#i was so sad when i was watching the new stuff and they ruined all my favorite things. raspberry wasnt mean anymore.

[violeblanche]

.

[bi-writes]

more little thoughts about curvy!sunshine!fem!reader and dark!simon (18+)

thinking about being so indifferent to his violence because it has never been directed at you. you had a bad night at the pub--an asshole tried to grab your ass in the brand new white dress you bought, with a puffy little mini skirt, and you had wanted to wear it out and get dressed up. the man had ruined your night; you just wanted to spend it with simon, drinking and spending time together, and as soon as he had his hand up your dress, and simon saw the tears in your eyes, all he could see was red.

you're sitting on the curb outside, sniffling, tears still a little damp on your face as you lick at the cone of ice cream you're holding. you click your heels against the pavement, and you look to the side when you feel a big, warm presence take a seat next to you. his shirt looks damp and sticky, and your eyes dart down to see how his boots smear blood against the ground. you smile a little through your soft tears, reaching over and sliding your arm around his. the tension in his muscles relaxes, and you lean up and kiss his cheek gently.

"did he squirm?" you ask softly as you trace his ungloved hand, running your fingers lightly over the fresh bruises there. "i know you hate it when they cry."

"didn't 'ave time t'cry," he grumbles. he leans over, kissing your forehead through the mask, holding you close. "cut his throat out before he could even think about it. and then i took his hands, luv--" you take a lick of your ice cream before you smile up at him. "didn't deserve 'em since he's had a feel 'f ya."

he lets you paint his nails. you sit on his big thigh, holding his hand up as you smooth black polish over his nail bed. you clean his cuticles and under his fingernails, giving him a nice little manicure before practicing your nail-painting skills. all he does is sit there and grumble as he watches a football game on the telly, not really paying you any mind. when you finish, you smooth lotion over his cracked knuckles and smooth some oil over his nails until they're nice and soft. when you finish, he makes you watch him stuff those fingers into your pretty pussy. he never takes his eyes off the game, but his lips twitch into the lightest smirk as he feels you writhe and squirm beside him, laid back on the couch as you wet his freshly painted nails with cum.

he never lets you cry, not really, because he fucking hates it. if you cry, he tilts your head up towards him, shoving his mask up before dragging his pink tongue up your face and ridding the pretty planes of your cheeks of any evidence. his solution to your sadness, if that doesn't work, is to put his head between your thighs and eat.

he never says no to you. wherever you want to go, he will take you. whatever you want to buy, he will buy it for you. even if it's something you technically can't have, like the vintage purse you see as you window shop with a not for sale tag on it. or the last pair of sparkly barrettes that the woman in front of you snagged first, found at the bottom of your shopping bag the next day. or the job you applied for that you knew you wouldn't get because you bombed the interview--only to receive confirmation in the middle of the night that you got the job, telling simon monday night that your new boss got mugged only a few hours after your interview!

(the bruises on his face are gnarly--and he seems to always avoid you like the plague.)

you break all his supposed boundaries in front of other people, but what they don't understand is that he has boundaries with everyone except for you. when you visit him on base, everyone tenses when you run into the rec room looking for him, slipping into the chair he sits in and taking your place on his lap. but ghost doesn't flinch as he does if others touch him. no, he just places his hand on your back to steady you. when you're out at the pub with his teammates, they stare wide-eyed as you cup his masked cheeks and kiss him all over his face--his eyes, his nose, his cheeks--but all ghost does is pat your ass soothingly and stroke along your hair gently. he stands out in crowds, so imposing and large and broad, and he ignores the stares when a pretty girl bounces into his orbit, taking his hand and pulling him along because simon, i saw this dress, but i need your help getting the zipper up--

there just isn't anyone like you. ghost feels dead, on the inside. he doesn't feel right. he knows something is so wrong inside of him. he wants to eat your glow. it's what he has loved about you since he met you. the unconditional devotion, the big heart you give him, the wet look in your eyes when he does anything for you, even when it includes the bloody stuff. even if he does the wrong thing, even if he kills the wrong man, and you know he is overreacting, you are never mad, never angry. you just kiss his scars and coo in his ear, "it's okay, you didn't know any better, you were just doing it for me, weren't you, baby?"

you give him the validation that he needs to be violent. you tell him it's okay. you aren't afraid of all the gore, of the terrible things he does, of all the things he rights with wrongs. he is quick to anger, and he finds it easy to be judge, jury, and executioner, and all you do is bat your lashes and open your legs and tell him it's okay, simon--it's okay, come here, i miss you.

you suffocate the things that scream in his ears. when it's too loud, you push him to lay down, climb up over him, put your thighs around his head and quiet the noise. you sit your pretty pussy on his mouth, and you ride his face, smoothing a hand over the balaclava that he is too busy to take off. you used to be afraid of being too heavy, of making it hard to breathe for him, but simon is a big boy, and maybe he wants to die, because you taste so sweet, and he always chubs up so easily with his hands digging into your hips and his tongue deep inside of you.

it aches, everything hurts, the world is too loud, but it isn't like this in your flat. it's just right. it's normal. it's safe. simon can be himself, and so can you, and when he is too brooding and terrifying, he looks at you, because if you're still smiling, he isn't too much of anything. and when you think you're talking too fast, when you are second-guessing the dress you want to wear, you look at him, because if he is there, nothing will ever be wrong, and no one can ever hurt you.

simon isn't a good person. you know that. he's quick to the knife. he likes to bite. he commits war crimes, and then he comes home, and no one asks him to explain himself, and no one tells him to stop what he's doing, and when he does it over and over again, all he gets is validation, medals for a job well done, and maybe you're an instigator, too, because you let him fuck you in every position whenever he comes home, a reward for bringing death to whoever was stupid enough to end up at the wrong end of his rifle.

but it's really, really hard to care. as soon as he steps through the door, dropping his duffel bag onto the floor, all of your doubts disappear. all you can do is stare at him in all his gear, swallow the drool that threatens to spill, smile--welcome home, teddy bear!

he is a bear. but you've never been on the receiving end of what scares people. if someone were to ask you what to do, you don't think you'd know what to tell them. you wonder what it is you would tell them if they begged for your help.

run away? or play dead?

[2hightocare]

UNEXPECTED NEWS!

Synopsis: Pregnant with your first child, how do you plan on dropping the news to your husband?

Genre: married au! KUWTB!

Warnings: whole lotta fluff.. cussing, mentions of sex, playful banter, found family… just fucking fluff bye.

a/n: well long awaited drabble.. I honestly adore all of them so much… Jungkook and oc were being extra cutesy (they usually play fighting all the time) in this.. enjoy🤍 ps I’m high as fuck so ignore all mistakes.

ask! KUWTB💌

“You’re fucking pregnant?” Your best friend whispers, Eunbi stares at you with wide eyes and mouth hanging open.

You had been feeling weird these past few days, from your emotions being all over the place to throwing up whenever you ate something. Jungkook was worried about what was wrong, but you just told him that you were on your period, which was a lie since you hadn’t had it in some time now.

So, here you are, sitting against the wall in the bathroom of Eunbi’s house with a positive pregnancy test in your hand. “I’m going to be an auntie!” Eunbi dances in front of you, her blonde hair coming undone from her bun.

“Oh my god, I’m pregnant.” It finally clicks in your brain that a small human is forming in your belly at this very moment, tears start streaming down your face.

You and Jungkook have been married for five years now. When you first got married, you both said you would enjoy your marriage and have fun. And that’s exactly what you did; you traveled a lot, went out to parties until five in the morning, did spontaneous stuff all the time.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Eunbi rushes to your side, kneeling down in front of you, lifting your face up. “Are these happy tears or sad tears?” She asks, her thumbs wiping your tears away, ruining your makeup.

“Both.” You sniffle, your eyes finally meeting her hazel eyes.

“Wanna talk about it?” Eunbi asks slowly, trying to read your expression.

Eunbi has been your best friend since college days; she was your dorm roommate. You both majored in the same thing, meaning you guys had almost every class together.

“It’s just that..” you pout, as the tears continue to fall.

“I’m happy, I’m really happy. But Kook and I haven’t talked about having a baby anytime soon. I don’t know how he’ll react.” You explain, as Eunbi only nods her head.

“Y/n, that man loves you so much, it’s even absurd what he would do for you. Knowing him, he would literally jump off a cliff for you. I don’t think he’ll react badly, but if he does, I’ll have the guys throw him off the cliff. Anyways, he loves you a lot with a baby or without a baby.” Eunbi says, helping you stand up before hugging.

“How do you think I should tell him?” You sniffle, as Eunbi chuckles, letting go of you.

“Pregnancy reveal plan in the making!” Eunbi says.

“And can we get out of here, this is where Yoongi takes his shits, it kinda smells bad,” Eunbi scrambles to the door, which has you laughing, following her lead out of the bathroom.

…

It’s been two days since you found out you were pregnant, but you haven’t told Jungkook anything yet. Eunbi and you planned a way of telling him the day you found out, so here you are, nervous as hell in Jungkook's car, trying to calm your nerves.

