#first book was a little boring but taking down the big bad in the second book was def worth it

[wonder-falcon]

i finished loa 2 and it was very good <3 better than the first one even i loved it!!!

[m00nh1gh]

OLDER

Bsf's dad!Bang Chan x reader

You knew you had a thing for older men but you didn't expect to be in this situation.

Contains: Unprotected car sex, masturbation (f), fingering, there's an age gap, but the reader is legal AND they didn't know each other when she was a minor, just a little heads up.

Word count: 3.1k.

Sleepovers at your best friend's house were always the best. You'd watch plenty of movies (or videos on YouTube) and cook together when her dad wasn't home. You had done all of that tonight and even had a photoshoot for new profile pictures and posts for Instagram. You really went all out for it, too.

Though, there was always one thing that bothered you at those sleepovers and it was the sleep part. Yuna snored a lot and it lead to insomnia for you. You'd usually be okay with it, because you never failed to bring your headphones, but this time, you had let them at your house. 

You grunted for the fifth time in a whole minute before letting go of the pillow you'd been using against your ears to try and muffle the sounds, but to no avail. You decided it could be good to take a little walk in her house. You guys were alone anyway, so it wouldn't bother anyone. 

You slowly opened the door of her bedroom, walked out and made sure to close it behind you. You looked around to make sure her dad wasn't here and went to the kitchen silently.

You poured yourself some water in the glass you used tonight and took a big sip of it. You could finally relax once you were away from Yuna. You didn't even know exactly why snoring irritated you so much. It made you feel bad to complain about it so much, but you just had to.

"Y/n? It's late, why aren't you sleeping?"

You jumped and put a hand over your mouth to stop yourself from yelping. You had never heard him coming in the house, even less walking in the room and leaning against the doorframe. He didn't look annoyed or bored. He was, in fact, smiling at you with a raised brow. It made you blush - as usual - and you looked down.

"Sorry, I couldn't sleep. I just came here to get some water.

- You know it's alright, you should still get some rest though," he placed his coat on the kitchen island as he walked to the fridge, which was right beside you.

His sleeves were rolled up and you couldn't help but to take a look at his arms and hands as he took a plate Yuna and you had prepared for him earlier. He placed it in the microwave for one minute and thirty seconds and then he looked back at you.

"She's snoring again, right?

- Yeah."

He laughed and suddenly, your heart started beating faster. This wasn't right. You shouldn't feel like this around him. He's your best friend's dad, for God's sake!

"I'll be awake for a while more, wanna come to my office? I could use some company. 

- Oh, but I don't want to bother you…

- You won't. I really would appreciate your company. But if you wanna go back to sleep, then it's good too!" His dimples are so hot. His office outfit is so hot. You felt hot.

"No, I'm not going to sleep," you smiled at him before following his lead to his office that was on the second floor. It was the first time you steeped into it and it somehow felt intimate; Yuna had always told you her dad did not let anyone in there while he was gone and now he invited you to sit on the small couch that was settled next to a bookshelf.

"Don't tell Yuna about this, she'll start coming here without my permission," the man sighed as he sat on his chair behind his desk. He turned his computer on and looked back at you while it loaded. "You can do whatever you want, I have books there and other stuff… Just don't touch what's on my desk, not that I think you would anyway," he gave you a wink and a smile as he laid back on his chair, turning his attention back to the screen.

Some time passed since your last interaction with Christopher. You had picked a book from his shelf, but quite honestly, it was just to make yourself look busy. You surely couldn't concentrate on it when you could see him shift on his seat and hear him sigh from time to time, clicking his tongue and grunting. You didn't know what he was working on, but it surely made him frustrated.

You looked at the cover of the book since you didn't even know which one you had picked. That's how uninterested you were about it, but maybe that you should start being, because Christopher's noises made you think some stuff that you shouldn't think about.

"100 Cocktail Recipes; Spice your Drinks Up!"  What the fuck?

"Is everything alright?" You opted on asking, coming to the conclusion that you wouldn't read anything tonight.

"Yeah, yeah. Just work stuff, you know?" He looked rather enthusiastic about you finally talking to him. You guessed he needed a little break from work.

"Yeah, I know," you looked around the room, suddenly feeling really awkward and regretting having talked to him.

"I guess I could take a small break," he sighed and leaned back on his chair, his hands behind his head as he looked back at his screen. "Wanna go on a little drive?

- I'd actually like that, yes," you smiled and you both got up to walk out of the office. 

"Wait just a bit, I'm gonna go change into something else," you nodded and he came back a few minutes later with a t-shirt and simple jeans. The shirt was tight. You didn't even know how it didn't tear because the man is muscular. You shook your head a little to let go of your thoughts and followed Christopher to the entry door.

Once your shoes were on, he let you get out first and he locked the door behind him.

"Let's hope Yuna doesn't wake up," he chuckled and unlocked his car. You smiled and mentally prayed that she wouldn't notice you were out too, walking to the car and getting in the passenger seat as Christopher sat at the driver's seat.

"So, where are we going?

- Anywhere, it's up to you.

- I know a pretty spot somewhere. Let's get snacks and then go there. Yeah?

- Sounds good," you smiled at him and he returned it, starting the engine and driving to a small convenience store Yuna and you went to often. It was the only one that was open the whole night, so when you ever craved something late, you walked there and took whatever you needed. You even became friends with the cashier.

"Hey, Y/n!" Jeongin waved at you and nodded at Christopher. You walked to him as Christopher picked some snacks in the store.

"Is that your dad?

- No, that's Yuna's dad," you looked behind to make sure he wasn't near you and you leaned forward. "He's fucking hot."

Jeongin laughed and shook his head.

"Do you even know how old he is? Not that he looks 60, but that's still her dad.

- He's like in his half 40's, it's alright.

- What are you guys talking about?"

You jumped as Christopher put food and drinks on the counter. Jeongin stayed silent as he scanned the items and you cleared your throat.

"Are you two dating?

- What? No, no!" Jeongin finally spoke.

"That's Yuna's boyfriend," you added, side eyeing Jeongin whose cheeks reddened significantly.

"Am not.

- Not yet," you teased and Christopher laughed.

"I'll be looking forward to our first family dinner with you, then," he paid for the stuff and took the plastic bag after Jeongin put the receipt in it. You said your goodbyes and walked out with a smile still sitting on your face, thinking back to Jeongin's shyness at the mention of your best friend.

"They'd look cute together," Christopher said as you both got back in the car.

"I know, right? But they're both so oblivious that it hurts me sometimes.

- Give them time and eventually, they'll confess."

It was a ten minute drive until Christopher parked his car in an empty parking lot, which was right in front of a small river. There were benches along it and lampposts beside each one of them. It was a pretty spot indeed, but you wished you'd brought a jacket with you if you were to get out of the car.

"We can stay in the car if you want, you're not wearing something adequate to the weather," he remarked and you agreed.

He took out two bottles of water and handed one to you. You opened it and immediately took a sip. You hadn't noticed how thirsty you were, and the water felt refreshing in your throat.

"And what about you? Do you have a boyfriend?

- No, guys at school aren't for me.

- Ah, I see," it was silent for a little moment until you heard him unbuckle his seat so he could turn to you the way he wanted to. "What about older guys? You know, you're old enough to have a little age gap in relationships now."

You played with the cap of your bottle nervously, your heart pounded hard in your chest and you could hear it. "Yeah, I like older men.

- Men, huh?" He smirked and turned your head towards him with a hand placed on your cheek. "Have you tried talking to them?"

You shook your head and hardly swallowed, suddenly needing another sip of water. But, you couldn't move. Christopher looked too beautiful in the dark of the night, with only a small amount of light that hit the side of his face. His lips looked extra kissable and they were still a little wet due to his drink and you felt yourself getting needy.

"No, I haven't.

- Then talk to me," he leaned close to your ear, you could feel his hot breath on your neck and you closed your eyes, "Am I old enough for you?

- Yeah," you whispered, and you swore you could hear his smirk. He looked back at you, and it was hard for you not to look away. He was way too intimidating for you to hold eye contact.

"I knew you'd be a good girl for me," he kissed you shortly once, and then the second one was deep. His lips- God, his lips felt so good against yours. They were so soft and fit perfectly with yours, driving you insane and you undid your seatbelt to get closer to him. Christopher groaned lowly as his tongue entered your mouth, and his hand found its way to your thigh, slowly hiking up your shorts. Well, as much as he could.

You shivered at his touch and softly bit on his lower lip, making a moan escape from his lips and that was it: now you were wet for sure and he broke away from the kiss, looking at you with lustful eyes.

"Tell me what you want," he said, his voice deeper than usual.

"I just want you," you admitted, placing a hand on his chest. It trailed down to the end of his shirt. 

"Then I'll show you how much I want you too," he reclined his seat a little and gestured for you to come sit on his lap. You obeyed and immediately felt him through his pants. He was already half hard for sure.

"So fucking beautiful," he took a strand of your hair between his fingers, then putting his hand at the back of your head to pull you closer so he could kiss you. He slid his hand down your waist, making its way under your shorts. His other hand cupped one of your boobs through your tank top. You whimpered and put your hands around his biceps, feeling his muscles flexing under them.

His lips were so rough against yours that it added an edge of excitement to the moment. You were completely lost in this touch, his hand was back out of your shorts and was settled on your hip. His other one was sliding down your sides, feeling your curves.

"You're going to drive me insane," you hummed against his lips and rolled your hips a little, making him groan and pull you away from the kiss. "Touch yourself, baby," he commanded, moving one hand to grab your ass and squeezing it.

"What?" You asked with a small voice, unsure of what he meant by this.

"I want to see you touching yourself," he clarified, his voice as rough as his touch. A hand under your top now, he found your nipple and teasingly brushed against it. You reacted to it, pulling yourself closer to him, and you nodded, spreading your thighs a little. You slid a hand under your shorts and panties, reaching your clit immediately.

His hand finally pinched your nipple and it earned him a moan from you. "That's it, baby," he breathed. "You look so fucking hot."

You hummed again, rubbing small circles on your clit as you absorbed everything he told you.

"So obedient. You like being my good girl? Like touching yourself for me?

- Yeah," you moaned as your hips bucked up, looking down at him.

"Tell me more," he demanded. He wanted you to beg for him, to show him just how much power he held over you.

"I like being your good girl, only yours," you said, pulling the fabric of your panties and shorts to the side so he could have a glimpse at what was going on under your clothes.

"You're such a tease," he teasingly traced a finger along your wet folds. "Look at how wet you are for me."

You whimpered and stopped touching yourself for him to take over. Your hands went back to his biceps. 

"Do you like being teased?" He asked, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. He continued teasing your pussy, ignoring how you tried getting away due to how sensitive you had gotten.

"No," you closed your thighs around his hand. 

"Yes, you do," he said, leaning in to kiss you like a hungry man. His free hand squeezed your breasts, pinching your hardened nipple as he started rubbing on your clit. You moaned against his lips, spreading your thighs for him to touch you better as you tugged at the sleeves of his shirt.

With a low chuckle, he pushed your panties to the side more and slid a finger into your sloppy hole, immediately finding your g spot. "Want me to make you cum?" He assumed you were already ready for a second finger, so he slid another one inside you.

"Yes, please. Please," you breathed out, getting used to his fingers inside you. 

"That's it," he slowly pumped his fingers in and out of you. "Feels good?" He asked, placing hot kisses over your neck as he continued with the right amount of pressure and speed.

"Good," you agreed, lifting his shirt up a little so you could have a look at his toned abs, finally touching the skin. That made him groan again, his fingers digging deeper into you as you touched every inch of his chest. Once your hand reached lower, his hips grinded against it slightly, and you didn't waste another second before unzipping his pants and cupping his dick through his boxers.

He moaned, his hips grinding a little more against your palm. "You're so hot,"

You moaned when his finger brushed against a certain spot inside you and it made you squeeze his cock a little. He lifted himself up a little so you could slide his pants and boxers down a little. Christopher's breath hitched a little and his eyes locked with yours, filled with lust and anticipation. "Fuck."

"Want you inside me, Chris. Please?" You asked, pumping his dick slowly to spread his precum all over his shaft.

"Alright, baby," he hissed a little at your touch. "If that's what you want. But I can't guarantee I'll be gentle," he warned, guiding himself to your entrance once your hand had left him. You nodded and pushed yourself down on his dick a little so his tip was already inside you. You moaned and put a hand on the back of the seat for support as you sunk down painfully slowly.

Christopher lost some of his patience and grabbed your hips harshly, thrusting into you sharply without warning. You gasped and threw your head back, feeling the stretch of his dick clearly. It hurt for sure, but you didn't say anything. He knew to give you some time to get used to him. He brought you closer and started kissing your neck. "Told you I can't be gentle," he mumbled as he softly nibbled at your skin.

"Can move," you said, rolling your hips against him. He moaned and guided you, giving a small slap at your ass as you rode him. It was your first time, but by Christopher's moans, you guessed you did good, and you found the hem of his shirt to tug at it. 

He got the hint and quickly got it off, throwing it at the back of the car, completely forgetting about it and giving his complete attention to you. Your hands quickly found their way to his upper chest, pawing at the skin. "Fuck, Chris," you moaned against his ear.

His eyes rolled back as you touched him and moaned in his ear that way, picking up the pace of your movements as he guided you on him. "Yeah, feel good, baby? Like having sex with older men? They're better at it, right? They have more experience… I know what's good for you," his lips trailed down your collarbones, and you moved so he could mouth your boob through your top. He softly bit, making your back arch and you lost control of yourself, becoming unstable on top of him.

He cursed and held your hips up, now he was the one pounding up into you at a rapid and rough pace. Everytime his pelvis met your clit, it sent waves of pleasures throughout your whole body and you felt yourself coming closer to your orgasm.

"Shit, gonna cum," he said in a whisper almost and you moaned in response. "Gonna cum soon too, baby?

- Yeah," you agreed and rubbed your clit as he continued thrusting into you. Both of your movements became sloppy and right when he was about to release, he pulled out of you and fucked his own fist until he came all over his stomach. With that vise in front of you, your orgasm hit you fast and your hips stuttered above him as he was still riding his own orgasm out.

"Fuck," you whimpered and collapsed on him. You were both panting heavily and he was now stroking your hair softly.

"Y/n, you're fucking crazy," he said and you laughed.

___

One of my fav chapters frfr

[discordantwritings]

Captain’s Orders (Buggy x Reader)

Warnings: NSFW 18+ MDNI, gn afab! Reader, angst, Buggy is bad at feelings, canon typical violence, oral, PiV sex, creampie

WC: 8.4k

Summary: Getting a job as the chronicler of the Buggy pirates was the best, then worst, then best thing that ever happened to you.

Notes: The second I realized I hadn’t done a solo buggy fic I wrote this I’m so sorry buggy

No one tells you how hard it is to keep a job on a pirate ship. Unless you manage to land with a big name captain the chances your job sinks to the bottom of the sea is pretty high. Which is what happened to your last three jobs- you were so tired of ending up on a dingy paddling away from a lost battle that you had no say in. You were a chronicler after all- not exactly a fighting pirate.

Despite being a non-essential crew member a chronicler was a sought after person. Every pirate thinks they are going to be the one to find the One Piece so, naturally, every pirate needs to have someone to log their journey to becoming king of the pirates. It was a little tiring, hearing the same story over and over again, writing the same few chapters only to end up waterlogged and searching for a new ship at the end.

But you needed to eat and you could only afford to live at this tavern for so long. You’d posted your services on the local board, listing your name and where you were staying in hopes of drawing in a pirate captain. One that hopefully won’t be going under in less than a month. And if you were really lucky- one that wasn’t so painfully textbook.

Really you should have known the gods were going to get you for wishing that.

When the clowns first walk into the tavern you wonder if you missed some signage that a carnival was coming into town. But when a distinctly dressed blue haired pirate captain walks in behind them- you put it all together. The Buggy Pirates were docked here. Their chronicler probably had their hands full but at least it wasn’t the same boring-

You notice when the barkeep points Buggy the Clown in your direction. The two of you make eye contact across the room and you quickly run through your memory to try and figure out what you could have possibly done to be hunted down by a big name pirate. As his heavy boots thud against the wooden floors you can’t think of a single time you’ve even brushed shoulders with any clowns let alone pirate ones. As Buggy looms over your table you frantically try and think of a way out of whatever sorry situation you’ve accidentally gotten yourself into only for that hurried train of thought to be abruptly derailed.

“You the chronicler who has that ad posted?”

It takes you probably too long to respond with a squeaky- “Yes?”

“Great!” The clown takes the chair next to you and sits down, quickly putting his feet up on the table. “Do you have examples of a resume or whatever?”

“You don’t already have a chronicler?” The question is out of your mouth before you can stop it and you bite the inside of your cheek to stop yourself from saying more stupid things.

“Nope.” He shrugs and you see the rest of his crew settle in around the tavern.

“Oh. Well-“ You reach off to your side and take out a leather bound journal that has some of your work plastered in it. “Here’s some snippets.”

As you hand it over to Buggy you feel as his sea green eyes rake over you for a few moments before he finally takes the book. He flips to the first page, looks at it for maybe all of two seconds before snapping it shut. “How would you write about me?”

Then why did he even- “Well I think- see people sometimes assume a chronicler only writes down the basic facts are events but I think a real chronicler tells a story that the average person didn’t get to see or hear about. For example a lot of people heard about the Straw Hats taking you out at Orange Town-“

He sits up a bit, gaze hardening but you quickly continue. “But- I think there’s a different story there! They fought the fishmen so soon after your encounter with them and it’s no secret that the Arlong Crew was pushing their luck in the East Blue. So the story there should really be about how you used your genius to let the Straw Hats go and sent the Arlong Crew after them- letting your opponents fight it out and weaken each other.”

