#i know i said i was gonna do 5 of them in a row but im getting tired n also if they continue being 2 parters i’ll just do them all at once

[palms-upturned]

.

[azzibuckets]

this isn’t the end or anything part 3 [pazzi]

paige bueckers x azzi fudd

a/n: this is probably my favorite series i’ve ever written so i like to take my time writing each part. apologies for the wait!

word count: 1.7k

masterlist

“Seat taken?”

Paige hovers over the fifth row of seats on the bus, mouth going dry as she anticipates Azzi’s answer. She doesn’t really know what she’s doing; she didn’t board the bus planning to be stupid and try to sit next to Azzi, but when she saw how pretty the younger girl looked all bundled up in her beanie and overcoat, she knew she had to at least try.

Azzi doesn’t look up from her phone. “You know I’m not gonna talk to you.”

“That’s fine.”

Azzi sighs, and after a moment’s hesitation she picks up her backpack from the seat next to her, setting it on the floor instead. Trying to fight back a smile, Paige plops down and casts a quick glance at Azzi’s phone, wondering if the younger girl’s fixation to her screen the past few days is due to a new love interest. When Azzi doesn’t seem to notice her prying eyes, Paige moves a little bit closer, craning her neck to try to decipher who exactly Azzi is texting.

All of a sudden, Azzi looks up, making eye contact with Paige as the blonde quickly sits back with a guilty look on her face.

“Seriously?” Azzi says irritatedly.

“Sorry,” Paige replies meekly, knowing that it’s pointless to deny the obvious.

Azzi shakes her head before shutting off her phone and staring intensely out the window. Paige knows she should be more upset about Azzi’s coldness towards her, especially after what she admitted two nights ago, but right now she’s just happy to be in Azzi’s presence. And although being crammed in a bus surrounded by their teammates and coaches isn’t the most optimal privacy, it’s the closest they’ve gotten to being alone since that night and Paige is willing to take whatever she gets.

“You know I like you, right?” Once the words come out and Paige realizes what she’s just said, she fights the urge to clamp her hand over her own mouth.

Azzi’s head snaps up.

Paige shifts in her seat. She knows she’s probably going about this wrong, but the words she’s said to Azzi months ago is still weighing on her mind, and technically Azzi can’t go anywhere when she’s trapped between her and the window. So she forges on. “You said you needed space.”

“No, you said you needed space,” Azzi says evenly.

Paige rubs her eyes. “Okay, so we both said we needed space.”

Azzi is silent.

“I just…I miss you, you know? And I’ve figured out my feelings, and I don’t want space anymore.”

Azzi folds her arms over herself, as if she’s trying to burrow into herself and disappear completely. “I don’t wanna talk about this right now.”

“Can we talk about it later?”

“I don’t know.”

“Azzi-,”

“I’m not ready, Paige, okay?” Azzi’s voice is tired, and Paige doesn’t like it, doesn’t like how Azzi doesn’t just seem tired, she seems tired of her.

“Okay.” A beat. “I’m sorry.”

Azzi tips her head back and exhales slowly. “Not your fault.”

“I can switch seats, if you’re uncomfortable.”

“You’re fine.”

Paige wants to throw up. This is why she hasn’t tried approaching Azzi - no contact with her is better then whatever this awkward tension is. Paige can feel her sinuses tightening, her throat closing, that familiar feeling pricking at the corner of her eyes. But she can’t cry, not now, when there’s five hours of road ahead of them. So she puts in her airpods and tries to think of everything but Azzi. She fails.

•••••••••••••

“I don’t care about what’s going on off the court, but you better get your shit together. I didn’t make you captain for no goddamn reason.”

Geno slams the door on his way out. He’s furious, and Paige is too. 10 points, 3 assists and 5 turnovers. She knows it’s not about the stats, that Geno cares more about her effort and the way she seemed to just give up during the last quarter. But the numbers are engrained into her brain, and the persistent ache at the back of her head is throbbing now. She tries to reflect on the game, to recall the moments she’d slipped up, the moments she’d gotten too comfortable. But despite the sweat still fresh on her neck, the memories are foggy and she feels dizzy just thinking about it.

Paige’s phone lights up with a text from Nika asking her if she’s going to the bar with the rest of the team, but she ignores it. Alcohol would make her headache worse, and all she wants to do right now is lie in her bed and mourn over how bad she played. She knows it’s not a healthy way to cope. Azzi used to always get on her ass about how getting in her own head wouldn’t make it better. Azzi would force Paige out of bed, set up a laptop with film to go over every single play, both of them writing notes on their observations and then sharing it at the end. By the time their debrief finished, Paige always felt lighter, determined and ready for the next practice now with a new list of things to work on. But Azzi wasn’t here, and now Paige was spiraling.

When she gets back to her hotel room, Paige slumps into clean white sheets. She knows she should respond to her teammates’ messages, but before she knows it she’s out.

•••••••••••••••••

“You look hot tonight,” Amari cheers, hip bumping her friend.

Azzi blushes, hands smoothing down her top. “Thank you.” She looks around the bar, trying to enjoy the lively atmosphere after their tough win, but a pit of guilt settles in the bottom of her stomach when she thinks about Paige. Their teammates assumed that Paige had fallen asleep by her lack of response to their texts, but Azzi knew better than that. She felt physically sick thinking of Paige huddled in her room all alone while the rest of them were out celebrating.

Before she knows it, she’s left the bar and she’s back at the hotel, hand reaching out to knock. When she finally summons her courage to give a couple short raps on the door, a groggy Paige opens the door. Surprise flickers across her face before she straightens up. “Azzi?” Her voice is subdued with sleep, soft, a little bit hoarse.

Azzi takes in Paige’s bloodshot eyes and red nose. “You look like shit.”

Paige harrumphs. “Thanks.”

Without an invitation, Azzi barrels through the door, pretending to be curious about the layout of the room when hers is the exact same. “You didn’t come tonight.”

“Yeah, sorry. Wasn’t feeling it.” Paige goes back to her bed and wraps the blanket around herself.

“Did you eat yet?”

Paige shakes her head.

“Do you want me to order anything?”

Another shake of the head. “Not hungry.”

“You haven’t eaten in 12 hours, you have to eat something.”

Paige finally looks up, making eye contact with Azzi. “Stop,” she says, her tone worn out, her voice a little rough at the edges. “Stop pretending like you care about me.”

Azzi’s veins turn ice cold. “What?”

“I know you can’t stand me anymore. I was fucking delusional thinking that forcing you to sit next to me on the bus would change anything. But it’s fine.” Paige lies down and rolls over with her back to her best friend, hoping that Azzi won’t be able to sense the fact that she’s about to burst into tears. “I took some Nyquil. I’ll be good. You can go.”

There’s silence, and Paige closes her eyes, willing herself to hold back her tears for just a few more seconds. But the bed dips, and the touch on her face is so light and gentle that she thinks she’s dreaming before Azzi speaks. “I care about you. You don’t think I care about you? Christ, Paige, you’re all I ever think about.”

The tears slip out of her eyes, and Paige curses herself for being weak. She can’t even keep herself together for one goddamn minute. “Then why are we still like this? We can’t even talk to each other without being normal.”

“I told you, I’m not ready yet, Paige.”

“Will you ever be?”

When Azzi doesn’t respond, Paige sobs harder. She feels Azzi go in to wipe her tears, but she jerks away before the younger girl can reach her. Paige’s heart is already breaking into a thousand little pieces, and feeling Azzi’s touch would make this so much harder than it already is. “Can you please just leave?”

Azzi’s face falls. “Paige, you’re burning up and have a fever, I’m not leaving you.”

“You’re only gonna make this worse.” Paige knows she’s ugly crying now, but she can’t help it. She’s angry and she’s sad and she’s hurt, and Azzi is so close, so close yet so far away.

“You’re sick and you-,”

“Azzi, please just leave me alone.” And Paige doesn’t mean for her words to come out so harsh, but seeing Azzi sitting there forlornly with that look in her eyes is killing her inside, and she can’t take it anymore.

Azzi stands up, pain written all over her face. “I don’t want to leave you.”

“You already did.” Paige turns around, and she has a cold sense of deja vu. She’s been in this exact situation before, her lying on the bed while Azzi leaves. But this time, she’s the one who’s asked her to go, and Paige didn’t know how it could get worse from that night all those months ago but it somehow fucking has.

Despite the physical exhaustion from the game and the emotional turmoil from the day, Paige can’t fall asleep. When she hears a knock on the door a couple hours later, she half hopes it’s Azzi, but when she opens the door it’s just an Uber delivery man. “Chicken noodle soup from Frazo’s for Paige?”

“I didn’t order this.”

“Uh, well it says the person who ordered this is an Azzi Fudd? She ordered it to this room. Do you know her?”

Paige looks tiredly at the man. “No.”

The man furrows his eyebrows. “Um, well...”

“You can just take it. Free dinner, yay. Here’s a 20 for the trouble.” Paige shoves the bill into the man’s hand and closes the door. She leans on the counter with her face in her hands, a million questions running through her mind. She doesn’t understand why Azzi is so hot and cold. Why Azzi still can’t figure out her feelings after months and months of space. Why Azzi can’t just love her back. She curses, wishing she’d never met the dark haired girl in the first place. But then she thinks about Azzi’s smile, and she takes it back.

Christ. Everything hurts. Paige thought she knew heartbreak when her seventh grade crush turned out to be straight, but this is different. This is all-consuming. It’s like every cell of her body knows she’s missing something. Her heart physically hurts. Head pounding, nose sniffling, eyes watering, Paige lies down on the floor, wishing the granite would absorb her.

[cottonlemonade]

Hi! May I have a Medium Cherry Lemonade with extra ice for Oikawa!

She/her pronouns pretty please.

Protecting A Rival

word count: 1074 || avg. reading time: 5 mins.

pairing: rival!Oikawa x chubby!Reader

genre: fluff with a dash of angst

warnings: mentions of bullying

request: fluffy, protecting you, rival Oikawa

“Oh this is perfect.“

“How did you even get her schedule?“

“It was just there on her desk. Not my fault she doesn‘t look after her stuff.“

The girls broke into hag-like cackling.

“This will be so much fun! Y/n won‘t know what hit her.“

Oikawa usually tried to ignore the buzzing chatter of students walking to the school but your name got his attention. He knew those girls. They, unfortunately, were an (overly) active part of his fan club. This morning, however, their focus was somewhere else and he was glad that they hadn‘t noticed him walking behind them. Nasty creatures, he thought.

In all fairness, you weren‘t his friend or even anything close to it. At best you were his rival since you’d usually fight for the top scores of the class - but he admired that about you. You chose academics instead of fawning all over him (although that was kind of infuriating because why didn‘t you??) He knew that those banshees had a reputation for making people‘s lives miserable and he really didn‘t appreciate that they set their gawky eyes on you.

He should give you a head‘s up. Fair was fair. The only way he would feel satisfied when beating you in Friday‘s quiz was when you were on top of your game.

“Y/n-chan!“, he called, his voice unusually serious. You met his eyes with suspicion. He never talked to you outside of class debates.

“What do you want?“, you asked, coldly.

Okay, rude. But he pressed on, “Can I talk to you for a moment?“

“Is this about homework or the test?“

“Neither.“

“Then I don‘t wanna hear it.“ And with that you took your seat in the first row.

Oikawa pursed his lips. Fine, suit yourself.

When he walked to his desk next to Iwaizumi he saw the three banshees giggling again and whisper urgently, wicked mouths hidden behind their hands.

He groaned inwardly.

After class as you packed up to walk to the next room, he ditched Iwaizumi, Makki and Mattsun and hurried after you. You simply lengthened your strides but in all fairness even that with your much shorter chubby legs was no challenge for the tall volleyball captain.

“Don't you have anything better to do?“, you snapped when he even followed you to the vending machine where you grabbed a juice.

Yes! “No.“

“Why are you following me?“

“Because I like to annoy you, y/n-chan~“

Confused, you scrunched your brow. “Well… stop that.“

By the time lunch rolled around you had had enough. He walked quietly half a step behind you and your friend, keeping an eye out for the banshees, when you suddenly whipped around.

“What is your problem, Oikawa-san?“

Your friend gasped (she was an unofficial supporter of him but out of loyalty to you kept that little piece of information to herself).

“I- come on.“

He grabbed your arm and pulled you out of a side door into the delicate spring sun.

You shook off his hand and crossed your arms.

“Listen, on the way to school this morning I heard these girls talking about … about wanting to do something to you. They have your schedule and everything.“

For a moment your lips parted in surprise and your arms loosened, almost falling to your side but just as quickly, you regained your defiant stance.

“So what?“

Oikawa blinked.

“So…“

“I have to deal with them every other day. Hiding my stuff, pushing me on the stairs, dropping my lunch on the floor. It‘s nothing new. Stay out of it! You‘re only gonna make it worse.“

A new wave of irritation rose in his chest. Then why didn’t you tell a teacher!? Your stubbornness was beyond comprehension. How could someone be this-

“Fine.“, he said with a shrug, “It‘s all the same to me. Do whatever you want.“

“I will!“ And you stormed off. Your cute little stomps stirred up some dust on the sandy courtyard. He shook his head. Wait, not cute. Aggravating! Bullheaded! - Impressive. Strong.

Oikawa sighed and went back inside to grab lunch with his friends. He couldn‘t do anything if you didn‘t want his help. And maybe you were right. Maybe he would make it worse.

Practice was exhausting but good. The coach dismissed the team but didn‘t bat an eye when the captain didn‘t move towards the changing room like everyone else. Instead he handed him the keys to the gym and gave him a pat on the shoulder before he left.

Grabbing the rolling cart with the balls, Oikawa got into position to practice his serves but through the open doors, he spotted an illuminated window on the second floor. People packing up their things and getting ready to go home - you among them. He knew you were part of a book club, because originally he wanted to join as well but upon dodging the poisonous daggers shooting from your eyes when he approached the club manager he rescinded his application and left the book discussions to you.

He shouldn’t get involved. You clearly told him to back off and really, why did he care?

Because it was wrong, for one.

Because you didn‘t do anything to deserve this treatment.

Because you were the only real competition he ever faced academically.

Because you were his equal if not better.

Because you made him push himself.

Because… he didn‘t like the thought of you getting hurt.

Because… he didn‘t want you to deal with this on your own.

He rushed to the changing room, completely ignoring the wide eyes of his team.

“Y/n-chan!“, he called.

In no time he caught up to you.

“Sorry about-“

He was already wondering where your backpack was when he noticed you cradling it in your arms.

The shoulder straps had been cut off.

“I can take care of myself.“, you said quietly.

He couldn‘t help himself and smiled.

“I know you can. But… it‘s just… I would feel better if you… wouldn‘t…“

You halted, looking at the ground, then after a few seconds, met his eyes.

He fully expected you to tell him off again. Maybe even throw your strapless backpack at him. But instead you were… blushing! Enough for him to see it in the yellow lights of the streetlamps. His mouth dropped open. Had you always been this adorable?

“Alright.“, you said, “You can walk me home…“

His smile widened.