After a couple of minutes, you step out of the car with your shoulder bag and some shopping bags. You lock the car behind you and make your way to the main door.

“Hi baby, how did it go?” Your husband greets you the minute you walk in from the couch. “What did you buy?” Jungkook pauses the show he was just watching, putting all his attention on you, making grabby hands for you to go to him.

“Want a haul?” You giggle, making your way to him who pats his lap for you to sit on, which you do after dropping the bags beside him.

“Better have used my card,” he gives you a glare which you only roll your eyes playfully, reaching for your Prada bag before pulling out his black card and handing it to him. “Keep it, you use it more than me,” waves you off, giving your neck a wet kiss.

“Did the girls not go? I was on the phone with Taehyung, and he said Ari was making dinner.” Jungkook gives your thigh a squeeze, helping you adjust in his lap. “Ari said she was really busy with work, and Lora was taking care of Jiho since Jin is working.” You explain, running your fingers through his messy curls.

“You went by yourself? I could’ve gone with you, baby.” Jungkook pouts at you, which you shake your head with a smile. “Eunbi went with me, plus you had work,” You squeeze his cheeks.

“Tsk, I missed you,” He smiles, pulling your face closer to his before connecting his lips to yours. Your eyes immediately flutter closed, mirroring his smile against your lips.

“I have to show you something.” You bring up, your stomach doing a turn. “Show me,” He smiles, patting your thigh, before you climb off his lap, reaching for the shopping bags.

“Are you going to give me a haul?” Jungkook raises an eyebrow at you, which you only wink back as a response.

“So, I got a lot of makeup,” you say, showing him every product you got, which he listened to carefully even though he had no clue what half of the stuff you bought is used for. “I got us these, so we can all match,” you pull out the biggest Nike shoe box first, passing it to your husband.

“These are sick as fuck,” Jungkook holds up the black and white high tops. “Let me see yours.” He motions to the other box in the bag; you hand him your shoe box. Instead of high tops, they’re low instead.

“Super cute, they match your outfit right now,” He says about your pink long sleeve bodysuit. “They do, don't they,” You say, cracking your fingers nervously to show him the much smaller box in the bag.

“Oh, who’s this one for?” Jungkook reached for the small box, opening it to be met with tiny matching shoes. “Are these for Jiho? I don’t think they would fit him,” Your husband brings up the only child in the family as he holds the tiny shoe in his palm.

“They’re not for Jiho..” You nervously say, as you dig into your bag, pulling out the positive pregnancy test.

“You’re fucking kidding,” Jungkook's mouth hangs open as he stares at your teary eyes. You shake your head, tears start falling down your eyes watching your husband that’s stuck in place with wide eyes.

“I’m going to pass out, baby, are you serious?” Jungkook's face scrunches up as tears fill his eyes, “baby, you’re pregnant?” He drops the shoes and moves closer to you, his hands holding your face waiting for you to say something.

“Yes, I’m pregnant,” You sniffle with a smile, reaching to wipe your husband's tears. Before you know it, he jumps up, fist bumps the air, and starts screaming.

“Fuck yes!” He shouts to the air as he runs around the house as you burst out laughing, “I’m going to be a dad, oh my fucking god!” He runs back to pick you up from the carpet, smashing his lips on yours, spinning around.

“You’re going to be a mommy, you’re going to be such an amazing mom,” Jungkook says between each kiss he leaves all over your face, making you giggle. You felt stupid for even worrying in the first place how he would react.

“I think it’s going to be a boy,” Jungkook sets you down, “Baby, it’s been two days since I found out,” You say,

“You knew for two days and you didn’t tell me?” He gasps dramatically, “I was thinking about how to tell you,” you reassure him, which he only nods, giving you a big fat kiss.

“Do you think it’s too soon to buy his crib right now?” Jungkook asks enthusiastically.

“Jeon..” you give him a look, “yes it’s too early and don’t call it ‘he,’ we don’t know what it might be,” you say, before getting on your tiptoes, leaving a kiss on his lips, leaving him in the living room making your way to the kitchen.

“You just called him and ‘it,’ that's so much worse!” Jungkook argues, following behind you.

…

“Your handwriting is shit, to say the least,” you say as your husband writes on the small index card. “You have a way to flirt with me, baby, thank you so much, I love you too,” he says as he glares up at you before returning to writing on the card.

“Do you even think they’ll open the cookies?” You pop your hip out, watching your husband. “You know they only come to our house for the cookies, right? They don’t give a fuck about us,” Jungkook bites a laugh as you pout. “Well, now I don’t want to tell them shit,” you joke, staring at the words on the card.

“Do you even think they’ll understand that? They’re a little slow,” Jungkook wraps his hand over your shoulder, messing up your perfectly curled hair. “Um, they'll figure it out, they got a Joonie to help them,” you shrug before stealing a cookie from the packet and running off.

“I’m so hungry,” Lora says, her hand on her stomach as if that would silence the growling happening inside.

“There are cookies on the counter,” you point to the kitchen, which Jungkook smirks at you.

With that, everyone stands up, dashing to the kitchen, acting like they never had a cookie in their life. You truly had no idea how all of you became obsessed with chocolate chip cookies; all of your guys' houses have a bunch of packages lying everywhere to eat. It was common and normal for all of you; for others, it might seem bizarre seeing grown adults fight over cookies.

“I swear cookies taste so much better in Kook's house,” Jimin rants as he watches Hoseok open the bag, stopping in his tracks as he reads the note. Lora and Ari try reaching in for a cookie, completely ignoring the note but getting swatted away by Namjoon.

“Y/n is pregnant!” Namjoon shouts, which sends everyone's mouths hanging open. “You’re fucking joking!” Seokjin gasps as he runs towards you and Jungkook, embracing you in a tight hug.

“Oh my god, they really got down to business,” Taehyung says, getting a swat from Lora who’s glaring at him before pointing her eyes at Jiho beside her. “Am I the only one who doesn’t get the note?” Jimin says as he reads the card, as everyone congratulates and hugs you and Jungkook.

“Eat up, mommy Y/n doesn’t want to be the only one with a belly, love baby!” Jimin reads the card, holding it up in the air after he’s done reading it.

“I told you someone was not going to know what it meant,” Jungkook whispers into your ear, only for you to hear, which makes you chuckle under your breath.

“You’re just mad I had to explain it to you,” you whisper back, which gets you a kiss on your cheek.

[be-good-to-bugs]

Hav decided that plumb is genderfluid n use all pronouns cause they keep changing her gender and its swag even though i jate the newest design

[madlori]

there are a lot of headcanons about tommy becoming resentful of the time buck spends with eddie, but give me the reverse. give me eddie resentful of the time buck spends with tommy.

eddie's alone and sad with chris gone. both buck and tommy, together and individually, try to do things with him and be there for him but sometimes they actually do want to be alone together, and eddie just...can't seem to stop getting in the way. he invites himself along to stuff. he asks if he can come hang out when they're having a night at home together. he takes up their free evenings with obsessively making plans so he can avoid being alone in his house and they're just starting to get worn down.

eventually buck has to sit him down and say, eddie, my man, my dude, you're family to me, i care about you so much, so does tommy, but for the love of all that's holy please understand that sometimes i need to be alone with my boyfriend.

and eddie is embarrassed that he's been so clingy but also low-key hates that they have this relationship with each other that doesn't include him. he's happy that buck's found the love he always yearned for and deserved, but he can't stop feeling hurt and left out and there's just no way to make it better.

so what does he do? does he stay resentful and let it fester until it becomes anger and it ruins his friendship with buck?

maybe at one point he would have done that. but this time...this time he recognizes the path he's on and decides to take action to not let that happen. buck is too important to him. he has to find a way to occupy himself without relying soley on buck.

so he joins a boxing gym that nobody else goes to and starts working out there. he makes a friend who's also dealing with loneliness.

he starts volunteering on off-shift mornings at a botanical garden and finds that digging in the dirt and getting sweaty and dirty is very therapeutic. after a few weeks, some of the other volunteers invite him to come to brunch after their shift.

he discovers the LAFD Discord and that it has a whole bunch of sub-groups where first responders from all over the city get together for activities. he joins the golf group. he joins the cooking group. he goes on an axe-throwing outing.

he makes other friends.

there are no other friends like Buck. there will never be another friend like Buck. but there are people he can spend time with now, and give Buck a break so he can spend time with Tommy and also just have time to himself.

buck still brings dinner over once a week. he takes eddie on hikes. he and tommy fly him to san diego for the day and they go to the beach. but eddie also goes golfing with the LAFD Discord club. He goes to Station 133, which has the nicest kitchen in the LAFD, for the cooking club and learns some new recipes.

He has brunch with Chim and Maddie. He and Hen take Mara and Denny to mini-golf. He helps Bobby do DIY work on their new home to bring the kitchen up to his standards.

