to make Molotov cocktails already anyway, which is almost the same thing - or when he'd considered it important for them to get what they want on their own, usually because it would make for a useful life skill in the future.

Never has it been because of a person.

But for the first time ever, this situation seems to have fallen into that exact category, which... She looks back at Urahara with more curiosity than before. For someone Ichigo only finds tolerable, something about this man has... impressed him? Is that what's going on here? Not even Mizuiro has ever succeeded in that before, so for once, Yuzu has no precedent to draw from.

Well, that doesn't matter right now. The important thing is that Urahara will probably remain in her big brother's life for some time to come, which means-

"Urahara-san!" She shoots to her feet, chair clattering back with the force of it as she bows. "Please teach me more about poisons! It's okay if it's just a little bit, whenever you have time. I promise I'll work hard! And of course, I can pay for the lessons!"

She does some mental tallying. There's a bake sale coming up for her club, and the venue they've chosen is close enough to the Karakura border to attract people from the neighbouring town. If she plays her cards right, some thugs from nearby yakuza groups probably wouldn't mind donating to her cause. Pretty little girls offering pretty little cakes are bound to reel in at least a few idiots.

Of course, she'll have to ask Ichigo to get rid of them afterwards. It's better not to risk putting anything too lethal into a school bake sale, just in case of an accident, so she'll have to stick with upset stomachs at most. Once they've paid up, Ichigo can make them disappear. Those upset stomachs can get really gross, and blood and guts aren't much better if cleanup gets messy, so Yuzu would rather not deal with that part.

Unlike her siblings who don't mind it, Yuzu is unfortunately something of a clean freak. Karin always taunts her about having inherited their father's delicate constitution, and Yuzu can't even refute it, no matter how insulted she feels. It's seriously unfair because she can gut a fish in the kitchen no problem, but human intestines make her gag.

"I-" Urahara starts, jolting her out of her thoughts. The man looks taken aback all over again, and like he's missed a step somewhere. He even feels a bit nervous as he whips out a paper fan of all things, one that hides half his face from view. His gaze bounces between her and her brother, emitting enough anxious vibes that Yuzu suddenly wants to give him an emotional support dog or something. "I'm not sure I would be the... best choice for this sort of thing, Kurosaki-san."

Yuzu is unsure who he's talking to, but just in case it's her, she rearranges her face into the most kicked puppy look of disappointment she's capable of. "Why not? You know your poisons, and it looks like it'll be hard for me to kill you. Onii-chan can only teach me so much, it's not really his area, so I've only been able to trial-and-error it for months now. But I'm a quick learner, and I swear I'll listen to anything you're willing to teach me. Or, is it the money? Just name your price."

Even if she can't come up with it all on her own, she's certain Ichigo will help pay the rest. Honestly, even if it's within her budget, he'll just pour the same amount she shells out back into her bank account. The only reason they have to go in a big circle like this is because Ichigo wants them to learn how to handle money responsibly.

"That's not-" Urahara stops again, then snaps his fan shut, and then all of a sudden, it's like a wall comes up, and everything about him shuts down. He straightens, features as unreadable as the rest of him, and then he turns to Ichigo so that it's unmistakeable who he's talking to this time. "Kurosaki-san, is this really alright?"

Ichigo's basically finished eating at this point. Karin gets up for another bowl of rice. Mizuiro watches them like he's binging one of his romance dramas. And Hirako has his head propped up against one loose fist, eyes half-lidded but intent.

In response, Ichigo only shrugs. "I mean, you can say no. But like she said, I can't teach her much more than I already have, and it's not like she's gonna find a better teacher than you at this point, right?"

"And where did you learn it from?" Urahara asks, grey eyes riveted on Ichigo with the sort of focus that feels like he might've forgotten anyone else even exists.

Ichigo actually quirks a smile, sardonically amused. "Same place I learned everything else."

He doesn't expand on it, keeping the conversation on track instead, much to Yuzu's delight. "Anyway, if you're asking for permission, obviously it's a yes. I wouldn't have let her ask in the first place if I wasn't okay with it. And she's smart. You could do worse for a part-time student."

Urahara remains motionless and unblinking for another few seconds. "...Was this why you invited us for dinner?"

Ichigo shrugs again. "Not really. It's not like I knew you knew poisons. I just thought my sisters should meet you, that's all."

"And why's that?" Hirako interjects, also watching Ichigo with gleaming eyes that never waver. "Cuz ya don't seem the type to let jus' anyone get close to your nearest and dearest."

Ichigo turns to him, and his eyes are fond in a way they very rarely are when aimed at anyone not Yuzu or Karin or Mizuiro. It's not quite on the same level, but it does make it even more obvious that Hirako has her brother's favour.

"I thought it'd be good if they knew a few Shinigami," Ichigo says offhandedly, although judging by the slight stir of surprise from both guests, they hadn't expected he would just come out and say it. Or perhaps they're surprised he's talking about it in front of Yuzu and Karin and Mizuiro? But they're family. Yuzu doesn't know everything about Ichigo, but that's just because she doesn't want to know that much about her brother's life, not because Ichigo wouldn't tell her if she or Karin asks.

"You seem like you might bring trouble to my doorstep one day," Ichigo says, somewhat out of the blue, and all at once, Urahara tugs at his hat again just as Yuzu gets a sense of shifty-eyed discomfort all but waving support lights over the man's head. Hirako sort of feels the same, but in a less... personal way.

So whatever's going on, Urahara's probably the one in charge.

Ichigo seems to sense it too, or he's long guessed it considering his not great feelings for Urahara. Either way, he scoffs, and the light in his eyes says he's annoyed, but not annoyed enough to do something permanent about it. Yet. "Yeah, that's what I thought. So I figured it's better for you to know who you should do your very best to protect if shit goes down around them, because otherwise, I might not even feel like hearing you out. Understand?"

Hirako glances at Yuzu, at Karin, even at Mizuiro, then he turns back to Ichigo, solemn in a way Yuzu hasn't seen since they met, "I understand."

It sounds like a promise.

Ichigo hums, satisfied. Neither of them prods at Urahara for an answer, and Urahara doesn't give one. He feels flat again, like a scrap of paper.

"So like I said," Ichigo continues briskly. "If you wanna teach her, knock yourself out. You can send me the bill."

Yuzu beams at him. Looks like she won't have to waste any cakes.

From his seat, Urahara heaves a sigh, and now he just seems tired and still a bit baffled, but he also finally looks at her again like he's assessing her potential. Yuzu straightens and adopts her best imploring face.

This of all things makes Urahara's mouth twitch, and he even feels amused, except it's the sort of amusement that's all wrapped up in razor-wire mockery. That bit doesn't show on his face of course. Still, Yuzu's fingers suddenly itch with the urge to swap out his bowl with the other one after all.

"So clumsy," The man muses, one finger tapping at the cane leaning against his chair. "...Very well, I suppose I may have a few things I can impart to a budding... chemistry enthusiast. On one condition however. And I don't want money."

He looks at Ichigo again, except he doesn't say anything. Ichigo seems to understand anyway because a grin pulls at his lips, a touch too savage to fit on a human face, and aimed at anyone else, Yuzu knows they wouldn't even have time to pick out a coffin.

Urahara seems to be an exception. It makes Yuzu wonder if he's just that strong, certain in his ability to forever remain stronger than her brother, or if he's simply gambling with his life, and it's Ichigo instead who's decided to be uncharacteristically patient.

She hopes it's not the former, because she has no faith in anyone who thinks themselves capable of staying ahead of her brother forever. But if it's the latter, then maybe she'll have enough time to wheedle out everything Urahara knows of poisons before Ichigo snaps and kills him.

"That seems a bit unbalanced," Ichigo remarks.

Urahara inclines his head, and this time, his voice rings of the same vow that had reverberated in Hirako's earlier. "Upon my blade, my life before your family's, should the worst come to pass."

Ichigo laughs, soft and without humour. "This trouble must be something else. That, or you don’t think your life’s worth all that much. But fine. We'll hash it out tomorrow. Keep your word, and I might even go along with whatever you and your people have been cooking up. But Yuzu gets to bug you for lessons any day of the week from now on."

And once again, between one breath and the next, Urahara trades the gravity for the false affability from before.

It's like watching a performance, Yuzu thinks.

She glances at her brother and watches him watch Urahara, still annoyed, still a bit like he could put a knife through the other's ribs if it wouldn't mean the hassle of mopping blood off the floor.

Ichigo likes Hirako. Yuzu does too, even though they just met not even half an hour ago. There's something about him that makes him approachable and friendly despite the very obvious beast lurking beneath his skin. But that too might be part of the charm because Yuzu's long used to the same thing from her brother. Knowing even just that much, it's not a shock that Ichigo has clicked with him - a fellow monster - in a way he never has even with Mizuiro.

But Urahara is different. Urahara is treated with tolerance only, with irritation and discontent and even derision, on and off. But Yuzu knows that her brother has killed people for a whole lot less than that, and yet here Urahara sits at their family's table while Ichigo looks at him from time to time, tolerant and irritated and discontent and derisive, and he can't stop looking.

She wonders if even her brother is aware of what he's doing.

