#first time i've gone in game in 4 months

[bbdoll]

[bellaxgiornata]

The Devil at Your Window |4: One of the Good Ones|

Pairing: Matt Murdock x Fem!Reader Word count: 4.9k

Warnings/Tags: 18+; fluff, flirting, sexual tension, light angst, pining, eventual smut, identity reveal, and lots of black suit Matty

Series Installment List & Summary

a/n: Just a smidge of angst in this one! And I've already got a rough draft written for the next part, too! This story has been stuck in my head... Feedback is always appreciated!

Tag list: @danzer8705 @darkened-writer @keepingitlokiii @kezibear @dorothleah @sarahskywalker-amidala @1988-fiend @haruari @sleepysleepymom @marveious @sunflower-tia @fizanotfeeza

Your arm burned from the effort with which you were currently scrubbing your kitchen counter, working hard trying to remove a stubborn stain with the sponge in your hand. On the counter just behind you, your phone was playing music as you stress-cleaned. Truthfully you were too caught up in your thoughts as you'd been frantically jumping from one task to the next to have been paying much attention to what song was currently playing, though.

You'd already vigorously deep cleaned your bathroom, scrubbing your shower hard enough to make your fingers ache. Once you'd finished in there, you'd ended up in your bedroom, finally folding the laundry basket of clothes that had been sitting in the corner of your room all week. After that, you'd changed your bedsheets before bringing the dirty ones down to the laundry facility in your building to be washed. Upon returning to your apartment, you'd begun meticulously organizing your kitchen pantry before cleaning out the kitchen sink of dirty dishes. And then you'd landed on scrubbing your counters with every intention of cleaning off your stove top next.

You'd been cleaning like crazy after you'd come home from work tonight and finished dinner because you'd had a shitty day–though really it had been a shitty week. Everything had gone absolutely wrong at the office and you'd somehow managed to make a massive mistake on a big project the other day. Thankfully today you'd corrected the error, but your anxiety over the issue hadn't remotely disappeared. And of course, Eric, the most obnoxious and irritating co-worker at your workplace, had been at the top of his game of being an absolute asshole to you about the issue all week, too. You'd admittedly had far too many daydreams of throwing your coffee on him just to shut him up these past few days.

But as if that hadn't been enough, you'd found yourself becoming increasingly upset over the realization of your growing feelings for the Devil, who you hadn't actually seen since he'd appeared injured at your place just over a week ago. You were torn between believing his absence was either because he'd been recovering from his injury–which would also explain his absence in the news lately–or that he had zero interest in continuing whatever friendship you thought you'd both been developing. And because you'd gotten your period earlier today, you'd been hormonal all week. Which meant your brain had been telling you it was because of the latter reason.

But you didn't want to think about that. It was ridiculous to have a stupid crush on him. You didn't even know the man's name or what he looked like beneath the mask. You had no clue what he did for a living, if anything at all. And you'd only seen him three times now, it's not like you'd known him for months. It was quite likely he didn't feel the same despite the flirting he'd been doing. 

So that was what your brain continued to tell you this week whenever you got upset about his lack of appearances on your fire escape. That those visits hadn’t meant anything to him. You were just another person in the city he protected. His first visit had been accidental after all. And the second time was just to return the scarf he'd borrowed. The last time he had appeared had been because you'd been a convenient safe place for him to briefly stop and recover at when he'd been hurt, nothing more. 

Though trying to repeatedly rationalize that didn't make the ache in your chest disappear. It didn't stop you coming home every night from work hoping to have another surprise visit from the mysterious vigilante before you went to bed. And it certainly didn't stop you from shedding a few pathetic tears when he continued to remain absent each night. 

You'd begun to miss him. It was impossible to deny that now. And you'd worried about how he was doing with his injury, wondering if he really was alright. Which only had you wondering more about what he was capable of if he could meditate like that because–

“It's a bit early for spring cleaning, isn't it?”

Your hand abruptly paused mid-aggressive scrub of the stain that had long since been cleaned at the sound of the familiar and unexpected voice cutting through your thoughts. Eyes growing wide, you spun on your bare feet to find the Devil standing on the other side of your kitchen counter with a grin on his lips beneath that black mask.

“It's only February,” he teased. “Spring is still another few weeks away. Maybe show your counter a little mercy before you wear a hole in it.”

Hand gripping the soapy sponge tighter, you felt your heart nearly fly up into your throat in excitement. Because he'd come back . 

“You're here,” you breathed out.

“Yeah,” he replied. He gestured a gloved hand back towards the window behind himself. “You left that unlocked, so I may have just invited myself inside since you didn't seem to respond to my knocking. I hope you don't mind.”

You shook your head quickly, still surprised to see he'd actually returned. It felt like someone had loosed a multitude of butterflies in your stomach at the sight of him standing there so casually in your apartment once again. It was something you'd missed all week.

“No, that's alright,” you told him, shaking your head. “I don't mind.”

“You should really keep it locked though,” he stated. “Literally anyone could just climb in here. That's not exactly safe.”

Still trying to shake off the surprise of his visit as you took a step forward, turning off your music, a nervous laugh slipped out of you. “I think you're the only one crazy enough to climb all the way up that rickety fire escape,” you replied.

You turned, heading over towards your kitchen sink in the hopes of busying yourself with washing your hands so he wouldn't see the embarrassing grin steadily growing on your face. 

“I think you might be surprised with what the criminals will do in this city,” he countered.

“Well that's…unsettling,” you muttered, turning off the faucet and drying your hands on the nearby kitchen towel. “With the way my week has been going though I suppose it would be my luck that someone probably would climb through my window. Someone other than you, I mean.”

You set the towel back on the hook near your sink, turning around only to find the Devil had stepped around the counter and into your kitchen. He was standing a few feet away, his head tilted curiously to the side. How the hell did he always manage to move so quietly?

“You're having a bad week?” he asked. “Is that why everything smells like lemon cleaner in here and why you were scrubbing your counter so hard you couldn’t hear me knocking on the window?”

Clasping your hands together in front of yourself, you fidgeted awkwardly with your fingers. Now that your hands weren't busy with an actual task you were feeling your anxious thoughts beginning to spiral again. Especially because it was only Thursday night and you still had to go into work tomorrow and deal with Eric and everyone else when all you desperately wanted to do was crawl into bed for the duration of the weekend and pretend this week never happened. 

“What's wrong, angel?” the Devil asked softly.

You glanced up at the sound of the name he’d called you just before he left your apartment last time, watching as he took another step towards you. You sniffled lightly, trying to ignore the confusing and conflicting feelings arising inside of you at the nickname. The smile disappeared from his lips, his mouth instead pulling a bit downwards at the corners. Swallowing hard, you waved a dismissive hand at him.

“Nothing, things are good,” you lied. “I'm fine.”

The frown visibly deepened on his face before he took another step closer. “Someone who's fine doesn't generally deep clean their place on a random Thursday evening,” he pointed out. “And it seems like you've been on the verge of tears for a bit now. What's going on?”

You swallowed hard, wondering how he could’ve possibly known that when he’d only just entered your apartment. Yet another one of his mysterious little powers, you figured.

“Nothing,” you answered. “Really, I’m good. I just got into a random cleaning frenzy. It happens.”

The Devil’s head canted further to the side, his lips thinning along his face. He shook his head slowly, taking another cautious step towards you.

“You’re not fine,” he replied. “And for the record, I know when someone is lying, angel.”

You sighed, wrapping your arms around your chest and trying to ignore the way your stomach twisted nervously at that name again. Surely it was meant to be more of a joke than a term of endearment considering you always called him Devil.

“Another useful skill of yours?” you asked curiously. “Like your ability to heal?”

Briefly a smirk slid over his mouth, one you caught just before it disappeared. Your eyes narrowed suspiciously back at him.

“Something like that,” he answered. “So believe me when I say that I’m not buying the line that you’re okay. What happened?”

Eyes darting down, your nails began to pick at your sweatshirt nervously. The memory of your boss chewing you out at work the other day resurfaced in your mind, quickly followed by one of Eric’s heartless comments to you afterwards. The continual disappointment of an empty fire escape night after night before you went to bed also reared its head, tears starting to sting at your eyes at the memory of those lonely nights. Blinking rapidly, you tried to stop the tears from coming.

You did not want to cry in front of the Devil.

“Nothing,” you muttered, shrugging your shoulders. “It’s all stupid in comparison to what you’re usually dealing with anyway, so don’t worry about it.”

“Hey,” he murmured, closing the remaining distance between you and gently grabbing your shoulders, lowering his masked face into your line of sight. “It’s not a competition.”

His light, reassuring touch only had the tears welling up faster in your eyes. It had been so long since someone had touched you like that. With comfort and care. A touch that made you feel both safe and seen. And here he was doing it with such ease, like you deserved that sort of attention–and from him no less. 

It suddenly became all too much. A single tear slipped out of the corner of your eye as you gazed up at his face half-obscured by that mask, unable to blink it back before it made its way down your cheek. The Devil’s hands carefully began pulling you in towards himself barely a second later. Surprised at his response, your arms remained wrapped around yourself as his arms slowly encircled your shoulders.

He was hugging you. Comforting you.

Somehow that managed to open the floodgates to your emotions, the tears beginning to spill down your cheeks hot and wet in a continuous stream that you couldn't seem to control. Your hands gripped your sweatshirt tighter, unsure if you should hug him in return or not. Instead, you pressed your face into the thin fabric of his black shirt, attempting to hide how fast the tears were flowing from his sight.

You weren’t exactly sure why you were even crying at this point, either. Was it because of the shitty week you’d had? Because of the gentle touch and compassion coming from the masked vigilante, a touch that you hadn’t felt since you'd last been in a relationship? Was it because of the fact that him holding you like this only stirred up those confusing feelings further inside of you, making you wonder what this weird relationship with the Devil actually was? Or was it just because you were hormonal and on your period?

“I'm sorry,” you choked out.

“Don't apologize,” he replied instantly.

The smokey voice he always used had your fingers twisting tighter around your sweatshirt, your heart beating a little harder at the sound of it so soft beside your ear. You shifted, burying your face further against his chest. Though guilt quickly filled you as you cried. Because he shouldn't be comforting you, not for something so foolish. Not when there were people out there who actually needed him and all you'd had was a bad week, some out of control hormones, and a stupid crush.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked. “Is there something I can do to help?”

You shook your head, begging the tears to stop falling. This was embarrassing. You didn't want him to see you like this, let alone be comforting you.

“No,” you whispered. 

You have better things to be doing with your time , you thought bitterly. I don't deserve the comfort.

Clenching your jaw, you took an abrupt step back from him. You raised an arm up, using the sleeve of your sweatshirt to aggressively wipe the dampness from your cheeks. Before you, the Devil stood with his arms still hovering in the air as if he was still holding you, seemingly confused about you withdrawing from his embrace so suddenly. There was a large wet spot from your tears soaking the front of his black shirt already.

“I'm sorry, that was embarrassing,” you muttered, still wiping at your eyes as the tears gradually slowed. “I know you don't want to be dealing with an emotional mess tonight. That's not what the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen does.”

“Who says it's not what I do?” he countered, his arms lowering back to his sides. “I'm here to help people who need it–and for the record,” he added, “crying does not make you an emotional mess. Trust me on that.”

“Well,” you began, sniffling a little, “my problems aren’t the type you can punch. And you can't exactly punch away my feelings. Or my hormones. So I think this is a little out of your usual wheelhouse.”