“Tomorrow, too?“

“Don‘t push it.“

a/n: Thank you so so much for this prompt. It was so much fun to figure out! I hope you enjoy it!

for requests see here

[jamsandsuch]

advice for first year uni students from a uni senior

the roommate(s) will always be more important than the room

+ for roommates, SET. CLEANING. EXPECTATIONS. EARLY. don't wait until you're uncomfortable with how much mess is in the kitchen for you to start thinking if you should bring it up or not. set standards and make them clear.

put your key on a lanyard and hang it from your doorknob when you’re at home so you don’t forget it on the way out

if your dorm has a shared laundry room, set your timer for when your laundry finishes ~5 mins early to give you time to walk from your room to the laundry - especially during weekends/evenings/finals people wont have the patience to wait for you - even if your load just finished

If you have noodle arms like me, buy yourself one of those collapsible grocery carts you drag behind you like a luggage - best purchase i've ever made

Or if you're lazy, order online - but order on a free day because even if you schedule a time they're always gonna come stupid early and you dont want any frozen items to get spoiled or have your groceries stolen

DONT BUY ANY TEXTBOOKS/MATERIALS UNTIL THE FIRST WEEK/CLASSES ARE OVER. sometimes you’ll have early access to the booklist or syllabus and go ahead and start buying textbooks, but increasingly often you’ll buy the materials and show up to class just to find your prof has uploaded scanned copies of everything. *save your money*, wait!

BEFORE SCHOOL STARTS - look at your class schedule and walk around campus to find each classroom. you will probably get lost on day 1 and so will many other students so this will save you a lot of walking around bumping into other lost first years

trust me after a few weeks you won’t be waking up for that 8am class. i know you did it 5 days a week in high school, but there’s a reason uni students are allergic to morning classes. know your natural energy/attention levels and take advantage of the freedom to build your schedule around your energy fluctuations

compress/stack your class schedule as much as possible. if you absolutely do need breaks, make them at least 1.5-2 hours long or you probably wont get anything productive done and minimize these long breaks as much as you can so you can just get your day over with sooner

work smarter, not harder - when school starts note each course’s assessment type by quizzes/finals/essays. if i ever have a course thats just essays, i only do lecture notes + write my own annotations about readings rather than taking notes on them which saves time i can dedicate to textbook notetaking for courses with frequent quizzes + finals

if your school has benefits/discounts/insurance - know what it is and USE IT.

most clubs wont be like high school where there are regular meetings you attend. unless youre in the exec team the membership fee you pay/when you sign up for membership it’s just for access to their events when they happen. if you want to be involved in a club in a way thats as involved as high school, look at their social media pages for hiring.

+ as someone who has had to hire before - if you’re nervous, literally just do it. i was in an exec position for our student union services and once only had like 3 applicants to pick from

if you want to be noticed by a professor, sit in the front row. and always answer/ask questions - it doesn’t matter if you said anything of substance or not, they will remember that you contributed

that and also always make the point to say hello and goodbye! eventually (in my experience) if you come early enough and are just waiting for class to start, a conversation will happen - make these regular enough and you could have an important connection!

disclaimer: of course, not all of this might be something that resonates with you/possible for your course or school, so in the words of my cousin - take what resonates

+ anyone else is free to add on!!

[st4rb3rries]

summer activities with the main 4

pairings; stan, kyle, kenny, cartman x fem!reader (aged up 18+)

summary; going to the water park/gas station with them

warnings; cussing, mention of drugs

a/n; sorry for being inactive!! i love you guys hope you enjoy<3

key colors; blue= stan green= kyle orange= kenny red= cartman pink= reader

so i feel like you guys would go to the water park because it's so hot. kyle is the one who suggested it because cartman can't stfu. "what the fuck it's so hot" "then how about we go to the water park tubby" "DON'T CALL ME TUBBY YOU STUPID J- that's actually not a bad idea" "shiii im down it's hot as fuck" "fr" "but not as hot as hot as me😘" "who said you were hot in the first place🤨" so all of you guys walked back to your houses and to go get ready. we all know kyle is the mom friend so he brings extra towels, sunscreen, and floaties and puts it in a suitcase. once you all meet up you guys just decided to walk there. "god kyle did you not get the memo were going to the waterpark not the airport🙄" "WELL CARTMAN I WAS JUST TRYING TO LOOK OUT FOR YOU GUYS LOOK AT YOURSELVES YOU GUYS DIDN'T EVEN BRING A SINGLE TOWEL" "thanks for bringing us stuff mom ilysm🥰" "yeah yeah whatever let's just start walking" when you guys get there for some reason kenny and cartman BROUGHT A WHOLE ASS SPEAKER??? *random song playing on speaker* "AW DUDE WTH YOUR EMBARRISING US" "BITCHHH TURN THAT SHIT DOWNN😭" *kyle grabs the speaker and throws it into an "empty" pool* (rip to the kid who was in the pool) "come on stan and y/n lets go swim, but first we gotta put on sunscreen" "bro think's he's the main character💀" "im gonna fucking kill him" "bro thinks he's the villain 💀" your guys favorite thing to do at the waterpark is the slides for sure. or should i say it's you and kenny's favorite thing to do. "WOOHOOO WATER SLIDES Y/N LET'S GO" "YYASSS" "god they're so childish, real men make kids fall of slides" "CARTMAN NO-" so after you and kenny were finished with all the slides. you decided to invite stan because he hasn't done anything being the emo bitch he is🙄. "come on stan lets go next" "no" "yes" "no" he's only saying no because he's afraid he's gonna barf on you since. you guys have to hold each other tight on the slide. (it's in the rules😉) bro is not tryna get caught lacking with having a crush on you. yeah you guessed he finally said yes to you. "ARE YOU READDY STAN HOLD ON TIGHT" "oh god" *not even 5 seconds later* "BLEGHHHHH-" "EW DUDE SICK WTF" bro doesn't even say sorry cause he's too embarrassed. good thing kyle only saw you guys. cartman and kenny would've been laughing their asses off💀. "looks like someone threw a love bomb on you guys *wink*" "shut it kyle" anyways good thing kyle had his big ass suitcase prepared with towels and extra bathing suits. at the end of the day kenny is flirting with the life guards and cartman is torturing kids. but you, stan, and kyle always look foreword to the sunset each day and luckily. the water park has a perfect view for that so you guys were excited. (you guys got kicked out before the sunset)

after getting escorted out the water park you decide to go your local gas station for slushies and snacks. "you guys you guys w-wait up" "come on cartman walk faster" "CAN'T YOU SEE IM TRYING STAN WE JUST CAME FROM THE WATER PARK" "yeah like 2 mintues ago" "LAST ONE WHO GETS THERE HAS TO PAY FOR ALL OUR STUFF" all of you guys start zooming just to piss off cartman. "GODAMMIT WAIT UP" when you guys finally arrive (yes you guys waited for cartman) the cashier always has a look of terror on his face because he knows that you guys. might end up buying the whole store, or accidently set it on fire. "LOOK Y/N SOUR CANDY OUR FAVORITE" "BY THE WHOLE ROW RN" "oh no no no you guys we aren't doing this again." he's only saying this because one time you and kyle ate so much sour candy that you guys passed out. when stan saw you guys he thought y'all did c0k3 because there was white powder everywhere. in reality it was sour dust💀. so he's still traumatized from sour candy because he thought his best bud and future gf died. "stan relax we won't even eat this much this time, right kyle?" "righttt" meanwhile kenny and cartman are fucking up the slushie machine. "kenny i'll give you $5 if you pour slushie into your shoes" "alr bet"*puts slushie in shoes* "BAHAHA KENNY YK I WOULDN'T GIVE YOU $5 FOR THAT" "ik that's why im gonna drink it nothing ain't going to waste😈" "look kenny real men drink out of the slushie machine not their shoes🤓" "you guys are you ready to go🙄" "nah hold up dude lemme get my razzberry slush real quick" as stan tries to get his slush the machine literally explodes everywhere😭. "AH SHIT" "HAHA STAN YOU DUMB BITCH" "ah hell nah smurf nut exploded everywhere" "HAHAH SMURF NUT" "fuck it i say we make a run for it and never come back we can't this shit in time" "at this point yeah😭" "and you guys know damn well none of us brought cash" "NO WAY KYLE BEING A MAN FOR ONCE AND TRYNA STEAL WOAHHH😮" "SHUT IT F@T@SS THEY'RE GONNA HEAR US" "LETS GO THE CASHIER IS SLEEPING" "HELL YEAH FREE STUFF" "PURR LET'S GO😜" you guys ran out with all your snacks and never came back😭. but we all know kyle is gonna come back and repay for the damages and stealing. until he see's photos of himself and you guys on the door saying your banned. "oh fuck"

[cloudmancy]

I have no desire to get you in trouble but I would be curious to hear your thoughts on the new episode and the preview because I also have.. thoughts and I'm interested in what other people clocked as not great or kinda.. idk. other people's concerns, because I have had a lot of them and I never see people really talk about those things

they're doing a new format this season where they film a bunch of rp episodes in a row then take a break when there's a battle so the crew can get the battleset ready, so I understand the dissonance. but the tone of this episode from the tone of last episode was SO jarring. I was ready to chew drywall at the end of episode 17 but we head into the episode 18 fight and at the end all I can say is... damn! that sure is a battle that happened. the entire fight felt really low-stakes even though objectively a few of the bad kids were in mortal danger, but the mood at the table was so relaxed and chill and there was almost no roleplay at all... which drove me so crazy

>no rp except for fun silly party stuff (no callbacks to the adaine elven oracle in a storm thing? after all the fun setup last time??)

>fought 8 different antagonists and none of them said a word

>nobody questioned why or what oisin's grandma or all those dragon were doing there they just started taking them out one by one like raid battles in world of warcraft

>cassandra/nightmare king showed up only to not make any impact or get a single word in

>dos2 lady vengeance fight did the floating boat/ballistas/dragon fight better SMH

and then after all of that we're headed straight into ANOTHER battle episode judging by the preview... and it's against the rat grinders and porter/jace! let me out I want PLOT & DIALOGUE fhjy cannot end like this (5 hours straight of battle where they just kill everyone that moves). there's 2 eps left so I really hope they do the last ep as a 4 hour long roleplay only epilogue episode because as we've all seen ending campaigns on a battle leads to frankly really rushed character and world decisions. it's ultra disappointing too because I loved this entire season so much so far. the setup and buildup and plot points and mystery of fhjy is the best they've ever done it in dimension 20 period

ep 18 fhjy battle was a letdown to me... not giving the party an rp episode after 3 hours of loredump + going straight into a final battle without being able to interact with the world after gaining info is bad. they should've had a chance to process everything they learned about house sunstone, porter's plan, the rat grinders being used as ascension fodder, whatever the whole deal behind ambrosia and lucy frostkettle and why they needed a helios cleric in buddy IN ROLEPLAY. I don't want all this stuff explained to me after the battle by brennan or in some throwaway lines in the adventuring party - I want the bad kids to talk to people! I want them to investigate! I want fig to pull some BS with porter knowing the full extent of all his plans. it really sucks for us as an audience too to be hit with all this lore and get approximately 0 time for it to sink into the implications of how the worldbuilding was shaped by it or realizations of "ohhh that's why that happened at the beginning of the season" before we go straight into killing everyone.

with the way this is going I don't have any confidence they're gonna be able to actually empathize at all with the rat grinders too before they start lopping heads off because in battle episodes everyone kind of just. becomes numbers and an objective to take out except for pet favourite npcs of the cast. and they've mostly been interacting with the rat grinders as nuisances all season 😭 I'm PRAYING to be proven wrong and the last 2 episodes of this are fantastic but it's not looking good folks

[vicsnook]

Good Luck, Babe! Pt. 2 | Jake Seresin x Reader

word count: 2004

warnings: mentions of abortion& throwing up

notes: Hey y’all! As promised, here is part 2 for Good Luck, Babe! Hope y’all enjoy and part 3 is definitely coming soon. As always please don’t forget to like and reblog 🫶🏼.

I’m pregnant.

I slide down to the floor and sob. How could I have been so careless? How could I have let myself be in this situation? I can’t even take care of myself, let alone a baby. And the worst part is that Jake’s gone and I have no idea how to contact him.

Taking a couple of deep breaths, I finally feel steady enough to stand. God I wish Mer was still around, she would have been the only one to not judge and help me figure things out. I never realized how alone I’ve been until now.

Calling my mom is definitely out of the picture, I was already freaking out enough for the both of us. I do know having this baby would be the most irresponsible thing I could do. I can hardly afford my apartment and to get groceries as it is. But before making that kind of decision, I need to talk to Jake.

Unfortunately for me, it’s only Monday and the Hard Deck is only open on the weekend. I check to see if I still have Mickey’s number but of course I deleted it. Just my luck, guess I’ll just have to wait till Friday to hopefully break the news.

-

I stare at the Hard Deck from the front seat of my car while getting major deja vu from the night everything changed. Peering around the parking lot, I don’t spot Jake’s truck or Mickey’s car. Finally, after what feels like hours but was really only 5 minutes, I open the car door and head inside. It’s now or never.

The bar looks exactly the same as last time minus Jake and Mickey. I check all over and they’re nowhere to be found. Worry starts to creep in that I’m going to have to do this all alone.

I take a seat at the very end of the bar and the bartender comes right over. “What’s it gonna be, honey?” she asks, looking at me pitifully with her big brown eyes. “Just water, please,” I respond, feeling like she can see right through me.

I nursed my drink for almost an hour before giving up. Heading out to the beach, I notice the sun starting to set and couples walking hand in hand by the shore. Tears well up in my eyes as reality starts to finally sink in but I swallow them back down, hoping he might still show.

Making my way to the car, I notice the parking lot is now even more packed than when I arrived. I peer around the rows looking for Jake’s truck but still no luck. Sighing, I get in my car and let the tears fall down.

Putting the car in reverse, I look in my rearview mirror and immediately put the car back in park once I catch a glimpse of him. Am I dreaming or re-living that night?

I hurry out of the car and sprint towards the door but once I make it inside, regret fills me up from head to toe. How can I do this? Maybe I should just leave. But I don’t even make it to the door when his hand catches mine and spins me around to face him.

Those green eyes that gave me the best night of my life and also left me with the worst result, now are staring into mine. “Y/N? What are you doing here?” he asks, while leading me to a table in the corner. “Is everything okay?” he says, turning my face up to look at him and I can see concern etch in his features when he notices the tear stains on my cheeks.

I sit down on the chair and brace myself to say what will surely change everything. “I’m pregnant.” His eyes widen and I regret the words that just came out of my mouth as he looks down, digesting what I just said. “Are you sure?” He finally manages to say and I nod, wishing the Earth would just swallow me whole.

“Let’s go somewhere else. This isn’t a good place to talk about this,” He blurts out, getting up. “There’s no need for that Jake. I just came to tell you and to say that I’m not keeping it.” He stares at me in disbelief and I know whatever he says next, I definitely won’t like.

“Are you crazy!? You’re not getting rid of our baby. Absolutely not. Now come on,” He hisses, grabbing onto my arm and practically dragging me out of the bar while I plead with him to let me go. Thankfully when we make it to the door, someone bumps into Jake.

“The lady asked you to let go of her arm Bagman,” says the man in the Hawaiian shirt who has the best mustache I’ve ever seen. His smug look tells me that this probably isn’t good.