"I'll leave my number," The man offers, complete with a genial smile. "And you may stop by my shop anytime. Allow me a few days, and I shall have some reading material organized for you."

Yuzu perks up, nods, and finally sits back down, then gets up again to fetch two extra bowls of rice, this time clean of any poison. Hirako snickers but accepts his with a nod. Urahara does the same, with that same winning smile, and then dinner restarts, this time uninterrupted.

Well, who cares if Ichigo is aware or not? He’ll figure it out sooner or later. And besides, it’s all the same in the end— people who push her brother too far will face the consequences, and those who don't will not. That's just the simple truth of it.

But in the meantime, Urahara at least won't be going anywhere, which means Yuzu can finally get some guidance for one of her favourite hobbies, and honestly, that's all she really cares about.

[billskeis]

HEASIAIZIA HAI

CAN YOU MAKE LIKE BILL BEING A POLICE OFFICER AND THE READER DOING SOME STUFF THAT COULD GET HER IN JAIL BUT LIKE ok LISTEN she does the "everybody knows that im a good girl officer" thing (song by Lana del rey playing dangerous) and he lets her go but like the next day they meet again and go on a date and HOOKUP but he punishes her for doing that stuff (perhaps if it could be spraying on like stores if you get me) like punishes her not letting her release TYING HER WITH THE HANDCUFFS UGHHHHahhshshsHAJDSJS

ᡣ𐭩 police officer bill

police lights flash behind as you attempt to catch your breath in an alleyway. on the run, you’re currently hiding from the police as they’ve caught onto you and a couple of fiends vandalizing public buildings with vulgar graffitis.

as you hide your body behind a garbage chute, you kneel down to make yourself less known to the open world.

shouts boom across the street seeming as though a few of the cops have already caught onto your other friends.

bless the heavens that you weren’t caught.. yet.

“haah.. phew..! i think, i think i made it out alive!” speaking to yourself as somebody else was there.

“i don’t exactly think so, schatz.”

“oh sh—”

in your feeble escape, you try to make a run for it until a pair of arms latch onto your shoulders and push your body up against theirs.

“fuck! ow..”

“you really thought that you could get away..?”

you turn to look at the body that’s pressed up against yours. he was tall, and really pretty, actually you wondered why he didn’t just work as a model instead of being a police officer.

black locs adorned his face, with an eyebrow piercing accompanying his right, are they allowed to wear those on duty?

whatever, it makes him look hot.

“well.. i’ve been such a good girl officer.”

“my ass, you’ve been vandalizing the streets and these buildings for weeks and you know it.”

“it adds a little.. character! what can i say, this city could use a little colour to it.”

“as much as i love art, princess, what you’re doing is ILLEGAL.”

“no, what’s illegal is how hard you have this gun pressed into my backside, it hurts.”

“..?”

“um hello?? officer—”

you turn to find his name tag attached to the right side of his uniform. bill. officer bill.

“officer bill, can you at least move your gun to—i don’t know—the side more??”

“oh my sweet little thing.. that isn’t a gun.”

…

“oh.”

your eyes meet his, dark brown irises highlighted in the sunny light, his lips curled into a downward smile although his voice stern. it seems as though this police officer enjoys having you up against him.

you feel a rush of heat go to your cheeks, so you turn your body around. embarrassed, why? fuck if you’d know..

well maybe it’s the fact that the officer that currently has you captive in the back of an alleyway is not only super fucking gorgeous but he’s PACKING.

“i.. i—”

“i’m going to let you go.”

he releases his grip on you and you turn your full body to meet him once more, truly relishing in how tall and slim fit his figure is built. you have to look up at him to make eye contact.

“although under one condition,”

“and that is?”

“you go on a date with me,”

“fuck no. i’d rather be caught dead than go on a date with a police officer.”

truth be told, you did wanna go on this date, but your stubborn nature wouldn’t allow you to say yes so easily. you really wanted to test the waters and see how persistent bill was in getting that date.

“fine then, i am obligated to then turn you in.”

“waitwaitwait nevermind i’ll go on that date with you.”

fuck yourself for being this easy..

this little shit, how dare he pull the authority card on you after you had done something illegal and he do his job?? his face once emotionless now held a smirk on his lips before he slipped you a small paper.

“good girl. now stay here for a little longer, i’ll let the others know i couldn’t find you.“

“..kay, but i’m expecting a lot from you just so y’know..”

you wave him off goodbye as you see his figure disappear from away the alleyway. hearing voices chatter, you can only assume he came up with an excuse to let you off the hook in exchange for a date with you.

“oh trust me princess, i will exceed those expectations.”

“i—um..”

“use your words f’me princess,”

“how is this a date!?”

you’re currently on his bed, the tight little number that you wore is currently riding up your thighs as you clench them together.

prior to this, bill took you out to a restaurant that was AMAZING, and insisted that you go back to his house to drink a bit more.

to your naivety, bill had other intentions underlying his silver tongue words.

with your cunt hovering right above the tip of his dick, you cannot find the words to speak. how is this even possible?? how dumb could you be to sleep with a cop?? stupid stupid y/n.

with each hand on the side of your waist, the soft pads of bill’s fingertips graze over your skin sending a shiver up your spine.

“you’re leaking onto me schatzi, sure you don’t want this?”

“shut up..”

with a harsh slam, bill pulls your hips flush to his, bottoming out. you let out a surprised squeak as your walls molds to his shape.

now you’ve had sex before but not with someone this big, the stretch is something you gotta get used to.

if you were to fuck him again.

“you better watch your mouth, maus.”

“f-fuck.. a little warning would be nice, no?”

“hm, nah..”

bill uses his hands to grasp each side of your ass before lifting you up to slide you up and down his length, the stretch burning a bit but it quickly subsides as he makes you ride him.

electricity sparks from within your body and you feel your stomach starting to clench. every time he brings your butt down to touch his thigh your clit rubs his abdomen momentarily.

with your orgasm coming close, you don’t even care about the noises that fall out of your mouth. you sound like a total slut. not that bill even cares.

“i-i’m close..”

he stops.

“bill..!”

“i don’t think you deserve to come yet.”

you grind your hips in circles in an attempts to release but he brings a hand to spank your ass.

“o-ow..”

“gimme a reason to let you release, hm? you been acting up for weeks, plus the multiple warnings the force has given you just hasn’t stopped you from committing crimes has it..?”

you bite your lip in a remains of silence. no way in hell were you going to beg bill to let you come.

he wraps his arms around your waist to bring your torso closer to his, now bringing his mouth to your bare chest to lick a stripe up from in between your breasts.

a moan in approval slips out of bill’s mouth as he then brings his tongue to lick around your right nipple swirling his tongue around it.

he bites on the bud eliciting a wince out of you. your hips still on his, an achy feeling still felt in your cunt as you yearn for more.

“so? what’s it gonna be maus?”

“please..”

“please what?”

“let me come.. bill,”

“okay, but i have another condition for you.”

you cock your head to the side in confusion, wondering what he’s up to now. that is until he releases an arm off you to reach for something on the bedside table.

oh fuck no.

“you kinky shit, handcuffs?”

“it’s apart of my get-up what can i say?”

“n-no.. i’m not wearing those.”

“well then i guess you can’t cum! i can sit and wait here all night baby.”

tears begin to well from your eyes, all you want is the sweet bliss of release and the man who wanted a date with you in the first place clearly isn’t give it to you unless you put your pride aside.

well, fuck it.

you present your wrists pressed together in front of bill, looking around the room in shame. a smirk falling down on his face as he clicks the metal gadget around your limbs now connected with one another.

“good girl.”

again with no warning, bill pistons his hips up into you at a harsh and fast pace. without falter, he keeps his rhythm to which you cannot catch up to.

choking on your words, all you can do is hold onto him for stability, the pressure brought to your g spot by his tip feels amazing.

“b-bill..”

“gonna be good f’me?”

“yes..!”

your legs begin to shake and quiver as your orgasm washes down on you but bill is nowhere near done with you, never stopping his hips.

“shit, looking at how you’re sucking me in..”

“gonna cause more trouble for me and my friends?”

you’re panting so hard and your brain and legs have become so mushy only small whimpers and whines fall out of your mouth. bill clearly isn’t satisfied with your behaviour, biting into your shoulders.

“answer me.”

“ung! n-no! ‘m sorry. hic ‘m so sorry billy i won’t c-cause you anymore trouble just—hic—please slow down..!”

your cunt all sensitive and sloppy, only squelching noises can be heard in bill’s bedroom as be fucks his dick into you. body so sensitive and overstimulated you let him do you as he pleases.

he leaves sloppy kisses all over your neck and chest calling you dirty names but you can’t help but clench around him even more, milking his cock as if its asking for his seed.

your words fall onto deaf ears, clearly, as all bill does is go even faster at an inhumane pace you didn’t even know was possible.

“a-ah.. i can’t.. ‘m done, bill.. no more..”

“almost done baby, okay? just be a good girl for me and let me do the work..”

“a-ah nooo..”

it hurts. the pressure hurts. but its hurts so good.. with a final thrust, bill finally comes, releasing into your walls with his dick all nice and pressed up into your cervix.