He learns to live without Chris. He learns to have support that doesn't entirely revolve around Buck. He watches Buck and Tommy get more and more serious, but now he's not resentful or scared - he's only happy, to see his best friend so happy. When they move in together, the three of them spend the first night Buck lives with Tommy eating pizza, drinking beer and watching baseball on TV.

And the first time Buck and Tommy ask him to come on a hike with them, and he has to decline because he has other plans, he's relieved, because they still want him around. They still want to be his friend. He hasn't worn them down.

He will always need Buck, he will alway love him. But he knew it wasn't fair to make Buck his entire support system...so he built a bigger one, and it's big enough to support them all.

When Chris facetimes him, he notices that his dad is looking less despondent. he has things to talk about, like the botanical garden and Bobby and Athena's new house and the firepit he's helping Buck build in Tommy's backyard. He's more open and honest. He doesn't sound so desperate. So Chris says he wants to come home, and when he does, Eddie's just happy he's back. Not desperate, not resentful or angry. And he has these new friends.

One of those new friends is another volunteer at the botanical gardens. she's a trauma nurse and does gardening to help her cope. eddie suggests she might like to try boxing as exercise, and she loves it. she is invited to a firefam BBQ at Buck and Tommy's house, and chris can't help but notice that she looks at his dad like he's really something -- and he's looking back the same way.

and if Chris had been worried that his time away would have hurt his dad, or made him sadder -- which he definitely didn't worry about, totally didn't, never at all -- he's not worried about that anymore.

[noodlesarecheese]

So Watcher is launching a Dropout (it's not called Dropout but they're clearly using the same template format platform thing idk what it's called, and the same pricing structure), and the reaction so far has been wildly different than what I remember from Dropout's launch. I was curious about why that was or if I was just misremembering the Dropout launch, so I went back to the Dropout launch video to compare them and I think I can see where some of the difference is coming from.

If you want to make the comparison yourself: Watcher's Video, Dropout's Video.

I wanna clarify first though that this isn't a knock against Watcher or the fans who are reacting one way or another or anything like that, I genuinely am just fascinated with how different the reactions are to what seems to be the same business decision. This also isn't a 'wow watcher sucks and dropout is so much better' I'm just using them for comparison because they did the same thing with different results. ALSO this isn't about the business decision itself, just the presentation! Disclaimers out of the way, here's the analysis.

Title and Thumbnail So the Watcher.tv announcement video is titled "Goodbye Youtube" and the thumbnail is Ryan, Shane, and Steven sitting on a couch looking serious, with a dark background. That really makes it seem like they're quitting (which, ok, they are quitting youtube but not quitting quitting). Viewers are already primed to be upset, and it's easier to go from upset to angry than upset to excited, curious, or neutral.

Compare to the dropout announcement video: "How the Internet is Ruining Comedy" - inline with other collegehumor video titles, might make you curious. Thumbnail - Big News! with Sam smiling and a bright background. We know its big news, but he looks happy, and the exclamation point let's us know they want us to be excited. Viewers are primed to be curious and excited.

Tone The Watcher announcement has 2 main tones. The first half is very sentimental, almost sad or wistful at times, and while there are parts that veer into pride at achievements, it's mostly bittersweet and sentimental. The second half is a bit more uplifting, but still quite serious. It reminded me of a tech announcement, like when they introduce the new iphone or something like that. Very professional, sleek, and serious, which isn't automatically a bad thing! But I do think that's not the vibe a decently-sized chunk of the audience expected or wanted. Many people watch Watcher for the cast's dynamic with each other, humor, and the more relaxed/conversational/friendly feel that most of the series have.

Compare to dropout - excited and comedic tone. Still professional, but also fits the expectations of the viewers. People watch collegehumor for the humor (it was in the name, after all). They also poke a bit of fun at themselves, which lightens the mood, shows self-awareness, and alleviates some of the bad feelings about paywalling.

Focus The Watcher announcement focuses a lot on the creative journey of the cast and company, as well as how this move will benefit them. Which isn't a bad thing, that's actually quite interesting! The problem here, I think, is actually more about what isn't here - a solid explanation of how this will also benefit the viewers and why the viewers should be excited. There's a brief description of one new show, and the promise that existing shows will get an upgrade, but we weren't given many specific details about how they'll be improved, and there's only one new show to tempt us into subscribing. Some people will be excited for that, some people won't, and some people will be excited but not enough to subscribe. Having 2 or 3 series (even if it's 1 fleshed out plus a few teasers of what's in production or what is being planned) plus some more details about how existing shows will be improved would've helped. Without that, it really does seem like it'll just be the same stuff viewers were getting for free, but now paywalled, rather than new and exciting stuff. That makes a big difference. I think with the fans not getting as much focus, this also led to some (accidental, I hope) hurt feelings. Based on what I've seen from fan reactions, all the talk about hitting the peak of what they can do on youtube and wanting more, translated for many people to 'youtube isn't enough' which became 'you (the current viewers) aren't enough.' Which I don't think was their intent! But I also don't think fans are wrong for feeling hurt by that.

Compare to dropout: They clearly explain how the move will benefit fans, and reassure viewers that existing content will stay where it is, and only new content will be behind the paywall. (Watcher clarified this too, but in a comment. It's not in the video itself, which is a huge problem.) They include clips of several new (at the time) series that would be premiering on dropout, including things that specifically could not be made on youtube (due to weed, violence, and sexual humor), so the reason for the shift is clear to the audience.

Advertisers Both videos contain the sentiment that being monetarily successful on youtube means working to appease the advertisers, and that over time what the advertisers want and what the creators want drifts further and further apart, putting strain on the creators.

However, I think the message gets lost a bit in the Watcher vid. Instead, it leaves viewers with the idea that the main problem is just ads are annoying instead of advertisers putting constraints on content. I'm not even sure what the specific constraints are for watcher, because they didn't give any examples. And the focus on ads being annoying leaves viewers frustrated because people typically either don't mind ads or they already have an ad blocker.

Timing and Size Okay, this isn't exactly about presentation, but it is still a factor that impacts perception so I'm tackling it. And I'm actually going to do dropout first. CollegeHumor launched dropout in September 2018. Pre-pandemic, but also pre-Sam Reich as CEO. The company was still owned by IAC. It was a Company, and while it wasn't huge it wasn't tiny either. So launching dropout was a Company Decision, a Business Strategy. Some people were upset about, but it wasn't a personal betrayal (generally, anyways). If I remember correctly, this was also not a high point for the company. They kinda needed dropout to do well to keep things running smoothly (which is why they shut it down and sold it to Sam just 1 1/2ish years later), so the sudden shift made sense.

Watcher Entertainment is a company, but it doesn't feel like one. Ryan, Shane, and Steven own and operate things, but they're also the faces, and they're youtubers. Which makes every business decision they make feel more personal to viewers, especially those who have been watching for a long time. They've also seemingly been doing well on youtube, which makes it more difficult for viewers to understand why the sudden change is happening now. They do talk a bit about it, about the company expanding and wanting to do things that advertisers don't like (which I've already covered). However, mostly the choice to start a streaming platform is framed as 'the next big step' without much clarification on why it's the next big step. Plus, it's post-pandemic, and a lot of people are still struggling financially with the ripple effects of that. Yes, $6 isn't a wild amount of money, but there have been some months where $5 absolutely meant the difference between paying all my bills or not, and I know I'm not the only one. This, coupled with a lack of clarity about why exactly they're doing this, leads to fans feeling hurt, betrayed, bitter, and frustrated.

Now, presentation and framing isn't everything. No matter how perfect your announcement is, some people are still going to be upset. It's a big change, of course people will be upset! But I do think a more careful presentation would've alleviated some of the hurt and anger that fans are feeling. While I do think a lot of the reaction we're seeing is due to the decision, I think (based on what I've seen) that some of it is also based on the poor communication in the video itself, and that could've been avoided!

So I'm gonna get a little speculative and describe what I would've done. In this hypothetical, they've decided to launch the streaming service and brought me on just for the announcement.

Firstly, switch the title out. If they're married to Goodbye Youtube then add a (and hello...?) after so it's at least obvious they aren't fully quitting. The dark color scheme of the thumbnail fits their regular vibe, but they want everyone to be excited so they should look excited. Next, let's lighten the tone up. Being proud of what they've done so far is great, but we don't need the sentimental music and bittersweetness. Remember, the goal is to get viewers excited about what come's next - so let's focus on what actually comes next! Talk about specific show plans and mention why they wouldn't work on youtube. Then, take some time to reassure the fans. Predict a few likely worries and address them in the video. Acknowledge that it's a big change, that it will take time to get used to, and that not everyone will be onboard, and let the fans know that it's ok if they aren't onboard.

Like I said, this wouldn't fix everything. There are a few differences in between dropout and watcher that don't have anything to do with presentation. Dropout launched with primarily new shows rather than new seasons of existing shows, and they continued uploading to youtube relatively regularly in addition to the content behind the paywall, which I do think went a long way to keeping fans happy. At this point it's unclear if watcher will do either of those or not. But, while I don't think it would fix everything, I do think improved communication in the announcement would've helped.