There’s a long pause where you feel the clown practically searing holes into your skin with his gaze until he finally breaks into a smile that rivals the one painted on his face. “That’s exactly it! You get it! People just need to hear the right side of the story! Start writing that down. That'll be your first entry as our chronicler.”

That is probably the most presumptuous way you’ve ever been offered a job but you certainly were not about to look a gift horse in the mouth. “Great!”

It’s only after Buggy then orders a round of drinks in celebration and the cheering begins that you realize something.

“I don’t have to wear a clown costume do I?”

You didn’t have to wear a clown costume but already in the few weeks you’ve been a member of the Buggy Pirates your wardrobe had gotten more colorful. A sequin scarf here- a bright blue shirt there- these things just landed in your bunk and it did help you fit in. You minded it less than you thought you would, being in a crew that actually put thought into how they looked was a pleasant change.

You tied a striped sash around your waist over your pants as you prepared to have your nightly debriefing with your new captain. During the day you flitted about the ship, taking notes on everything that happens. Every night though Buggy always wanted a check in. From letting him know what happened while he was doing other duties, to telling you some previous journeys that he and his crew had been, to embellishing the stories of the day.

It was nice having a captain who actually cared about what you were writing. Most had just left you to your own devices and didn’t much care for your craft beyond the fact it made them look good. But Buggy actually wants to listen to your words and he provides some actual good feedback (admittedly in a sea of crazy unbelievable ideas, but the point still stands).

Journals and pens tucked under your arms you navigate to the captain’s quarters, finally feeling comfortable navigating the large ship after walking this route twice a day. It’s not that long before you’re knocking on the large door and hear Buggy’s voice, muffled through the wood.

“C’mon in.”

You push through the door and see Buggy behind his desk, face laying sideways on a pile of paper. You take a seat across from him.

“You alright?” You ask, eyebrow raised.

“Being a captain is not all fun and games my dearest chronicler.” He pushes back on the desk, flopping back in his large seat and swinging his feet up on the desk, knocking over the papers in the process. “Responsibility is a heavy burden to bear.”

You look over the mounds of untouched paper work that have been sitting there since you first arrived. “Seems like it.”

“But now you are here to save me. Tell me my story weaver- what is the tale of the day.” When he looks at you you know you have his undivided attention. There was something so fulfilling about capturing his attention, something you’ve learned is so finicky and flighty. But for you? He’s never been distracted.

“Well, it’s been a pretty standard day.” You go into every detail that matters- what acts were practiced, who's flirting with who, what crew member Richie managed to bite a finger off of- that kind of stuff.

“You know- we should have a whole section where we track body parts Richie has eaten and see how many full people can be put together with the parts.” Buggy adds as you finish up your recap and you huff a laugh as you write that down.

“I think we’ll have a lot of spare fingers.” You point out.

“Good point. Full bodies and hands.” Slightly more sensible… kind of.

“Got it. I’ll start logging and asking around for people who have lost limbs to Richie.” You make the note and you see out of the edges of your vision as Buggy’s legs come off the desk and he leans over, getting a bit closer to you.

“Y’know I’ve told you many stories already- what about you?” His head settles in his hands, perched up by his elbows.

“What do you mean what about me?” You tilt your head, genuinely confused.

“Your stories! You said you were the chronicler for a few ships before mine, you must have had some adventures out on the great wide East Blue.”

“Ah, well… no.” You admit a bit awkwardly.

“No?” Buggy raises his eyebrows, clearly looking for more.

“I was just a chronicler. I didn't really do anything on the previous ships I worked on. Hell, you’re the first captain who actually wants to hear about what I’m writing. For everyone else it was just an ego trip to have someone writing for them…” Your pen slips into your journal as a placeholder as you close it and pull it close to your lap.

“That’s…” Buggy frowns. “What losers! Most pirates won’t know talent if it slaps them in the face.”

You try to bite back your smile but it’s pretty ineffective. “You’re very kind captain.”

“You’re going to have to learn to take some compliments because with my crew? We are going all the way to the top and your stories of our journeys are going to be known across all four seas!” As he talked he stood up, wildly gesturing as he talked about his grand plan.

When other captains of yours had talked about getting the One Piece it had always annoyed you for some reason. The hunt for fame and money was… well it was cliche. But there was something about the earnestness that Buggy talked with- the grand scale he always thought on that made you believe it.

“Well, I guess I will have to work on that.” You say as you look up at him.

“Yes. Captain’s orders.” He hops up to sit on his desk just adjacent to you. His right foot lightly knocks against the side of your left calf.

“Then I’ll have to do it.” You smile wide, his energy was infectious.

“But seriously, not a single story? There has to be one fun thing you can tell me.”

“I guess… there was this one time-“

You break into a small, stupid story but Buggy hangs on your every word. The second you’re done he shares a similar experience and you go back and forth like this for hours, journal where you were supposed to write these things down long forgotten. Somewhere along the way you both ended up sitting on the floor, leaned up against the desk and legs side by side as you both gesture wildly through your stories. You don’t know how long this goes on, but when you feel yourself fighting to open your eyes after you blink you think it might be way late.

“I should get to bed.” You nudge Buggy’s shoulder with your own, working up the strength to stand up.

“Oh yeah it’s like-“ His hand detaches and he grabs something off his desk before bringing it down to his face. “Oh shit- 3 already?”

“Wow-“ You look at the clock he grabbed and sure enough, 3:21 am. “Yeah I really need to get to bed. You too, captain.”

You get up with a grunt of effort and once you’re standing you turn around and offer up your hand to help Buggy up. There’s an awkward pause as he looks up at you and he must be just as tired as you are with how long it takes for him to clasp his hand in yours and pull himself up.

“See you tomorrow night captain.” You squeeze his hand before letting go and walking out the door.

You’re not sure why you feel a low buzz in your body, nerves up from some unknown source. It’s not a gnawing anxiety… something else you can’t place. No matter what the second your head hits the pillow you’re out like a light, body getting ready for another long day.

The Buggy Clowns were weirdly affectionate. Not all of them, mind you, you don’t think you’ll ever get Cabaji to even smile at you, but the camaraderie they have is intimate. Most of the time not in a sexual way (though you’d be remiss to ignore the raunchier performers in the circus), but in friendliness and touchiness. Never before have you been on such an affectionate crew.

Every time you put more than 10 seconds into your appearance you got hoots and hollers from most of the crew members. When you grab lunch in the mess people fight over who gets to sit with you and be documented. Even Richie has a soft side- you’ve managed to pet him without adding a body part to the now running list.

It’s been a few months now and they still fight over you at meals- a quirk you would have thought would die out long ago. Everyone is eager to tell you about their day and try and loop you into spending the rest of the day with them. Today the tightrope walkers win out- or at least they think so. Secretly you’ve made a schedule for when you follow each group and no one has caught onto your pattern yet. But it makes it easy for you and makes it so no one is favored.

But when they cheer and lean into you, arms wrapped around your shoulders you still feel like shrinking away in embarrassment. It’s not bad- you can’t deny the little ego boost it gives you- but there’s something that always makes your face burn. But all that is nothing compared to Buggy.

You quickly figure out that, like all crew attitudes, it trickles down from the top.

Of course Buggy isn’t going around hugging crew members (when he’s sober) and he does lose his temper often, but there’s also a softness to him. He’s got nicknames for everyone, and everyone gets their time in the spotlight. He personally reviews all the circus acts and when someone wants to do something new it’s rare he says no.

Everyone in the crew is a misfit, but because of that, no one is. A group of people who have never felt respected or wanted before suddenly find themselves belonging- it makes sense why everyone was surprisingly warm. But you still have a hard time handling it, especially when it comes to Buggy.

It’s the damn nicknames.

Story weaver, dearest chronicler, writing star. And the worst part? It’s always his.

My story weaver.

My star.

Never in a tone that makes you feel owned or degraded- quite the opposite really. You’re treasured, respected, seen. It’s been too long since you felt that way and the reblooming of those emotions was… uncomfortable.

But you don’t think you’d ever want it to stop.

“My lovely chronicler-“ It’s Buggy who suddenly throws you out of your thoughts with affection and a hand on your shoulder. “I have to cancel our meeting tonight.”

“What? Why?” You want to kick yourself for sounding even slightly hurt.

“Not your fault- turns out I’m a few days behind on planning out supply orders for when we dock tomorrow.” By a few days you know he means he hasn’t thought about supplies since they last docked.

“Oh, well, do you need help?” The second you finish your sentence you feel a light elbow in your side from one of the tightrope walkers but before you can turn to look at him your attention is grabbed by a clap from Buggy.

“Great! See you tonight!” He says, already walking away.

You turn to the source of the elbow. “What was that for?”

“I’m sorry, you totally just got suckered into doing all his paper work.” He says apologetically.

“Yeah, he’s done this with just about every crew member. You’re the only one who doesn’t know his trick.” Another one explains.

“Well, he is the captain, he could just make one of us do it.” You say, still very confused about this whole situation.

“Yeah, but then he has to admit that he messed up and needs someone else to do his work. This way he is just, I don’t know, reveling in his crew’s generosity.” Yeah, that sounds like him.

“I’m not going to get any sleep tonight am I.”

“Nope.” You get a few reassuring pats on the back as you slump onto the table.

“Captain?” Later in the day you knock on his door and come in at his usual ‘come in’.

You walk in and see papers everywhere. There’s no organization, no sense that he’s actually began to work on anything, just papers on almost every flat surface you can see. You don’t think half of these are relevant to what needs to be done.

“My darling most beloved star.” Buggy calls from behind his desk. He’s laying it on thick so you don’t run away.

“Did one of your bombs explode in here?” You carefully walk over to his desk, hopping over random papers on your way.

“Yes?” It’s obvious he’s lying.

“Well… I guess we have our work cut out for us.” You make it across from him and start looking at papers, trying to find some sense.

“Yes. I trust you implicitly- now I’m just going to go-“ He stands up and you glare at him.

“You’re not going anywhere.” You’re a little annoyed, but there’s no real malice in your words. Despite that, Buggy still shrinks back.

“But you’ve got this.” He says, confidence quickly draining from his voice.

“It would go a lot faster if we work together. Come on. We will start by organizing. Figure out what actually needs to be done for tomorrow and go from there.” You gesture to the mess on his desk before you get to work on the papers discarded on the floor.

“But-“

“No.” You cut him off without even looking at him- you know he’s using his puppy dog eyes.

“Fine.” He grumbles and you hear the shift of papers that tells you he’s at least pretending to do something.

It takes you hours to get everything sorted but after that the actual work doesn’t take that long. You have a pretty good knowledge of what supplies everyone needs and the average use of those supplies in a day- you write it all down typically. All in all you’re done and dusted just before midnight, an accomplishment really.

Buggy is moping at his desk, the reward of a job well done isn’t really enough for him after he actually had to put in some effort. You’ve set up a schedule for him too- something he’ll probably ignore but you’re pretty hopeful.

“That’s it right?” His voice is partially muffled by his face being smooshed down into the wood of his desk.

“Yes, we are all done for the night.” You reply, straightening out the last stack of files on his desk.

“Yay.” His voice is flat and devoid of all joy.

“You’re pretty childish for a captain, you know that?” You take a seat across the desk, not quite ready to leave.

“That’s part of my charm darling.” He lifts his face so his chin is resting on the desk.

Darling.

That was a new one.

“It’s not your best feature but I guess it is a part of your whole deal.” You admit, still trying to shake off the weird stirring of emotions from the new pet name.

He perks up instantly, sitting up in his chair. “What’s my best feature?”

“Hm?”

“You said it’s not my best feature, which implies you know my best feature. What is it?” His smile is wide, matching his face paint.

“Ah-“ Well. You know exactly what his best feature is but you hesitate to say. It’s not what a pirate captain typically wants to hear but… well he’s anything but typical.

“I think your best feature is that you care. Genuinely. You yell and stomp around at the crew but you always make sure all of our needs are met. To some people finding the One Piece is just the thing pirates do but you care with every fiber of your being. When you want to do something, really want to do it, you throw yourself into it for better or for worse. Your risks end up paying off more often than not and I don’t think that’s a coincidence.”

There’s an awkward pause where Buggy’s smile drops a bit and he stares at you and you think that you’ve fucked up. He is still a pirate captain with an ego and not telling him that his strength or intellect was his best feature was a dumb mistake. But then he coughs, a fake awkward cough and you’re not sure what’s going on.

“Oh that’s- yeah- I mean what am I if not the best captain to work for in all of the seas.” The smile returns to his face but there’s something you can’t place and you feel like you’ve misstepped.

“It’s late- I should go-“ You stand up and quickly head to the door but Buggy’s voice stops you right before you exit.

“Hey-“ You turn and look at him. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” There��s more hovering in the space between you but none of it can be put into words.

You leave.

Even if the Buggy pirates were worlds different from any other crew you had worked with they still party like every other pirate crew after a victory. Just a little more explosive. Literally.

You had never seen fireworks before so you were laying down on an upper deck while the loud party raged a few decks down, reveling in the bright and colorful explosions that shattered across the sky. You know Buggy made them all himself, he was surprisingly talented in pyrotechnics. It was overwhelming to your senses in the way that Buggy often was-

You’ve found yourself thinking more and more about him recently. You don’t want to think about what that means so you just shove those things down and focus on the shimmering colors dancing around the sky.

Until, of course, your captain finds you.

“My star! We are all missing our chronicler at the party!” His head peaks up over the ladder as he calls to you but you wave a dismissive hand.

“I’m just enjoying the fireworks, I’ll be down later.” You say, perched up on your elbows.

Buggy pulls himself all the way up the ladder before walking over and taking a seat next to you. “I’m glad someone is enjoying all my hard work.”

“I’d never seen fireworks before tonight.” You admit, laying back down fully.

“Really? Well I’m glad I could introduce you.” He lays down as well, only a few inches separating you two as you both lay flat on your backs.

“It’s- I mean I have no idea how you do it. It’s seriously magic.” You turn your head to look at him, admiring the profile of his face under the multicolored lights of the fireworks.

“It’s all chemicals and patience. I know, surprising that I have that.” He looks at you, a sly smile on his face.

“There really is nothing our fearless captain can’t do when he puts his mind to it.” You half joke, nudging his arm with your elbow. “But really- how do you get all those different colors?”

“Well-“

As the different fireworks explode in the sky he tells you the different chemicals he used to get the respective colors and effects. Somewhere in the explanations and pointing he’s right next to you, arms and thighs pressed together. You can’t help but lean into his warmth against the cool wind of the sea.

“I guess there will have to be a chapter on fireworks in your chronicle.” You say after the fireworks slowly die out, all of them used up by now.

“You can just slide that chapter in when things get too boring. Wake readers up with an explosion!” His hand gestures over both of your bodies.

“I’m not sure there will be any time where your story will be too boring. I’m pretty sure just by being a clown pirate you’re always interesting.”

Out of the corner of your eye you see Buggy turn his face towards yours. In turn you move your face as well, and you can feel his warm breath fan over your face.

He’s really quite beautiful in the moonlight.

“Do you really think that?” He asks, so quiet you almost don’t hear him over the low drone of the party below.

“Of course.” You answer automatically.

“I uh-“ You see a panic set over his face and you wonder if you’ve done something wrong. He sits up and you sit up in turn, confusion on your face.

“I should get back down to the party. It’s been-“ He stands up and practically trips over his own feet. “Nice.”

You watch him quickly descend the ladder and you’re suddenly very aware of how cold it is out on the deck at night.

You’re not sure what you did, but you messed something up.

You stop having your nightly meetings. It’s once a week now and he blames it on the recent partnership with Alvida and her crew but you know there’s something else. You got too comfortable with your captain and distance had to be created. You were disrespectful and you needed to learn your place.

You weren’t his anymore.

Chronicler, sure. Star, sometimes. You almost despised when he used your actual name. The burning feeling of being discarded weighs in your chest every time you see him.

It was only after how painful and hard you took the slightest bit of rejection that you realized you might have feelings for your captain. Stupid inappropriate feelings. You hadn’t put the label on it before, pushing any feelings down into the pit of your gut but with how quickly they turned sour you couldn’t help but feel them rise up and burn your throat.

Stupid how you realize these things too late.

Because now there’s a new crew, a new partnership, and plenty of shiny new objects for Buggy to be enamored with. None of them you.

You still did your job through- dutifully chronicling each day. Your emotions will pass and this job is still far and away the best you’ve ever landed. You won’t throw it away over a stupid unrequited crush.

It’ll pass.

Someday.

But today isn’t that day as a pang rings through your chest as you see Buggy loop an arm around Alvida’s shoulder and pull her in close. You know there’s nothing going on between the two of them (you’re fairly confident Alvida doesn’t swing that way) but seeing him pay attention to someone else the way he paid attention to you-

You sounded like a child didn’t you.

You were just about to excuse yourself from the area when Buggy spots you and calls you over with a quick shout of your title. Taking a deep breath you steel yourself and put on a smile before walking over.

“Yes captain?” You say, overly formal as you hold your journal close.

“I was thinking maybe you could do a few weeks with the Alvida pirates, you know, get a better look at their side of things! Wrap them into the story of the Genius Jester!” He gestured grandly with his free hand.

“Oh, well, if that’s okay with captain Alvida…” You look towards the dark haired woman who shrugs.

“I’ve never had a chronicler before so I guess I wouldn’t mind seeing what it’s all about.”

“Great! Our perfect partnership continues!” Buggy looks at you. “How’s a month sound?”

A month. He wants to get rid of you for a whole month. You swallow down your emotions. “When have I ever not followed my captain’s orders?”

