#i actually wrote down that repeatedly on paper

[contronym-colours]

Look it's my boblox avatar I based my persona on, BoxBoy!

This thing is my main avatar and idk what it is cuz assigning this thing a personality is not on my schedule and I'm ok with that👍

It's not a box or a boy, it's more of a title then anything just like I want it to be, very cryptic-like cuz I usually just hang around and watch people do things in servs, though I have cooked some people, it's great!

Anyways, don't mind this post

[nouvxllev]

Hi, just wanna say I love your stuff! I was wondering if you’d do a Jenna x reader who is the daughter of Winona Ryder and Jenna meets her on the set of Beetlejuice 2. Winona acting as a wing woman for Jenna.

head over heels, your hand over mine

Pairing: Jenna Ortega x Fem!Reader

Summary: ^ request!

Words: 5.0k

Warnings: longer than i intended it to be

a/n: first of all... tysm!!! and second of all, thank you for the request!! means alot to me and i wrote it to the best of my abilities, hope you'll like it!!!

seq. || masterlist

Shit, shit, shit...

Jenna cursed under her breath as she practically hammered down the first-floor button as if that was going to make it go faster.

She glanced over to the indicator right above the door, the numbers slowly inching towards the ground floor. Her foot kept directing her side to side in the elevator, a stressed back-and-forth pace she caught herself on all while she gripped the Beetlejuice 2 script right in her hands, the paper almost being punctured with holes and such.

Jenna could almost blame herself for this.

Actually, she does. She damned herself so much she wouldn't be surprised if she got hit by a bus, really.

It wasn't any other day you'd get a role in Beetlejuice, 2, might she add, and even landing the role of the daughter of Winona Ryder who is possibly one of the most outstanding actresses out there and a 90s icon.

And now she's just slightly fucking it up with first impressions with how she's atleast 10 minutes late to their set because she spent her entire night in reading and rereading the script over and over until she perfected her lines to the point it's probably better if she'd just make Beetlejuice herself.

When the doors slid open, Jenna bolted out until she made her way to the entrance, her hand tightly clutching that damn script and her other gripping the strap of her bag.

Fumbling with her phone to call an Uber, she couldn't help but grimace at the thousands upon thousands of texts saying that she was late and her alarm clocks repeatedly being turned on to snooze just minutes before.

Of course, this day of all days just so happened to be the day that the universe decided that it had a grudge on Jenna for whatever reason because all Ubers were somehow booked and it would probably take atleast 30 minutes for another one.

So, like the hardworking actress she is determined to get a first impression even with punctuality falling behind her, she ran.

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It wasn't long, thank-fucking-god, till Jenna got to set. She slowed her pace a little when she saw the cameras and people surrounding a particular area.

She took a moment to compose herself as she approached them, smoothing down her pants and fixing her hair all while she tried to catch her breath before possibly collapsing on the ground. The crew members spared her a glance, how comforting, even if they all had concerned looks on their faces.

Jenna always worked with such talented actors and directors, and now here she was working with Winona Ryder meanwhile she was looking like she ran a marathon on the side while going to set.

"You're here!" Winona called out, lowering the script in her hands while she offered a warm smile. "We almost thought there were some complications in your schedule."

The young actress offered a sheepish smile, embarrassment flowing in her mind as she offered a weak hand gesture. "I'm so sorry, all Ubers were somehow booked and I woke up late." She admitted before introducing herself. "I'm Jenna. Ortega." She added.

Winona chuckled, "No worries. The tech team is sorting out some equipment issues, so it's a bit of free time right now." She explained, offering a handshake. "Winona Ryder. Your mother. Well, on-screen." She joked while Jenna laughed with it.

"God, sorry if I look worn out. I really admire your work, it's all so amazing." Jenna took her hand, reciprocating the gesture. She was almost going to add something until a figure approached Winona, looking like a split-perfect resemblance of her. And oh how she did the fastest double-take in her whole life.

"Oh, right!" Winona pulled, possibly the most prettiest and gorgeous, girl Jenna has laid eyes on in her 21 years of continuous breathing by the shoulders and pushed her in front of the young actress. Now life without you suddenly looks like something she just completely wasted her precious time on.

Just by looking at Winona and how excitement reflected in her eyes, Jenna could tell how much she beamed with pride for her daughter; it made her heart swell.

"Meet my daughter, Y/n."

There were things Jenna should do when she meets someone. She introduces herself in a calm manner and maybe engage in some friendly talk with them whether if it's the most awkward-est thing in her life or one of the moments she'd like to spend forever in.

What she shouldn't do is slowly have a mid-introduction nosebleed, completely throw out the knowledge that she has the ability to speak and say words while her mouth is half-agape and her eyes wide and never blinking. This rule seems to be more strict when she's convinced she has met the love of your life.

It's safe to say that Jenna checked all the boxes on the latter.

Jenna met your gaze, and oh how that was the stupidest decision she had ever made in her entire life. She felt a blush creep up her cheeks, breath caught in her throat, she tried to speak for a second but nothing came. It was like she was drowning but in the best way possible. And also falling head over heels in the worst way possible.

It's concerning how she almost wants to drop down and marry you on the spot; she's already rehearsing her vows inside her brain.

Jenna raised her hand, a shaky one at that, to offer a handshake. "I'm Jenny," she managed to squeak out, her cheeks burning with embarrassment at fumbling her own damn name. "I mean, Jenna! Sorry, not Jenny. I'm Jenna. Jenna Ortega." Oh, fuck, please just slit my throat already.

In every bad and awkward introduction, there's always someone from the other line slightly concerned but plays with it.

Your eyes crinkled, a bright sight to see that would put all sunrises to shame, and your lips parted like how the clouds part after a gloomy day, letting out a laugh that calmed Jenna's heart almost immediately. It was still running and skipping a fuck ton of beats per second, but your laugh seemed to warm it all.

"I'm Y/n, of course." You held Jenna's faltering eye contact as you reciprocated her gesture, "I'm really only here to accompany my mom," you explained. Please stay here forever. Better yet, be with me. Jenna almost said.

You shook her hand in the most softest way possible, her palm fitting right into yours. "Can't believe I met you, honestly." Jenna heard you mutter under your breath, a squeal following it.

Oh, if falling head over heels over you was a sin, she'd gladly be the epitome of something so mortal.

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And that was only a week ago. Just imagine how much internal panic she goes through whenever she sees you now.

Jenna repeatedly cursed under her breath, staring at the reflection of herself in the mirror as she gripped the cold parts of the sink, glaring at herself in complete thought.

Almost so serious as if her mind wasn't battling with something so completely stupid she'd rather drown in self-pity and misery.

Jenna Ortega, deemed as America's #1 IT girl who practically swooned all seven continents by now, almost had a near anaphylactic shock when her hand grazed over yours and how you gave her possibly the most sweetest and soul-crushing smile with that stupidest crinkle in your eye to ever exist on this damned earth, holy fuck.

Why should she be so head over heels for you?

She lowered her head in defeat, a heavy sigh escaping her as the same image of your smile flickered in her mind, and now a stupid grin from your stupid image graced her lips.

It was only a week in being on the Beetlejuice set, and she damn near lost her mind.

You were always there, well of course you were there since you were Winona Ryder's daughter, but she didn't expect to be so obsessed with you to the point she needs to go to the bathroom to silently scream whenever she hears or sees your intoxicating smile.

It's sweet. Almost endearing to her.

As if she even has the right to even think about you in that way.

Jenna stepped outside, patting her hands dry by the hem of her shirt. her name already being called out by the directors, their voices only getting louder and louder until it dwindled down to nothing and she could only assume that Winona stopped them, it was still her break after all. She was almost like a real mother to her, a comforting one at that.

She started to take a pattern in her steps before she saw you sitting on the railings of the trailer. More importantly, Jenna's trailer.

Okay, she shouldn't have seen this as a sign from the universe that you liked her back, but she did and that was all the hope that the fate or whatever deity could do because she was too desperate and too drunk on the lack of attention and attraction you were giving her.

But how could she not do that when you look so perfect just being... you? Being everything she wanted? Needed? Just being so damn perfect almost feels like Jenna could die.

"You like my daughter, don't you."

Jenna looked behind her, the sudden voice that crept being Winona, the mother of the daughter she had been smitten for, a noticeable faint smile on her lips. It was more of a statement than a question. A fact, really.

Jenna could almost deny it if it wasn't so accurate. But what was she supposed to say? "Yes, I do like your daughter, in fact, I love her so much I would absolutely give up my very career to buy her the most expensive wedding ring to ever be created from the hands of a human, or even a Greek God perhaps, to show that she owns my entire heart, body, and soul."

Panic was evident, Winona could clearly tell by the way Jenna looked like was scramming to think up of a half-assed excuse.

"Yes—I mean, not like like. I love her, really. She's talented, hardworking, and passionate in the things she talks about. But that's really it; I love Y/n, in a friendly way." Jenna stammered. Even if she was spouting complete lies and nonsense about how she doesn't have a massive crush on you, her gaze was stuck on, of course, you yourself.

Winona arched an eyebrow, "Jenna, I know when someone is horribly in love with my daughter and who’s not."

"The both of you were always somehow joined together, even if none of you were talking. You’re always finding a reason to bring her up in a conversation even if no one was even talking about her. Also, everyone takes notice of how your gaze was always focused on Y/n. Even on scene, you couldn’t take your eyes off of her for a second."

Yeah, that seems about right.

Jenna sighed, her line of sight never laying off of you. It's amazing how you still haven't noticed she and your mother was staring at you like a bunch of stalkers.

"Y/n deserves someone like her, someone in her league," she turned around, now walking in the opposite direction to her original one. She almost sounded like a teenage boy who realized they couldn't get with the popular girl. "She looks like someone even from the heavens above couldn’t fathom they created her from their own mind and hands."

Winona's expression softened as she caught up to Jenna, now walking beside her. "If you, The Jenna Ortega, fail to get her attention and love then it's all over for us." She never heard someone talk so romantic about her daughter, it's truly unfair how the ones who love the most always fall short.

Jenna's steps slowed, her body slumping against the fall as her gaze was fixed on the ground. God, why was she acting like this over you?

The young actress nodded, her hands going up to her face and sliding them down as she spoke, "She's like this incredible and unattainable dream you want to continue after you wake up, Winona." She mumbled through her hands, "Y/n's gorgeous, gentle, charming, and just… perfect." She let go of her face, her hands now on her sides. "It's intimidating just by looking at her, knowing she's the essence of beauty and perfection. Like, how do you compete with that? Overall be someone who she wants to stick by her side?"

The actress observed the young one, Jenna's head down and fidgeting with her rings. Winona could almost say that this was the most vulnerable sight she ever saw from her. "You don't have to match her perfection, let alone measure yourself up to that; you just need to be the missing piece she didn't know she needed. "

Jenna took a deep breath, her head slowly rising, "I just don't want to mess it up. She deserves someone as awesome as her, and if she ever likes me back, I'm afraid of waking up and realizing I'm not enough for her to be someone she loves."

Winona tilted her head, crossing her arms, "Tell you what, I don't know much about my daughter now. She's not closed off, but she isn't open either." She could see how Jenna flicked her head upwards, listening attentively. "But I do know that she's been watching all of your movies and shows up to this point."

Jenna's eyes widened in surprise. She doesn't wanna take any risks, but she doesn't wanna lose any chances either. "She... she has?"

Winona nodded, a soft and warm smile playing on her lips, just like the one you always have if not more comforting.

"I could never hear the end of it. She says you have this genuine charm whenever you speak, you're calm but you're also being true to yourself. Y/n admires you so much, I almost get sick of it," she laughed that pulled a chuckle from Jenna. "You're perfect in her eyes, but that's not what she likes about you. She likes you because you're authentic, yourself." She reached out for Jenna's shoulders, giving it a reassuring squeeze, "I'll be your wingman. I'm sure you're the perfect girl for my daughter."

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And that was maybe two to three months ago.

Now Jenna's thinking that you might be the most oblivious person to ever roam this entire globe. She's been dropping hints everywhere you go and you still wouldn't catch up that she has feelings for you!

Ever since Jenna got into Winona's wing, she knew everything that makes you happy. Your music taste, what type of flowers you like, what type of outings you like, clothes, scents, foods, colors, even legos, just basically everything under the sun she gave to you within a heartbeat.

Jenna gives you flowers everyday, hell even bouquets if she's feeling fancy. Reads and writes you letters, and ever since Winona gave her your number, she's been sending you voicemails of your favorite songs every morning as some goodmorning text. She's been nothing but romantic to you! Was she just missing something?

The only thing that really progressed was something of strangers to friends. The two of you were as close as ever to the point if one of you were needed, somebody probably would need to surgically remove both of you.

But that was it! No nothing, just friends. It was selfish for Jenna to want something more when she has the love of her life close to her as a friend, sure, but she needed just a little bit more before she mentally goes insane.

"I mean, come on!" Jenna complained to Winona, sitting across from the other chair just right beside her trailer, script in her hands but she was paying more attention to Jenna. "Flowers, letters, voicemails… I'm practically screaming 'I like you' at this point." She slumped over the table, "or maybe she's just really ignoring them."

"I think you're thinking too deeply, Jenna," Winona stated, looking over to somewhere far, "maybe you should confess. She's right there."

Jenna was about to stand up and say it all out and die in a hole if she gets rejected until she realized you were wearing something so... fucking gorgeous? stunning? breathtaking? ethereal? She needed a stronger word than all words combined.