[roosterforme]

Always Ever Only You Part 9 | Rooster x Reader

Summary: What are you supposed to do when you don't know how to talk to your husband? How is he supposed to love you and your body when you can't even figure out how to love yourself anymore? You watch Bradley leave for deployment. 

Warnings: Angst, sex, swearing

Length: 3700 words

Pairing: Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw x Female Reader

This was written to accompany my series Is It Working For You? along with a bunch of my one-shots and other series, but it can be read on its own! Check my masterlist for the reading order. Always Ever Only You masterlist. Gorgeous banner by @mak-32

When you woke up on the bathroom floor the morning after your promotion banquet, and remembered what happened, you started crying. Your dress whites had been so perfect and crisply pressed. The excitement for your new piece of hardwear had fueled you along. You had forgotten about how much you hated your body right now, at least for a few hours. 

Everything ached as you stood up and tried to stretch out all of the kinks you had from sleeping on the bath mat. Bradley was leaving tomorrow. He would be gone for eight weeks. And you didn't even want to leave this bathroom and see him right now. 

But when you opened the door, curious about what time it was and ready to pack your back and go home, you nearly tripped over your husband. He was sleeping on the floor outside the bathroom, curled up with a pillow and a sheet. You braced yourself on the doorway so you didn't fall. 

"Baby Girl," he croaked, his voice still hoarse.

Your eyes were stinging, and you felt miserable knowing he had slept on the floor, too. But he had ruined your night, and you didn't even want to have to listen to him apologize to you. 

"I want to go home," you informed him with a steady voice that betrayed how terrible you felt. 

"Can we talk about this?" he asked, getting to his feet and looking as miserable as you felt. "I wasn't trying to hurt you."

You just closed your eyes and shook your head. The sooner you got home, the sooner you could take a bath and change and start to feel better. "I don't want to talk about this right now."

He ran his hand over his face and swallowed hard, and you slipped past him to get your stuff together. 

You were back home by nine o'clock. Part of you wanted Bradley to vanish and leave you alone. The rest of you was panicking inside, because by this time tomorrow, he would be gone. And then what would you do? It might be weeks before he could call you. But even though you knew you needed to straighten things out right now, you just couldn't bring yourself to do it. 

So you sank down into a bubble bath while he muttered something about taking Tramp for a walk. Good. He was gone now. The house was quiet. And you were left alone to think about how out of control your emotions were. But you decided were allowed to be frustrated that your night got ruined, and you were allowed to be annoyed with Bradley. However, today was also your last chance to see him for two months. And you were ovulating. 

So you shaved your legs and got out of the bath. Then you tried to do your normal routine of drying off and applying lotion, but you could hear Bradley messing around in the bedroom. When you wrapped your towel around yourself and poked your head in, he looked up from his duffle bag. "Hi," he said softly. He had his underwear and some clothing in stacks on the dresser. He was packing to leave. 

You shifted your weight from foot to foot, your fingernails digging into your palms. Never had you ever, not even once, felt this awkward around him. It was disorienting and unsettling. You couldn't have imagined this if you tried. His brown eyes were sad and apologetic, but he seemed to be holding back what he wanted to say. And you were sure your expression was similar. 

You had no idea how to make any of this better. So you blurted out the first thing on your tongue. "You're right. We shouldn't be wasting time. And maybe there's something physically wrong with one of us, but maybe there's not. So I think we should have sex today. While I'm ovulating."

But Bradley didn't budge. He blinked at you and licked his lips. "I'm sorry I upset you. And I really don't know if having sex right now is the best idea, you know?"

It's not like you even wanted to. But you felt like you should. So you let your towel drop to the floor at your feet, because you knew it was impossible for Bradley to feel nothing when you were naked for him. 

His lips parted, his pupils went wide, and his breathing was ragged. "You really want to?"

"Yes," you said softly, lying to your husband even as he took a step closer to you. When his lips met yours, you turned your head so that his mustache skimmed along your neck instead. He kissed down to your shoulder, and it felt good. It always felt good. But you had to force yourself to lay out on the bed as he quickly undressed. 

When Bradley settled on top of you, he stroked his fingers along your slit and then met your eyes. You knew you weren't wet. You bit your lip and had to hold back your tears. 

"We don't have to-" 

"Yes," you said, cutting him off. "We do."

Once again, he looked like you'd physically hit him. He just nodded and brought his fingers up to his lips, coating them with his saliva and returning them to your core. You let your head tip back against the pillow and tried to think about your honeymoon or the way Bradley once gave you a hat trick. You tried to imagine being back in La Jolla. Anything sexy. But all you could think about was how desperately you wanted to see a positive pregnancy test. 

You hiccuped softly, squeezing your eyes shut as Bradley lined himself up with your opening and pushed himself inside you. He just needed to cum. The sooner the better. 

"You okay?" he asked, pushing himself deeper. 

You nodded, barely meeting his eyes. "Yeah."

And so he started to thrust as he kissed softly along your collar bones, but after a few minutes, you could tell he wasn't even as hard as he usually was. Tears stung your eyes. You couldn't do anything right. You couldn't get pregnant. And you couldn't keep your husband hard. You couldn't even seem to go five minutes without wanting to disappear into thin air. 

When Bradley met your eyes, he muttered, "Sorry." 

"It's probably my fault," you whispered, but he pressed his lips to yours and shook his head. 

"It's not, Sweetheart." But he had to bury his face against your neck and stroke himself with his right hand until he was hard enough to fuck you while you laid there beyond mortified. And the sound of his soft grunts as he came inside you was such a relief when you finally heard them, you sank back with your forearm over your eyes. 

Bradley didn't collapse in bed with you. He didn't snuggle up with you in his arms. You felt the bed dip as he climbed out and went into the bathroom, closing the door behind him. 

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

It was a long time before Bradley felt like he could walk back out into the bedroom and face you. What was happening here? He had fucked up last night. He knew that. He burst your bubble, tainted the delight you felt when you were being promoted. And he hated that he did that. He was proud of you, and he never wanted to disappoint you. But he'd just disappointed you again today. 

You were gone when he opened the door, and he felt relieved. Embarrassment washed over him again. He wasn't hard for you. He was always hard for you. Even at the most inopportune times, he was ready to go just thinking about you. He didn't even need to touch the porn they gave him when he jerked off to collect a sperm sample for testing. He just pulled up one of the videos you and he made on his phone and went to town. Two minutes of looking at your body and listening to your voice and he was filling up that little cup. 

"Fuck," he grunted, returning to his duffle bag instead of looking for you. Because he didn't even know what to say right now. Tears were collecting in his eyes as he packed his bag. His stomach was growling for lunch, but he didn't think he deserved to eat anything. 

As he put the finishing touches on his uniforms and flight suits, he finally tossed his bag aside. He wasn't even going to be here tomorrow. He needed to fix all of this right now. He hadn't told you he loved you all day, and you hadn't said it to him. Maybe starting there would be a good jumping off place to try to fix things. 

"Baby Girl?" he called out as he walked down the hallway into the kitchen. And he was treated to the sight of your beautiful body, gorgeous face and elegant hands. But you were holding the piece of mail he'd been trying in vain to hide all over the house. And when you met his eyes, you looked angry. 

"I can explain," he said, holding his hands up in surrender. But that just seemed to make you more upset.

"What the fuck, Bradley?" you asked, the paperwork shaking in your hand. "Were you going to tell me about this? Or just try to avoid all of it?"

"I-" he started before freezing up. Your face was righteous with anger in a way he'd never witnessed before, and he wished he could go back to yesterday and do everything right. 

Then your face melted into sadness. "You weren't going to say anything. Were you?" When he didn't respond, you screamed, "Were you?"

He watched you ball up the papers in your hands before you threw them at his chest with as much force as you could manage. He caught the paper ball, heart pounding and skin on fire. And then you rounded on him. "I can't believe you got your sperm tested without saying anything to me about it!"

He sucked in a deep breath. "I was just trying to help," he managed as angry tears flowed down your cheeks. When he took a step closer, you pressed your palms to his chest and pushed him back. 

"You didn't fucking help anything! It's all my fault that I can't get pregnant!"

"You don't know that," he said as you shoved him harder. "We don't know that."

You reached out and smacked the balled up paper out of his hand and shouted, "Yes! I do! It's actually my fault. It's a fact. I saw it right there on that paper! Your sperm is perfect. So my body must be fucked up!"

"Baby Girl," he gasped in agony. "Don't. Please." To him, you were perfect. And having a child really wasn't worth seeing you like this. Seeing how you'd been sinking in on yourself over the past few months. But maybe right now you weren't wrong. He didn't even know anymore. 

"And you were just hiding the results from me?" you asked, your voice still shaking with rage. "Blaming me quietly?"

"I'm not blaming you for anything!" he said, louder than he anticipated. His voice boomed through the kitchen, and you looked up at him like you didn't even know who he was. Even Tramp had run for cover by this point. 