“Maybe so,” he agreed, “but you've helped me plenty of times now. Is it wrong for me to want to return the favor?”

So that's why he was comforting you. A sort of quid pro quo. Tit for tat. An exchange of favors, not because he'd genuinely cared about what had happened to you this week and would have offered to help anyway, but because he felt like he owed you something in return. That's what he was saying, wasn’t it? 

“I don't help you because I want anything in return,” you muttered, turning around and wiping the sleeve of your sweatshirt across your eyes once again. Afterwards, you reached up into a nearby cabinet and grabbed a clean glass from out of it. “I help you because I worry about you out there. And because I think you're one of the good ones.”

You closed the cabinet door before focusing on the faucet in front of you, filling the glass with cool water. Sniffling softly, you felt the tears beginning to slow to a stop as you tried to collect yourself. You’d cry about your misplaced feelings later when he wasn’t here. Right now you just wanted to enjoy his company and not scare him off with your tears. And maybe make sure he was doing alright himself tonight.

Once the glass was full, you turned off the faucet and inhaled a trembling breath, attempting to steel your resolve. You were not going to cry anymore tonight. 

“For what it's worth,” the Devil said from behind you, “I think you're one of the good ones.”

You scoffed, rolling your eyes and shaking your head at his comment, your back still facing him. Now that sounded like a line.

“I’m serious,” he continued. “How many people would help a vigilante instead of turning him over to the police? And how many would just ignore him entirely? And here you are inviting me into your home multiple times now without question. Always offering whatever form of assistance you can when you certainly don't need to.”

Eyes dropping down to the full glass in your hands, you felt your heart flutter in your chest at his kind words. Clearing your throat, you tried to swallow the lump that had begun to form. “I think you vastly underestimate what you mean to the people in this city, Devil,” you whispered.

Gradually you turned back around, the glass of water clutched between both of your hands. His lips were once again pulled in a straight line across his face, his head faintly tilted to the side. 

“You're a symbol of hope to many in Hell’s Kitchen,” you said softly, extending the glass out towards him. “A sign that there’s still good in the world. That there are still people who care about helping those in need.”

You could see the muscles working in his cheeks, the corner of his lips twitching faintly. You wondered what expression he was making beneath the mask right now. Was he not aware of what he meant to this city?

“Here,” you said, holding the glass out further towards him. “Drink it. I’m sure you’re dehydrated.”

The Devil’s right hand flexed open and shut at his side for a moment, your eyes drawn to the movement. After a minute's hesitation you saw it raise, reaching out to carefully accept the glass of water from your own hand. He murmured a soft ‘thanks’ as he drew it up towards his lips. In silence you watched the bob of his throat as he drank almost half the glass immediately, a satisfied smile eventually landing on your face. 

“You hungry?” you asked, stepping around him and heading over to your fridge. “I have spaghetti leftover from dinner tonight. Unfortunately no garlic bread,” you grumbled, opening the door of your fridge. “Because my week was apparently so bad that I even forgot to grab garlic bread at the store.”

“Don’t worry about me, I’m fine,” he assured you.

Half bent in front of your fridge, you glanced over your shoulder, shooting him a flat look. “Are you planning to go home and eat something before you go to sleep tonight?” you asked him. “From the fridge you have apparently only stocked with beer, eggs, and sometimes orange juice?”

He hung his head in defeat, his gaze behind the mask appearing to drop to the floor. It looked like he was fighting back a grin on his face.

“Well…no,” he admitted sheepishly.

“Right,” you said, focus returning to the contents of your fridge. “So do you eat spaghetti? Because I have plenty.”

“If you’re that determined to feed me, yes,” he answered. “I do.”

Reaching into your fridge, you pulled out the container of leftovers that you’d put away earlier this evening before you’d begun meticulously stress cleaning. You closed the door, bringing the container over to your counter and setting it down before searching for a clean bowl and a fork.

“So how’s your rib doing?” you asked as you worked. “Did your doctor friend tell you it was broken? Have you somehow meditated it back to normal already with that useful ‘skill’ of yours?”

The Devil chuckled good-naturedly behind you as you began scooping some pasta into a bowl for him. Internally you thought it strange that he found that somehow funny, though that warmth of pleasure filled you at once again still being able to make him laugh.

“She's a nurse, not a doctor, and that's hard to say,” he answered. “I’d need an x-ray to know if I had actually broken it, and I can’t exactly go to a hospital because they’d surely call the authorities on me. But either way, it’s feeling better than that night I was last here. Not completely healed with my ‘skill,’ but the pain is…tolerable.”

You stopped mid-scoop of some pasta, your head turning over your shoulder towards him. Quirking a brow at him, you shot him a quizzical look. 

“The pain is ‘tolerable’?” you asked him. “So you mean to tell me you’re still going around tonight scaling buildings and jumping off fire escapes with an injury that’s not even fully healed?”

The Devil shrugged a shoulder nonchalantly, shooting you a charming smile. “Yeah,” he answered. “Something is almost always injured or hurting. But it's not like crime ever takes a night off. So usually neither do I.”

Sighing, you focused back on scooping pasta into the bowl for him. “I'm starting to worry about your sanity,” you half-joked. “You know, I've always wondered why you do what you do. I don't suppose you'd answer that truthfully, would you?”

Picking up the bowl, you stepped over towards your microwave and set it inside. Setting the timer to heat it up, you turned around and leant your back against the counter, crossing your arms over your chest as you eyed him expectantly. 

The Devil shook his head, a faint smile on his mouth. “No, not right now,” he answered. “But maybe someday I could answer that for you.”

Hugging your arms tighter around yourself, you tried to hide the thrill that shot through you at his answer. The prospect of him continuing to visit you was clearly layered in his response and you couldn't even begin to explain how that made you suddenly feel.

“Always so mysterious,” you muttered nervously, glancing down at your feet.

“Don't suppose you'd ever give me your name, would you?” he countered.

You grinned, glancing up at him from beneath your lashes as the microwave hummed behind you. “I'll tell you mine when you tell me yours, Devil,” you replied. 

“So mysterious ,” he teased back, grinning. 

You tried to bite back the smile growing on your face, laughing softly. The grin only grew wider on his face and your cheeks began to heat at the sight. You could feel your heart beating a little faster as you watched him from across the kitchen, taking in the handsome shape of his mouth and feeling the nervous churning of your stomach beginning to increase at the comfortable silence that fell over you both.

Thankfully your microwave beeped a moment later, pulling you from the moment that surely would have only resulted in you further ogling him, wondering what he looked like beneath the mask. Turning around, you opened the microwave and removed the bowl of spaghetti. You set it back onto the counter, mixing it around with a fork to make sure the entire bowl had been thoroughly heated. Satisfied that it was warm, you picked up the bowl and carried it over to the Devil. 

“You can have a seat at the table if you want,” you offered, holding the bowl out to him.

You gestured your other hand to the small circular table just outside of your kitchen. The Devil accepted the bowl of pasta from you, looking somewhat over his shoulder where you'd gestured. 

“Thank you,” he replied. 

You watched as he twirled a handful of noodles onto his fork immediately, bringing it up to his mouth before he'd even began to make his way towards your table. It was obvious he was hungry with the way he'd shoveled the bite into his mouth–just like when he'd devoured that burrito–and that satisfied smile returned to your face. Even if you'd messed up a lot of things this week, at least you'd managed to do something helpful for him. And that felt good.

You'd been about to turn around and put away the container of leftovers still sitting out on your counter when you saw him suddenly freeze, his entire body tensing. Your own body froze as you watched him chew the bite of food so slowly, your stomach sinking to the floor.

“What?” you asked cautiously, feeling self-conscious and on the verge of tears again. Had you actually somehow messed this up, too? “Is it…not good? I mean I know I'm not the best cook or anything, but I thought I was decent at making spaghetti sauce. It's not that complicated.”

The Devil swallowed the bite of spaghetti, his body still stiff as he stood there. His hand had tightened around the fork in the bowl as he remained silent, which only had your nerves growing. The feeling of being a failure once again this week was suddenly bearing down heavily on you. Was there nothing you could do right this week?

“Look, if it doesn't taste any good you don't need to eat it,” you told him, taking a step closer and reaching for the bowl. “Apparently I just can't manage anything this week. Just one of those weeks I gu–”

“This tastes exactly like the spaghetti my dad used to make,” the Devil whispered in disbelief.

Your hand hovered in the air reaching out for the bowl, your mouth hanging open at what he'd told you. That certainly hadn't been the reaction you'd expected. 

“Wh–what?” you stammered out.

The Devil pointed at the bowl of pasta with the fork in his hand, something like amazement creeping into his voice as he focused on you. When he spoke again, you'd noticed that raspy, deep voice he always used had disappeared.

“The sauce,” he told you, his words gradually picking up speed as he spoke. “It tastes exactly like the spaghetti sauce my dad used to make when I was a kid. I–I haven't tasted anything quite so similar since he passed when I was young. The likeness is incredible.”

You could feel the heavy pounding of your heart in your chest at yet another little piece of the real man beneath the mask being revealed to you. Mouth opening and closing a few times, you quickly realized you didn't know how to respond. Was he going to run away on you now that he'd let another little personal detail slip? Especially considering it looked like he was also realizing what he'd just told you and was beginning to regret it.

“I'm–I'm sorry to hear about your father,” you managed out.

The Devil continued to stare at you over the bowl of spaghetti in his hands, his lips pressing together as his mouth began to twitch. It was as if he didn't quite know what to say himself, but the longer he remained quiet, his jaw grinding back and forth, the more fearful you became that he was going to bolt back out of your window for accidentally revealing more personal information about himself to you. 

Slowly you held up your hands in front of yourself like one might do to a scared animal, hoping not to scare him further. The Devil didn't move, but his jaw visibly tensed at the gesture. 

“Look, I'm not about to tell anyone that you come here sometimes,” you told him. “And I don't go digging around on the internet trying to find out who you really are with the vague information I have, mostly because I don't have that level of motivation, if I'm being honest.” You saw the corner of his lips twitch upwards at your comment and you cautiously lowered your hands back to your sides. “I just want to help. That's all,” you continued. “And personally I worry that if I scare you off, you'll end up out there starving and with kidney damage from constantly not drinking enough water while you're out parkouring around the city.”

“You're worried about my kidneys now?” he asked, amusement in his tone. 

You shrugged lamely, shooting him a small smile. “If I say yes will you sit down and eat that spaghetti and drink some more water?” you questioned back. “Instead of jumping out of my window like a terrified cat?”

Something like an amused snort came from him as he turned, making his way towards your little kitchen table. You relaxed when you realized he wasn't going to disappear on you.

“For the record,” the Devil told you, voice muffled around a large bite of spaghetti that he'd shoveled into his mouth, “I am not a stray cat.”

“Of course not,” you agreed, picking up the glass of water he'd already finished and set onto the counter. You brought it over to your sink and began to refill it for him. “Because a cat would know better than to keep running around and making a broken rib worse. And I'm not sure how partial they are to spaghetti,” you joked. 

At the bright sound of his laughter over the sound of the running faucet, you found yourself smiling. You'd certainly missed having him here, even if you knew you were going to miss him the moment he finished that bowl of spaghetti and jumped back over your fire escape. All you could really do was enjoy the next few minutes you had with him and hope that he returned another time. 

