#i have a lot of feelings about this game but i had to start with some memes

[barcaatthemoon]

be like water || fridlona rolfo x reader ||

you try to pull away from frido when your feelings become too much to handle.

you didn't think it was possible for you to be so stupid. there had never been a doubt in your mind about following frido and ingrid from wolfsburg to barcelona. they were your best friends, and it made ingrid feel a lot better if she was close enough to really look out for you. what you couldn't believe was how quickly you managed to fall for frido once mapi came into the picture.

in all actuality, you had always had feelings for frido. she was kind, caring, and gorgeous. however, she had always ever spoken about boyfriends. you knew that didn't mean your crush was completely hopeless, but you also had trouble imagining a reality where frido liked you back.

you could think of a million reasons why frido wouldn't have felt the same way about you. there would always be so many things standing in the way of your happy ending. you were fairly certain that frido was straight since she had never shown an interest in any of your other teammates before. if it wasn't that, then the age gap was sure to get you. you had been barely 18 whenever the two of you had met, and it didn't help that ingrid had introduced you as "the baby" of the norweigan team.

'baby norway' was what they had been calling you since your call up to the national team at the tender age of 15. you had been a super sub back then, but it had only taken you a year and a half to become a consistent starter. you'd been blessed with practically no injuries, none that required rehab or surgeries at the very least. however, all of that came crashing down around you at barcelona.

it had started with a little tweak of your ankle during practice. frido cursed herself for not noticing it earlier whenever you went down at the next game. you knew that it wasn't her fault, you had already begun to pull away from her. still, she sat with you in the trainer's room while it got checked out.

"frido, you don't have to stay here," you told her. ingrid was out on the pitch and mapi was sitting in the stands with the rest of the injured players. you had hoped that frido would have stayed on the pitch, but instead, she had been insistent on coming with you. it was hard for you to avoid your feelings whenever frido openly showed how much she cared for you.

"jona has already subbed me off. am i just supposed to leave you here all by yourself?" frido asked you. you opened your mouth to tell her that was exactly what she should do, but she cut you off first. "don't be ridiculous. you and ingrid were there for me whenever i got hurt. i want to be here for you too."

"frido, please. this is the last thing that i need right now. just, go take a shower and calm down," you said. frido couldn't come up with a reason to argue with you, so she reluctantly left you in the trainer's room. once she was gone, you laid back and took a deep breath. it felt like a weight was lifted off of your chest once she was gone, only to be replaced by guilt clawing its way through your throat. frido just wanted to be there for you, but you couldn't get over your stupid feelings for her long enough to let her.

…

"so, tell me again why i'm the one picking you up from the hospital when i know for a fact that frido asked to do this?" ingrid asked you. she had been around countless times when frido offered to take care of you or escort you from appointment to appointment.

"we haven't gotten to spend much time together lately, and i missed you, that's all." it wasn't a complete lie, but ingrid knew that it wasn't the whole truth either. she pulled down a side street and turned her car off. you couldn't get out on your own, so the two of you were trapped there until ingrid got the truth out of you.

"did something happen between the two of you?" ingrid asked. you shook your head as you pulled your good leg up into the seat in front of you. you rested your head against your knee to keep it turned away from ingrid. "you still love her, don't you?"

"of course i love her, she's my best friend. i came all the way from germany for her, ingrid. i just didn't know that i couldn't be around her alone," you confessed. ingrid paused as she took in your words. you had always been adamant that you came for both of your friends, even if ingrid knew otherwise. she knew all about the secret feelings you kept for frido, just like she knew how conflicted frido felt about you.

"mapi is going to kill me for this, but i want you to stay with me for the next week or so, okay? neither frido nor i want you to be alone, but i won't force you to stay with her if you can't handle it," ingrid told you. you thanked her quietly as she started the car up again and drove off towards her apartment.

she didn't tell you about frido already being at your place. ingrid didn't tell you a lot of things, just like she didn't tell frido anything either. she kept both of your secrets until one of you were ready to come out with it. she wanted to help you desperately, but knew that it wasn't her place to put it all out in the open.

…

"i don't get it. did i do something?" frido was practically tearing her hair out as she sat on the couch next to ingrid and aitana. your stay with mapi and ingrid had ended over a week ago, but you were still dodging all of frido's texts and calls.

"it's not you, i promise," ingrid reassured the older woman. "the baby just has some things to work out, that's all. this is a difficult time for her, she's going through a lot."

"but why is she pushing me away? i could help her, but she won't let me." tears sprung to frido's eyes. you had always seemed closer with ingrid because of your shared nationality, but it had never been an issue for frido before. "i need a minute."

"frido, wait!" ingrid shouted. frido was standing, but she didn't make a move to leave her place. "let me drive you to (y/n)'s. i think you two realy need to talk."

"she doesn't want anything to do with me. i'm not you, it's okay," frido said. ingrid sighed and pulled frido outside. the drive from your place was pretty short, usually just a ten minute walk.

ingrid felt bad about blindsiding you, but this conversation couldn't wait any longer. both you and frido were tearing yourselves apart trying to navigate feelings and your friendship. ingrid knew how easy it could be for both of you, and that was all she wanted. she just wanted her friends to be happy, even if the thought of making a move terrified the both of them.

you hadn't expected any visitors, so ingrid and frido's arrival had taken you by surprise. ingrid shoving frido through your front door and closing it for you was an even bigger one. ingrid knew practically everything, and yet, here she was forcing you to be alone with the person who had been giving you so much grief for the past few months.

"i think we need to talk, but i don't know what to say to you," you told frido. you hobbled over to your couch and sat down. frido just stood in front of you and paced around your living room. "fridolina, calm down."

"no, i can't. i am sick and tired of being calm about this. you've got me worried sick. i care about you so much, and i want to help you through whatever this is, but you won't let me. i know that i'm not ingrid, and i'm sorry, but fuck! let me help you." frido's voice grew as she spoke, but she never really got close to shouting at you. "talk to me, please. i miss the way things were in germany, it felt so much easier back then."

"trust me, it was never any easier. we just weren't alone back then like we are now," you told her. frido glanced down at you, a look of confusion on her face. "i don't want you to be ingrid, frido. i love you for you, and that's the problem."

"your problem is that you love me?" frido asked you. you nodded, unable to look up and meet her gaze. you kept your eyes down as you felt her approach you. the couch dipped down as frido sat down next to you. you shuddered when her arm wrapped around you, even though you had been craving her affection since you started to distance yourself. "look at me, (y/n), please."

"i can't," you whispered. frido sighed as she pressed a kiss to the side of your forehead. "i can't do this. i have to talk to jona. i have to go back to wolfsburg or just somewhere else."

"don't run away from your feelings. just look at me, please," frido pleaded with you. she was on the verge of getting on her knees and begging you to look at her. you didn't know why, but something in her voice compelled you to go against your instincts.

your eyes met tearful blue ones, and you nearly broke because of it. frido gently caressed your cheek, rubbing her thumb along your cheekbone as she stared at you. there was no disgust or pity in frido's eyes, which caught you by surprise. all you could see was relief. your friendship didn't implode on the spot because of your admission, which filled you with a relief that you couldn't even begin to describe.

"i love you too," frido told you. she leaned forward and pressed her forehead against yours. her eyes flicked down to your lips before coming back up to meet your eyes again. "can i kiss you?"

frido barely managed to finish her sentence before you were lurching forward. she caught your body in her arms, allowing for you to practically lay on top of her as the two of your lips met in a passionate kiss. frido began to push you back a bit to catch her breath. you let out a whine as her lips moved off of yours.

"i've wanted this for so long that i don't ever want to stop," you said quietly. frido smiled as she pressed a quick kiss to your lips. "i thought you'd hate me if i told you how i felt. i had tried for so long to be cool and casual, but i couldn't. the more time we spent here without ingrid, the harder it became."

"i wish that you had told me how you felt, but i am not sure that i would have accepted it at first. i think we were both going through something, but that's over now. we have each other, and if you're willing to give me a chance, i'd like to see where this goes." frido's words made your heart swell a little with happiness. it was an odd feeling, finally having your feelings reciprocated. you didn't know what to do with yourself. you didn't know where things were going, but you hoped that they flowed as easily and naturally as your friendship with her had.

[sunkissed-zegras]

Uconn wbb manager in a secret relationship with p!

𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐓 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏 ─ UCONN WBB MANAGER

─ warnings | mention of flirting/banter, alluding to manager "coming off straight" (idk if that should be a warning but there ya go, take that as u want), friends to lovers, jealous!paige brief mention, arguments, nothing else?

─ taglist | @xocherishxo @iienstein @yazmunson @euphternal @uraesthete @hello-nah817 @wanderlusturous and here's a link to my taglist if anyone would like to join!!

PRE-RELATIONSHIP

okay okay this is gonna be a long one so strap in

paige would always be flirty af with manager, like a little more than everyone else

like since the very beginning, freshman paige was down bad for manager

i feel like manager would kind of just brush it off as paige being friendly cus in all honesty... she's kinda like that w everyone on the team???

so she just brushes it off and paige is confused on why she isn't getting it...

so paige being paige, she just assumes manager is straight and doesn't fw her like that

so she just settles with being manager's friend and eventually, best friend

there's always a lot of banter between you guys, like yall are always teasing each other and being all handsy with one another

i feel like the team would kinda suspect there's something going on with you two but they never say anything cus like i said, paige is kinda like that with everyone

however, paige doesn't ever hide her blatant attraction to u

she'll fr tell you straight up she thinks you're the sexiest girl in the world and has NOOO shame ab it either

so for a while, it's kinda like best friends... and maybe a little more??

the whole dynamic changes when she finds out you like women

she's like "the FUCK"

this happens toward the beginning of junior year (2022-23) and paige begins to kinda distance herself from you because her mind is just FUCKED

like she's so confused and rethinking everything

obviously, you notice and try to talk to her ab it and paige just brushes it off

MULTIPLE. TIMES.

and she confides in azzi and she's like "whats wrong w you... like GENUINELY"

your sadness just dissipated into anger and ur like "if paige wants to play this game i will to"

so you guys just get petty and ignore each other, much to everyone dismay

because if yall are beefing, the entire team is in shambles😭

but when paige gets injured, all that pettiness just gets thrown out the window

you were there for her the ENTIRE time, from the second it happened til she started playing again

when it happened, obviously paige was just very distraught and not like herself

she would just not talk to anyone and spend all her time going to classes then back at her dorm

at first, she just will ignore your presence

unfortunately p is just petty like that

but then she realizes she's literally being fucking stupid and she lets you hang out with her

slowly but surely everything is semi back to normal

UNTIL you bring up why she got distant all of a sudden

she just decided to rip the bandaid off and tell you the truth (which at this point, was just as confusing to her as it was to you)

she ended up telling you she was just confused about her feelings about you and she eventually tells you she had a mini-crush on you in freshman year

and the only reason why she never told you was because she thought you didn't like girls

and you were just confused like WHY WOULD YOU THINK THAT

you guys just kind of have to sit with your feelings for a bit

(maybe a fic for that entire scene if yall want ??)

RELATIONSHIP

you and paige agreed to keep it to yourself because of two reasons

A. it would kinda throw off the dynamic of the entire team and B. wanting to explore the relationship first

it was really REALLY fun for paige, like she was having the time of her life teasing you while no one really knows why (hope that makes sense)

she thinks its funny when she like openly flirts/is handsy with u and the team doesn't bat an eye because she's always done it, EXCEPT now she gets you all flustered

yes she does get an ego boost

however, her jealousy increased like 10x (and thats saying A LOT)

like she'll get annoyed at someone just for looking at manager a little suggestively, she gives them a dirty look and manager is just like "paige pls"

i feel like this would be the ultimate thing for paige, like she hates being with you and not being able to show you off

LOTS of arguments about that specifically

i can't really think of more rn, BUT TRUST I'LL YALL MORE CONTENT WHEN I DO

↳ make sure to check out my navigation or masterlist if you enjoyed! any interaction is greatly appreciated !