It wasn't your everyday casual wear, in fact, it was something you'd wear to go on a date. A date that meant something, a date that you'd go with another person and to confess their love.

Oh, don't fucking tell her she was too slow to confess and some random dude confessed earlier.

"I don't..." Jenna stammered, she could sense that agonizing feeling of her heart sinking, a stinging pain but it was mixed with immense pressure, like she was almost drowning. "I don't really think it's the right time."

Winona let out a sympathetic sigh, "she did tell me that she was going somewhere important." She waved in your direction, grabbing your attention. "Y/n!"

Jenna didn't know it was possible to drown without having any bodies of water near you, now she was fully experiencing it by how her heart sank even further as she heard Winona's words.

She shouldn't be surprised, after all, somebody actually had the guts and mindset to actually confess to you personally without having to hide behind a facade and without having to drop a fuck ton of hints instead of saying it out loud.

It stung. Thinking that someone out there was that one for you. And how that someone was never Jenna. But it was sweet. She winced.

Jenna couldn't shake the pang and sting of disappointment as she watched to walk over to Winona, a smile on your lips like you've met the most wonderful person to ever be in your life. She couldn't read if it was real, and she hoped to God it was fake.

"What's with the get-up?" Winona asked, standing up while giving Jenna the look.

"Going on a date with this guy, he asked me." You smiled, yet again, but it was even brighter.

Yeah, she figured. When did she even assume that you liked women anyway?

"Can I borrow your car, mom, please?" You asked of her, your puppy eyes going in action while you mentally crossed your fingers.

Jenna wasn't the one to brag, but she could drive a car! Not that idiot guy who couldn't even take whatever vehicle to fetch her as a nice gesture. Hell, it was a date for godsakes!

Winona sighed, glancing between Jenna and you. "Sure, you can borrow the car," she stated before digging into her pockets and fetching her car keys, plotting it down to your hands, "but make sure to bring it back in one piece."

Jenna bit her lip, suppressing the urge to completely pull herself out of her chair and scream 'I love you so goddamn much, Y/n! Can't you see I'm the one for you and not some guy who couldn't even go the mile to drive you to the damn date!?' But no. Instead, she stayed in her seat, nodded as a goodbye, and forced yet another smile.

"Thanks for the flowers by the way, Jenna! I should really pay you back sometime." You chuckled, before hugging her head as your way of goodbye. "I'll tell you all about it when I get home."

"Don't worry about the flowers. No need to pay me back," Jenna replied, doing her damn best to keep her tone light and her knuckles not so light. As you hugged her, Jenna couldn't help but savor the moment, imagining that it wasn't a goodbye to go off on some date with some random dude but rather a lovely gesture. "I'll be waiting to hear all about it."

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That was atleast three to five hours ago.

Jenna never knew how a 2$ caesar salad bought from a suspicious vendor on the sidewalks could be so depressing but still mock her on how she just lost the love of her life to someone who actually had the guts to confess until she actually experienced it.

It was a slow day on set. Probably because it was already so late at night. There were still some scenes being recorded, but most of it was Winona's.

So along those hours when Jenna wasn't with you or she couldn't text you through the phone, all she could really do was stare from afar and hope that you'd magically have some miraculous change of mind mid-date and maybe you'll soon believe and realize Jenna was the one for you after all.

Of course, life wasn't like a damn movie and that damn date was still going to happen no matter what she does.

Winona sat beside Jenna, offering a sympathetic look at how Jenna was poking around her lettuce. "You know that's her quote-on-quote I don't really give two shits outfit but I still need to look good for a requirement that is people's feelings."

Jenna let go of her fork, damn even it looked sad. "But she looks beautiful."

Winona could almost roll her eyes if not for the young actress wallowing in her own thoughts. "It's because you're head over heels for her, Jenna. She could wear some obnoxious color-clashing clothes and she'd still look like a goddess for you."

Jenna sighed, picking up her fork again and halfheartedly stabbing a folded lettuce leaf. "I mean, don't you?" she asked, glancing at Winona. "You're her mother."

Winona shrugged, "Her clothes, her choice, but I still absolutely would not." She laughed, and her smile brightened when Jenna allowed a smile to crack through her lips.

Jenna could almost face-plant herself into the salad bowl if not for a notification pinging in Winona's phone. A notification that Winona only applied for you.

"...Or you could tell her that she's much better off with you rather than some guy that stood her up." Winona showed the phone to Jenna, your message illuminating on the screen.

y/n

mom can u pick me up? karaoke room 217 stood up on me lol come quick, pls. thx

Jenna would've been lying if she said she wasn't jumping, screaming, throwing up in literal joy.

Well, of course, she was mad that you of all people were stood up, but she was semi-glad that you were.

Jenna's urgency was visible as she scrambled to get out of her seat, grabbing her bag with such hast and making a sudden beeline for the exit.

"Tell her that you can't go! I wanna surprise her," She yelled to Winona, her excitement in her voice echoing through the room. It's almost weird and insane how happy she was about how you were stood up.

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You waited for 2 hours.

It wasn't disappointing. You already knew it was just some sort of dare or a prank that one of his friends pulled, but you showed up anyway. Not like because you wanted to play with his feelings; you couldn't do that if you didn't have any.

In fact, you had feelings for Jenna.

Ever since she showed up on your screen, she was the only actress you could ever think about. She was charming, alluring, the only person who could make the daylight so dark if her smile was out of place.

You didn't know her, personally then, but you loved her. You were willing to start wars with the world, may it be against you or may all odds and fate oppose you, you’d do everything for her even if it kills you to be someone who would take all her hidden suffering and plead for tears with your palms locked and thrown away.

And now that you were working with her on set, you couldn't help but be someone you're not. All thanks to you and your mother on reluctantly giving up on the idea of not bringing you to set. You wanted to confess, you really did. It was just a silly little crush like you'd always have but this one with Jenna seemed real and your life would've ended if your feelings were rejected.

Though, even after all that, Jenna was the one you wanted to be with. The one you hoped would walk through that damn door and hug you until your worries and thoughts all disappeared, only met with her voice and her comforting arms.

That would've been a fleeting memory, wishful thinking. That is until the very girl that made you go insane rushed into the room.

What the fuck.

She was exhausted, you could tell by her chest rising and falling as she caught her breath, you couldn't help but smile at the sight of her; looking like she had gone the extra mile and maybe even drove a car on the way instead of running, just to be there with you. You could almost start laughing and be that snarky person you've always been to her if not for everything else fading into the background until Jenna was the only one left.

Without hesitation, she pulled you into a tight embrace, wrapping her arms around your body as she tightened the hug as if you'd die if she ever let go of your body. The warmth of her touch, the comfort in her soul, and her very being brought something so grand as you hugged her back. You feared that letting go would mean losing her forever, and she thought the same way.

"I love you." She murmured on your shoulders, closing her eyes. You notice how her voice cracked with vulnerability and almost sorrow as you tightened your hold on her.

"I love you," she whispered yet again, as if you didn't hear her the firs time. "I love you, I love you, I just love you." She dug her head under your neck, her breath warm on your skin as you waited for her to finish.

You could feel Jenna's heartbeat against your chest, fast and beating while it synced with your own. "I love you, Y/n. You don’t know how many lifetimes I would kill myself for you to look into my soul, everything beneath, and even the darkest parts of my heart so then you’ll see how I perceive you to be everything I look for. I can't understand how you don't understand how much you mean to me. How much your laughter was something I didn't know would be the cure to whatever terminal illness I had in life, your actions being my motivation, your soul being my guiding light, and your smile being something so bright that not even the sun could beat its glory."

Jenna slowly pulled away from you, her eyes searching yours for a reaction. The room was always so silent, but it never felt like it was the funeral of sound itself.

"I'm sorry—That—That wasn't... I didn't—" she stammered, her body already getting up and pulling away from you.

Gently, you reached out and cupped her face with your hands, your thumbs brushing away the newly formed tears that had welled up in her eyes and dripped from her cheeks. You could feel the warmth of her skin beneath your touch, her freckles, and everything that made Jenna her was right beneath your palm. You want nothing but to cherish it.

You couldn't think of a reply. You could, but it would never beat the confession Jenna had for you. It was more than a mere confession, but something out of a book that would put every writer to shame.

"Is this okay?" Your eyes searched for Jenna's consent in hers as you leaned in ever so slightly, her breath lingering on your skin until Jenna's lips met yours in a hesitant, gentle kiss. The touch of her soft lips against yours sent a shiver down your spine, her hands coming up to cradle your face as she melted into you while your own hands found their way to her waist, pulling her closer as the kiss deepened.

Life felt like something you wasted without her lips touching yours. How you felt everything and how you were everything under her soft touch, her presence. It was if every moment before her had been leading to this one. Every heartbeat, every breath, every time you've experienced something happy, sad, or even something conflicted was building up to the moment your lips finally met hers. You felt whole, alive, reassured, and comforted.

Her touch felt like a warm embrace from something so indestructible, a star so far away that only you could see it shine from afar but yet you could feel every inch of its presence.

Then it stopped. The both of you pulled back.

But your heart never did.

"You know I asked for your mom to be my wingman."

"Please don't destroy this moment we have by mentioning my mom, Jenna. I'm serious."

Jenna chuckled, her eyes twinkling, "give her some credit. I never would've confessed to you without her."

You couldn't help but smile, realizing she was still the Jenna you fell in love with. "I guess, but I don't really want to talk about my mom after I just got stood up and then kissed the girl I love."

Jenna's chuckle turned into a soft giggle, her hand finding it's way to your palm as she intertwined her fingers with yours. "Also, for the record, that guy was an idiot."

You nodded after shared laughter. With everything that's going around between the two of you, you almost miss how Winona arrived just in time. Standing by the door with a smile on her face.

But even with Jenna's hand over yours, she'd still fall head over heels for you.

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just some fuckass aftermath dialogues:

W: "You finally confessed." J: "Did she tell you?" W: "Well for one she's been awfully cheery and gave me a questioning I love you mom and offered me to go shopping with her."

[odinsblog]

i havent been inside a grocery store in what feels like forever but last night i couldnt avoid it. when i went inside, there was this kid (maybe 18? 20? idk, im terrible at judging peoples age) swearing up a storm at her phone looking really exasperated, so i asked her if everything was okay?

(in my experience, when you ask people “is everything ok?” they usually say yes even if theyre in distress - people suffer in silence literally all the time bc unfortunately thats our culture - but when someone details out e x a c t l y what is wrong, they are asking you for your help even if they do not explicitly say the words, “please help me”)

she said her phone screen had just died (phone working, but screen display not working) and her parents had just sent her to the grocery store to get some stuff, but they insisted that she write everything down old school on a piece of paper, and the kid adamantly refused bc she said she could easily remember everything. now, unbeknownst to her parents, what she did was write it all down in a text message to herself. but now her screen had just died and she was DESPERATE to not have to go back to her parents for the list

after hearing this i suggest that she just use voice control to read her text messages back to her and she was like 🤯

i said yeah, just say something like “hey siri read back my last text message” and it should read back whatever messages you received recently. lol, and at first she looked like she didnt believe me and i told her to just try it. so she invoked siri and ofc it worked and read her back her text message with the grocery list. it was funny af because at first she didnt write anything down and she was like, OMG I DIDNT WRITE IT DOWN!! but since i was just getting off of work, i had a pen and paper on me so she wrote it down the second time. and she was sooo happy she was literally jumping up and down afterwards. sadly, she said her parents treat her like a dummy (her words) and she couldnt have beared having to go back and ask them for the list

so she gave me a big hug and (masked) kiss on the cheek and thanked me repeatedly and profusely

now here is the really funny part that tickled me and got me laughing out loud: without even the slightest bit of intentional derisiveness, she says, “thanks so much! i really think its great when people your age know how to use technology and computers”

and that was straight up the funniest shit thats happened to me in a hot minute. like, whats next, people holding the door open for me and saying, “here you go sir”? i actually got carded the other day. will that suddenly come to a halt now?

lmao. idc about getting older. i care about *not* getting older. imma live to be 800yrs old istg

so anyway i have about 3 more days left of officially being in my 30s

any suggestions on how i should finish out the last few days of my 30s?

[slut4sohee]

wet dreamz

pairing. jiung x reader

summary. you make a bold move and jiung’s wet dreams come true

wc. like 908

warnings. slight smut, like real slight; sexual content; set in high school so underage sex; first time; grammatical errors because they are passing notes

a/n. wrote this purely for fun so it’s not put together very well; also heavily based on the j.cole song

✎﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏

you had the biggest crush on jiung.

but so did a lot of other people and it lowkey irritated you. it made sense though; he was kind, attractive, respectful, shy and awkward but in an endearing way. he made you actually look forward to school, especially math class (and you would lowkey be depressed whenever he didn't show up).

the two of you were passing notes in class, as always, you were telling about him about the gossip between the students in your class.

‘yo Isaac and Hana having sex is kinda crazy. I thought he went with Jordan??’ he wrote after reading the gossip.

‘right?? apparently Isaac wanted to fuck but Jordan wanted to wait and Hana had a thing for him so that's how they ended up doing the do’

‘that's actually insane, how do you even know all of this’

‘high schoolers love to run their mouths’

‘true’

a question popped into your head and before you knew it, curiousity took over your body. you were writing it down then passing the paper to him.