“You are a loyal crew member. And it’s not like you aren’t going to see all of your crew mates! It’s just shifting focus for a bit.” It’s true, both crews frequently overlap ships but you know you’re going to be glued to that gaudy pink ship (not that the ship you were currently on wasn’t gaudy, just a different kind).

“Fine by me captain.” You say, making your voice as cheerful as possible.

“Great.”

“Good.”

There’s a long pause where the two of you are just standing there, Alvida casting glances to both of you.

“Well if that’s all I’ll go pack some of my things for my stay.” You say, already taking a step backwards.

“Yes, good idea! Always taking initiative!” He waves goodbye and you turn around as fast as possible, walking at a brisk pace when you really want to run.

Working with Alvida wasn’t bad at all. You checked in with her once a week and she was pretty receptive to your work, provided you added in a lot of extra pages about how beautiful she was. At first it was annoying, but once you got used to it she was surprisingly nice to you.

You were two weeks into your month with her and she was already asking you about how to hire her own chronicler. It was rewarding to know that you’ve done a good enough job so far that she would seek out someone like you. You were working hard, trying to shift your focus from your emotions into something more productive.

It didn’t work.

Every day you found yourself looking around the decks hoping to catch a glimpse of your captain visiting. He was never there.

You saw plenty of your other crew mates- both crews frequented both ships as you sailed together. It was nice having that familiarity, but the reminder that you were specifically sent away while they got to go back to their ship every night stung.

“Ah, chronicler.” Alvida’s voice shook you out of your thoughts, having zoned out while recording what the meals were for the day in the kitchen.

“Hello Alvida, was there something you needed?” Your finger slipped into your journal as a placeholder as you turned your attention to her.

“Yes. I just finished discussing some business with Buggy and your good work came up.” You couldn’t help but puff up a bit- You did want him to know you were still exceeding at your job. “And then he made me an offer that I’d like to extend to you. He said if I wanted you full time I had his permission, so. Would you like to be my chronicler?”

There’s a full 30 seconds that you have to take to process the words that were said to you and come up with a response that doesn’t sound like your heart just got shattered into a million pieces.

“Oh wow, that’s quite the offer I- uh-“ Your mind is struggling to work under the weight of your emotions and Alvida catches on that you’re overwhelmed.

“It’s a big change so you can take some time to think about it. Just come to me when you have your answer.” She gives you a curt nod before heading off, leaving you with your spiraling thoughts.

You manage to hold back your tears until you’re at you bunk, burying your face in your pillow to catch your flow of tears. There was something so painful about being shipped off to someone else, being so unwanted he couldn’t stand to work with you anymore. You’re not even sure what you did wrong which might be the most frustrating part.

If you could lead this all back to one action you took maybe you could make it better- maybe you could go back.

But you didn’t.

You know when you’re not wanted.

Later that day you knock on Alvida’s door and accept her offer. All your stuff is already on her ship so you don’t ever have to step foot on Buggy’s ship ever again.

It’s easier that way.

A month has gone by of officially being the chronicler of the Alvida pirates. It’s… fine. Painfully fine. Perfectly average.

You stop wearing bright colors, swapped out for the pinks and reds that cover the ship. You still keep your old clothes, tucked away in a box that also has the journal you used to chronicle your time the the Buggy pirates. The sequins and stripes keep it safe and far away from you, letting you pull back at the last second before you obsessively repour over the pages to find where you went wrong.

You were getting better.

You stopped crying every night, you stopped longing looking over the bow at Buggy’s ship, you stopped searching for him whenever your old crew came over.

The lingering feelings will pass soon, and you eagerly count down the days until your heart patches itself up and moves on.

It was easy to ignore your emotions during a storm. All your energy focused on locking up your stuff and going where you were needed- you were a chronicler but all hands on deck meant all hands.

It was a nasty storm- lighting and high waves bashing against the hull repeatedly and ruthlessly. You were down below deck, sent on your own to grab emergency medical supplies from deep storage, two crew members had already broken bones and there were probably going to be countless other injuries before the storm let up. Boxes shoved in your arms you were making your way back up to the medical bay when you heard it- the sound you never want to hear below deck.

The sound of wood breaking.

You hear the hit of a strong wave before the groaning of wood and then that dreaded sound. You only have a second to process it before you hear the flood of seawater rushing in. Dropping the boxes you quickly jump to the ladder, scrambling up as you hear water flooding in behind you.

You make it up the ladder and halfway to the next one before the next wave hits. Your world jolts under you and you’re flung to the floor and the back of your head hits the deck- hard.

Your vision swims as you feel sea water rushing over your body and you push yourself up, ignoring the nausea overwhelming your senses. You crawl to the ladder, water threatening to grab and pull you under. Grasping the rung of the ladder you try to pull yourself up before your realize just how hurt you must be.

The pain, the blurry vision, you barely have control over your body. There’s no way you can pull yourself up the ladder. The sea was going to take you and you didn’t have the senses about you to swim. It was over.

You hang your head, watching the water swell up around your body as you wonder if all your works will go missing to the sea. Maybe there will be nothing left of you. Or maybe someone will find your journal- just dry enough that the words haven’t dissolved and run together. Maybe someone will remember you.

Somewhere in the distance someone shouts your name.

You’re confident it’s your addled mind playing tricks on you until it’s louder and right above you- loud and frantic. You look upwards and see Buggy, rain soaked and panicked.

Now you’re really confident you’re seeing things.

“Grab my hand!” He lays down on the deck above you and extends his hand and everything becomes real painfully fast.

“Get out of here! The water- You can’t-“ You yell out, head throbbing.

“I said grab my hand! Captain’s orders!” He shouts and you don’t think you’ve ever heard him so serious.

Gathering up all the strength in your body you pull yourself up a few rungs until you can reach out and grab his hand, quickly being violently pulled up the rest of the way.

“Can you walk?” He asks, yanking you up to your feet. You fall into his body, answering his question for him. “Alright.”

Suddenly one of his arms is under your knees and the other is around your shoulders and you’re being carried, your vision obscured by Buggy’s clothes. It’s better that way, you think hazily, to see him and not your death waiting to swallow you up. Maybe it’s a trick your mind is playing and you’re down in that lower deck, knocked out and drowning. But as you curl up against him and your thoughts fade to nothingness it’s a trick you’re willing to accept.

If your last thoughts are of him it’s not a bad way to go.

You wake up with a start- jolting up in bed before realizing how much that sudden action hurts. Your hand flies to the back of your head and you realize it’s been bandaged up.

“Hey- take it easy.” Eyes flicking up you see Buggy standing up from a chair in the corner of your room.

Your room- back on Buggy’s ship.

“You really should lay back down.” He’s a few steps closer now and in the dimmed light of the room you can finally get a good look at him.

He looks like shit. Dark circles under his eyes, he probably hasn’t shaved in a few days, and his normal face paint is missing. He’s down to just his vest and pants, normal bright accessories missing.

The memories of the ship sinking come rushing back to you and a panic sets into your chest. “Wait what happened- the ship- the crew-“

“Hey, hey, it’s alright calm down.” He sits down on the bed and takes one of your hands in his. “Alvida’s ship sank, but we managed to get everyone out and on here before she went down.”

Your breathing evens out and you relax a bit. “Good.”

“We were calling everyone to get on board here right when you had left to go grab supplies- you were missing so I came and got you.” He explains, putting the remaining pieces together for you.

“You-“

“Just wanted to make sure you woke up alright so now I-“ He drops your hand and stands up. “Will go.”

He gets to the door before your words stop him.

“You shouldn’t have done that. It was- you could have easily died. You can’t swim and you didn’t even-“ You screw your eyes shut, brain still putting itself back together from the hard hit.

“Captain’s duties.” He explains shortly, hand still on the doorknob and not looking at you.

“Yeah but, you’re not my captain. You made it painfully clear you did not want to be my captain.” You swing your feet off the bed, glaring holes into his back as weeks of repressed emotions come leaking out the broken and battered seams.

“It’s not like that-“ He says, forehead meeting the wood of your door.

“Then what is it like then? Because I’m just confused and hurt! I don’t understand!” Your hands fist in the sheets of your bed as tears well up in your eyes.

“Please don’t-“ He turns around and you see the hurt in his eyes. “Don’t cry.”

“Then tell me what I did wrong!” You shout, hot tears spilling down your cheeks.

“Nothing. You did nothing wrong.” He wrings his hands and looks down at the floor. “You’re too- you’re too good for me.”

The words ring in the dim space and confusion comes over your already frazzled mind. “What?”

“You- okay.” He takes a deep breath and shift from foot to foot. “You have this grand idea of who I am. You think I’m smart and caring and a good captain and that’s just not true. I’m not any of those things. I’m just a huge faker. I was never meant to be a captain- I just keep doing it because I have to.”

You look over his anxious form and finally see what he’s been hiding under all those flashy clothes and bright face paint. He was truly and painfully insecure.

You go to stand up, slipping off the bed to try and land on your feet but your vision blurs and you slip and you’re sure you’re going to crack your head on the floor again. But before you can land your being held, Buggy’s hands having quickly detached and grabbed you. The rest of his body runs over only seconds later, connecting his hands back and placing you delicately back on your bed.

You’re sitting up again, Buggy anxiously standing next to the bed as he looks over your body, checking to make sure you’re okay. This time you reach out, taking Buggy’s hand despite the fact you can see him wanting to run away again.

“Buggy, you’re really stupid sometimes.” You see his face shift into pure confusion and you elaborate. “I don’t think those things because of all the acts you put on- I think those things because that’s what I really think after spending so much time with you. I know who you are, don’t think I don’t.”

Buggy practically collapses, sitting next to you on the bed. “Don’t say that.”

“Why not?” You grip harder on his hand, pulling yourself closer to him.

“Because I don’t want to disappoint you.” He admits, his voice cracking under his emotions.

“You- all this time- Buggy, look at me.” You pull at his hand, urging him to follow your directive.

He does and you see all the emotions you’ve been feeling swirling in his eyes. “I care about you. And I don’t care if you think you’ll disappoint me! I just want you.”

You feel something break as you stare into each others eyes and in a flash he’s on you- lips pressing harshly against yours. He’s messy and harsh and frantic as he overwhelms you and you let him. Your freehand tangles in his hair and holds his head close. Neither of you break the kiss until you absolutely need to, pulling away gasping for air as spit still connects the two of you.

“Do you mean it?” He whispers, forehead pressed against yours.

“Did it feel like I meant it?” You grin, pressing a chaste kiss to the corner of his mouth.

“I don’t know… I might have to check again.” You see a smile creep back onto his face and you pull him in again.

He kisses you like a man starved, eagerly throwing himself into you. He nips at your lips, pulling playfully as he slides on top of you, your body sliding down into the bed in turn. You can’t tell if his hands are attached to his body or not as you feel them wandering your skin, pushing up under the hem of your shirt and grabbing onto your waist. You whine into his mouth and he pulls away quickly.

“Did I- sorry is this too fast we can-“ You shut him up by pulling him in for a quick kiss.

“I want more.” You say against his lips and he nods so furiously you think his head might fall off.

His lips trail down, kissing where your jaw and throat meet. As he does so you feel a deft hand undo the fastenings on your pants and sliding into them, plunging past the hem of your underwear and to your folds. Your hips buck up as his fingers ghost over you and you hear him chuckle.

“Don’t laugh at me!” You lightly hit his back, unable to stop smiling.

“I’m not, I’m not.” He claims, but you know otherwise. It’s hard to be mad at him though when his fingers pry open your folds and he sucks in a breath when he finally dips in. “Fuck you’re wet.”

“All for-“ You’re cut off by your own moan as two fingers press into you. “All for you.”

His motions still for a second before he’s biting into your neck as his fingers sink all the way into you. “Can’t just say that stuff. Fuck you don’t know what you do to me.”

You feel him grind up against your leg and that sends a thrill through you and you push further. “Missed you so much- thought about you every day-“

“My lovely star-“ He breathes into your skin, fingers pumping in and out of you.

“That- I missed that. Missed you calling me yours.” You admit through moans as his fingers stretched you out.

All of a sudden his fingers are pulling out and you whine as he sits up. In a flash hands are tugging your shirt up and off your body while he shimmies down your bed. Once your shirt is discarded he can pull down your pants, hands smoothing over your thighs. He takes a few moments to just look at you and your face heats up.

“See you still need to learn how to take a compliment.” He jokes as he lays back down, pushing apart your thighs so he can settle between them.

“This is not the same.” You try and argue, your hand drifting to his bright blue hair as he kisses up the inside of your thighs.

“Whatever you say.” You want to argue further but all coherent thoughts leave your brain when you feel his breath on your folds.

You feel his fingers spread you apart before he dives in, tongue eagerly lapping up your slick. Your hand fists in his hair as he pushes his tongue into you, the thick muscle a welcome sensation. When his tongue leaves you, you whine but it quickly dissolves into a moan as he wraps his lips around your clit.

“Fuck- Buggy- Just like that!” You buck your hips up into his mouth and you feel his fingers slip back into you.

He listens, repeating the motion and adding a third finger inside you. His other hand comes around to the back of your leg, hiking it up over his shoulder so he can have better access. His tongue swirls between your clit and thrusting in with his fingers. As your orgasm builds up you pull tighter at his hair in warning and you feel him groan into your folds. The vibration against your clit edges you ever closer so you pull again, not missing the way his hips jerk up against the bed as you do.

He sucks on your clit as his fingers curl inside you and the dam breaks, orgasm washing over you. Buggy slowly pulls his fingers out of you but you still feel his tongue on you, lapping up your slick as you come down.

You gently pull on his hair, urging him to come closer to you. He gets the message, sliding up your body until he’s face to face with you, his lips and chin glistening with your juices.

“Can I repay the favor?” You ask, your hands sliding down his body until he shakes his head.

“Baby- if I even see you on your knees in front of me I’m going to blow my load before I can get inside you.” His confession makes your skin run hot as you surge up to him, kissing him deeply.

“Then get inside me.” You say when you finally pull away, your own taste lingering in your mouth.

“Oh, who’s the captain now?” He grins as he slides off the bed to quickly take off his vest and pants.

You can’t help but stare at his cock, long and curved and you need it inside you now. He sees you staring at it’s the ego boost he needs as he crawls back in bed, slotting his hips between your thighs. His hand guides his tip to rub against your clit and you whine impatiently. He chuckles but lines himself up with your entrance before slowly pushing in.

“You’re so- warm- tight- fuck-“ Buggy thrusts into you despite himself, every inch of him inside you all at once and you practically scream his name.

“Can’t help myself baby you feel-“ His body covers yours as he mouths at your collarbone and throat and whatever skin he can find. “So much better than I thought.”

“You thought about me?” You manage out, breathless.

“Every damn day and night I-“ His thrusts are erratic but you can’t bring yourself to care when he’s still making you feel so good. “Sometimes, after you left our meetings I’d- I’d touch myself the second you left I couldn’t stop imagining you on my desk I- fuck-“

Knowing he thought about you like that did things to you and you drag your nails down his back and hook your legs around his waist, unable to verbalize through your moans. You can tell he’s close already, the throb of his cock and the way his filthy words are getting increasingly slurred. You’re close too, and you reach up and grab Buggy’s hand, urging it down to your sensitive bud. He takes the direction well, his thumb rubbing right circles that make you see stars.

“Where- I’m so close-“ He chokes out and as he goes to pull out you clench your legs tighter, trapping him inside you.

“Fill me up, please Buggy.” You whine and that’s it for him.

You feel hot ropes of cum fill you up as he groans into your neck. He manages to still work your clit so it’s only a few moments after him that you’re orgasming again, milking every drop of cum out of him. Breathless, he collapses on top of you, softening cock still in you.

You wrap your arms around him, holding him tight as though letting him go means he’d drift away from you again. He nuzzled into your neck and must sense that somethings up.

“‘m not gonna be that stupid again.” He says, pressing a kiss to your neck. “Not gonna let you go.”

“I’m your chronicler again?” You ask, voice weak with emotions.

“Until the end of time.” He promises, and you trust him completely.

[love-marimo]

Photographer!Reader x Zoro

ー another self-indulgent hcs of a photographer reader joining the strawhat crew and making zoro their muse.

ー as always, asks are open!

cw: none, just teeth rotting fluff ♡

being the photographer of the strawhats is like the cherry on top of a cake. you love writing logs of the photos you take and it makes recordkeeping of your adventures so much easier.

plus, if everybody's bored on the ship and wants a good laugh, they'd ask for your camera or a photo album to look back at some of the funny moments that you captured on your voyage.

whenever there's a feast or celebration going on, you're instantly on your feet taking pictures such as luffy eating so much or chopper's starry eyed expression while he admires his big cotton candy.

but you get nervous when you take pictures of zoro.

i mean, to you, it's just a silly little crush. you just admire him, is all.

yeah, what a bold-faced lie. you're completely head over heels for him.

it started when you first saw them land in your country. when luffy heard of your name as a famous photographer, he was interested in meeting you and thought of letting you join his crew.

most of the strawhats were ambivalent because the voyage is dangerous, and you might not be well equipped for battle, but they thought they might as well give it a shot. it wouldn't be bad to have a recordkeeper in the crew, right?

zoro was the first one to find you.

he was lost wandering in the bustling streets of the city that you live in until he came across your studio.

you like taking photos of warriors, swordsmen and samurais and your studio had a sword logo in it so he assumed it was a weapon store.

assuming you weren't around, he took his time browsing through the albums and coffee table books on the table.

you were cleaning on the second floor of your studio after a session when you noticed a presence in your area so you went down and you found zoro casually flipping through the photos you captured, seemingly immersed in them.