↳ thank you for reading all the way through, as always ♡

[qrrieterisunnq]

A week without you - Jack Hughes

jack!hughes x fem!reader Summary: Jack's on the roadie and he misses y/n so much, so he's cuddling with a body pillow, pretending that it's y/n… A/N: It's been a while since I posted something that wasn't requested, so enjoy this angst/fluff, and happy rest of the day! And it's not edited, I might edit it in two weeks, 'cause we have three weeks of practice, so I'll have time to do it. requested: yes/no likes are good, reblogs are better <3 gif, not mine word count: 1,65K warning(s): angst?, sad Jack, Luke being a caring young brother, FaceTiming

masterlist | wip's

Just eight days. Just eight days and he’ll be back at home, in the embrace of his lovely girl. Her hands would scratch at his scalp, as she’d listen to his talks about the roadie.

Jack is currently sitting on the bench in Rogers Arena in Vancouver, his breaths are heavy from the intense morning skate before the game against canucks.

“Jack?” Luke’s voice makes Jack jolt in place, his hand rising to his chest, taking in a deep breath.

“Dude, you scared the shit outta me,” he shifts on the bench, making a place for Luke to sit down. “What do you need?” Jack looks over at him, raising eyebrows in question and curiosity.

“Just wanna ask you, if you’re, okay?” there’s a concern in his eyes. He’s been observing Jack for the few days they were away from Jersey, and he can see the change in his mood. He’s been distant a lot and he was playing like shit in the last two games they had. “You’ve been acting weird lately.”

“I’m fine.” Jack tries to sound convincing, but Luke doesn’t buy it. He lets out a deep sigh, hanging his head low, thinking about how to make Jack talk.

“Jack, you know that is a lame, thing to say,” Jack nods his head, knowing damn right, that he can’t get away from this conversation. “Tell me, what is going on, J.”

Jack takes in deep breath, while he’s sorting out his thoughts. “It’s nothing…I just miss y/n you know,” he let out, fiddling with his gloves. “I know I was away from her for longer, but it just hits me hard, you know. In a month we have our year anniversary and I feel like I should be with her, you know.” he looks over at Luke his eyes already on his brother, concern in them.

“I can’t say I know how you feel, but I get it. If I had a girl and our anniversary was coming, I’d wanted to be with her too.” Luke nods understandingly and throws his arm around his shoulders to pull him close. “Come on,” Luke stands up, holding Jack’s hand to help him up. “Practice is over, and I’m sure, y/n is waiting for you to call her.” This seems to bring Jack into reality. He swiftly stood up, moving past Luke to the locker room, leaving Luke standing in the place with nothing more than an amazed expression.

“Wow, that was quick.” He mumbles to himself with an amused smile on his lips and follows his brother into the locker room.

“Lukey?” Jack turns at his younger brother with a plea in his eyes.

“Yeah?” he says bluntly not looking up from his phone as he makes his way into the room dropping his bag on the ground next to Jack’s.

“Could you maybe go to the boys for a while?” Jack starts carefully waiting for Luke’s reaction. His brows raised in confusion before he can ask why, Jack explains. “I want to talk with y/n for a while. You know, in private.”

“Yeah, sure!” he nods his head, opening his bag to pull out a wallet. “I’m sure the boys will head to a restaurant, so I’ll go with them,” he says making his way to the doors. He catches sight of Jack’s expression, chuckling to himself. “And I promise I won’t drink anything!” with a small wave he leaves the room, his phone already glutted to his ear as he’s calling Nico asking where they are.

Jack walks over to his bed popping down, he pulls his phone from his pants. A wide smile spreads across his lips as he sees his wallpaper. It’s him, hugging you tightly to his chest as you both fall asleep in a chair at a bonfire last summer in the lake house.

He finds your contact, dialing your number, waiting impatiently for you to pick up.

With a groan leaving your lips, you reach over the table to get your phone. You’re not in the mood to talk with someone. Your boss was an ass to you, giving you another thing to do, even though your work hours ends in ten minutes. Not looking at the caller ID, you pick it up, groaning. “What is it?”

“Oh, hi. Am I calling too soon? I thought you were done with work.” Jack lets out, scrunching his nose as he looks at the time. It’s 1 pm in Vancouver which means it's 4 pm in Jersey.

“Sorry, baby. No, you’re calling right. It’s my boss. He gave me another thing to do so I’ll be here for another hour or so,” you sigh, getting the call on speaker, placing the phone next to you, focusing back on your work. “Anyway, you excited for today's game?” you say with a smile on your lips. You were supposed to come to that game, but your boss wouldn't give you time off, so you’ll be cheering on them from home.

“Oh, so excited! Another time we’ll be playing against Quinn. It’s always amazing playing against him. Just sucks that you won’t be here.” You can imagine the pout he’s wearing on his lips, together with his sad blue eyes.

“I know my love, I was looking forward to seeing you play all together. I’m sure, there will be other chances I’ll get to see you play. Maybe next season, okay? But don’t think about it, tell me something!” you say in a cheerful voice. You love listening to his voice while you’re working or doing something.

His voice is so angelic. You could listen to his voice forever and you wouldn’t be bored of it.

“Okay, but I don’t know what,�� he snorts chuckling.

“Anything! What were you doing today?” you asked, waiting for him to start talking. As soon as his voice sounds through the speaker you start typing on your notebook.

On the other side of the call, Jack is lying in his bed, a pillow pressed to his chest as he talks about his practice, aware that y/n is working and that she probably doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

“Y/n,” he asks when there’s a long silence.

“Yeah?” she hums bluntly her focus on the task she’s almost done with.

“I miss you,” Jack whispers shyly, his voice soft. You let out a sigh, a pout forming on your lips. “I miss you so much. I don’t know if I’ll make another day without you.” He confesses tears springing in his eyes.

“I miss you too, Jacky, but it's just eight days and you’ll be home. You’ll have four days without any game.” You say cheerfully, trying to ease the moment.

“I can’t sleep without you.” He says as he clutches the pillow to his chest, a single tear running down his cheek, dropping on the pillow.

“Jack you can, just pretend I’m here or something.” You let out a sigh, resting your face in your hands.

“It’s not helping,” he pouts childishly. “The pillow doesn’t smell like you.” y/n sighs closing her eyes. Sure, she misses him and it’s hard to sleep without him in the bed, but she knows how hard it’s for Jack to be apart from her. He’s been like this since university when they were going on short roadies. They always slept with Facetime on during the whole night. “Can I see you?”

“Sure, J,” you nod, waiting for him to turn on the camera. “Hey, my love.” A smile forms on your lips as soon as your eyes meet his.

“You are gorgeous,” he blurs out as soon as your face pops on his screen. “So fucking gorgeous, especially with the glasses on. You look sexy.”

“Thank you, J,” you giggle, your cheeks turning red at his compliment. “But I really need to work, so if you don’t mind I won’t be saying anything for another hour or so?” you cock your head to the side, watching his soft and relaxed features.

“Yeah, that’s okay, love. I’ll probably take a nap. We’re going to meet Quinn in like…” he looks behind his shoulder, searching for something. “Don't you know where my phone is?” he asks his brows furrowed in confusion.

“Love it’s next to you, we’re face-timing through it.” You laugh shaking your head at his…you don’t even know what.

“Oh, right,” he chuckles shaking his head. “Anyway we’re going to meet Quinn in like two hours for a brunch, so, I’ll just take a nap.” He rambles.

“Yeah, fine by me!”

After half an hour, when you’re almost done with your work, you look over at your phone, only to see your beautiful boy, clutching a pillow to his chest, a small smile resting on his lips as he mumbles something under his nose. You’re eyes grow softer at the sight of him.

If you were here with him, you’d probably run your fingers through his hair, massaging his scalp, and reading a book or something while he’ll be napping.

You can’t help the smile growing when you hear him mumbling your name. The boy is your entire life. In a few days, you’ll be celebrating your year anniversary as a couple, and you can’t wait for it. You let your sweet boy sleep as you start finishing the work you have to do again.

When Jack wakes up with a big smile on his face, it even grows wider when sees his girl still at the same place, a focused look on her face as she types something on her computer. He snuggles more into the pillow he’s holding to his chest, a pillow he was pretending was a girl as he was sleeping for a few hours, and lets out a quiet sigh as he watches his beautiful girl working.

[nonotnolan]

Jock Cock, Part 1

"You wanted to see me, sir?" Adam Johnson, next year's star quarterback and this year's bane of my existence, looked up at me with his baby blue eyes. If he was trying to look small and unintimidating, it would have worked better without carrying 200+ pounds of muscle on a six foot frame.

Well, if he wanted to be melodramatic, two could play that game. "You know full well why I called you here, Adam." I thumped the stack of papers on my desk for emphasis. "You've been failing ECON 105 all semester, but suddenly you can score an 83% on the final exam? It's enough to get you D- in this class. It's not a perfect score, but it's still enough for you to avoid academic probation."

His face flashed with a brief moment of irritation before setting back into his normal, casual stupor. "Well, I wasn't studying before, and now I did. It's not like I scored all that great... sir."

"We both know that you don't know what 'sustainability' means, Adam. You tried to fly under the radar, you didn't cheat your way into a 100%... but it's still cheating. We both know that academic misconduct is a serious crime." I tried my best to sound stern and disappointed, but it was hard to be angry at a face this sexy.

Adam just laughed at me. "And if you could prove it, you wouldn't be calling me into a private meeting, would you?" He leaned back into a shit-eating grin, displaying his dazzling white teeth. This asshole had the upper hand, and he knew it.

"I checked every single essay!" I said, pounding the stack of papers once again. "Every essay, in every single TA's session of this class. You didn't plagiarize... but we both know this isn't your style of writing. And we watched you like a hawk during the exam itself, so you didn't cheat that way, either."

Adam leaned close into my face. "Professor Michaels has no idea that you called me in here, does he? You're just a Teaching Assistant on a power trip, and it's all because you can't stand knowing how I did it." He was right, and I hated him for it. Worse, when he stood this close to me, I could smell the musk of his body.

"Tell you what," he added, pulling off his tank top to reveal a set of firm abs. "You let me get away with this... sign off on my scores, whatever you need to do... and I'll let you live out one of your deepest, darkest fantasies." He struck a pose, showing off both his rippling muscles and his hairy pits. "We both know that you'll never get jock cock any other way. Come on, Teach. You want this."

Was I really that easy to read? "I-- I'm sure I don't know what you mean. Look, if you're going to stick to your lie about studying, then you can just leave. I don't... there's no need to insult my moral character. You're a student, Adam."

He responded by leaning in close to me, and placing his hand on top of my bulge. "Your body betrays you," he whispered, letting his fingers massage my inner thigh. "If it makes you feel better, I'm not your student. Adam and I swapped bodies so that I could take all of his final exams."

"I... yes, well..." That was the last thing I expected him to say, but it would explain a lot if it were true, somehow. It seemed much more likely than a desirable athlete like Adam coming onto me, at the very least.

"Be that as it may," I said, grabbing his hand and moving it away before my cock started leaking though my slacks, "that body still belongs to one of my students. And I still have meetings to attend today, so if we're done here..."