“Mind your fucking business Rooster,” Jake says, his face turning red with anger as he tries to pull us around Rooster. But before we can make it out the door, once again Rooster has blocked our path.

“Let go of her right now, or I will have Penny ring the bell on your ass,” threatens Rooster to which Jake chuckles sarcastically. “I mean it, Hangman.”

“It’s okay, really,” I whisper from behind Jake. Beginning to get uncomfortable by the stares we were getting. All I want is to leave and pretend this never happened.

Jake looks back at me and gives me a grateful smile then turns back around. “You heard her, Rooster.”

Rooster looks over at me again and I nod reassuringly , trying to make him move which he thankfully does and I feel his eyes on my back until we’re outside the bar.

The weather is muggy and the smell of cigarettes makes me feel sick. Before I can even make it into the car, I pull my arm out of Jake’s grasp and bend over, throwing up on the bushes. His hand immediately goes around my waist to steady me while his other one holds onto my hair which normally would make me smile but I can’t focus while emptying the contents of my stomach.

After catching my breath and wiping my mouth with my shirt, I feel Jake’s hands pull back. All I wanted to do was turn around and cry on his chest but instead, I head to the car while he follows.

His hand closes my driver's side door as I try opening it and I turn around annoyed. “What Jake? You left. No note, nothing. I came here to tell you as a courtesy. Now please move, I don’t feel well and just want to go home.” I half yell, exasperated, he still looks angry but at the mention of my well being his anger dissipates and is immediately replaced with concern.

“Let me drive you home so I can explain please. I’ll Uber back here for my truck.” He pleads, and being that I still felt sick and a headache was starting, I consider it. But I think back to him leaving and decide against it. “I’m fine, Jake. Please let me go.”

Unfortunately, my words immediately betray me as I push him off to the side and turn around to throw up again in the grass.

“See, you’re not fine, I’m taking you home. End of discussion.” Jake states firmly as he leads me to the passenger seat and takes my keys.

Thankfully he remembered where I lived so the drive was silent. The only thing I knew for sure was that this was bound to be another long night and not the fun kind.

-

Once inside, he helped me over the couch and went to the kitchen, returning with a glass of water.

“How come your fridge is empty? He asks, looking at me curiously while taking a seat beside me. My cheeks flush in embarrassment as I answer. “Being a paralegal doesn't pay much, Jake. That’s why I can’t keep this baby, I can hardly afford myself as it is.”

He looks ashamed before quickly replying,“Honey, it wouldn't just be you who’s responsible for this baby. I can afford it and more. We’ll probably have to get married so that you can -”

“Married!? Have you lost your mind?” I shriek. What the hell was he thinking? A month ago he hit it and quit it and now he was proposing wedding bells. I think I’m going to be sick again. But he continues on like my reaction didn’t happen.

“Well yes, darlin’. I know we got some steps out of order but you’re having my child, of course, we’re getting married.” He says, like it’s common sense and I don’t if I want to kiss him or slap him.

“For fucks sake Jake, I hardly even know you. I can’t marry you nor can I have this baby.” I say, pulling my knees close to my chest while my head throbs in pain. God I wish I hadn’t let myself get so depressed when I realized what he did and thought of taking the morning after pill.

“Well we have 9 months to get to know each other and I think that’s plenty. People nowadays marry even sooner than that.”

His tone so matter of fact it made me want to strangle him. This couldn’t be happening, surely I’m just having a nightmare. Jake definitely isn't in my living room proposing we get married and be a family, right?

But after pinching my arm he was still there watching me. I needed time to think but with him there it’s like any rational thought flies out the window.

“Jake, I need some space. Please. I’ll think about what you said but right now all I want is to be alone.” He opens his mouth to object but I add, “You can come back tomorrow, I’ve just had enough today. I promise, we’ll talk some more then.”

After a moment of consideration, he nods in agreement and gets up, extending a hand out to me and I look at him confused. “Let me put my phone number on your phone, and promise me you’ll call me if you need anything.”

I nod, handing him my phone and looking down while swallowing the lump on my throat. He hands me my phone back and I set it down beside me. His eyes find mine and he gives me a small comforting smile and I feel my heart flutter a little but before I can let it fill itself with hope I’m standing up and leading Jake to the door.

“Goodnight, Y/N,” he says, looking up from his phone after ordering his uber. “Goodnight Jake.”

I close the door and lean against it, letting a few tears escape before quickly wiping them away and heading to the bathroom for a much needed shower. I sit on the floor of the shower and let myself cry it all out again, the only difference is that this time I cry because of Jake’s proposal rather than his absence.

My fingers are very pruned when I finally get out of the shower. I stare at myself in the mirror, turning sideways to see if a bump has begun to form but I’m met with none since it’s probably too early for that.

Finally I decide to go to bed, stopping by the living room to grab my phone. As I unlock it, I stop dead in my tracks, noticing that Jake’s contact name is Baby Daddy and that he texted me “I’m sticking around. I promise.”

My legs feel wobbly as I read it over and over again but thankfully I’m pulled away from obsessing over it by the doorbell. I look out the window and see no one but against my better judgment I open the door and look down to be met by a grocery delivery and some flowers.

Maybe things will be okay after all.

click here for part 3.

taglist: @rosiahills22, @harperdoodle, @weirdothatwritess, @mrsevans90

[whatdoeseverybodywant]

Sorry - Chapter 6

I do NOT give permission for my work to be translated or reposted on here or any other site, even if you give me credit. DO NOT REPOST MY FICS

❤ Reblogs, comments, likes, and feedback ALWAYS appreciated ❤ 

All OC Characters belong to me

Series Masterlist

Jon often forgets how petty his fiance could be as he watched her force Josh to switch seats with her on the plane so she was two rows ahead of him instead of sitting next to him. Their first flight had been canceled, leaving them in the airport for an extra 5 hours. He had tried to talk to Dominique, only to be met with silence and glares. Jon sucked his teeth as Josh made eye contact with him as he made his way over to him. 

“Aye it's gone be all good twin. Y’all got all week to work it out.” Jon snorted. He had peeked into her phone earlier when she was texting her mom and saw that she had asked her mom to pick her up from the airport.  

“Unlikely. Moniqiue is picking her up and taking her back to Ensley.” 

“Uce, that's a 12 minute drive. If you really wanna work shit out with Dom then do it. Hurry up and text Ms Mo before the flight takes off. Tell her she doesn’t need to come anymore.”  Jon didn’t respond to his twin, too busy looking at Dominique and trying to think of ways to get her back to him, back with him. 

“I don’t know what to do.” Jon confessed. “I know I fucked up and I apologized, but I just don’t know what else to do.” Josh sucked his teeth causing Jon to look over at him. “What?”

“You being deadass Uce? I know you not being deadass. Jon, you flew her out to Paris so you could propose in front of the Eiffel Tower because that's what she told you her ideal proposal was. Dominique is just stubborn as hell but you know what to do, Just follow your heart.” 

Dominique rolled her eyes and let out a groan at all the messages her mother had sent her pertaining to her wedding. Dom had told her mom that the wedding was off but Monique Walker-Coleman did not care. She knew how her daughter was and she knew that Dominique and Jon would work it out.  

She didn’t even bother responding to her mom. She took her headphones out of her carry-on and slipped them on to her head. After putting on her playlist, she closed her eyes and tried to drift  off to sleep, but her mind kept going back to what Ishana had said to her. 

Dom knew Ishana was right but she also knew that if the shoe was on the other foot, Ishana would have turned her own fiance every way but loose! She understood that Jon knew he fucked up and all he wanted was for Dominique to forgive him, but she was hurt. She watched, with her own two eyes as her fiance let some bitch get into his space. He let that bitch KISS him! 

Dominique opened her eyes and  took a deep breath trying to calm herself down, if she thought about it anymore she was gonna be put on the no fly list after she got through with Jon. 

Dominique all but ran off of the plane. She could hear Jon calling after her as she grabbed her bags from baggage claim and hightailed it to where her mom was waiting for her. “Go!” She yelled once she got in her moms car , then winced as her mother narrowed her eyes. “Sorry, can you just drive please?’ Monique nodded and drove off just as Jon came sprinting out of the building.

Monique stared at her daughter, very disappointed in what she was hearing. “Yes, he fucked up.” Monique started off and Dominique smiled, finally someone was on her side. “But,” Monique said, causing Dom’s smile to fade. “You also fucked up by not letting him know how you feel about marriage before y’all even got engaged. You’re afraid to go through what me and your father went through and I don’t blame you. But you can’t let that ruin what you and Jon have. Y’all both went through some rough shit before finding each other. Don’t let  your fear mess that up Dominique.” 

“So what you're saying is that it’s my fault for not telling him I'm scared of being married.” Dominique scoffed, sitting back in  her chair and crossing her arms over her chest as Monique rolled her  eyes.

“Girl, you know damn well that’s not what I said.” Monique reached across the table and gently grasped her daughter's hand, squeezing it. “I don’t want you to be like me, Meeks. Don’t blow this situation out of proportion. You and him messed up and you and him need to sit down and talk to each other, without screaming.” Monique said, pointing an accusatory finger at her daughter. “You nicely tell him how you feel, not just about the situation but marriage as a whole and you listen to what he has to say.” 

Dominique stayed out with her mother as late as she could. It was nearing 4 pm when she finally made it home and normally she would have gone in the house and started on dinner but she was still pissed off with him, she didn’t care if he ever ate again. 

She furrowed her eyebrows as she walked in the house, taking a note of the silence, which was very unusual in their house. She walked into the kitchen and jumped when she saw him sitting there, nursing a bottle of beer. She let out a sigh when she saw two empty bottles in the recycling bin. 

“Didn’t think I was gonna see you tonight.” He said in greeting and Dominique ignored him, walking over to the counter and shuffling through the bills that had accumulated while they were on the road. She noticed that his keys were thrown on the counter and not on the hook by the garage door. 

“I hope you decided to drink those after you went wherever you needed to go.” She muttered, flickering her eyes up to his. “You can’t afford another DUI.” That was a low blow. Jon chuckled and picked at the label. 

“That was uncalled for.” He muttered, his voice laced with hurt. “You ain’t have to say that Dom.” He let out a scoff when she shrugged. 

“What you did was uncalled for too.” 

“Now you just being childish and petty, Dominique.” 

“Hmm.” She hummed and placed the bills back down on the counter. “I’m going to take a shower.” She said, huffing as she heard him following after her. “Stop following me Jon.” 

“I just wanna talk to you.” He pleaded as he followed her up the steps and into their bedroom. She sighed and walked into their closet to get her some nightclothes ready. 

“I am talking to you Jonathan.” She called out from the closet. 

"Dom, please." He pleaded, taking his hair out of the ponytail and running his fingers through it. "I just want to talk to you” 

“Jonathan, we can talk in the morning. I just want to shower. “ He sucked his teeth and watched as she disappeared into the bathroom. He sighed and stood up to follow her in the bathroom.

"Okay I'll talk you listen." He sat on the toilet lid and she glared at him.

"Jon can you just - " She started but he cut her off.

"I fucked up and I'm sorry." He said and he rubbed his hand down his face. "I didn't know she was gonna do what she did, Dom. I-" He stopped and shrugged. "I don't know you told me to go find someone else and I was pissed but my intentions weren't to disrespect you." She rolled her eyes and rested her but against the sink so she was facing him.

"I obviously didn't really mean it, Jonanthan!" She cocked her eyebrow at him. Was he serious? So now all of a sudden he wants to do everything she said. If she said jump would he say how high?

"I know that Dominique, I was drunk and upset. Like I Just said it wasn't my intentions."

"So what were your 'intentions'?" She said using air quotes.

"I don't know Dominique." He stressed. She was making this more difficult than it needed to be. Why couldn't she just accept his apology. "All I know is that you pissed me off." She scoffed and crossed her arms over her chest.

"So that's what I had to look forward to if we got married? You letting different women in your space when I piss you off?" He groaned.

"Of course not Dom.-" She cut him off .

"What if it was me, Jon?" He raised his head from his hands and looked at her.

"What?"

"What if it was me? What if you saw me with another dude all over me in the club and I didn't push him away? Would you forgive me right away?" He clenched his fist at the thought of another man even touching her. “You already was pissed off because you seen me with Randy.” 

"I'm not the only one at fault here Dominique." He deflected and she let out a huff and crossed her arms. "9 months of you pushing me away everytime I ask about the wedding, our wedding. Everytime I bring it up you either start an argument or walk away." He said, standing up from the toilet and walking closer to her. She averted her gaze, looking at the wall behind his head. He was right, he wasn't the only one at fault but he played a bigger role in this problem than she did.

She could be woman enough to admit that all of their other arguments were petty and childish and all her fault but this was entirely on him.

"Okay but I didn't let some guy kiss me." He restrained himself from rolling his eyes. She wasn't going to let that go any time soon.

"And I apologized for that and already told you that I didn't know she was going to do that."

"That doesn't make it okay Jon!" She yelled looking at him again. "None of this is okay! I'm allowed to have reservations about the wedding! I'm allowed to not be sure about certain shit Jonathan!" She was trying her hardest not to cry.

"So you're not certain about us?"

"That's not what I'm saying."

"So what are you saying Dominique?"

She stared at him. She wasn't sure what she meant by that. She was certain that she wanted to be with him, but she wasn't certain that she wanted to get married to him.

"I don't know." She mumbled, looking down at her feet. He scoffed.

"You know what." He let out a humorless chuckle. "Maybe we should just you know." He made a break apart motion with his hands. "If this wasn't what you wanted." He motioned between the two of them. "You shouldn't have accepted my proposal." He said turning around and walking back into their shared room.

Dominique stared after him in shock. That wasn't how she thought the conversation was going to go. She didn't expect him to walk out. She walked into the bedroom to see him packing an overnight bag.

"I'm going to stay at my moms." He said not sparing her a glance as he walked out of the room. She followed behind him wanting to tell him not to go and that she did want to be with him but something in her wasn't letting her.

He left the house slamming the door and let out a frustrated scream once he was in his truck. 

HEYY Y'ALL... Sorry about the wait.