Though deep down you sort of found yourself hoping he was more like a stray cat than he let on, because at the very least, maybe the prospect of food and water would tempt him to appear again at your window sooner rather than later. 

And that thought was steadily giving you an idea.

[percyluvr]

Omg hi can you do a Percy x child of Nike!reader? maybe like something hurt/comfort and lots of touch bc I am hanging on by a thread. Thank you

percy jackson x child of nike!reader summary: you've been overworking yourself preparing for capture the flag and something your boyfriend says finally sends you over the edge wc: 676

You'd always known yourself to be quite a rational thinker. Even as a child of Nike, you usually knew when to stop and take a break so you didn't overwork yourself, but this time you'd finally crossed the line into concerning territory. 

Ever since your first loss in capture the flag since you'd arrived at camp, you'd been training every day to get better. While you knew that training for 7+ hours a day every single day would take a toll on you, you just didn't expect for it to have this big an effect on you. Every day, you could be seen tiredly getting your breakfast, falling asleep at lunch, and nearly passing out during sword fighting.

At first, Percy had been concerned, but didn't want to voice it, as you'd always known when to rest before, but this time it was different. He knew you hated to lose, but when his team beat yours in capture the flag last month, he didn't know it would affect you this much. He wanted to talk to you, but he could never find you when it wasn't meal time, and you were always asleep in addition to the not being able to sit at other cabins' tables rule that he so graciously followed.

Days passed, and he noticed that the natural glow that you and your siblings typically had was completely gone. The glow of the Nike kids came from small victories day to day that most people wouldn't really consider victories, but the Nike kids cared about all of them. However, the fact that yours was completely gone and you were looking paler than ever just proved the fact that you were overworking yourself and not paying attention to the smaller things, mainly being your health.

This observation brought him to one conclusion: he was going to have to talk you into resting, which would prove to be a very difficult endeavor because everyone at camp knew how hard it was to get a Nike kid to do anything but obsess over winning.

That night, he found you practicing your swordsmanship. He saw the way that you tiredly swung the sword, nearly dropping it numerous times.

"Hey, what are you doing? It's almost curfew," he says, breaking your already waning focus.

"Oh, Perce," you say tiredly, "just practicing for capture the flag."

"Baby, you need to rest, you've been overworking yourself like crazy."

"Listen, I get that you're worried about me, but you don't get it. I've never lost a game of capture the flag. Not in the 4 years I've been at this camp, Percy. You may think it's silly because your team won and you probably think it's just some stupid camp game, but it matters to me, okay? It's a way for me to prove that I'm good enough, Percy," you snapped.

"Hey, hey, I'm sorry, okay. I don't think that at all. If it's important to you, it's important to me, but your health is what matters most to me," he gently takes your hand in his. "C'mon let's sit down, okay?"

"Okay," you murmured, your tiredness now fully caught up with you.

"Y'know I wasn't trying to upset you, I'm just worried about you. I love you and I care about you," he whispered in your ear, strong arms wrapped around you. Him saying this was what finally broke you, and you started crying.

"Hey, hey, hey, don't cry, okay? You're the most important thing in my life and I hate seeing you like this. All burnt out and crying, you don't deserve this. But you have to rest if you're going to win next time, okay?" He brings you into his lap and puts his head on your shoulder.

"Yeah, okay," you sniffled, leaning into him. He gave you a soft kiss, and the two of you sat there cuddled up, and when you inevitably fell asleep, he carried you back to his cabin and the two of you cuddled up and slept through the night, keeping each other warm.

a/n: hopefully this was at least somewhat what u were hoping for! i had a lot of fun writing this saur i hope u like it !

[icantpickabiasugh]

Our Secret-yjw

☆*:.｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆

Our secret- yang Jungwon

Parring��-Yang Jungwon x fem!reader

Summary- Dim lights and locker room vibes leave mutual friends in a bit of a situation

Word count- 1k+

Warnings- SMUT!! Hickeys, making out, awkwardness, like bit of fluff. Lmk if there is anything more!

Reading time-4 minutes (in head)

A/n. Heyyy so this is my first fan fic ever I’m kinda nervous ahhh. Sorry it took awhile it’s currently 1:30 am but I wanted to post something before I went to bed! I was writing the Han fic but hit a bit of a wall so I quickly wrote this I was planning on doing a pt. 2 but only if you guys want. Please please PLEASE send feedback I could really use it! Enjoy my loves-☺️😘

You didn’t like going out much, you felt that it was a waste of time to get wasted with a bunch of people you didn’t know in a hot gross frat house, instead you rather liked the idea of spending your Saturday nights on the couch with your favorite drama and some snacks.

“Come on y/n, it’s the pep rally you HAVE to come!”

“Do I though, do I really”

Your friend Yujin however loved going out and meeting new people.

“Oh come on party pooper it’s your second year here and away from home and you’ve only been to TWO parties, you know how sad that is y/n?”

“FINE fine! But as after I’m going home I’m not leaving to some party”

You’d meet up with all your friends and their friends at the pep rally and go find a good view with some drinks and snacks

You left to go to the bathroom.

Excusing yourself from the group you go to the locker rooms looking for the bathroom.

You’re just outside the boy's football team’s locker room near the bathrooms you see Jungwon exiting giving him a small smile and walking past a couple feet away he calls out your name.

“Hey y/n”

Slowly turning around to look at him a bit confused

“Y-yeah? Jungwon?”

Jungwon was a part of your friends circle but you never really talked you saw a lot of his posts and comments on insta though and you did have the occasional chat online but that was about it what would he want to talk about?

“I was wondering y-you don’t post about Changbin anymore, did d-did you guys break up?”

“Ah y-yeah we did about three months ago”

“Oh well I’m-im sorry”

“Ah no need to be it was mutual”

“Well in that case I was wondering if maybe you wanted to hang out… sometime?”

“That'd be great Jungwon id love to”

Hearing keys rattling and someone jogging you get startled as Jungwon quickly pulls you into the changing rooms

“Wha-“

“Shhhh, we’re not meant to be here. Quietly run into that shower stall”

He softly whispers into your ear.

Backed against the wall and Jungwon’s body you are stuck breathing in his intoxicating scent you watch as he peeks out of the small stall and out into the looker room

“I think they’re leaving”

A second after saying so he’s push-up against your faces mere inches apart. He puts a finger to his lips brushing yours in the process

Sighing in relief he straightens up his posture a little

“S-sorry I didn’t mean to-mhnp”

Quick to shut him up you pull him in for a kiss by the back of his neck

“Mmhm~mmm y-y/n we should~mmhm mmm s-stop”

Pulling away confused you look at him

“D-do you not like me!?”

"NO no I-I do I really do it’s just, are YOU sure you want to do this? I get it if you're not over your last relationship-“

“What are you on about of course I want this I've wanted this for 3 years”

Wha- t-three years!?”

“Yes okay, now shut up and kiss me”

“Fine by me”

You and Jungwon had been gone from your friends for like fifteen minutes now and since then things had gotten a little more heated.

Your hand where in his hair as he suckles on your skin just under your ear his hand held your waist as he kisses the span of your neck making a trail back to your lips he moans as you pull his hair.

“Fuck I want you so bad”

“We can’t, the game will be over soon and the others will want to leave”

“Fuck the game and fuck the others I want you here and I want you now”

“Hell Jungwon you're so hot”

Releasing a shaky breath he moves to pull up your dress.

Moving your panties to the side he runs a finger through your folds and up your slit you moan at the feeling

“Ohh shit, Jungwon please”

“Please what baby, use your words”

“Please fuck me, ahh please I need it”

“Good girl” he growls in your ear undoing his pants and pulling his hard cock out it hits his stomach with a slap

“Jump baby”

Doing so you jump up and wrap your legs around his waist. positioning his cock at your entrance he slides it up and down your folds teasing you a bit

“You sure you want this baby”

“Couldn’t be more certain, now hurry up and put it in”

“Nghhh fuck baby you're so tight”

Giving you time to adjust to his size you slowly start rolling your hips on his.

Now Jungwon wasn’t awfully long as he was thick with a long vein running from the base of his cock to his pretty pink tip

As he stands moving he starts finding a steady pace and angle after shifting a bit he hit a squishy spot inside of you that felt just oh so good seeming happy with the sudden loud moan he’s pulled from you he smirks

“Did I find it, baby”

To fucked dumb to give a response you babble out his name.

He soon picks up the pace hitting that spot fast and hard each time

“J-Jungwon I’m gonna-fuck! I’m gonna cum!”

“Do it baby cum all over my big cock”

“Ahh ahh fuck shit I can’t hold it!”

He whispers in your ear one last time holding you tight against him “cum”

He’s quick to follow suit cumming deep In you he fucks you both through your highs

Pulling out he replaces his cock with his two fingers

“Keep it In for me yeah?”

Nodding softly you catch your breath and let him take care of you

“You did so good for me, I’m so proud” he whispers kissing your teary cheeks

☆*:.｡. .｡.:*☆

Walking hand in hand back to your friends you find them coming the opposite way

“Hey there you guys are we’ve been looking for you two for ages” called out Sunoo

“Hey why are you guys holding hands” Jake questions

“Y/n IS THAT A HICKEY on your neck!!?” Yujin yells running at you

“Shit” you mutter under your breath.

☆*:.｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆

[scoatneyhall]

WILD. Was anyone else aware that the Ted Lasso team has gone in and made post-production edits on season 3 episodes, sometime in the last year?

I've been rewatching the finale in advance of the one year anniversary of it airing, and straight off, I noticed that the points total on the graphic looked different to how I remembered it - a much closer race. It stuck out because I remembered being annoyed that they didn't celebrate the moment Richmond got confirmed for the Champions League, as the gap was big enough for it to have happened a while ago, offscreen. I still have a screencap from when the episode aired:

However, the current copy on Apple has an updated graphic, making the post-production graphic in line with the numbers on the actual physical whiteboard prop and the script mentioning the win streak. See here:

The corrected copy makes Richmond's points match the whiteboard, but it also puts the teams in 3rd to 5th place much closer to them points-total wise, meaning that now, in the current version of the episode, Richmond only qualified for the UCL in "Mom City," making it make more sense that the start of 3.12 is the first time it gets discussed. Would have been nice to mention that stake in the City match commentary during 3.11, but I genuinely am shocked that they went back in and edited the already-published episodes to clean up the post-production errors. For the record, here's the whiteboard as of 3.08: W10, D9, L6.

Just in case anyone cares, the order of those results was - 1 draw against Chelsea, 6 wins with Zava, 1 loss against West Ham, the rest of the draws and losses occurring between 3.05 and the loss against Arsenal in 3.07, and then the 4 wins mentioned at the start of 3.08. By the start of 3.12, it's mentioned they are on a 16 game win streak, so that's 22 wins overall, 9 draws, 6 losses, going into the final weekend, hence the updated graphic.

I like that they went in and fixed it - no idea when in the past 12 months that occured - but I also kind of can't believe they bothered? Then again, I can't believe the mistake was made in the first place, as they were so specific with details in the prior seasons, so maybe they couldn't live with it being wrong.

I know there were rumours about a ton of issues in terms of getting these episodes posted in time - right down to the wire, still fixing the edit on the airdate - and it's clear that these details were not checked and confirmed by the poor people in post who were not working off the show bible that lives in the writers heads. I don't blame them at all, I blame the people who got the edit to them late, but it did annoy me during the season a LOT. The maths wasn't mathing, and as we know this is a show that has been careful with dates and timelines and stuff like that.