‘have u ever had sex before?’

you glanced at him reading the note but quickly averted your gaze when the anxiety suddenly hit.

the paper slid into your line of sight:

‘ofc I've had sex before. I'm sumn like a pro tbh’

you weren't gonna lie, reading his note broke your heart a little, but i mean who wouldn't want to fuck him.

‘oh rlly? lmk how much of a pro you are then... my mom’s gone for the weekend’ you wrote back.

your stomach dropped as you watched him read the note from the corner of your eye. you don't know where this boldness came from but if it got you a moment with jiung, you weren't mad at it.

‘word?’

sparklers erupted in your stomach. you wanted to jump up and down but you had to be cool, ‘yeah i'll text you the addy’.

𖨆♡𖨆

jiung had the biggest crush on you.

i mean who wouldn't, you were funny, kind, caring, smart, gorgeous and not to mention your body.

you were the reason why math was his favorite class. you two used to talk and make jokes in the back of the class until the teacher got mad and said she'd separate you if you didn’t stop. so you resorted to exchanging notes.

the notes you would pass were initially innocent; cracking jokes, making fun of the teacher, gossiping, talking about interests. until you asked the question that changed your dynamic forever. ‘have u ever had sex before?’

jiung froze. he could feel his body getting hot, his heart rate increasing, and his blood rushing to his special place. he had to stop himself from daydreaming right there and then in that math class. but he had to play it cool, he didn't want to look like a lame bozo, so he wrote back ‘ofc i've had sex before. i'm sumn like a pro tbh.’ he was lying like fuck but you didn't know that.

‘oh rlly? lmk how much of a pro you are then... my mom’s gone for the weekend’

jiung couldn't believe his eyes; he was going to have sex with you this weekend. it was something he could only dream of, literally. it all seemed so surreal.

for the rest of class he had to repeatedly stop himself from daydreaming so he wouldn't sport an erection.

on the way home, he stopped to buy condoms; because you know, he had to be prepared.

that night, he did his research (he watched porn and went on reddit). he wanted to know how to please you in a way that didn't scream “virgin!”

come saturday, jiung thought his heart was going to jump out his chest and run away. he spent the whole way hoping and praying. hoping he was big enough for you, hoping that he moved well enough for you to not know he was a virgin, and praying that he lasted long enough (he rubbed one out before going to meet you because reddit said that would help him last longer). the closer he got to your door, the more he forgot how to walk.

when you opened the door, it took everything in him to not bust right then and there. what you were wearing was very revealing. he tried his best to not look at your ass and thighs when you led him upstairs to your room.

in your bedroom, where the action began, he was feeling on you, just doing what he was advised. and he figured it was working because you started feeling warmer, gasping and moaning. he got on top and you started unbuckling his belt and rubbing on him.

you were making him feel so good and soon enough he couldn't take it anymore.

he pulled out the condom and put it on as smoothly as he practiced (yes, he practiced that).

before he filled you up, you stopped him looking as shy as ever.

“there's probably something i should tell you before we do this: i can tell you're experienced and everything but i’m still a virgin so please be gentle.”

hearing those words from your lips basically made all of his nervousness disappear. the fact that you were also a virgin and that he didn't seem like a virgin to you eased his anxiety and definitely boosted his confidence.

“don't worry baby, i’ll be gentle...”

[arsenicbluebell]

Sal Fisher x ADHD!Reader

I have adhd and Sal is my comfort character so this seemed fitting

Before the relationship

You too would sit next to eachother in Chem, so him noticing your behavior is kinda inevitable

Sal is hyper-aware of his surroundings, so eventually he'd find out

You stim a lot, like fiddling with your pencil or fingers, and sometimes that would go south

One time, you were messing with your pencil and it ended up flying and hitting Sal in his prosthetic

He assured you it was fine after you repeatedly apologized

You also zone out a lot

He has to remind you of things like the time, what your taking notes on, what they're doing in class, ect.

Sometimes when they're taking notes, he'll just let you be and let you copy his after class

Even though it can be annoying for some, Sal doesn't mind being patient with you

He actually enjoys it a bit

Your personality is literally m a g n e t i c

It's only a matter of time before someone takes an interest in you- and that happened to be sal

He also thinks your really gorgeous/handsome/dashinh

He's a shy guy around people he thinks are hot, so he'll be glad to interact with you when it's convenient

He also takes the opportunity to gaze at you when your not paying attention

But little did he know, you knew already

In art, you sit behind Ash and Todd, and they both talk about his crush VERY LOUDLY.

It's pretty obvious, especially when they giggle about it, and you happen to pick up on it

So in Chem, you started to pay less attention to the class, and more attention to his behavior

And after only about one class, your suspicions were confirmed

The next day, you were zoning out, he started to take small glances at you anytime he could,

Once you noticed, that brought you back down to earth

In your notebook, you tore off a small piece of paper and wrote on it

《Why do you like me? Genuine question》 you wrote and then slipped the note over to him

After he read the note, you knew he was flustered because the tips of his ears turned red

《What makes you think that?》 He scribbled down that reply and passed it back to you

《You always look at me in this class, and you're always way to nice to me》 you jotted down and gave to him, yet again

《You knew about that?》

《Yup, mostly because ash and Todd talk WAYY to loud about your crush in art》

《...》 he replied

《It's not like I don't like you back, just say it to my face nextime, k?》 You responded

《Ok then》 he replied, and that was the end of the writing for class

He avoided you for the rest of the day

BUT AT THE END OF THE DAYYY

You managed to catch up with him while he was walking to the apartments

"You free on Saturday?" You asked him

"Uhm yeah, why?" He replied

"You're gonna go on a date with me on Saturday then" his ears went red again after he heard that

"Uhhhh-" "if your okay with it, ofcourse" you accidentally cut him off

"No yeah, I'm definitely fine with it" then after came an awkward giggle

"Great, see ya Sal" you said and went on your way

The man was to stunned to speak

He just stood there for a good ten minutes, flustered and shocked

By the time Larry caught up with him, he was still like that

Larry had to psychically shake him out of that frozen state

Then Sal told him what happened, and Larry had a shit ton of questions

Sal just gushed about you to Larry while walking home

Kinda like one of those Disney girl talk things

I might make a part 2, but do yall want an actual story about this instead of bullet points?

[bleedingoptimism]

𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘚𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 

𝗧𝗵𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗱𝗮𝘆

“Steve!” Dustin bursts through the doors of Family Video, having dropped his bike carelessly outside and then running inside, jumping the counter, and making a mess.

“Dude! What the hell!” Steve yells at him, “No, no, get out, out!” he tells him lightly pushing him back to the other side of the counter but Dustin doesn’t budge.

“No, Steve, look! Look!” he says and slaps a sheet of paper on the counter in front of him.

Steve huffs and rolls his eyes at Dustin's dramatics but then he turns and leans on the counter, looking at what Dustin is presenting him.

“What’s this?”

“Evidence!” The kid yells excitedly.

“What?” Steve stares at the page. It’s a character sheet, for a Dungeons and Dragons character, he knows what one looks like from when Dustin helped him make one to play with Erica last summer. So he has a vague idea of what all the stats and numbers mean, and this character looks really powerful.

And then he notices the name, and chuckles, “Harry Stevenson?” he moves the sheet closer to him, trying to remember what everything meant, “Did you do this?”

Dustin shakes his head and smiles mischievously, eyes shining and almost vibrating out of his skin with how excited he is, “Eddie did!”

“What.” Steve means to ask but it doesn’t come out like a question at all,

“Fighter, level 3, club and shield,” he reads lowly, mostly to himself.

“Look, Steve!” Dustin interrupts him impatiently, “These stats are insane! Plus four strength, plus three dexterity, AND constitution, plus two charisma and wisdom, he even gave you a plus one in intelligence,”

Steve frowns, “What’s that supposed to mean?” he asks Dustin and raises his eyebrow at him, trying to hide his amusement.

Dustin shoves him, “Shut up, you’re missing the point,” he says jumping up and down and shaking Steve a little, 

“He thinks you’re strong and athletic and charming and wise!”

Steve just stares at the page with a faint smile playing on his lips, unsure what to say, how to react.

And Dustin points at the little square that says ‘personality traits’ where Eddie wrote,

‘Brave, funny, and kind’

Which Dustin reads out loud and then keeps going, “Ideals, to protect his loved ones, flaws?” He says and jabs his pointer finger on the sheet repeatedly, “Doesn't think he is good enough!”

Steve laughs because it also says “kind of prissy” but Dustin foregoes saying that out loud.

“Steve! He likes you! I think he’s kind of in love with you, actually,” Dustin tells him, shaking the sheet in his face.

Steve notices there’s something written on the back of the sheet too when he does that, so he takes it from Dustin, “Dude you're going to break it. Stop,” he chastises him.

On the back, it reads, ‘Prince from a fallen kingdom, he’s looking for a new home for his found family, the people from the palace he managed to save. He is overprotective and loving to his own but can be mean to outsiders. Does what needs to be done. He’s handsome like royalty should be, but beautiful in a way that makes the gods jealous.’

Steve smiles, caressing the corner of the page with his thumb absently, but then something occurs to him,

“Dustin... Where did you get this?”

Dustin’s eyes open big and he flinches, looking incredibly guilty. 

“Dustin!”

“I didn’t steal it! I found it! I swear,” he says hurriedly showing Steve the palms of his hands.

“You shouldn’t have shown me this, dude! This is so not okay!” Steve tells him, crossing his arms. 

“But! You needed to know! Steve, this is important, you weren't believing me! And now you do so now you have to tell Eddie how you feel!” Dustin implores.

“I don’t have to do anything! And you have to mind your own business!” he answers back harshly.

But Dustin looks really sorry and Steve is a weak, weak man when it comes to his kids, so he sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose, “Fine, I’ll talk to him…”

Dustin immediately jumps yelling, “Hell yes!” and Steve instantly regrets forgiving so easily, but then Dustin hugs him, “This is going to be awesome!” he giggles, and Steve can’t help but chuckle along with him. He ruffles Dustin’s hair and shakes his head a little, making him look at him,

“But you need to apologize to Eddie! You can’t just take people’s private things. And you sure as hell shouldn’t be showing them to others, either. It’s not an okay thing to do, no matter if you think your intentions are good, you got it?”

Dustin nods seriously a couple of times but then he goes back to smiling, going on a tangent about all the places Steve could take Eddie for a date that has Steve sighing and smiling as he listens to him, rolling his eyes as the ideas get progressively wilder by the minute.

𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗲𝗱

part 1: ❤️

part 2: 🧡

part 3: 💛  

part 4: 💚    

part 5: 💙

part 6: 💜

part 7: 💗

☕🥐💕

[veintrry]

TAINT THIS PAPER WITH LOVE

writer!kunikuzushi x gn!reader, fluff, romance, love letter, nervous kuni bcs feelings.

part one (wink wink)

an: RAHHHHHHHH

Writing was something that had come so easily to Kuni, till he had to write a letter that would appeal to you. When did this pen feel so awkward in-between his fingers? And just when did these string of words he wrote sound so foreign to him... Love isn't easy to express.

Kunikuzushi doesn't think he has ever felt so uncomfortable at his desk, staring at a blank paper, blinking in hopes it would write itself with heart melting words that would make you grin. Yet, that never happens.

He lets out an exasperated sigh. This was far worse than some writers block. The words- Well, the feelings were so easy to sense, but to put them down on paper? It seemed like an impossible task. Folding over, he groans into his hand as his elbow stays rested on the dark wood of the desk, it's polish still refined.

Why did he have to give himself such a short time period too? A day, just a day. No, not even 24 hours, way less. He picks up the pen again, his thumb on the top as he repeatedly pushes it down letting the sound fill the room as he thinks. Just let your mind wander...

And it does. Like it always does, his thoughts trail back to you. Not actual words or things that may describe you but visual images of you or at least the vague image of you. He didn't care before but much to his dislike his ability to visualise things isn't as potent as he'd like. Yet, he still can see fragments, the lines of your smile, the depth of your eyes and the way you move. There were smaller details he took note of, the shape of your ear, the style of your hair and the state of your nails.

He wishes he could just translate this onto paper.

There was a gentleness he felt with you when he wasn't freaking out about these emotions. There was a calm that he absorbs but he fears at the same time, worrying there was a storm arriving and he'd be the cause of it. But, asking you to come again tomorrow, that was a ray of light from the gloomy clouds, it sprouted hope. Maybe. Just maybe. There is no storm.

He lets his head fall back, staring at the ceiling pointlessly before sighing. He's being doing that a lot lately.

...Technically, this wouldn't be his first time addressing a letter towards you, though the past times he's done it he was unaware of the fact you'd be receiving it. Maybe, he could try to do the same? Just harbour the same emotions, Kuni. Don't think, just write.

If you were in front of me, what would I want to say?

_

Familiar bells jingle, declaring the entrance of someone new and each time he hears the sound his eyes shoot up. He can't tell if he's anticipating your arrival in excitement or fear. Whichever one it is, he knows that one thing for sure is that he feels nervous. Insanely so, that he barely can keep himself occupied writing others letters.

He thought actually finishing the letter was bad, but waiting to give it to you is even worse. So. Much. Worse.

He's beginning to think his chest is going to explode from the anxiety. Though, there is some joy to it, as if he is looking forward to your expression.