Adam, or the stranger in Adam's body, just laughed at me. "You're the one who wanted to have this meeting, remember? But that's fine, I know when I'm not wanted. But here's the thing-- once you submit grades at end of day, Adam's not your student anymore." He started typing something on his phone. "And honestly, I expected this from you. You're so uptight. Good thing you gave everyone your cell phone number on the syllabus at the start of the year. So if you change your mind... now you can have Adam's number, and a bonus pic from me."

"I know you don't know the real me, but trust me Kevin-- I've wanted to plow that uptight hole of your for months. And in this body, I've actually got a shot at it." The stranger slapped my ass before I could react, and swaggered out of the room. Whoever was inside of Adam's body, they knew my first name.

I looked at the retreating wall of shoulder muscles, and down at the teasing bathroom selfie the stranger sent to me. God help me, I was only human. And he was right-- how else was I going to get jock cock? He wasn't a student, not really, and that's what mattered. "You win. Tonight at 8pm, my place. Bring lube."

[wandasfifthwife]

nightmares ✩‧₊˚

— hockey player/coach!wanda x afab!reader

you’re prone to dream, meaning sometimes a nightmare gets thrown in the mix. one night you have a heavy one, one that keeps you up every night in fears to ever have it again. your lack of sleep comes to play when you snap at wanda and end up sleeping on her couch. wanda comes face-to-face with the issue when you come into her room late at night, crying from a nightmare

tw: HEAVY TOPICS, mentions that r’s mother was physically&mentally abusive, nightmare has a SLIGHT description, angst w/ happy ending, hurt/comfort, argument (w&r), nightmare, love confessions, r thinks they’re going to breakup, fluffy ending, NOT PROOFREAD

series m.list ✩ ══╡˚1.9k words˚╞══ ✩ wanda m.list

It can be difficult to separate a dream from reality. Once you’ve reached the stage, it becomes real until something triggers you that it’s only a dream. Some have been weird, others wonderful—times when it’s sexual and you’re waking up, begging Wands for release—but there’s moments when they’re terrifying. You’ve not told her about those, deciding to keep it a secret in fear Wanda may see you negatively. So far you’ve done well, keeping your distance from her—running out from the room when you felt it was too intense, knowing so when the tears would cloud your vision.

As far as you know, she’s been unaware. Her body would lay still when you’d shuffle from the bed, removing yourself from her side and into the cold air of her apartment. She stayed in the same position when you came back most times, chest pushing up and down from her heavy breathing. You’re thankful at times for her deep sleeping tendencies. After about a month of hiding your nightmares you’ve come to realize it takes a lot for Wanda to wake up from her sleep.

One particular night, for reasons you don’t understand, you had a nightmare about your mother. It had felt real, the dream blending with reality and feeling like a memory you should’ve had. You had woken up with a start, instant sobs chasing out of you and filling your room. Your phone laid nearby, Wanda’s contact available, but instead you still decided it were better to phone another friend instead of her. Your mother found your dreams annoying and you feel stupid going to your brother and his wife to cry about a nightmare at your age.

The feeling from that particular nightmare stuck with you, scaring you from falling asleep. Since then you’ve been staying awake as long as possible, fearing falling asleep would bring back the pain it had caused. The effect of not sleeping due to the string of nightmares has now affected your everything. Your attitude, reaction—time, and energy has all depleted, everything has fallen out the window.

Worst is, Wanda had noticed. Shes grown worried, reaching out and asking what was wrong if you’d like to talk to her. You turned her down each time, relaying it to stress at work. And each time you turned her down you felt your heart cry, desperate for her possible comfort. All you really want to happen is to hear her to validate your feelings, arms wrapped around you—but instead you have it all boiling under the surface like a volcano ready to erupt.

She had offered for you to stay over at her place tonight. You hesitated, nervous she may come to realize your sleep-deprivation, but you eventually gave in.

“I have a game I’d like to watch later tonight. Marissa’s on the team, remember her?”

“Yeah, Carmen’s wife?”

She nods, closing the front door behind her, making sure to lock it, “yeah, she plays too. I’d like to see how good she is. See if she’s better than me.”

Normally you would laugh and push her over when she’d spill her cheesy jokes, but all you could offer was half a smile. You watch as her face fell slightly, faltering from her confident look.

She brushes it off, “I have leftovers in the fridge if you’d like some.”

“Oh no, that’s okay. I ate earlier.”

A lie.

“Well it’s there if you’d like any.”

She pushes past, heading towards her room to scroll through the options until she found the one that shows hockey games, specially the one she was hoping to play. It went silent after you both got in her bed, bodies lying by each other. You felt her attention slipping off the game, eyes flickering between the screen and your ever growing eyebags.

“Hey,” she says, tone soft, “have you been sleeping well?”

“I have long shifts at work, but I still get sleep—”

“Don’t mean to pry, but baby you’ve been seeming a bit off—maybe that job isn’t very good for you.”

“Sure.”

“I don’t mean to upset you, I’m just worried,” she states, voice softer if possible.

“I’m fine, Wanda.”

Your tone and the use of her name snaps something in her. She’s leaning onto her elbow, focused on you entirely—a contrast from her quick glances.

“Okay. What actually has been going on? It’s been like what—two weeks of this? If this is all from your job I really hope you quit it soon.”

You scoff, “so I have to quit my job because I, ‘don’t get enough sleep,’ but you can keep yours after breaking multiple bones? Sure, makes so much sense.”

“Injuries heal, but not getting enough sleep or anything will completely destroy you. Have you ever looked at yourself lately? You’re a shell of what you were.”

“It’s just a busy season,” you lie further, “it’s not forever, ease off.”

“I really don’t like where this is going, I’m only trying to help you.”

“Help me? No you’re not? You’re just trying to control me. Please, I’m fine.”

“I’m not trying to control you,” her volume raises, “do you really think I’d do something like that? You’ve been wondering around like a zombie long enough—sorry for being a good girlfriend and wanting to ask if you’re alright.”

“A good girlfriend wouldn’t pester after they’ve been told that their partner is fine like fifty fucking times. So you’re actually just a terrible girlfriend.”

You feel like you’ve been dragged under freezing water after seeing the change in her expression—Hurt flashing behind her eyes for a second before they harden.

You feel your heart beat quicken when you realize she’s shut herself off from the conversation. The hurt blends into anger seeing her look straight ahead, acting like you’re not there. She’s obvious to the storm forming within you, not realizing that by avoiding you she’s making it worse. You did ask her to leave you alone, but by staying silent you fear she doesn’t want to fight for you anymore—you fear she’s giving up.

“Then leave for all I care.”

And you do, climbing off her bed and slamming her bedroom door behind you. You fight against the tears, feeling frustrated when a few fall. You had plans to leave, drive back to your own place until you looked the time. It’s too dangerous to leave, walking alone in any parking lot at this time would be terrifying.

You’re left to open her sliding door closet in the hallway, grabbing a few blankets to make a makeshift bed on her couch. The entire time you’re stuck wiping at your face, missing a few as you’ve realized the couch pillows have a few dark spots. It’s entirely uncomfortable compared to her bed, mainly because you’re missing her. Greatly.

You never argue. They’re uncommon, and most times you’re both good at communicating after taking a break. Now you’re scrambling to remember every word spoken, fearing the worst. You’re crying harder when you think she’s breaking up with you, that when you leave in the morning you may never return. She did tell you to leave, right? Did she mean leave for the night or forever?

You bawl until you feel that it’s all you have in you. The growing killer of a headache brings you to a tired state, begging you to sleep. It’s maybe an hour later, judging by how the tv sounds have been shut off. You fell asleep to the sounds of her shuffling around, turning a light off or shutting a drawer.

It seems to be a day of fears because that night you had another nightmare of your mother. Instead of you being on the hospital bed, it was Wanda. You had just been let in to see her after her injury, the room was empty beside her and your mother. Instead of you being tossed and hit by your mother, it was Wanda.

You could barely process what was happening before your eyes were snapping open. One deep heave later and you’re ugly crying, hands gripping the blankets closer to you, pressing them into your eyes. It’s not real, you try to remind yourself that, but it’s not working. Any time you closed your eyes the imagines would flash again, bringing forth the rush of emotions each time.

You have no one to seek for comfort. Your friends and brother have heard enough, and you’ve just got into a fight with Wanda—why would she care? If she found out about your nightmares she may use it against you, hurtle the insult you had just used against her only a few hours ago.

All that being said you still found yourself in front of her door, opening and letting yourself in. You stand by the bed, sniffling and calling out her name. It often comes out like a whine, voice cracking at the end.

“Wanda please, wake up,” you wailed, pulling her arm towards you.

She finally stirs, “yes?”

You can’t speak all of a sudden. Nothing but deep shaky breaths escaping you. She’s silent, but obviously awake from the sheets moving around. The sound comforts your first concern about her and if she was still here.

“I’m so sorry,” you get out, breathy and in a rush.

“Shh. Here—climb in.”

You slot yourself under the sheets, shaking once you feel her hold you close.

“I’m—sorry, I’m so sorry. Please don’t leave me.”

“I’m not leaving you.”

“I love you so much. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, if you leave—”

She already felt her heart ache when she woke up to your wobbly voice, but hearing these kinds of cries from you makes her heart break into pieces. The cry you had let out brings tears to her own eyes.

“I’m not leaving you.”

You’re gripping at the back of her shirt, almost choking her from the way you’re pulling down on it.

“I called you a terrible girlfriend,” you fight back tears to get your sentence out, “I’m a terrible girlfriend. All you were trying to do was help—and you still are.”

“I help you because I love you.”

She places a kiss to your head, pressing another to your cheek and feeling the wetness there.

“I’m sorry.”

“You’ve already apologized and I’ve already forgiven you.”

“No, I mean I’m sorry for not communicating openly about something for a while. I feared to tell you because I didn’t want you to judge me or think I’m a burden,” you sniffle, “sounds stupid, but I have nightmares, specially ones about my mother.”

She tenses at the mention, but stays quiet.

“I think maybe going to sleep with high emotions triggered it. But I’ve never had one with you until tonight. It scared me.”

“How long?”

“Month and a half, I think.”

“Why did you not tell me?”

“Was scared you’d reject me.”

She laughs humorouslessly, “why?”

“Don’t know, guess I got nervous you’d think I was annoying. Scared me even more when you told me to leave, I thought—“

“I shouldn’t have said something vague like that. I’m sorry too, I wish I could take it back—especially seeing how it’s affected you.”

You fall into a comfortable silence. Her hand draws circles on your back, calming you with each touch. It’s everything you’ve been needing. Her breath hitting your head, hands touching you, and her scent wrapped around you.

“I love you,” she rasps, pressing another kiss to your cheek.

“Love you too.”

“From now on if you have a nightmare, wake me up so I can be here for you. I want to care for you, let me care for you. You’re not a burden for showing your emotions, don’t hide them.”

You hum, “best girlfriend anyone could ask for,” and she laughs shortly.

series m.list ✩ ══╡˚1.9k words˚╞══ ✩ wanda m.list

[prettyboykatsuki]

cw for ; cheating like really bad cheating dskfsk, mind games, bisexual reader (its relevant!!!), emotional sadism, yandere in the most uncomfortable flavor, and sexuality fuckery.

readers gender is intentionally left neutral!!. @p00pdev1l tag for my beloved.

You can feel yourself starting to cry again.

You have a headache. The noise of the izakaya is flooding out into the streets. Even with alcohol and cigarettes and other distractions, you can't help but feel like you're about to throw up. The dry-heave works itself up to your throat, and you smoke a little to shove it back down.