Anyway! The point is, a) this post about my UCL qualification fantasies is now moot, and b) I went back and checked another post production error that had REALLY pissed me off, which was the dates of texts in Ted's phone in 3.04. Phone dates have always given us the timeline quite strictly before - it's how @belmottetower and I started the timeline in our primer, with Ted arriving in London on January 6, 2020 and then following the football seasons from there to place the season 3 finale in May 2022 - but in 3.04, all the cute texts we see to all the characters in his phone were badly misdated, placing the timeline further in the future. This caused arguments or misunderstandings, at the time about the actual timeline of the show, but it seems this was another detail the producers really wanted to fix and tighten up, as they've gone back and had it edited.

It's weird, because the texts Ted was actually going back to - the messages from Doctor Jacob - were dated correctly as late 2019, and there's even a little easter egg in the form of a US rideshare notification picking him up to go to the airport in America, on 5 January 2020. (Even the area code, 316, is apparently correct to Kansas.) That's all correct even in the original version of the episode, but somehow we then skip a year and place his most recent texts, as of 3.04, in late October 2022, when they should only be in late September or early October 2021. (I found this post on Reddit that screenshotted his phone at the time.) Examples:

I had to go back and check this, and sure enough, it's been edited to reflect the established timeline - they didn't just redate the year on each message, they also changed a bunch of the chats to be more recent - so rather than dates, his most recent chats with Henry, the Coaches, etc are from "Yesterday," then the first dated texts are in very late September 2021. This matches up pretty perfectly with where they are in a typical Premier League season - they REALLY cleaned it up. Further back, they do just switch the years on the dates, so he still got a picture from Sassy last Valentines Day, and his last one-on-one contact with Jamie is still set before the events of Wembley in 2.08 (FA Cup semi finals are in April, so a few weeks after the March 2021 date on Jamie's chat.)

My brain is itching because I swear there was a screen of Nate and Ted's text chat at some point too? With Ted reaching out about his new job, on a date that deeply did not work with the timeline? But maybe I imagined it. There's no record of Nate's number in his phone at all now, and the texts date back to before Nate left, so I guess in this version of events, Ted deleted Nate's number and message history.

Anyway, I'm aware that basically no one is going to care about this, but I suspect that the three people who will actually care will REALLY FUCKING CARE. Has anyone else noticed it? Does anyone know when it may have happened? Does anyone know what else might have been changed or fixed? I love details and I love the fact that there is no longer conflicting data about what football seasons the show is covering - it's mid 19/20 to the end of 21/22, end of story - but what a fucking mess the production of season 3 must have been, to end up at this point!

[speedycoffeedelight]

I believe it's time for the third and possibly final part of 'Voxs extremely safe job as a night security guard'. Because there have been multiple pizzerias built literally in the same spot over the years, so why wouldn't Vox sign up for all of them?

~ (FNAF 2)

Reader: Vox! Why are you taking that job again? Did... Did you forget how you almost died there last time?!

Vox: Don't worry your pretty head, Reader. That old pizzeria got knocked down like 2 months ago. This one's way better! They replaced those old musty animatronics with some new plastic ones. Those ghost will be long gone by the time they open up Monday.

*After Voxs first night*

Vox: *Bursting through the door at 7 am* THERE'S FUCKING MORE OF THEM! The old ones are still there and the new ones are haunted too! WHY ARE THERE SO MANY GHOST?!

~ (FNAF 3)

Reader: Fazbear's Fright? Vox... You do realise that this is just the pizzeria from last time? Like, it's literally the exact same place you almost got killed last month, but with a horror theme.

Vox: Oh, I am fully aware, BUT! I thoroughly researched this one before applying. It's a horror attraction based on the past haunted pizzarias where I'll be both a security guard and an attraction myself. You should have seen them begging me to join after finding out I worked at BOTH locations! The best part? No animatronics~

*After Voxs first night*

Vox: *Bursting through the door at 7 am* THEY FUCKING FOUND ONE. Okay, okay, it's just one and I've survived taking on like 11? But there's also like, phantom animatronics? Fuck it, does anyone know a way of setting ghost free? Or should I just burn the place down and be done with it?

~ (FNAF 4)

Vox: *Climbing into Readers bed*

Reader: *Waking up slightly* Vox? What's up?

Vox: *Whispering* Shhh. B-Bonnie's in the hallway, and Foxy's in your closest. D-don't worry, I-I'm an expert at dealing with them.

Reader: *Too asleep to register what he's talking about* Oh, okay. Just be careful not to crush Nifty.

Nifty: *Giggling under Vox* Don't worry! I like being crushed!

~ (FNAF Sister Location)

Reader: 'Circus Baby's Entertainment and Rental'? Uh, are you sure you want to go back to working with animatronics? We've only just got you to stop hallucinating about Chica in the kitchen at night.

Vox: I know what you think, but this should be fine. This isn't the pizzeria. It's a different location.

Reader: Really? Isn't this place by the sister company of Fazbear Entertainment? You sure you want to risk it?

Vox: Pfft, come on. What're the chances of this company owning 2 haunted animatronic restaurants? Be serious.

*After Voxs first night*

Vox: *Bursting through the door at 7 am* YOU WON'T FUCKING BELIEVE IT!

Angel: You know, one day he's going to rip that door right off its hinges.

~ (FNAF 6 Pizzeria Simulator)

Reader: I thought you said you were done with animatronics?

Vox: Look, this is different. They say, 'If you want something done right, do it yourself'. Well, that's exactly what I'm going to do. I've run a business before, so it shouldn't be that hard. And I get to select all the animatronics this time round, so who knows? Maybe this town will FINALLY have a pizzeria that ISN'T haunted.

Adam: Sweet! Here, be a pal and give us some 'family discounts' when we come to celebrate the grand opening.

*After Voxs first night*

Vox: *Bursting through the door at 7 am* DO THEY COME OUT THE FUCKING FACTORY HAUNTED?!

Vaggie: You know, he's really lucky we all have to be awake this early for work, or else he wouldn't have lasted this long.

~ (FNAF Help Wanted)

Reader: Honestly, I don't know why we didn't think of game development soon.

Vox: Me neither. It's a shame I'll only be a play tester. Coding is probably my greatest passion next to television. Well, I guess this is it! No more haunted animatronics or late nights for me. I'm returning to my rightful place at the forefront of technology!

*After Voxs first day*

Vox: *Bursting through the door at 7 pm* WHO WANTS TO GUESS WHAT THE GAMES ABOUT?!

Husk: Heh, fates a bitch. *pouring Vox a drink* Just be thankful it's a game this time around. I mean, who's ever heard of a haunted video game before?

~ (FNAF Security Breach + Help Wanted 2)

Lute: They're building a giant shopping mall over where the old pizzeria was.

Vox: Yeah? Well, good riddance. I mean , come on, that buildings sat burned down and decaying for almost 5 months now. Happy it's gone after the Hell those jobs put me through.

Velvette: *On her phone* It says here that the place is called the 'Mega Pizzaplax', a giant mall owned by Fazbear Entertainment and will feature all new 'glamrock animatronics' for entertainment and will be fitted with special staffing bots to help guest. But they apparently need a human to work as lead security guard. Thinking of joining, Vox?

Vox: *Whimpering*

Alastor: Oh ho! Yes, I've heard chatter of that place from the radio station. Rather interesting promotional ideas they're working on. Apparently, they're working on producing another one of those confounded virtual reality game based on the premise. Sound familiar, Vox? I heard they're looking for 'beta testers' again.

Vox: *Slowly sinking to his knees, whimpering, he knows he's going to end up signing up for both.*

Charlie: Uh, Reader? Do you think you could, um, help Vox out? I think h-he needs some, uh, kind words of reassurance!

Reader: Sorry Char, I tried to warn him in the past, but he never listened. He dug his grave, and now he must lie in it. Now, if you'll excuse me, but I'm currently trying to sort out our other ongoing issue.

Reader: *Leaning out the window* LUCIFER! STOP BRING HOME APPLE TREES! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO SELL THEM, NOT STEAL THEM!

Lucifer: *Digging a hole and planting another apple tree in the garden* BUT NO ONE'S BUYING THEM! WHO GOES TO A FLORIST TO BY AN APPLE TREE? NO ONE, THAT'S WHO!

Reader: YOU'RE GOING TO GET FIRED IF YOU KEEP THIS UP! AND IF YOU DO, SO HELP ME GOD!

Lucifer: HEY, LEAVE MY FATHER OUT OF THIS!

H O L Y

THIS IS LONG!!!

How long did you take to write it?? And just as always, you never fail you impress.

Vox not learning his lesson after his first night is the cherry on top 😂😂 He's like a magnet to the animatronics. He only gets pulled towards them, never learning his lessons.

And not him bursting through the door every damn morning at 7 am. I imagine reader is used to it by now. She's just sipping on her cup of coffee as Vox rushes through the door and reader is like 'Lemme guess? More animatronics?"

Also Luci don't steal the apple trees!! That's bad! Both Charlie and reader will scold you!!!

[theotherseapancakes]

Psssst. You mentioned no one cares about Philemon, but now I'm curious if you have any thoughts about his role in the games after he disappeared. And for sillies sake, does he have anything to do with the Dance games?

I have been waiting my entire life for this. Anon do you realize how verbose I'm going to get. DO YOU REALIZE? I hope you like read mores. Let me preface this with I am aware and have seen some popular theories, so I'm going to sidestep a lot of them and present one I've built since... well, I became a Persona fan as a teenager. MAJOR PERSONA SERIES SPOILERS LIKE THE ENTIRE THING OK? OK. yes even royal.

The P2 PSP additional scenario is so incredibly important and I think everyone missed the point of it. THE PERSONA 2 PSP ADDITIONAL TATSUYA SCENARIO!!!! It's beyond important, because it reveals to us Philemon can have more than one Avatar we know about, just like Nyarly. (Casual reminder he's like half the shopkeeps in P2. Time Count, anyone? Why was the Time Count so hot. Anyway.) Disclaimer: I'm just a casual fan who has played a LOT of Persona and SMT. I haven't gotten around to all of them, but I've played/finished both paths of 1, 2, 3 (and p3p) as well as 4 and 5. Didn't manage to get my hands on Golden but I've seen enough of it. (It's funny you ask about the dance games, they're the only ones I don't have right now! But my roommate does, and will be gone for a few months soon, perhaps I will take the time to start with p4DAN. I'm atrocious at rhythm games though so more than likely I'll find a video. Anyway.) WHAT is Philemon? If we can't define that, we can't talk about The Positivity Guy Ever.

So let's talk about Phil. He's a fascinating character. His Persona is just a form of Himself, But Cooler. And he seems to HAVE no set shape, not unlike Nyarlathotep. People have various theories about Shadows and their origins etc., but Phil is more like that vote of confidence in people. I think, personally, that after the end of Innocent Sin, Phil's been pretty weak. We see in Eternal Punishment he's fading pretty roughly, and has a hard time talking to the party. Presumably ending Nyarly might to some degree fix things when Deja-vu Boy goes home, but... the problem is, we don't know how fixed they truly ended up being, or the full depth of how much he could/did expend!

In fact, the first time we even see Phil without the dumb mask is when Tatsuya decks him. Pay close attention to that fact. To the mask motifs here. I want you to really soak in Phil's everything. He's a leader. A kind soul. He's the good of people. He wants to believe the best.