Biting his bottom lip, he rests his chin on the palm of his hand, almost daydreaming about it. Surely, your reaction will be positive? Your past letters were from him on purpose so you'll like this. What if it's a lukewarm reception? What if he doesn't make you understand how he feels and the words he had repeated a multitude of times and the phrases he's crafted a thousand times don't work? There's a million thoughts in his minds and none of them are reassuring. He can feel his stomach being stirred like a cauldron of the worse concoctions and it's making him sick.

Till the bell rings.

Would you think it's weird if he ever told you that he began to recognise your footsteps? He'll keep that to himself. A hand is placed gently on the envelope holding his feelings, though the fingers that wrap around the folds are almost possessive, unsure if they should allow this letter to be given away. Unsure if he should offer his emotions just to get shot down. Yeah, maybe this is a bad idea and he should just-

Two knocks resound from beside him, he turns to you, your hand above his desk as your finger taps the wood.

"I'm here."

You're smiling.

Curse this world.

"You took your time." My tone comes out dry, almost scolding in a way. You give me a sheepish smile. "I didn't want to seem too eager." So in turn he was the one made to do so when he had been waiting for you impatiently.

He simply gives you a hum of acknowledgment, then sits there for a while. You don't move, awaiting to be given your letter but he doesn't seem to budge. A hesitant voice comes out, "Uhm, Kuni?" Archons, how he cherished the sound of his name rolling off your tongue. Indigo eyes spare you a glance, encouraging you to continue. "The letter...?" Would it be stupid to say he hoped you forgot.

"The letter. Right, right..."

Despite his words he seems to hesitate before finally letting out a deep breath as his hand reaches to the storage below the desk and pulls out a perfectly folded envelope. He turns his head away, just slightly, handing it to you wordlessly and without a glance spared towards you.

On the other hand, you were left admiring the envelope. It was nothing special, yet the contents of it were.

You take it excitedly, the pads of your thumb and index rppessed against the smooth texture of it. Your hand moves and your fingers begin to open it. This catches his attention. He quickly turns to you with an expression of disbelief and a hint of redness on his ears. "You're going to open it here?! At least open it outside of the store..."

You tilt your head slightly, "Why?" You continue speaking, conveying your reason, "It's better if I do it in front of you, right? That way you can get my honest reaction." The tone you speak in is somewhat teasing as though to say that this is a way of seeing just how well he did.

He opens his mouth, attempting to rebuttal, though all that comes out are incoherent noises, earning a chuckle from you. A defeated sigh leaves his mouth and he turns away once more, his other hand waving you off as in to quickly open it already and you oblige with ease.

The next few minutes are silent. Sure, there was the slight rustling of papers when the wind of the turning fan met them and the sounds of breathing, but it almost blended into the background as you read his letter...

"Dear moron,

I love you.

I wanted to get that out of the way, just to make this clear. Writing this or at least, trying to, has been a hindrance. I keep trying to form words I think you'd like. I keep trying to make this appealing to you, but just what do you like? I know you have a rather odd way of thinking, I know your taste in books and I know that you're dense. Immensely so. Maybe I am too. I also know you like me. If I'm right, which I don't doubt I am considering your little trick with those letters... I'm free after this.

Yours truly,

Kuni. (ps. turn the paper around, loser.)"

And you do so, you do just that and turn the letter around to where you find more writing, this time lengthier and clearly written with a different intent. Your words glaze over each word, intaking the tone and you swear you can almost hear it. You peek over the letter gazing at the violet-haired man but hiss face is turned away yet, the corner of your lips quirk up seeing the red of his ears.

It feels like you're taking a century to read what he wrote, he had stolen a few glances but the moment you turn the letter he fully committed to averting his gaze, a hand to his mouth as he muttered curses, his mind flooded with what the hell you could be thinking right now.

Two knocks sound out, you've tapped his desk again. As he is about to turn around there's a warm blow of air at his ears and he feels his ears rumble at just the proximity of your breath. "You're really forward." He couldn't tell if you were being sarcastic or not but that was the last thing on his mind as he finally faces you, seeing so close to him. He doesn't think you've ever worn such an expression before. If anyone else was looking they'd think you were up to no good and he'd have to agree, though, he can tell there's some glee in your eyes. "I could say the same for you... Then, is that a yes?"

"No." He swears he feels his heart sink.

"It's a definite yes."

Kuni begins to regret ever giving you that letter, "You jest too much." You let out a sound of agreement, "Yeah, but you don't seem to dislike it." Taunting. How fitting of you.

Though, he can't help but focus on the fact that you actually agreed to this... especially when you're donning such a prideful appearance too. Even if you're teasing him more than you ought to, he doesn't mind, in fact, he thinks he likes it. It just means he's closer to you now. "I don't. It means you really like me. Don't you?" There's a moments hesitation from you as you observe the change on his demeanour, a playful smirk on his lips as his eyes glimmer with a certain amusement. Earning a gentle nod from you, you reaffirm his words.

"I do."

back contents of the letter;

"Sometimes I believe you're killing me just by merely being around me. It feels as though you're making me go through torture each time you let me catch a glimpse of you. I begin to think that you must be driving me insane because there's no other way I can explain this. But, you're divine. To me, you are everything and more. I don't think I could ever put into words the way I honour you, that smile of yours, your voice that puts my thoughts to a halt and has me anticipating the next time I'll get to hear you.

I wish I was closer to you, as close as I can be. I wish to express my love easier, to tell you it how it is without worrying about you'll take it. Tell me, is the only way to explain how I feel sappy words and deep analogies? You like me, right. You have letters from me. But they're different from this. This is truly from me. My words aren't sophisticated or smart, they don't pierce your heart at my ability to deduce what you want to hear. This is a mess, uncollected and disorganised. Yet, I don't want to sell you a fantasy. My love for you is a frenzy, much like the one you set my heart on, so I won't pretend to be tame. I want you, I love you. That's how it is, and I intend to devote myself to proving that to you it I must, because when I tell you that I like you it's not just an overused phrase but the closest way I can tell you how I feel even if it only shows an inkling of it.

Maybe I'm not right for you. But I want to be."

[stranger-rants]

I see comments like this one all the time, and it just drives me crazy because this is the damage the last season did. This is it! Anything that garnered him any kind of care or concern was pissed on, and not because the narrative revealed to us anything so horrifying we have to change how we perceive Billy. In fact, we learned nothing new about Billy. Nothing. Just Max saying he made her life "a living hell" with absolutely no evidence of what that looked like beyond what we've already seen, and Vecna using his dead likeness to hunt down Max because she felt guilty about him dying.

People who didn't even like Billy went from season three thinking that maybe Billy didn't deserve to die like that and that he deserved better to... This. This ridiculous opinion that a few words on a piece of paper are more meaningful than Billy's own words. Billy's own trauma being put on display. Eleven having an important, meaningful connection to him and being the first person to ever truly show any kind of empathy towards him. Max sitting in solitude on his bed. Us knowing his father was beating him to his father just all of a sudden fighting with Susan and leaving.

This is the damage the structure of the last season did to what they've already built up and it's something I've seen repeatedly done to actors and characters who have exited the show - straight up defamation and practical "gaslighting" for lack of a better term of the fanbase to act like things were realized that weren't and we're the problem if we recognize the incongruencies.

This attitude that because he was "portrayed negatively" (see: Vecna used his image to haunt Max and Max wrote a scathing letter about Billy to draw Vecna out) so Billy's death wasn't meant to "redeem" him just... y'all don't get it.

I don't personally think he needed to be "redeemed" and certainly not like that, but dying was all he could do narratively and apologizing was all he could say before he died. There was no other option because they had written Billy, an abused teenager who no one was going to help, into a corner. However, in ending it that way they showed with one single act that he wasn't The Big Evil Human Villain y'all so badly want him to be, even if it contradicts what The Duffers had envisioned for him. Again, I say again and again, that vision wasn't realized.

The fact that The Duffers double down on him being their "human villain" when Billy was tortured and possessed and killed in one of the most cinematic yet violent scenes wherein he actively fought the thing that was going to kill everyone, is a very poor reflection on them as writers and not on us for empathizing with Billy's situation.

Vecna is not Billy. His portrayal of Billy is not Billy. Max is an unreliable narrator in her second letter because it is literally used as a set up. The fact that you need The Duffers and/or their characters to tell you that you should hate Billy is a problem when all it takes is one simple critical look at what happened to him to realize that's bullshit.

Please, fucking think for yourselves and look at context before using poor writing choices and bad faith scenes as an excuse to ignore what happened to a character. There's actually a difference between what is portrayed and what is intended, and what they intended re: "human villain" blatantly ignores all the suffering they actually portrayed this character going through.

[ilovewriting06]

Secret Rendezvous

A/N: There will be a second part to this, maybe more idk, I wrote it for a friend but found that I actually enjoy writing for Carter and my bad habit of falling for fictional characters hit again 😅

I twiddle my thumbs in nervousness and anticipation as my brother, Dr. Mark Greene, introduces me to a group of his colleagues, well our colleagues. “Listen everybody, we have a new med student this year who is very special to me, everybody this is soon to be Dr. Y/N Greene.”

I chuckle nervously as I offer a shy wave, “Hi.” Mark rolls his eyes playfully with a laugh, “She’s also very shy but once you warm up to her watch out…she bites.”

I elbow him in the gut with a glare before letting a happy smile grace my face as Mark groans, “Ugh! Sorry Y/N/N.”

I hum before turning to the doctors, nurses, and other staff that are circled around me as Mark introduces them, “This is Doug Ross, he’s our pediatric doctor, this is Peter Benton he’s out surgical doctor, this is head nurse Carol Hathaway, play nice with her she'll dictate how well your day goes, and this is….Where the hell is Carter!?” Carter? Why does that name ring a bell?

I jump slightly as Mark yells in my ear. I cup my ear and kick Mark’s shin, “What the hell Mark! Don’t yell in my ear again or I‘ll cut yours off and shove it down your throat!”

I blush as everyone starts laughing, forgetting that there were others present. Before I could apologize a tall decent built guy comes running down the hall with a clipboard and papers. When he skids to a stop he’s huffing and puffing for air, “Sorry Dr. Greene, I got held up with a patient.” I chuckle as Mark shakes his head, “Yeah, alright, it’s fine, jus-,” Mark gets interrupted by a woman I quickly recognize as Susan, “Hey, Mark, we need you in curtain two. Oh, hey Y/N/N.”

I wave at Sharon as Mark groans before looking at me apologetically, “Y/N sorry I gotta go but you’ll be spending 99% of your time with Carter so uh, get to know each other and he’ll show you around and help you get the hang of things.”

I nod as Mark walks away before turning to Carter. When I take in his features my breath catches in my throat. Oh God! That’s why I remember him! A couple months ago I hooked up with another med student and thought it would go further since he seemed pretty interested in me, just as much as I was interested in him, but I woke up the next morning alone and I never saw him again.

When he meets my eyes his mouth drops slightly before he glances around and grabs my hand pulling me into an empty room. When he turns to me his eyes are wide and frantic, “Y-you’re the- oh God he’s gonna kill me! Why didn’t- how did I-,” I tilt my head as he has an internal breakdown before grabbing his shoulder and stopping his pacing, “Hey, John, calm down. It’s okay.” He relaxes slightly before shaking his head and freaking out again, “No it’s not okay, I slept with you! I didn’t know you were my boss’s sister! I should have known, oh God how was I so stupid!? That has to be the biggest mistake I’ve ever made!”

I feel my stomach deflate a little as I drop my hands from his arms and wrap them around myself. I look down and swallow thickly before whispering, “Sorry, I didn’t know I was such a stupid mistake….and technically he’s not your boss.”

I feel a warm hand circle my bicep gently while another tilts my chin to meet his eyes, “That’s not what I meant.” I look at the wall over his shoulder causing him to put his face in front of mine repeatedly as I try to dodge him. I finally laugh at his antics before realizing he did it to cheer me up, “I’m sorry, I was just freaking out but you weren’t a mistake, hell, you were the best decision I made all year.”

I feel butterflies flutter around before I furrow my brows and look into his eyes, “Then why did you leave?”

“What?”

“When I woke up, you were gone. If I was really the best decision you made, why did you leave?”

His face scrunches up in confusion and as much as I hate to admit it, it was fucking adorable, “It’s what you wanted.”

My eyes widen and I shake my head, “No! God no that’s not what I wanted! I wanted you to stay, I really like you.”

“But before we went back to your place, when we were talking you told me that it was awkward when people stayed over after meaningless sex.”

My heart lurches at the same time as it breaks, all this time I thought he wanted a one and done type thing when in reality he did what he thought I wanted him to do. I step forward and cup his face, “Oh John, I also told you that I didn’t do meaningless sex anymore, and if I took someone home I wanted them to stay.” His eyebrows scrunch together before a smile breaks out, “Does that mean you want to try a relationship?”

I lean further into him with a smile as my lips barely brush his, “As long as you can handle the pressure from my brother, doctor.” He groans before deepening the kiss and tugging me closer by the hips, “I’ll risk it.”

It’s been sixth months since I first started and I love every minute of it, especially the little rendezvous John and I sneak in. The first time it happened wasn’t planned it just happened, the second time I planned and he just followed, and was very pleased with the blowjob he got in the janitors closet, the third time he planned and I enjoyed being finger fucked against the wall in the break room, that one we almost got caught for, the fourth time was a quickie in the family bathroom, the sixth time was a not so quick quickie in radiology, and the seventh…well….that’s what I’m aiming for now.