"That's okay," you whispered, your eyes unwavering even though they were filled with tears. "I'm blaming myself enough for both of us."

He looked at the floor. There was nothing he could do to fix any of this now. And you were literally the last person he wanted to disappoint. As he raked his fingers through his hair, he whispered, "Maybe it's a good thing that I'm going away tomorrow."

He heard you sob as you kicked the sperm test results across the room and stormed down the hallway. 

You were in bed the rest of the afternoon, and Bradley wasn't sure if you were asleep or not. So he avoided the room altogether as he wallowed in this pain that he brought on himself. And on you.

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

You cried in bed for so long all afternoon, you must have fallen asleep at some point. Bradley's sperm was perfect. It was of higher quality than 95% of men in their mid-thirties. It was ideal for impregnation. The most desirable quality you could imagine. 

And you kept imagining it. He'd come inside you hundreds of times. Thousands of times. Countless times. Even since November, he'd put his Grade A sperm inside you more times than you could possibly keep track of.

So, this was your fault. And now you knew it. You tried for hours to think about work or your friends or even the fact that you should have been able to go to brunch this morning to gush about your promotion banquet. But everything was turning to shit now. It was probably time to think about alternate options. Or consider just giving up completely. 

But why should Bradley have to give up his dream of being a dad just because you weren't able to give him what he wanted? You couldn't be that selfish. As sleep overtook you, disturbing and hurtful ideas filled your mind. You were vaguely aware of Bradley in the room as the afternoon light got dimmer. You could hear him put something in your nightstand. You heard the zipper on his duffle. But you couldn't open your eyes through the haze of pain and exhaustion. 

When you jerked awake in your pitch black bedroom, you heard Bradley's voice next to you. "Are you okay, Sweetheart?" 

You reached for your phone. It was after eleven o'clock. He'd plugged it in for you. He must have gotten himself dinner and taken Tramp out and finished packing for his deployment. 

And then your heart sank as you reached for him. Bradley laced his fingers with yours, and you squeezed your eyes shut at how good it felt to simply hold his hand. 

"I don't know," you whispered, because you weren't really sure. Bradley brought your hand up to his mouth and kissed your fingers. You sighed against the sensation of his mustache on your body. You wanted to keep this feeling alive. This little glimmer of hope. But you muttered, "It's late. Go to sleep," as you withdrew your hand and rolled onto your side.

He was silent for so long, you weren't sure if he was still awake. Finally he said, "I hate leaving you more than I hate anything else. But we'll figure this out. I love you."

But instead of responding, you let him doze. When you both woke up at five to the sound of his alarm blaring, there were several feet of space between your body and his in the king sized bed. You felt like absolute shit. It was hard to breathe as you watched Bradley climb out of bed and head for the bathroom. You knew everything he was going to do: shower, shave around his mustache, apply deodorant. But you didn't want to see it. You went into the kitchen where you had all of the ingredients to make him heart shaped pancakes and strawberries. But you didn't want to make them. 

Instead you made some French press coffee and cried softly. You took a few sips and felt like you were going to throw up. You tried to eat a granola bar, but you gagged. You had forty one minutes until the Admirals would start calling everyone aboard the aircraft carrier. Less than an hour until your husband would be away for two months. But even when he cautiously walked into the kitchen in his uniform with his duffle bag, you still couldn't quite formulate what you wanted to say to him.

Because maybe he was right. Maybe you and he needed to spend some time apart. You hated yourself and your body, so how did you expect him to love you right now? And you resented him for the decisions he was making and the things he was saying to you. It felt like he didn't understand how it feels to be you. And then you laughed darkly, because of course he didn't. And you were doing a shitty job of describing it to him. A horrible job of communicating with him in general.

"Let's go," you said, heading for the front door in the old lounge pants and shirt you'd slept in. You felt disgusting, so you might as well just look disgusting, too. 

But he headed you off, keeping his hand on the doorknob so you couldn't turn it. "I can't go until I know you're listening to what I have to say."

"What?" you snapped, because that was just a lie. He'd be leaving shortly even if you refused to listen or drive him there. That was just a fact. 

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ruin your night. I didn't mean to hide the test results from you."

"But you did," you whispered harshly. "On both accounts."

"I know," he said solemnly, reaching for you before dropping his hand to his side. "And I'm sick over it. But this doesn't mean there's anything wrong with you or that I'm perfect. And we can keep trying as soon as I get home, okay?"

"If I even feel like it," you sobbed, pushing his hand out of the way and wrenching the door open. "If you even want to. If you can even stay hard for me." 

"Sweetheart!" he called out, running after you as you got into the driver's seat of your car. You'd drop him off in this one instead of the Bronco, just because it would irritate him. 

You were turning the key and shifting into reverse before he even had his door closed. You wanted him gone. Now. You needed the silence of the house without him in it. Keeping your tears at bay was impossible, but at least the drive was quiet. Bradley had his hand over his eyes, and his head was tipped back. You saw the way his Adam's apple worked against his neck as he swallowed hard, but you didn't say anything to ease his mind. If you had to feel bad, then so did he. 

You made it to the docks in just a few minutes, and you were out of the car right away. You saw Bob and Nat on the dock, waving and waiting for the two of you, but you just couldn't go over there. You didn't want to see them or have to explain why the two of you were miserable. 

As you turned to face your husband, you were shaking with tears, and so was he. There was just a foot of space between you, but you hesitated. And it was clear to him that you didn't know what to do. So he just stood there and wiped at his eyes, shaking his head.

"This is not how I wanted to leave things between us," he rasped, and you looked down at the ground. He was the one who kept telling you he wanted to talk, but you kept shutting him out. 

When you opened your mouth to try to tell him that you still loved him, he held up his hand to stop you.

"You deserved more than what I gave you, okay?" he whispered, and your tears just came faster. "You deserved the world, and clearly I wasn't delivering on all of my promises. At the end of the day, if I'm the one responsible for all of your tears, then what fucking good am I as your husband?"

"Bradley," you croaked, sucking in a deep breath. 

But he just kept going, even though whistles were blowing and his squadron was being called. "I love you so much. I'm always going to. And I'm sorry I'm leaving you like this. I should have tried harder, because you are everything."

Your heart was breaking as he wrapped one big hand around the back of your neck and kissed your forehead. You tried to say his name again, but nothing would come out except a wretched sounding sob. So you reached for him and kissed his lips softly. But then he was pulling away, and you felt bile in your throat. 

"I love you." Your voice was so soft and broken, you weren't sure if he heard you. As he joined Nat and Bob, you cried next to your car, overwhelmed by the feeling of finality. You stayed until he boarded the carrier, but then you climbed behind the steering wheel again. You needed to go to work. You needed to go home and change first. When you tried to start the engine, your fingers fumbled the keys. After three tries you screamed and pounded on the steering wheel with your fists. 

Your heart was broken, and now you had nothing to show for it except some bruised hands. But as you finally got the car started and headed home, you thought to yourself that at least your day couldn't get worse. 

That was just wishful thinking on your part. As soon as you walked inside your bedroom with the intention of taking a hot shower, your eyes caught on something gold on Bradley's nightstand. He had left his wedding band. He never took it off. You couldn't recall a single time he had removed it since you slipped it on his finger last November. 

It was cold to the touch when you picked it up. It was supposed to feel warm from being on his finger. You wanted to call him and demand an answer as to why he was going away on a deployment without his wedding band, but you were too scared to hear the answer. And as his words came flooding back, you climbed into bed with the ring held tight in your sore fist. 

You deserved more than what I gave you.

Bradley deserved more, too.

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

Well. Now they are both on their own for two months. And I hurt my own feelings. Thanks to @mak-32 and @beyondthesefourwalls

PART 10

@hotch-meeeeeuppppp

@swthxrry

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@xoxabs88xox

[yawntutsyip]

Ao’nung x Fem!Metkayina Reader

warnings: angst(?), panic attack, blood, lmk if I need to put anything else.

context: Ao’nung finally completed his Iknimaya and was ready to confess to you! It was all going so great until it wasn’t. News had been announced that (y/n)’s village was attacked and many of their people were injured and needed help and (y/n) was one of them.

AN: …I hope this meets up to your guys expectations and that you like it! I did my best as this was the first time writing something sad 😭 IMSOSCAREDOFYOUGUYSREADINGTHISAHHHMYANXIETY.

Part One

Young love : Part Two

It had been a couple of years since Ao’nung and (Y/N) had seen each other. They had been so busy with their training, (Y/N) becoming the Tsahìk and Ao’nung the Olo’eyktan, that they never could find the right time to see one another. It’s always one of them was doing something on the day the other one wasn’t.

Even though they never saw each other in person that didn’t stop them from still keeping contact in other ways. They had been writing letters and sending gifts back and forth keeping each other updated on their lives.

At the time since they were so young they didn’t realize, that actually counted as courting each other. And that’s when their parents knew you guys had already chosen each other since day one and they had been secretly talking about merging the villages together one day.