“s-shit, coming..”

his moans are low and nasally. mouth agape and hands still on your hips with a grip so tight his nails dig into your skin leaving a trail of red marks.

your tummy feels warm and full, and bill’s thrusts in riding out his orgasm becomes all sloppy and sticky with how wet your cunt was.

you’re a hot mess, hair falling everywhere and body all sweaty. mouth lolled out as your head rest atop bill’s shoulder drool falling out.

he taps your shoulder and you raise your head to look at him, unable to open your eyes with how bill fucked the energy out of you.

“you okay maus?”

“mhm..” you nod at him as he places a sweet and gentle kiss onto your lips. all you can do is blush and smile, taking in how pretty bill is for a cop.

he shifts while still inside you, grabbing a key to unlock the handcuffs that left little marks of bruising on your wrist.

you rub your hands to smooth over the irritation. bill taking note of this swiftly grabs them and places a kiss on top of the marks. your cheeks burn red as he burn a gaze into your eyes, not looking away.

“did so damn good schatz, hope i fucked all that crime committing business outta ya.”

a/n : i hate this. i’m so sorry anon i feel like i disappointed you 😔😔😔

[http-prettycupid]

Sweetness

Alejandro Vargas x fem/reader(18+)

COD/MW2

[Slight breeding kink,]

Your back is straight, your legs are crossed, your smile so sweet under your circumstances it looks sick. Encased in a metal confine, surrounded by men who can kill you in a few seconds, you’d have to play in their game. So you continue your streams of enigmatic answers to their interrogation.

“Valeria’s right.”

Your objective in this whole missile mishap, mission, or whatever the hell people would call it is simple. Everyone just seems to think other wise. Money talks and you keep the conversation going. It just so happens that your morals revolves around dollar bills, in pesos, pounds, or any forms so long as you can cash it in the bank.

“ That’s it. Hmph! You’re working for her? Over her? With her? Cual es?”

Alejandro who’s growing tired of your answers, breaks in a huff of frustration. He grew sick of Valeria’s taunt and now he has to deal with a new face that’s somehow less mouthy but much more vexing. Although his growing curiosity about who this vixen is maybe the real cause of his pent up anger.

“Guapo, if you want me to keep talking you’d have to pay me.”

You literally have to bite back a laugh at how the brunette you heard the men call, Alejandro turn slightly pink at the nickname. He honestly could not begin to comprehend why the way you called him handsome made him so flustered.

Flirting to safety wasn’t the first plan but if that’s what it takes, you know now how to begin. You couldn’t fully speak Spanish but even if you don’t speak at all you’d still have his eyes on you.

“How about this. Since this is most important to you…I’ll tell you first.”

That sickly smile now completely focus on Alejandro as the rest of the men seem to uncomfortably shift in their stance while waiting for you to continue.

“I’ll even discount my answers, if everybody else scrams.”

A chuckle slips through your lips as they somehow actually begin to consider your terms with quick glances at each other. Then letting out a huff, Graves orders everyone out of the metal container leaving only you and Alejandro.

Oh how easy it is for you to bust out of here.

They actually left. Although they may be outside, they left you alone with no restrains, unarmed but gifting a delicious man fully equipped.

You don’t know how to put your finger on it but every since meeting him on the roof of the cartel lieutenant’s mansion, Alejandro made you want to tease him. Getting captured with Valeria wasn’t part of the plan but staying that long in the Mediterranean home wasn’t either. Who could predict in the midst of your side hustle a whole ass swat team would ransack the place.

They’ve probably also figured out that you don’t have much loyalty towards Valeria and work for someone else completely, seeing how much authority you had in a house full of cartels. Even the mafia don’t treat their guests like royalty but they most definitely wanted your blessing. Now it was their job to decipher why and why not also ask about the missiles since you seem to know plenty.

And that’s what led you here, under interrogation in a metal container. Although with your skills you could walk away free, you’d be a little disappointed having to end your fun here.

“Well-”

“Ah! My price first.”

Pressing your index finger on Alejandro’s lips seemed to startled him just a tad. But that might be him not realizing how close you were to him.

“I’d have to see about transferring you pesos-,”once again the man is hushed by your finger. He’d be so entertaining to break, you’d just have to get closer. With his rifle out of the way…

“Aww, sweetling. I never said you’d have to pay me money,” taking a chance you stepped closer. Your front now pressed against the gun, you look up to study his face. His eyes are heavy, pupils blown, kissable lips slightly parted as he took a sharp intake of air. Oh and the way his Adam’s Apple bobbed as he gulped down his nerves. You knew he’s guard is on the edge of a drop.

Ugh! Who knew a man could look so appetizing that your the one feeling like there’s a 70ft drop before you. Come on! This is no time to be a pussy.

“Uhm…no?” Gosh the way his accent soaks into the smallest words that he lets out soaks your panties. Your starting to question if you’d break first.

“No. Do you want to know what my price is, Alejandro?” You keep your voice as light as your right hand when it reached his gun and sweeps it seamlessly out of the way. Fuck! Why are you getting so nerved.

Finally standing on your tippy toes you move to his left ear, leaving light breathes that caused the hairs on the back of his neck to stand up. As smoothly as it went your right hand delicately traces its way from his chest, shoulders and then to gingerly rub the stubble along his jaw and upper neck.

Let’s just hope he doesn’t hear the heart beat bashing on your chest.

Come Y/N! Swallow those timid valor! You never had them before today.

With your mouth tracing his earlobe you continue the teasing. “Alejandro…fuck-please touch me.”

Aight, it’s up.

You knew the butterflies in your stomach at the start should’ve been a sign to take caution. Flirting your way to safety would’ve been easy if you weren’t getting wet feeling the hardness pressing on your stomach.

Your statement should’ve been confident and alluring but it escaped you sounding way too desperate with the airy whimper.

On top of that the soft grunt he made when you pressed your front harder on his cock had you rolling your eyes. Fucking hell! There’s no way a man can have this much affect on you!

“Ah-fuck. Alejandro, I want you to touch me. Mmhp…wanna feel you inside me, fuck your cum into me. Oh god, please. I’ll tell you anything. Just please, please fuck me-

You couldn’t even finish before he lost his senses, dropping the gun and dug his big hands into your waist. Sliding his gloved palms downwards, the brunette then lifted you into that solid body of his and rushed to press your back on the metal wall.

Your hands weaving into his hair as his mouth went to work on your neck. His chest pressed so tightly against yours that your breathe heaved even more and oh did those heavy pants and small whimpers egged him on.

The self-assured and flirtatious vixen now starting to melt in his palms and she looked so enticing all the while. Her cropped black tank top strap had fell off her shoulder, leaving more room for him to kiss and gnaw at. Her also black spandex they had left her in after ridding her cargo pants full of weapons and ammo was not doing a good job covering her neediness. Taking a quick glance he could already see her leaving wet patches on the front of his jacket. The sight alone made a moan slip out of him. If that wasn’t enough his hardness was aching in his pants, begging to be relieved.

“La hostia! Muñeca-my cremalle-mi zipper princesa”, even with his rushed sentence you understood. Hands leaving his hair, you reached his belt buckle. Then with some shuffling it came loose with sufficient room for you to unbuttoned and unzipped his trousers, pulling it down just enough to also bring his boxers with it.

His tip immediately bumped your lower ass before you started to take him in your palms. With steady strokes, feeling the veins along his length, his girth that your fingers and thumb barley touched, you knew he was just a size too big. His pre-cum ran down to your palms making you instinctively lick your lips and pant. This might sting but you can already feel your girl pulse and drool for him.

“Alejandro,” with a whine you unhook your legs form his waist. Your feet meeting the ground again before you began stripping for a man you met just a few hours ago. And he absolutely ate up the sight before him.

Left in only your panties, damp skin kissed by the hot sun of Las Almas. The man wanted to ask what did he do for The Lord to bless him with you? Or perhaps it was the Devil that sent you to him. You just looked so heavenly and sinful. Hair now loose from the braid it was in, the stray strands framed your beguiling face. He had a thought you might’ve just been playing his heart strings to get your way but your doe eyes and pouty lips that are begging him to continue throw those thoughts away. He wanted to know about your stories, what made you came to Las Almas. Beyond the stories of missiles and the cartel, why you’d put yourself in such danger. But that would have wait for another time.

Alejandro rushed to hike you back up, this time roughly pressing his hot lips to your pillowy ones. Heavy breathing bounced off the container’s walls as the two bodies take in as much air as they could while devouring in each other’s rousing scents, electrifying touch and the thrilling environment they were currently in.

This was supposed to be an interrogation…

You flirted often, yes. But you definitely weren’t the most experienced with intimacy and with the pace Alejandro’s tongue moved into your mouth, you knew the footing on your plan had completely crumbled away.

He pressed his body harder on yours, gripping his right hand on your hip, taking in as much of you he could. Your small mewls that left your lips. Along with the strings of sounds, the smell of vanilla blended with coconut and some florals. It’s like the man couldn’t pick up on the musky scent of sex as his left hand made its way to your panties.