You were careful this time.

When you hear footsteps walk themselves next to you, and see nice black dress shoes from your gaze is downcast - you already know it's Suguru.

You feel yourself getting sick again. Your voice is hoarse, scratchy with pain and tears. You're unimaginably angry at him, and you're sure if you were a little drunker, you'd take your pocket knife to his throat.

But the words don't come. You're so frustrated you just ended up crying again, hiccuping. Something falls onto your shoulders, a jacket that smells like cologne.

That wakes you up, makes you turn your head to one side. Your heartbeat is hard and loud, and your anger is the only thing in your body. Your seething, all hard lines and rage.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?"

He shrugs. "It's cold. You'll get sick."

"Don't act like you give a single fuck about me, you psychopath."

His reaction to that is cold. Makes your blood run cold. "Call me whatever you want but don't say I don't care about you."

"Fuck off, Suguru," The feeling of his name is intimate in the same way knives are. Sharp against the roof of your mouth because of the smooth way the syllables slice. The familiarity of a cut. "Go inside and fuck off. Go be with..." Your words trail off.

"I'd rather be out here," He assures, then shrugs. He joins you in smoking, but you turn your gaze back to the pavement so you don't have to look. "She'll be fine without me."

There's a lot of things you don't understand about him. What you understand least though is this. How long has it gone on? How long did he plan on doing this?

The first time Getou stole the girl you loved from you, you're nearly too heartbroken to stay friends with him. It was your first real crush. A girl in the same year as you. You loved her. She smelled soft like roses and put her head in your lap. You managed to confess to her despite yourself at the end of your second-year.

She was your friend, still - even as she let you down gently. Told you that she had a boyfriend now. He was your friend, actually.

The first time it happened, you thought about cutting your ties with Getou. He didn't pretend to be apologetic to you, said she was cute and he liked her. He didn't say he was sorry.

Instead he said: "You shouldn't be with a girl who could get over you so easily." And leaves it at that.

You almost got physical with him, you remember. Gojo stopped you.

Over the years, the incident becomes pattern enough to recognize. The first is a mistake, the second a frustrating coincidence. The third time it happens you do get into an altercation. Each time Getou confronts you he says the same thing. That if a girl really loved you, she wouldn't been with him so easily. If a girl really loved you, she shouldn't have been so easy for him to persuade.

You think abut killing him. It's so frustrating, so humiliating, so painful it nearly puts you in therapy. The fourth time in happens, you try to cut him off but you can't. Your lives are so tied together you can't avoid seeing him and for whatever reason he can't leave you alone.

When there's no one you're interested in, he's your friend after all. That's the strangest part. The part that makes the least sense, that he acts like your fucking friend when he does that to you but he does it again and again and again. It hurt less when it was just puppy crushes. Eventually you grew numb to it. Gave up on love for a while.

When you meet Mikoto, you don't make the mistake of showing your interest. You especially don't show it around Getou. On the job, a sorcerer from a branch in the Nara prefecture who's recently moved. A nice woman with black hair and soft eyes, you seek her friendship first and don't let yourself indulge in anything more.

You don't dote on her more than friends. You don't show your feelings off. You don't tell anyone, not even Gojo whom you tell everything, or Shoko - who you tell when you don't want Getou finding out. You bury the feeling of love in yourself and hope they die there. You hope she ends up with anyone but you, or you in some miracle.

You fall in love with her because it's who you are. Getou shows up with her at your gathering the minute you begin to accept it.

If he doesn't hate you, it must be something much stronger. Disgust or pure disdain. Something stronger than hate must drive him to do this so perpetually.

It's not even something you can tell anyone. What do you tell girls before you go out with them? What do you say to people when they ask why you and him act so odd?

There's nothing to say. Nothing to explain. It's so fucked up that you wouldn't even know where to begin.

Your voice is trembling as you take another drag of your cigarette. "How did you know?"

He laughs a little. "You make it obvious."

"Why do you keep doing this to me...?" You ask, defeated. Broken, maybe. "....I really loved her."

Getou shrugs again. You can tell even if you don't see it. "She was the same as the rest of them. I'm doing you a favor."

"Do you even like her?"

He takes a drag of his cigarette and looks at you a little longer than you expct. "So-so."

"I hate you," You give up on everything else, letting your cigarette fall to the ground. Your voice is shot. "You're fucking horrible. Just leave me alone. Please, please just leave me alone."

There's a minute of silence there. He stamps his own cigarette out and sighs. "You should come in. You'll catch a cold." You don't reply. He sighs again. "I'll buy you a drink."

You break down in tears all over again.

When you're in highschool, you date Satoru for a week.

Suguru remembers this. It's one of the only things about his highschool experience that feel standout. A defining moment of his youth, where the two of you try it just because everyone says you should and neither of you really like it. You end up being friends again, laughing it off after it happens.

But he hated it.

There was a pit in his stomach the entire week. Even though you barely dated, and only really held hands as a joke - Suguru hated it. You kissed Satoru too, you confessed. He was a decent kisser, but you didn't feel much.

It was a joke of a relationship. Still.

He remembers too, the first time you had your first real crush. Up until then, you'd really never thought of anyone else. There was no one for Suguru to care about. But he remembers exactly when it happened, and where - how the four of you were slacking off in the storage room, passing around Shoko's cigarette. He remembers the way you got embarrassed telling them about her. How you could barely keep the smile off of your face.

The first time Suguru steals someone from you, it's during highschool. It wasn't because he had really wanted her. He hated her. Hated how she smiled at you and hated how innocently she spoke. But when he stepped closer to her, she blushed.

It was to get her to fall for him. And that wouldn't do, he didn't think. How could you like someone with so little resolve? When she couldn't be even a little loyal to you?

He asked her out on a whim that time. But he saw how angry it made you. How your eyes were wet with tears and how much you hated him in that moment.

How much you thought of him. Have you ever before then? Considered him so much? Suguru didn't think so.

It becomes an obsession, Suguru can admit. It didn't really matter who it was, though it'd been mostly girls. Anyone you showed interest in. Anyone who caught your eye. Suguru got their first and you always, always looked so miserable about it. Like a puppy who can't get on a couch, he thinks.

He prefers when you've already been with them. He prefers knowing that your skin has touched theirs. The parts of you that linger in their life become Suguru's so wholly. When he can smell your scent and taste your cigarette smoke. It'd be better if it was you, but there was something gratifying in this.

In the roundabout ways of finding you. Of seeing pictures of you in their phone, or of tasting you. It's like being with you, even though it's never enough. Always wants to make him break you more.

He likes when they cheat on you with him. He likes when it's just after. They get some cheap thrill out of it. Suguru can entertain it even if it disgusts him.

It's the only way your shirts end up in his closet. The only way he can smell your new shampoo so deeply because you share it. They think that he must hate you. He's sure you think that too.

But that's not it. He couldn't hate you. All the people he's ever fucked, he's tried to find evidence of your intimacy with them. Kiss marks he didn't leave on their skin, clothes they don't own, music they wouldn't normally listen to. You would. They're all yours.

He'd ask about you to them. Often. Listen to the parts of yourself that you'd been trying to keep secret from him.

He'd take it all by force and discard them all afterwards. That was all he wanted. You were all he wanted.

He liked seeing you angry with him. Liked seeing you cry and weep. Liked that you couldn't go anywhere or love anyone without thoughts of him following you and haunting you.

Satoru thinks he should just ask you out already. Suguru doesn't think he's broken you down enough. You need it to hurt a little more. You need to think of him a little more until you can't love anyone else.

Suguru wants to see you hurt a little more. Until you're so broken you're really begging. When he brings her with him today, you react even worse than he could have hoped for it. He shivers a little thinking about it.

He's getting closer to really breaking you, he thinks.

He looks at you now as he puts out his cigarette, broken from his thoughts.

"You should come in. You'll catch a cold." You don't reply. He sighs again. "I'll buy you a drink."

Suguru turns around to leave after he says it. Goes back inside. Before the door of the izakaya closes again, he can hear the way you sob so desperately.

He smiles at that. Just a little.

[levi-supreme]

Birthday morning

Characters: Diluc x gender neutral!reader

Genre: None (modern and canon works fine)

Warnings: SFW, fluff, established relationship (Diluc and reader are married)

A/N: Happy birthday to my OG genshin husband <333 finally writing for genshin after playing this game for 4 freaking years LOL I am finally doing it!!! I hope you all like it as I slowly get back to the writing grind too <3

As the earth slowly woke up to the warm rays of the sun, the light shown through the windows, gently illuminating the bedroom and caressing the features of the man stirring beside you. 

You watched his chest rise and fall slowly, you felt the hot air escape from his lips as he breathed. You gazed at his sleeping form, wondering what he was dreaming of, and if you were in it. You raised your hand and stroked away an unruly strand of flaming red hair about to tickle his eyelashes, and you continued watching him, wondering how lucky you were to have him beside you like this. 

“For how long were you going to watch me?” a smooth velvet voice rumbled and you jumped in shock, not expecting him to wake up so soon, and clearly not expecting him to be aware of your stares. You didn’t know how long you had been staring at him too. Diluc let out a chuckle and snuggled deeper into the pillow, lacing an arm lazily across your waist to pull you closer. 

“For how long were you awake?” you teased in return, smiling as you saw the corners of his lips twitch ever so slightly. You let out a warm breath and snuggled closer to him, placing your palm on his chest to feel his steady heartbeat. 

“From the moment I felt you moving beside me.” your husband opened an eye slightly to look at you before placing a soft kiss on the tip of your nose. “It’s still early, sleep a little more.” it was indeed a lazy and slow morning, and as much as you wanted to continue lazing in bed with him, you knew you had to get up. 

“Can’t do that, love, I have to start preparing your birthday feast,” you smiled and kissed his cheek, “you can sleep a little more though, you had a late night yesterday.” Pushing yourself up, you interlocked your fingers and stretched a little. Your husband lazily grabbed your wrist and pulled you back into his embrace.

“Stay in bed with me a little longer,” he nuzzled against your neck, his ruby eyes staring deep into yours. “I can’t sleep well without you.” you looked at his sleepy face and bit your lip, hiding the urge to giggle. 

“Fine,” you relented, “but just five minutes, okay? There’s lots to do. I have to marinate the meat and prepare the drinks,” you turned away from him and faced the ceiling, mentally ticking off all the errands you had to do, “oh, I also have to pick up your birthday flowers. I have to pick up your coat, and I also have to meet Kaeya to take”—

—he decided to keep you quiet. 

“Shhh, you’re too noisy,” Diluc muttered against your lips, giving you another kiss before you could retort. “Just forget about the celebration for a while and stay here with me.” 

“Fine, fine, birthday boy.” you laughed and felt your husband pull you snugly against his chest once more. You remained in his embrace, counting the light freckles across his pretty face. “You’re lucky I love you.” 

“You wouldn’t have married me if you didn’t love me.” 

You had a cheeky response at the tip of your tongue, but you held those words back once you saw Diluc going back to sleep with a smile. You decided you weren’t going to tease him today, especially since it was his birthday. Kissing him softly on the lips, you whispered, “I love you, Diluc,” before slowly wiggling out of his embrace and quietly pushing yourself off the bed to get your day started. 

“I love you, more…” a faint reply came as you saw your husband shifting around, finally hugging your pillow tightly before letting out a satisfied sigh. You kissed him on the forehead before leaving the bedroom, thinking to yourself that you were indeed the luckiest person alive to be married to him.

[raapija]

hi! as a prompt for pookie au (which i love), how do you think carlos would react to finding out his dad is dating LANCE of all people? would he be immediately freaking out or would he hold it in and rant to charles about it later?