Ao’nung once in a while would send (Y/N) handmade jewelry and headpieces that he learned to make from his mother and sister. He was very proud of it too. And in return (Y/N) would send him jewelry and armbands that she had beaded and woven herself. 

He remembered the first time he received a necklace she had made, it had a reef bird talon. He was shocked when he unwrapped it and immediately put it on. To this day he still wears it around his neck along with other stuff you had made him like his armband, or the bracelet that had been made with familiar beads, they were the same beads you had in your hair when you guys first met and he wore them with pride. 

Even though the letters and gifts made him happy and he was glad they were able to keep in touch with each other. He finds himself longing to be in person with you, when they first met it was an instant connection as if Eywa herself had sent you to him. 

He prayed to Eywa every day thanking her for bringing you into his life and that he wishes to see you again. He remembered holding your hand for the first time, how soft and tiny it was compared to his, and when he stared into your eyes it was like time stopped and it was just you and him in the world without a worry.

At that young age, Ao’nung had already made up his mind that it was you who he wished to spend the rest of his days with. It was you who he wanted to be his Tsahìk for his people, It was you who he wished to wake up next to every day, It was you who he saw carrying his future children. It was always you, and forever will be, and be prayed that you felt the same. 

Today was a special day for Ao’nung, he had finally finished his Iknimaya and tamed his Skimwing, all that was left was choosing a mate. 

But he already had, it was you.

At that moment Ao’nung sat along with the whole village as they all celebrated for him, although he was supposed to be happy he had a bad feeling about today, that something bad was going to happen. But he only pushed it to the back of his head. Today was going to be good no matter what. He won’t let some silly feeling ruin it. 

The atmosphere was lively and joyful, with children playing with each other, elders making jokes, and teens playing traditional Metkayina games. 

How could he not be happy right now?

He began to eat the fish that sat on the plate in front of him and made conversation with Rotxo and the friends that were nearby. 

All of a sudden a warrior from Ta’unui’s clan rushed in and headed toward his father and mother with a worried look on his face. 

As Ao’nung watches his parent's expressions of whatever the warrior had said to them, he knew it was nothing good. 

The bad feeling started to come back again and it made him feel sick to his stomach. Something happened. Something really bad.

His father stands up and clears his throat loudly and it gets everyone’s attention. 

“I need everyone’s attention! We have just gotten news that the Ta’unui’s village had been attacked and many of the people were injured including the Olo’eyktan’s family.” Tonowari announced as his eyes immediately land on his son. 

“I need all hands on deck. Clear your Marui’s as we need all the space we can get to give our brothers and sisters sanctuary. If you see someone in need of help please help them with all that you can. I need everyone’s help with this”

As Tonowari said his final words the happy joyful atmosphere turned serious and everyone rushed back to their marui’s getting prepared to help them in need. 

Ronal and Tonowari look at their son, He still stood in the same place he was. Tsireya shook his shoulder calling out his name but getting no response. She looked over to her parents with a worried expression. 

Ao’nung began running as fast as he could, pushing past his parents, towards the water where the people had been rushing in from on ilus and skimwings screaming in horror and in pain while carrying their loved ones, some lifeless, and some who were just merely hanging on to the little conscious they had left. 

When he said he wanted to be with you in person this what not what he meant, this had to be some cruel joke. Why did this happen? Did he make the great-mother upset? Why? 

His eyes traveled from person to person as they ran past him. His thoughts were scattered everywhere right now he could barely think straight. 

A piercing ringing echoed in his ears cutting out all the sounds, all he could hear was himself breathing and the thumps of his heart. 

He felt his hands begin to shake with anxiety, and he finds himself barely taking in full breathes as he was hyperventilating it made him feel sick and dizzy as if the world was spinning fast while his heart thumped erratically as if it were to jump out his chest and land into the sand. 

Where were you? We’re you okay? Were you hurt? Are you even alive? How was he even supposed to find you? He hasn’t even seen you since you were 7 years old. His thoughts overwhelm him and started to make him even more dizzy. He hunched over with his hands on his knees as he tries to slow down his breathing.

Finally getting ahold of himself closes his eyes and forces himself to slow down his breathing, as he did the ringing began to stop and the cries from the people began to fill his ears again. 

He opens his eyes and starts to run into the water, he looks around looking for possibly your father, maybe if he found your father you were with him, but he was out of luck as he couldn’t find him. 

Continuing to look around he spots a woman on her skimwing desperately screaming for help while holding a girl in her arms that were covered in blood. 

He sighs as prays to Eywa that you were okay before quickly calling for his newly tamed Skimwing and heading towards the mother and assuming it was her daughter. 

As he gets closer he looks at the girl laying in the mother's arms and looks at the girl's neck which had a necklace with a familiar shell on it. 

No, it can’t be.

He tells his Skimwing to go faster.

‘No no no no this can’t be, please don’t let it be (Y/N)’

Once he reached them the mother instantly cries for help, telling him her daughter is deeply wounded.

His eyes began to cloud forming tears as your mother shoved you in his embrace, pleading for him to rush you to the Tsahìk as she had to go back for more people. 

He nodded his head without a word and began to hold you close as he rode back to shore, he could feel your blood seep out and onto his hands and legs but he didn’t care about that, what he cared about was whether you were even alive or not.  

“(Y/N) hey it’s going to be okay! We are almost there okay?! Just hold on a little bit longer” he whispers to you while he was actually trying to convince himself. 

Finally, after what felt like forever he had reached the shore, he quickly undid the bond and began screaming for his mother as he ran to her with you in his arms tightly held against his chest as it turns red. 

Ronal hearing her son screaming rushes forward, a loud gasp leaving her lips at the sight she saw. 

Her son holding the love of his life in his arms with blood covering both of them, tears were streaming down his face as he could barely breathe properly, with hiccups between each breath. 

She quickly yells for Ao’nung to follow her as she runs to the nearest healing Marui. She tells him to carefully set her down as she began to grab every single paste and medicine she could find. 

Ao’nung sat on his knees the whole time never leaving your side, holding your hand in his as his mother began to work on healing you. 

He prayed and prayed to Eywa to let you be okay, that this was not your time to be with her. You were still so young and had such a long life to live, there was still so much you haven’t gotten to explore. So much thing that he had not been able to tell you, to show you. 

He even had this whole day planned out for you and him. 

Ao’nung and his father were going to travel to your village to surprise you and your family after the celebration, He was going to do this big thing where he personally went to your parents giving them the handmade gifts he had been working on for the past week ranging from baskets to jewelry, to spears and the fish that he had been catching all day that would feed your siblings and parents, he prepared so much so that he could ask your parent's permission to court you, to be mated with you and become one with Eywa. 

He had even been practicing a speech for your father, telling him that he would take good care of you for the rest of your life and that he could trust him, he would make sure you always had a secured roof over your head and how you would always have food and would never become hungry, How he would protect you with his whole life from any danger and he was willing to do anything for you, he would worship the ground you walk on. 

But how was he supposed to do that now as he sat there next to you and watched your body lay as if almost lifeless? 

How was he supposed to confess the love that he has had for you since he was 8? 

How was he supposed to show you the secret underwater cave spot, that since the day he found it, he couldn’t wait to take you there?

How was he supposed to grow old and have a family with you as you both watch your kids grow older and become the next Olo’eyktan or Tsahìk?

He let out a deep sigh, He began to scan your face, finally taking in what you look like and how you have grown over the years. You were beautiful. 

You were the most beautiful girl he had ever laid eyes on. With your long dark hair and a beautiful shade of aqua skin, perfectly round eyes. Even at this state he still found you beautiful. You were perfect every way in his eyes.

As his eyes trail over your face his gaze falls downwards and the necklace she was wearing caught his attention. 

He remembers the memory as if it was yesterday, he saw the way your whole face went from scared and shy to lit up and excited. He remembered the way his heart started beating faster and was scared that you would be able to hear it. 

Tears began to fill his eyes. 

“(Y/N)…I love you, please don’t leave before I can tell you these words. Please fight and come back to us, Eywa please help her find her way back to me, back to her parents, back to her younger siblings” He whispered as he held your hand to his chest, tears began to fall from his eyes as he breaks down, feeling his heart throb in pain, feeling this it was slowly cracking, falling into little pieces. 

Ronal and your mom both were there working on healing you, they had done everything the could and now what was left to do was pray to Eywa.

And Eventually, after a couple of days you had finally begun to heal, getting better as the days passed but still had not worked up which worried Ao’nung.

He still hasn’t left your side too scared that if he left you would disappear again. His parents and your parents would come in and visit to check up on him and you. They all had that same face of pity as they looked at the both of them.

Of course the day he had went out to finally go bathe properly, he had just wiped your blood off him with a cloth and water though his skill still stayed stained.

You finally woke up.

As you open your eyes it was so bright that you could only close the again but then the sound of someone entering in the Marui reached your ears and the light soon was covered by something or maybe it was someone as you could hear their breathe come in and out shakily. Opening them again you look up and meet the eyes of someone else. 