Anyway, most of these things overlook what I find really interesting as we've gotten more games worth of lore: he and Nyarly aren't the only eldritch entities walking around like that. Yes, Nyx is one too. Yes, it's probable she may even be their 'mom'. It's possible they all came from Nyx initially, but it's also possible (and should be considered) they too may have been outsiders at one point. We need to ask ourselves how far the human collective unsconsciousness can go. Is that sea infinite? Could it affect other worlds? Think about Aion in Devil Summoner Soul Hackers 2. Yes, I am asking you to think about Soul Hackers 2. Deal with it, I don't care. They're sister series. They share many things. SO! Did the shape of the human mind change a bunch of eldritch creatures and make them interact with us even more after Nyx smacked the moon a gazillion years ago? Is there multiple worlds? Weird bullshit? Just the two? Hmm. Well... I, personally, think so. I think he was touched by humanity just like Nyarlathotep, but in the other way. The reason I bring this up is two-fold. The first is Nodens. Now, we don't know much about the actual Nodens, unfortunately, just some speculation. Which is a shame. (If anyone has more info I'd love to have it, ngl. As a pagan this shit fascinates me.) But what we do get on him in Lovecraftian lore can provide us some intriguing possibilities about Phil's everything, which the games love to keep really rather vague. (And this is putting aside that his human Persona is based off the obviously bogus Jungian Spirit Guide, but we love an old guy in a mask anyway. He probably felt that was more 'friendly' for humans, hah.) I believe that Nodens, and Phil by extension, are just as responsible for nurturing and keeping the collective unconsciousness alive and positive. We see the butterfly symbol everywhere. We see it with Lavenza, too. "This is truly an unjust game." So was the bet Phil made with Nyarly, a game he rigged. Phil made the mistake of thinking the Crawling Chaos wouldn't cheat, a mistake he is never making again, I assume, if he can help it. Shit, you could view his boss fight in P2EP as him trying to train the EP crew to beat the snot out of Nyarly, even. But off topic. If Nyarly is basically the father of all Shadows, and they and Personas are the same coin, it makes me wonder a lot of things. The two have always been portrayed as simultaneously diametrically opposed, but also not? They have identical halls in P2. They have similar powers and talents... I think after Persona 3, Phil's remnants sank into the Collective Unconsciousness, to attempt to rehabilitate humanity from what it lost, from what he himself lost. I think Igor took over the room, because he took a backseat to recover. It would go a long, long way towards explaining why only SOME characters have the tier of the Wild Card, which is similar to the 'original' Persona power. (Having multiple.) He was took weak to remain in his Spirit Guide (Philemon) form, and had to abandon it to return to the depths as Nodens... So. Let me go back to Nodens and make some notes about design.

Nodens, as seen here, sort of resembles an iron maiden. It really brings to mind the idea of maybe Tatsuya or someone's humanoid form sleeping within it, doesn't it? Fitting for an aspect of Philemon! ... You probably can see where I'm going with this, but let me pull up some screens to finish the point:

That's right! It's Azathoth, Baby! I believe that unlike mythology, he's yet another aspect of Philemon. Eldritch positivity, in too much force, could be used for accidental bad, too. (Reasons Maruki is my favorite Law Hero, haha.) Let me explain. I think Philemon always existed in... let's call it parts. Azathoth is said to be a dreaming god in whom's universe we all just happen to be alive inside, right? "Dream of butterfly" (Philemon) "Or is life a dream? Don't wanna wake up. Cuz I'm happy here." That sure is thematic to what Maki goes through in Persona 1, and what Maruki's beloved suffers, isn't it? ISN'T IT. The "true reality" he creates... would help Maruki create in the additional Semester--would be something most humans would never pass the muster to even try to control. But we have seen Phil test a few people and find them worth passing before! However, that seems like ages ago. Why has he been so quiet? I think because he was spending time conserving his energy. He believed in humanity enough to give Makoto a push when it was needed in p3 (or femc, if you play her), but otherwise trusted Igor while he restored what needed it. But in Persona 5 Royal, he hand-picked Maruki, didn't he? At first, when I played Persona 5 Royal, I really thought it was some part of Nyarly, but I no longer believe this to be the case. The coloration and symbolism in the background (the golds, the whole garden of eden themes, the way his Palace was laid out), the whole sea of soul motifs in P3Re later... mmm. I have a lot of thoughts about this, but this post is already way too long for one simple ask. So let's wrap up by going one step further and looking finally at Nodens' dialogue to the party in the Extra Scenario in Persona 2: Eternal Punishment (PSP). The following is a transcript, you can find a video here:

Nodens: This is the memory of the lost child whom you all seek. Nodens: Memory occasionally brings about much distress and suffering, but it is absolutely vital to distinguish oneself from others and manufacture one's own psyche. Nodens: Ever since it began, life's memory has accumulated unbroken, passing through individual experiences and spanning several generations. Nodens: And so it has given shape to Kadath and the Collective Unconsciousness, thereby becoming a foundation for the next generation. Nodens: Even if the roots of the world are directed by fear and anxiety, never forget that the true essence of life is brimming with joy. Nodens: You must not stop seeking the answer for why life was born in a cosmos progressing towards absurdity and chaos. Nodens: Life brims with joy, bringing about balance in a universe predestined to heat death, and that allows the world to live a long time.

So to answer your question, I think he's taken a much subtler role. I think he's influencing people by pretending to be a Persona for Maruki, because he believes it will help them grow. I don't think he was intending a forever-control vice grip, but rather to prove a point. No matter what, the primordial chaos of humanity will rise up for chaotic good, lawful good, whatever "good" is needed. Azathoth is... interesting. Adam Kadmon is also interesting. But mostly I HIGHLY suspect we may see him again in Persona 6, or at least I'm hoping so. It's my personal pet theory by then he'll be less faded and come back to us in a new form of some kind. He's never had a set one, after all. Now for funsies about the dancing game, well, he's a positive guy, he wanted to just make sure everyone had their fitness regimen checked off. Obviously. (This is a joke.) Did the devs intend this? I'm honestly not sure? Like there's a lot of nods to older Personas in 5 and now 3RE especially, but it's definitely worth chewing on. I could go on and on about things I think he's connected to, but ultimately they have the final say lol. I'm just a crackpot conspiracy theorist on tumblr who really likes Philemon. He and the Room are my favorites. :) Ask me about attendants for additional dumb, sometime, I guess lol.

[gentrychild]

for the ask game, an au where HuaLian's "first" meeting didn't happen during the ghost bridegroom case, or maybe a different way it could have gone (I've just started the tgcf novel so I'm very excited to see you tgcf posting :D)

1 - About 400 years after Xie Lian was kicked out from the heavens for the second time, his bad luck led him straight to Ghost City and he gets involved into an accident that causes a ridiculous amount of costly damage. Half of the city wants his head on a pike and he is about to fight his way out of this mess when he is offered to work in order to reimburse his debt. Xie Lian finds it fair enough, tries several physical jobs in which he's good but that doesn't make enough money, until he finds the one job that should get him out in less than ten years: host. (Do not question how hosts can exist in this setting.)

2 - Does Xie Lian have any idea of what he is doing? Absolutely not. He still manages to be the most popular host in the entire city. Because he is ridiculously beautiful but also because he is just so nice with everyone??? He genuinely listens to people?

3 - Some time later, Hua Cheng comes back to Ghost City after one of his "Let's look for Danxia" trip and is in one hell of a bad mood because he once again failed to find him. So he is absolutely furious when he hears about a random nobody using the Flower Crowned Martial God's appearance to make some cash. His. God's. Appearance. This is unforgivable. He immediately goes to the establishment, under a disguise, in order to trap then to inflict some horrible karmic punishment on whoever is using a fake skin that will be undoubtedly a pale copy of the crown prince of Xianle... which is why Hua Cheng is taken completely by surprised by Xie Lian's sheer radiance when they met. None of that smooth San Lang business where he psyched himself for a week straight while Black Water and Yin Yu listened to his breakdown over his god's beauty. He didn't have the time to vent all his simpness out of his system and that first meeting almost dissipates the poor guy.

4 - Hua Cheng starts to visit Xie Lian daily, officially to confirm his identity because that could be a mole or an assassin sent by his enemy and because there is 0,001% that someone managed to create a perfect skin of the crowned prince of Xianle. He never wears the same appearance twice (coincidentally, his various disguises are always beautiful and stylish) and is unaware that Xie Lian sees through them every single time.

5 - Hua Cheng keeps giving incredibly expensive gifts to Xie Lian because it's what you're supposed to do when you see a host, right? At least, until Yin Yu points out that if he keeps doing that, Xie Lian will reimburse his debt and leaves by next month.

+ 1 - E-Ming doesn't care about Hua Cheng being a fool and keeps jumping in Xie Lian's lap after escaping a certain ghost king. Xie Lian adores it.

[parkerlyn]

July 2023

Play The Nameless | Patreon | Discord

Hi all!

This is mainly a so-help-me-we-are-gonna-get-back-on-track-and-continue-this-story update. I've been able to map out the rest of Chapter 4 more concretely and broken things down to help my lizard brain parse things out and not feel so overwhelmed by it all. Yay for self improvements! 🤞

I won't lie, it didn't help that with my (lack of) version control and writing in multiple apps, I ended up losing about...5k of the Magesmith's Ch 4 path which was a real kick in the teeth. But I'm feeling better now (and have transitioned through all the stages of grief lmao), and I'm ready to push forward.

So yeah!!! Friendly reminder!! Take this as a sign!!! Make sure you're keeping track of where you write and maintain version control with backups!!

So with that said, I've been slowly working my way back into writing after hiatus and trying to dust off those skills with revisiting the Sage POV for when you first meet them. Currently it's a 3k Patreon special, and that will post later this month on July 19!

I'll also be changing up my approach to bonus art on Patreon, with one large piece of artwork each month and opening ideas for that through the High Sheevra and Sanctin tiers, with voting including the Sheevra tier once I have a couple suggestions. This month will be the completed "Game Night" special with the Healer, Magesmith, Eila, and the Alchemist, and I'm open for any suggestions for the future! More information on that here soon. I'll also try to be less embarrassed about messy sketches so you can expect more of that on Patreon too, with some art eventually posted here on tumblr.

For bonus Patreon writing, I'll slowly be working through the first meeting POVs for each RO before polling for ideas again.

July Patreon Schedule

July 5 - Progress Update | Call for August Art ideas (HS + Sa)

July 12 - Monthly Preview Screenshot

July 19 -  Bonus Writing: Sage POV, meeting the MC for the first time

July 26 -  Bonus Art: Game Night | 18+ Art: Sage Sketches

ICYMI

Art: Not gone but resting featuring an RO cuddle pile.

Donation Screenshots

Lastly, accountability screenshots for my donations are below. Differing amounts are to cover individual processing fees. For the donations at the beginning of June the amounts differ from earnings since I was on hiatus and very offline for April/May, so I decided in honor of Pride Month to give $100 to each organization.

Thank you again for all your support and stay safe out there <3

xoxo Parker 🧡

Play The Nameless | Patreon | Discord

[mittysins]

Newt at Home

Includes: Trans mpreg, graphic labor and orgasmic birth

I'm so glad I was able to get this finished! First Mayternity, in the bag. Of course I needed to use Newt for this. I'm so proud that I've actually managed to complete a seasonal art piece. I hope you guys enjoy it!!