Thank you for the prompt. <3

(Carlos and Charles hadn't yet met, as this is set in 2018.)

summary: Lance talks with Carlos for the first time after Lance and Fernando told him they were dating. Also some strollonso fluff to balance it out.

warnings: some swearing, Carlos being extremely mean to Lance

Lance fiddled with the sleeve of his hoodie. He could feel his ears burning as Carlos stared at him from the other side of the patio table. The cool evening air made his skin tingle.

"Why?" he heard Carlos ask after what had felt like 15 minutes of silence. Lance had sat down with him after having dinner with Fernando. It was the first time they told Carlos that they were together. Lando or Oscar probably would've blurted it out at some point, but it was definitely easier to tell him like this.

"What?" Lance asked for him to clarify what exactly he meant by 'why?.' He couldn't really look at Carlos, because he knew he was staring daggers back at him. They had been racing together for years, but had never really became friends or spent time together. Carlos was also a couple years older than him and had always been kind of intimidating to Lance. Something about those dark brown eyes.

"Why my dad? Of all people, why him?" Carlos continued his questioning. Now Lance looked at him and his heart skipped a few beats as he saw the expression on Carlos' face. Contempt.

"I love him."

Carlos scoffed and Lance felt something inside him shift. He straightened in his seat and took a deep breath. He wasn't going to give in.

"Listen," he started. "I really do like him. I know it's fucking weird that he's older and you're older than me, but so what? We like each other. It's not just some fling. He's done a lot for me and I for him. I love him."

Carlos studied him from across the table. The longer he didn't say anything, the faster Lance's heart beat. Adrenaline rushing in his veins as if he was on a race track, trying to overtake him at a high-speed corner. In the end, it was Carlos who averted his eyes to look away.

"If you break his heart, I'll kill you." Carlos said and Lance breathed out. His face was serious. "I've seen what it's like for him, and I don't want to see that again, ever. So don't you dare."

"I won't hurt him. I promise." Lance said and Carlos' eyes moved back to focus on him.

"You promise?" he chuckled, now sounding condescending. "That's what the last guy said as well. And then he left him."

Lance's heart was about to burst out of his chest. Maybe he couldn't overtake in the corner and instead would crash into the wall.

"My dad gave everything to me. He gave me a chance when no one else would. He doesn't deserve you. He's got all he needs in me and my brothers. He loves us. Not you. " Carlos said, his words cutting right through Lance like little knives. It made his throat turn dry. "You understand?"

"I do." Lance got out. Carlos' chair dragged painfully on the tile flooring of the patio when he stood up to leave. As he walked past Lance, he gave him a strong pat on the shoulder and made Lance flinch. Crashed, in the wall. Game over.

"I'll be watching you." Carlos said and then stepped back into the house, leaving him alone. Lance breathed out and a flood of emotions ran through him as he relaxed. He was 20. Just barely got into F1 and immediately started dating a 37 year-old with three grown kids. This really did sound like some sort of a breakdown if you looked at it from the outside. Still, he was glad the only person at his throat was Carlos and not the media. Only a few people knew, and that was for the best. He had enough on his plate as a 'pay-driver'.

¬

Later that night, Lance was laying in bed, deep under the covers and waiting for Fernando to join him. He had been in this bed countless times before, but the idea of Carlos lurking somewhere in the same house made him uneasy.

He could finally hear Fernando's familiar footsteps climbing up the staircase to the second floor where the bedroom was. As soon as he stepped into the room, Lance's mind stopped racing.

"You okay?" the Spaniard asked as he sat down on the other side of the bed from Lance. He must've sensed Lance's anxiety all the way from downstairs.

"Yeah. Talked to Carlos." Lance said and turned onto his side so he could see Fernando better. The older man laid his watch and jewelry from his wrists on the bedside table and the slid under the covers. They were both facing each other and Lance scooted a little closed so Fernando could wrap an arm around him.

"How it go? Not too scary, I hope." Fernando's voice was soothing and Lance settled against his chest, warm skin touching his forehead. He felt Fernando press little kisses into his hair on the top of his head.

"He only threatened to kill me, so not that bad." Lance said and Fernando laughed. Him laughing made it feel a bit better, like he wasn't actually going to get beat up if he made one mistake.

"That's my Carlito." Fernando hummed and squeezed Lance a little closer to him, slowly running his hand up and down his back. "Don't worry about him. He likes to pretend he's tougher than he is."

"He told me someone broke your heart before so he didn't want me to repeat that." Lance said and Fernando's hand stopped moving.

Lance heard a quiet 'oh...' and wriggled back a bit to look at him. Fernando's eyes were sad. Lance didn't like that.

"I'm sorry."

"No, no." Fernando hurried to stop him from apologizing. He moved his hand up and set it on Lance's cheek. "That's nothing. History. I got you now, so it's okay."

"Yeah?" Lance asked and Fernando gently tucked a bit of his hair behind his ear. The Spaniard smiled at him, his eyes back to normal and happy. The things Carlos had said still irked at the back of Lance's brain, but he didn't press on it.

"You fix me." Fernando said and moved in to kiss Lance on the forehead. He then pulled him close again and held his arm tight around him. "I talk with Carlito tomorrow. Tell him to be nice to you."

Lance hummed and could already feel himself falling asleep. It felt so safe with Fernando. Strong arms holding onto him and his warmth transferring into him. Everything was okay. Everything was going to be okay.

[megaderping]

I think the biggest issue with Naoto discussion is that there are so many intersecting perspectives with very strong feelings involved, and if a Persona 4 remake does happen, I fully suspect that Atlus is going to have their hands full figuring out how to handle the character in the modern day. First there's the cultural context of misogyny in the workplace and especially in the legal and justice systems in Japan, which informs Naoto's character a lot. It is important to consider this, as this was a Japanese game made in 2008 at a time where queer visibility wasn't nearly as prominent, but that alone doesn't invalidate criticism to the arc's execution, regardless of creator intention. A big point of contention is how the arc was handled. Specifically the way it uses talk of body alteration procedures, surgical equipment, and treats the idea of transition as scary. If you consider how draconian the laws behind legally transitioning in Japan are, you can perhaps make a case for why it might cause Naoto internal conflict as complete surgical transition/sterilization/diagnosis were all requirements at the time of the game's development and only recently were declared unconstitutional. Though, as this excellent video pointed out, it's possible this was meant to be a reference to the story Flowers for Algernon, given the weapon you get if you return there later. However, even if that was the intent, transgender people exist in Japan and have since well before Persona 4, and anime such as The Dirty Pair aired in the 80's with very progressive takes on transness. It's very unlikely that the team behind Persona 4 was completely unaware of queer issues and symbolism, given that Persona 3 had that infamous transphobic joke in the original version's babe hunt.

The Dirty Pair, a 1985 anime that was surprisingly progressive.

I think the issue, more than anything, is that the tropes at play don't exist in a vacuum and what comes after Naoto's dungeon raises a lot more red flags. Jokes about Naoto's chest size, the narrative framing Kanji's crush as only acceptable after the reveal, on top of the uncomfortable execution of the romance route in Naoto's Social Link. You get so much "Naoto is actually a girl" in a way where it's other characters talking about/over Naoto, which is what really makes the framing off putting to a lot of people, myself included. And it's not even that you can't do an arc about a female character fighting against prejudiced preconceptions in the criminal justice field without controversy, because Persona 5 pulled this off far less contentiously.

Sae Niijima deals with many similar themes but doesn't seem nearly as contentious, and I think a large part of that is due to Sae openly presenting as a woman from the start. The game openly depicts the misogyny from Sae's superiors and coworkers, such as how she's unmarried and fighting an uphill battle for success in a male-dominated field. Persona has toyed with these ideas in the aftermath of Persona 4 and even when revisiting older titles. Persona 2 went back and added the character of Shiori Miyashiro in the PSP release, a lady detective who has a lot in common with Naoto (e.g. knowingly endangering oneself to get the truth behind a supernatural case). It's also astonishing that we have Lala Escargot in Persona 5, which also had that infamous gay couple that played into horrible stereotypes that were only slightly fixed in royal's international release. Lala, whether trans or a drag queen, is given surprising respect, and her identity is never called into question. A Persona 4 remake could learn from this and cut back on the characters asserting what Naoto feels, what Naoto "really is," etc, and let Naoto and Naoto alone decide. Ultimately, Naoto means different things to different people, and these things can carry great personal weight and importance. Many trans and nonbinary Persona fans see themselves in Naoto. Others favor Naoto as some flavor of gnc or find Naoto embracing femininity and detective work empowering. I think the problem is that when this topic comes up, there's a lot of hostility. Trans fans and people who favor trans Naoto get told to shut up at best, and at worst get hit with shit tons of transphobia and gross conduct. On the other hand, I don't think people who prefer more canon-compliant depictions of Naoto are inherently malicious. It's how they approach these discussions and treat people that makes a difference. Just because someone uses she/her for Naoto doesn't mean they're being intentionally transphobic, but I totally get people wanting to avoid material that uses those pronouns all the same. I also don't think people are wrong to be uncomfortable with the resolution of Naoto's arc in canon. I think people who get upset when fanworks go with trans or NB interpretations of Naoto could stand to be more empathetic, as a lot of those fanworks come from people who connected to Naoto and want to explore what could've been. I don't think more canon-compliant fanworks are inherently malicious either, but no one is obligated to stick around works or spaces that make them feel uncomfortable. Tbh, I'm just wondering what Atlus will do. Persona 3 Reload removed that one transphobic joke during the babe hunt in all languages. Persona 5 Tactica had male marriage fantasies for Joker. I think Atlus is trying to be more inclusive, but Persona 3 Reload also kept Toriumi's crush on the protagonist and Chihiro defending student-teacher romances, so it's really unclear how much of Persona 4's more divisive aspects will be retooled. Because it's not just Naoto. Persona 4 has a lot of aspects that haven't aged well, like all the jokes about Kanji being predatory if he's attracted to guys, or Kashiwagi being creepy toward students, or the fatphobia with Hanako while Ebihara's past of being overweight is treated with more sympathy. I love Naoto and Persona 4, but I also think it's important to be able to criticize elements of the game that could be executed better.

[tash-sho-sho]

I saw your post about Blade and honestly…same. But for me it’s Acheron, I’m just so strangely obsessed with her. Materials go to her, I bring her anywhere and everywhere, in all of my teams, etc etc.

I wouldn't fault you. She is so cool, I pulled for her and got lucky to have her in 30 pulls after giving my all to Luocha 😂 if I wasn't this obsessed with Blade, I would use her a LOT. Killing lesser enemies with turns? A turn-based game? What's that? They are dead before you can even blink.

She feels a pull. A golden light surrounds her and she hears the sound of a train. Did she get lost again? Acheron was sure she was outside, as outside you can be inside of a dream, when suddenly she felt a warm light of bright gold.

Although confused, she didn't show it, nor did react when she was given relics, and felt her power increased. It was strange, a first time, she doesn't remember a memory like this... not like she would remember anyway. 

A new feeling, unwelcome? Perhaps at first. It hasn't shown any sign of wanting to harm her so far, however.

... and it also seems that whatever that got her didn't want to let go of her. Acheron felt how the relics changed every few days, and her powers increased, too, if that was even possible.

Battle after battle, most of whatever rewards Acheron was collecting were for herself. This presence seems to want her to be stronger. Other times it was to fight and get something she isn't sure what it's for, a something she would forget later on.