"oh! hello, sir. have you booked an appointment?"

as soon as he looks up at you, it was like an eureka moment.

you found your muse. and he is the infamous pirate hunter.

you've seen his bounty, and you've heard a lot about zoro.

and of course, you wanted to take at least one photo of him.

"hey. do you sell weapons here?" he asked.

you stared at him for a while, and when you caught yourself, he was raising a brow at you, asking again.

"uhm, no… this is a photo studio." you smiled, scratching the back of your head, blushing a little. what am i embarrassed for? you ask yourself.

"i see. i thought this was a store because you have so many pictures of weapons outside."

"they're from my travels, actually. i admire swordsmen and warriors so whenever i get the chance, i take photos of them."

"so you're a photographer?"

you nod in reply.

you exchanged idle chatter for a while when you heard another voice coming in from the entrance.

"is it here? okay, thanks!" it was luffy and the rest of the strawhat crew.

long story short, you got recruited.

you're pretty good in combat, after surrounding yourself with swordsmen, so you learned a lot from their techniques as you travelled the seas.

luffy would bother you the most, asking you to take pictures of him making a funny expression.

franky would make you a device where you can virtually store all the photos you take. much to the joy of the whole crew of course.

now here comes zoro.

at first, it was photos of him napping and snoring. most of them were luffy, usopp, and chopper's idea. when you got a funny angle, you'd take a photo of him and show it to them.

you still found him attractive, even though those pictures of him were unflattering.

the crew (especially sanji) would laugh at zoro's photos and he would be the butt of the jokes for a while. it would get him flustered and annoyed.

then over time, you got a little more confident and you'd climb up the crow's nest to take photos of him training.

little did you know, he's just a little embarrassed to look into your eyes through the lens of your camera.

and you felt the same.

"oi, stop that." he says, looking away.

you giggle in reply, winking at him and sticking out your tongue.

then, you became more comfortable with each other, and the photos you took of him were much more candid and something straight out of a movie.

there were photos of him solemnly looking out to the sea, eating a meal quietly, cleaning his swords, drinking sake, laughing heartily, smiling at the camera… the list goes on.

one day, when sanji opens your camera to find some photos to laugh at, he was flabbergasted at the amount of zoro's good quality photos.

he'd whine to you why he never gets ones like him.

and he'd complain why there were so many photos of zoro.

"it's practically filling up the storage." sanji complains.

"my, it's kind of romantic!" brook comments.

the whole crew went silent for a bit at the dining table.

when you and zoro both realized what was going on you said:

"shut up!"

you buried your face in your hands.

"well… i…" you nervously chuckled.

"it's not what you think." zoro defended.

"if you want to kiss each other, we have plenty of rooms for you to get comfortable." robin laughs.

remember the photo storage device franky built you?

you asked him to make another one specifically for zoro's photos.

it's pretty unfair to be honest.

the crew wishes you would do the same for them.

but then again, you take a lot of photos of them to begin with, so in the end, all is well.

they just accepted the fact that you're into him like that. i mean, what can they do anyway?

there was one time where it's the golden hour, and zoro was a bit tipsy.

his cheeks were dusted with a faint tinge of red. you thought he looked cute so you brought out your camera.

zoro was comfortable with your antics now, so he grinned at you, reaching out his hand holding the bottle of liquor.

"hey. want some?" he said.

*click*

you captured a photo of him with a grin, his pose seemed like he wanted to give the viewer a hug, and the sunset made the lighting look like it was straight out of a film.

"do you want to see it?" you offered.

he gestured for your camera and looked at his own photo.

silence fell on you for a while, then he smiled again, ruffling your hair.

"it's a good photo."

no amount of sunlight could reflect how red your cheeks grew.

it was one of the rare times he complimented you and your work.

suffice to say, your passion for photography never died down because of him. ♡

ー Lolita

[upon-a-starry-night]

Number Neighbors Pt.6

Natasha Romanoff x Fem! Reader

Natasha Masterlist       Series Masterlist

Word Count: 1.4k

Summary: When you catch sight of the newest trend going around you know you’re all but bound to at least try it, it was harmless anyway. What could possibly stem from something so little

~

Y/n🍦:

SO basically-

I was in my office when we got attacked,

My whole department started freaking out and running around.

Some dumbasses were even taking the elevators-

*You remember the moment so clearly. There were no big sounds or warnings, one second you were working your boring low-end job, and the next the woman in the cubicle next to you is screaming and pointing outside. Hoards of god knows what the fuck those things were began flying out and it’s like the world froze for a moment. A single moment of paralyzed silence.

And then all hell broke loose.

Some coworkers began hurriedly grabbing their bags, others just booked it straight to the nearest exit. You were on the fourth floor of the building. 

You were impressed with how fast this new group of enhanced individuals showed up but it was no match for the amount of fucking aliens spewing out of a goddamn space hole. One of your coworkers roughly grabbed your shoulder and began pulling you with them towards the stairs. You hadn’t even noticed you’d been stuck unmoving in front of the big glass windows until that moment. 

Your body finally caught up with the terror of what was happening and you began running down the crowded stairs as fast as you could- faster than you felt you’d ever run before.

No- the fastest you’d ever run was when the cops crashed the one college party your roommates had convinced you to go to. The smell of beer and vomit was burning your nose the whole time and you were almost relieved when you heard the sirens- only you weren’t too keen on getting arrested. Your 21st birthday was still two months away.

You supposed you would be running faster now if the sea of bodies wasn’t in your way. Frantic business women and men prevented you from going down the stairs more than two at a time. You contemplated just hopping the railing and falling the last two flights but no- if you sprained your ankles you couldn’t run away from the monsters.

That was when the first blast hit.

The whole building rumbled and screams emitted from both inside and out of the building. You knew it wasn’t your building that was hit- but the building next to you was too close to not do some damage. 

You almost wanted to laugh at the absurdity of the moment. This had to be some kind of crazy dream that was a result of those new melatonin gummies you were taking.

But when some random panicked escapee ran pasted you just a little too fast and you banged your head into the wall you knew it wasn’t a dream.

Shit, you probably had a concussion was the only thing you could think as you glared at the back of the fleeing man. If you ever got out of this apocalyptic ass shit you would get revenge on that random white guy in a black suit. Yeah fuck you were never gonna find out who that guy was. If you even made it out of here.

You shook the thought out of your head, a bad idea considering you were already dizzy and disoriented. 

Finally, though, you made it outside, and fuck if it wasn’t worse than it was when you last saw it upstairs.

Fire smoke was sprouting from nearly every building, car alarms and building alarms were blaring so loud you had to cover your ears. God the apocalypse was so not as aesthetic as all the tv shows made it look.

You watched as people screamed and ran in all directions, watched explosions erupt in the sky and an iron man zip past alien ships, and shit was that fucking Thunder!?

Rubble from an explosion nearby flew down towards you and you covered your head. God was this how you were going to die? You stared down at your hands, clean- if not a little calloused from working. Your gaze drifted towards the ground- the granite completely split in most places, ash and concrete littering the streets.

Your eyes were unfocused, and a ringing sound had begun to form in your ears, only occasionally disturbed by someone trying and failing to get a call to go through. Of course, there would be no cell service, you hadn’t even thought of that. You heard the sounds of screams get almost impossibly louder and when you lifted your head you knew why. For whatever beautiful reason, the universe decided a giant ass space worm was exactly what needed to come out of that portal right now. Everybody say “Thank You Universe!”

Your feet were running before your brain could tell them to. Your car, your mind screamed. You’ve got to get to your car.

You made it to your car, luckily still intact, and thank fuck you had your keys in your back pocket because if you didn’t you might have started crying. You touched your hand to your face.

 Oh. 

You already were.

You didn’t have time to dwell on it. You hopped into your car and began fumbling with the keys. Who made it so impossible to put your keys in the ignition when you were panicked and concussed?

It didn’t matter though, because two seconds later a giant ass alien landed directly on your hood. The damage looked deep enough to have crushed your engine. You briefly wondered if your insurance covered alien attacks.

Ugly rat alien decided to stab a spear through your windshield directly into your passenger seat and wow was that a threat or did these aliens have the aim of stormtroopers?

You were already beginning to process your death when five rounds of shots rang out and the beast on top of your car fell flat. Frankly, it was disgusting, and now its weird slimy pigskin body was closer to you than ever.You opened your car door coughing and that’s when you saw her. She glanced at the alien to ensure its death and then began surveying the nearby area, a few people paying her no mind and running right past her.

Good choice, you thought. She looked deadly. Deadly in the most gorgeous way that a woman could look deadly. The kind of look that made you want to become a supervillain just so she could glare at you and point a gun at your head.

It was completely unfair how good she looked considering the circumstances, and not only was she running on the battlefield she seemed to be taking part in it as well. 

Your moment of love at first save was quickly broken, however, as the woman presses a finger to her ear and mumbles a few words before running in the other direction. 

Your thoughts of her are interrupted by chunks of debris falling onto your car, you quickly jumped out of the way but- yeah there was no way insurance was covering that damage.*

You tastefully left out a few of those last thoughts when texting this story to Nat, she didn’t need to think you were a complete weirdo. Only a little one. 

                   Nat🔪:

Y/n🍦:

Yeah so I was close to death

on multiple accounts that night

#almostdiedthreetimes

You watched as the chat bubbles appeared and disappeared numerous times. You remember rendering your therapist speechless when you first told her as well. Although now they had an influx in patients and you were sure even the therapists were seeing therapists at this point. Therapist-seption.

Nat🔪:

So when you said you met an Avenger…

You rolled your eyes. Of course, someone who wears gray to bed would be analytical of your word choices.

Y/n🍦: 

Hey I was one of the first people to ever see

The famous Black Widow in action!

#Ilikedherbeforeitwascool

Nat🔪:

Alright enough with the hashtags.

And they were called the Chitauri 

By the way

Y/n🍦:

Chitauri- Rat alien

Battle of New York- Most traumatizing 

night of my life, literal hell on earth oh my god

Tomato- TomAto

Call ‘em what you want Nat.

You think the specifics matter in that situation?

Cause I sure as hell wasn’t thinking about

Being speciesist while I was running for my life🤠

Nat🔪:

Solid point.

So did insurance ever cover your car?

Y/n🍦:

Fuck no Nat.

This is corporate America

I got a copy-pasted apology email and a very

small amount of compensation money from

The state.

We Love America😍 🦅🇱🇷

Nat🔪:

That’s not an American flag…

Y/n🍦:

Fuck.

Pt7

Just so ya know this- 🇺🇸 is the American flag and this- 🇱🇷 is the Liberian flag!

Anyway, did we enjoy the trauma I wrote? ~Starry

------

Taglist

@romanoffsgal  @natsxwife  @la-douleur-ne-finit-jamais @moistblobfish 

[mildmayfoxe]

big fan of your romance novel complaint posts (love to see a fellow hater living it up) but i’m also curious if there are any you would recommend? not looking for anything in particular, just would love to hear your thoughts as someone else with nitpicky reading habits and a taste for trash

ok hello. i left you hanging for a FULL week and for that i am sorry but i wanted to be able to have some time to sit down and type out a real answer to which the short version is YES of course there are several that i have enjoyed!! my disclaimer is that i almost solely read gay romance so if you are looking for lesbian or even straight reccs i don't have much for you (although i will put a couple at the end anyway). hopefully something in this list is interesting to you or at least interesting to someone else! links are mostly to goodreads. break bc i'm gonna write too much

-kj charles is one of my fave authors in this genre bc they're all pretty reliable and there's a ton of them. they're all historical fiction and usually there's at least one murder- she's good at keeping a plot going while developing a romance. often supernatural or magical elements. sometimes cults! i've read almost all of the books she's written and have enjoyed them all

-charlie adhara wrote a really incredible werewolf series that i loved, the first of which is the wolf at the door. this is one of the only series i've read which keeps the emotional stakes up through the whole thing & kept me interested in a relationship after it was established bc sooo many series get boring the second the leads get together. i actually read the first book of the spin-off series (a pack of lies) first which is technically possible but i don't recommend bc i was like "wow they're really throwing me in here. i love it" and then i read the first series and i was like "oh i was supposed to know all this stuff." but i actually liked the dynamic between that couple better and i'm suffering every day because the next one still doesn't come out til 2025 and i read it in 2022. also worth noting that this (the original series) is cops-ajacent (~federal special agents~) and one of the characters is really prejudiced at the beginning & imo doesn't have enough character growth before it's waved away but if you can ignore that it's really good. mysteries! werewolves!

-speaking of werewolves (i could suggest several but i'll keep it to two) tj klune's wolfsong ends up at the top of a lot of gay werewolf novel lists (i'm keeping tabs) and there's a good reason. i enjoyed it a lot. made me kind of sad which is always a good sign to me. the writing voice was very fresh and novel at first but i did find it a little grating by the end so i've put off starting the second book in the series (it's also about a different couple which was disappointing) but i will get around to it. i enjoy tj klune in general although his recent stuff has a very different vibe than this and lightning struck heart is very 2015 in a bad way imo

-bone rider by j fally is a standalone that really delighted me. the russian mob? aliens? vaguely western? possession? throuple? it's got it all. very fun

-ok speaking of westerns there's this other series called magic & steam (yes it's steampunk. sorry. it's very silly) that starts with the engineer. a federal agent is sent to a town to apprehend a ~madman engineer~ except he runs into an infamous outlaw in the process. and the outlaw is really sexy. and probably why i enjoyed the series so much. the series also keeps them apart a lot in a way that i enjoy- i love when things take a long time. it's ongoing so this is another one that i keep checking for updates on

-i've read a lot of stuff by nr walker and they tend to be VERY hit or miss for me but one of my faves is evolved which is almost pure smut. it's about a sex robot that gains sentience. what more do i need to say. she also wrote a three-book series about an amnesiac that made me cry cry cry. and her cowboy (australian rancher) series is pretty ok. i could go through a list and tell you which novels of hers aren't worth it and which ones are good; i've read most of them

-salt magic skin magic by lee welch was a big surprise to me. cool magic, good folklore, fairies in there too. historical. big kj charles vibes which makes sense bc she edited it. welch also wrote a book called seducing the sorcerer which i had more mixed feelings about but had magic in it that i think about OFTEN (the horses)- that one's about an imposing sorcerer and a rundown groom cum handyman. and they're in their FORTIES!!! 🥳🥳🥳 (i love when books are not about 23 year olds)

-another one with a magic system i enjoyed was magician by kl noone. this was the first book i read by this author and i liked it but generally i find their books are too "nice" for me. i'm in the middle of one right now that i started months and months ago that i keep trying to go back to and it's sooo rough for me. but this one and the twelfth enchantment are pretty ok

-emily tesh wrote a duology of silver in the wood and drowned country that i loved because i am suuuuch a sucker for a wild man/green man story. really good. haunting! evocative! kj charles has a green man story too which was actually the first thing i read of hers (spectred isle)

-i complained about the monsterfucker book i was reading a while back but despite that i will also recommend the series it's from: lily mayne's monstrous, which starts with soul eater. are they messy? yes. are they repetitive? yes. are the monsters usually disappointingly humanoid? yes. are a lot of them about the military? also yes. so we're starting off on a bad foot. but the world building is interesting and there's LOTS of kinds of monsters and most of them were pretty fun. the one i just read (#7) was the worst one of the bunch though imo. and i have problems with #6. but 1 2 and 5 were good

-ok i should do a quickfire round. honeytrap: about two enemy agents during the cold war. put it off for a long time bc i didn't love that but it takes place over a VERY long period of time which is always interesting to me. zero at the bone: about a hitman who needs to protect a witness to a mob hit. really strong start but fell off a bit in the middle to the end imo.

-you'll notice a lot of these have subgenres of like fantasy historical supernatural etc but here's some regular contemporaries. a lot of these are about sad guys bc those are my favorite. best laid plans: hardware store owner helps a guy fix his house. in the middle of somewhere: same author actually. guy moves to small town to work at a college. mr jingle bells: this is a christmas one. bad title. fake dating. part of the reason i think i liked it so much is because i expected it to be awful but it was actually pretty good. good emotional stakes. published 2021 but feels very 2014. ignore that part. work for it: i rated this five stars but actually don't remember much what it was like. i think they were both really sad which i love. give me big emotions and i eat them right up with a spoon. i should read it again

-OK now i've got some straight & lesbian options. talia hibbert's brown sisters series is good and cute. she also wrote work for it, above. the unhoneymooners is the first real Romance Novel that i read and it really surprised me because i had fun! previously i had kind of written off romance novels as not for me but this kicked off a reading habit that is still going strong (primarily reading romance novels). i read this in 2020 so it might not be as good as i remember. as for lesbian options olivia waite has a series that i enjoyed that's also historical, and a friend of mine really enjoyed delilah green doesn't care (but i haven't read that one myself). and while not really romances i will always be a sarah waters fan: you may recognize her as the author of fingersmith, which is the novel park chan-wook's movie the handmaiden is based on. if you haven't seen the movie or read the book i recommend both. her books are very dramatic lesbian historical fiction; they don't always have happy endings but they're all very good

ok i think that's the end! regular disclaimer that romance is generally not a genre notable for Good Writing so a lot of these are just things i had fun with or just stuck out in my memory for having fun conceits etc. i can't guarantee that any of these are actually good, especially because this is a list solely based on my own taste and bad memory. would love to hear anybody's thoughts and/or if anybody has recommendations for ME!!! this post took me over three hours to write! crazy!

[lilareviewsbooks]

The Goblin Emperor 5/5: I’m Bored and I’m Having So Much Fun

5/5 stars

446 pages

Contains: an emperor that doesn’t know what the fuck he’s doing; kindness as like a plot point; court intrigue!!!