“Mierda. You’ve runined your panties Muñeca,”

You moaned in his mouth as he reconnected your lips. Pushing your panties to the side before he rather impatiently inserted his middle and index fingers, as if to test your readiness for his cock. With a gravely grunt Alejandro began working in your pussy that was now making a mess all over his digits. He reluctantly paused his ravaging in your mouth once more to look at his work below.

“ Fuck Muñeca! Your pussy’s already in love with my fingers. Imagine how much she’ll love my cock stuffing her full, hm.”

All you could do was mewl and curse into his shoulders as he stuffed your throbbing womanhood. This smug man then begin to laugh at your current state.

“Que pasa, Muñeca? What happened to that assertive vixen telling my men to scram so she can bargain for her safety?”

It was now your turn to blush. You couldn’t for your life begin to think anymore. His scent was intoxicating you, hints of cleanly soap, gun powder and musk was enough to make you lose your mind. What else? His voice and accent. God have mercy you could cum with just his talks alone. AND don’t even get started on his long fingers working in and out, now pairing with his thumb on your clit.

You can feel a certain knot tying itself in your stomach, the twisting feeling caused your body to tremble and your eyes to brim with tears. The increase in volume and movement was a dead giveaway that you were close. Even so, Alejandro removed his hand from you core, cutting off the high that had been peaking thus far.

“N-no, please. Please, Alejandro.” Fuck. Your watery eyes with those lips that he made red and swollen caused his cock to drip. Such a pathetic plea and face along with a moan of his name.

“Aw, I know guapa. I just wanted to give that needy pussy of yours something bigger.”

With a taunting pout, Alejandro then gripped your sides before a hand left to guide his cock to your messy hole. He then let your body slowly slid down his length.

“Mierda! Your so tight. And what a fucking mess your making of my pants, princesa,” he couldn’t help his strangled moans as you took him in so willingly with the most welcoming clench on his manhood.

“Alejan-fuck! Too much.” You whine with hazy eyes as tears fell from the sting as well as the delight of him bullying his way inside.

Alejandro the tease only chuckled at your words, “your doing so well princesa, taking in my cock. Come on, you can take all of it.” He sang praises as he continue to slowly sink into you, kissing away the tears that had fallen on your flushed cheeks.

When he finally bottomed out he pulled back up to the tip before refilling your sloppy pussy and setting steady pace. Your volume now becoming alarmingly loud so as to prevent his team from hearing, his lips were back on yours.

Of course if the team hadn’t heard your voice already they probably hear the wet squelches as Alejandro’s cock picked up the pace. Feeling you flutter around him and hearing your increase in volume he began slamming so hard you couldn’t help but drip down his balls and to the floor.

Legs wrapped tightly around his waist, armed draped over his shoulders while he worked you up and down his manhood. You dissolved into putty in his arms, only able to babble incoherent words into his mouth. Saliva was slipping from the edges as he continued his assault in your hot cavern. Every audible cry you began to muster with your lips parted and connecting to his with a string of wetness would dissipate as he ate them up.

Ya, as if the team could hear…

The team catching on to Alejandro’s ‘special interrogation’ was the last thing he cared to pounder about anyways.

“Mmm, princesa. Your pussy’s a real fucking treat.”

And his cock is making you drunk.

“After this I’m never letting you leave.”

And you didn’t want to.

“You gonna let my breed your pussy, hm? Cum deep inside your filthy hole?”

“Fuck Yes! Please, please! Give your cum please.”

Alejandro’s pretty done keeping your voice down. Besides, he may as well give his men a treat hearing your pretty cries for his cum and cock that they would never indulge in themselves.

“Cum on me then, Muñeca.”

Just like a magic command, the build up in your core since Alejandro’s fingers fucked your pussy snapped.

Your high came crashing down in tremors and sniffling sobs. So out of breathe you barely finish chanting his name, whiteness covering your vision you’d think you were going to heaven. And what’s an even better feeling then this high heaven? His cum pumping into you as he groaned and thrusts it in deeper. More moans pass through you as Alejandro couldn’t help but grind his seeds into your hot mess, now leaking with his cum.

“Ugh, mierda. Your going to get me in trouble guapa.” With a soft laugh Alejandro peeked at the mess you two made below before his gaze carried back to your fucked-out face. God, just your face alone was making his length stir again.

BANG BANG!!

“Fucking hell! There better good intel after you guys clean up whatever mess y’all made in there!”

Ghost’s voice could be heard from behind the container door as strings of snickers followed. Keeping his gaze on your heavy lids that were now blown wide from the sudden startle, Alejandro knew he’d have to continue this later.

“Ya, ya.”

Yup. You weren’t leaving even if you spill your whole life story to the Spanish man.

[thxliaaa]

all because i liked a boy | steve harrington

synopsis: nancy is steve’s ex who is closer to the group than you are. when you start dating steve, they all start to be cold and harsh to you. 

pairing - steve harrington x reader

warning/s - angst, the group being mean towards you

author’s note - there’s definitely a part two to this don’t you worry

part 2

masterlist | join my taglist

Nancy has always been the mother of the group. She has been through a lot with them, and has protected them from all the troubles they’ve been through. During the problems they had with Vecna, it’s no secret she has been starting to develop feelings for Steve, again. 

You were only a part of the group for not that long. When they needed your help, you gladly gave it to them, and in the process of defeating Vecna, you and Steve fell for each other. So, when he asked you out, you accepted. Not long after, you two had started dating. 

–

The only peaceful time at Hawkins was during mornings. No shouting, no nosy neighbors, just peace. Making a cup of coffee before starting the day became a part of your daily routine. As you got ready to go outside, you saw Steve pulling in your driveway. 

“Hey, what are you doing here?” You smiled as Steve pulled you in for a kiss. 

“Why? Is it wrong to pick up my beautiful girlfriend?” He pulled you in for another kiss as you chuckled. You definitely got lucky with Steve. He’s everything you need in a man, someone who’s caring, and sweet, I’m talking like flowers everyday type of man. He was perfect. 

When you both got in the car, you started jamming to your favorite songs on the way to school. As he dropped you off, you both shared a passionate kiss. 

“Alright, I’ll see you later babe. Love you!” He blew you a kiss as he drove off 

“Love you too!” You replied as you were waving at him. 

What you guys didn’t know was that someone else was watching. 

– 

As you were walking along the hallways, you stumbled across Robin whom you waved at. She just glared at you in reply. Weird. She’s not usually like this. Figuring that maybe she was just in a bad mood or was having a bad day, you shrugged it off. 

During lunch, you usually sat with Robin and Nancy. However, when you noticed they weren’t there, you just sat with your other friends. That was interesting, you thought. Maybe it was just a coincidence, paying no attention to it at all, you decided to shrug it off again. 

After school, your day just got weirder, when you tried to talk to Max, it seemed as if she was in a hurry. You kept on asking if something was wrong, yet she just kept on insisting that she had something important to do. 

“Hey Max!” you said with a smile

“Hey” she muttered as she hurriedly put her stuff away in her locker before going in the other direction. 

“Max! Is something wrong?” You said with a worried look plastered on your face. She nodded as she continued to run away from you. What was going on?

– 

Worried that something wrong happened, you went to Dustin’s house hoping to get an answer. He was smiling when you saw him but as soon as he saw you at the door, it was quickly replaced with a frown. 

“Ok that’s it! What is going on? Why is everybody being rude to me today?” You said as you furrowed your eyebrows. Dustin sighed. 

“(Y/N), look it’s not your fault” He said trying to make you feel better. 

“Not my fault? Everybody just seems so off today!” you ranted. “Everybody seems to be in a good mood but as soon as they see me, they instantly either avoid me or ignore me” you continued. 

Dustin just looked at you with a look on his face, it was as if he was disappointed in you and mad. “I’m sure you did nothing wrong, m-maybe everyone just had a bad day..?” He said trying to make an excuse. But you knew something was wrong. You noticed he stuttered, and he tends to do that a lot whenever he’s lying. Dustin is a bad liar. 

You sighed, not wanting to fight him. “Look, just at least give me a hint of what I did”

“You just– you hurt one of us okay? And she’s someone very important” 

“And I’m not? How am I supposed to know if you don’t tell me?” You replied. He sighed once again. You were itching to find out what was going on. 

“Fine, just talk to Nancy or something ok?” He said as you nodded, and he closed the door clearly not wanting to speak to you anymore. 

So, you went to bed that night thinking what you did wrong. Retracing your steps from the moment you woke up even up to the day before. I don’t get it you wondered, you were all fine the day before, all of you were even laughing and planning to hang out. What had gone wrong?

–

The next morning, you woke up really early to go confront Nancy. And when you got to her house, she had a big smile plastered across her face which seemed to fade as soon as she saw you. A simple “Oh” coming out of her mouth. 

“Hi” you gave her a small smile. She greeted you “Hi” back but her eyes were glued on the floor. 

“Nancy, come on, talk to me. What did I do wrong to you?” You grabbed her shoulders forcing her to look at you. 

“It’s nothing, okay?” She tried to explain. “No it's not okay! Everyone has been very cold and distant towards me which is very rude and you gave me no explanation at all on what I did” you ranted. 