Simulated Universe? Ah, it must be.... "They are dead now." She says, and her body moved to 'claim' the rewards. How many times had she fought in this place? She lost count, she started when she had entered a third time, but at some point she forgot. Acheron only knows that it had been way too many by now.

Another strange thing of her life after being pulled... she was impressed that she could go about anywhere and no one would bat an eye. Even if that area was off-limits.

It was an odd feeling, not being able to control your own body. Was the reward of more power worthy enough to give away her ability of free movement? Acheron is able to move only when that presence is gone.

She is still unsure if this deal (that was unwillingly put on her) was worthy. Acheron admits that the presence was mostly calming, or as calm as one could be when it never seems to want to let you breathe whenever its awake.

She doesn't know how to feel, but as long as this gentle-warm feeling is the only thing this entity ever shows to her, it wouldn't be that bad, right?

[photogirl894]

I know I've shared before a bit of what The Bad Batch has meant to me, but I just feel that I have so much more I want to say. Though, in all honesty, I don't think I'll ever be able to put into words exactly how much it means to me, but I'll certainly endeavor to do my best 😊

Having grown up with Clone Wars and just being a lifelong Star Wars fan in general, I was excited when the Bad Batch show was announced. Another Star Wars animated show?? Hell yeah!! I was so down for it. I remember going to my parents place to watch it with my family and my friends...and I fell in love SO fast! I remember thinking the Bad Batch were cool in their CW season 7 arc, but that was about it. Something about them in "Aftermath" changed my view of them and having Omega show up, too, made it even better. Then episode 2 came out later that week and I knew I was hooked right as the episode ended.

I had no idea just how much this show would consume my life 😅

I hadn't been so obsessed with a fandom since The Hobbit movies. That fandom was what introduced me to writing fanfiction and to Tumblr. Then Bad Batch was what made me go back to Tumblr and to fanfiction, as well. It made me start writing for the world of Star Wars, a world I didn't think I would ever be able to write for. I came back to Tumblr after a few years cuz once I found myself going so crazy for this show, I knew Tumblr was the right place to find other people just as crazy about it, just like I'd been able to do for the Hobbit.

And boy, was I right!!

I have found almost more people who loved Bad Batch as much as me than I did in my Hobbit days. Every single person I've talked to and interacted with have impacted my life in so many ways. I even had the special privilege of meeting a couple people in person, as well, which were wonderful experiences! I've spent many hours on discord calls either just one on one with certain people or in severs with big groups of people, playing games, chatting and just having a grand time. I've made some of the greatest friends I've ever had here and it's all thanks to the Bad Batch! I would name each person here, but I don't want to accidentally leave anyone out because there are just so many I'd want to mention, but you all know who you are! 💜💜 I mean it when I say I love all of you, every person I've ever interacted with! You all are truly amazing and I seriously hope I'll get to meet more of you in person in the future 💜

Being back on Tumblr also came with its fair share of drama over the past couple years, but if anything, all that made me stronger, more resilient and it also showed me who my true friends are. I'm grateful for those who stood beside me in those times.

Many of you have been there for me through other hard times in my life, when I had awful drama at work or financial troubles or just bad days in general. A lot of you let me vent so many times and offered me kindness, help and advice, which have meant the world to me. Some of you have even supported mine and my friends' Twitch and YouTube channels and have watched our Star Wars D&D streams or our charity streams, which also means so much to me and I can't thank those of you have supported us enough!

I've learned a lot from the Bad Batch over the years, as well.

Hunter taught me to never give up on your family and to fight for what you think is right.

Crosshair taught me to stick to your beliefs and that it's always possible to change.

Echo taught me to always be loyal to your friends and that you can grow beyond your trauma.

Tech taught me to always be who you are, no matter what everyone thinks, and to treasure your knowledge of things.

Wrecker taught me that it's okay to still have a playful side and to never be afraid of sharing what you love with people.

Omega taught me that compassion is not a weakness, but a strength and you're never too small or too young to make a difference.

So much of my life has changed in just 3 years because of this group of ragtag Clones and their exciting adventures in a galaxy far, far away. Even now, I don't think I've said everything I want to say...but I know I've said just enough.

Now, the show is coming to an end...and I'm feeling the same sadness I did when I knew the last Hobbit movie was coming out. Because that means the thing that has given me something to look forward to for so long is ending. I've become so emotionally invested in these characters and stories and I feel like I'm saying goodbye to loved ones. I legit don't know what I'm gonna do for a while.

One thing I do know I AM gonna do is I'm not going anywhere in the fandom. Space Mama will be around for a long time to come 😊💜 I've got fics to write and friendships to maintain!

All that's left to say is thank you. Thank you to every single person who have come into my life and will continue to be a part of it. Thank you to Dave Filoni (who I know, at least, started the show and brought the Bad Batch into Clone Wars) Jennifer Corbett, Brad Rau, the Kiner's, Joel Aron and, of course, Michelle Ang and Dee Bradley Baker for bringing this fantastic show to life.

In the words of Hunter: "Change takes getting used to. You'll see. Just give it time." Words we're all going to have to live by.

But also, in his words: "If this is where you want to be, then this is where you'll stay."

This is where I want to be...and this is where I'll stay 💜💜

May the Force be with us all...always 💜

[arcadekitten]

Arcade my friend Arcade! Maybe Here for Sweethearts spoilers. How did you go about choosing the order of chapters in HFSH? It felt like Netina starts the game with more typical dating sim options working on her, while later characters tend to break that expectation and put you in trickier situations. Was that intentional, or was the order of students already set based on their existing relationships to each other and the story?

Kriggit my friend Kriggit! :D

I definitely based the chapters moreso around how I felt the characters might work best in the story, but putting Netina and Theo at the start was very intentional as I felt they were characters who fit into the expectations of the genre well! (Among other reasons)

Netina seemed like the perfect choice to begin with because she plays the role of a sweet and bubbly girl well and she made a lot of sense to be the one to introduce the player to the school. Netina always introduces herself to everyone lightheartedly regardless of true feelings towards them. It is typical of the genre but it also worked because Netina's vicious side is one that many students already know about, so if the player had met Netina later down the line they might have already heard things about her from other characters mentioning it.

Theo worked really well not only juxtaposed beside Netina, (bubbly girl who is secretly mean vs mean-seeming boy who's actually sweet(also pretty genre-fitting)) but also because he was a familiar character that many would have already recognized. And him looking so different from his Cemetery Mary counterpart really helped to convey that like "These characters are all generally around the same age as one another, they're just teenagers in this game"

But now I'm getting to tangent-ing haha!

But yes chapters in general were more based on how the story would play out rather than regards for how tricky success would be in any given route!

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Hello! In one of your previous posts you mentioned the game purposefully hiding the faces of figures who play a significant role in each OB boy’s trauma. So do you think this applies to Idia's parents as well (they have masks to cover their faces and they don't even have separate sprites but the default STYX members' sprites)?

[Referencing this post!]

There’s a lot to unpack here, so I’ve put my thoughts under the cut!! I hope you enjoy reading ^^

***Note: Many spoilers for books 6 + 7 of the main story!!***

I definitely wouldn’t put the Shroud parents into the same category as like… Mrs. Rosehearts, who was basically the origin from which other issues stemmed. The Shroud parents themselves were not the “root cause” for Idia’s trauma, the “cause” was Ortho’s death and Idia feeling immense guilt and shame about it. Not once has Idia blamed his parents or implicated them for this misfortune (not counting the Shroud curse, which is really the fault of their ancestors and not the Shroud parents in particular). I guess where some fans feel there is an issue is the implication that the Shroud parents did not seem to be there emotionally for Idia or offer him healthy coping mechanisms for his issue??

Before I give my thoughts on why the Shroud mom and dad obscure their faces (and how this does or doesn’t fit into the “purposefully obscuring the faces of those significantly related to each boy’s trauma), allow me to offer a different perspective to those who find fault with Idia’s parents. Firstly, consider that we know very little about the period of time between Ortho’s death leading up to Idia enrolling at NRC. Even then, most of what we know of this period comes directly from Idia, which provides us with a biased and limited perspective. Idia views most things negatively and does not seem close with his parents, so it makes sense that he would describe them in an inflated and unflattering way.

I think where a lot of the initial thoughts about the Shrouds being bad parents (a sentiment I myself had prior to their book 7 reveals) predominantly comes from them not being present in Idia’s post-OB flashback and Idia stating that his parents care more about results than their son’s feelings. We also learn from later that the family used to go out a lot as a group, but those trips stopped after Ortho died. These heavily imply his mom and dad were not there for Idia after the… incident. But let’s back up for a moment; where does the flashback pick up after Ortho died? Over two years later. That’s a large gap to not be knowing what the Shroud parents were doing during it. The STYX employees present also state that Idia has “completely withdrawn” ever losing Ortho, and this could be inclusive of the parents. So… we don’t really know for sure if, during this expanse of 2 years, the parents never made an effort to reach out. Even if they did, it seems highly likely that Idia rejected them. It’s possible that the flashback didn’t feature the parents because Idia largely shut them out of his life or did not deem them to be deeply linked to his trauma; he laments only the general family curse and the loss of Ortho, he does not direct hate at either parent in the flashback.

What we also have to remember is that it wasn’t just Idia that lost a brother that terrible day. Mr. and Mrs. Shroud their sons; Ortho literally (he passed away) and Idia figuratively (as he started to emotionally distance and isolate himself). That’s tough for any parent, but the world cannot stop for them just because they experienced a tragedy. Unfortunately, life moves on and the Shroud parents are in such important positions that they need to work. This is especially true of Mr. Shroud, who oversees all of STYX operations and is burdened with a curse that demands he constantly be surrounded by blot or else the curse will start to chip away at his own magical energy. They need to do this while juggling their own sadness over losing Ortho. There’s only so much time the Shroud parents can try to comfort Idia when they have work, their own emotional trauma to work through, and their surviving son who doesn’t seem to welcome any efforts they put in. You could even theorize that the Shroud parents (particularly the dad) threw themselves into work to try and bury their own feelings. The Shrouds do obviously have a responsibility to Idia as his parents, but parenting is not so easy of a task. They’re still individuals who have other things to balance alongside parenting and they realistically cannot dedicate 100% of their time or energy to Idia.

Now, please do not misunderstand me. I don’t want my words to come off like I’m pointing fingers or victim blaming. What I’m trying to say here is that it isn’t Idia OR his parents’ fault that they grew distant; to me, both parties were busy dealing with their own complicated emotions and their coping methods didn’t seem to align (because different people can have very different trauma responses) and ended up hurting Idia even more in the end. Making mistakes is human and normal. We've seen other characters also falter with their past actions and what they were or were not able to do at the time (Trey not standing up for or to Riddle, Lilia acting callously towards his children, etc.). This by itself is NOT necessarily a bad thing or something to hate on them for; I'd argue that what matters much more is how those matters were dealt with and what the results of those efforts have been. In the case of the Shroud parents, they do not appear to have bad blood with Idia or Ortho in modern day and the game has really done little to indicate that the Shroud parents should be viewed in a morally grey light. They've welcomed Ortho as a part of their family, openly refer to him like a third son, supported his official enrollment as a NRC student, and worry about his safety when Ortho tries to rush headfirst into danger. As for Idia, though he sometimes grumbles about his parents and tends to their actions as coming from a place of not caring, his peers have pointed out that being scolded is proof of his parents’ love for him. For example, Idia complains that his parents have sent him back to NRC so they don’t have to deal with a “nuisance” like him. He also says that there has been public interest in STYX and demand for accountability, which has specifically put his father under fire. We could view the situation like Idia has—that has parents wanted him out of their way. However, as Rook so tactfully pointed out, Idia’s parents must hold deep affection for him. This implies that the Shrouds chose to send Idia back to school for his own safety, and Mr. Shroud was willing to take the full brunt of the heat himself rather than let people suspect his son, whom Mr. Shroud must know is socially anxious. Idia has plenty of other stories about how his parents punished him for dangerous tech modifications he made, and how they’d take away his gadgets as punishment. Again, because they care about their children and their safety, even if they (especially his more stern and work-oriented father) may not show it in conventionally affectionate ways. Idia has pessimistic views that color his parents as annoying and isn’t as close to them anymore as he used to be, but this doesn’t condemn the Shrouds to the eternal hall of bad parents who never ever learn or refuse to change their ways.