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@shayaaaaaaa @bebesobrielo

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY TO THOSE WHO CELEBRATE! STAY SAFE

[cidnangarlond]

some of these r people I made up some are based on actual mutuals or inspired by posts if not directly drawn from them but know I came up with these out of love. I love uuu my mutuals

mutual 1: made more art of the war criminal as a catboy in the style of Cabanel's The Fallen Angel. drawn in a fugue state in 2 hours

mutual 2: wrote a little poem as I waited at the bus stop *one of the most heart-wrenching poems you've ever read*

mutual 3: I NEED SLOPPY FROM THAT OLD MAN NOW‼️

mutual 4: I NEED SLOPPY FROM THAT OLD WOMAN NOW‼️

mutual 5: inventing a new kind of drug *photo of a joint made from columbo-themed rolling papers*

mutual 6: if this team scores against mine again I'm flying to their stadium to personally blow them all up

mutual 7: now see her sillay *photo of their cat everyone knows by name*

mutual 8: now see her sillay *photo of their car on fire*

mutual 6: which one of y'all reported me to the authorities I WAS JOKING

mutual 9: dnd session today if glumpus and glumpo don't resolve their sibling issues and put it behind them then the world is gonna end they are LITERALLY having this much beef and a character is already dead in the middle of this fight to save the world

mutual 10: I'm gonna have glumpo fuck old woman cheddar tonight

mutual 11: they were insane for this one *screenshot of them listening to the alphabet on youtube*

mutual 12: look at my son *oc everyone knows by name and loves*

mutual 13: hey guys staff terminated me again because they said my repeating replying to dumb as shit tumblr ads with the wikipedia article text for japanese giant salamanders was "harassment" reblog to help me find my followers again

mutual 14: hey guys my blog got nuked because I told a proshipper to kill themselves reblog to help me find my followers again

mutual 15: *callout post for mutual 14*

mutual 16: *20 reblogs in a row of art of dio brando with huge tits*

mutual 17: did a quick makeup test for the show! only took me half an hour this time ^_^ *photos of intricate professional-level work to make them look like a skeleton*

mutual 18: going to the arctic to find out if those men fucked on the doomed expedition wish me luck 👍🏻

mutual 19: hey guys we haven't heard from mutual 18 in a week I think they were serious

mutual 20: i think i hauve covid *photo of a sheet of white paper*

mutual 21: if I don't get to see this band in concert I'm making a pipe bomb (FOR LEGAL REASONS THIS IS /J)

mutual 22: got high with my manager on break and why's he kinda... like he's married (for now) butWIAT THE BUILDING IS ON FIRE

mutual 18: in the arctic just killed a seal. I've never felt more alive

mutual 23: just got to heavensward sooo excited to play this expac... heard it's crazy good

mutual 24: hey mutual 23 what do you think about haurchefant

mutual 23: he's my favorite. why

mutual 25: DYING POSTPONED I JUST HAD THE BEST SOUP EVER!!!!!!!!

mutual 26: LOOK AT MY WOL BOY *picture of their warrior of light with massive boobs*

you: awesome *reblogs it*

[babydollmarauders]

MEDIA MANAGEMENT — JACK HUGHES (23-24 SZN PART 20)

au masterlist

y/ndevils00

liked by jackhughes, john.marino97, and 435,722 others

y/ndevils00 we lost.

well…we won.

but we lost.

we won 5-4 against the orange and blue fucks, but my best friends conspired against me and went against my explicit wishes and CUT THEIR HAIR.

@/dawson1416 @/john.marino97 I THOUGHT YOU LOVED ME, ASSHATS!

don’t worry, dawson was jailed for his crime against me

anyways 😒

we racked up 5 goals tonight to secure our second win in a row for the first time this month! including goals from traitor number 1, captain slut, uncle lizard and my beautiful baby angel doll face, Jacky!!

i’m so proud of my boys for not losing their confidence and coming together to win another game!

and special shoutout to my great uncle lizard, who got us our game winning goal with TWENTY-SEVEN SECONDS LEFT! i truly thought we would be going to overtime and i would be out past my bedtime, but no! because Laser’s got my back! thank you, king!

p.s. if you saw, or if you didn’t see, my lovely boyfriend was the first star tonight! and with being first star, means doing an interview! tonight, i bet my sweet boy $20 that he wouldn’t call our wonderful captain a whore in his interview— and although i didn’t think he would… he took that bet! AND took it a step further by saying, and i quote, “Nico’s our whore.” oh how i love this man! sorry, i wasn’t aware that you were chill like that @/jackhughes . enjoy your newfound $20, my love! it came from your wallet last week!

p.p.s. Mathew Barzal, you bald headed bitch, stay away from my goal net and my boys

tagged john.marino97, dawson1417, jackhughes, nicohischier, and curtislazar95

Load more comments

jackhughes when the hell did you take 20 dollars from my wallet?

y/ndevils00 remember when you were sleeping last week?

jackhughes i can’t say that i do because i sleep every night

y/ndevils00 yeah, lame. well, it was then

jackhughes you know i’d give it to you if you just ask?

y/ndevils00 yeah, so why ask?

lhughes_06 can’t argue with that logic, Jacky

jackhughes @/lhughes_06 i’m not appreciating this new thing where you two gang up on me

lhughes_06 oh really? cause i’m having a blast!

y/ndevils00 me too!

jackhughes yeah, i’m sure you guys are 🫥

trevorzegras remember dude, you chose this life

y/ndevils00 it’s a sad day when even @/trevorzegras understands

trevorzegras what have i done to you?!

y/ndevils00 @/trevorzegras breathe.

lhughes_06 @/trevorzegras bro, her answer is never gonna change. just accept it

y/ndevils00 @/lhughes_06 Lukey, you are my bestest friend in the world

john.marino97 hello?? right here!

y/ndevils00 @/john.marino97 shut up! bald men don’t get to speak!

curtislazar95 i got a special shoutout! you’re welcome, niece!!

y/ndevils00 of course you did! because you did great things!

dawson1417 i did great things too!

y/ndevils00 @/dawson1417 did you? did you, really? 😑

jackhughes @/dawson1417 the answer is no, dude. just say no

dawson1417 … no

user63 THEIR HAIR! THEIR BEAUTIFUL HAIR!

dawson1417 John made me do it!

y/ndevils00 that must be it because i know YOU would never defy my wishes

john.marino97 you liar! i didn’t “make” you do anything!

y/ndevils00 @/john.marino97 i trust nothing that comes out of your mouth

john.marino97 well then it’s a good thing that didn’t come out of my mouth. it was typed with my thumbs

y/ndevils00 @/john.marino97 next game, you will be jailed for your crimes AND your sass

dawson1417 @/john.marino97 😝

tofff73 why does Lazar get to be king and i’m queen?

y/ndevils00 because you give queen energy? what kind of question is that?

tofff73 you’re right, that was so silly of me

y/ndevils00 it’s okay! you were just feeling silly goofy! i forgive you!

nicohischier i thought he said horse

y/ndevils00 oh you sweet beautiful slut,, what sense would horse have made?

nicohischier makes more sense than calling me a whore

y/ndevils00 in what world?

nicohischier all of them?!

y/ndevils00 i do not believe you

nicohischier fine, yeah, whatever, i’m a whore

y/ndevils00 AH ACCEPTANCE! YOU FINALLY HIT THE FINAL STAGE OF GRIEF

nicohischier and what exactly was i grieving?

y/ndevils00 a normal life <3

nicohischier oh yeah, you ended any chances of that as soon as i met you

user02 2 wins in a row… are we… back?

user94 I THOUGHT THAT’S WHAT JACK SAID BUT I COULDN’T BELIEVE IT

john.marino97 does it really look bad?

y/ndevils00 do you want me to be nice or honest?

john.marino97 i can’t believe i’m saying this, but honest

y/ndevils00 it looks great. i just miss your curls!

john.marino97 they’ll grow back, i promise!

y/ndevils00 but how can you know?!

john.marino97 it’s MY hair??

[static-sulker]

I might maybe possibly be thinking of a modern fantasy apartment AU with the main crew. All of them being stupid ass magical roommates without tadpoles...Just letting them be happy.

Also my Tav is in there because...yeah. His name is Silk and he is such a silly guy ridden with the 'tism. Drow Warlock who sees the good in everything... Such a...A yeah...

Little notes i've been conjuring about this...

Gale and Wyll made a chore chart in the kitchen, with little magnets for each person. Astarion regularly will switch his magnet in the middle of the night just so he doesn't have to do the fucking dishes and EVERYBODY knows besides Gale and Wyll. Wyll is on the fence about it, but Gale wholeheartedly believes when Astarion lies through his teeth about never having done it.

Karlach and Halsin go on grocery runs in the mornings. Karlach goes for the running part, while Halsin comes along for the run as well as to stop Karlach from buying the most horrendous shit. The one time she went alone very early in the houses lifespan, Karlach bought like 3 bags of go-gurt, about 50 dollars worth of cheap booze, and a big piece of raw steak to cook. She burnt said steak. But she's trying now, at least.

The team will take turns every now and then to get Astarion blood from themselves as it gives Astarion a lot more energy then normal settling blood. BUT they do have "blood bags" that they set up in the kitchen fridge whenever they know nobody with the right blood is gonna be available to give him blood if he needs it. They TOTALLY get it by legal means and it TOTALLY doesn't melt Astarions heart that they try so hard to help him.

Silk finds a stray dog in the alleys of their building one day when they went out to work (they do freelance art with their magic for like startups, it's fun). After casting "speak with animals" they find out this dog, Scratch, is waiting for his owner to return. His owner was killed out by some gnoll gang downtown. When they come back from work later in the evening, they find Scratch again, still waiting. Long story short, Silk adopts scratch in their very strict "no pets" rule of an apartment. And don't get me STARTED on the owlbear cub. Lae'zel and Halsin were out, originally to get some spare lightbulbs and tools for the apartment and find the little critter getting chase by some goblins in some backalley parking lot. Lae'zel plans to ignore the thing, but Halsin assists the cub. Once done, they plan to leave, before the cub begins to follow them home. Halsin names the cub "Vauva" and Lae'zel soon becomes SO attached.

They have presentation nights, where everybody makes slideshows about literally anything. Last week, Gale made one about the conflicts of archmages and the idea of apprentices. Karlach then made a tier list on the worst monsters ever documented, Lae'zel helped with that one. Shadowheart made this whole discussion over her favorite and least favorite teas (she fuckin' hates green tea for like no reason). Wyll made one on Baldurs Gate history. Astarion made a smash or pass list of all of the political leaders in Baldurs Gate. Silk made a presentation on the weirdest underdark myths and rumors they have heard on their time above ground. Halsin presented (well more like persuaded) on getting a new herb for their kitchens row of herbs and spices set on the windowsill. They have too many and he got like 5 minutes of stand time before Karlach kicked him off.

Lae'zel hate-cleans when shes mad at somebody in the apartment. Basically, she cleans every room in the entire fucking apartment BESIDES any of said "victims" parts of the house. One time, she got into a fight with Shadowheart and threw all of the dirty laundry she had so carefully put into the laundry room back into her room just all over the fucking place. If shes calm though, the house is normally fairly clean under her and Wyll's watch. It's one of the only things they agree on.

Because every bg3 piece of content I make loops back to bloodweave, I think they would have a little reading time together. Like whenever everybody is settling down for the night and they are up for it, they take this lovely window seat couch/bed thing in Gales room and just take out a good bottle of wine and a book for each of them and just read until late. They originally did this separately, but when the two find themselves both in the living room at 2 in the morning reading, they decide in silent agreement to make it routine. They sometimes read in silence, other times just talking absently about anything. Shadowheart finds out first by coming in to Gales room late one night to return a book he lent to her to find the two both passed out, tucked away in the window, books still in hand before they accidentally passed out. Shadowheart then teases them with photos the morning after.

Karlach and Lae'zel both do these really intense shadowboxing exercises in Karlachs room whenever the two have freetime and enough energy to go through with it. It's a heated bitter rivalry in the eyes of the githyanki, but Karlach just loves a little workout with her friend! Lae'zel does enjoy the workouts, as she doesn't get many options to really let off ALL of her steam, even if she works at a gym as a personal trainer. She is constantly told shes a bit TOO rough with the clients so she has to "tone it down". So it's nice.

Astarion and Shadowheart have girls nights. Like they paint each others nails and watch like twilight together (ironically they get so heated at how wrong they get it. "Just another human writer writing about shit she doesn't get" is used a lot in their rewatches). They also talk about like...their feelings. But it's very sparse and done so by a copious amount of wine (wine with a heavy amount of blood on the side for Astarion). Both of them never got to have moments like this in their childhoods, of just pure calmness and domestic childhood enjoyment, so they make due with what they can.

BY THE HELLS I JUST REALIZED I WROTE THIS MUCH. DAMN OKAY.

[thatsmzbitchtoyou]

Sugar Mama Chapter 1

And another one! New story involving #sugarbabybucky Summary: Bucky is overworked and struggling to get by.  The bills are piling up and he’s consistently in the red with no end in sight.  Y/N is a billionaire’s daughter, entrepreneur and philanthropist having a hard time finding true friends or love.  She has a proposition for him. 

bucky barnes x curvy!reader Warnings: eventual smut, sexual assault (not from Bucky)

Next chapter

Bucky was exhausted.  He had been working three jobs for four years now just trying to get by, and this was his sixth sixteen hour day in a row.  Student loans and credit card debt was eating him out of house and home, in the most literal sense.  Even living in a rent controlled building wasn’t helping with the bills piling up.  He had gone to college for architecture and interior design, which he was doing now working as an assistant during normal working hours for one of the many local interior designers.  Then he would go straight to his second job as a waiter in a high end restaurant in downtown Manhattan, then at the end of the night go home and do a few more hours of online tutoring.  He had ended his 20s and entered his 30s feeling like an old man, with no end in sight of ever getting a break or being able to break even with his debt.  Forget about dating or having a family someday.  That all seemed like a ridiculous pipe dream now.

“Heeeeyyyy Buckaroo?” Steve sidled up to him as he was cleaning off wine glasses.

“No,” Bucky cut him off.  

“But it’s just–”

“Steve, it’s Friday night, I’d really like to go home and get in bed at a normal time tonight,” Bucky interrupted him, the dark circles under his eyes that he tried to ignore looking more prominent by the day.

“I know, I know, I’m sorry.  But Peggy has been hounding me about going to that new burlesque club that just opened and I told her I was working but we haven’t had a date night in a long time–”

“Ugh, fine.  But I’m not sharing tips,” Bucky sighed, rubbing his face as he pulled a 5 Hour Energy out of his apron pocket and quickly downed it like a shot.

“Those are bad for you, Buck,” Steve gave his friend a worried look.

“Well maybe a heart attack in my 30s will put me out of my misery,” Bucky half-joked.  Steve was silent.  Bucky turned to him and scoffed.  “It’s a joke.  Go, I’ll take the closing shift.  Say hi to Peg for me.”

“I’ll take your next closing, I promise.  Thanks punk,” Steve gave him a quick hug.

“Yeah whatever, jerk,” Bucky laughed.  As Steve went to the back to change, Bucky went to the host stand and figured out who was his next table.

“Whatcha got for me, witchy woman?” he leaned against the stand.  Wanda gave him a quick glance.  

“I told you to stop calling me that,” she sighed, looking back down at the list.

“It’s not my fault you got witch eyes.  And I never said that was a bad thing,” Bucky said, wiggling his eyebrows.

“Yeah whatever,” she rolled her amber eyes.  “You’re gonna love this one.  A Wall Street investment heiress, with some famous friends,” she gave him an unimpressed look.

“An heiress, huh?  Well maybe she’ll be my next sugar mama,” he joked, giving her a wink as he adjusted his apron.

“You wouldn’t know how to be a sugar baby even if you tried,” she sassed back at him.  “Table 42.  She’s all yours.”

“Thanks babes,” he sing-songed at her before heading towards his section.  As he approached table 42 he tried to see who the heiress was, but she was unfortunately facing away from him.  Her friends, though, he easily recognized from some of the most recent films that had just hit theaters: Clint Barton and Natasha Romanov.  Jackpot, he thought with a wry smile.