For a second, she seemed to hesitate on what to say, but soon, everything poured out of her mouth. 

“You wanna know what you did? You’re dating Steve.” She said, you were confused, you knew they dated but why was she so affected by you dating him. I mean, she was already dating Jonathan so you thought it would be okay with her. 

“What’s wrong with me dating Steve?” you asked confusedly, she took a deep breath before starting to talk again. “You’re supposed to follow the principles of best friends. He’s my ex and you know the rule about not dating your best friend’s ex” she replied. 

“But you’re with Jonathan, I thought it would be ok with you” 

“It’s not okay? Just because I’m with Jonathan doesn’t make it okay.” 

“You were barely even dating Steve, you were in love with Jonathan halfway through your relationship with him” you said. You finally put the pieces together. Her staring at Steve at the lake, her flirting with him whenever he got the chance, her being rude to Robin when they first met because she thought Robin and Steve were dating. It finally made sense, Nancy still likes Steve. 

“You still like him don’t you?” you said as you looked at her. Her eyes went directly to the floor as you said that. And when she turned to look at you, it was a look that a child would give you if they were guilty about something. She still liked him. 

Walking away from her house, you continued walking and was lost in your thoughts. Why were they mad? You can’t control who you love. You felt betrayed, as if someone had ripped your heart from inside you. You felt horrible. Now you know that if you and Nancy ever fought again, they would always choose her side. 

Your friends hated you and shunned you all day because of your relationship with Steve. The thought couldn’t help but make you scoff. It’s so stupid, all of it. 

They’re mad at you all because you liked a boy. 

[hmslusitania]

“Oi. Listen up.”

Jamie keeps working the knots on his boots but he echoes in on the “yes coach” that the rest of the lads throw Roy’s direction.

“Me and Keeley are back together,” Roy says. “So I don’t want to hear about any of your friends or sisters or who the fuck ever who are single and just perfect for me, got it?”

Jamie gets halfway through wondering who on the team is ballsy enough to try and offer their sisters and single friends to Roy, but across the room, Dani is already throwing Roy a respectful salute.

“Yes, Coach,” he says.

“Well, Coach Kent, I think I speak for everybody in here when I say that we’re mighty glad to hear that,” Ted says.

“Feels like everything’s right in the universe again,” Beard agrees.

“Yeah,” Jamie mutters. “That’s all just fucking perfect.”

The only person close enough to hear him is Sam, who shoots Jamie a questioning look, both eyebrows raised.

Jamie ignores him, finally finishes with the knots in his laces, and doesn’t hurl his boots at Will, but that might only be because Will catches them gracefully and they don’t hit him.

It’s not like… Jamie isn’t, like, 100% over Keeley. He knows that. He doesn’t think he ever will be, but he doesn’t think anyone ever actually gets over their first love. Especially not when they know, without question, that they’re the one who absolutely fucked it up.

And he knows that. He had his chance with Keeley, and he fucked it, and it’s a matter of the better man winning and Roy is the better man and he won, and so Jamie does not understand why he’s suddenly feeling like someone’s kicked him in the bollocks of his heart or whatever.

It’s good. Keeley and Roy are good together and they’re two of Jamie’s favourite people and he wants them to be happy, and they’ve seemed happier when they were together and…

And so what that for a while it seemed like maybe Roy had fucked it with Keeley himself, and he and Jamie were in a club together about it. So what that they were getting close enough for Phoebe to assume Jamie was Roy’s best friend and Roy didn’t fucking tell him to his face about Keeley and put him back in the same level as the rest of the team? So fucking what, yeah? It doesn’t matter.

It matters when Roy turns up at Jamie’s at four in the morning like everything’s normal.

“The fuck is your problem?” Roy asks when Jamie just starts running rather than waiting for Roy to catch up.

“I don’t have a problem, Coach,” Jamie says, and he really shouldn’t, but it feels like a lie.

“Like fuck you don’t,” Roy says.

“You really want to pry into everything wrong with me, Coach Lasso?” Jamie shoots back.

Roy grumbles but stops prying lest Jamie — rightly — accuse him of more Ted-ness.

Jamie trains, and he runs until he can’t feel his legs anymore, and only then, when it’s past dawn, does Roy bother him about it again.

“Are you going to be weird about me and Keeley?” Roy asks.

“No,” Jamie says but that feels like a lie too. “Just thought maybe you’d tell me in person about it because we’re best friends now and all.”

Roy frowns. Jamie braces for whatever sort of rebuke Roy’s going to throw at him — that they’re not best friends, that Roy’s love life isn’t any of Jamie’s business, that Keeley’s love life definitely isn’t any of Jamie’s business anymore.

“I don’t…” Roy starts, slow enough that Jamie pauses mid stretch to stare at him. “I don’t know why I didn’t. But you’re right. And I’m sorry.”

Jamie feels his mouth fall open. It’s just blank shock.

“Don’t be a twat,” Roy scolds when he sees Jamie’s face.

“I’m not, I’m just — wow, Roy Kent apologised to me,” Jamie says. “I’m flattered.”

Roy rolls his eyes, but fond, and Jamie abruptly remembers the last time he’d claimed to be flattered. Colin, recently out to the team, and the team trying to do a headcount and figure out who else in the locker room must be queer.

Jamie’s still not sure how the rest of the lads seemed to entirely miss Trent Crimm’s rainbow mug and Dolly Parton shirt, but they had and they’d looked mostly at him.

“I guess I thought you’d be… jealous,” Roy says, snapping him back to the Richmond Green.

“Nah,” Jamie says.

“Because I know you’re still a little in love with her,” Roy points out.

“She’s Keeley fucking Jones, you don’t just get over her,” Jamie replies and falls forward to do some press ups rather than have to look Roy in the eye anymore. “But mostly I want her to be happy.”

“Yeah,” Roy says, gruff but like he gets it.

“Believe it or not, I want you to be happy to,” Jamie adds, speaking to the grass and tree roots between his hands. “Because you’re Roy fucking Kent.”

Roy doesn’t respond to that, and Jamie keeps staring at the ground. For a moment, he thinks he’s overstepped, and then Roy kicks his heels up to rest on Jamie’s back.

Jamie smiles and appreciates the burn of the extra weight in his triceps and shoulders.

“I appreciate it,” Roy says finally, and something in Jamie’s chest fractures.

It’s not like Jamie doesn’t know what bisexuality is. He’s spent enough time around Keeley that it’s come up frequently. But there’s been some sort of block that sounds a bit like his fuck of a dad between him knowing that, and knowing it about himself.

Because he finally gets it, dripping sweat into the dirt in the early summer morning. He is jealous of Roy and Keeley getting back together.

Trouble is, he has absolutely no idea if he’s jealous of Roy for getting back with Keeley, or if he’s jealous of Keeley, for getting back together with Roy.

[tournament-announcer]

Hey ik this is not tournament related, but in case you didn't know and want to spread the word, Tumblr is selling everybody's data to AI companies.

Here is the staff post about it https://www.tumblr.com/loki-valeska/743539907313778688

And a post with more information and how to opt out https://www.tumblr.com/khaleesi/743504350780014592/

Hi thanks for the information and sorry for my late reply. I was a bit low on spoons this week and I wanted to form thoughts about this.

Because the thing is, I am doing a PhD at an AI department in real-life. Not in generative AI, in fact I’m partly doing this because I distrust how organisations are currently using AI. But so this is my field of expertise and I wanted to share some insights.

First of all yes do try to opt out. We have no guarantee how useful that’s going to be, but they don’t need to be given your data that easily.

Secondly, I am just so confused as to why? Why would you want to use tumblr posts to train your model? Everyone in the field surely knows about the garbage in, garbage out rule? AI models that need to be trained on data are doing nothing more than making statistical predictions based on the data they’ve seen. Garbage in, garbage out therefore refers to the fact that if your data is shit, your results will also be shit. And like not to be mean but a LOT of tumblr posts are not something I would want to see from a large language model.

Thirdly I’ve seen multiple posts encouraging people to use nightshade and glaze on their art but also posts wondering what exactly it is these programs do to your art. The thing is, generative ai models are kinda stupid, they just learn to associate certain patterns in pictures with certain words. However these patterns are typically not patterns we’d want them to pick up on. An example would be a model that you want to differentiate between pictures of birds and dogs, but instead of learning to look for say wings, it learns that pictures of birds usually have a blue sky as background and so a picture of a bird in the grass will be labelled as ‘dog’.

So what glaze and nightshade are more or less doing is exploiting this stupidness by changing a few pixels in your art that will give it a very different label when an AI looks at it. I can look up papers for people who want to know the details, but this is the essence of it.

To see how much influence this might have on your art, see this meme I made a few years ago based on the paper ”Intriguing properties of neural networks”, Figure 5 by Szegedy et al. (2013)

Finally, staff said in that post that they gave us the option to opt out because of the maybe upcoming AI act in Europe. I was under the impression that they should give us this opportunity because of the GDPR and that the AI act is supposed to be more about the use of AI and less about the creation and data aspect but nevertheless this shows that the EU has a real ability to influence these kinds of things and the European Parliament elections are coming up this year, so please go vote and also read up on what the parties are saying about AI and other technologies beforehand (next to everything else you care about) (also relevant for other elections of course but the EU has a good track record on this topic).