The Goblin Emperor has been on my TBR for years, now. I’d heard someone say, a long time ago, that it was a weird book, and that “you’ve never read something like this before”. Of course, my curiosity was piqued. I love weird, funky little books, that turn you upside down and shake you a bit, especially if they’re speculative fiction. So The Goblin Emperor went into my TBR, until this month, when the mood to read it finally struck me and I sat down with it.

But The Goblin Emperor is not best described by “weird”, in my opinion, nor is “uneventful” a good descriptor, either. I think those of you who have read the book will agree with me that there are several big events throughout the story that capture your attention and are major turning points for the characters. However, it’s impossible to avoid, when recommending this, the fact that it is… boring?

Let me be clear: I don’t mean this in a bad way, at all – I had so much fun reading The Goblin Emperor. Nor am I using it to suggest that Ms. Addison’s writing choices were inadequate. I’m using this word because I think it’s the best way to describe what happens here. 

I’ll explain myself: it’s not that nothing happens in The Goblin Emperor, but the pacing is slow. And not in a bad way – things just take their time. We follow our main character in an almost day-by-day basis. We watch him wake up, have breakfast… And at the end of the day, we are with him as he puts on his pajamas and goes to bed. 

And then there is the fact that Ms. Addison takes what I called an “almost anthropological approach to describing culture” in my review of the Teixcalaani Duology, by Arkady Martine. Much like Ms. Martine does in her two books, A Memory Called Empire and A Desolation Called Peace, Ms. Addison takes her time to consider every move in its cultural context. If, in A Memory Called Empire, the most striking element of this approach is the Teixcalaani smile, which differs from how other parts of the world chose to do so, here we see this attention to detail in the elvish language.

In this world, “we” is the default first person singular. It’s the formal “I”, and “you” is the formal second person singular. Watching these characters drop this formality barrier or decide to put it up makes for a beautiful addition to the dialogue and character relationships throughout the book. It also, of course, tells us much about this world and this culture, which is bound tightly by strings of formality and tradition. (And is also a reflection of how other languages work, in the real world. French, Italian and Spanish, for example, have formal yous, as I’m sure other non-European languages do, too. This makes me super curious to see how this quirk was translated in languages that already have this as a feature. If anyone knows, please tell me!)

This almost-anthropological lens, however, adds a stillness to the story that makes it move slower, taking more time in each of the character’s movements. Which, in turn, makes this book a little more boring.

But, like I said, this is boring in a good way. This stillness, this slowness, allows us to spend ample time with our characters, really getting to know them. And the world sparkles around them, made so vivid by this attention to detail, this approach to a fictional culture. It feels alive outside of the pages, like we’ve only popped in for a visit, and the clock will continue ticking when we’re not there.

But the crux of the story, and the reason why it needs to slow down, the most, is our protagonist, Maia. Maia is the youngest, half-goblin son of the elvish Emperor, who scorns him. He is secluded to a remote location with his cousin Setheris, until a messenger arrives – the Emperor and all his other sons have died in a freak accident, meaning Maia has inherited the throne. With no education in politics and no friends, Maia journeys to court, where he will learn to rule.

And although he’s put in this position of power, and finds himself, in several ways, helpless and dependent on others, Maia never loses his kindness. He’s a generous soul who strives to make decisions for the good of others, and this is the axis around which the rest of the plot moves, slowly, forwards.

To really understand this kindness, to dig into it and be aware of its various implications, its causes, it’s necessary to spend quite a while in the company of Maia, as he blunders forward. And what a journey it is! I’ll tell you, “boring” might be a good word to describe this book, but so is “compelling”. When it hooks you, it hooks you, and it leaves you wanting to bury yourself further and further into this world, to know more, to spend more time with Maia, and find out all the intricacies of his language.

Thank you for reading this review! I’m working on a list of similar books, which will be called something like “Books for Humanities Nerds”, so if this sounds like your cup of tea, keep an eye out! Have a nice day :)

[dayurno]

what are ur fav useless hcs. about kevin or anyone from aftg :) like they aren’t really significant but just little things you like to think about. bc i have so many but no one ever talks about theirs and im curious if you have any!

YAY i love this question and also feel free to send me yours too i think useless hcs are really fun

i think renee is a fast and furious fan and an action movie enthusiast….. in the first kevjean fic i’ve ever written there was a scene where she sat jean down and made him watch half of the fast and furious franchise with her and he hated it so bad but he couldnt tell her that so he just sat there very awkwardly the whole time. and renee knew he hated it but she loves the damn movies so much she thought it was a worth it sacrifice. i also love a dyslexia/adhd hc for renee, i think she has a hard time in academia and has a really really really fickle attention span. if you put jean and renee in the same room they might be able to finish a short book between them but its going to take at least 8 hours because they're going to get sidetracked talking to each other about dumb stuff

ex smoker jeremy is still real and beloved in my heart... i think he quit cold turkey in his junior year and it still gets him more often than not, but he's trying and that's all that matters

neil shoplifts on instinct. doesnt even think twice of it

kevin actually HATES the gym. he will not confess to this in any way shape or form but he genuinely hates it. its so early in the morning and the movements are so repetitive and its so boring. in evermore at least there was the threat of getting beaten up if he didnt do his sets right, but in psu its just plain boring. he will still go but he will hate every second. get this man to a court now

jean is horrible with performing small actions :) i think he has big shaky hands that struggle w the minutiae of any process ever. you do NOT want to ask this man to put thread through a needle or give you an injection or pack you a bowl or even light your cigarette. the #irreversible damage of multiple head injuries

also do let me know urs cause i also love hearing about this kind of stuff! i love small hcs... save me mundane realities of life. save me characters with little details

[emtmercy]

This is such a bad boring take!!

Like trying to boil down these relationships between evil vampires from Anne rice novels to real world human abuse dynamics is just not meeting the show or books where they’re at

Lestat and Louis end up together. Armand lives with them sometimes. Like the series literally ends w them all being friends they’re just toxic and insane fictional magical creatures living oversized versions of gay drama in a gothic fantasy setting

Also very pointedly ignoring the very interesting and complex power dynamics between Louis and Armand. Like they’re doing power exchange out loud on screen lol

The show is in no way about how Louis is “powerless” against Lestat and Armand

The shows also beating us over the head w the knowledge that they’ve based all this memory and truth theme stuff on the big fun reveal of vampire chronicles which is going from the first half of iwtv to the second half and going hm Louis is behaving kind of weird… and then getting to TVL and hearing Lestats side of the story and being like Louis what the fuck. Also the actors and writers have talked about this a lot lol.

The shows central themes are heavily openly inspired by this part of the novels. It’s not about Louis Overcoming Evil Vampires it’s about creating the worlds craziest polycule

Also as a black fan I was watching last nights episode being like “wow I feel so lucky to have such a complex insane black gay protagonist like this who’s making so many insane evil choices but is so sympathetic at the same time” and idk how you can watch it and be like “this is about him escaping abusive relationships and hes sooooo powerless” like come on

Have a little fun

[spideycatt]

Pretty n' Pink || 42!M.M x BlackFem!Reader

Synopsis:

New school, new people, new relationships

Word Count: 1.8k (wow!)

Song Recs: Talk that Talk // TWICE, RUN2U // stayc, Big flirt // lil hero, Super Bass // Nicki Minaj, Into you // Ariana Grande

Warnings: Crude language, bullying (me projecting (≧◡≦)), Miles is an asshole for 1 second, BLACK reader, 80% angst 20% fluff

Not rlly warnings: Reader is small n chubby, making out, we’re gonna act like they don’t have to wear blazers all the time lol

Lmk if I missed something!!

A/N: I spent so long writing and editing it was insane. I've been writing since June 26 (*￣▽￣). Literally writing one day, rewriting the next, writing and rewriting, writing and rewriting. AND I'm still not sure if I'm fucking w/ the results... but I'ma still post it cuz mama aint raise no punk!!

Moving to a new school in the middle of the year is never easy for anyone. You cried while packing up, you cried on the ride to New York, you cried while unpacking, and cried on the way to your new school, Visions Academy. Saying you were scared was an understatement.. You only moved because your mom got a new job at some science place, but also because you were horribly bullied at your old school.

Everyone made fun of you for the way you dressed, pink hair-clips all over your colorful braids, hello kitty sweaters and fun makeup looks. You once wore some cute leg warmers to school, what happened to you that day made you vow to never wear them again.

You knew you wouldn't get made fun of every time you left the house, but man going to school made you want to cower in your house forever.

But alas, here you are putting your up hair with your favorite heart-shaped claw-clip. You sniffled lightly as you line your lips and put on your Fenty lip gloss. You wipe your tears away, careful not to mess up your lashes. Grabbing your light pink messenger bag, you sling it over your shoulder and walk out the front door, making your way to school.

The more you walk the faster your heart beats. You weren't as nervous as you were when you first moved here, but you were still feeling a little anxious as you walk onto school grounds. Sighing when you realize there was no time to set up your locker, you try to hype yourself up as make your way through the sea of students to get to your homeroom.

Luckily, the school required uniforms, so even if kids were to make fun of you it shouldn't be that bad. You only had some cute accessories here and there, and a white cardigan with hello kitty over your heart.

You weren't even halfway to the class when someone bumped into your shoulder, causing you to drop all the books you held in your hands. You take a deep breath looking at whoever this boy was, trying to calm yourself down.

'It's ok, it was probably just an accident. You're fine.'

"Watch it, pinkie pie!" He yelled behind him as he walked away, laughing with his goons following behind him. So much for an accident.

'"Wow, how original." You spoke to yourself, trying to ignore all the stares you were getting as you picked your stuff up.

You rush to your class, already wishing the school day was over. And just your luck, the bell rang signaling you were late.

You made it to class a few seconds later, drawing everyone's attention to you. You walk over to the teacher's desk with your head pointed down, speaking softly.

"Hi, I'm y/n I just transferred."

The teacher looked at you uninterestedly, before speaking loudly.

"Class, this is y/n from, Georgia? Was it? Doesn't matter, she needs time to adjust, so everyone be nice to the poor girl. You can go sit next to..." She trailed off, looking around for a place to seat you.

"Sit next to Miles. Miles raise your hand."

You looked up to see a boy with two long braids raise his hand in the back of the class, honestly looking quite bored. You nod as you scurry to the empty seat next to him, taking out a piece of paper and your favorite gel pen. Out of the corner of your eye, you could see Miles staring at you.

"What?" You whisper at him, trying not to draw more attention to yourself.

He blinks at you. "You the girl who dropped her books earlier?"

"Does it happen a lot or something?" You scoff at him, drawing cute little doodles to match the lesson title.

"Nah, I guess that was a dumb question." He replied, looking forward.

"Why do you ask anyway? Trying to rub salt in the wound?" You argue, looking at your hello kitty-themed nails.

"Miles, y/n. Please." Your teacher interrupted, making the class snicker.

You hide your face in your hands, silently groaning before Miles slid a note your way.

'Sit with me at lunch?'

You glared at the paper, crumbling at and putting it to the side, giving your full attention to the lesson.

You made it through your first few weeks without any more bumps, and it was now a new month. Miles had become your only sorta-friend at this school, which you were grateful for. The boy was nice to you, unlike everyone else, who give you strange stares and whisper about you like you aren't there.

The calming melody of Apple Cider by Beabadoobee played softly in your headphones as you grab your lunch tray. Thanking the lunch lady before turning around to look for where you should sit today, you suddenly remember Miles had asked you to sit with him on your first day, in which you never did.

You start walking around, subtly looking around the cafeteria for the tall boy with long braids. You spot him quickly, watching him roll his eyes at something the boy in front of him said. Strolling to where he was, you bite back a smile when he turns around and notices you.

"What brings you over here, hm?." He smirked, standing up as you approach the table. You try to ignore how he towers over you.

"Well, I have nowhere else to sit." You shrug, looking at his friends who watch quietly. "Uh, hi.." You wave awkwardly, looking back up at Miles who smirked softly at you.

"You shy, chiquita?"

"Shut up."

His friends laugh, making you swallow thickly. 'Are they laughing at me?'

"Yo, pinkie!"

Someone shouted from the table, chuckling as you look up with fear in your eyes.

"Remember me you little cunt?"

It was the boy from your first day. You look up at Miles, silently pleading him to help you, and of course, he stayed quiet.

"Hey, I'm talking to you." You hear from beside Miles, the boy looked down at you with an angry expression. You didn't even realize he walked up to you.

"S-sorry." You whispered, looking at your pink converses.

"Yea you better be fucking sorry you fat freak." He said, pushing you into the ground, resulting in your lunch landing all over the floor. You try to stop the tears as everyone gasps and goes silent.

"Dude, chill." Miles finally speaks up.

You shake your head, "No Miles, it's fine. Have a good lunch." You say with a slight whimper to your voice, standing up to leave the cafeteria.

You sob, looking for somewhere to cool down, ignoring Miles calling your name.

"Pinkie! Wait!"

You steps falter, flinching at the nickname. You sigh deeply, wiping the tears off your face.

"What do you want, Miles."

"I'm sorry about him, he's been an asshole since like, 2nd grade." He huffed out, slowing down as he caught up to you.

You hummed.

"But you just sat there, so what does that make you?"

His silence answered for you.

"Right. This sucks, honestly, I thought we could've worked out." You say, walking off with a lump in your throat.

You kind of expected him to say something more, you don't know why, but you did. But all you were met with was silence.

You gasped as you feel Miles grab your hand and drag you into an empty classroom.

He closed the door harshly behind you guys, breathing heavy as he looked at your tear streaked face.

"What are you doing Miles— WOAh-" You stutter out as he hoists you up, putting your back against the door so you could be eye-level with him.

"Forgive me pretty girl.." He breathed out, rubbing your plush thighs with his thumbs.

"Miles, put me down."

"Nah ma I don't think I will."

"How... how do I know you won't hurt me..?" You whisper sadly, feeling the waterworks coming again.

"Trust me, I won't, baby." He moved to wipe away the tear that's fallen on your soft cheek, before moving in to lock lips with you.

You wanted to move away, you really did. But you trusted him for some reason, kissing back. The kiss got heated fast, you lock your legs together behind Miles as he pins you harder against the door, gripping your thighs harshly as he pulls away to speak.

"Let me treat you right, ma. Please. I'll take you out, I'll buy you anything you want. Let me protect you." He breathed out against your neck, making you sigh. You nod your head. Bringing his head up to connect lips again.

You sigh into his mouth as your tongues slide over one another, gripping onto his broad shoulders to keep yourself grounded. He turns around to place you on a desk. Hands roaming everywhere as he took your sweater off your body and unbutton your shirt a little to mouth at your collarbones. You let out a quiet noise as he moves back up to your lips, pushing you to lay on your back.

He caught both your wrists and wrapped one of his hands around them, pushing them onto your chest as his tongue seemed to move even deeper into your mouth. Man he was a good kisser.

You seperate with a string of saliva connecting your plump lips to his when the bell to go back to class rings. "Miles, lets go." You said as he places his head into your cleavage, sighing disappointedly at the fact that you guys had to go back to class.

He ended up buttoning up your shirt for you. Glancing at you every now and then to look at your swollen lips, smiling as he helped you off the desk and walked you to class.

You make it through the rest of the school day, smiling softly to yourself whenever you think of your heated moment with Miles.

You had Miles' hoodie on due to a giant stain on the side of your favorite sweater, playing with the strings as you write down some notes into your binder.

Everyone stared at you but you found yourself not caring anymore. Maybe you made the right choice.

You didn't expect to go to this new school and acquire a bodyguard for a boyfriend but here you were weeks later walking out of campus with Miles trailing behind you. You could've sworn you saw that one boy glaring at you from afar, but honestly, as long as Miles was with you there wasn't a problem.

"Hold on baby." Your boyfriend stopped you, kneeling on the ground to tie your shoelaces and fix your leg warmers. Honestly this was a whole new experience for you, never having this affection given to you by someone outside your family.

Miles pressed a kiss on your thigh as he finishes tying your shoes, standing up to fix the ribbon on your ponytail.

"Miles, you're acting like a mom right now." You say giggling, looking up at your boyfriend with heart eyes.

"Gotta make sure my baby lookin good." He replied quickly, leaning down to kiss your cheek. He pulled "C'mon, I saw a nice jean skirt I wanna see you in."

[prince-rowan-of-the-forest]

A Swallow's Symphony In Spring (3/19)

Chapter 3 - Hear the Trumbling in the Stone

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Warnings: General talk about the mistreatement of a whole lot of people.

Word Count: 3261

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Roman hated rain.

Sure, it was pretty. He liked to watch the rain from his window, seeing the sheets of water coming down over the mountains that the palace backed onto. He wished he could see in the direction of the city from here, but his tower didn’t have windows on that side. Roman liked to watch the rain, but really all it meant was that he was trapped even more. 

A weekend’s worth of rain meant no going outside now. His training was cancelled because the grounds were too muddy to spar on, he already had no lessons today and he was entirely bored of staying in his room already. Just about every free minute he’d had since Wynter got here he’d spent in his room, and when he couldn’t stand that he went to the garden. Now that he was hoping to befriend Wynter - or at least not be on unfriendly terms - he thought maybe he should actually get back to his old routine. 

After spending hours watching raindrops race down the stained glass of his windows, he decided to venture toward the library.

Twice he knocked on Wynters door before it was opened. Usually it only took one knock and a few seconds to get his attention, this time it took a second knock and another minute before Wynter opened the door with a tired expression and messy hair. The sight made Roman smile - had he been sleeping in?

They stared at each other for a moment before Roman nodded and waved for him to follow with a small, knowing smile. 

“So, uh… where are we going today, Sire?” Wynter spoke up as they walked, Roman was a little started. Virgil rarely spoke at all, let alone to ask him a question, he hoped that was a good sign, 

“The library,” Roman answered with a small smile - he hoped Wynter wouldn’t mind it. “I fear I may go insane if I stay in my room watching the rain on my window all day.”