“Good evening, folks, welcome to Marea.  My name is Bucky and I’ll be your server tonight.  Could I get you started with some drinks?  Or a review of our wine list?” He gave them all a friendly smile as he looked each of them in the eye at least once.  The actors gave him quick smiles and glances before ordering generic wines and waters, then the heiress caught his eye.  He almost did a double take once he realized who she was.  Y/N Y/L/N, the daughter of Wall Street Tycoon Gerald Y/L/N.  She was set for life and beyond.  Her father was the investment king, knowing just when to buy in or sell out.  She had taken on his legacy by doing the same but instead of investing in huge corporations she was investing in smaller businesses and projects, being the key investor until the business could truly thrive, giving her investment a return and getting a chance to grow in an area like New York City.  She was the reason the new burlesque club opened that Steve was going to with Peggy.  Not only was she wealthy, she was beautiful.  Short in stature and plus size, she was an anomaly surrounded by her tall and slim friends, but she embraced her size and used it as a way to both literally and figuratively take up space in the industry and bring attention to the issues of body image, fatphobia, and investing in plus size companies and designers who she exclusively worked with for clothing her for events. 

Bucky tried not to ogle and quickly gave her his best flirtatious smile.  “And for you?” he asked her.

Y/N gave him an appreciative smile and her bright Y/C/E eyes seemed to really look at him rather than a passing glance like her friends.  “I’d like to hear the wine menu, please.”

“Wonderful, we have a…” As he listed off the wines Y/N watched him intently, her eyes searching his face.  He felt like he was the one being ogled and yet he persevered, trying not to sound nervous while serving some of the most influential and popular people in the world.

“It all sounds delicious, but I’m a creature of habit, so I think I’ll stick with my favorite Rose, the Billecart-Salmon.  And I’ll also have water on the side.”

“Excellent choice, ma’am.  Give me a moment and I’ll get those drinks out to you all,” he glanced at them all again before slipping away to the bar for the drinks.

Y/N watched him leave, a small smile on her face, before turning back to her friends.  They eyed her ruefully with mischievous smiles.  “What?” she asked.

“He’s cute,” Natasha commented, one eyebrow raised at her.

“Very cute.  One could even say hot,” Clint added, watching Bucky walk back to the bar.  “He’s got a great ass.  Too bad he’s working here.  He’d look divine in a Prada campaign.”

“You two stop it,” Y/N whispered, giving them a wide eyed glare.  “Yes he’s cute.”

“You gonna go for it?” Natasha asked, her grin twisting into something conspiratorial.

“Oh do it!  If you won’t, I’ll try my luck,” Clint shifted in his seat as he continued watching Bucky.  “See if he goes both ways.”

Bucky was walking back with the drinks on a tray.  Y/N narrowed her eyes and made the gesture for them to zip it.

“Alright, here are your drinks!  Your waters, and the Sauvignon blanc for you,” he set it in front of Clint, “the Stella Artois for you,” he set it in front of Natasha, “and the Billecart-Salmon Rose for you.”  He delicately set it in front of Y/N giving her another warm smile.  She reciprocated it as she reached for her wine.  She took a quick sip and her eyes fluttered shut.  

“Perfect, thank you Bucky,” she said as she licked her lips.

Bucky’s eyes widened slightly before he caught himself.  “Well, would you like to start with any appetizers?  Or jump right into the good stuff?” he huffed a laugh.

“I’d like the lobster with the salad,” Clint ordered.  “And could you make sure that the lobster is really big and thick.  I like them meaty.”

Y/N’s eyes widened at him and his not-so-subtle innuendo.  Bucky knew what he was doing and just let it slide, nodding in agreement.  “I’ll put in a good word with the chef.”  

Natasha next to him giggled before ordering.  “I’ll just take the scallops and shrimp.”

Bucky nodded before turning to Y/N.  “I’ll have the crab cakes and risotto, please.”  He nodded again and gave her a smirk.

“My favorite,” he gave her a wink, making her blush. “I’ll get those in and come back to check on you all in a little bit,” he swept the table with a smile before walking back to the kitchen.

“Stop it, don’t embarrass him,” Y/N chastised Clint.  “I’m sure he and the other servers get enough grief from creepy patrons all the time.”

“Oh it was just a little fun.  Besides, he’s all eyes for you, honey, he barely even looked at me,” he shot back at her as he sipped his wine. 

“It’s true,” Natasha said, then gave her an exaggerated wink. Y/N rolled her eyes.  “I think you should ask him out.  Or maybe he can be your next sugar baby.”

“Oh don’t bring that up again,” Y/N groaned.  “It was a one time thing and ended badly.  I just wanted to try it.”

“It ended badly because he was an ass, not because of anything you did.  You gave him charity and he gave you an attitude.  This guy seems sweet, nothing can hurt from just asking,” Natasha chided her, reaching out and pinching Y/N’s arm lightly.  

Y/N considered her words.  She had wanted to try out the lifestyle of being a sugar mama to a sugar baby.  She had a lot of events to go to throughout the year, and as much as she enjoyed spending time with her friends and networking with people, she was getting really tired of these high-class, ridiculous men who thought that just by being famous or wealthy that she would throw herself at them.  They wanted to use her for her name and connections.  They never really cared about her.  So she had tried being a sugar mama to a man who wasn’t famous, down on his luck, and just trying to get a leg up in life to escort her to these functions and give her companionship.  But once he’d gotten his debts paid off by her and a taste of luxury he quickly became influenced by the rich douchebags around him and started treating Y/N disrespectfully, so much so that he’d made front page news of some tabloids and embarrassed her.  She kicked him out after that and blacklisted him from any upcoming events.  If there was one thing that she would never condone it was when others tried, directly or indirectly, to humiliate or embarrass her.

Bucky did seem nice, and very tired.  The dark circles under his eyes and his shirt not being as ironed as some of the other servers were small giveaways that he was struggling.  She didn’t want to embarrass him either by asking to be her sugar baby and assuming that he was struggling financially.  

“He is very handsome,” she conceded, a larger smile spreading across her face.

Natasha squealed, clapping her hands joyfully.  “Do it!”

The night dragged on as they ate their delicious meals and ordered more glasses of wine.  Other patrons were clearing out as it got later and closer to closing time.  As tired as Bucky was, doing his nightly closing duties quietly and discreetly so his table couldn’t see, he was banking on their tips.  High end restaurants meant high end clients meant high end tips, and he had rent coming due next week.  He packed on the compliments to Y/N and her friends, gave them warm and flirty smiles, offered complimentary items, and gave all his attention to them exclusively.  Y/N had asked to compliment the chef and when he came out and talked to her table she whispered something to him that he quickly agreed to and jogged back to the kitchen.  Bucky gave him a questioning glance but the chef waved him off.

Bucky watched carefully until he saw Y/N’s hand raise and her eyes searched for him.  His cue for the check, which he quickly grabbed and brought it over to her.  As he glanced at the insane price he noticed an extra meal that wasn’t supposed to be on there as he got to the table.

“Oh, I’m sorry Miss Y/L/N, there seems to be a mistake on the bill, I apologize, let me go–”

“No mistake, Bucky,” Y/N reassured him just as the chef came back out with a doggy box.  He handed it to her and thanked her for coming.  Y/N shook his hand and slipped something into it before  he disappeared back to the kitchen wearing a rare smile.  “Thank you,” she reached for the bill and slid her black American Express into the folder.  

“Oh, alright, I’ll be right back then,” Bucky composed himself after the mini heart attack he just had from thinking the bill was wrong as he walked back to the stand to take her payment.  Once everything was paid he brought back the folder, this time seeing her friends standing and putting on their coats while she stayed seated.  

“Thank you, Bucky,” Natasha said his name seductively as she passed him.  Clint gave him a little wave and a smirk as he left with her.  

“Have a good night!” He called after them.  He approached the table as Y/N was opening her wallet.  “Here’s the receipt Miss Y/L/N.  Thank you for coming in tonight.”

“No thank you for such excellent service, Bucky,” she complimented him as she took the folder again.  “Will you sit with me for a moment?”

Bucky’s eyebrows raised and he glanced back at the bar.  The manager, Pietro, and Wanda motioned to him to do as she asked.  “Yes, of course,” Bucky accepted and sat himself in the chair across from her where Clint sat previously.  

Her gaze flicked over him as she opened the folder, took the pen provided and filled out the parts of the receipt meant for her.  She closed it and slid it over to Bucky who thanked her and placed it in front of himself.

“I have a proposition for you, Bucky.  And please understand when I ask this that you are under no obligation to accept it and I don’t mean to embarrass you,” she started, looking a little nervous.

“Okay,” Bucky stated lamely as he watched her.  

Y/N cleared her throat and put her fidgeting hands down in her lap.  “I would like to offer you a type of job.  As an escort, a sugar baby, to me.”  Bucky’s eyes widened comically as he processed what she said. “I know it’s a strange request.  But it’s something that I enjoy trying and it helps others…sometimes.  I don’t want to assume anything of you, but I can tell when someone is struggling, and you look like life has not always been the easiest or kindest to you.  I mean no offense.”

“None taken,” he replied automatically.  “I…yes,” he looked down as he confessed to her.  “It’s been, uh, rough, to say the least.”

“Hm,” Y/N hummed.  She reached a finger out and pointed to the closed folder.  She gestured for him to open it.  He did and took a look over the receipt, nearly choking when he saw the amount on the tip line.

“No, no Miss Y/L/N, this is too much,” Bucky protested as he stared at the number. 

“That’s what your service was worth.  You are worth every cent, and more,” Y/N praised him.  “You don’t have to decide tonight, Bucky, but in the meantime, here’s my card,” she slipped a business card over to him. “Think about it,” she said as she stood up.  Bucky quickly stood up with her.  Y/N stepped closer to him and reached for his hand.  They shook hands and she leaned in and whispered to him, “By the way, you’re very handsome.”  Bucky’s eyes bulged and he swallowed hard as she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek then turned and left.  Bucky realized as he watched her leave that she had slipped something into his hand.  He opened his hand to find a small folded wad of one hundred dollar bills in his palm.  “Oh and that’s for you!” She called out and motioned towards the doggy box still sitting on the table.  “Your favorite.  Dinner’s on me,” she said and gave him a wink then twirled back around and out the door.  

After she was out of the restaurant and beyond hearing Wanda and Pietro ran up to him.  “How much did she give you?”  Wanda squealed as she looked at the bills in his hand.  He quickly counted it.

“$1000,” he whispered as he gawked at the money.

“Give me that,” Pietro demanded as he took the folder from Bucky.  He opened it and gasped.  “She gave you a $2500 card tip??  What did you do, Barnes, give her and everybody at her table a blow job?”

“Wow…I don’t know if I want to be her or be on her,” Wanda said wistfully as she looked back out the glass door where Y/N had already gotten into her car and drove off.  

Bucky felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders as he stared at the bills, the $2500 floating around in his mind.  He was not comprehending just how much she had given him.  He looked at her business card again and knew he had to at least meet with her and find out what she was offering.  But to become an actual sugar baby?  To have a sugar mama?  To have his debt disappear?  To be taken care of?  He smiled as his fingers touched where her lips had been. 

**this picture has me SALIVATING. This is what I imagine sugar baby!Bucky to look like in this. Hope y'all like it!**

[veryace-ficrecs]

Batman Outsider POV Fic Recs

This list will include all ratings and tags, so read at your own discretion! :)

Wait... you're backup? by Ceciliedr - Rated T

When her team is captured by Lex Luther, Traci can do little more than cross her fingers for a rescue. When someone does crash the party, it isn't anyone she knows. Traci sincerely hopes the guy in the red helmet is on their side.

library card by mikkal - Rated T

Jason Todd, Red Hood, and the Park Row Public Library (and her librarians).

Finding a New Perspective by njw - Rated T

“I got this, Hood.” Red Robin sounds annoyed as he arcs and twists through the air, kicking one henchman into another and wrenching the gun away from a third while simultaneously retracting his grappling line and then launching it to catch another unwary henchman. Just, how?

“I can see you do,” Red Hood says, and wait. Was his voice always that deep? Is he… Maya squints. Is he staring at Red Robin’s ass?

She blinks, then studies the line of sight more closely. Maybe he’s just checking out Red Robin’s kneecaps, in preparation for shooting at them? That seems more his style. Sexual attraction is kind of confusing and she still doesn’t totally believe Tosh that it’s actually as big a thing as people make it out to be—seriously, do other people really spend that much time thinking about it? Sounds fake but okay.

But no, Red Hood’s helmet is totally pointed at Red Robin’s ass. Huh. That’s new.

Captain Marvel's Adopted? by Len_suilon_mellon - Rated T

When Captain Marvel sends out a distress call, the only League member available is Batman. Bruce comes to his aid, but he finds out that Billy is a 10-year-old homeless orphan with black hair and blue eyes. Obviously, he makes the only logical decision and adopts Billy. Because it's Bruce—who's allergic to revealing life-changing information—the League is left in the dark. This story is written as 5+1 story from the Justice League's POV as they attempt to define the weird relationship between Batman and Captain Marvel. 5 times they didn't realize Batman had adopted Captain Marvel, and the 1 time they did.

The Startling Secret Identity of The Batman by Nokomis - Rated T

Good evening, super-sleuths! Boy, do we have a treat for you today. We’re delving into one of the biggest unsolved mysteries of the modern era. The million-dollar question. The billion-dollar question, if one of these theories holds water. That’s right. We’re gonna risk life, limb and sanity by asking the question… who is The Batman? [In-universe Buzzfeed Unsolved accidentally stumbles on Batman’s secret identity. The Batfam reacts.]

playacting by nex_et_nox - Rated G

“So,” Jim said, “are you one of Wayne’s new kids?” Because only siblings acted that way toward each other, and it seemed like every time Gotham turned around, Bruce Wayne was adopting more kids. It was a reasonable question. “What?” Jay asked. “No, I’m—” He paused. Very slowly, his head tilted as he looked over Jim’s shoulder in the most obvious way he possibly could. Jim Gordon accidentally meets the "newest" member of the Wayne family.

5 times the Justice League catch Bruce acting domestically by TimesBeingWhatTheyAre - Rated G

...and the one time he lets them see it aka 5 times the kids torment Bruce, and the time that he actually arranges a meet-up and minds are blown

the politics of dancing by TheResurrectionist - Not Rated

After months of silence following his mysterious resurrection from the dead, the prodigal Wayne heir shows up at an unlikely meeting. “Where is Mr. Wayne?” Jason crossed his legs, cracking his neck. “He’s not coming.” “I was assured Mr. Wayne would be here.” “Tough. Looks like you’ll have to settle for me, huh?”

I Love My Gay Son(s) by reeby10 - Rated G

But the part that had everyone’s attention was the shirt, a plain white t-shirt with “I LOVE MY GAY SON” emblazoned across the chest in bold, rainbow letters.

Bat Out Of Hell by arguablysomaya - Rated G

Five times the Bats are weird, and one time that weirdness saves the world Or, the Bats are weird, everyone that’s even remotely aware of the superhero game knows this. But, odd as they are, they’re still humans. Which is why it should probably be impossible that they’re such forces of chaos. And when they’re all together? Well, most people are just glad they’re on the good side. And they are. Mostly.