Now, about their outfits! Mr. and Mrs. Shroud wear the same robes as NPC staff at STYX. This much is true!! … But I don’t think there is any deep meaning in this, seeing as Idia too wears the same robes?? I believe this is just the default work uniform for STYX researchers, regardless of the position they’re in (so this uniform detail does not technically contribute to the “intentional obscuring” of the Shroud parents’ designs).

We don’t really know what the reason for them wearing the helmets is, and nor is there very strong implication as to why. There have been plenty of fan speculations and theories including but not limited to: special personal protective equipment, magical enhancement gear, general Shroud family shyness, cost/time saving measure for the devs, etc. I can’t really say one way or another which is the “most correct” idea 🤷‍♂️

What I will say is that I do not think there was an intent to hide the Shroud parents’ faces for the same reasons that Mrs. Rosehearts’ face was. Why? Well:

Their faces are not censored in the same way as Mrs. Rosehearts was in the manga; she has her face shaded out by black, but we can still see the details of her outfit. The Shrouds, meanwhile are making the conscious decision to wear helmets—and highly personalized helmets at that. (Mr. Shroud’s helmet is different in colors and design than Mrs. Shroud’s.) This indicates individuality and wanting to make the Shroud parents stand out, not to homogenize them as anonymous black blots at which the OB boys’ trauma finds its roots.

To build off of my previous point, the comment about purposefully obscuring the face of the "source" of Riddle's trauma was ONLY said in the context of the manga, NOT the game. Therefore, in-game assets cannot be considered reliable for "the Shroud parents wear helmets to hise their faces; hidden faces = source of an OB boy's trauma" theory. If you doubt this, then please refer to each boy’s post-OB flashback. In the game, it is not just the sources of their trauma that are blotted out in black, it is literally every character (even the ones with positive memories or experiences associated with them). This includes Trey and Che’nya, whose younger form faces ARE openly depicted in the manga. So again, the “obscuring the faces of characters who are major trauma sources” thing only applies to the manga and the game does not follow this.

The Shrouds are largely depicted in a positive light. The negative aspects of them tend to come from Idia, who tends to have a pessimistic slant to his perception of the world and other people.

Idia’s personal accounts and even his post-OB flashbacks do not attribute or credit his parents for any aspect of his trauma. Much of the guilt and shame he feels is self-imposed and directed at himself.

As I’ve pointed out earlier in this post, we are assuming a lot of things about what happened in Idia’s life following Ortho’s death. The downside to this is that it doesn’t grant the parents any grace and takes everything we see (as little as it is) at face value without considering alternatives or how the parents could have changed in recent years.

Again, we don’t have a lot of information on why the Shrouds wear the helmets. I don’t think it’s wise to assume it’s for a bad reason when most of the canon has indicated we are supposed to “like” the Shrouds (or, at the very least, they’re supposed to be “redeemed” compared to the initially negative comment we were given of them).

In conclusion: no, I don’t think Idia’s parents are wearing their helmets because they’re associated with their son’s trauma. To me, the helmets feel like something they must wear for some in-universe purpose such as additional protection or to indicate their role within the organization.

[squadmuse]

SFW ALPHABET

THE SONNY CARISI EDITION

A = Affection (How affectionate are they? How do they show affection?)

Sonny Carisi is the epitome of affection - he is so soft, caring and loving! He’s a touchy kinda guy, so he loves hugs, touching you whenever he can. His love language is cooking for sure and he loves taking care of you… and he loves kissing you too.

B = Best friend (What would they be like as a best friend? How would the friendship start?)

Sonny is a friendly guy and talkative, so it didn’t take you and him long to become friends and then best friends. The two of you bonded at first over family and food, and you two support rival ice hockey teams (you & the Rangers, while he supports the Islanders) so you affectionately argue over them & go to games a lot. You’ll be over at each others homes cooking too and have most likely met each other families and friends.

C = Cuddles (Do they like to cuddle? How would they cuddle?)

Sonny is the King of Cuddling, he loves it so much! He is long and lanky so his limbs wrap around you like an affectionate vine. He loves cuddles on the couch, you on top of him with legs intertwined. Spooning happens a lot too with him pulling you right against him.

D = Domestic (Do they want to settle down? How are they at cooking and cleaning?)

Oh my god, YES! Sonny desperately wants to settle down, and he is so talented at cooking in particular. He wants marriage, to be married to you with a ton of little ones following soon after the big day. The two of you dance and sing together as you clean as you’re both goofy and it makes you both laugh after tough jobs.

E = Ending (If they had to break up with their partner, how would they do it?)

His Ma would kill him if he didn’t do it in person! He’ll be really explanatory yet guilty, especially if you cry. He’ll want to remain friends afterwards if at all possible.

F = Fiance(e) (How do they feel about commitment? How quick would they want to get married?)

Sonny is the King of Commitment. He is loyal and dedicated to you. He is a devout Catholic who wants a family and doesn’t go into relationships unless they want the same & understand his faith. If you’re wife material then it happens fast but he knows you’re The One.

G = Gentle (How gentle are they, both physically and emotionally?)

Sonny is so gentle in every way possible. He is literally so so soft and squishy! That saying, he does have off days. He’ll never raise a finger to you at all.

H = Hugs (Do they like hugs? How often do they do it? What are their hugs like?)

Sonny loves hugs and to give them too. He does it a lot in different ways: cuddled in bed, wrapped up on the couch, snuggled in the bathtub, from behind as you cook or do something etc. Sonny’s hugs are warm, welcoming and just such an experience.

I = I love you (How fast do they say the L-word?)

Sonny will say it once he knows you’re his endgame, which can be fast or slower than usual depending on the situation or external circumstances. He just loves you so much, you mean so much to him and he will not stop saying it.

J = Jealousy (How jealous do they get? What do they do when they’re jealous?)

Honestly, Sonny isn’t a jealous kind of person at all. He trusts you and knows how loyal you are too that he doesn’t need to worry about that sort of stuff. However he is a protective guy and keeps an eye on you whenever he can.

K = Kisses (What are their kisses like? Where do they like to kiss you? Where do they like to be kissed?)

Such a great kisser, and they leave you dizzy & weak in the knees. Sonny loves kissing you on the lips most but he will kiss anywhere he can such as your temples, neck, nose, cheek, hand etc.

L = Little ones (How are they around children?)

Sonny is a natural with children and particularly with younger children & babies. He adores his nieces and literally can’t wait to become a dad of his own brood.

M = Morning (How are mornings spent with them?)

Mornings with Sonny start with him up early to shower and cook some light breakfast, he’s a firm believer in a healthy cooked breakfast to start the day. The two of you work in tandem as you make the coffee using the Italian machine that cost a fortune and check emails for work etc. The weekends however are when he usually has a lie-in or morning sex…

N = Night (How are nights spent with them?)

Weekdays are more tiring as you both work in the law area (with him as a detective and then assistant district attorney, and you as an assistant district attorney also) and it’s basically a warm home cooked meal made from some frozen meal prep and cuddled together on the couch, chatting and destressing. Saturday nights are usually date night so Sonny takes you out somewhere, sometimes a nice restaurant or dancing, maybe a movie sometimes before coming home to rut like rabbits

O = Open (When would they start revealing things about themselves? Do they say everything all at once or wait a while to reveal things slowly?)

Sonny could talk about his family until the cows come home, he’s so proud and loving about them all. Even though you’re a lawyer, he hates bringing work or the effect of it on him home and takes a bit of time before he gets able to know you’re able and wanting to be there for him. He doesn’t want you scarred, you’re his safe space & home.

P = Patience (How easily angered are they?)

Sonny is usually a guy who is extremely patient and sensitive, and is very very hard to anger. However he is human and bottling it all up can explode out of him but he never gets physically angry. As an assistant district attorney now, he’ll come home and you can hear him stressing out in Italian in his study.

Q = Quizzes (How much would they remember about you? Do they remember every little detail you mention in passing, or do they kind of forget everything?)

He tries his best so much! He doesn’t forget your birthday or anniversary though, he has reminders in his phone and physical paper calendar too - and now as an assistant district attorney, he has an assistant who can remind him if he he’s knee deep in cases. He’ll remember your favourite recipes and coffee order/like though too.

R = Remember (What is their favorite moment in your relationship?)

It is a tie between your first kiss or the first time he was taking you to his parents home for Sunday Mass & lunch/dinner. The kiss happened at your apartment door, he had walked you up to it so to make sure you got home safely after a date night together where he had made a fantastic dinner before taking you to a Broadway show for a change… and that kiss was so good but as your lips touched it was then that you both knew. Now, the other story; Sonny had arrived to your apartment early to take you out to Staten Island and found you cursing at the oven to hurry up. You had went to the trouble of not only baking ricciarelli but also melanzane alla parmigiana and lasagne al pesto too. He had been blown away by the effort you had put into it all and couldn’t help but kiss you right there and then.

S = Security (How protective are they? How would they protect you? How would they like to be protected?)

As a detective or assistant district attorney working in sex crimes, Sonny is very protective of you. He makes sure you know how to protect yourself, perhaps even how to fire a gun too. If he’s in danger then he’s having you in protective custody or with a 24/7 police detail around you. Sonny knows you’re very protective of him too and like a mother bear at times.

T = Try (How much effort would they put into dates, anniversaries, gifts, everyday tasks?)

Sonny tries to make every date, anniversary etc. better than the last one but sometimes he’s too busy or drained and you never judge him. Whether it’s sticky notes on the mirror or elsewhere or homemade biscotti with a warm cup of coffee, you know how heartfelt Sonny’s action is.

U = Ugly (What would be some bad habits of theirs?)

He works long hours and can’t get away at times. Also he loves his family so much that he can sometimes prioritise them over you at times. As a Catholic, Sonny prefers praying or attending Confession over opening up which takes a long time for you to get him to break as a habit (sort of; he still goes, but now he tells you also) Sometimes as well, Sonny makes a mess in the kitchen with his concoctions and you don’t know where to start with the washing up.

V = Vanity (How concerned are they with their looks?)

Sonny loves his hair. He also loves fine Italian suits and other fashion items. Once upon a time he did have a moustache but he keeps himself clean shaven now and puts gel in his hair. However on when it is his days off, then he’s not as precise and will cuddle up with you in just a laidback shirt and jeans with his hair floppy (which you love).

W = Whole (Would they feel incomplete without you?)

Oh man, Sonny would be lost without you! You’ve become a part of him; his heart, his soul and his everything.

X = Xtra (A random headcanon for them.)

Sonny mentors children within his church and teaches Sunday School when he can, he loves being able to do some good in the world. When they’re older and looking for an internship or work experience, he’ll help them out.

Y = Yuck (What are some things they wouldn’t like, either in general or in a partner?)

Sonny doesn’t like bigots or bullies, and he doesn’t want someone who isn’t loyal or supportive nor anyone who doesn’t want a large family and to settle down. He also isn’t a fan of aloofness or smugness either.