“I uh- I didn’t expect you to leave your room today…” Wynter mumbles from behind him, so quietly that Roman almost didn’t hear him.

Roman couldn’t help but chuckle, “Is that why you look like you just got out of bed?”

It seemed that his attempt at a joke didn’t land when Wynter just scowled at him. Roman felt sufficiently cowed, looking forward once again. He had tried to joke - but he supposed it was just bad timing, or maybe he didn’t know Wynter well enough for that yet. He sighed as he walked - he really had no idea how this worked, did he?

He took a long time deciding what to read when they finally arrived at the library. Their supply of fictional works was small enough that Roman had read them all already, however he was always glad to reread his favourites. Wynter just stood there awkwardly as he sat down on one of the plush sofas in the room. It was a little weird, Roman wasn’t used to having company whilst he read, so having someone practically lurking over Roman’s shoulder as he did was a little off putting. 

Eventually, he turned to look up at him, “Wynter,” he said without looking up, “I can hardly read with you looming over my shoulder like that.”

“I- I’m sorry,” Wynter immediately apologised, Roman turned to him upon hearing the stutter in his voice, he narrowed his eyes a little - was he paler than normal? “It’s not like I can leave, though.”

Sighing, Roman marked his page and closed his book, turning to face Virgil properly in his chair, “Why not at least sit with me? Or grab a book, they’re free to read?”

“I assumed I wouldn’t be allowed to sit with you, Your Highness,” Wynter said, tone hesitant - that might have been the first time he’d heard him not sound confident. He doesn’t comment on the offer to read, though, maybe he wasn’t a big fan of reading. 

“I suppose on a technicality you should remain standing, but…” Roman takes another look at him, he was pretty sure Wynter was shaking, “...Are you alright, Wynter? You look sick.”

“I’m okay, Your Highness,” Wynter said, shaking his head. Roman wasn’t convinced in the slightest. “I’m pretty sure I’m not sick, at least?”

Even Wynter sounded like he wasn’t sure. Sighing, Roman reached out to pat the empty space on the sofa beside him. “I think it would be best if you sat, Wynter.”

Wynter stared at him for a long moment, doubt clear in his expression, before eventually - and with more hesitance than Roman thought he’d ever seen, he sat down. Roman watched his guard close his eyes and let out a sigh of relief, sink back into the sofa and actually relax, almost as if he’d forgotten Roman was even there at all. 

“So- are you sick?” Roman asks eventually, Wynter jolted back into his more guarded position, sat up and staring straight at Roman like he’d been caught. His eyes darted back and forth as Roman watched him, clearly panicking - and from how close he was now Roman could see that Wynter was indeed paler than normal - and he was normally quite pale. 

When he didn’t get a response for a long while, Roman sighed and placed his book down on the table in front of him, electing to fold his hands neatly in his lap instead. “Okay, look,” Roman said, taking a deep breath, he didn’t know if this would work, but he thought it might help, “I know I’ve been - unpleasant - towards you, in the last two weeks, But I’ve come to the realisation that it is not your fault that I’m stuck being tailed all day - it’s just… your job, it’s not as though you orchestrated this situation.”

Wynter seemed to double take, glancing around the room as if to check that no-one was watching - like someone was going to jump out and tell him this was a joke, only serving to make Roman feel worse about how he’d treated Wynter so far. 

“What I’m saying is - I apologise for the way I’ve been treating you, Wynter,” he said. 

“I… accept your apology, Your Highness,” Wynter said to Roman’s honest surprise - was it really that easy? He’d expected… what had he expected? He’d expected to have to fight for the apology, give a whole speech on why Wynter should let him off, why he didn’t deserve… well, that was how it always was with his parents.

“You- really?” Roman asked, genuinely taken aback. Wynter huffed.

“I mean - you’re right, I guess,” Virgil shrugged, “I didn’t… consider how unpleasant this probably was for you, too.”

“Can we… perhaps agree to start over?” Roman asked, feeling hopeful that this might actually go well now, “I’ve… come to realise that if it must be like this it may be better to have a friend than a shadow.”

Roman offered his hand to Virgil. He didn’t know why he did it, as royalty, he wasn’t supposed to touch the guards or servants - or anyone, really. He’d seen people do this before, though, the servants in the palace mostly, when they agreed on something, so he offered his hand for Wynter to shake regardless. It took a long moment, but eventually Wynter shook his hand with a grip that was strong despite the tremor in his hand. 

“I accept your proposal to start over, Your Highness,” Wynter said, bowing his head politely, “And- agree with you, that it would be better to have a friend here.”

“Oh wonderful!” Roman said, a smile breaking through his mask of neutrality. Something occurred to him then, perhaps… “Could… I request that you simply call me Roman? The titles are- they bother me, a little.”

“Surely that would be improper?” Wynter asked, tilting his head in confusion, “Couldn’t it cause trouble?”

Wynter was right, of course, and he cursed himself for it. If anyone heard his guard address him so informally they’d certainly tell the Queen and then she’d have both of their heads. Silently, Roman thought about the issue for a long moment, trying to figure out whether there was a way around all of this.

“I suppose it could,” he said eventually, sighing, “Though - perhaps not all the time? When we are alone, maybe, like we are now?”

Frowning, Wynter seemed to consider this and in that time Roman began to worry that he would be denied, eventually though, Wynter sighed, “Fine, I suppose I can call you your name when we’re alone.”

“Will you say it now?” 

Wynter paused to look at him once more, before shaking his head, “I’ll call you your name, Roman.”

Roman barely managed to suppress the urge to flap his hands with excitement - knowing it wasn’t something he was supposed to do. Even then he still couldn’t help the smile that now adorned his face. Wynter seemed to soften just a little in the face of it. 

“But-” Wynter said, Roman looked back over, his smile fading immediately at the frown on his face, “You should call me by my first name too - if I do that.”

Taken aback, Roman simply nodded. It was rare that someone other than his parents and tutors ever told him what to do. Almost none of the staff or guard had ever done such a thing. 

“I- suppose that’s alright,” Roman agreed anyway, if only to see Wynter’s shoulders droop in relief, “Virgil?”

“Roman,” Virgil nodded. 

“It feels strange to be called that,” Roman says with a small chuckle, “Not- bad per-se, but strange.”

“I guess you don’t get called it often, do you?” Virgil tilted his head. 

“Not particularly,” Roman agreed - his parents were practically the only people who called him by his name, and usually that wasn’t a good thing - but Virgil saying it was almost… nice? He wasn’t quite sure exactly why. 

Virgil simply nodded, “I figured.”

“So, Virgil…” Having permission to use Virgil’s first name felt almost elating, like a tiny weight had been lifted off of the pile on his shoulders, “Can we attempt a… friendship? Virgil?”

“I… suppose?” Virgil said, shifting on the chair. He looked so stiff and uncomfortable sitting next to him, Roman wished he knew what was wrong so he could do something to help, he still seemed so hesitant and wary of the idea. “We can try.”

Smiling in contentment, glad he had been able to have a proper conversation with Virgil, on that might have been able to get him a new friend, too. He picked up his book, opening it once more to his page and continuing to read. Virgil never relaxed next to him, which reminded Roman of what a poor state his guard had been in before he’d asked him to sit in the first place. 

“So, as friends,” Roman said eventually, looking up from his book back at Virgil with a tilt of his head, “What ails you? Why are you in pain? Wouldn’t friends tell each other such things?”

Roman watched as the neutral expression on Virgil’s face crumpled into that furious anger he’d seen back on the first day they’d met and Roman physically leant back. He didn’t know what he’d done wrong, Virgil had gone from seeming happy with the idea to being angry at Roman in just an instant.

“...I’ve upset you,” Roman said, voice made weak by the ferocious glare his guard was giving him, “What, um, what did I do?”

Virgil’s expression didn’t soften, not really, but a sense of confusion was added to the anger as he stared at him. Not knowing what to do - how to fix this, what he’d done wrong - Roman just shrugged weakly.

“You- you just apologised and offered to be friends just to get me to tell you things you wanted to know?” Virgil said, laying it all out with just a hint of harshness in his tone, “That’s just manipulation, not- not friendship.”

Oh.

Oh 

That wasn’t what he’d meant to do at all - or was it? He’d wanted Virgil to tell him what was wrong, after all, he was concerned - but should he have just asked? But he had wanted to be friends with Virgil anyway, it wasn’t just a case of trying to get information out of him! He didn’t know what to say, but as he panicked, Virgil’s anger seemed to cool just a little.

“I apologise… again, I didn’t mean it like that,” he said eventually, he thought that the amount that he’d needed to apologise to his guard so far in this conversation was already telling of something - maybe that he didn’t deserve friends.

Virgil sighed, rubbing his face with a half-gloved hand as he looked away from Roman, taking a long moment to answer - his voice exasperated when he did. “Don’t - don’t work yourself up about it - it’s fine…”

“I’ll try not to do it again, I swear-” Roman said, not sure why he wanted so badly to reach for Virgil - he’d already ruined this, hadn’t he? “I really was just asking - I want to help - if I can…”

With a deep breath, Virgil turned back to him, “I’m fine - really, just - I haven’t been sleeping all that well - that’s all.”

“Do you… normally have trouble sleeping? Or is it just…”

“It’s always been a problem,” Virgil said, shaking his head. “It’s been worse since I got here, but it’s not like you can do anything about it.”

“Well- you already know I have some issues sleeping too,” Roman pointed out - “Maybe having someone to relate to might help?” Virgil chuckled.

“Yes - I’m aware,”

“...Right,” Roman nodded, the conversation running dry, “Well… if there was a way I could help-?”

“I’ll keep that in mind, thank you,” Virgil smiled softly, “I’m just glad you’re not bothered.”

“Bothered?” Roman tilted his head.

“I would’ve thought you’d worry that this could hinder my performance?” 

“It doesn’t hinder mine,” Roman shrugs, “So I’ll expect the same from you - though you should try to rest when you can.”

“I do try,” Virgil sighs, shaking his head, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, though I’m not sure what I’m being thanked for,” Roman said with a small, hesitant smile. Virgil laughed softly, he decided he quite liked the sound. 

“For not being unpleasant about something I can’t change about myself,” Virgil answered, when Roman frowned in confusion he elaborated, “Trust me - it’s much more common than you might think.”

They kept talking for what must have been hours, mostly about meaningless things that Roman didn’t care much to remember. They talked about how Roman liked the flower arrangements in the hallways despite doing his level best to stay out of the hallways entirely in order to avoid people. How Virgil enjoyed the food here much more than he had enjoyed the food back home - mentioning a quick ‘no offence’ to someone named Logan. Over the course of the hours, they both learned more about each other than Roman remembered knowing about anyone other than his brother. 

—-

“My mother taught me how to wield,” Virgil said, another dreary day in the library half a week later. 

It was awkward at first, to start conversations after long periods of silence that left Roman not knowing what to say. He assumed that was just how it was when you met someone new, though he didn’t have much experience to back that up with. The awkward silences and lulls in conversation must be normal when you don't know someone so well, he thought.

Surprised that Virgil had actually spoken up first this time, Roman looked up from his book immediately, eyebrow raised. “A sword?” He asked.

“Mhm - and some other weapons, too,” Virgil said, “I can wield most blades.”

“Were you raised to be a knight?” Roman asked. 

Virgil chuckled. “I was raised to be a blacksmith,” he said, which only served to make Roman more curious. How did a lowly blacksmith end up a guard for a Prince? He wouldn’t voice that thought, though. Virgil always got upset when he talked like that. “My mother taught me how to use many of the weapons we made, just in case.”

“...Forgive my asking,” Roman said slowly, not wanting to offend, “But why would a smith’s boy need to know how to wield? What were you preparing for?”

A frown made its way onto Virgil’s face immediately. “Anything, really. Wild animals, the guards when they decided they weren’t taking enough from us already, other villagers - especially during winters, when we were hungry.”

Why on earth were people turning on each other? And his parent’s guards, attacking innocent people? And how had he not known a thing about it? Roman didn’t know what was the truth anymore. It didn’t make sense for Virgil to lie to him about all of this, but then that would mean that everyone else had been lying to him, which….

Actually made a lot more sense than he’d like to think about.

“Roman?” Virgil asked, sounding a little more hesitant now. When Roman looked up he saw that Virgil had half reached towards him but stopped, like he was going to put a hand on Roman’s arm or something, “Are you alright?”

“Of course,” Roman said automatically. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You just…” Virgil trailed off with a frown. “Kind of - went away? For a minute there.”

“Oh,”

“What were you thinking about?” Virgil asked.

Sighing, Roman looked down at his hands. “When we first talked, in the garden, I thought you were lying.”

Virgil nodded, “You made that clear.”

“...Yes,” Roman said, “I’m sorry for dismissing you in that way.”

There was a long pause before Virgil spoke again, “Why did you think I was lying?”

Roman found himself hesitating to tell Virgil why. He simply didn’t know what to say. In the end he simply sighed and shook his head, “I chose to believe them, instead.”

“Who is ‘them’?” Virgil asked, glaring again but this time not at him, “What have they been telling you?”

“Well- you know I’m not allowed to leave the castle,” Roman said, Virgil nodded slowly, “Because of that I’ve - never really seen the state of the kingdom myself, so I’ve asked a lot about how the people are faring out there - every time I ask they tell me that the kingdom is rich and thriving, that the people are happy and love us - or at least they love my parents.”

Astonishment. That was the only word he could think of to describe the look on Virgil’s face. 

“That’s… that’s not true in the slightest,” Virgil said, “Roman- that’s - that’s the furthest thing from the truth-”

“But why would they all lie to me?” Roman asked, “My parents - well I suppose that makes sense - but the staff? The servants? The people?”

Virgil sighed, “They’re… scared,” he said eventually, “Your parents are - well - many people dislike them, let's say that, and even more people are scared of them - if your parents told them all to lie to you - I was probably supposed to lie to you too, but…”

“Don’t - please,” Roman said, looking back up at him, “If - if the people I’m supposed to rule over are suffering, I want to know about it.”

“Most nobles I have met would rather be ignorant,” Virgil said, a look on his face that Roman found himself unable to decipher. 

“I suppose that means I’m not like most nobles.” Roman said, falling silent after that. He supposed he had a lot to think about now.

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[niccerria]

5 Simple Daily Habits That Can Truly Transform Your Life

Hello everyone! I hope you're all having a wonderful day.

First and foremost, this blog is dedicated to those who have just embarked on their self-improvement journey. It is intended for those who feel lost and are in search of a starting point.

Daily habits hold the key to leading a productive life every day. Not only do they bring clarity to your mind, but they also provide a sense of pride in your accomplishments at the end of each day.

I will list 5 Daily habits that are easy to do and actually don't provide much energy.

1. Going To Sleep Early - I know you want to scroll that one video on Tiktok so bad, but to be honest, it's not you, it's your brain asking for a dopamine, girlypop you are addicted, put the phone down and go to sleep. I'll do you even better, STOP USING THE PHONE BEFORE GOING TO SLEEP, restrict yourself, As you prepare for sleep, consider implementing a one-hour phone restriction. Instead of using your phone, you can do alternative activities such as reading a book or crochet. These alternatives can help promote relaxation and enhance your bedtime routine.

2. Take On A Challenging Task You're Not Particularly Fond Of - This one is the most important. Part of being productive is doing things you don't like, that's what builds up discipline, and dedication to improve everyday. On first day you might have a motivation to do it, so it will be easy at first and you will actually feel proud. On second day you will still have that little motivation and force yourself. On third you will get bored and do that task half way through. On fourth day, you think ''well it's not that important'' or ''I can still do it later it's not that big of a deal'' it IS a big deal, if you are not going to stay consistent then what's the point of starting it in the first place? you are doing this FOR YOU not for others.

3. Get a hobby - this is as much as important as the second one. Listen, in order to avoid feeling drained, anxious, or bored throughout the day for no reason, you have to keep yourself occupied. Hobbies not only put you in a good mood and uplift you but also keep your brain active. They are actually something you can truly benefit from. Like from learning to play a guitar, you will develop a skill to play on the instrument. With drawing, or learning to draw, you will develop ability to tell a story with your drawing (for example, comics, webtoons) and you can actually make a living out of it. YOU NEED HOBBIES.

4. Have a Morning and night routine - again It's necessary to keep you occupied, human was not made to lay in the bed all day and rot. he/she was made to do things, that is your purpose, you have to do things in order to be happy. you will not get happy by watching 20 episodes on Netflix in a day. You might feel satisfaction by that, but that is only temporary and why? because you are not doing things. you are rotting in bed honey. You can watch 2 episodes as a reward though, like for example you did homework in all the subjects, great! now you need a reward! not only will you be proud of yourself for finishing homework, you will also feel accomplished and relaxed when you start watching something.

5. Give love, EVERYDAY - did you hugged your mother today? Father? Grandma? Grandpa? Did you hugged yourself and told yourself how pretty and enough you are? Did you played with your dog? Cat? Have you smiled to your neighbor or waved? Did you smelt the flowers when you walked past them? Did you look up at the sky and think about how strangely and beautifully blue it is? Have you looked at trees and thought about how some of them ''Talk'' to each other with a soil fungi? And be fascinated by that? Have you looked up at the stars and thought about their history? Have you given them your own name? Story? Have you looked at strangers and thought about their lives? Did they gave love today? Did they hugged their mothers? Looked at trees, sky, stars? Are they grateful to live in a such a pretty, mesmerizing, amazing, and fascinating world? Are you?