Anyway sorry for the long talk, but as I said this is my area and so I felt the need to clarify some things. Feel free to send me more asks if you want to know something specific!

[wolfstarshipping]

June Masterlist (Wolfstar Fic Recs)

Here's another wolfstar fic rec list! I missed 2 days of the daily fic recs in June, but I decided to just include 2 other fic recs in this list as compensation, because 30 fic recs is a much nicer number than 28. Again, these are mostly different kinds of AUs, with a few angsty non-AU fics strewn in!

1. Marauder FM by hollyivydruzy (12.809 words/current WIP, radio AU, muggle AU)

2. The Lab by de_sire (de-sire-blog) (95.450 words, university/scientist AU, muggle AU)

3. sucker punch by moonnixie (5681 words, post Azkaban)

4. lessen my load by moonymoment (73.424 words, university AU, muggle AU)

5. Ullswater by eyra (30.973 words, university AU, musician AU, muggle AU)

6. saccharine by moonymoment (26.447 words, ghost AU, modern AU)

7. Fire Escape by longlostweasley (9418 words, high school AU, muggle AU)

8. The Road Not Taken by mollymarymarie (88.278 words, popstar AU, modern AU, muggle AU)

9. Neither Hide nor Hair by puuvillaa (28.117 words, wizard AU: no Voldemort)

10. everybody else looks like they’ve figured it out by spellingmynamewrong (15.015 words, university AU, muggle AU)

11. Everything's Connected by mizdiz (44.297 words, boarding school AU, magical realism)

12. A Cure For Nightmares [+podfic] by picascribit (36.083 words, boarding school AU, muggle AU)

13. Signs of Affection by KittyCargo (8258 words, modern AU, muggle AU, sign language)

14. I need you (Like I need to breathe) by bookish_changeling (16.745 words, first war AU)

15. Everything is right by de-sire (10.875 words, marauders era, hogwarts)

16. Learning (Dis)Abilities by MakkAttackk (15.824 words, marauders era AU, hogwarts)

17. Dear Your Holiness by mollymarymarie (142.264 words, priest AU, band AU, modern AU, muggle AU)

18. they're just pretty words, my dear by lowhangingfru1t (31.444 words, high school AU, muggle AU)

19. losing my mind, thinking about you by drowsyanddazed (16.265 words, first war, flatmates)

20. Step & Repeat by theresthesnitch (62.744 words, modern AU, celebrity AU, muggle AU, fake dating)

21. (everybody here was) someone else before by mcdynamite (13.163 words, modern AU)

22. It Can't Be Helped by moongnome (9752 words, marauders era, post-prank, hogwarts)

23. It's cold outside by Remustrash (1788 words, post hogwarts, bed sharing)

24. Led by Light of a Star Sweetly Gleaming by wolfpants (53.025 words, 1960s AU, muggle AU)

25. My Dearest Moony [+podfic] by picascribit (581 words, epistolary, post OotP)

26. I'll Be Yours In a Landslide by MoonCat457 (mooncat457writing) (8464 words, Lie Low at Lupin's)

27. Modern Love by enigmaticfish (40.354 words, muggle AU, modern AU, student AU, flatmates)

28. Terms and Conditions by mblematic (6852 words, post hogwarts, flatmates)

29. The Things We'd Do For A Coffee Maker by AllThisAndLoveTooWillRuinUs (6805 words, muggle AU, fake dating)

30. Honey If I'm Not and If You're Gonna by BrigidFaye (75.771 words, wizard AU, post first war)

[anonymous-dentist]

Soulmate au where everyone with a soulmate has a little marking on their wrist in the shape of something related to their soulmate. It isn’t usually romantic, like we’ve got Pac with a creeper on his wrist and Mike with a little Pac Man symbol.

And Roier? He has a cat, but he’s never really believed in soulmates. He’s always been a firm believer in Having Fun and not tying himself down to someone because of fate; if he wants to settle down with someone, it’ll be because he loves them, not because a magical tattoo is telling him to

He tries Spreen, gets stabbed for it. Decides that love isn’t worth anything, decides that his real soulmate is the torture chamber under his basement

And then a boat crashes on the island, and time seems to slow down as Roier accidentally meets the eyes of one of the poor Brazilians trapped in the boat’s office

Meet Cellbit, who’s managed to convince himself that he doesn’t deserve a soulmate after all the terrible things he’s done. He wears long sleeves and he wears gloves that cover his wrists, so almost nobody knows what his soulmate symbol is. But he knows. He knows it’s a spider, which is one of the few things that freak him out, so, like. Nah. He’s good

Unfortunately for the audience, our two idiots don’t realize shit for a very long time. Roier doesn’t wear a spider-man logo until after their engagement. He calls Cellbit ‘gatinho’, but he does so as a flirtatious counter to ‘guapito’. Both of them keep their symbols covered, and neither really care about the whole ‘soulmate’ thing at all because they’ve decided they love each other and that’s what matters

It takes until Festa Junina for someone to put the physical pieces together, and it’s actually Foolish. He knows how to keep a secret, though, so he stays quiet until the date. He gets Leo to spill wine all over Cellbit and Roier’s hands where they’re joined over the table, soaking their sleeves (and gloves) through

Roier immediately swears and swats playfully at his sister. He rolls up his sleeves, showing his symbol off for the first time as Cellbit begrudgingly pulls his gloves off to let them dry, showing his symbol for the first time. Who cares if they see each other’s symbols? They’re getting married no matter what at this point, probably, who cares about soulmates?

The world freezes. They look at each other’s symbols, and everything just sort of clicks into place

Roier laughs so hard he cries. Of course! Of course he managed to fall in love with his soulmate without even knowing it was him!

Cellbit, though, is quieter. He still doesn’t know how to feel about the whole Abueloier Thing, and he isn’t sure if Roier would even want to be soulmates with him

The answer, of course, is a resounding “Of course, pendejo! I forgave you before I even found out we’re soulmates, shut up. Let’s go back to the castle. Now.”

So they go back to the castle, and they talk, and they decide that them being soulmates doesn’t really even matter because they would’ve fallen in love with each other regardless of what the Goddesses of Love had planned. Maybe that’s because they’re soulmates, or maybe it’s because they’re so in love that they don’t need to be. It’s a bit of a paradox, but so is everything else on the island. They’re in love, and that’s all that matters.

(They don’t tell the rest of the island, though. They wanna see how long it takes everyone to figure it out.)

(Joke’s on them, everybody already had a pretty good idea after one week of them hanging out together.)

[steddieunderdogfics]

This week's writer spotlight feature is: @kkpwnall! They have eight Stranger Things and Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson works on archive of our own!

An anonymous nominator recommends the following works by kkpwnall:

driving in your car

love is like ghosts

where's the spark?

if it wasn’t for bad luck i wouldn’t have luck at all

wanted: pool boy at the vampire mansion

KK's works have a consistent feel of genuine, heartfelt, human connection. Whether it’s a big, dramatic scene as the climax of a slow, delicious build-up of tension, or a mundane, slice-of-life tidbit, the characters always feel true to themselves, and their voices are perfectly nailed each and every time. And by that I mean, you can literally hear the dialogues in the characters’ voices—they’re THAT good. KK explores classic Steddie themes in their longfic Driving In Your Car, and they have a handful of wonderful one-shots and two-shots, each and every one of them delving into how much these boys love each other for who they are. In short, KK’s body of work feels like a love letter of the characters. If you love Steve and Eddie, chances are you’ll love their fics. - anonymous

Below the cut, @kkpwnall answered some questions about their writing process and some of their recommended work!

Why do you write Steddie? 

They’re such a compelling and complementary pairing. Like, it seems like an opposites attract / odd-couple pairing on the surface, but beneath each of their exteriors, they’re so similar. They’re dork4dork, loser4loser, idiot4idiot, they’re both huge nerds but in different ways. They want and need and express affection through physical touch and words of affirmation (I mean, just look at the walking through the forest scene!) Plus they just have this insane chemistry that any time I think “there’s no way they did that, it’s all in my head”, I’ll go back and watch those scenes again, it’s just like “no, this absolutely checks out, they are so into each other from the word go”. And they’re just made for each other! I mean, come on! Matching scars? Nail bat and nail shield? Jock and nerd? They’re two halves of the same coin! What I really love about them too is that they’re both Just Some Guy, they’re silly, goofy, dorky guys! But mostly, I write steddie because it makes me happy and really satisfies part of my brain like nothing else. 

What’s your favorite trope to READ?

Other than “Eddie Munson Lives” hahah, I’ll try just about anything written or recommended by a beloved mutual. Mutual pining, fix-it’s, missing scenes, and first kiss fics are top tier for me, and right now I’m really partial to fluffy romcom fics. If it’s got good flirting and banter, it’s got me hooked.

What’s your favorite trope to WRITE?

My absolute favorite to write is mutual pining (aka the love is requited, they’re both just being stupid). Miscommunication is a close second, the kind that can’t easily be resolved with just a sticky note on the fridge. Whether it’s mishearing something or misunderstanding something (even the character misunderstanding their own feelings!), I find it super compelling to write. But for a specific scenario, my favorite will always be Steve having a bad time at a party.