[FIND THE UNCENSORED ART ON TWITTER]

-------------

Okay, I'm not going to lie and say I'm not kind of freaked out. I'm standing in the kitchen wearing a loose shirt and a pair of sweatpants, quickly scribbling down the time in my notebook.

10:56 PM. I've been in labor for 10 hours, at least. I couldn't really tell at first, thinking the twinge in my lower abdomen was just Braxton Hicks. I ate my lunch and had a nap without a second thought.

Eventually I realized the pain wasn't going away, in fact it was introducing a new pressure in my hips that I was frankly not a fan of. Okay. So that’s how it is.

I started by emailing my professor. Just a vague mention of a family emergency, and that I was going to need an extension on an upcoming essay.

Continuing on, I sent a quick “baby’s on her way!” to the group chat where my friends were dicking around as they usually did. I laughed at their excited responses as I tapped my pen on the paper. Newest contraction started 43 seconds ago. I was doing just fine.

Then to get down to business. I blessed my past self for having half a mind to have everything ready a month beforehand. Everything I needed was in the bottom drawer of the baby’s dresser. A few old towels, a package of training pads, and settled neatly on top was a pair of sterile clamps and scissors within blue plastic packaging. I felt my heart skip a beat when I opened the drawer to set everything up. This was actually happening.

It was a waiting game from then on. Which is how I ended up here. My contractions are now 4 minutes apart and it's really starting to set in. My chest burns in a weird way, most likely a result of binding for years. I accepted the lung damage a long time ago, and it seems to be making itself well known as my breathing grows increasingly ragged. I can't quite keep my legs together anymore with that ever-present weight on my pelvis. It feels like something is about to give at any second. I assume it’s my water, honestly I figured it would have broken by now. I let out a long sigh as the contraction ends and set down the pen. I sway my hips as I flip through the notebook on the counter in front of me. Written on the first page is the date my pregnancy test was positive as well as a few phone numbers. I can still see a few splotches of faded numbers where my tears had mixed with the ink of my favorite pen. The next few pages were symptoms, weight, my medications including my testosterone gel. Everything medical. I was so scared all those months ago, it almost makes me anxious to look back on those pages. I prefer to look at the middle of the notebook, where I noted when I had gone a week without morning sickness, my first weird craving, the bizarre and vivid dreams I was having. My favorite was the page dedicated to name suggestions. All my friends took turns scribbling down names they liked, laughing and teasing each other as we crossed some out and circled others. It isn't too long before I flip to my current page and glance at my phone.

11:00 on the dot.

I bite my lip and continue my swaying with a firm grip on the counter. It hurts now. That's not to say it didn't hurt before, but now it's getting intense. Each clawing contraction feels like a band being tightened around my entire lower abdomen. It's enough to keep me tensed up with my head bowed for its entirety, until finally, finally, there's that give.

I let out a soft groan as my water breaks. It's not a huge gush like in the movies, more of like a gentle pop followed by a steady stream of fluid that lasts a few seconds. I take a moment to assess my situation. Pants need to come off, obviously, but after that? I couldn't quite decide. I weigh my options as I wattle back to my room and remove my sweatpants, tossing them into a laundry pile I'd designated to this whole ordeal. I could lay in bed with a pillow between my knees and just… wait. I quickly toss that option when I realize how little I've sat still since I even realized I was in labor. A shower sounds nice, the wetness between my legs is less than pleasant and the water on my back would be helpful. I could set up a spot on the couch, just throw down some waterproof pads and a towel or two and labor there, maybe get some last minute work done.

I tense up. Oh, now this is different. I subconsciously bend my knees a little as the contraction reaches its peak. The release of pressure when my water broke was heavenly, but the respite didn't last long. Instead the pressure returned, now bringing with it an intense fullness resting just at the base of my pelvis. I grimace as I feel more fluid trickle between my thighs. Shower it is.

I watch the clock switch to 11:04 as the contraction lets up.

It's a short walk across the hall to get to my bathroom. I realize how sensitive my nipples are when I peel off my shirt. I flush at the sound I make when the fabric drags, sending a jolt down my spine. I'm getting worked up and my heart rate quickens for a moment. I turn the faucet tab and slowly drag myself into the tub, letting the warm water run down my back and legs. For a few moments it feels like routine again. Just me and my baby. No college, no work, no bills, no angry parents. Just me, lowering myself to my knees in the shower, my baby burrowing dangerously low in my pelvis with the next contraction.

It's hard to keep track of time from then on. I'm sort of just zoning out a lot, concentrating closely with each new wave of pain and letting my mind wander in the steeply decreasing downtime. Eventually I’m talking aloud to her, telling her how loved she already is, that she can come on out when she’s ready, that I'm so excited to finally meet her. That I'm ready. My mindless blabbering stops when I feel a very sudden shift.

Before I realize it I'm openly groaning into the air with the gripping contraction. It all just got very real, and I can feel myself becoming frantic. The increase in pressure was maddening, and no amount of shifting and rolling my hips would relieve it. My last contraction was at most a minute ago. I don't have long at all. I decide to push, just the tiniest bit, at the end of the contraction. It's just a little shove, I don't even hold my breath. Just enough to try it out and get a feel for the sensation. If she’s coming, she's coming. If she’s not, what happens? I wait a little longer and try again?

Another timid nudge.

Yeah, she’s definitely coming.

As soon as the contraction lets up I turn off the shower and heave myself out to towel off. I almost want to jump out of my skin I'm so excited. A quick collection of my shirt, phone and towel and I’m waddling back into my room, haphazardly tossing them on my bed. I decide to wait until after the next contraction to climb up onto my bed and really get this show on the road. When I get a look at myself in the full length mirror near my dresser I have a chance to catch my breath. My taught belly has noticeably dropped, basically screaming to the world what was about to happen. I'm flushed and sweaty and my wet hair is still sticking to my forehead. I’m all out of sorts, but I couldn't care one bit what I look like right now. Baby couldn't care less either. That telltale tightening grips me again, and when it begs for me to push along with it, I deepen my stance into a half-squat and bare down.

It almost feels… good? It's a very odd sensation but it feels like such a release to finally get to work with the pressure instead of against it. Two firm pushes in front of the mirror and I decided my bed was there if I needed it. Instead, I swipe a training pad from the package and lay it down on the floor in front of the mirror before stepping onto it. And I wait. At this point I'm so eager to push it’s hard to focus on anything else. I slowly lower myself down to be half kneeling, one foot propped up to let my hips open. I suck in a deep breath, and just like that I'm stuck in a contraction and pushing so hard I see my face go red. Exhale, inhale, push like hell. So it goes.

It only takes a few good pushes to feel something hard and very noticeably large lodged in my birth canal. Between pushes one of my hands dips down and curiously prods at my lips. I don't know what I was expecting to feel, she’s definitely not there yet, but nevertheless I’m a lot more sensitive than usual. I feel perpetually slick now considering I've been leaking little by little for the last hour and a half. But that's not just it. The past twelve hours have been the most in-tune I've ever felt with my body, like we’re finally working towards the same goal of giving birth to my daughter safely and calmly. The excitement and the love mixed with the fullness of her head moving downward almost became ecstasy. One accidental brush to my sensitive clit and I'm shivering. The sudden rush of pleasure triggers a contraction and I weakly push through it. Once the contraction ends my fingers slip into my birth canal. I was disappointed for a moment when I didn't feel anything.

Until I did. About two and a half knuckles deep, there was the hard, slimy ball I had been working down for the past twelve hours.

Oh my fucking god, that’s my baby.

I was awestruck. Just allowing the pads of my middle and ring fingers to press against her head was enough to have me grinning like an idiot.

Returning my hand to its place on my knee, I bore down again with the upcoming contraction. This time a low groan escapes my throat and I find myself leaning forward just the slightest bit. Looking in the mirror, I become fixated on the bulge forming behind my lips. I'm leaking fluid considerably now, and I'm grunting out little pushes when I swear I see a dark sliver start to part my folds. I only saw it for a split second. My hand dips between my legs once more and I press a finger into my lips. Sure enough, just out of sight rests my baby’s head. The quick progress I made surprises me, and I let out a breathy laugh as I trace my fingers back up to my dick. The warm tingling in my belly when I rub a few experimental circles into the swollen nub quickly melts my grunts into soft moans. My breath quickens. I was expecting this to be horribly painful, yet here I am moaning with the next contraction. All I can focus on in the mirror is the sight of my lips parting for my baby’s head. I moan through the stretch of my perineum, letting my pleasure bring me higher as I watch my lips pull out into a teardrop shape.

My rubbing has found a steady pace, and my hips buck a bit. I'm close, I can tell, and I feel the head continue to push my lips open. That burn is starting to set in. Another firm push.

I almost yelp when the head stretches me to a full crown, but I find myself so awestruck by the sight that I fail to make any noise at all. My rubbing continues as there the head stays. The burn is searing. Until finally, the release of my orgasm carries me blissfully as the head surges forward with a gush.

I kneel there for a moment, legs shaking and eyes fluttering, as I process what just happened. The aftershocks distract me through the next contraction, giving me time to gather myself. I can see it in the mirror, my baby’s head hanging out of me as it's supported in my hands. A sob rips from my throat as my fingers wander, feeling her tiny ears and nose.

“Oooh-kaaaaay.” I breathe, shaking off the numb tingly feeling that accompanied my orgasm. My fingers fumble around the baby’s neck, quickly untangling the umbilical cord and pulling over her head.

After lifting myself up to standing, the short few steps that should have been my journey to my bed became a quest. I knew I had no chance of closing my legs at this point, so it's a slow shuffle making my way over with shaky legs and a hand between them to support my baby. Climbing up onto the mattress isn't much easier, but I eventually manage to sit up against my pillows, legs butterflied out. From there I wait.

“Come on, kiddo.” I encourage. “I’m ready, you can come out now.” I wiggle my hips and give a tiny push, trying to get her to turn.

Once she does, I'm all in. My hands find purchase behind my knees and I pull back, red in the face as I push as hard as I can for the shoulders. The way I'm sitting, I don’t even need the mirror to see. I watch as my swollen lips spread around the first shoulder, then the other with a small spurt of fluid, and then-

I barely have time to catch her as with the last push, the rest of the baby spills out with a gush.

“Oh my god-” I sputter out as I lift the infant to my chest. As soon as she touches my skin, she begins wailing. It's the most beautiful sound I've ever heard. I check her over with wide, misty eyes.

“You are just absolutely perfect, aren't you?”

I giggle at her squirming attempt to get comfortable. So that’s what’s been keeping me up at night.

The ache sets in quickly, and I make quick (quick enough) work of delivering the afterbirth, cutting the cord and making sure we were both cleaned up and warm. Once I'm in a pair of sweatpants and back with her on my bed, I lay her back down on my bare chest, opting for a light blanket to wear cape-style and cover us both. I'm absolutely awestruck.

“Alright, we’ve given your aunts and uncles enough emotional prep time, don't you think?” I say decidedly to the already-sleeping infant as I unlock my phone, quickly finding the “video call” button in the group chat.

I'm grinning like an idiot as three of my friends join the call at lightspeed, the other two following quickly behind.

“Guys, someone wants to meet you!”