“Carter I need the gauze, the really thick one.” His eyes dart up from his clipboard before furrowing his eyebrows since I just came from the supply room, where they would be, “But you-,” I cut him off nodding, “Yeah I know, but I can’t find it.” I add a little whininess to my voice and he sets the clipboard down still confused, “Okay? I guess I can help?”

I clasp my hands together before grabbing his hand and pulling him behind me excitedly as I hear Carol not so quietly whisper to Mark, “You’re sister’s an odd one, in a very lovable way.”

“Trust me, I know, I lived with it for twelve years, and now she’s living with me again.”

I shout over my shoulder slowing down slightly, “Yeah, after you practically begged me to!” He really hadn’t begged me he knew I needed a place to stay and he was adapting to being alone full time so he offered me a place to stay and I agreed.

As soon as Carter and I get into the supply room he walks right to the gauze and picks up a couple packs of it, “Babe, seriously? They were right,” he spins around to see me taking off my shirt to reveal a lacy pink bra before he drops the gauze whispering the rest of his sentence, “here.” I stalk forward all but throwing myself onto him, “God baby, I’m so horny!”

He groans into my mouth before running his left hand up my back sending goosebumps over my skin. I whine into his mouth as I grind into his thigh, “It’s over, God one week without you is like an addict going through withdrawal.”

The reason we haven’t had any ‘encounters’ over the last week is because of that lovely time of the month. Although we haven’t had sex we’ve had little dates, I even slept over with him two nights ago. We didn’t do anything sexual except a few passionate kisses that ended with us cuddling in bed watching some random tv show and sharing intimate details about ourselves. After only dating for a week I spent the night with him for the first time and now I can’t get enough of him, it’s not even the sex, don’t get me wrong he definitely knows how to please woman, but it’s the time we spend together learning things about each other and most recently, planning our future. The only downside is when morning rolls around I have to hurry home before Mark wakes up so he just thinks I got up early.

I weave my fingers through his hair before whining again, “John, please, I need you so bad.” He groans against my cheek before pushing me against the wall, “Baby I know, I can tell, I could tell this morning but what you want I can’t give you here, we don’t have time.” I pull him impossibly closer before shaking my head, “No! Please, I promise it’ll be enough, I promise!” He sighed before groaning as I roll my hips against his, “Princess I promise you it won’t be. You need nice and slow and deep. I can’t give you that here.”

I kiss his jaw with a whimper, “I just need one, one orgasm and I promise that will be enough.” He tries to pry himself away from me but I throw my left leg around his waist, “Y/N, one orgasm is just the tip of the iceberg, you need more than that, you need worked up and brought down and worked up all over again and we. do. not. have. time.” He finally pries himself away before snatching my shirt off the floor, “I promise that when we get off we’ll go home, and I’ll take care of you, I promise.” I sigh knowing he’s right before nodding, “Okay, but now I’m going to ruin my underwear. I have to spend another five hours with you and all your attractive qualities so I’m going to be in the sweetest form of hell there is.”

He smiles and hums, “Aww, don’t worry I have to spend the next five hours with a semi and all of your attractive qualities, which are far more than mine.” I scoff as I slip my shirt over my head before wrapping my arms around his waist and resting my chin on his chest, “Have you seen yourself, you’re the perfect combination. Your bright brown eyes and silky brown hair, your beautiful smile, you’re clumsy in the cutest sense of the word, your funny, cute, and have the biggest heart and truly care for people.”

He pulls my close and tucks my head into his neck while his face nuzzles into my hair, “Fuck, I love you.”

I pull back and cup his face with a wide smile brushing my lips against his, “Well fuck, I love you too.” I feel his smile widen before deepening the kiss.

“OH. MY. GOD.”

We jump apart to see Carol standing slack jawed in the doorway. I gasp before hissing, “Carol, shut up!”

She steps forward before shutting the door, “Does Mark know?” John and I shake our heads at the same time, “No!” Her surprise quickly turns to a girlish smile as she cheers, “You guys are so cute!”

I scowl and blush while John turns fifty shades of red, “Carol, you have to promise to not tell Mark, please.”

She puffs her cheeks and releases the air before she bites her lip, “Y/N/N, he’s gonna find out eventually just get it over with, it’s not like he can kill you.” My eyes widen and I shake my head, “Carol, please, I’m begging you, don’t tell him.”

She sighs before nodding, “Okay, fine I promise I won’t tell him but when he does find out, don’t let him know I knew.”

I nod once in finality, “Deal.”

When everyone is on their lunch break we decide to go over to Doc Magoos, which is where my heart got a stress test unintentionally and I’m sure John’s was about to stop.

“So fun fact.” I raise my eyebrow and look at Mark as well as everybody else, “And what’s that?”

He glared at me before leaving forward ever so slightly, “You have a boyfriend or a fling, whatever you want to call it.”

I look at Carol and she looks as surprised and scared as me, I glance at Carter as his hand digs into my thigh, where it had been sitting the majority of lunch and he looks like he’s going to need CPR in the next five seconds. I scoff, “That’s absurd.”

Mark narrows his eyes before crossing his arms, “Oh no it’s not, I know you.” I snort, “That is hardly evidence that I’m seeing someone and is now really the best time for this?”

He leans back and I glance at Carter again to see his face went from ‘oh my God I’m going to die’ to completely neutral before crossing my arms, I also notice how everyone is zeroed in on our conversation, even random people in the diner.

“Maybe not but we’re going to talk about it now. The late nights where you don’t get home till midnight or later, you disappear at random times during the day, my guess for ‘dates’, not to mention how you slip in around six in the morning thinking I’m still asleep, which I’m not. They all point to you having a fling or something.”

I sit up straighter and annoyance courses through my blood, and it’s not even at his constant need to mother hen me, “It is not a fling!” He smirks and nods, “So you admit it, there is someone.”

My eyes widen as I panic, “Uh, n-no, that’s, that isn’t what I said.” He shakes his head, “Not in so many words, but it was implied.” I scoff, “Even if there is someone, what’s the big deal?”

“The big deal is that you didn’t tell me. You usually tell me all these things but you aren’t telling me about this one which means one of two things, one, you know I would highly disapprove, or two, I know this person and I would still highly disapprove. I’m really hoping for one but I have a feeling it’s two.”

I open and close my mouth like a fish out of water, “I-okay maybe there is someone.” He sighs, “Yeah, I figured, but question is, is it one or two?”

God I hate Mark, he always gets me to spill my guts no matter how hard I try to keep them in. I look down as I mumble, “Two.” I glance up to see Mark close his eyes and see the disappointment all over his face. I lay my hand over Carter’s, which is now rubbing circles with his thumb in a comforting manner. I squeeze his hand before playing with his fingers out of nervousness.

“Mark, you have to understand, I really like him, hell I love him. He’s sweet, smart, funny, has a heart made of gold, and he loves me.”

“How do you know?”

At this point I forget everyone in the diner is prying into out conversation, “What?”

“That he loves you, how do you know?”

“Because he told me.”

“How do you know he’s not lying.”

“I just know.”

I had never been so happy to hear a beeper in my whole life. Mark growls as he stands up before looking at me, “This isn’t over, you’re going to tell me everything tonight.”

As he walks away a sheepish smile makes its way onto my face before I yell, “I have plans tonight!”

When our shift is finally over I’m all but begging John to leave, “Please, you promised!” He chuckles, “You sure? After lunch you still want to go to my place tonight?”

I nod frantically before whining, “I just need you, need you so bad.”

He licks his lips before caving, “Alright, okay let’s go, but you have to go home. If you don’t it’ll just make your brother even angrier.”

I sigh and nod, “Yeah, okay, fine.”

When we finally get back to his place I’m practically buzzing with need, “Baby, please.” He chuckles as he shakes his head, “I have to unlock the door first.”

I latch myself to the front of him kissing up and down his neck as he fumbles with the keys, “Fuck!”

When the door is finally opened I’m pushed inside before being pinned to the back of the door. I roll my hips against his feeling the ever growing bulge in his pants. He groans before wrapping my legs around his waist and leaving wet, open mouth kisses up and down my neck before nipping at my sweet spot. I tug on his hair as I whine, throwing my head back against the door.

He groans before pulling me from the door and setting me feet back on the ground. As we stumble to the bedroom a trail of clothes are left behind us. When we make it to the bedroom I’m thrown onto the bed before John is climbing on top of me throwing my bra across the room, “Do you know hard I got from listening to you defend me? And god when you got mad and your face scrunched all up? You looked like an angry little kitten whose toy was taken.”

I mewled as I arched my body against his, “He tried to take my toy, but it’s my favorite one of all, one that I’ll hold onto for the rest of my life.” He groaned against my chest before taking my nipple into his mouth.

I moaned as I ran my hand through his hair giving it a sharp tug causing him to moan against my chest and his cock to twitch against my thigh. I grind my pelvis against his before trying to push his head further down to where I needed him most. He chuckled as he popped off my nipple and left kisses down my stomach, “Such a needy little kitten.” I whined at the new nickname before moaning as his finger slid up my slit.

He groaned as his eyes landed on my core, “Fuck, who made you this wet?”

I try and pull his head closer but whimper when he doesn’t budge, “You, God it’s you! It’ll always be you!”

He groaned before running his nose against me and bumping my clit resulting in a high pitched moan, “Oh God!” He chuckles against me sending a wave of pleasure through me, “That’s not my name kitten.”

I wiggle my hips trying to get more friction but his hands pin my waist down as he tsks, “Nuh uh, no pleasure till you say my name.”

I whine as his nose teases my clit, “J-john.” He raises and eyebrow and I sigh impatiently, “Daddy! Please, please, please, touch me!” I see his smile for a split second before I throw my head back and moan in ecstasy. I arch my back towards him as his tongue circles my clit and his finger teases my hole. I tug on his hair receiving a groan as I whimper, “I need to cum, please let me cum.”

He sighs against me before inserting two fingers into me without warning rubbing against my g-spot perfectly. I release a high pitched moan as he bites my clit before pulling back slightly, “You can cum whenever you want to kitten.”

I moan as I release all over his digits before letting out a cry as he keeps going quickly drawing a second orgasm out of me which leads to a third and a fourth. I cry out trying to push him away as he goes for number five, “S’ t-too m-much.” He releases me from his mouth but his fingers continue their torture as he coos, “You can do it kitten, I know you can, just one more and I’ll give you a break. Come on princess, be Daddy’s good girl.”

I nod my head as tears steam down my face, “O-okay, I’ll be your g-good g-girl.” He presses sweet little kisses to the inside of my trembling thighs as the knot in my stomach grows tighter and tighter before I moan his name like a prayer as I fall over the edge again. After he rides me through my orgasm I whine and push him away again, only this time he moves.

As he moves to hover over me I pant trying to catch my breath, “Thank you.” He smiles before pressing a kiss to my lips, “You’re welcome baby.” I wrap my arms around his shoulder before pulling him down into a kiss tasting myself on his lips, “I like being called kitten.” He chuckles against my mouth, “I could tell.”

I sigh contentedly before pressing a kiss against his shoulder, “I do love you, you know?” He pulls back ever so slightly before smiling like a lovesick puppy, “I know, and I love you too.”

I close my eyes just enjoying the closeness of our bodies before John asks, “You know what today is?” I open my eyes to meet his brown ones, “No?” He smiles before pushing himself to sit up and reach into his bedside table. He turns back around holding a small box, “It’s our six month anniversary.” I can’t help but laugh at his proud smile before crawling into his lap and pulling him into a kiss, “You are so fucking sweet, you know that?” He shrugs, “You’ve mentioned it a time or two.” I smile before he hands me the box, “Here, open it.”

I take it gently before opening it. I gasp as I take in the necklace with a diamond encrusted C on it, “John I couldn’t possibly accept this.” He smiles before brushing a piece of hair behind my ear and caressing my jaw, “Yes you can, you know I’m not in any financial trouble, we’ve already agreed we want to spend the rest of our lives together, and most importantly, by the end of the night your brother will officially know who you’re dating.”

Before I even have time to answer he’s guiding me to stand and turn my back to him. As he brushes my hair to the side and clasps it on he presses a kiss to my jaw, “I decided on a C rather than a J because someday you’re last name will be Carter too, that is if you want to change your last name.”

I glance down to see the sparkling pendant laying beautifully on my chest before turning to look at John, “I want to change my last name, I mean, how good does Y/N Carter sound? It’s just meant to be.”

He pulls me closer by the hips with a smile, “It sounds perfect babe.” I pull his lips harshly into mine before smirking, “Hey babe?”

“Yeah?”

“You can fuck me now.”

[mal-urameshi]

Mama Okoye catches Shuriri fic 🫣👀

Chronicles of Mama Okoye and Riri! VIII

Young Love

Warnings: Suggestive

After Riri had told her mother that she had much more than a crush on her long-time best friend, childhood friend, Shuri, she felt relieved getting that weight off her chest. And Riri was even more grateful of the pep-talk her mother had given her.

She and Shuri were two peas in a pod. They were inseparable. Nothing could have torn them apart. So even if Riri's feelings weren't reciprocated, she'd feel good she got it out there. Maybe there would be a bit of awkwardness, but they'd get over it. Hopefully.

Riri had arrived at Shuri's lab relatively quickly after she gave her a call that she was coming over. She stood outside the door, clenching and flexing her fists as she shook off the last bit of her inhibitions.

"Mama said there's nothing to worry about, Riri." She rolled her shoulders and her neck before releasing a breath, "You got this. It's just Shuri." Riri cleared her throat and cracked her knuckles, "Just go in there and be straight with her. Yea."