[alexissara]

Fire Emblem Engage: One Year Later An Anniversary Of Mid

Fire Emblem Engage is now a year old and as a massive Fire Emblem fan I want to talk about it. Engage is a game I don't like and I am nothing if not a hater so I want to talk about it more about a year out since I think being a hater that goes beyond a boring critique of hair or anime bad is more valuable.

First let's talk about where I place it in the overall series.

I am going to dive into things in a lot of detail down below. Obviously everything is subjective, blah, blah, your reading my opinions, I don't really care about being "objective" so take what you want out of this. The TLDR though is that Engage is a game that fails in every single way, there is not one thing that it is particular amazing at but it is not the worst at any particular thing either. It's a text book mid game but in some ways I like it less then things I think are worse because the squandering of some decent concepts.

Designs

Mika is an extremally talented artist with a wonderful sense of design but even she questioned why they were hiring her to do a Fire Emblem game. While I like some of the designs of the characters as general characters designs but their almost all bad character designs for story telling, for explaining a deeper sense of character, for fitting into a war setting, for fitting a diverse range of ages or bodies, etc. I don't mind Alear's hair, I think red and blue hair makes sense, that's the enemy phase and ally phase colors, it's not terrible but the outfit is a bit too white. The designs in general are simply great designs for a silly little person but not great for the wider depth of characters not creating characters you could see doing a war. If the tone was different I could see these working but it need to lean far more into comedy or cheese then it does. I really don't have a lot to say here but it kinda just had to be the first thing to address. I like them more than the average person but I still don't love them. Like Etie is supposed to like be buff and stuff but she is a twig. Saphir is supposed to be pretty old but she looks fairly young. Mika's style simply doesn't blend well with Fire Emblem despite me loving Mika's work prior to this.

Story

This is the most often critiqued part of the Fire Emblem Engage experience that even people who love it typically concede and for good reason. The story of this game is a fairly simple and basic story structure. Hero awakes and must do their fate, mother dies, protag cries, they go on a journey to collect the plot items, they collect plot items but OH NO THE ENEMY HAS PUT A WRENCH IN IT! Then they build themselves back up, collect the items and murder the big bad. Along the way you get some angsty zombie stuff but it's cheap emotions, kids complicated relationships to their parents, a theme which you'd think maybe is one of the grander themes but really isn't touched on with Sombron and Alear/Vayel despite Sombron being the main baddy.

Alear has a minor story arc, Alear is scared but then Alear isn't scared only Alear basically always stepped up so the gameplay and the story don't intgrate well here, if Alear even had one map of running away when she shoulda fought and that is why they lost emblem rings or something it would have more solidly locked in "oh Alears character flaw is that she runs away but now she knows to stay and fight" or it could have been a contrast and been like "it's a good thing that Alear knows when to run" and separate Alear from other lords in the series.

The games plot is deeply uncurious aiming for the most simple solutions down to the point where Vayel doesn't have an evil second personality [which I mean is ableist but they still make you think that] it's actually mind control evil second personality. It turns out Vayle and Alear is just goddy good Fell Dragons and all the other ones were totally naturally evil and okay to kill I guess. Vayel could have had an edge to her, there could have been redemption for the "evil" part of Vayel that would be a far more complicated set of emotions and more interesting then no one needs to forgive her because actually every bad thing she did to everyone was evil mind control and every good thing is the real her.

Then there is the DLCs plot which almost makes Engages main plot look good taking you to an everyone is dead AU where everyone is fucked up cuz their zombies I guess or they just are like this in this world but also it only is interested in exploring the lords and the "good" versions of the bad quad with an addition of two new characters. Theirs an obvious twist villain but they try and just red herring you to think it's the girl twin instead of the boy twin who is more clearly evil by showing Nel do some things that seem evil out of context. It's fairly boring, it doesn't engage what it wants to hard enough, it presents it in some fucking awful map designs and it's place in the plot being able to show up before you met the vast majority of the characters actual selves means it's possible you come in with both an army that isn't fun to do the maps with and without a good set of emblem rings but you also have no idea why it should be shocking to see a character like this. It mostly makes me wish that they had instead of making this all DLC worked some of the complicated relationships between characters into the actual plot of the game and had some more fell dragons that were a bit more complicated but redeemable potential party members.

Thematically and politically I am at a loss at what it wants to say, it doesn't even seem to want to say like war is bad or something basic like that. The only recurring theme is like parent dies and that's sad and that is like true for most people and their parents but it's not a particularly well done version of that theme. It's not really about the bounds of friendship and love because like idk there is so few scenes where people overcome things with the power of friendship of love. Like there is some tension between evil coded country and the others but like those are resolved by the future queen having a divine dragon kink and will be good because she worships the good god.

Characters

Fire Emblems cast is kind of like the cast of a Disegea game, which I typically enjoy only not over the top enough nor in a game with a tone consistently silly enough to justify the wild over the top energy of the characters. Characters all have bits and this is true of many fire emblem games but it is more rare for basically every single character to have a bit that is pretty definitive to them rather than a character trait. They are designed and written like a vtuber in a lot of ways, their meant to be cute, for you to find your fav and for you to hyper focus on that one. Only unlike a Vtuber you can't hop on and invested dozens of hours a week watching Yunaka shout Zappy as she murders someone in a video game and banters with chat.

There is a layer of depth to the characters that explain why a character is like this TM but these things typically come at the end of an A rank support which leaves you to assume "This girl sure does talk a lot about tea" if your not rushing to A with someone or if you RNG into one where ya she's mostly just talking about Tea. Again there are characters that are like this in other Fire Emblem games but few characters get the cool join situations, the cool moments in the story to really make you invest that deeply into them since the game is really focused on these lords and doesn't have a lot of interesting recruiting given every character is a lord or a servant of a lord. Not to mention that depth is usually not that deep like it's more like finding a foot bath in what you found thought was just someone spilling water rather then going into a hot tub of complex lore, character drama, and passion.

I did enjoy the characters for my time with them like a light hearted kids animated show where I go "aww these guys are fun" but like one of those I don't really think about the characters after. I enjoy when I see art of Yuanaka or the Racket of Solm fan art, I go "Oh I like those girls, their neat" but I never feel like "OMG Yes, let's fucking go!!!!!" like I do for many other characters in many other pieces of art.

Then in terms of the villains Sombron is paper then with a random new motive at the very end that is utterly uninteresting. The four hounds are fun enough characters since their allowed to be a little complicated but their also as an enemy on a map over staying their welcome for the amount of times you put swords into their bodies lealthy. The four hounds then feel under cut by the "good" versions of them that exist in the DLC which are basically what if they were boring, they are the good versions. Evil Vayel as mentioned earlier is boring because she's just mind control evil and not a real person. There is very few enemy of the map type enemies to think about and the ones that do exist are paper thin, your not going to get a stand off with a commander that you feel complicated feels about having to kill here.

Then we got to get into the endings, the lack of paired supports give everyone a static boring ending unless Alear wanted to give them a special friendship bracelet which totally doesn't mean romance HAHAHA alear doesn't want to date children or married men HAHAHA pay no attention to the man behind the mirror. It strips agency from the player, the translation no romos several romances with Alear that should be totally fine anyway, their just extremely poor at creating a sense of what you did to the world after you saved it because the world was perfect basically except Sombron was a dick. The characters don't feel like they grew in their little ending bits for the most part it's kidna like they went on to do what you'd expct them to do.

Then there is the emblem rings which are given fairly shallow interactions that range to them being pretty out of character to them saying a one line joke to them saying "remember that thing from my game." The shallow level of interaction with the rings is really unfortunate but also fortunate because it meant they didn't write a ton of these characters. They still feel like they should have beena bigger deal and been a bit more involved in the plot as well as having some deeper relationships with characters.

Also you get two fucking dragons on your team both of whom can't turn into dragons, there are these hot older women who are capable in battle but can't get recruited for the cause because I guess their not young and fuckable, there is so little interest in the world of this game outside of lords and their servants [which is a flaw in a lot of modern FE], why the literal child soldiers like Anna, there is a lot of frustrating character choices that could have been done better.

Presentation

I think the graphics are good, I think they look pretty, I like bright colors in my eyeballs and it works for me. I think graphically it's a clear step up from houses, the places look very beautiful. They make a fairly uninspired choice of diving the game into 5 themed regions with a kinda similar design principle across the maps Flower, Mountainy, Evily snow, Sand, really evil. This does take away from a kinda unquie feeling to each place you go but they don't look bad.

Music wise, the opening theme is dumb, I like it but it's corny and clearly gonna be divisive but it suits the game that it is for. As music in the game goes though it's fine, it's a fine soundtrack of fine songs that are fine. Only a few songs are really bangers though and a lot of the music doesn't stand out to me a year later I can basically just think the opening theme and the engaging an emblem remix. I am actively trying to recall another song as I write this and I end up just getting the Three Houses Monastery music in my head instead.

The animations I will simply give full marks too, the animations after many years after the GBA finally don't look bad. Crits look cool, the engage attacks look cool, there is some coolness to be had there where the more real and grounded animations since Gamecube were never my favorite. Great job engage, I hope the series keeps it up.

Gameplay

People talk about Fire Emblem Engage's gameplay being the best in the series but it really isn't and it's not like stunning SRPG design in general. Perhaps if your looking for a challenge the maddening experience is some sort of revolution but the average player of any video game will be playing on the "normal" mode which is by default the intended mode. The game features mechanics that one might think is for grinding but utterly fail at that, the loading screens between managing things make the act of building characters tedious and annoying, the mini game gameplay that optimize maps is awful, the way you can spend resources for cosmetics that you can't use in battle is awful, the lack of little touches to the smithing system like being able to alter or name your weapons is bad. These are all gameplay, these aren't the maps but there part of playing the game and while you can in future runs maybe ignore most of these things you will likely experience some of these and some things were stream lined with patches but these patches will go away and eventually getting supports between characters will go back to being fairly annoying.

Then we can talk about the beloved maps and engaging. The gameplay using the skill system is utterly flawed with the SP being so poorly distributed makes building characters utterly prone to accidently wasting SP and not being able to get a build on that character that will feel good for the rest of the run. This effects gameplay in maps as does the fact you only have two slots for said skills making for fairly small amounts of build possibilities for the wide swath of options you get especially if you get the DLC. The map design doesn't present the fun diverse set of objectives an SRPG is capable of with most maps being kill the boss or kill all the things. They do present different little map gimmicks and they do make some of the maps good but the maps fail in the biggest way that a map can in an SRPG which is to be narratively uninteresting.

I could make a whole article about the sin to the world that is Xenologue 5 which is a top contender for worst map in all of Fire Emblem. In general the Xenolouge maps really are a perfect exercise and exposing the magic of the pretty lights of Engage and going "Oh this game is awful".

It's boring to fight the same 4 dudes. Your so rarely put up against someone new and neat and the characters you are fighting don't grow much until their about to actually die. The repeating four hounds fights creates a dissonance where your people permanently die if they lose in battle but you can't get the kill on these people your doing 1000 flashy attacks on. If you can enjoy a map in isolation perhaps these maps are good, great even but it doesn't fix the issues.

The Bonus Content TM

I talked about the stuff in gameplay but I want to reiterate that the bonus parts of the game are in fact a part of the gameplay.

First off we got costumes which are utterly frustrating even outside of being locked to the hub world. The clothes are gender locked where boys where boy clothes and girls where girl clothes expect Rosado who is a special femboy and in no way a dirty tranny we make fem boys not dirty transgenders in Fire Emblem [this is sarcasm, I am trans] who gets to wear girl clothes. Never mind Jade wearing more masculine clothes in her casual outfits if she had to chose between a butler or a maid outfit clearly she'd pick to be a kawaii maid. The only kind of gender deviation being allowed in the random costumes even for Alear being the femboy fetishist at IS's pet project is pretty pathetic. Also pathetic is the gender lock applying to the amiibo lord costumes which in addition are also even more limited only being wearable by lord characters and only lords of the right gender even if Lucina clothes are mens wear their only for women and very special bloodline women. Then all of this taking resources simply damages the game further.

The mini games include a Rhythm game with no Rhythm as if Fire Emblem has no amazing songs to be playing a work out mini game to. We have a flight sim on rails shooter thing but no enemies or added depth. A fishing game that is a fishing mini game. These are boring to passable but they all give you benefits from doing them so if you wanted to truly optimize you'd need to do them between every map.

Then there is the "interactive" bonus elements talking to people at Somnel and post map, inviting people to dinner, sending people to do an activity together. I've avoided comparing this game to Three Houses until this point but I have to here, Three Houses and Engage started development at roughly the same time so Engage had many more years in development but each and every one of these things are far less in depth then in Houses. There is no voice acting for these sections, unlike houses where every map you have new voiced interactions with every character some of which are dynamically tied to choices you made you get mostly rotating lines with a few people interjecting a text box of almost nothing of value. There is no special bonus conversations for sending people to work together who might have something to say to each other. The meals and creepy bed time interactions are voiced but the interaction between characters is very limited and the lines are pretty repetitive only working with an RNG system of if the food is shit or not which is only annoying. The bedtime interactions of someone waking you up are totally RNG based meaning a character you hate might come wake you up and you have to here about the Alpaca hero and they change when you raise up supports with them meaning each special voiced interaction with sleeping requires you to go out of your way to do something of no value to hope you RNG into the character you like saying a few words less you accidently support them and miss a piece of dialogue. It feels cheap, it feels bargain basement, it feels undercooked.

The grinding here kinda feels like it wishes it was Scared Stones but the pay off for climbing the grind in this game isn't exclusive post game characters, exciting special weapons but some orbs for an optional upgrade system randomly given to you so maybe you can upgrade the weapon you want but maybe not. The bound rings gacha is not an indepth system that is fun to play with. It's just another place where things feel super under cooked despite the long development cycle on this game.

Final Thoughts

Talking about the game I actually feel a lot more negative on it then when I put together the little list at the top or when I wrote an Anniversary of mid, I kinda just feel like actually it's just bad but like it's probably mid and not bad and I am just impassioned writing all my complaints. This is a game that had a ton of potential but I feel squandered it at every opportunity.

I wish I liked Engage, I Wish I liked Fates, but if this is the direction that IS is taking their games when their the primary devs of Fire Emblem I am just not gonna buy IS developed Fire Emblem games because ultimately I got way more physic damage playing these games then I got joy. Fire Emblem is my favorite game series, the one I would say I am actually part of the fandom of and I want to love every new entry, to be hype, to fall in love, to gamble on my phone for little jpegs but I'm just not here with this.

I think Engage presented cool new ideas like the Break System which I think is great and should return but in general I fear this direction. I'd love to see something akin to Engage skills with some flashy over powered stuff. I like how these these interact with the core mechanics and I think their fun additions to the formula.

I just hope this one year anniversary set of thoughts is enough to free me of my Engage demons and I can just never think about it again and go onto playing fan games, rom hacks and replaying older games I enjoy along with new Indie SRPGs leaving this behind to simply exist for the people who love it.

If you enjoyed this look back at Fire Emblem Engage and you want to help me play more Fire Emblem or other SRPGs then Patreon and Ko-fi are a great way to support me so I can afford to talk about queer art and stuff.

[personne-writes]

Dad material

Part 6 - Reading level

(word count: 2k)

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Michelangelo hasn’t learnt to read the traditional way, what with being a mutant turtle growing up in the sewers and everything. 

Of course, reading is something Splinter has taught them, along with many other basic skills. Not as soon as humans or Yokais do, maybe. And probably not as thoroughly as to understand the complex mechanisms of linguistics or to write academic papers. Still fast and good enough for them to be able to keep up with their cherished comics over their teenage years, though - and to never fall behind with charts and reports now. 

Michelangelo wouldn’t say his reading skills are lacking in any way, but he’ll admit that when it comes to knowing what a normal kid’s learning curve should look like, he doesn’t really have any timeframe to rely on. 

So, he doesn’t know if it’s normal for an eleven-years-old boy born in the midst of an apocalypse to be reading The Fellowship of the Ring. 

He doesn’t know, but when he sees Casey Junior frowning down on the voluminous novel, he can’t help but think it feels a little much. 

“Hey, Leo," he starts as he plops into a seat next to his brother in the conference room, "quick question. Do you know who the English language teacher is?”

“What?” Leonardo mutters, not looking up from the schematics he's studying. 

Mikey drops his chin into his hands, elbows braced on the table. “You know, at the kids’ school. Who’s the teacher?”

“Why?” his brother asks absentmindedly. 

“Because I think they might be asking kids to read stuff way above their level.”

Leonardo probably reaches the conclusion that he can't navigate this conversation while focusing on his plans, because he drops them on the table and turns to him. “Mikey. What are you talking about?”

Mikey shifts in his seat. "I just saw Junior reading this big ass book, and it bugged me because I can't remember him reading anything other than comics, right? So I asked him what it was, and it's the fucking Fellowship of the Ring. Can you believe that?"

Leo blinks. “How… is that a problem?”

“The Lord of the Rings, Leo!" Mikey huffs, throwing his hands in the air. "It’s like, a trillion pages long, and it’s so boring at first, what were they even thinking? I tried to read it and couldn’t make it past page 50, and by then I was fifteen and I was a total fan of the movies already -"

"Casey's seen the movies, too," Leo informs him, expression slightly confused. 

Mikey gives a dramatic sigh. 

"My point is, starting off with this? At eleven?? That’s just gonna discourage the kids. Teaching is all about giving them the will to read. What twisted, sadistic teacher would pick the freaking Lord of the Rings as a child's first real book?"

Leonardo blinks at him again.

And then again.

The absence of an answer is telling Mikey all he needs to know half a second before Leo's face splits up with a big, doofus smile. 

"I'm the one who gave him the book," he states, not sounding one bit sorry. 