[cornertheculprit]

also oh my god maya constantly saying such self-deprecating things about herself to phoenix is going to be the death of me. like "i'm no good for anything, am i, nick?" or "it's okay nick, you don't have to make me feel better." or "it's okay. you don't have to try and cheer me up." or "wow, i didn't think you'd really show up!" or "...you don't have to be nice to me. i understand." and that's not even all of them. that's not even all of them!!! and it just makes me think about the difference in her tone and her wording when she spoke to mia about her living situation versus when she spoke to phoenix:

Mia: Sorry, I've been so busy. How you been?

Maya: Well, LONELY. And it's all YOUR fault. Nah, I'm just teasing. I've been great! I'm finally getting used to having my own place.

[...]

Phoenix: So, you live by yourself?

Maya: Yes. I've gotten used to it.

when she talks to mia, she plays it off as a joke. when she talks to phoenix, she's much more somber about it. and just kind of based on how mia sort of talks sometimes in the later games i don't actually think mia ever saw the self-deprecating side of her—at least, not to the extent that maya expresses to phoenix. and then i think at first it was probably easier to express things to him because he was a stranger, and nothing more; maya's whole plan after turnabout sisters was just to go back home ("so, what happens with me? do i get to go home now?) until mia specifically asked her to take care of phoenix. and then later on they when became better friends the majority of her self-deprecating comments came from the fact that she couldn't help him (1-4) or that she was a murderer and he shouldn't have anything to do with her (2-2). and then phoenix proves time and time again that he'll stay with her no matter what and slowly her self-deprecating comments start to recede. that doesn't mean that it would disappear entirely from her, of course, and that's obvious in aa3 when she's been taking a break from training for so long that she's literally been staying with phoenix for months and months and hasn't gone back up to kurain village at all, but she's noticeably more light-hearted in aa3 before Shit Goes Down and i think that's the result of her finally accepting that there's someone who won't leave her. that maybe she isn't as useless and worthless as she thinks she is. idk just!!! thoughts!!!!!!

[zombeebunnie]

Trembling Essence:💙Script progress + Updates💙

Hello and welcome new followers, long time no see! I was very busy most of this month, but I am back and ready to continue from where I left off on the game! This game development post might be a bit long but I tried to condense everything! :]

"How are things going so far?":

It's going slow and steady! I haven't been able to do too much these past few weeks, however, I wrote a few parts out before I got too busy and couldn't do anything else.

I want to be very careful when it comes to spoilers but, based on your choices, some of these areas will give off immersive cozy/homelike vibes that really express Noah and the player(Y/N)'s view towards each other. In the old 2023 script I was very new to writing so the small semi-hints of romance weren't the entire focus compared to the horror aspect but there's a better balance between both genres now and I'm still aiming for a meaningful slow burn versus it just being all over the place. :] I liked writing them a whole bunch which lead to a lot of these taking place in the mid/end of Day 4+, they just need to be placed in specific areas that call for it. With that being said, it felt really comfy adding key details about Noah and creating meaningful sections in the game. I was even going to draw out some of the unseen script/scenes but I believe the best thing to do is give deeper lore from the [Extended Demo] first. Even though my writing style has improved I still have to fix the multiple pacing issues I wrote last year.

"Playtester's advice":

I wanted to continue working through Noah's backstory but I kept having moments where I'd get sidetracked into wanting to fix up the start of the game again. Eventually, I talked to my play testers about it and they gave me a few encouraging pointers.

To help keep my process at ease, I will fix the beginning of the game when I take breaks from writing up Noah's backstory. :]

I talked about this during early 2024 but the start of the game that leads up to the cabin is still getting reworked. I was able to get some of it fixed for the [Extended Demo] but I wasn't done. Things are still up in the air but, I will say that I have a better view of everything than I did before. :] Another priority that needs fixing are the backgrounds! I've improved a lot on drawing and they need to be optimized. When you first start up the game, you wake up in a holed out tree in the swamp with the choice to leave this area and possibly end up in the forest. I was going for a very immersive form of symbolism that only a few noticed but, I believe I can do a better job about this. Unfortunately I don't have any new backgrounds to show right now but maybe next week I'll have some finished up! :]

"Art process/Noah's sprite sheets":

As far as Noah sprite sheet goes, it's still in sketch mode.

I didn't draw anything since I was gone so I need to do a few warm ups before I get to them. There are some old drawing prompts I wrote down and old sketches that I never got a chance to doodle so hopefully I can get to them at some point with some attached lore. :,]

My Q&A / Ask box has been reset!

Thank you to those who have sent in asks in the past, unfortunately they all disappeared except for 1 while I was gone. I have no idea what happened but I can only guess it just got reset.

If you have any questions about Trembling Essence/Noah feel free to ask or resend them in here please. This makes it easier for me to see and answer accordingly! I would really like to hear from you guys!

This is all I have to share so far, Thank you to everyone for the continued support and patience while I was gone! I was ready to accept the interest for this game to fade out and coming back to see that it didn't happen makes me happy, I really appreciate it. :,]

[lt-natrace]

Bruised Knuckles || Natasha "Phoenix" Trace

Hi everyone, I've been a little MIA on here writing wise because my classes started again and I have been struggling with a balance of classes, work, and writing but here I am! I wrote this for @callsign-phoenix and her 500 follower celebration. I chose the prompt "Don't tell me you're fine, I can see the blood"

Description: Phoenix doesn't take shit from men that offend her or nurse!reader girlfriend

Content: includes violence, blood, sexist/gross comments from men, fluff at the end, phoenix is a badass

Word Count: 1.3k

Thank you to @blue-aconite for looking this over, it was very appreciated <3

The first time Phoenix saw you, she was in for a sprained ankle from a team bonding game day. In fact, as soon as you entered the room the pain in her ankle had magically disappeared and all she could focus on was trying to make you laugh. Bob saw right through her actions and mumbled out a “really Phoenix?” as soon as you left the room. From that moment on, she did whatever she could to see you and after two months of fake concussions and cold symptoms, she got the nerve to ask you out for a drink. 

That first date was almost 4 months ago. Since then you had gone on several more and eventually became an official couple. Due to the relationship being so fresh, the two of you decided to keep it under wraps, only letting a few close friends know of what was going on. Which is how Phoenix ended up at the Hard Deck without you. She insisted on you coming out with them but being in a sweaty bar with all the pilots you’d taken care of was the last place you wanted to be. 

Almost immediately after she got her first drink Hangman challenged Phoenix to a game of pool. The two of them were known for going up against each other in anything they could, especially a game of pool where the loser buys a round. While standing back to observe Hangman’s plan of attack she heard a few men letting out belly laughs across the pool table before one of them spoke above the rest, “I’m just saying that seeing a girl like that makes me wish they ditched the scrubs and went back to those little white dresses that nurses used to wear.”

Phoenix could’ve swore she felt her blood heat up as she continued to listen, hands tightening around the pool cue. Bob noticed her whitening knuckles and looked to where her eyes were set in a stare. Upon listening further, Bob immediately understood the cause of her growing rage. He shot her a warning look which was promptly ignored as Phoenix straightened her posture and took a step forward.  

“Phoenix-” Bob started in a low voice to avoid drawing attention as he stuck his hand in front of her.

He was cut off by Phoenix’s pool cue being handed to him as she walked by, “It’ll be real quick, Bob.”

The other members of the team quieted and shared confused glances before looking towards Bob for an explanation. He ignored their looks, focused on Phoenix’s actions as she made her way towards the men.

“Couldn’t help but overhear you talking about that new nurse, the one that should ditch the practical scrubs?” She questioned, cocking her head in an attempt to play dumb.

The taller of the men sat up straighter and glanced at the others before looking back to Phoenix and speaking up, “I mean yeah, what does it matter? We’re at a navy bar and if it offends you, maybe this job isn’t right for a little girl like you.”

Phoenix let out a scoff before trying to swallow her anger as she took a step forward, “Just didn’t like some of the things I heard, pretty disrespectful to talk about someone in the same field as you like that.”

“C’mon honey-“ The man tried but was cut off by Phoenix’s fist hitting his nose, blood pouring out almost immediately

Bob jumped forward as soon as it happened to help defend his pilot’s actions, mumbling out curses as he set the pool cue against the wall. Phoenix held up her hand to stop him as she grabbed her jacket from the chair and left cash on the counter before Bob could lecture her or anyone could ask questions.

—————-

The sound of your door unlocking caused you to jump up and check the time on the stove, wondering if you’d fallen asleep and missed Phoenix’s call asking to be picked up. To your surprise it was only 10pm, she had never been home this early after a night out but you couldn’t complain. 

“Hey baby,” she greeted you, bringing you in for a kiss before you could ask any questions, “I brought home some pizza in case you were hungry.”

Her actions continued to confuse you, “Thank you, but we ate dinner like 3 hours ago, right before you left. Everything alright?” You asked, struggling to finish your sentences as she continued to push your hair out of your face and pepper kisses on your cheeks.

“Everything is fine, even better now that I’m back here with you.” She mumbled against your jaw before placing kisses down your neck, smirking as you let out a quiet moan. 

As you realized what she was trying to do, you grabbed her hands from your face, not missing the slight wince in her face as the palm of your hands brushed her knuckles. On instinct you flipped her hands over to look at the tops of them, noting the dried blood and blue bruises forming. 

She ripped her hands back and your eyes met hers, “I can explain but I promise I’m fine.”

“Don’t tell me you’re fine, I can see the blood!” You exclaimed, grabbing her hands back to take a closer look. “Jesus, Nat.”

Before she could protest anymore, you pulled her into your bathroom and helped her onto the counter and out of her jacket. You shuffled around under the sink until you found everything you needed, a giggle leaving Phoenix’s mouth as she saw how much you had pulled out, “You can put away the tape and gauze, the blood’s not mine.”

When you looked up at her, she was staring at her knuckles and trying to rub the blood off of her skin in order to avoid eye contact with you. As you saw her smile fall and turn to a look of shame you stood up to be at eye level, grabbing her face in the process. 

“What the hell did you get into?” You asked, forcing her to keep eye contact. She stayed silent for a moment and you let her gaze fall back to her bruised knuckles.

“He was talking about you,” she mumbled out after a moment, your confused look urging her to keep talking, “the guy at the bar, some new recruit, was saying disrespectful things about you and I just couldn’t stand to sit there and listen anymore.”

Your heart swelled as you listened to her story. You were the kind of person to brush off gross comments about your profession, your body, or whatever else men decided they had something to say about you. To have someone that respected you enough to say something in your defense was such a new concept and it made you fall even harder for the woman in front of you that was trying her best not to stain the counter with blood. 

“Oh baby…” you whispered, barely loud enough to be heard above the fan and movie playing in the next room.

Phoenix looked up with apologetic eyes, “I didn’t mean to make a scene-”

You cut her off with a harsh kiss, cupping her face to keep her close. After a moment, she reached her hands up to yours to get your attention to pull away, “Are you mad that I might have spoiled this secret thing we’ve had going on?”

“I could never be mad at you for this,” you replied, holding her face close to yours, “but no more fighting, you’re too good at what you do for your skills to be washed down the drain.”

“Deal, but only if you put your skills to use and fix up my hands so I can thank my pretty girl” She said, a smirk appearing on her face.