The five times Flash came to Gotham for help and the one time he didn't need to (5+1) by Silver_Athena - Not Rated

Barry needs help solving a murder, he goes to Gotham for help. Though he's looking for Batman he seems to constantly run into new heroes. Why do they all seem connected to Batman? --- “You know where he lives?” “I practically live there myself, why is this so surprising to you? You’ve worked with him for- Oh… oh my God, you guys don’t know!"

A Break in Tradition by incogneat_oh - Not Rated

Gordon had seen something when he caught the canary yellow cape out the corner of his eye– something in the way the kid had moved. So he figures he should ask, “You doing okay up there, son?” AKA: The one where Jim Gordon minds a tiny vigilante until his bigger, scarier partner can collect him.

gotham aviary by pepperfield - Rated G

“I see you have a new addition to the family,” Bella says, smiling at the group pushing their father along toward the plaza stairs. “Yeah, we stole him from his backyard,” Jason tells her brightly.

“average billionaire adopts 1000 children a year” factoid actualy just statistical error. average billionaire adopts 0 children per year. Orphans Bruc, who lives in cave & adopts over 1 child each month, is an outlier adn should not have been counted.

what goes around by Goldmonger - Rated G

A civilian accidentally kills the Joker. It’s a confusing time for everybody.

artemis crock coming to the wrong conclusions by impravidus - Rated G

Nightwing has his hands outstretched, his palms opening and closing exaggeratedly. Red Hood shakes his head. “I am not gonna—” “Just one?” Nightwing interjects sweetly. “Please please please?” “You are such an idiot—” “Just ooone. C’mon, Hood. Don’t these arms look so warm and inviting?” “Inviting for a stab, yeah.” Artemis sees Nightwing being his affectionate (or as Red Hood would put it, extremely annoying) self and comes to the wrong conclusions.

[tiedyeflannels]

BTS Headcanon || The Members Playing Loteria

OT7 x reader

Word count: 1k

Masterlist

A/N: Hey! I just wanted to write a little blurb while I'm working on the next installment of Blind Date(s)! @maple-leaves-in-the-wind and I came up with this and it was super fun to think about how they would be if they played loteria.

For those who don't know loteria, here's a quick run-down: It's basically bingo, but with betting. You have a set amount (usually a few cents) that you pay per "bingo" card (you can have multiple cards) and you pile the money in the middle. You, then, have someone calling the cards (numbers in bingo) and you win by filling a row either vertically, horizontally, or diagonally and get the money from the middle. Basic bingo rules. At the very end of the game, there is one last round where you pay a good amount of money for each card. The higher the amount, the bigger the pot, the higher the stakes. You win the final pot by filling out the ENTIRE card (think blackout bingo).

Playing loteria with the members would best be described in one word…

CHAOTIC

If RUN BTS has taught us anything, it’s that they are competitive

I’m talking shouting

Blaming

Demanding recounts (looking through each card that was called)

Demanding their money back if they think that the person who’s always winning every round (most likely you) is cheating

The WHOLE nine yards

And speaking of money…

Broke millionaires

When you said that everyone would be buying a card at 25 cents a pop, they immediately start running around whoever’s house (or the shared dorm) that you’re playing at and digging in between the couch cushions for change

Though you had told them about this game DAYS in advance

“Spare change? Spare change, ma’am?”

And don’t even get me started on how much is going into the final pot

Someone Tae suggests that they should pay 5 bucks a card and everyone becomes DEFENSIVE

Get ready for some arguments to break out

"Alright, should we do one final round before we call it a night,” I asked, looking around the table, slightly chuckling at some of the members' hair.

It was mainly the maknae line that had their hair sticking in every direction from the amount of times they had run their hands through it. I collected the cards from near the middle of the table so I could shuffle them as Namjoon pushed the pot money over to me.

Everyone nodded at the question.

“Alright! How much should we pay per card,” I asked as I shuffled the deck.

Taehyung was quick to answer, “5 bucks!”

Everyone’s head shot up at the suggestion while Jungkook, Jimin and Hobi abruptly stood up, almost knocking over their chairs.

"Absolutely not!” “That is too much money!”

I giggled as Jimin and Tae started to bicker and the others sat back down.

“5 bucks? Do you know how many ramen packs I can get with that,” Jungkook argued.

“I’m gonna have to side with Jungkook on this one. I don’t want to pull from my retirement fund yet,” Yoongi said, leaning back and crossing his arms.

“Yeah we don’t want to do that, he’s gonna need it soon,” Jin chimed in.

Yoongi threw a glare at him, “You’re older than me, you know that?”

I bursted out laughing at the disgusted face Jin made before Namjoon started telling us to calm down.

We looked over to him as he stated a proposal, “How about we do 2 dollars a card?”

“I’m down,” I said, taking out 2 dollars from my wallet.

Everyone followed my lead and started to dig around for their wallets before pulling out the amount they were going to pay. I put my two dollars in the middle of the table and got rid of my other two cards, leaving me with the one. I looked around as everyone was sorting their things and stopped at Jungkook.

“I only have a 5 dollar bill,” he said with a pout.

“Do you want 3 cards because I can give you a dollar or if you don’t, just take the change from the pile,”I offered.

He nodded, placing the five in the middle, “I’ll take three cards!” I nodded and pulled out another dollar from my wallet, throwing it in the middle.

Looking around, Hobi, Jimin and Tae had two cards, Jungkook had three, and Namjoon, Yoongi, Jin and I had one which made the grand total: 26 dollars.

“Alright, are we ready,” I asked as everyone nodded. I was about to call a card, but Hobi stopped me.

“Wait, can someone else call the cards?”

I looked at him, confused, “Why?”

“Because you’re the only one that’s been calling cards and you’ve won almost every round.”

“That’s because no one wants to call the cards, but if it makes you feel better… I’ll let you shuffle,” I said, moving to hand him the cards, “And Namjoon can call out the cards, okay?”

I looked over to Namjoon for confirmation as Hobi started to shuffle the deck, he nodded. Once Hobi was done shuffling he handed them over to Namjoon, who started to call out the cards.

It had been a while and no one had cleared their entire card yet, so I looked over and saw that Namjoon had already gone through half of the deck.

“How has no one won yet,” I asked, looking down at my car, that only needed a few more spots to be filled and then looked around.

“I don’t know, but I only need a couple more to win,” Jimin spoke up and the other nodded in agreement.

A few more cards were laid down and the tension was building. Everyone was on the edge of their seats as Namjoon started to near the end of the deck until…

“Buenas!” I cheered as I covered the last spot I needed to completely fill out my card. The guys groaned and fell back into their chairs as I happily collected the money.

“That’s not fair,” Tae groaned.

I laughed, “That’s how it goes.”

I grabbed my wallet and got up, “Well I’m hungry, so I’m gonna go to the convenience store.”

Jungkook and Tae shot up, following me immediately.

“Can you get us something,” Jungkook asked as they both looked at me with puppy dog eyes.

I squinted before sighing, “Fine.”

I was about to step through the door, but stopped and looked at the others, “Are you guys gonna come too?”

They all got up and followed me to the door. I sighed again as we started to walk to the convenience store.

“I’m only getting you ramen, okay?”

“Yay," they all cheered.

[neewtmas]

12 days of Christmas // A Lockwood & Co Advent Calendar

DAY 10

Hello everyone! It's the second-to-last post for this advent calendar, and today, it's time for my personal favourite. I wanted to include an x reader fic for every member of the agency, and after Lucy (day 2) and Lockwood (day 6), it's finally time for George! Seeing as this is a certified George-Fanblog™️ of course his fic is gonna be the grand finale.

But the best thing about today's post is that it is actually a collaboration! I wrote this together with the wonderful and insanely talented Eden (@givemea-dam-break) who understood my vision for this so well and I am so proud of what we created together. Thank you so much for doing this with me Eden, it was so much fun!!! love you🫂🫶🏻

make sure you don't miss out and go check out Eden's other writing here: masterlist

Brother Knows Best

pairing: george karim x fem!reader

wordcount: 6.3k

short summary: George's brother shows up at 35 Portland Row and shakes things up between George and reader

advent calendar tags: @givemea-dam-break @wellgoslowly @maraschinomerry @losticaruss @oblivious-idiot @uku-lelevillain @avdiobliss @strawberryloveyyy @strawberrycowgirly @demigoddess-of-ghosts @thefriendlyneighborhoodmomfriend @boookfreeak

my masterlist

day 1 day 2 day 3 day 4 day 5 day 6 day 7 day 8 day 9

It was a beautiful day in the middle of winter when (name) realised she was in love with George Karim.

The two of them were walking side by side, their breaths forming little puffs of white in the freezing air. It had snowed the night before, but all that was left were some dirty grey piles on patches of grass by the road. She’d had her hands buried in the warm pockets of her coat the whole walk, but still, her fingers felt stiff as she pushed open the gate in front of 35 Portland Row. George followed closely behind, carrying a bag full of books and newspapers they’d borrowed from the Archives. 

(name) bounced up the stairs like she always did, not considering what the puddle of melted snow on the steps that had wet her shoes this morning would turn into over the course of the cold day. The worn sole of her boot slid over the patch of ice, and she lost balance, trying to grip the railing to prevent a fall. 

But that wasn't necessary. George was there in an instant, arms wrapped around her and steadying her until she found her footing again. 

"Are you okay?" he asked, and she nodded, finding herself unable to speak. 

He released her from his grasp, taking a slow step back. (name) could do nothing but stand still for a moment, trying to calm her racing heart. She had no idea if it came from the adrenaline of almost falling or the shock of having George be so close to her so suddenly. She watched as he picked up the bag he had dropped on the ground in his rush to catch her, and then searched his coat pockets for the house key. His fingers trembled slightly, probably from the cold, as he pulled it out and turned it in the lock, keychains jingling.  

Inside, the kitchen was deserted, but the kettle was still warm so (name) just had to choose two mugs and quickly reboil it while George laid out the books they had gotten. At this time of year, the warm, cosy kitchen of Portland Row was so much more inviting than the somewhat chilly archives. They could turn the heating up as much as they wanted here, which was why they had opted for just a short trip over to gather some books and then return to the warmth of their home. 

(name) brought the two steaming mugs over to the table and made herself comfortable on the chair beside George. He had already grabbed one of the books and was intently skimming the table of contents.

“You can get started on the newspapers," he said without looking up, flicking through the book to find a specific page. “We’ve got a few to work through.”

She knew that, of course, because she had been the one to go on an hour-long hunt for all the ones he claimed they needed. Silently, she pulled the heap of newspapers over and started with the one on top, dating back 15 years. 

George took a sip from his tea and grimaced. "You forgot the sugar." 

That wasn’t like her. She always remembered the sugar. What was up with her?

George leaned over and reached past her for the sugar, and (name)'s breath hitched in her throat at the proximity. She could faintly smell his shampoo and was near enough that she could see the little scar on his temple, barely visible, from a case they’d taken on a month or two ago. Wordlessly, and seemingly oblivious to the thundering of her heart, he poured some sugar into his cup and stirred, all the while focusing back on what he was reading.

(name) tried to do the same, she really did, but the fact that George was now so close that their legs were touching made the simple task everything but. How was she supposed to focus when all she could hear was the blood rushing in her ears; hearing him muttering quiet words under his breath as if he hadn’t just stolen the air from her lungs?

It was when she looked at him then, a picture of serenity in the winter sunlight streaming through the kitchen window, that she felt it in her heart. Some urging sense of need, of want. A desire to do this for the rest of her life - to sit beside him, whether it be to research something or remember to put sugar in his tea or God knows what. To spend an eternity pressed up to his side, feeling this thrum of her heart. To feel the thrill of his fingers brushing hers as he reached over to peek at something in the newspaper she was reading.

There was no guarantee he would feel the same, she knew that. She didn’t expect him to, not when his life revolved around uncovering the root of the Problem. But she was grateful for what she got: the time he spared for her; the books he would gift her after visiting a bookshop on his way home from the Archives; the tea he’d make in the morning, served with some partially burnt toast he’d forgotten he’d put in the toaster until the moment it popped out.

And that was okay. Truly, it was.

—

35 Portland Row was in chaos.

George was in the middle of a cleaning spree, rushing around in a flowery apron and blue rubber gloves, scrubbing at every crack and crevice to be found - and, well, there were many of those. Lockwood was straightening the pillows in the living room, something he would seldom be found doing, and it was likely that he was stuffing things under said pillows to save having to find space for them in the cluttered house. Lucy, bless her soul, was making tea quicker than her hands could move and had spilt boiling water on her toes. Many curse words ensued.

This chaos, however, did not extend to (name). 

Standing by the living room window, staring out onto the street beyond, she felt an odd sense of calm mixed with a hint of excitement.

Why? What incredible company could they be having that had the ability to send the members of Lockwood and Co. into such a frenzy?

Issam Karim.

She had been set on guard duty, ordered by the younger Karim brother to shout out when she saw him approaching. In all honesty, she wasn’t entirely sure why George was making such a fuss about it. He had four older brothers, Issam, or Sam as he preferred, being the youngest of them and, according to Lockwood, the one most similar to George. So it wasn’t like he had anything to worry about.

Even still, when (name) saw a familiar mop of dark curls, she called out to the others and hurried over to the front door.

The knock came soon after; two slow taps followed by silence. George was there, staring at the door over her shoulder, tugging his rubber gloves off. And there was Lucy and Lockwood, peering from the end of the hallway like overly interested parents meeting their child’s friend for the first time.

(name) swung the door open.

Seeing Sam was like looking into George’s reflection, minus the glasses and with slightly neater hair. He was a little taller, broader, and, well, more adult-looking, she supposed. But he was most definitely a Karim.

And, god, did he smile like George, too.

It was the same kind of smile that George showed when he was proud of something - full of teeth and elation, with a sparkle of dark eyes to top it off. If it had been George smiling at her like that, her knees would’ve buckled and her heart would’ve threatened to beat out of her chest, but there was something different about Sam’s variation of the smile. Something extremely fraternal.

George ushered his brother in, scooting past (name) with barely any room thanks to the narrow hallway. Her heart lurched at the feeling of his arm brushing against hers as she hurried to move out of the way.

“Oh, Georgie,” Sam said, smiling at the decorations covering the walls, “you’ve been holding out on me. If I knew you stayed in a house like this…”

He plucked the nearest mask off the wall, scrutinizing it, and Lockwood looked as if he wanted to tell him off, but he refrained after the warning look George gave him.

(name) could understand that. He wanted to impress his brother, especially after years of feeling excluded from his family simply for pursuing a life revolving around ghosts rather than engineering.

She just hoped that he knew he impressed her regardless.

The five of them sat down in the living room, the coffee table laden with mugs of steaming tea and plates stacked high with biscuits and doughnuts. Sam plucked a Hobnob from one of the plates and chewed on it carefully, glancing around the room like a child at a theme park. He had a look of wonder in his eyes that (name) so often saw and admired in George’s.

“You’ve met Lockwood before,” George said from beside his brother. “But this is Lucy, and that’s (name). They’ve both been here a year and a half now.”

“Oh. This is the infamous (name)?” Sam’s smile was dazzling despite the scathing look George gave him. “Wonderful to meet you.”