Michelangelo stares at him, speechless, and that’s not something that happens often. 

Leonardo gives a quiet laugh. "As much as I find your lecture captivating, little brother, it's not that bad," he assures, putting his hands up like a peace offering. "The kid's clever, I'm sure he won't let himself be intimidated by a simple book. Besides, it's not like he has to read it, or anything - well, I’m glad that he does, but - Mike, you good, hermano?" 

Michelangelo tries to get a grip. It’s only half a success. “You could make him disgusted about reading forever,” he accuses. 

Leonardo rolls his eyes. “Come on, give me some credit. Like I said, I'm not forcing him to do anything. I won’t pressure him into reading something he doesn’t like. You know me, right?"  

That is a valid argument, Mikey has to admit. He still doesn’t feel too comfortable with taking that risk, though. “Hmm.”

“Aw, don’t make that face,” Leonardo cheers him up, grabbing his shoulder affectuously. “Give it some time, okay? Let him try. And if you still feel like it’s a bad idea in, what, a week? Then we’ll talk about it.”

Ah, making a deal without actually promising anything that might make him a disservice. Such a classic Leon move. 

Michelangelo sighs and nods. What choice does he have, either way? 

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It doesn't take a week for Michelangelo to understand he has lost this battle.

There are multiple signs throughout the next few days - Junior hiding in a corner to read peacefully more often than not, body relaxed, expression focused; Junior dozing off when bored, gaze wandering around like he sees things with new eyes; Junior humming the Lord of the Rings movies' theme songs here and there when doing chores. Could fool anybody else, but Mikey knows what having an hyperfixation looks like. 

He's so happy for the kid. 

That's something he himself hasn't felt in a very long time, the thrill of discovering a story so captivating it takes you away from your day to day life, the delight of forgetting your worries and troubles into something bigger, smoother, more coherently crafted than reality. It's a comforting feeling, and he's happy Junior is getting the chance to experience it, even with all this chaos he is growing up in - even more so.  

"Well, well, well, would you look at that," Leonardo starts, coming to a stop next to Michelangelo as he's watching Junior animatedly explain some piece of lore to a poor kid who doesn't look all that interested. "Seems like it's Casey who's doing the traumatizing, after all." 

Mikey snorts. "Yeah, alright, that's a win for you."

"What was that? Sorry, Mikey, I don't speak loser," Leo pushes. 

Mikey elbows him goodnaturedly. "Hey, I'm saying you're right, that's like, the only thing you'd understand no matter the language."

"Damn right!" Leo smirks, and leaves it at that. Mikey should probably be surprised he isn't bragging about it more, but the way his brother looks at Casey Junior tells him his mind isn't completely focused on the conversation. 

He gets it. If he's being honest with himself, Mikey knows he sometimes has that look, too. 

He glances back and forth between Casey Junior still infodumping on his poor friend, and Leonardo proudly watching over his protégé. The positive energy radiating from them is enough that he resolves to bring Junior new books, too, each time he has the opportunity. 

And so he does for the next few weeks. 

Between the novels Leonardo brings back from scouting missions and the books Michelangelo manages to get from people owing him favors, Casey Junior slowly but surely builds his own personal library, safely stored in a carton under his bed. 

The kid reads about anything they can find. He beams each time he receives something new, and by the time they get to ask him about the latest addition to the collection, he's already read it two times at least. 

So it really shouldn’t come as a surprise that one day, Casey Senior comes for their throats. 

“BLUE TURTLE!”

Michelangelo and Leonardo are in the middle of the morning report with a few scouts. The authority in Cassandra’s voice has Leonardo’s body go still in a split second. 

Mikey raises a brow at him. “I was pretty sure she knew your actual name by now.”

“She only calls me that when she’s pissed,” Leo explains, eyes wide and panicked. 

“HAS ANYONE SEEN THE BLUE ONE?” Cassandra’s voice shouts again, and this time, Leonardo springs into motion. 

“Meeting adjourned!” he yelps to three very baffled scouting agents before clutching at the collar of Mikey’s cape. “Mike, hermano, you have to hide me -”

“You’re both there! Good.” 

Cassandra is standing in the doorway of the briefing room and Michelangelo doesn’t even have to squint to notice the menacing aura that surrounds her. 

She is furious.

“Heyyy, Cassie!” his brother tries in his cheesiest voice, an overcompensation for the nervousness tightening his whole body. “How’re we doing today, my gal? You look fabulous! Something new with your hair?”

Cassandra isn’t having his nonsense, and she makes it clear by stomping towards them with steps so heavy Mikey instinctively checks the concrete floor for footprints. 

He doesn’t have the slightest idea what’s going on, but it isn’t good. 

His mystic powers slowly lift him up into the air. 

“Oh, no, neither of you is escaping this,” Cassandra chuckles, low and dark, as she grabs both Mikey’s cloak and Leo’s scarf. Michelangelo is pretty sure she would’ve seized them by the ears, if they’d had any. 

By the corner of his eyes, he sees the three scouts leave the room as discreetly as they can.

“Escaping what?” he asks with an apprehensive smile, his toes a few inches above the ground.  

“What have you done to my son?” 

Leo and Mikey exchange a bewildered look. 

“Junior?” Leo immediately presses. “What’s the matter with him?” 

“The matter is he’s becoming a nerd!” Cassandra snaps, and Michelangelo flinches. Ah. That was bound to happen, at some point. 

“Are you talking about the books?” he asks as gently as he can. “Because if so, I really don’t see how -”

“He isn’t helping with chores anymore!” Casey Senior presses on, her glare sharp enough to make him go quiet. “He’s running off every time he can, hiding out of my sight more often than not, and when he does come out of whatever rabbit hole he’s spent his day into, he speaks about things I don’t know shit about.” Leonardo tries to take a step back, but she just holds onto his scarf tighter. “What. Have you. Done. To my. Son?”

Leonardo hisses, his scarf apparently pressing a little too much into his throat for comfort. “Casey,” he pleads, voice just a little hoarse, “I swear we mean well -”

“Kids gotta be kids, you know?” Mikey advocates. “You were a Lou Jitsu fan when we were teens, remember?”

“Of course I remember!” Cassandra shouts, but she is distracted enough to let go of them, and they both keep their distance, just in case she starts acting aggressive again. 

“There you go, then!” Mikey pushes, voice warm and soothing. “Every teenager needs something to keep the imagination busy. Don’t you think Junior needs it even more than we did when we were his age?”

Cassandra sighs, her shoulders slumping. She presses her fingers to her temples. “I know,” she says tiredly, “but I’m under the impression that nothing else interests him anymore. He doesn’t sound as excited about training as he did, and I’m getting worried about his sleep schedule.”

Something drops in Mikey’s stomach, and by the look on his brother’s face, he understands that he doesn’t like what he’s hearing, either. “Oh,” Leonardo says cautiously. “Well, no need to fret about his training, because he’s going as hard at it as he always has, but, uh…”

“But we could talk to him about not reading too late at night,” Mikey provides. 

“Yeah. That.”

With a half-smile, Casey Senior looks back up at them. “Mhm. I guess that would work better coming from you than it does coming from me.”

Leonardo huffs a laugh. “Cool uncles’ privilege, am I right?”

“It’s just a phase, you know,” Mikey adds. “He probably won’t be that much into reading for very long.”

“I wouldn’t bet food on that,” Cassandra grimaces, but there isn’t any more bite to it. “This kid is stubborn as hell.”

“Oh, jeez, wonder where that - you know what? It’s so obvious I don’t think I need to say it." Leonardo eyerolls at her with a smile before getting serious again. “I’m sorry, Cassie. For getting you worried.”

“That much is obvious, too, blue one,” Cassandra says as she bumps her fist into his good shoulder. “No big deal. I mean it. I’m glad you guys get along with him so well.”

She glances back and forth between them, and a rare, soft expression washes over her features. 

“He really loves you. Both of you.”

“Awww!” Michelangelo can’t help himself: he brings Cassandra and Leonardo into the tightest of hugs before they can register it. Leo protests a little, Casey protests a lot, but neither actually disengages, and that’s good enough for him. 

They don’t stay like this for long, though; Casey is quick to excuse herself and go back to whatever she was doing, Leo straightens himself up and calls the scouts back, and the day starts over again as if nothing had happened at all. 

Well, not exactly, Mikey corrects himself as he watches his brother resume the morning report where they had left it. There is a glint in his eyes now, an energy in his movements, an assurance in his voice that wasn’t quite there before. It’s a little amusing to him that the scout agents seem to notice, too. 

It’s a little funny, getting to witness the way Leonardo’s serious leader image in the Resistance is slowly being tinted by his mushy side. 

If anything, Michelangelo thinks it’s only doing him good. 

How long will it take before Leo realizes he’s acting like a proud dad, though? 

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Dad Material is a collab with @leosmasktails 💙

Beginning - Previous - Next

Sooo what started as Tails doing a comic where Casey Jr bitches about the eagles in the Return of the King movie is now a collab about Leonardo becoming a surrogate father figure and getting lots of Dad Feels. Life is crazy y'all ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Comics are from @leosmasktails, ficlets are from me, and there's more on the way, lads, so stay tuned!

Oversight: 1 (comic) - 2 (comic & ficlet) - 3 (comic) - 4 (comic) - 5 (comic) - 6 (you're here) - 7 (next)

[gamesception]

Sception Reads Cass Cain #11

Batman: Gotham City Secret Files #1, "Night Games" Story by Scott Peterson & Kelley Puckett Written by Scott Peterson, Pencils by Paul Ryan

Now that's an interesting lineup. Paul Ryan is a different artist, but Scott Peterson and Kelley Puckett is the initial story team behind Cass's solo title - only usually Kelley Puckett delivers the actual script, and here it's Peterson instead. I wonder if I'll be able to notice a difference? Probably not, it's been too long since I read the Batgirl title - I've been holding off on going back to it to try and preserve some fresh thoughts for this re-read.

Story opens on this cute little fight scene where Cass takes down a group of street toughs in the time it takes for the bottle one of them drops to hit the ground. As I often call out when it happens, I like that the artist draws her face through the mask in the first panel there, but what I like less is that I don't particularly recognize that face as Cass? Just doesn't look like her facial features? But this is comics books arts, so different artists draw characters differently, can't get too annoyed about that.

The gratuitous butt shots, though, that I will get annoyed at if it keeps up. Come on, Ryan.

Agh! Selina! What happened to your waist! Your poor organs!

Yeesh. I won't complain about this all issue, and it's not like so bad I'm submitting posts to escher girls or anything, but yeah.

Anyway, we do have the premise, though. a pal-around team up with Selina and Cass. Which will doubtless have Selina trying to pull some tricksy business, and Cass seeing right through her, since it's not like Peterson and Puckett are going to forget how her body reading works. Should be fun.

There's something very DCAU about how Ryan draws the city. I don't dislike it, but I feel like a similarly cartoony aesthetic to the characters would fit in better with the surroundings.

So Selina's tailing some guy, and when a group of muggers start moving in on him she and Cass step in before he notices.

I like the big smile on Cass there. Again, she likes being Batgirl. She's having fun. It's an important glimpse into the kid she really is underneath the guilt and self loathing that provides an essential counterpoint to her angst, and it's an extra twist in the knife too the angst, in a way that I don't want to get into now because I'm saving that bit for... when does that dream sequence happen?

... holy shit, Batgirl #18? That's way later than I remembered it happening? I thought that was in the very earliest days! A year and a half into her comic? I don't know if I can wait that long to talk about that. We might have to have an out of order interlude to bring it up early.

Not today, though. For now we're sticking to this rare Batgirl/Catwoman team up. Selina's not used to fighting as a team and isn't sure exactly how to do it, but Cass doesn't really need the help, so Selina just leans back and throws in the occasional whip crack when she's bored. It's a fun little sequence.

Cass is still a brand new character, one with her own title starting at issue one the same month as this book was released, so the writers are very clearly having Selina talk her up here, but it works in character since playful complimentary banter to put people at east and get them to expose weaknesses is just part of Catwoman's whole deal.

And I like the way Cass is arching a brow there in the first panel, & shrugging in the second. No words, but very expressive. The face feels a bit more like her too, here.

There's a couple pages of cutaway to Barbara and Bruce wondering what Cass is up to. We get confirmation of her age here - 17. Though I'm not entirely sure how they know that, as I'm not sure that's something Cass would know herself. Sadly there's some sort of issue with the next page in the scan I'm working from, but it mentions that despite not knowing how to speak, Cassandra seems to understand more or less what people are saying to her, and Bruce mentions that he hasn't quite figured out how that works yet. He'll have figured it out by Batgirl #1, but it's a mystery to be hinted at in this book.

Meanwhile, Selina and Cass track the guy they've been following to a meetup with a buyer for whatever it is he's got in his briefcase. The buyer turns out to be the Penguin, and item to be sold...

Well, the new construction in Gotham is mostly down to Bruce Wayne and Lex Luthor. If documents detailed hidden surveillance that might be Lex, but hidden entrances feels more like Bruce taking advantage of the rebuilding effort to make his little appearing/disappearing trick a bit easier.

Obviously these would be valuable for a thief, like the Penguin, or Catwoman herself, but Selina views it as cheating, and opts to destroy the blueprints instead.

Thankfully she wasn't actually pulling anything particularly nefarious here. Thankfully for Selina, I mean. She can hold her own in a fight, but Cass, at least this version of Cass, is supposed to be in the Richard Dragon / Bronze Tiger / Lady Shiva tier for DC comics martial artists, and that's just not what Catwoman's about.

Catwoman's curiosity is piqued, though, so after saying goodbye she doubles back to follow this new Batgirl home and find out more about her.

But much to Selina's suprise, Cass knows she's following and cuts her off. Selina thinks there's no way she could have been heard, and Cass must have known she'd follow somehow, again hinting at but not outright stating Cass's body reading gimmick.

...

And that was that. This book's an anthology issue, with different stories by different creative teams, but this is the only one with Cass in it. It was a nice, lighthearted change of pace from the last Cass story. Kind of short, not too much going on, but we do get a bit of Cass having fun and a look at some of her books gimmicks - not just hinting at her body reading ability, but also the gimmick of interspersing Cass's adventures with Bruce and Barbara talking about her. Not essential reading by any stretch, but not bad.

Next time, at long last, we finally get to Cassandra Cain's solo book. Will it be as good as I remember right from the start? I'm eager to find out.

[ilikereadingactually]

I'm Afraid You've Got Dragons

I'm Afraid you've Got Dragons by Peter S. Beagle

Peter Beagle just never lets me down. i wasn't sure what to expect going into this book, because the cover gives it a slightly silly, How To Train Your Dragon feel to me, which isn't a bad thing at all but doesn't really match the vibe of the rest of Beagle's body of work. and there is humor in this book, and moments of silliness! but at its heart, as with every Beagle book I've read, it takes the characters and their emotions as seriously as it takes the magic and the danger. the stakes are high, and heartbreak is just as dangerous as dragonfire, and reluctant heroes abound.

as a reader i find that i'm very attracted to real-feeling and well-drawn characters, and that plot is (a close) second. if the plot is lacking, great characters can pull me along; if the characters are lacking, i just don't care about what's happening. this is the sort of book that's perfect for me, because we get an interesting cast of characters who consistently charmed me as they each grew and changed and revealed more of themselves like plants slowly sprouting. Robert, in the family business of dragon pest control even though he loves dragons and hates exterminating them; Princess Cerise, who's bored of hosting princes hoping for her hand and instead is teaching herself to read and write; Prince Reginald, fleeing his father's expectations and putting the "wandering" first in "wandering hero;" and a whole side cast of delightful friends, family, and various dragons only Robert can hear.

this is a world that feels like it has a deep history we don't fully get to see, which i love, and our three protagonists subvert some expectations and play into others at just the right moments to make my heart soar and break and squeeze. and we get an interesting antagonist as well! though his part in the story is actually fairly small, he's the catalyst for a lot of really compelling change and growth in the main characters.

all in all, i really loved this book. it rang the same bell that hangs in my heart for The Last Unicorn, and it's going to stay with me for a long time.

the deets

how i read it: i read it as an egalley from NetGalley, for which i am thankful as always, even though once again the book came out before i could finish reading. gotta wrestle my galley reading schedule back into shape!! anyway, i bought a hardcover copy as soon as it came out because it was clear i was going to love it, and it's sitting happily on my shelf now.

try this if you: have feelings for unlikely/unwilling heroes, ever wanted a pet dragon, love stories where the bonds of friendship are more important than the romance, or of course, if you love The Last Unicorn.

some bits i really liked: it was so hard to choose, every page of this book is wonderful

Dragon Market had grown roots but was imperfectly fitted for such permanence, twisting and turning on itself like a cat unable to settle on the right absurd posture in which to sleep.

___

The two of them stood staring at each other in a moment suddenly different from any since he had burst into her room at the age of nine. Robert felt overheated, and more than a little dizzy; but one part of him was entirely aware that in the books and ballads that had begun to take up all of his sister Rosamonde's free time—Patience being still too young to be interested in such things—at this point the boy usually swept the girl up in his arms and practically devoured her with flaming kisses. But the moment passed in mutual confusion.

___

The dragon swung away, climbing again, scaling the moon, turning to hover. So big, how does it do that? To Prince Reginald he gasped, "Move, move, get away, it's after me. Get away!" "Not bloody likely," the Prince said quietly; and in the midst of terror and confusion, Robert had to gape and stare to make sure of the man. Prince Reginald was standing almost astride him, the doppleganger still pointed unwaveringly at the golden flame wheeling high above them. He said, "You are the one who must stand away, my friend. This is the moment I was born for." "Actually, it's not," Robert said apologetically.

pub date: May 14, 2024! go forth and get a copy!