The eyes were familiar and brought instant comfort as you began to tear up at the boy and also remember the events that had happened. It was pain and happiness all at once. You couldn’t believe who was sitting there in front of you.

“Ao’nung is it really you?!, I didn’t think I would see you again after our village got attacked” you whisper as your voice was hoarse. You stared up with at him in adoration with tears turning your vision blurry with a faint blush creeping on your cheeks.

The years have been very kind to him, he grew up to be a very handsome man that caught all the girls attention, and that crush you have had on him since you were a little girl only grew more the very second.

“Yeah it really is me,” Ao’nung said while caressing your face in his hands, wiping the tears falling from your eyes with his thumb. “Long time no see huh? You changed quite a bit there’s no more little girl that cowards behind her father, I see you young beautiful woman and warrior even, is that a tattoo already? You completed your Iknimaya before me?!” he tried to enlighten the mood but it didn’t help the fact that he was crying with tears streaming down his face as well. 

You caress his face back with one hand and he leans into your touch kissing your palm. “I know, crazy right?” You tried to laugh but it was cut off as you cough and wince at the pain that came from your abdomen.

“Hey take it easy, your still healing, you had gotten shot , and you have burns on your legs. But hey on the bright side imagine how cool the scars are gonna be aye? Your gonna look so badass” you blush and lightly hit his leg. “Stop making me laugh it hurts”

He could only laugh himself with a big smile on his face. His happy mood quickly shifting into a serious one as began to talk. His hands moves from your face to hold one of your hands kissing the back of it.

“You know, I wanted it to be more romantic…I had this whole plan set up for you…but I have to tell you now.” Ao’nung begins to speak between sniffles. 

You tense up a little worried about what he was going to say.

“(Y/N), when we first met each other, even though we were just kids I knew there was a connection, and I knew that you were gonna be someone that I hold dear to my heart. And when I gave you that necklace, the way your eyes lit up as you saw it and you looked at me with a big smile...I made it my goal to make sure you always had that look on your face even when we weren’t together. I was so sad when you left and we weren’t able to meet up, but when you sent me that little letter you wrote about how much you missed me. That’s when I fell, I fell in love with you though out the years. You make me the happiest man since day one of meeting you and if you give me permission, I want to spend the rest of my days with you. I love you (Y/N), I see you”

You wipe the tears out of your eyes and nod your head while sniffling. Slowly you sit up and lay your forehead against his, you both stare into each other's eyes basking in the other one's presence. 

“I see you, Ao’nung. I wish to be by your side forever”

tag list: @alerouxstyxsblog @embrycallsballz @grierpilots @simpingoverfictionalmen @liyahsocorro @bloody-hell-00 @allurvion @fucksnow @littlemissbooie @melsunshine @trulynotavailable @baddieslaybaka @theratprincessforever @iheartamajiki

[camiimoraless]

𖥔 ࣪ 🕷️ 𝐏𝐈𝐍𝐊 + 𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐓𝐄

⨳ pairing :: earth1610! miles x reader

⨳ synopsis :: dating miles morales <3

⨳ wc :: 6.4k words

⨳ includes :: google translated spanish 😭, love confession’s, lovey dovy stuff, mentions of injuries & blood, pet names, angst (?), comfort

⨳ notes :: not proofread, making this made me feel so giggly inside 🤭, this was gonna be left unfinished but it’s girlfriend’s day so happy girlfriends day <3

“ Just the same way you showed me (You showed) - If you could die and come back to life - Up for air from the swimming pool - You'd kneel down to the dry land - Kiss the Earth that birthed you - Gave you tools just to stay alive - And make it out when the sun is ruined - That's the same way you showed me, showed me - You showed me love ” — pink + white 𖦹 frank ocean.

IMAGINE dating miles morales, he’d be such a sweetheart. ‹𝟥 you feeling sad? don’t worry, he’ll get your favorite ice cream, pull up to your house, watch all the tv shows and movie you like with you. you got period cramps? he’ll help you. he’d have a period tracker on your phone and immediately run to the store to get things for you once the notification pops up.

and he’s such a giver ( > <)꜆꜄ anytime he goes to the mall with his mom, he’d buy some stuff for you that he think you’d like. necklaces, bracelets, new makeup products — he’d immediately buy. he would def get you two matching shoes.

he loves doing skincare with you ( ˘ ³˘)♡ everytime he’s over at your place and you’re doing your night routine, he’s joining you. and he does face masks with you (the hello kitty ones). loves taking pics of u two in them <3

he praises you 🙌🏽, doesn’t matter what you look like or what you’re wearing - he showers you in compliments;

“princesa, you’re so beautiful.”

“have I ever told you how gorgeous you are?”

“you’re so cute in my hoodie baby.”

he definitely texts you when he’s fighting villains or swinging around the city

you: milesssss can you help me study?

miles: yeaf im alomst done fughting

you: kk don’t get hurt tho !!

miles: i wonr

you: mhmm ttyl ⸜(*ˊᵕˋ*)⸝‬

when you first met his parents, you were so nervous. you felt like they were judging you—which they were but they opened up to you once you started hanging out over there more. rio definitely showed you his baby pictures and told you his whole childhood. you found it cute when miles got embarrassed.

he loves taking you on arcade dates, he has a photo album labeled ‘video game lover ❤️’ with all the pics from there. and you both have lots of pictures from the photo booth. when you two go to claw machines, you’d be the one who’s winning them for him. (🙌🏽)

(photo booth scenario (๑´ㅂ`๑)♡)

“baby, we’ve done the photo booth like a million times!” miles groaned as you dragged him to the photo booth, again. it’s not that he doesn’t mind taking pictures with you, it’s just you get over ten pictures in one day.

you rolled your eyes and kept walking towards the machine. “so? what’s wrong with having lots of photos of us? you have like a bunch of me.” you argued.

mumbling, he followed after you. he wasn't exactly looking forward to this. at the same time, he got to spend time with his girlfriend, so he couldn’t really complain. "fine, fine.. let's just get this over with."

“mhm.” you nod, you knew he couldn’t say no to you. as you arrived at the booth, without a word or protest, he slipped his arm around yours and started smiling for the camera.

he had to admit it felt nice having his arm around you, and that he wouldn't mind taking pictures with you all day if it meant he got to hold on to you.

for the first photo, you decided to kiss his cheek. he loved the way your soft lips felt against his cheek—and he loved the way your smile lit up your face as you leaned toward him.

you pulled back once the camera flashed for the first photo and smiled up at miles. "come on, why don't you kiss me for real in the next one?" he suggested with a wink.

you let out a laugh and snaked your arms around his neck, then glancing back at the count down on the screen. he leaned closer as well, wanting to be as close to you as possible. with the flash of the camera, you gave him a quick but passionate kiss on the lips.

once the kiss was over, you looked up at the screen admiring the photo you just took then seeing that you two had one more photo left. “ooh, we should make a heart!”

the next flash of the camera captured him leaning a little closer to you, so you could frame the photo of your two hands entwined in a sweet heart shape. miles couldn't wipe the happy smile off of his face when he saw the result.

you smiled too. “now let’s see them.” you both then waited patiently as the pictures printed out. after it finished, he excitedly picked it up, looking at the adorable photos of the two of you, you kissing his cheek, you two kissing, then making a heart shape with your hands. "you’re the other half of my heart, mi corazón.”

“oh god..”

(Angst part now ＼(*｀∧´)／)

every time he’s done fighting a villain, he immediately goes to your place and coming through the window and falling onto your floor, every single time. you don’t mind tending to his wounds but when the wounds get really bad, you get worried.

“miles, i’m worried for you. all these cuts and bruises are getting worse every day.” it was currently 2am and you were in your bathroom, bandaging miles’ cuts. he sat on top of the counter and you were in between his legs.

“well, you know, i can’t just stop doing what i do.” he says, his voice sounding strained from pain. “besides, it’s not that bad.. i’m fine.” miles looks up at you with a reassuring smile. you sighed and looked back down to continue tending to his cuts. “them cuts say otherwise.”

miles stays silent for a moment, biting his lip as you clean and bandage his wounds. “i’ll be alright,” he says again, his voice wavering as pain sets in. “don’t worry about me.”

“but i do miles,” you paused bandaging him and looked up into his eyes. “i worry for you a lot, and you should too.” miles looks away, not wanting you to see the tears forming in his eyes. “I’m fine. I don’t want you to worry, everything is alright…”

he tries to sound reassuring, but it only makes him feel worse. everything isn’t fine. you frowned and placed a hand on the side of cheek. “you don’t have to lie to me.. if everything isn’t fine then tell me please. don’t shut me out.”

miles can’t fight it any longer. the moment your hand touches his cheek, he starts to cry. “i’m scared,” he finally admits, his voice hitching as he tries to hold his tears in. his eyes are wide as tears stream down his face.

you then placed your other hand on his cheek and wiped his tears. “scared?”

miles nods. “i’m afraid i’m gonna die out there one day, and i won’t be able to say goodbye to you. i don’t want to die without at least telling you how much-” he stops himself, his voice breaking.