(name) and Lucy shared a look. Lucy looked like she was trying not to smile as she caught Lockwood’s eye. It seemed like the two of them knew something that (name) didn’t, and it had her feeling a little uneasy.

“Nice to finally meet you, Sam,” she said, offering up a smile. 

The conversation went well enough thanks to Lockwood, who started asking Sam about his university life and how classes were going. Most of what he said, however, was just confusing to them. As agents, they hadn’t gotten the chance to experience much of a school life, so all this talk of complicated maths and big, fancy words went straight over their heads. Sam didn’t seem to mind. It appeared that he just liked having people he could sound incredibly intelligent to.

Definitely related to George. Although George was much more willing to simplify what he was saying so that the others understood.

Not that (name) minded. She could listen to George speak in his overly-complicated way for the rest of their lives and she’d be grateful.

An elbow dug into her side. “You’re staring,” Lucy murmured, leaning close.

“Hmm?”

“You’re staring. At George. Hard.”

(name) blinked. “No, I'm not.”

“Yes, you are.”

“No! Look, over his shoulder, there’s a tear in the sofa cover. That’s what I was looking at.”

Lucy rolled her eyes. “Oh, yes, with lovey-dovey eyes, huh? You can’t even give a half-decent fib.”

(name)’s face felt awfully hot, and she couldn’t even get herself to look in George’s general direction. She hadn’t been staring at him, right? She had just looked for a moment, finding herself particularly fond of how his hair flopped over his forehead in soft curls; how his fingers fiddled with the loose threads from a rip in his jeans, and - 

With a silent curse, she realised that, yes, maybe she had been staring.

At least it was Lucy who had noticed and not George. Although, she likely would have to deal with incessant questions at night when she was trying to sleep.

The conversation carried on for a while longer before Sam sat his empty teacup on the table and rose from his seat on the sofa.

"Alright, that was lovely, but I’m going to head off for a bit. I have some friends in the city that I haven't seen in a while", he said, wiping his hands on his jeans.

Lockwood stood up as well, brushing some imaginary dust off his trousers as he so often did. "Will you be back for dinner?" 

"(name) is cooking", Lucy added. 

Sam turned to (name) and shot her a smile. "Well, in that case, I'll make sure I'll be back. Wouldn't want to miss that."

(name) lowered her head, embarrassed at the attention that was on her now. "I'm not even that good,” she mumbled. 

"I think you're great", George blurted out, though if the slight pink tinge to his cheeks was anything to go by, he hadn’t meant to say it.

(name) was sure she was blushing now. She knew George appreciated her cooking, but considering his cooking skills, she sometimes wasn't sure if he didn't just say so to make her feel better. 

Sam left the house a few minutes later, and any indescribable tension that had built up dissipated. Lockwood and George started up a conversation while Lucy and (name) grabbed the dirty mugs and took them through to the kitchen.

"So… What do you think of him?" Lucy asked as she dumped the dishes into the sink. 

"He's nice", (name) replied, adding the dishes she was holding to the pile in the sink, though much more carefully than Lucy. She frowned at a chip in the top of one of the mugs. "But I didn't expect anything else. After everything George has said about him, you know, I half expected the sun to shine out of his ass."

Lucy snorted, leaning back against the counter. "George seems a little on edge, though, don't you think?"

(name) wasn't sure where Lucy was going with this. "He's probably nervous if we'll like him. He's family after all."

Lucy looked at her for a moment with an unreadable expression. "That must be it,” she finally said, before leaving the kitchen to retrieve the rest of the dishes that were still waiting in the living room.

----

(name) was quietly humming to herself as she sliced some tomatoes, periodically checking if the water in the pot on the stove next to her was boiling already. The house was still and quiet, just how she liked it. Sam was out with his friends, Lucy and Lockwood were out doing whatever - they had been gone since lunch - and were, in all honesty, probably fawning over each other in that way they so often did, albeit obliviously. George had buried himself in the library since Sam had left, mumbling something about 'important research and experiments'. (name) had the sneaking suspicion that that meant he was doing something with the skull, but what exactly, she didn't really want to know. Based on the faces the skull always pulled after a day like this, his expression more horrid than ever, it couldn't be anything good. 

The evening sun was shining right through the kitchen window in front of her, and in her peripheral vision, she saw movement in the garden. She looked up and spotted a small red squirrel running through the high grass before racing up the tree. She smiled at the sight of the animal and its simple joy in the winter garden, but a sharp pain tore her from her stupor, and she couldn't help the yelp that slipped past her lips.

Immediately, her gaze fell to her hand, where a deep cut on her finger was bleeding heavily. Shit, there was blood all over the cutting board. Without thinking, she hurried over to the sink and held her finger under the water, cursing at how cold it was. The water faded to red after running over her finger, and she could already feel herself starting to get lightheaded. The shock of the cut was wearing off, and the pain was intensifying.

It was stupid, really, that she was in such a fuss over a small slice. Nevertheless, she yelled for George in what was probably a futile attempt. If he was deep in his experiments, there would be no tearing his attention away. Lockwood had tried many things in an attempt to get his attention, so she didn’t hold out much hope.

But just a few seconds later there he was, suddenly in the kitchen doorway. His eyebrows were raised, lips parted in a silent question as his eyes found her finger in the tapstream, leaking a seemingly endless amount of blood.

"Oh shit, (name), what happened?"

“Thought I’d add a bit of my finger to dinner." She spoke through gritted teeth, joking in an attempt to ease herself, or even George. It didn’t work that well.

She’d never had any problems with blood, and she’d cared for many injuries her teammates had sustained over the last year, but her blood - that was an entirely different story. George was next to her in an instant, rummaging around in the medical cupboard for a plaster of the right size. She almost laughed upon hearing him complain that they needed to reorganise the whole thing as he tore a long strip from a box and cut it with a pair of scissors.

"Can you turn off the water?" 

(name) did what he asked. Before she knew it, one of his hands was gently holding her wrist, bringing her hand closer to inspect the cut. It wasn’t as deep as it had appeared at first glance, just long and thin, but it was still oozing blood. Most of the issue had been the sheer shock of it and the throbbing pain that filled her whole finger.

It was easier, though, to forget about the pain when his skin was touching hers. He held her so softly, dabbing blood away with such care that her heart swelled as she watched him, brows furrowed in concentration as he tried to avoid the cut itself. He pressed slightly too hard, and her breath caught.

"Sorry, I'll try and be gentle,” he promised.

He led her over to the kitchen table, where she could rest her arm atop the scribbled-on cloth as he worked away. He was quiet as he took the plaster off the paper, slathering on antiseptic cream before wrapping it carefully around her finger. Something in his cheek twitched.

She watched as the concentration moulded his face into some softer version of a frown, the kind of one he often donned when working away in the Archives on a more complex case. Delicately, he stuck the remaining side of the plaster down before relaxing a little. His hand rested on hers, enveloping it in comfortable warmth, and she had to question if the lightheadedness she felt was still from the blood or just from the way he smiled at her. 

For a wonderful moment, neither of them moved. His hand squeezed around hers ever so slightly, and his eyes found hers; his gaze encapsulating her very soul. She couldn’t look away, trapped in eyes that no artist could ever replicate, and found a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. She could’ve stayed like that forever, would’ve given anything for this moment to last just a little longer, but it didn’t. 

George cleared his throat, pulling his hand back and tearing his gaze from hers as he stood. (name) looked down at her finger, wrapped snugly in its waterproof plaster, and hoped he couldn’t see the blush that was staining her cheeks.

"I'm going to take over dinner", George said, shuffling awkwardly. "There is no way I'll let you cook with your hand like this.”

“But -”

“Research can wait before you say anything.”

And that was that. 

(name) reluctantly did what he said and stayed in her seat, watching as he washed off the cutting board and then continued where she had left off. It was frustrating how much neater he sliced tomatoes than she did.

The pain that had momentarily subsided had come back worse, and her whole finger was pulsating with waves of dull pain. She tried her best to keep up a conversation with George, and not let on how she was feeling. No need to make him more worried than he already was. But it was clear that he was still concerned, what with his short glances back every two minutes. She had to fight back a little smile at that.

A bang sounded, signalling that somebody had just come in the front door, and she turned to look through the kitchen doorway to see who it was. 

Sam, upon seeing the kitchen door open, made his way down the steps after taking off his jacket, smiling as he entered. 

"Man, that was exhausting", he said, making himself comfortable on one of the seats - Lockwood’s. He wouldn’t be happy about that. “Forgot how big London is.”

"Do you want something to drink?" (name) asked.

"That would be great."

She squeezed past George, half-annoyed at the small walking space in the kitchen and half-grateful that she had another excuse to be closer to him, and reached up into one of the cupboards for a glass.

"What happened to your finger?" Sam asked, gaze fixed on the plaster as she filled the glass with water.

"Just a little cut", she said, plastering on some semblance of a smile. The pain was worse now after bashing it on one of the shelves. “Nothing much.”

Sam furrowed his eyebrows in a way that looked so much like George. "That doesn't seem like just a little cut", he said. "Can I check it?”

(name) didn't know what to do. She looked over to George, who was busy stirring the contents of the pot, seemingly not listening to their conversation. 

“Oh, no, George has already patched me up. I’ll be fine.”

“George is about as good at first aid as our dad, which is to say shit. I insist. It’ll be quick.”

With one more glance at George, she sat back down, setting the glass in front of Sam. No harm in letting him check, she supposed.

He shuffled his chair around, sitting so that her legs slotted in between his, then took her hand and inspected the plaster. A shadow of blood was already peeking through.

"I'm going to take this off and see how bad the cut is, alright?" 

(name) nodded in agreement, already dreading the pain this was surely going to cause.

George had turned down the heat of the stove and now leaned against the counter to watch them, his arms crossed. There was something in his expression, a sliver of unfamiliar emotion hidden in his eyes and the slight downturn of his lips.

"Is that really necessary, Sam?" he asked, his voice unusually sharp.

Sam moved closer to (name), slowly peeling the plaster off and revealing the cream-covered, blood-stained finger that had her feeling lightheaded again. 

"Oh, it’s necessary. After that one time you tried to patch me up when we were younger, I wouldn’t trust you with a paper cut.”

George huffed. “I was eight. It’s not like I was going to be an expert. Besides, you’re an engineer, not a doctor.”

Sam only hummed, glancing at his younger brother for less than a second. A shadow of a smile haunted his lips.

(name) shuffled uncomfortably, gaze flickering between the two. Tension was rising for some reason unknown to her, and she had a feeling that she was the root of it. But why? She’d only cut her finger. That shouldn’t have been a cause for anything.

“Just as well I’ve checked,” Sam murmured. “That’s definitely more than a little cut.”

“It barely hurts now,” (name) lied. “Seriously, it’s fine.”

And it was. It had been. She had liked it when George had held her hand so tenderly, making sure not to hurt her. Sam doing the same wasn’t necessarily bad, but it felt wrong. Especially with that look on George’s face. He looked ready to kill.

That look alone had a flicker of hope igniting in her chest. Did it mean he felt the same as she did, even just a little bit?

No, she told herself. This was George. George loved his books and scribbling insults on the thinking cloth for Lockwood to find later and reading away in the Archives. There wasn’t enough room for her to fit in his heart. Surely.

Sam was quick to put a new plaster on, this one more neatly cut than the one George had rushed to tear, though there had been an essence of care in it. In reality, she preferred his jagged edges over Sam’s cleaner ones.

She wasn’t entirely sure if she was thinking about plasters now.

“Thanks,” she said, taking her hand back out of Sam’s grip. “Uh, George, how’s dinner coming?”

For a moment, there was no reply. Then George seemed to remember that there was a world beyond the little bubble that had encased the three of them and hurriedly glanced back at the boiling pan of vegetables.

“Fine,” he said eventually. 

“Hope you’re better at cooking than you are at first aid, Georgie,” Sam jested.

It was clear he meant it to be a joke, but whatever had soured George’s mood had twisted it into something different. He all but scoffed as he turned back to the pan, stirring methodically.

“George is the best,” (name) said. “If we didn’t have him, we’d be living off of Lockwood’s toast and jam.”

George’s shoulders eased slightly at that. “Either that or spag-bol every night. There’s only so much of it I can eat.”

(name) laughed and so did George, albeit breathy and quiet. Even still, it had the pressure building in her chest ease off a little and had her heart aching to hear more.

Sam’s eyes flickered between the two of them. “So, how long have you two been together?”

Dead silence. There it was again - that suffocating tension. (name)'s heart felt like it had stopped in her chest entirely, and George had ceased every movement. The wooden spoon in his hand hovered over the simmering water, dripping and dripping and dripping until the sound became unbearable and, somehow, too loud.

Did she mind someone assuming she was in a relationship with George? No, of course not. She couldn't imagine anything better for herself. But the hesitation in his movements, the way he looked back at Sam with what could only be described as acute disbelief, had her lunch making its way back up her throat. That tiny sliver of hope she’d felt earlier? Gone.

“No! We’re not - ” George stammered helplessly, eyes wide. 

“Oh, my mistake,” Sam said nonchalantly. There was a glint in those dark eyes of his. Mischief. “Just from what I’ve seen today, and how much George talks about you, (name), I kind of assumed…”

“Sam!”

Sam closed his mouth, apparently unwilling to be further berated by his brother, but there was a hint of satisfaction in his smile.

- - - -

Dinner, to begin with, went as smoothly as it could after the bomb Sam had dropped. Lockwood and Lucy returned from their escapades, rosy-cheeked and laughing, but their demeanours soon shifted upon feeling the tension filling the kitchen. With nothing more than a look, Lucy seemed to gauge the situation and began talking about some of the strange stuff she and Lockwood had encountered on the streets of London.

Well, to her and (name) it was strange. To the native Londoners, it was an everyday thing. But truth be told, (name) was much more concerned about George… it was strange seeing him behave like he did.

George was often quiet, unless he was talking about a topic he was particularly enthusiastic about or insulting Lockwood or the Fittes team they’d dubbed their rivals. Yet there had always been a sense of peace in those silences, a comfort that allowed (name) to know that he was okay, either just listening or pondering away in his own little world.

Now, though… This silence was new and different and she knew that it was caused by the implication that they were acting like a couple. (name) tried to think over everything they’d ever done to make it seem that way - the lingering touches and long-held gazes, the time spent together and the happiness they always seemed to feel around each other - and she could see why. And if Sam had been telling the truth, George had talked about her to him in what she had to assume was a positive way.

So why was he reacting like this? Why did he seem so distressed by the thought of her?

It was halfway through dinner when she decided she couldn’t bear it anymore. He wouldn’t look at her. Wouldn’t answer her questions on how his research was going. Wouldn’t listen to Lockwood droning on about heaven knows what.

She stood from her chair and moved away from the table. “I’m going for a walk.”

That seemed to perk everyone up.

Lockwood frowned. “You all right?”

“I just need some fresh air,” she said. “It’s stuffy in here.”

Sam shifted in his chair, making to stand. “I’ll come along. I know some good places to clear your head -”

“No, it’s fine,” (name) insisted, and her voice came out rather firm. “I’ll not be long. Just a walk around the block.”