Riri spun around in a circle and took a deep breath again, "C'mon Ri, stop being a pussy."

The lab doors then opened which caused Riri to take a step back. There in the doorway stood Shuri with an amused expression on her face, "Griot said you were outside over five minutes ago."

Riri played with her fingers while staring at Shuri, "I was hyping myself up."

"Well, if it's a hype man you want, I'm right here!" Shuri cupped a palm over her mouth and made an atrocious attempt at beatboxing. Riri laughed and humored her by doing an equally bad attempt of the robot.

"Go Riri, go Riri!" Shuri laughed at her friend's dance moves.

"I mean, I ain't no Michael Jackson, but I did that!"

Shuri waved her palm from side to side, "Eh, you did something."

Riri made a face, "Shut up!" Then she smiled, their usual jesting having eased her nerves some.

"Come, come! Don't just stand outside like some stranger." Shuri gently took Riri's hand and pulled her into the lab. It was a gesture that had been done billions of times in the past between them, but now, Riri couldn't help the butterflies that swarmed her stomach whenever Shuri did that.

"It's just us in here?" Riri looked around the lab to see if there were any stray scientists lurking about.

"Yes. For the rest of the day, actually." Shuri lighty tilted her head at Riri's demeanour. She was avoiding eye contact and looked a bit unsure of herself. And Riri was never unsure of herself.

"Okay, okay cool." She cleared her throat and found herself fiddling with her fingers again, "Listen Shuri, I gotta tell you something." Riri's gaze finally found Shuri's.

Shuri nodded, "Of course, you can tell me anything, Riri."

"Okay. Can we sit down for this? Because I don't know how you're gonna react to what I'm gonna say."

Shuri released a laugh, "You're making me nervous, Riri." But Shuri did as was instructed and sat down, her own stomach in knots to hear what Riri had to tell her.

It seemed serious. Bast, did she do something to offend her? Was Riri going to cut things off with her? Did she not want to be her friend anymore? Was it because...

"Okay, I'm just gonna freestyle off the dome here. I was rehearsing in my head on my way over here because I didn't want to sound stupid, but I can't keep my thoughts straight."

Shuri kept quiet as she gave Riri some time to gather her thoughts.

"We've known each other since what, I was seven? Eight? And I always thought we would have been friends forever. And that would be cool and all but these days I just find it to be difficult."

Shuri couldn't find it in herself to try to keep her face neutral as Riri talked. So she really didn't want to be her friend anymore. She immediately felt her throat tighten, "Did I do something wrong? Can I make things better?"

Riri sat up straighter in her seat, "What! No, no!" She smacked the heel of her palm repeatedly onto her forehead. "Man, I shoulda wrote it on paper or something. That's not what I meant, Shuri." She took Shuri's hands in hers and looked into her eyes.

"What I mean is...for a while now...and I mean a really long while. I've liked you as more than a friend. And it hurts right here every time." She took a hand and tapped her heart.

"It hurts because you're right here, you know. I see you almost every day. We have sleepovers. We colonize the lab. But I didn't know if you felt the same. Or even saw me in that way at all. I had to hide the way that you made me blush and try not to accidentally say anything sus, 'cuz I was so scared to make you feel uncomfortable, you know?"

Riri took a deep breath to try to collect her thoughts and held Shuri's hands just a bit tighter. Because she was scared that if she let go, this could very much possibly be the last time she might see Shuri.

"You're my best friend and it may be selfish to say this but I want to be more than that. Bast knows how much I want to be more than that." Riri took the time to tentatively interlock their fingers together and just feel the warmth Shuri's larger hand provided.

Shuri's own heart was on a mission to drill itself out of her chest at Riri's confession. Her feelings were reciprocated! Oh Bast, Oh Bast!

"Can I be selfish too?" Shuri brought their interlocked hands to her lips, where she gently kissed Riri's wrist. "I like you as well, Riri."

Riri couldn't stop her mouth from dropping open, "You..you do?"

Shuri grinned and silently nodded, "Yes. I am being very 'deadass' right now. I didn't know if you felt the same because I didn't want to jeopardize what we had. Just like you. I'm honestly very happy about this." She kissed Riri's wrist again which caused the girl to blush.

"So..." Riri started while dipping her head a little bit, trying to hide her growing blush.

"So..." Shuri caressed Riri's knuckle and used her other hand to cover her mouth. Riri looked over at Shuri, "Will you be my girlfriend, then?"

Shuri softly chuckled, "You stole my thunder."

"I strike while the iron is hot." Riri gave a shrug while she drew irregular shapes on the tabletop. "Yes, I'll be your girlfriend."

"Yes!" Riri squeezed their intertwined fingers tighter.

"Would it be too much to ask for a kiss as well?" Shuri queried shyly.

"Nah, you good. Sure..we can kiss. I definitely don't mind."

Carefully the two girls closed the distance between them and pressed a chaste kiss on each other's lips.

Slowly they both withdrew just a bit before Riri spoke up, "Can I get another one?"

Shuri gave her another peck and then another before pressing their foreheads together, "That was better than my fantasies."

"You fantasized about me?"

Shuri scrunched her nose, "Yes. The girl of my dreams was right there but felt out of reach."

"Oh my gosh, Shuri you're so corny." Riri wrapped her arms around Shuri's neck in a hug.

"You like it though!" She hummed as she wrapped her arms around Riri's waist.

Riri couldn't help but smile all the way back home. She and Shuri ended up going on an impromptu date, spending the entire evening holding hands and making each other blush. Riri covered her face with her palms for the nth time that evening, not believing that she and Shuri are actually together!

Riri walked through the front door and was met with her mother watching some television.

"Evening, Ma!" Riri greeted with a whimsical sigh as she gracefully fell backward onto the couch, her head resting perfectly on Okoye's lap.

Okoye looked down at Riri and smiled, "Hello, my Pebble. I take it things went well?"

Riri gave another whimsical sigh, "It went so good, Ma! She likes me back! I was so nervous though when I was confessing. It was so bad she thought I wanted to stop being her friend at first. She looked so sad. But then I gave it to her straight. And I just..laid all my feelings out there! My heart felt like it was gonna fall out my chest! But then she said she was scared to tell me about her feelings too." Riri bit her lip and smiled at the memory.

"And then we held hands and.." She looked up at Okoye who was staring intently at her, waiting to see what she said next, "We went on a date!"

Okoye softly caressed Riri's head as she happily prattled off what she and Shuri did, "And she kept kissing my knuckles. It's like she wants me to internally combust." Riri turned on her side and pressed her face into Okoye's stomach, "But she said she's really happy to be able to express herself with me in the way she always wanted to. And I'm really glad that I can do the same, Mama." Riri released another whimsical sigh.

Okoye squished Riri's face and teased, "My small girl is in loooooveee."

Riri blew a raspberry, "I am definitely down bad, Mama."

Okoye smiled at her daughter, "Just follow your heart and make sure to take things slow. And communicate. Communication is key."

Riri nodded, "Yes, Ma. I getchu. Thanks for the advice though. Without you, I wouldn't have bagged my girlfriend!"

Okoye shrugged, "It was light work. But you're welcome, my love."

Months had passed and Riri and Shuri had only gotten closer. Cuddling was definitely Riri's favourite pastime. And that's what the couple found themselves doing. Shuri was over at Riri's house and they decided to take a break from brainstorming one of the newest projects they were trying to commence.

Riri had a leg over Shuri's hip while Shuri rubbed circles on her waist with her thumb.

Shuri pressed a kiss to Riri's nose, "I love you."

Riri pressed a kiss to Shuri's lips, "I love you too."

They both gazed into each other's eyes longingly before a wave of confidence washed over Riri. She pressed a light kiss to Shuri's neck that caused her to shiver.

"Did you like that?" Riri giggled and Shuri just nodded, her own smile playing on her lips.

Using the momentum of Shuri's reception to her advances, Riri straddled the other girl's hips and leaned down to press another kiss to her lips.

Shuri pushed herself up on her elbow to get a better angle of their liplock while simultaneously slipping her hand up Riri's shirt.

Okoye walked up to her house, the image of her having a hot shower fueling her tired legs with energy. That last mission took more out of her than it should have. She noted two Doras, T'Haylet and Ashei, stationed on either side of the entrance to her home as she reached the porch.

That could only mean one thing: Shuri was over.

The two Doras looked at Okoye with a smirk and all three of them saluted each other before Okoye entered her home. The girls weren't in the living room, nor the backyard so that meant only one other option which was Riri's room.

Okoye was correct because she heard both girls giggling as she neared her daughter's room. They were probably working on a new invention.

However, Okoye wasn't expecting to see what she did when she pushed open the door..

Riri had just pulled her shirt over her head while Shuri's was still pooled around her neck.

"Riri!"

Both girl's blood ran cold as their heads snapped to Okoye in the now open doorway. Frozen like an antelope in headlights.

Okoye took in the sight of Riri straddling Shuri and Shuri's hands now slackly gripping her daughter's waist.

"Ma!" Riri covered herself and rolled off of Shuri as the other girl swiftly sat up on the bed and hugged herself.

Okoye pointed between the two of them, "Make yourselves decent and come outside, immediately!" Okoye closed the door and exhaled with a shake of her head.

Shuri and Riri sat next to each other on the couch as Okoye paced in front of them. Shuri had her palm over Riri's as their eyes followed Okoye's movements.

Okoye ran hundreds of ways she could deal with the situation and took a deep breath to help clear her thoughts. Shouting was not the way to do it, she reminded herself.

Okoye grabbed a chair and placed it in front of the girls, taking a seat. Okoye looked between the two of them and took a deep breath, "You two have urges and that's normal teenager behaviour. And the both of you will want to explore said urges as I had the misfortune of walking in on just now."

Shuri and Riri simultaneously cringed of embarrassment as Okoye continued, "I can tell you not to do it or threaten and whatever else, but that won't stop you two from doing whatever it is you want to do with each other if you really want to. Fine. I do not have control over your actions."

Shuri and Riri stole a glance at each other before looking at Okoye again.

Okoye crossed her arms, "But none of that hanky-panky is to go on under my roof. Hold hands or kiss however much you want, but no sexual intercourse in my home!"

Riri and Shuri quietly nodded their heads in understanding.

"Riri, we had the talk already. You know to be safe and not engage in any risky behaviour, yes?"

Riri nodded, "Yes, Umama."

Okoye turned to Shuri, "And Queen Mother has spoken to you already, right Shuri?" Shuri swiftly nodded, "Yes, Okoye. Safe sex is great sex."

Riri smirked not being able to resist, "Better wear a latex."

Shuri turned to Riri and made a beat on her lap, "Unless you want that late text."

Riri cupped her hands around her mouth, "That I think I'm late text!"

"Girls, I am being serious!" Okoye shook her head and exhaled through her nose.

"Yes, Mama we understand. I just couldn't pass up that Lil Wayne bar." Riri tried to placate.

Okoye stood up from her chair, "With that being said, I think it's time for Shuri to leave for the day. I do not want to deal with any residual raging hormones for the evening." Okoye walked off to her bedroom to get that well-deserved shower she yearned.

Riri held Shuri's hand while walking out to the porch.

"Oh my Bast, I thought it was going to be worse than that! I was so scared she was going to make us break up or something!" Shuri semi-whispered.

"I felt your palms sweating so bad! But don't worry, Ma would have never made us break up. She's understanding like that, you know?

Shuri laughed, "If you think my palms were bad, my armpits were a waterfall."

Riri looked over to where her mother disappeared to before she stood on her tiptoes to give Shuri a kiss. "Call me when you get home, 'kay?"

Shuri pressed another kiss to Riri's cheek, "Definitely."

Riri bit her lip and waved Shuri off, "Bye."

Shuri walked backwards out of the doorway, "Bye."

Riri blew Shuri a kiss, "I love you!"

Shuri caught it and put it in her pocket, "I love you more!"

Taggies: @somethingcleaverandwhitty @karimwillia @neptoons1998

Mey, if you see this, I dunno if you'd have liked to be tagged or not, so better to be safe than sorry! ❤️

[enemyoflactose]

Secret Admirer shrimps for @sesshy380 you remember that Valentine's Day fic I'd said I'd write for you? Well I finally finished it a month later (👉ﾟ⁠ヮﾟ⁠)👉. Sorry if it's lackluster.

Ryuzaki,

I know that this may come off as a surprise, that this may be sudden, but I've been in love with you for years now. It was practically love at first sight, if not for your subpar dueling I would have confessed a long time ago.

I was an idiot for that. I'll admit. Back then I had an ego the size of the sun, and couldn't see past the fact you had more losses than me. I thought that would ruin my reputation. That was a stupid reason. My reputation was already in shambles. If anything, you'd be the one taking the hit.

I've since realized that my reputation didn't matter, and my love for you has never changed. I doubt it ever will. After five years of us being friends I thought my feelings would die down, but they only got stronger.

I want to be with you forever. Be your boyfriend, hell maybe your husband if we last that long. We've been by each other's side for so long, going through the worst shit imaginable, being ostracized, and almost dying all because of my stupidity. You never left me. You always stayed with me.

If you can't figure out who sent this letter, then you're an idiot. Though, that's something that I've always loved about you anyway.

That was the note that Japan's formerly famous duelist, Dinosaur Ryuzaki, had found when he'd come back from a tournament after scoring third place.