What’s your favorite Steddie fic?

It’s impossible for me to pick just one, so I have to recommend 3 of my friends: Anyway It’s About Old Friends by @fragilecapric0rnn, and wanna be the only one for miles and miles (except for maybe you) by @judasofsuburbia, and everybody else (everybody else looks like they’ve figured it out) by @heybluechild. Anything by these fine folks is just fantastic, they’re all incredible writers and dear friends!

Is there a trope you’re excited to explore in a future work but haven’t yet?

I’d really like to write more AU’s! I’ve been tossing around ideas for college-aged+ aus (writing them a little older), 90s aus, a cowboy au… Mostly I’m just excited to keep writing them!

What is your writing process like?

Ahah it’s not much of a process. I write down every idea I have, no matter how small it is. Sometimes it’s a line of dialogue or a moment of a scene, but it all goes into the notes app and percolates in the back of my brain for a while. Eventually that dialogue or scene might coalesce into something bigger on its own, or combine with other snippets, and then ya got yourself a stew!

Do you have any writing quirks?

I really love writing dialogue, it’s my favorite way to get inside their heads, especially trying to balance what they say or don’t say, vs what they actually mean. I also love adding little details to fill out the world and the scene. It might not be necessary, but it feels like it brings everything together for me. And I like treating writing a fic like building a puzzle, trying to figure out just the right way to get all the pieces to fit together so the whole thing really sings.

Do you prefer posting when you’ve finished writing or on a schedule?

I’m still playing around with what I prefer. With driving in your car, I started out by posting a chapter only when the following chapter was completely written, so I’d always have one in the tank. But that got to feel too much like I was just sitting on chapters for the sake of sitting on them, so I started posting each chapter as I finished it and felt good about it. I don’t do super well with a schedule for posting fics, I’ve got too many deadlines in my life as it is haha.

Which fic are you most proud of?

driving in your car, for sure. It’s my baby, my magnum opus, my kitchen sink fic (it’s got everything). It’s got so much of myself in it, it’s very personal, and very near and dear to my heart.

How did you get the idea for driving in your car?

I wrote a long post about this when the idea was just starting to percolate, but the long and short of it is I wanted to read more fics that reflected my own experiences as an older teen growing up in a suffocating small town, where really the only option you have is to just pile in the car with your friends and drive around aimlessly, because that’s the only way you can get any freedom or privacy. I wanted to see what life was like for the fruity four trying to get back to “normal” while also trying to deal with the fact the world almost ended AGAIN, and all their complicated messy feelings for one another.

What inspired love is like ghosts?

Like many people have guessed / suspected, it’s very much inspired by Buzzfeed Unsolved / Watcher Ghost Files, and a loving homage to ghost hunting shows. I’m a huge scaredy cat when it comes to anything horror, but I love a good ghost hunting show. The study room setting is also inspired by the miniscule closet-sized study rooms in the library at the college I went to.

What was your favorite part to write from love is like ghosts?

Parts of their make out scene was the first snippet I wrote and the one that really got the whole ball rolling with that fic, to try to figure out who this Steve and this Eddie are, and what would have to happen lead them to making out that hard in the study room. It was also the first steamy spicy almost-smutty scene I’d written, and it was so fun to learn how to write like that!! I also just love their banter in this fic, they’re both so sassy and ridiculous and completely gone on each other.

How do/did you feel writing where’s the spark??

Ooft this one was a doozy. This is actually the second draft, and the only time so far I’ve all but completely scraped the first draft and rewritten a fic. The first draft leaned really heavily into the loneliness of the holidays, my playlist for it was all of the most maudlin holiday songs, and it really started negatively affecting my mood and mindset. But I got some really great advice and help brainstorming from dear friends, and turned it around into a fic I’m really happy with. The holiday blues are still present, but there’s so much more love there now, and that’s really what the fic is all about.

What was the most difficult part of writing where’s the spark??

Finding that balance of holiday blues and love was really tricky, and I wrote for a lot of characters I hadn’t tried writing before either. From a technical perspective too, it was a big challenge to figure out how to keep the fic moving, and the party moving around Steve when all he wanted to do was wallow.

Do you have a favorite scene and/or line from any of your fics?

It’s so so hard to pick just one, but I love how this line in love is like ghosts turned out: And Steve is dumbstruck, kiss-drunk, half-fucked.

Do you have any upcoming projects or fics you’d like to share/promote?

I have a holiday exchange fic coming out soon (hopefully before the holidays, fingers crossed), and I’m excited to dive into my prompt for lex’s winter fic challenge soon! I’d love to get the last chapter of driving in your car ready to share by the end of January. And there’s a secret [redacted] au I’m co-authoring with a very special friend that I would absolutely love to write in the new year!

Outside of these questions, Is there anything YOU would like to add?

Just that I love this community so much. I’ve made so many incredible friendships because of this show, and I��m so grateful to be a part of this little corner of the internet. I never shared my writing publicly before finding the steddie community, and I’ve been really overwhelmed and delighted by the response to my writing and art (especially to be nominated to do something like this!! Truly an honor!). I was, at best, a casual Stranger Things fan before season 4. I wasn’t even going to watch it when it came out. But then I saw all the gorgeous fanart and gifs, and started reading headcanons, and had to check it out. I’m so so glad that I did, my life has changed so much for the better.

Thank you to our author, @kkpwnall, and our nominator! See more of @kkpwnall's work featured on our page throughout the day!

Writer's Spotlight is every Wednesday! Want to nominate an author? You can nominate them here!

[fleshbarbie]

trust me - billy hargrove x reader.

“billy you cannot be serious right now? you’re going to believe them over me? really?”

you were mad, mad and upset. your boyfriend of almost a year now had approached you after school with a scowl resting on his handsome features and an extra stomp in his step. he had laid into you the second he saw you, instantly accusing you of being some kind of two-timer who was cheating on him with his mortal enemy (his words).

when you asked him where he got all this from, he told you carol and tommy had told him during lunch.

“they’ve seen you (y/n), riding around with steve all hours of the day! like on saturday, when you were supposed to be helping out your grandma with cleaning out the attic. we had to cancel our date for that!”

those bastards, only happy when there was some kind of drama going on. you knew that was the only reason they’d told him, not because they’re good samaritans who thought billy deserved to know. no, fuck that. they wanted some free entertainment and billy was stupid enough to give them that.

yes, you had been out with steve a lot lately but there was absolutely no funny business going on. you knew lying to billy was an awful thing to do, but what were you supposed to do? tell him that you were secretly trying to figure out how to save hawkins before a big monster came out from another dimension and began possessing everybody one by one? hard pass.

“come on billy, you know i wouldn’t do that to you. i love you for christ sakes, do you not trust me?” you questioned the teen, who stood in front of you still looking as pissed off as ever. but you couldn’t really blame him, if you’d found out he’d been sneaking around with another girl and feeding you lies about where he was you’d probably be pissed off too.

“i do! well i did, until now. what were you doing with harrington, huh? why did you cancel our date to be with him?”

you let out a frustrated sigh, pushing your hair from your face with force. “look, i know how weird this all looks and i don’t blame you for feeling the way you do. not at all. but i need you to trust me billy, please. i can’t tell you what we’re doing, not yet. but i promise you, cross my heart and hope to die that there is absolutely nothing going on with steve and i. or any other boy in hawkins for that matter. i love you, i want to be with you. nobody else.”

maybe six months ago billy would’ve scoffed, before he continued to argue with you and accuse you of going behind his back. perhaps even call you a few names before he disappeared somewhere and gave you silent treatment for a few days. but he had changed since then, with your help he had learned to listen instead of reacting instantly.

so, after a few beats of silence he nodded. he still looked agitated and on edge, but he had visibly calmed down a whole lot which in return, calmed you down just the same. you sent him a grateful smile, taking a step closer to your boyfriend and wrapping your arms around his midsection.

with your chin resting on his chest, just under where his chain sat you looked up at him. “thank you. i love you so much, you know that right?”

“of course i do, i just wish you’d tell me what the hell is going on.” he instantly responded, one of his hands reaching down to trace your jawline.

“i will, eventually i promise. it’s just a lot to take in and i don’t think right now is the perfect time for all of it. but you will know, soon enough, what’s going on.”

it obviously wasn’t the perfect scenario, billy was now more eager than ever to find out what you were hiding. but with confirmation from yourself that you were not cheating on him with the ex king of hawkins high, he could relax having complete faith that you wouldn’t lie to him about something like this.

“okay.” he nodded once again, “okay. i’ll wait.”

-

omg hi !! this is my first time posting in over a year, i know it’s short but i wanted it to be like a little ‘hi i’m back’ type of post. i have three other (longer) works in the making, and i am considering re-writing my same, but different series because i left it at an awkward place and i’d rather start it again than continue it. but yeah that’s all i have to say, i’m back! 