Z = Zzz (What is a sleep habit of theirs?)

Sonny sometimes takes a sleeping tablet to help him sleep as he’s got a stressful job and he’s seen some horrors in his career too. He also likes watching you drift off to sleep next to him as it helps anchor him. When he’s a dad, Sonny is absolutely bringing the baby or babies into the bed and cuddling with you & them on the weekend.

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

I think it's going to go the way all of their IG "tours" go.

why do you think they're trying to frame it differently to their other tours? it's not the first time they travelled abroad

and do you think it'll be a success in the way of half-in half-out?

In a way, it's more of a recruitment trip for them and I suspect it's a bit of do-or-die, make-or-break kind of a trip.

If you look at their prior travels, it's all been "done deal" trips, where all they really had to do was show up. The Hague, Dusseldorf, and Vancouver Invictus Games were set up before Megxit (Hague and Dusseldorf definitely, less confident on Vancouver but the timeline kinda lines up for some sort of ancillary support from the BRF) using BRF/Royal Foundation staffers and connections to make the arrangements.

(ohhhhhhh god I just actually read the IG press release (archived link) that came out this morning. Harry announced the shortlist finalists for the 2027 Invictus Games. It's Birmingham UK and Washington DC. I cannot, you guys. I cannot be waking up to the Sussexes on my local news, in my local papers, on my social media algorithms.)

Anyway, this is the first time that Harry has really had to work to recruit hosts for Invictus Games. He started last year with a mini-trip to Japan but my feeling is Japan gave a big fat NO because they didn't send anyone to compete in Dusseldorf and then almost right away Harry started love-bombing Nigeria. First by becoming their groupies at IG. Then sending period products and school supplies to Nigerian schools. Now having negotiated a trip. (And these trips don't just pop up at the last minute; this is something that's been in the works for quite some time, especially since the military seems to be involved.)

Now consider this article from The Express, which reports that at least 2,000 veterans have quit/left Invictus Games because they're unhappy it's turned into the Harry-and-Meghan-Fauxyal-Tour. 2,000 is a HUGE number...especially considering that just 513 veterans competed in Dusseldorf IG. (Each of the Games has about 500 athletes. That's not a sustainable business model. For comparison: the 2022 Warrior Games had 300 athletes participating from 3 countries - the US, Canada, and Ukraine.)

And remember the essay I wrote a couple weeks ago about how Invictus Games had to be thinking about cutting Harry loose because he doesn't really do anything for them? (I honestly can't find it tonight. If anyone has a link, can you please share it? I thought I tagged that post but it's not coming up.)

So both of those things coming together - having to recruit for IG hosts now and blood in the IG water over veterans complaining about the Sussexes - means that Harry really needs the Nigeria trip to go well if he wants to keep Invictus Games. So he's got to actually work on this trip, and so does Meghan, so they're defaulting back to royal protocols hoping that the protocols are enough to woo and lovebomb people. I think what they're trying to do is say "if we come, this is all the attention and all the media that we'll bring with us, now imagine how much more attention and coverage you'll get over the next 5 years when you're an Invictus Games host."

It is kinda half in/half out, especially since it looks like government officials and Defense officials are involved in the trip (and I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Harry rolls up with his medals again). But it feels more like desperation to me. They made their bed four years ago abusing and using Invictus Games because they could, only now Invictus Games has come to collect and is demanding they make good on Harry's role as Patron.

From a lot of the recent news coverage - Harry's leaks to the Express about pulling out of the anniversary service, Invictus Games now clapping back about how the veterans don't want Harry involved anymore, all the hype about their groundbreaking royal/anti-royal trip to Nigeria, and the confirmation that the Nigeria trip is expressly because of Invictus Games - there's definitely something happening behind closed doors at Invictus Games that seems to be making the Sussexes very nervous if they're now pivoting back to royal cosplay.

And also let's not forget the rumor that Mike Tindall has been asked to be an ambassador for Invictus Games in a role that might supplant Harry.

And not only that, I also feel like Harry and Meghan think that if the Nigeria trip goes well and it's a success and they come away with a deal for 2029 Invictus Games or having reversed their popularity slide, they can use it to shoehorn half in/half out from Charles by being able to point to this and say "see? We can do this. Look at what you're missing. You need us."

I'm not sure if it will be a success. The Sussexes often get in the way of their own selves when they really need things to go well and this trip is rife with potential for that. From the security concerns to military cosplay to appearance of it being an official visit on Charles's behalf to Diana cosplays to the goverment/Nigerian military involvement to just their personalities and mannerisms, it won't take much for something to go wrong. It'll take everything for the trip to go well.

On the one hand, I hope it works. I know how much Invictus Games means to Harry and I think he really derives some kind of true joy from being able to provide these services and opportunities to his fellow veterans and soldiers. But on the other hand, I hope it goes wrong ten ways to Sunday so Charles has no choice but to step in and remind everyone - Sussexes and the Commonwealth alike - that there's no half in/half out without his approval and they do not have it, no matter what the Sussexes pretend otherwise.

[kyruskumiho27]

Warnings: •Killing • death •fluff •enemies to lovers •idiots to lovers

Summary: a bond is broken. ( you=pink/ Sukuna=red) lot of yapping in this before it gets to the actual fluff. Not related to the other one, had an idea and didn’t like how that one came out so this is a better, newer improved version.

“What a shame…” you muse, gazing at the man with soft eyes. “What a shame we’re not meant to be..”

He grunts, cocking his head at you. He’s made no attempt to approach you, to even attack you for that matter. His warmth radiates off his skin, shoulders squared like they’re prepared for a fight.

“We could be…” He looked so utterly confident in himself, like he couldn’t imagine anything else could possibly be more difficult.

You quirk a brow. “We’ve been at this longer than expected, longer than imagined.” You snort.

“It could be destiny, why not break our chains and-“

“We are enemies, no?” You interrupt, tilting your head. He grins. “Can enemies not love?”

What a joke. A joke and silly game he’s playing to try and weaken me. And what if he’s right.“There is bo rule saying enemies can’t be lovers… in fact, I think you humans romanticize it.”

“Do you love me Sukuna, truly?”

The question causes him to pause, brows furrowed. Love? How could he love someone, him, a curse. The king of curses.

“I care for you.” He says bluntly, unwilling to admit that he might be, maybe in lo-

“Yet you desire to kill me.”

He rolls his eyes. That is not what he was talking about. But yes. He did want to kill you. For centuries on end it’s been this back and forth between you two. An angel of light fighting the King of curses. And yet, no matter how close he gets, you always manage to slip away.

You giggle to yourself. “Maniac.” His eyes widen in amusement. He could listen to your laughs all day.

Your puffs of air as you try not to admit to yourself that you enjoy the Kings company. Why haven’t you killed him yet? The answer slips past your mind, you can never remember. You were made to destroy him, yes. But you never do so when given the chance.

“You are lonely.” You say, staring at Sukuna. He nods.

“It’s a never ending cycle, never ending battle. I catch you but you always manage to escape. We are doomed for eternity.”

“I am right here.”

“You are.”

So close and yet so far. A slight frown appears on his far. ���Just out of my reach.” He sniffs, cracking his back as he gazes upon you.

The definition of beauty and grace.

“Why is that? I am right here.” He huffs.

“I am aware.”

You glare at him. He’s avoiding your questions and your starting to get annoyed. “Why?”

He scowls. “You know damn well why.” He snaps, teeth bared in frustration. That is not a straight answer. You stare at him blankly, frowning.

The truth seems just out of your reach. No matter how hard you try to concentrate, it’s never revealed. Strange. “Kuna.” You call softly. He melts a little inside at the name. Only you’re allowed to say it. To refer to him with such endearment in your voice. He’s most definitely in love. He looks at you.

“Kuna, something is wrong.”

Oh how he longs to touch you, to feel you in his grasp.

“Very wrong.” Your brows scrunched up.

He wants to hold you, to caress you as he crushes you. He wants you to die by his hands, and his hands only.

“The bond..” he breathes, he wants to fuck you, he wants to kiss you and love you and make you his.

Mine. All fucking mine.

You stare at him still, he rolls his eyes once again.

“The bond.” He emphasizes, only to realize you have not one clue what he’s referring to. Have you really forgotten?

“A vow, my dear, a vow I promised centuries ago. To not lay a single finger on you…” You nod like you understand. You do not understand. He sighs. Did she really forget? “Unless…”

“Unless?” He smirks.

Like he’s got you trapped.

“Come closer.” He orders. You almost laugh. “Hwhat?” He scowls at you. “Come closer.”

Oh this is rich. This is fucking hilarious. “Closer, to you. No.” He wants to kill you so bad. “This is not a joke little on-“

“Don’t call me that.”

“This is of serious importance and I demand-“

“Why?”

He heaves a big and dramatic sigh. Why must she be so stubborn? Do you not love her because of it?

“I shall tell you the condition, but I need you to come closer.” You hesitate.

Sukuna is not to be trusted. He’s far from keeping promises and for all you know he could be lying. He could be keeping you alive because of his sick little game. To torment you. But it doesn’t explain why you do the same.

You step closer, just an inch.

“Closer.” Again you take another step, your heart pounding out of your chest.

“And closer more.” Your body trust him, why does your body trust him? You’re confused, for sure.

“And closer.” You take another step. You should be careful. So very careful.

“Just once more.” He urges. And you do, till your lips are just centimeters from each other, and you can feel the warmth of your bodies. Mixing, mingling.

“Say something sweet to me, and I shall tell you.” He wants to hear your voice utter even a tiny compliment before you both die. You frown. “Is this the condition?” He shakes his head no. Just once, he wants to hear your voice just once.

“Your beautiful Sukuna.”

He steps closer to you, hands hovering just near your waist. “Kiss me.”

“That was quick.”

“Do you trust me?”

“No.” A scowl. He didn’t know why but he needed you to kiss him. It was a burning desire, deep in his black heart. “Dearest-“

“Don’t.” You knew. You knew something, but you couldn’t quite figure out what. You gazed at his lips, so perfect. “My Kuna…” you mutter, not intending for him to hear you.

“You said you would tell me.” Your gaze is sharp. He inhales. “You need to kiss me…” he murmurs, just a fraction away from where he wanted to be most.

“Are you-“

“Of course.” His voice held some desperation. He couldn’t be without you. Your eyes trail down to his lips, thinking. “And you shall kill me after this?” You ask. What the fuck?

“Yes.” For some reason, you were not afraid. You step closer, connecting your lips together. Nothing happens at first. And then a searing pain stabs you in the heart.

Finally. He thinks, reaching and cupping your head in his hands. He doesn’t break away from the kiss, shutting his eyes tightly. He breathes you in, all of you, and the pain overtakes him to.

Your hearts wind together, merging into each other in painful desperation.

The air in your lungs becomes his, and his knees weaken. Perfect.

Both your bodies heat up, burning burning burning. Until there’s nothing.

You feel the faintest touch in your cheek, soft and gentle. “Kuna?” You call out.

“Yes love.” He answers. His voice is so warm. So soothing. “Where are you?” You reach your hand out blindly, searching for him. Your hands connect.

“Are you there? Do you feel me?” He asked, wrapping his arms around you. “Yes.” He huma, and you feel it through your whole body. It spreads like a wildfire.

“Where are you?” You ask again. You don’t know why, you can feel him, just a little ways from you.

“‘M right here, just right here.” Fingers intertwine with yours. You hum delight.

The darkness begins to fill with light, trees and birds and noise. “My Kuna…”

“My dearest…”