He'd never read anything like this. A genuine love confession from someone! It obviously wasn't a prank, he'd gotten his fair share of those, and it was written by someone he was already close to! So it should not only be easy to find the sender, but be easy to form a relationship with!

There was no indication of who could have sent it, no address, no name, no nothing. All he had were the vague clues written in the letter.

His first time reading it, Ryuzaki had no clue who could have sent it. Reading it again and again, he began to notice every little detail in the paper, just not enough to figure out who had sent it.

He needed to know who wrote the letter, and he needed to know now!

He put his shoes back on and ran out of his house. It was currently 5:57 pm, everyone he knew should be home. The first stop, because he was the closest, Espa Roba.

Now, Ryuzaki and Espa weren't actually close enough for every thing in the letter to be not weird. They didn't hang out unless it was a tournament, and they hadn't been in any actual life or death scenarios, but Espa was dramatic and exaggerated everything, so maybe..?

Ok. He didn't make any sense. The note was written way too well for it to be him, and it didn't even mention the universe and the stars once. Not even a “I've always felt like we were star crossed lovers” or something.

Oh well. Maybe he just wanted this note to be special or something, and if he didn't write it he could help find out who did.

It was a win win!

Reaching the fraudulent psychic’s house, Ryuzaki repeatedly knocked on the door several times until loud stomping led to the door being violently flung open, and an annoyed Espa Roba in its wake.

“What do you want from me?!” shrieked the universe's favorite.

Ryuzaki backed up a bit, then held up the love letter.

“Did you send me a letter?”

Espa gave him an annoyed look, “We walked home from the tournament together idiot. HOW COULD I HAVE PUT A LETTER IN YOUR MAIL SLOT?”

Ryuzaki thought about it for a moment. Man. We did walk home together.

He rubbed the back of his head and snickered, “My bad. I guess since you were the last person I was with you were the only one to come to mind.”

Espa Roba looked at the note in Ryuzaki’s hand, and snatched it. “Did you read this more than once? Maybe there are some kind of clues written in it.”

“Well I did read it, and I feel stupid for thinking you wrote it because it was written way too good to be you.” Ryuzaki teased.

“Hey! I'm good at writing! And focus on the actual note! This could be your one chance at love, I'm not gonna let you be alone forever!” Espa looked over the note about eight times, analyzing the entire thing.

“Ya find anything?” Ryuzaki impatiently asked.

“Well, this person clearly loves you,”

“Damn really.”

“And they seem to be close to you…” Espa thought for a second, looked like he was going to say something, then shook his head at the thought. “Ghost maybe?”

Ryuzaki started to giggle maniacally, “Ghost? Isn't he dating someo-'' Espa cut him off.

“Yeah and they need to break up! Anyway it actually probably isn't him, but we should still ask.” Espa reached for his sneakers.

Ryuzaki rolled his eyes, “What about…” he blushed slightly, “Haga?”

“It was not Haga! He couldn't be romantic if it'd save his life!”

Ryuzaki frowned.

When Espa’s shoes were on, they walked down the block to Ghost’s house. Conveniently, he lived on the same street as them.

As the two approached the house, they noticed that Ghost was already outside and talking to someone over the phone. It sounded semi serious, but clearly not serious enough because the second Ghost saw them walk towards him, he told the other person bye and hung up.

“What do guys want?” He sounded a little annoyed.

“Well we-” Ryuzaki was going to explain, but Espa took that opportunity.

“We wanted to know if you knew who wrote Ryuzaki a love letter or could find any clues as to who sent it.”

Espa held out the letter, and with an exasperated sigh, Ghost took it. He didn't even look over the letter for a second before clicking his tongue and saying, “Haga wrote it.”

Ryuzaki and Espa froze, “...What?”

“H-a-g-a w-r-o-t-e i-t.” Ghost made sure to accent each sound just to drive the point in that Ryuzaki… was a dumbass.

Why did he have to listen to Espa Roba? He and Haga have been friends for years, been through hell and back, and Ryuzaki would be lying if he said he wasn't also completely in love with Haga. He could have been on the phone and in a relationship by now if he wasn't such a dunce.

Ryuzaki hung his head down while Ghost gave him back the letter.

“Haga just ranted to me about how scared he was that you wouldn't return his feelings. I suggest you talk to him because everyone except the two of you, and Espa, knew you liked each other.” Ghost gave no words of encouragement, and went back inside.

⋆｡°✩ ⋆⁺｡˚⋆˙‧₊✩₊‧˙⋆˚｡⁺⋆ ✩°｡⋆

Haga wrote the letter. Haga wrote the letter. Ryuzaki was practically in tears. Not just because he was the dumbest moron to ever walk the Earth and should not ever listen to Espa Roba again, but because his best friend was in love with him. Him of all people!

He could barely contain his excitement! Which quickly became a problem because he was having trouble selecting Haga’s number thanks to his trembling. He managed to click it after several attempts, and waited for him to answer. The phone rang twice before Haga finally answered.

“H-hey Ryuzaki… can I help you?” he sounded nervous, but Ryuzaki failed to notice that.

“I'm in love with you!!” he wasted no time shouting. Excitement oozing from his words.

“Eh?! Uhm, er, ok..?” Haga stuttered out, embarrassed and surprised.

Ryuzaki failed to notice that too, “I'm so glad it was you who sent the letter and someone else! I'd be so upset if it ended up being from Espa or Ryota! Thank God Ghost helped me figure out it was you!”

There was a pause on the other side, and then a giggle, “it was so obvious I wrote that letter and you still struggled to tell it was me?”

“Hey! I didn't think you were the type to write angsty love letters!”

“It was not angsty! I poured my heart out in that letter!” He stopped for a second, “I meant every word y'know…” his voice had become soft.

“Yeah, I know. You wanna meet tomorrow? Make this official?”

“Sure-”

“Wait wait wait,” Ryuzaki quickly interrupted, “are you still on the East side? How'd you send the letter without me knowing?”

Haga’s side of the phone went silent, then he answered, “I've been in Domino since last week. I was going to give you the letter at the tournament, but I ended up not participating in that.”

It was now Ryuzaki’s turn to laugh, “You mean this entire ‘me thinking I had a secret admirer’ could've been avoided if you just participated in that budget tournament?”

“Well since you're such an idiot, probably not.”

Ryuzaki giggled and exchanged his final pleasantries before he hung up. He punched his fist up and let out a soft, “Boyfriend acquired!”

[fish-spaghetti]

Zevlor x female Dark urge

Word count: 1484

Some stuff that is worth knowing before reading:

This is my very first fanfiction in English and English is not my first language. I tried my best to avoid crazy typos and insane grammatical errors but there may still be some. (And I am very bad at writing)

I am very sorry for creating ooc

I have absolutely no clue how to use tumblr

I named my dark urge as Tav because why not(shrug). And then probably some bugs showed up and the name of my character became the dark urge again. Funny thing is, this actually happened after she realized she is a Bhaalspawn.

I didn’t mean to create her as an idiot, it was an accident and I messed up the stats so she turned to someone who has int 8… thought it will be fun to explain this as “she forgot everything”

Not a “happy ending”

I am so so so sorry

Right, there you go:

Zevlor remembers her, even after all these years.

He's grown old, to the point where he has to squint to see things clearly and needs to hear things repeated three or four times to understand. No longer agile and swift like before, he relies on a cane to move slowly. He forgets many things – a cascade of memories slipping through the sieve of time. Names of people he had once known became elusive, faces blurred into the fog of forgetfulness. Even when he was walking down the familiar streets, midway through, a sudden lapse of memory would cloak him, leaving him standing there, questioning why he started the journey in the first place.

But he still remembers her—the way she looked and her smile. He even remembers to help her clean the armor and gloves hanging in the room every morning. And that blade, her favorite, named "Phalar Aluve." He put it next to the armor, still remembering the translated version of the drow inscription on the blade.

"I pulled it out. Hard. Pulled it out," she said back then, her sentences disjointed, as if it was a new language she started learning recently.

Zevlor remembers how she used gestures to help him understand what she was talking about. A young man, perhaps named Gale, used to kindly help her complete her sentences and pat her shoulder to comfort her when she got frustrated by her inability to articulate clearly.

After all these years, he still remembers her—her eyes, her messy hair, and the day tears fell from her eyes as she looked at him.

"I love you," she whispered gently, and with that, she jumped out of the window and disappeared into the night.

All that has vanished, leaving only a set of armor she loved but couldn't wear, the gloves he gave her, and that damn blade.

Zevlor, with a rag in hand, gently wiped the armor. Would things be different now if he hadn't told her about the things related to the Paladin? He clenched the rag and shook his head.

He remembers their first encounter. She and her companions helped them when the goblins attacked. Afterwards, she threw a punch at the human boy whose name he had forgotten. An interesting young Tiefling, he thought, introducing himself and expressing gratitude to her and her companions.

She looked at him blankly, glanced at her companions, and shook her head, "No name. Don't remember. Gone." She pointed to her head, "Gone. Memory.Everything."

What happened next? If he remembers correctly, it seems that one of her companions suddenly suggested giving her a name. “We can’t keep calling you Tiefling all the time, right? ” But she couldn’t think of any name herself, she couldn’t even speak fluently. So they wrote down several names they came up with and let her choose. Zevlor helped with the name picking, he read those names for her, in case she forgot how to read, and added one to the list.

"Tav," she pointed to one of the options written on paper, then pointed to herself, "Tav."

She laughed happily, repeatedly saying her new name.

She used to have a lute, a gift from Alfira, she claimed. Her brain was like it had been pierced by countless holes, rendering her unable to articulate words and remember her name and her past. However, she still knows how to use a blade, cast spells, and even remember how to play the lute. She even performed a duet with Alfira and was shocked when she realized what she was doing.

Unfortunately, Halsin didn't bring the lute to him, saying Alfira wanted to keep it to commemorate the hero who saved her several times. Zevlor didn't say anything, just nodded in acceptance.

And her staff, she said it’s called the Spellsparkler and she loved it very much. She was an excellent sorceress, even Rolan agreed.

The staff went to Rolan. He said he was there with her before her final battle. He refused to give more details on what happened, just sighed and told Zevlor that she was no longer herself that day.

"She did it for us. She became a mindflayer." Rolan showed Zevlor the staff, "She gave me this staff before they left."

Zevlor felt jealous, jealous that he wasn't there as her ally. If he had been there, she wouldn't have disappeared like this. Even if the one sitting across from him now is a mindflayer, it is still better than the cold armor and other lifeless items.

He missed the time spent with her, the celebration at their camp where she sat next to him humming tunes, and her tail swayed to the music. He advised her to go chat with others and enjoy the rare moments of happiness.

"Tav.” She pointed to herself, “Wants to be with you."

He tried to continue persuading but was interrupted, "Zevlor, what is a Paladin?"

He explained it was about upholding justice and righteousness, to become a beacon of hope in dark times.

"What about Tav? Can Tav become a Paladin?"

"Perhaps?" he smiled.

After that, Alfira took her away to play a duet together. People gathered together and enjoyed the music. Rolan even joined, clapping and laughing on the side. He remembers how good it was to see their smiles.

Maybe it was that moment, or perhaps some other strange moment, Zevlor couldn't say, but he knew he developed some affection for her.

He had once thought he might not see her again. He got trapped in that nightmare, the sounds he heard were not just the screams and cries of people, and what he saw wasn’t just helpless civilians hiding behind him while watching everything burn. There was also her. She stood amidst the sea of flames, her eyes emotionless.

"You should have saved me," she screamed, and the fire ate her alive. Zevlor couldn't wake up from this nightmare. Desperation and agony enveloped him; he knew he was trapped in a dream but couldn't wake up. He saw his deceived self kneeling, begging everyone to surrender. And he saw the people he protected suffered. They looked at him with anger and hatred, calling him a traitor and a coward. But awakening came too late; he was already immobilized, helplessly watching all those tragic events they could have avoided. In despair, he immersed himself in the lies woven by the absolute. Beautiful illusions, where everyone survived and started new lives, and he once again became a Paladin. And there she stood by his side.

But he woke up again. It was her.

Once again, she saved him, after the Grove, she saved him again.

He thought she would blame him, or maybe she would slap him, or curse him as a damned traitor.

"But Zevlor, in my heart, you are a Paladin. Does oath matter that much?" She could now articulate complete sentences, walked up to him, placed her hand on his shoulder, and whispered, "It's not your fault, not your fault."

"It's not your fault," she gently touched his horn, "Go find them, I'll handle the rest. Trust me."

After that, Zevlor saw them a few times, but he didn't dare to approach them, only observing them in disguise.

"If only I wasn't a coward," he thought, cleaning the sword hilt with the rag.

There were many things left unsaid, but even if he dared to speak them now, she wouldn’t be able to hear. Every day, he repeats those words – words meant for her – to the belongings she left for him.

"Paladins uphold justice and righteousness, and have to become the beacons of hope in dark times." she repeated what he said that day, holding his hand against her face, "I can't be a Paladin. I am a Bhaalspawn, I did many unforgivable and cruel things before I lost my memory."

"No, you are Tav. The past you isn't the present you."

"But I can't erase what I've done." Her tone was calm, "But I have a chance to make amends, to end everything like a Paladin."

"I love you," tears rolled down her cheeks.

He wanted to follow her, but at the moment of leaving, he was hit by a sleep spell.

And then at that harbor, Halsin appeared with her belongings.

"Is this the place?"

"Yes."

"She killed herself."

"Yes."