[differenteagletragedy]

i love love love! the poly hcs so much! i always imagine cove and mc to be able to communicate without saying much/anything (i.e just looking at each other) cause they’ve known each other for so long. and i just think it’s funny to imagine, in a poly relationship, a troublemaker mc and cove just looking at each other all 👀😏 (probably about to cause trouble) and derek and baxter just being like “oh no, they’re back it again” skdjsjjxdj

anyway could we maybe get some more poly hcs or something 👉👈 it could be general hcs or something more specific (i.e moving into a house, adopting a pet, someone’s sick, possible group weddings???, a baby(s)???, etc), or just a random assortment, idk but i’m here for it all! 🥺 literally thank you so much for your service to the olba fans, your blog has been feeding me skdjsjsjdn

I think MC and Cove would be like that too! They have a special bond, no matter what. I'm glad you liked those specific ones though, I was nervous about it! Here's a few more :) -- When you move to a house, you have at least one nosy neighbor who is desperate to figure out what's going on. Baxter mows the lawn and he's out in his special little outfit tending to the garden and then Derek is outside too, working on the roof or building some new addition, so maybe they're together. But then Cove comes out and eats stuff that Baxter hands him from the garden, so maybe they're the couple. But Cove also helps Derek build stuff? And you're there too with your skills and hobbies? What does it all mean?

-- FOUR PLAYER MARIO KART. Baxter got Derek a Switch for his birthday, Cove got some games and you got enough controllers for everybody. Derek is the best. Cove may or may not stay up late for a bit after you get the new setup so he can hold his own in the game.

-- Really just a lot of Baxter having visions for the house, Derek executing them, and Cove being a big boy who can help lift stuff and help out wherever he's needed.

-- You and Baxter bake cakes for the birthdays. It's your special thing.

-- Everybody has to go skinny dipping at least once and that's final.

-- Derek wants a dog. Baxter wants a cat. Cove has his fish. It is a conundrum. But Derek does his research and finds a breed that will fit in well with your lifestyle that is also known to be good with cats so that everyone can be happy.

-- Baxter is fine if his cat is a jerk though, he thinks it's funny.

-- You have to keep an eye on Baxter though because he might start "finding" cats.

Baxter, holding a stray like it is the most precious treasure on earth (it is): The poor thing was all alone and frightened, what would you have had me do?

Cove, cat-proofing his fish tank again: Literally anything else.

-- Derek pumps the gas. If you have to do it, then he failed.

-- If you're all together, Cove will run inside the station while Derek pumps for snacks. Memorizing everyone's favorite snacks is one of Cove's love languages.

Baxter: I don't want anything, Cove.

Cove: Ok. *comes back a few minutes later with sour gummies, hands them to Baxter*

-- If you all decide to get married, like if everybody loves everybody like that, then Baxter is going to have a lot of feelings about it, obviously.

-- What would probably make the most sense is for you and Cove to get legally married and then for Derek and Baxter to get legally married as well. You and Cove go way back, and Derek and Baxter have a special bond as well.

-- But you can't have weddings for these, it'll just be a paper deal to cover everyone. The actual wedding has to be a ceremony with all four of you. Baxter would feel very strongly about this, so that no one is excluded, and so this is how it'll have to go.

-- Baxter plans it too, of course. Derek does everything he can to help, he keeps asking Baxter what he can do. That boy would bake the cake if Baxter asked him (Xavier will make the cake, don't worry). Meanwhile, Cove is like "Yay, wedding!"

-- Another thing is that I think Thanksgiving would be important for this lil gang. Baxter likes it because it's the Fall Holiday, and fall is his favorite. He cooks, too -- it might take him a few years, but he's going to get the hang of that turkey, don't worry. Derek likes the thought of everyone being thankful, it makes him feel cozy. Cove likes to eat. It's a good time!

[strayheartless]

I have an AU in my head where Gaia gets sick of the Sephiroth’s shit and ends up tuning him back into a baby and shipping him off to Cloud to raise differently.

Like she full of grandma Pascal’s him like “He said mommy I want to destroy every living creature on the planet, but I said m’hijo, don’t do that do something else!”

And Cloud has only a little concept of what’s happening when he helps Tseng excavate an old project S lab. He had a dream about a Moses basket in the middle of a burning Nibelhiem and the sound of crying. He just thought It was new parent anxiety over taking on Denzel, but it all suddenly makes sense when he looks into an incubation chamber and sees a tiny silver haired baby squirming to be held.

He’s annoyed about it obviously. Gaia seems to be under the impression she says jump and Cloud asks how high, but he’s also smart enough to know that this is a chance to save the General and the planet from an endless war. So he scoops up babyroth and takes him back to edge to raise him.

It’s tough going at first. Sephiroth’s is not an easy baby. He’s fussy; his cries can and will shatter glass; he’s stronger than he should be for what Cloud would wager is only about four months old. He starts teething early; he has opinions about carrots and bananas (much to the walls dismay) once he gets onto solid foods; he’s demanding in that way that only baby’s can be, but it seems a little bit more than that.

It takes everyone a while to figure out that what he actually is, is traumatised. He’s clingy in a way that shatters Clouds soul because if they put him down he panics. If he can’t see Cloud, even for a second, Sephiroth seems to think he’s been abandoned.

Eventually though, Seph settles a little, and it doesn’t feel so much like Cloud is running on two hours sleep accumulatively and sheer will power alone. Seph seems to smile a little more and there’s a little look of wonder in his little mako blue eyes that makes everybody melt.

Tifa finds it the hardest to reconcile this tiny child with the man who murdered her father, and it does put significant strain on her relationship with Cloud for a while (that’s not a judgment on Tifa btw, girls aloud to feel conflicted.)

Barrat on the other hand is of the opinion that the Goddess knows what she’s doing and a baby is a baby even if it did commit atrocities in a past life. It’s not current Sephs fault that his human parents experimented on him and a Alien symbiotic parasite god sent him mad. Current Seph just wants grapes and Barrats enough of a sucker for Rosie cheeks to give them to him.

Vincent is very careful with Seph (who they’ve all collectively decided never to full name unless he’s in trouble.). When he’s home from travelling he speaks to him quietly about everything and nothing. He doesn’t really touch him to start with, which frustrates little Seph who seems to think the cloak will add extra comfy cuddles. Over time though, Cloud,Barret and surprisingly Cid (who appears to randomly know a thing or two about babies.) help him get over his fear of hurting the little boy. Seph really enjoys cuddle time with Vincent, and learns to demand to be “upped” whenever he comes home.

Cloud, for his part is just dad, which he finds endlessly strange. He’d never really taken on that role for Denzel, he was the boys guardian sure, but they’d never really discussed the whole “if you want to call me Cloud that’s cool, but if you want me to be your dad I can be that too” thing. Marlene wasn’t his; Barrat was her dad and Cloud was Cloud. A parent of sorts, but not her Father. He was more like a devoted uncle really.

With Seph though it’s different. Cloud is this baby’s entire universe, and once language starts coming into play, various versions of “dada” become increasingly common. He’s not sure how he feels about it at first; this is the man who slaughtered his mother and decimated his villiage, the man who killed Aerith… but he was also just a baby.

This version of Sephiroth didn’t know what he’d done. Gaia had given him a chance at redemption and Cloud will be damned if he holds the acts of a mad man against a kid; no matter the circumstance.

So he’s dad. He feeds Seph, plays with him, baths him, puts him to bed, reads to him and teaches him everything he can. He doesn’t lie to him, and he always explains when Seph doesn’t understand.

And if Tifa slowly adjusts to being Mama then that’s nobodies business but their own.

Life’s nice being a family. Maybe they’ll add to it one day…

Or maybe Cloud will trip over a double Moses basket one day on the way out of the door to work, and when he looks down he sees two little crowns of hair one dark one red, and similar sets of shiny Mako eyes.

Maybe the little red headed one will cough weakly, and the dark haired one will fuss.

And maybe Cloud will curse himself for being a sucker for babies that used to be evil maniacs.

[steddie-fanfic-recs]

everybody else (everybody else looks like they’ve figured it out)

by stellarpoint (pettifogger)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationship: Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson Character: Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson, Robin Buckley, Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Nancy Wheeler, Wayne Munson Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Eddie Munson Lives, Pre-Relationship, Getting Together, Mutual Pining, Self-Esteem Issues, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Eddie Munson Has ADHD, Autistic Robin Buckley, Hard of Hearing Steve Harrington, Steve Harrington Has Migraines, Neurodiversity, Disability, Disabled Character, First Kiss, steve is a human comfort blanket and doesn't even know it, two neurodivergent gays and their comfort neurotypical Words: 7,570 Chapters: 1/1

Summary

Eddie knows he’s rambling, but once it’s out there, he can’t take it back. He’s freaking out about Steve, but it’s about everyone who came before him, too—about Maggy McInnis and her friends laughing at him in the hallway, every teacher who wrote him off for not being able to sit still and turn in his homework, and every friend who got sick of him for not listening and showing up late. Steve hasn’t had a chance to get close to Eddie, and Eddie doesn’t want to run that risk. If Steve gets too close to him, he’ll see that Eddie’s brain is all scrambled up, and he won’t want him anymore. Eddie likes Steve right where he is, and he doesn’t want to lose that by being too much. And Eddie is always too much.