And then she was gone, fighting not to look back to see if George was concerned or unbothered. 

Why did she care so much if he was? He had practically ignored her throughout the whole of dinner, despite her effort to have a conversation, all because his brother had assumed they were a thing. Was she truly so inadequate? Was the mere prospect of being with her so terrible?

It didn’t matter. She’d be just fine on her own. She’d managed it all of these years, and she’d do just the same regardless. What did it matter whether or not he liked her?

But, as she strolled through the wintery streets, it became abundantly clear that no matter how hard she tried, it would always be important to her.

(name) loved George more than anything she had before. She would give him the world if she could. And part of her wanted to believe that, even if he didn’t feel the same, she would always hold on to those feelings.

But that sentiment was just for the romantic movies and sappy novels she spent her free time reading. In reality, she didn’t have it in her to give and give and give and get nothing in return.

The cold air bit at her cheeks, and she crossed her arms as she walked, trying to preserve any warmth that she could. Maybe she should’ve grabbed a thicker jacket on her way out, or changed from her trainers into the pair of boots she’d left out because, god, the frost was seeping through the canvas material. 

She almost jumped out of her skin when something wrapped around her neck.

In a burst of fear, she whirled around and stumbled backwards before realising that the thing was soft, and it was warm. And the person who had wrapped it around her was someone extremely familiar.

“George?” she asked, frowning. Her hand reached up to the thing he’d wrapped around her, nails catching on the knitted fabric. “You brought me… a scarf?”

George, who looked mildly shocked by his actions, nodded. “Uh, yeah - yes. You, um, you left without it. I didn’t want you - didn’t want you getting cold, you know?”

“Uh, thanks.”

And for a moment, she lingered, waiting for him to say something. George stood still before her, looking at her in a way she was sure he had never before - slightly wide-eyed, awe-like - but he tore his gaze from her and looked at the ground.

It was then that the feelings she’d been consumed by just moments ago began to creep back again. Why was she still standing here? So what if he'd brought her a scarf? He hadn’t even been able to stomach speaking to her after Sam assumed they were together.

The thought was enough to convince her. With a tight, thin-lipped and awkward smile in his general direction, she turned to continue on her walk. She’d come out to clear her head, and although she was grateful for the scarf, George was jumbling her thoughts again, just as he always did. And, well, if he wasn’t going to say anything, then she was just going to continue her stroll.

“(name), wait.”

She was half-tempted to keep walking, but the tone of George’s voice was enough to stop her feet from moving. He was nervous. Yes, sure, she had seen him nervous many, many times, but this was different. With the slight tremor in his voice, so very subtle, he had all the power at that moment to stop her.

Slowly, she turned to face him again, stuffing her hands in her pockets. “Yeah?”

There was a look in his eyes, unlike anything she had ever seen before. They had softened considerably from when he had been talking to Sam, and there was a crease between his eyebrows that showed a hint of worry she would usually have to search for in his movements. Never did he show his anxiousness as clearly as he did now.

“I -” His voice caught, and he tore his eyes from her face, instead looking at his muddy trainers. “I’m sorry. About how I’ve been acting today.”

She shrugged. “I get it. Your brother’s here. You want us to like him, but he’s getting on your nerves. It’s what siblings do. None of us mind, George. Sam’s nice.”

“That’s not…” It wasn’t what he had meant, and it was clear that he knew she was trying to avoid the topic. “Sam is a lot of things, you know. He’s annoying and insanely smart and kind and -”

“I’ve met him,” (name) said, not unkindly. “I know.”

George ran a hand over his face. “I know, but what I mean to say is that he isn’t a liar.”

Usually, George Karim was not someone to beat around the bush. It was one of the things that (name) admired about him. If there was something he wanted to say, then he would say it, straight and upfront. But to see him now, fumbling over himself and avoiding the point…

“You’re making no sense,” she said.

“What he’s been saying about me… me talking about you a lot.” There was a brief pause. “He’s not wrong. I do talk about you a lot. I think my mum knows more about you than about me.”

A smile tried to fight its way onto her lips, but she held it back. If this was going where she so desperately hoped it would, it wouldn’t hurt to have him say it directly.

“I suppose that’s what friends are like,” she said. “Growing up, my dad knew every detail there was to know about my best friend.”

If one were to describe George Karim, bold would not be a word they would use. Smart, of course. Sarcastic, yes. Awkward, yes again. Bold? Absolutely not.

But there was no other way to describe his actions at that moment. The certainty he stepped forward with, the soft yet assured feel of his hands wrapping around hers. God, he was so close now that she could feel his warm breath ruffling her hair. And his eyes, lord, his eyes. Despite the slow-creeping darkness in the evening sky, his eyes only seemed to grow brighter. She could see the anxiety creeping beneath the surface, whether it be for the actions that may follow or her possible reaction. 

“I don’t want to just be your friend,” he said. His voice was barely more than a whisper, but she could hear the words as clearly as she would if he had shouted them.

She had known the words had been coming or had hoped, but hearing them was an entirely new thing. She could feel her heart swell with joy and relief, feel the smile that had so badly wanted to break free rise onto her lips. Her hands shifted carefully, cautiously, until her fingers could fit in between his.

“I’m sorry again about how I’ve been acting.” His words were beginning to rush out the way they did when he had too much to say. “I hadn’t felt ready to tell you, and Sam kept pushing and pushing. I thought if I ignored him I could sort my feelings out, but then I got too nervous and couldn’t even speak to you. God, you make me nervous. Did you know that?”

Her face scrunched with delight. “Georgie?”

He looked a little out of breath. “Yes?”

“Can I kiss you?”

Judging from the look of pure shock on his face, he had not expected such a straightforward request. He didn’t speak, but he nodded.

(name) grinned, slowly pulling one of her hands from his grip to push his glasses up his nose before placing it on his shoulder and leaning forward.

As a child, she had not liked to watch the kissing scenes in movies. They had always felt awkward and, at the time, she had never been able to imagine sharing an intimate moment like that with anybody, nevertheless enjoy it.

But here she was, kissing her best friend, and loving it. 

It was a little stiff to begin with but after a moment, they relaxed into it - into the feeling of fireworks and butterflies and warm lips. George’s hand squeezed hers, and his free hand slipped around to her back, pulling her a little closer.

The kiss didn’t last long, no more than a few seconds, but (name) found herself unable to compare the breathtaking moment to anything she had ever experienced. And, well, the look on George’s face told her that he felt much the same.

“I don’t want to just be friends either,” she said, finding herself feeling somewhat shy after such an uncharacteristic moment of confidence. “If that’s okay with you.”

George nodded with such vigour it was a wonder his head was still attached to his neck. “Okay with me.”

thank you for reading!

[graysnetwork]

BBF Keegan Story

(Warnings: not proofread, mentions of fighting kinda, blood, broken nose.) Summary: The senior night football game ends badly.

It was senior day and tonight was the last football game I'd see my brother and Keegan play at our high school. They were both growing up and I didn't like it, how were they– Keegan Russ the boy who tripped face first into mud when he slipped after it rained, and Liam (L/N) the boy who broke his arm two weeks into football practice– going to be seniors, going to college, and joining the marines?

I had now idea how they had even gotten through freshman year.

__

“So is your sister gonna be there?” I asked as I peeked my head over the seats. I always got stuck sitting in the back seat since Keegan and Liam were too big to sit in between. “Yeah why?” Keegan turned his head to look at me “Just wondering” i smiled and sat back in my seat “You better not have her hang out with your friends'' he furrowed his brows as he turned all the way to look back at me, he never liked my friends, he didn't hate them but he didnt love them. Keegan only had the memory of coming to my house to pick up his younger sister Marley, and she had her hair curled, makeup on, and not fun little girl makeup, glam makeup. I don't know what type of makeup would have made it better but he was mad.

“What the hell!” Keegan yelled as he woke all of us up, poor Marley was so embarrassed, i had no idea what was going on, while Kim and Hailey were snickering but apologizing. He pulled me outside and asked what had happened last night that caused his little sister to look like she was gonna go to the club. “I dunno, I literally fell asleep like…” i thought for a second “9:30” Marley mutter before Keegan glared at her, “so this was your friends ideas”

He wasn't mad at me, he was mad at them, he seriously said “It's okay sweetheart, go back to bed” and he yelled at my friends after i got in bed.

“I promise they wont do anything stupid, they cant, it's not like i'm gonna fall asleep at the game” i chuckled, his face softened and he sighed “If they do anything, i mean anything, i'm never letting Marley hang out with you guys again” he said and sat back in his seat again.

__

I sat on the bleachers in the student section with my friends and Marley, our families sat a few rows behind us, but we were sitting in the front benches. “So.. what's your boyfriend's number again?” Hailey asked as she sipped on her soda. I turned to her with a confused face “What? I don't have a boyfriend” i said quickly, “Oh c’mon” he chuckled as he looked out onto the field “We all know you and keegan have things for each other” she smirked as she turned back to me and i looked over at Kim who had the same smirk and Marely had a disgusted look on her face, it was her brother we were talking about after all. “I don't know what you guys are talking about” i looked over to Marley for support “As much as I hate to say it, Keegan is way too sweet to you to just be your friend. '' Marley said with raised up brows as if it was a fact. “You guys are forgetting Keegan is Liam’s best friend so has to be nice to me” I said trying to convince them “Sure, just cause your Liam’s sister means he has to drive you places, buy you things, and carry you around when your tired” Hailey rolled her eyes “It was one time!” I said remembering the time that Keegan carried you to the car after a day at the beach with your friends and families.

“Why are you this tired?” he said quietly as the sound of waves filled your ears “we woke up at 5 am to get here, how are you not tired?” I mumbled as I closed my eyes “touché” he smiled, that perfect smile was the last thing I'd seen before I fell asleep the rest of the ride home and only woke up in the middle of the night to my dark bedroom, Keegan nowhere to be found.

“One time, but it was so romantic,” Kim said as they both got up and stood at the railings as the players were about to come out. They ran out, it almost looked like a movie, felt like it too, other than the baby crying everyone's ears off.

“Look at him, gosh you’re lucky” Hailey smirked again as we watched keegan lead the team out and they all huddled up before the game actually started. He looked as perfect as he looked the first time he put that jersey on. “Can we refrain from the comments about my brother?” Marley said with a frown.

__

The game had ended a few minutes ago and I left in a hurry to congratulate Liam and Keegan, i left the bleachers on my own and excitedly went through the crowds and very quickly found out, a few feet away from the players locker room was where all the weird men hung out. I now remembered why i stayed in groups, a man approached me and started hitting on me, it was very weird, i was uncomfortable but my mind went blank, i had no idea what to say or do, and panic really started to set in when i realized the players were coming out a different exit and now I was all alone.

I couldn't even move as I saw Liam walk past the fence I was behind with not even a glance, as did the other players.

Keegan

I walked up behind Liam and looked around at the bleachers noticing y/n was nowhere in sight, maybe she was just throwing something away, or heading to the bathroom. It made no sense but y/n not being anywhere with her friends or family made less sense. I looked around before Kim and Hailey looked down at me, my jaw tensed at the sight of them, they had good intentions but they annoyed the crap outta me, y/n was the only one who i really liked, not just because I like her though. I furrowed my brows as they said “where’s y/n, thought you two lovebirds would be making out right now” they teased her relentlessly about me, and vice versa. I couldn't let anyone know I actually wanted half those things to happen. “I haven't

seen her'' I said. I was starting to worry as I scanned the bleachers again. “Wait what?” Kim said, for the first time ever, I'd seen fear flash on both their faces. “She was gonna go to the locker rooms to congratulate you guys” they said at the same time.

Shit

I dropped everything and started looking around as Kim told liam to start looking for y/n.

I looked over at the fence space between the locker room and the bleachers and saw her, and an older man. One of those perverts that hung around at random places to try and pick girls up. I don't know what happened, but suddenly I was on the other side of the fence punching this man, his bloody nose finally cracking as people crowded around and I saw Liam jump over the fence out of the corner of my eye. He went over to his sister and pulled her back as I yelled at the guy before security finally came over. I was glad this was the last game of the year because if I was gonna get in trouble for this, it didn’t matter.

Once the security guard and my coach were finished yelling at me I walked over y/n and Liam, “Why the hell did you wander off alone!” I yelled at her, it was the first time I’d yelled at her and it was odd, but the anger that coursed through my body overpowered every cell in my brain telling me to calm down and just make sure she was okay. Y/n couldn’t even get a wod out before i yelled at her again “What the fuck was going through your head!” Liam held her close before putting a hand on my shoulder “Alright dude, calm down-”  “Why the hell weren’t you more concerned about your sister!?” I yelled at him “Don't turn this shit on me dude!” He yelled back, what the hell was I doing, blaming Liam for something he didn't know about. All I could think about was the guy's hand that had touched y/n’s hip. I hadn’t touched her in weeks, no hugs, no high fives, just my eyes lingering on her for longer than they should have. That shit pissed me off so much, I should've killed that guy.

__

Y/n

The night ended ended terribly, id apologized for the thousandth time to liam as we got back home but he just went to his room and i went to mine, we had to cancel the dinner we were gonna go to after the game since keegan was still infuriated with everyone even though everyone agreed he was overreacting and it wasn't anybody's fault except for that douchebag. Iaid on my bed for what felt like an eternity and stared at my ceiling until my phone started

ringing. I expected it to be Hailey, or Kim, or even Marley but instead it was Keegan, the contact picture of him asleep with doodles on his face showed up as the phone rang. I contemplated answering; what if he wasn’t done yelling at me and he was calling because he was still angry? Maybe. I took my chances and swiped right to answer the phone.

“Keegan?” I asked quietly, preparing myself for the possibility of yelling in my ear, but all that prep was done for nothing as I listened to his smooth silky voice say “y/n, sweetheart..”

The name made my stomach flip, I swear I felt butterflies flutter as heat rushed up my neck and my cheeks felt hotter than the sun. “listen keegan” I continued my quiet voice as to not be heard through my home. Liam was already pissed, and he hadn’t eaten so he didn’t need to hear the name keegan; a reminder of what ruined the night. “No, you listen” he said sternly, but it was still soft as ever, it was the voice he used when he would teach me something. He always joked that he used the stern voice to get lessons through my thick skull, but he always meant it when he said he'd never yell at me.

Oh my gosh he yelled at me today.

I hadn’t even realized it earlier, it's not like I wasn’t sad about it, I was surprised.

“I know I fucked up tonight, but Ii was really upset you gotta understand that” he said softly “I do” i replied just as softly. “I'm really sorry, i shouldn't have yelled at you or Liam” he said with a sigh “He’ll get over it” i smiled to myself, he was always forgiving. “Still, I shouldn't have yelled”

“Yeah it was a pretty shitty move” I chuckled. “Woah, its bad etiquette for a princess to say bad words” he said, I could hear the airy chuckle he let out after. “Shut up” I smiled as I listened to his laughs.

I could totally get used to this. This was my own personal slice of heaven. It was what I'd always dreamed of. Keegan and I having a late night phone call. Well, my dream was being with Keegan in his arms until I got uncomfortable, which I already knew was impossible since his arms were the safest place to be in the world. But this was close, maybe the top 5 dreams I had.