"Why..."

"She turned into a mindflayer."

Halsin handed him the package, "Maybe you'd want this. Inside is her favorite sword, 'Phalar Aluve.'"

"I know this sword."

"Yes, and the armor she liked but couldn't wear. She said if she became a Paladin one day, she wanted to wear it. And... your gloves. She took them out every night before sleeping, saying it helped her sleep."

Zevlor remembered the sound of the waves and the mournful cries of seagulls.

He patted the armor gently and stood up with the help of a cane.

"I love you."

[suprsingr]

Okay! I came up with a theory for what's going to happen in Nevermore and I want to get it down on paper ahead of time so that I can see if I'm right. Because if I am, I will feel so smart, and if I'm wrong, I can feel that much more satisfied with the superior intellect and planning of the authors.

So, as a quick theory on Annabel's death, I'd like to cite these facts:

💀 Annabel's spectre's dirty bare feet and dress

💀 Annabel's dying emotions being loneliness, sadness and (potentially) doubt, with these feelings manifesting in a gaping void where her heart should be and a flood of tears

💀 Annabel's childhood friend who was determined to marry her, despite her disinterest in him

💀 Annabel's repeated sentiment of there being no point without Lenore and freaking out over the idea of losing her

💀 Her spectre being the Lady in White, a woman left at the altar

Now, I think Lenore was killed before her and Annabel's wedding and Annabel was left at the altar. She had no idea that Lenore was dead, only that she had been abandoned, and in response to this, she ran away. Lost her shoes, dirtied her feet, ruined the ends of her dress, and was left feeling loneliness, sadness, and doubt (didn't Lenore love her? why would she disgrace her like this? what was she going to do without her?).

It's here that she meets Lenore's killer, who is her childhood friend, and he tells her that he saved her from marrying a - gasp! - woman. Annabel's heart is shattered and she's shot with Lenore's gun. End of story.

That story, anyway.

Now, a few more facts:

💀 Annabel assumes, repeatedly, that Lenore is as calculated as she is

💀 Annabel vowed to marry the first man who could beat her in a game of chess

💀 Annabel is remembering her life backward from her death, while Lenore is remembering things from the beginning

So, Annabel has memories that inform her of her decision not to marry anyone who couldn't out-maneuver her. Maybe she had some cheeky conversations with Lenore about it, maybe her dad mentions it, who knows. But it was a major defining aspect of her life, so it makes sense that it would come up frequently. And since Lenore and her were going to be married (on top of the fact Lenore was posing as a man, successfully), she logically assumes that Lenore is a master strategist, cunning and manipulative, just like her.

Here is where the conflict pops up, as we all know at this point: Annabel is strategizing and Lenore is just... being Lenore, and they're getting to know each other again for the first time. Lenore sees Annabel as beautiful and kind, while Annabel sees Lenore as charismatic and ingenious. The complexity of their characters, while excellent writing, makes for some very confusing interactions between them. Because they are in love, they can feel that they have a bond, but they don't actually know each other yet.

So, of course, Lenore is disturbed by how cold Annabel is and will want to save her friends, and Annabel is going to keep playing games because it's all she knows how to do. In time, Annabel will be faced with the fact that Lenore is not any match for her in cunning, strategy, or calculation, and she will be equally disturbed by Lenore's recklessness and loyalty to strangers. This will be when they fight.

But! The way that I see this all ending!!!

Annabel will remember the chess match with Lenore. Lenore, who practiced playing chess for days, weeks, months, whatever, who disguised herself as a man for her, who chased her all the way to London, who wrote her a love song, will be sitting in front of her trying so hard to best her and failing spectacularly, and Annabel...

will throw the game.

Manipulative, cunning, duplicitous Annabel will tip her king over on purpose and let Lenore win, because she loves her.

And she will do the same thing in Nevermore.

That's my theory.

[usafphantom2]

Don Campbell was an SR 71 crew chief, and he received a letter from my father in 1989. His son, Don Campbell Junior, found this file and sent it to me. This is what my father wrote about the SR 71 when he was trying to save the program. He talked to the Senators individually. At one point, Dad tried to give away the SR-71s to the New York National Guard, which almost worked until General Welch shut it down. Dad was in a car with a New York senator discussing saving the SR-71s. When Dad offered all of the SR 71 to New York. The Senator was so excited. Dad said he nearly jumped out of the car!!

The US Air Force plans to terminate all SR 71 strategic reconnaissance operations by September 1989. This move is taken as a cost-saving measure but ignores the unique mission capabilities of the SR-71 and its key role in the US intelligence system. The SR-71 directly supports all levels of intelligence nationals, strategic and tactical. It has an all-weather day-night capability and remains the fastest high and fly aircraft in the world.

It’s a modern sensor suite exemplified by the (ASARS) the advanced synthetic aperture radar system enables it to gather high-resolution imagery through clouds, and in periods of darkness, its high operational altitude, along with the long-range Capability of its sensors enables the SR 71 to image denied areas without actually overflying them. It is frequently tasked to cover target areas inaccessible to other reconnaissance systems and to provide fast reaction coverage of crisis areas such as Nicaragua, Libya, and the Persian Gulf. Its advanced defense system will protect the SR 71 against surface and air-launched threats well into the next century. Its survivability has been repeatedly proven during deep penetration missions into high-threat environments in the face of defense budget strength the SR 71 is a good bargain. USAF investments and SR 71 systems and support are paying off. The fleet is modern and up-to-date sensors and operating systems are state of the art.

There are now more spare engines in reserve ready to fly at any point in the history of the program. Over 400 million worth of spare parts plus an additional 200 million of bond stock are capable of supporting the SR 71 operations for years to come. The cost of an SR 71 Wing is roughly the same as the cost of an F 15 Wing.

The SR 71 has no peer.

Its contributions to peacetime reconnaissance requirements of the nation remain essential. It is also needed to meet.. pre- and post. SlOP intelligence mission requirements.

Its continual operation until a replacement reconnaissance system is fully operational is mandatory.~Butch Sheffield

Congress was lied to by the Pentagon Generals by saying there would be a new SR 71 it’s been 35 years we still haven’t seen it. There is no Aurora. That was a myth. The Generals lied to Congress about how much it cost to run the program Isn’t lying to Congress against the law?

Their “fighter pilot mafia” left the United States Air Force with a vacuum during the Persian Gulf War. If they had the SR 71 like they did during the Vietnam War they could’ve easily found their targets. I wonder how many men had to die in that War because there was no SR 71 to give the fighter pilots, their target. This paper was written before the Persian Gulf War.

I cannot change the past, but I can change the public perception that the SR 71 was canceled because we had something better and because the cost was too high. It has been proven that the cost of not having an SR 71 was too high .~Linda Sheffield

@Habubrats71 via X

[avaantares]

I wrote a long response to a blue-checkmark drama post, but between the time I clicked "reblog" and the time I finished typing, OP apparently turned off reblogs for that post. So GUESS WHAT, y'all get my diatribe anyway. (Sorry; I know most of you aren't the problem. But I did actual math, so I don't want it to go to waste.)

---

The old axiom still applies:

If social media is free to use, it's because YOU are the product.

What that means, for the adage-averse, is this: Sites and services that appear to be fully free to users (Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Google, et al.) are collecting your personal data and selling it to advertisers to pay for the (in some cases) hundreds of millions of dollars it costs to run such sites.

Tumblr doesn't do this. Tumblr hasn't done it, despite a monthly deficit of literally millions of dollars, which is why it's repeatedly been sold at a massive loss to new owners.

To give you actual numbers: Yahoo! acquired Tumblr in 2010 at a cost of $1.1 billion. After taking enormous losses, they later sold it to Verizon for an undisclosed amount. After trying (and failing) for two years to make the site pay for itself, Verizon sold it to Automattic (its current owners) for just $3 million. [Source]

For those who don't math, that means Tumblr's market value dropped by $1,097,000,000 in just nine years, or (averaged out) devalued by approximately $10 million per month. In short, nobody is looking at this as a worthwhile investment to hang onto long-term.

So why didn't it make money for its various owners, despite promising user statistics and a then-unheard-of initial sale price to Yahoo? Precisely because it wasn't leveraging your data to offset its running costs. The algorithm-free advertising format simply isn't viable for a site this big, which requires massive amounts of data storage and bandwidth (all those multimedia options you love cost a fortune on the back end). While there is a modicum of value for companies to hold a loss-generating property for tax purposes (which is pretty much what Verizon did with the site during its ownership), there is a finite period to reap those tax benefits. More relevant to us, if the site's only purpose is to show a loss on paper, there's little incentive for the owner to improve the service or keep its user base happy. We, the users, get thrown under the bus.

So how did Tumblr, under Automattic, try to run as a free site that didn't harvest user data? Tumblr served ads to try to generate revenue. But users complained about the ads. So Tumblr offered ad-free subscriptions at a very reasonable introductory rate of $3.33/month. But users complained about the subscriptions ("It's always been free! Other sites are free! Capitalism is evil!") and refused to pay. So Tumblr offered post-Blazing and tipping and physical merchandise and a variety of other optional features, most recently dashboard horse games and parody blue checkmarks, and instead of seeing these as a desperate attempt to stop the site from hemorrhaging money opportunity to support their online community, users just keep screaming about the moral failings of corporations that charge money for literally anything and insist that "we must keep this site unprofitable at all costs!"

Guys. Sites like this cost millions of dollars -- sometimes tens of millions -- to maintain each month. With the influx of new users from Twitter and elsewhere, that number is only going to increase as server load and bandwidth increase. And because of its history of losing value on a jaw-dropping scale, there will not be another company waiting to take ownership if Automattic decides to stop throwing money into the blue fires of this hellsite. If Tumblr is unprofitable for long enough, it will shut down. Period.

So either chill the $%#@*& out about the blue checkmarks or whatever, or pony up the monthly subscription fee yourself to help support the site. At the very least, stop attacking those who choose to give something back in exchange for the service they receive. Because they're the only reason this site has lasted as long as it has.

[brawltogethernow]

Scissors and heart for the fic ask meme for the one where J Jonah Jameson Goes Off about mutant rights

^^

drop the title of a fic i wrote + a symbol in my ask and i’ll tell you…

✄: something i deleted before the final draft

I am SO dedicated to mulching and reusing absolutely everything I possibly can from my first drafts I wasn't sure I had anything for this, but I did cut like 25 words and I will now write 500 about why. I cut an extension of the joke where Betty's asked why she's happy their boss is screaming with rage because Jonah would have to kick the assholes out offscreen for it to work, and they'd skip straight to article planning without a confrontation. Like:

“…Why is that a good thing, Miss Brant.” Betty smiled up at him so her eyes squinched. “He isn’t mad at us!” "WHERE ARE MY CRACK TEAM OF PROFESSIONALS?" Betty beamed. "See?"

That's much weaker scene arrangement obviously so I wasn't able to work the whole of the planned gag in.

Also culled in favor of the bit where Jonah remixes his memetic line and demands PICTURES! PICTURES OF X-MEN! was a variant that goes like "PARKER / Yessir / GET ME YOUR BEST MUTANT PHOTOS / Yessir- What, sir?" which is kind of Vimesian in a way I enjoy, but the core point of "it's weird to hear Jonah demanding a different thing in this specific way" isn't really clear unless you do the full iconic line, which is too long to have a yes sir-what sir joke around it. Like it has to be something short enough you can zone out through it and then replay it in your head an instant later, and the PICTURES line has a big pause in the middle. ...You can put the first yes sir in the pause, but then the whole thing still has to go early enough that it's plausible to have not guessed what Jonah is going to ask for.... So instead it got a lampshade where the Bugle staff get to lean on the fourth wall slightly harder.

There's also a bit, assassinated for being too implausible, where someone asks Peter "Isn't that Cyclops' name?" when he's texting contact name Scotty Boy and he goes "NO." I hate him.

Also not making it out of the starter notes was I'm pretty sure the first words I jotted down when I got the ask - I thought the snip at the end where MJ makes fun of Peter might be like, a more ongoing montage of post-publishing reactions? So on autopilot I hypothesized a fragment of spideytorch banter wherein Peter shows Johnny the article, Johnny goes "What is this?" and Peter says "It's a newspaper. They're very useful once you learn how to read." And then Johnny throws the paper at his face. This was written because it's closer to my wheelhouse than the actual premise and deleted because it contributes absolutely nothing. There is no reason for more people that many degrees of separation away from the core concept of the prompt to be there.

Generally if I have come up with a tangent with any redeeming value that isn't actively contradicted by something more important I will add it in, but this fic came with a point it actually mattered to lose track of, which directly contributed to it being, in my opinion, noticeably higher quality than my average output - less meandering and simultaneously longer. A lot of the writing process on the Jonah fic was me going "can I stop now?", mentally substituting in some real world minority in place of mutants, and then if the result made me want to go lean over the washing machine and slam the door repeatedly on my own head, that meant it wasn't done. Who Knew Being Forced (at prompt point) To Stand For Something Improves Your Work.

♡: my favorite part

I think I nailed keeping the pacing up by cutting between interconnected scenes, if that counts. I really like how the flow of the first bit reads, and it was really satisfying to put together. It was also just a lot of fun to juggle a modern-flavored conflict and my preferred vintage comic aesthetic and cast, and to sneak in a bunch of continuity nods and cameos and tidbits of concepts. I just had a blast writing and publishing the whole thing, honestly. It was a great ask, and I'm really glad people like it.

The fic.