[lgcnathan]

*guess_who's_back_back_again.mp3* hi all ! thank you so much all the warm welcome (back's) 🤍 i'm kristin / admin *, and for those of you who don't know, nathan is my previous third-turned-second muse before i dropped out of the rp completely back in may of last year. i've still been around doing graphics, but nathan has always had a special place in my heart – and i knew that if i were to return with a muse, it would be with him. so when soobin opened up, i knew this was my one and only chance !

that being said, nathan is ~pretty much~ the same but ofc different in ways. his timeline is a continuation from where he was ic-wise last year, and you can read more under the cut about what his life is like now in the post-type zero era of his career. i've also linked his previous introduction that includes more of his backstory before he came to legacy for your reference !

now, without further ado, please like or reply to this post if you want to plot ! and if we plotted before, please don't feel like we need to keep the same connection – i'm practically starting from scratch here, and i'm excited to see what the future holds for nathan + all of you !

because i am an admin, you can easily reach me here or on the main. alternatively, you can find me on twitter or discord – just ask for my username, and i'll add you !

super stoked to be back here in my favorite place with my favorite people – let's get this party started 🥳

tl;dr on his backstory is that he (1) grew up in new york city, (2) acted out a lot because of parental neglect (re: being raised in boarding schools his whole life), (3) ended up in korea because the school board threatened to expel him after a prank-gone-wrong, (4) auditioned for legacy after his npc-big brother got signed to the company, (5) stayed because it was the first time in his life he ever got praised for literally anything and, wow, very much attention and affection-starved from the get-go, and (6) debuted in type zero in april of 2021 after four years of training!

now ... where, oh, WHERE do i even begin? like i mentioned in my ooc post when i dropped, nathan ultimately left type zero because of massive burnout. at the time, he was practically hard-carrying the group's promotions with his solo activities, and the burden of maintaining type zero's 'status' in the industry was eventually too much for him.

it was a lot for him, okay. not only was he dealing with the emotional turmoil that came from being in a group with so many line-up changes and differing opinions from the public, he was succumbing to the pressure of all these expectations placed on him that he (as he knows now) never felt properly prepared for before his debut.

the first few weeks after his departure, he had an extended staycation with his grandparents in the outskirts of seoul before flying back to nyc for some much-needed r&r.

since he was still signed to legacy even after leaving type zero, he returned to training after about three months of 'vacation' – so he's only been full-time training for a little over six months now.

he's been avoiding, basically, everyone – previous managers and stylists and other staff members, other debuted idols in the company, and, of course, the type zero members.

he's so ashamed of himself, for giving something up that (as he first-hand witnessed himself!) hundreds of kids only dream of after sacrificing their childhoods, their youths, their critical developments years all for the goal of becoming an idol.

and he's embarrassed, for obvious reasons. when he left type zero, he was practically at the top of his game, but now? now he's stuck in the basement, in the hallways of dance studios and practice rooms, surrounded by unfamiliar faces that whisper and gossip as he passes by. he's visibly older than most trainees now, and his energy nor enthusiasm can barely keep up anymore.

before, nathan thought he could take the world on by storm – that no matter what problem or obstacle, he could bulldoze through with sheer willpower alone. but now he's scared, and more jaded. the idol industry isn't anything like they tell you to believe, and there truly are things you can only learn through real-life experience.

but at the end of the day, nathan knows why he's still here, why he's tormenting himself by going through this rigorous training process again. he loves it. he loves it so much, and so much more than wanting to run away from it all once again.

[cheolhub]

UR INVITED 2 CHEOLHUB'S 1ST BDAY BASH!

ABOUT THE EVENT ☾⋆｡𖦹 °✩

HELLOOOOO! ok first of all, no one comment on my header (unless ur complimenting it 😊), i dropped my art minor after 3 months bc i lack artistic skill and i’ve made it very clear here. NEXT, it’s not MY birthday but cheolhub will officially be a YEAR old on the 26th of august & i wanted to celebrate with a lil sleepover event :> i've had so many ups and downs while running this blog and have almost abandoned it more times than i can count, so i just want to say CHEERS to cheolhub (aka sar aka me) for making it this far <3 i am eternally grateful for every kind message, every piece of feedback, and everyone who has been supporting me and my silly lil blog. i love u guys sm and would’ve been long gone without you T^T <3 i hope you'll join the celebration!! -3- and if this flops, you’ll never hear from me again /j /j /j

i knowww it’s early, but i start uni classes again next week (my last semester, yay 😻) and i wanna have time to do an event T-T

SLEEPOVER DATES ☾⋆｡𖦹 °✩

this event runs for about two weeks! from sunday, august 13th to sunday, august 27th. any asks sent after august 27th will be deleted!

please note that i’ll still be working on asks (if i have any left) even after the event is closed.

EVENTS ☾⋆｡𖦹 °✩

！★﹕ᶻ﹐LET'S EAT﹒

☆︎ who's hungry? 👹🍽 request a short (less than 1k) drabble and you shall receive. i will be writing the first 5-10 requests due to my busy uni schedule :3 — choose a prompt (or two) from this prompt list + a member from seventeen, txt or the boyz! [closed] (ik the list isnt numbered, so just copy + paste ur preferred prompt(s) ><)

★︎ mtl for seventeen and txt! [open]

☆︎ hard hours for any group i write for! [refer to my guidelines to see who i write for] [open]

！★﹕ᶻ﹐ TIME 4 SELF CARE﹒[open]

★︎ let's do the things that make us happy! what makes us happier than being delusional and horny? you guessed it! being shipped with a hottie 😻 — this is the SHIP GAME + i’ll give you a silly little trope to kickstart ur epic romance

☆︎ OR opt for a personalized moodboards or playlists based off the vibes you give off! (mutuals can get both a moodboard and playlist if they’d like bc i would diy for all of u -3- just say u want both so i know<3333)

note: anonymous senders, please send me a few bits of info like your mbti, ult group and/or bias (does not have to be a group i stan!), star sign (big three if you know it), favorite color, etc. basically anything you want to share + one of the options above. mutuals can ask for any of the above, but providing info is totally optional!!

！★﹕ᶻ﹐WANNA PLAY A GAME?﹒[open]

☆︎ q&a!

ask me anything! favorite movie, how i got into writing, what i do when i’m not writing, why i only ult leaders etc. but please nothing too personal!

★︎ my opinions on literally ANYTHING!

☆︎ ask me for fic recs or give me fic recs!

★︎ fuck, marry, kiss (not kill bc i do not condone violence… not on here at least /lh)

☆︎ would you rather

note: you can send as many of these as you’d like :p i like answering them <3

RULES ☾⋆｡𖦹 °✩

everything for this event will be tagged under #[ birthday bash ! ] you can block the tag to avoid seeing the posts!

please make sure to get your ask in within the time frame (aug 13th-27th)

minors, please please please do not interact!

be respectful and patient! — the drabbles, mtls & hard hours may take longer for me to get through, but i’ll try my absolute hardest to get them done in a timely manner <3

when sending an ask, be sure to mention the event so i can differentiate between those and my regular asks :)

have fun! ⭐️⭐️

[sunshine-overload]

[BSTS] Sotetsu Birthday 4* Card Story

hes smooth

chapter 1 -starless hallway-

sotetsu: Yo, Saki. Here to watch today's show?

saki: Yes. I'm looking forward to it. Do you have rehearsals now, Sotetsu-san?

sotetsu: Nope, I just had some minor business that I needed to show up for. K doesn't have a show at the moment. So since rehearsals are also out of the picture I'm going to enjoy this moment of peace while I can. When there's nothing going like this, I plan to head straight home later and chill.

saki: (Nothing going on? But this month is...)

sotetsu: Oh, don't worry. I'll properly do what I need to for my birthday event. I've already prepared the gift I'm supposed to use in the photo shoot too. I bought something that I’ve had my eye on for a while now.

saki: I see. That's a relief.

sotetsu: Jeez, just how many of these guys have dragged you around for help? All you need to do is relax your shoulders and enjoy the show as a guest.

saki: Thank you. I'm looking forward to your solo stage too of course!

sotetsu: Thanks. Then, whilst you're excited how about I give you a little quiz?

saki: A quiz...?

sotetsu: The question is simple. 'What's the present that I bought for my birthday event?'

saki: That sounds like fun, but without any hints it’s too difficult to guess...

sotetsu: That's true. In that case, are you familiar with the game called Sea Turtle Soup? We'll copy that and have you ask me a few questions. I can only answer them with 'yes' or 'no', simple right? If you manage to get it right then I'll treat you to a drink as a reward.

saki: That sounds good, I'll take on the challenge! I'll start asking then... Is the present something that can be worn?

sotetsu: That's a pretty good first question. The answer is yes.

saki: Is it something you can use during rehearsals?

sotetsu: No.

saki: Hmm... Is it something that reflects your interests?

sotetsu: I wouldn't buy something that didn't.

saki: Ah, is that so...

sotetsu: Hahah, you're funny y'know.

saki: (It's something wearable but isn't for rehearsals. Maybe it's something more fashion oriented...?)

sotetsu: Oop, I'm going to have to cut this short. I have a shift soon. I'll leave you this homework. You can give me your answer on my birthday.

saki: O-ok...!

-sotetsu leaves-

saki: (Homework from Sotetsu-san... I wonder what he chose for his present?)

-

chapter 2 -behind starless, evening-

-sotetsu walks up-

sotetsu: Yo, Saki. What are you doing out here? Waiting for someone?

saki: I've been waiting for you!

sotetsu: Oh, have you? Interested in the answer to the quiz are you?

saki: Yes, that too. But more importantly your birthday event is about to begin!

sotetsu: Huh? Ahh, right right, I got it. No need to get so flustered. I'm heading to the change rooms right now. I've got more than enough time.

saki: (I hope he's right...)

-time pass, starless backroom-

sotetsu: Sorry for the wait, see, I got changed like I'm supposed to. Could you check that everything is sitting right?

saki: Looks good to me. The outfit really suits you.

sotetsu: Thanks, I'm all good to go then. Whilst we're heading to the lobby how about we see what answer you came up with? Did you work out what's inside this present here?

saki: Uu... It's small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, it's wearable and it's something you like...

sotetsu: Yep, and that means?

saki: Uuuhhhhhh...

sotetsu: Kuku, looks like you'll have to throw in the towel. I've enjoyed my fill of your cute expressions.

saki (pouty): I was seriously thinking it over you know.

sotetsu: When you're worrying yourself thinking about me like that, it's so charming that I can't look away. To congratulate you for thinking about it with all your might shall I reveal what's inside the present?

-cg

sotetsu: What I bought was a harness for my pet iguana. I finally found one that's the perfect size for her.

saki: Oh, I get it now! So that's what you meant by 'wearable'.

sotetsu: Yeah. That's why your first question was pretty on the mark. 

-cg gone

sotetsu: There was another thing that I wanted as my present, but it's not something that'd be suitable to use for this event. How about you try and guess what that one is? I’ll let you ask me questions whilst we walk.

saki: S-sure… I’ll try and guess correctly this time! For my first question… Is it something for your pet iguana-san?

sotetsu: Heh, no.

-break room-

saki: Is it something edible?

sotetsu: No, but theres times I worry it will get eaten up.

saki: …Hm? Um then, is it something that comes in lots of varieties?

sotetsu: No again, I’d say it’s quite unique.

saki: Hmm… is it something that’s in this store?

sotetsu: Yes.

-starless lobby-

saki: So it’s something in the store! Then, is it here in the lobby with us?

sotetsu: Yep, I’m looking right at her.

saki: Huh?

sotetsu: Good timing, we’ll have to end the game here. I’ll reveal the answer to you once my show’s done. Sit tight and wait like a good girl, alright?

-sotetsu leaves-

saki: …Wait, what!?

—end