“how much what?” you asked. you’re trying to comfort him but he’s making you want to cry too. miles hesitates for a moment, but then he takes a deep breath and finally says it.“how much i love you… you’re the only one who knows my secret, and i’m so thankful you’re in my life.”

a wave of emotions wash over him, and he buries his face into your shoulder, sobbing. you closed your eyes, letting a few tears fall from them and wrapped your arms around miles. comforting him.

© camiimoraless 2023 ✦ please do not copy or steal my works !

[venusbby]

i just feel like being itoshi rin's bestfriend is a whole new experience.

there is something about being rin's closest person that brings you a feeling of warmth and pride altogether. knowing each other for years, you were aware that the mighty itoshi rin was selective when it came to people he wanted to spend time with. sure, he had many friends, he was a professional player after all- but even he can't help but admit that nobody could compare with you.

maybe it's because to him, you aren't really a friend at all.

you're much more.

and he definitely does not want to admit that. so he does not.

you, on the other hand, have a hard time trying to figure it all out. one part of you thought in a more simple way.

he's just closer with me because we've known each other for so long, that's all it is.

and then there's the other part of you that is greedy and aching and yearning to get some sort of sign that he's interested.

you're not expecting much. this is itoshi rin we're talking about. he just doesn't do any of that stuff. it's crazy that you're even thinking about the topic of dating when all these years you haven't heard a single word from him about having a simple crush on someone. but again, this is itoshi rin. he doesn't say the things he doesn't want to say. he doesn't show the feelings that he doesn't want to show.

you scolded yourself every year for not getting over your little crush on your bestfriend. unfortunately for you, it went on increasing until your heart was overflowing with care and adoration for a guy who seemed absolutely clueless about romance and the wildly trending best friends to lovers trope in almost every recent book or movie.

in your case, the best friends to lovers trope feels a little less sad because rin never really showed any interest in other people.

oh, little did you know. but you're still glad that the person writing your story didn't pour the cup full of jealousy into your life.

it's almost comical how stupid the both of you are.

a hopeless romantic and her hopelessly unaware bestfriend.

the stupidity goes for a few more months. sneaky glances, touches that feel like a spark, those short words of affection that rin manages when you're at the lowest and oh, the birthday.

the stupidity finally stops at rin's birthday.

ten minutes left to 12 AM. you were trying to drive as slowly and as patiently as you could to rin's apartment. arriving early would just ruin the surprise. you needed to get out of the car when there were just 8 minutes left, so that by the time you reached the high floor of the apartment complex it would leave you with 5 minutes to prepare yourself and the box of cake in your sweaty hands, waiting outside his door. then you would enter when there's just a minute left.

only rin deserved this type of difficult and serious planning.

you felt the pride for being able to think so much and felt extremely smart for calculating this plan accurately. however, the feelings were quick to drain out and be replaced by nervousness.

he wouldn't be mad, no. you just didn't want to make him feel awkward.

rin never really made a big deal about his birthdays. that never stopped him from letting his teammates and friends from blue lock enjoy the day, though. every year, he booked some place they could spend time, eat, drink, party, whatever. he didn't care much, just watched bachira and isagi wreck havoc. as long as he had you sitting next to him, laughing at his friends' antics, he was okay. he also liked seeing you happy. his chest bloomed with some unfamiliar feeling every time you said that you were happy because he was happy.

one minute left.

you quietly entered with the spare key rin had given you.

for emergencies.

somehow birthdays counted, right?

the lights were off, and you felt a little dumb. it would be really embarrassing if rin wasn't even home. maybe even more embarrassing if rin didn't expect you to come at all and told you to go back home or something.

from the living room, you could still see rays of faint warm light making its way into the hallways, escaping through the doorway of his bedroom. judging by the low sound effects, you guessed he was watching another movie or tv show.

one thing your dumbass forgot to plan. how the heck were you supposed to call him into the living room without scaring him?

fuck it, you thought.

"rin, im home, come out here please." you tried, trying your best to sound as less alerting as you could, hoping you didn't scare the guy. from the way the sound of the movie quickly stopped after your voice, you grimaced.

quick, heavy footsteps followed as itoshi rin entered his living room. his expression was a mix between a scowl and a frown- a face only he could make. you paused before you could even try to explain.

paired with the handsome, annoyed face was the absence of a shirt.

what were you going to say again?

well, it didn't matter. rin spoke before you could even adjust to the unfamiiar view.

"what the fuck."

"uh, look-" you managed.

"no, what the actual fuck."

you pursed your lips in an attempt to put your mind to work, to come up with something- anything. those teal eyes felt vibrant even in the darkness of the living room with just more of the golden light from his room passing through- because of the bedroom door now being opened all the way. you shifted from one foot to another. he continued to stare, his eyes slowly travelling down to the cake you were holding.

"happy birthday."

itoshi rin, your bestfriend, exhaled.

two strides and he was standing right in front of you, expression unreadable, and maybe you were hallucinating, because in the slight darkness you thought you saw him smile.

"y/n, you're insane." he breathed out, running a hand through his dark, disheveled hair. rin's face felt a little warm when he realized how he looked in this situation. this is by far the most out of pocket thing you've done, in his opinion.

for you though, this reaction was somewhat better than what you'd expected. you bit your lip to hold back a smile and set the box down on the neatly kept coffee table next to you. "i might be."

it was already three minutes past twelve. but you didn't care anymore.

while you carefully removed the cake out and placed it on the table, rin turned the lights on, still not recovered from your sudden appearance.

"shit," you realized when the brightness of the light hit your eyesight, "i forgot the fucking candles in the car. sorry."

now as unbelievable as it sounds, it was rin's turn to hold back a smile as he muttered quietly, "stupid."

it was even harder to focus on the cake without candles in front of you, when itoshi rin was sitting next to you on the couch, shirtless.

silence filled the room, and none of you made a move.

why would you do anything anyway? wasn't it rin's job to cut the cake?

apparently, you seemed more interesting than the cake, because rin was staring at you instead. you stuttered underneath his gaze. "what, you want me to sing the song for you?"

he huffed, attempting to fix his hair so he could stop thinking about your sleepy eyes. god damn it. he didn't know how to deal with this, with the erratic beating of his heart.

"thanks. for this."

itoshi rin was malfunctioning. and you were the cause for that.

to that, you managed a genuine smile. it was nice to hear.

"it's nothing. i did it because i care." you said quietly, fiddling with your fingers, eyes focused on the cake. you don't think you can handle looking at him. it might tempt you to pour out all your feelings. you could save them for another day, just not his birthday.

the mess of your hair kept together by a hairband, your heavy eyelids and the nervous fumbling of your fingers, rin knew you meant more. you wouldn't do so much for him despite being so tired if you just cared. there was only one option he had, to show you how thankful he was.

you're out of your short anxious trance when his bare, strong arms slowly but confidently pulled you into him.

the shock doesn't last for long and you find yourself melting in his embrace, face resting against his shoulder as your arms made their way to his back, to hold him tighter.

the cake must be satisfied with this outcome as well because it doesn't complain as you both stay in the same position for quite a few minutes.

rin felt your breath against his collarbone and sighed.

"stay the night. i can tell you're tired."

you don't deny it, but still whisper, "let's eat the cake first."

he finally let out a soft chuckle, feeling relieved that you couldn't see him as he mumbled something along the lines of "that's why i love you."

wait.

did he say love?

[pro-mammonologist]

Hello!!I just wanted to drop in and say, remember that one princess rose even in the og game with THAT one mammon card that made everyone go nuts?, yeah I was revisiting it and I remembered that he was wearing garter belt on his thighs now imagine after the event riding his thighs while he wears the belt (+the outfit and maybe some degradation mixed with praise?) I would physically melt into a puddle 🤤🤤so yeah that's what I've been thinking about all day today

“Never would’ve thought you liked me androgynous too…” Mammon says as you kiss his neck eagerly, sucking and biting as you move along.

“Mhm. I like you always.” You mumbled, tenderly pushing aside his clothes to get a better bite at his collarbone.

“Ah-ha… Mc, you’re doin’ too much to me.” He wraps his arms around your body, seemingly enjoying the too much. You lick at his new bite mark as if to apologize for hurting him.

“I can’t help it… it’s like this version of you has made me go fucking crazy.” You avoid tugging at his hair, scared to ruin the extensions and style. You feel guilty for trying to take him in this form, especially with how much you know he’d tear his own clothes off just to get with you. Perhaps you shouldn’t be who you’re worried about. “Mammon… let me stop—“

“No… you can still touch me.” He pushes you away for a second and sits down. “Just don’t ruffle anything and take a bite out of something else.”

You go over to where he is sitting and drop to your knees, now biting and sucking at the exposed flesh of his thighs. You know this will be exposed for the rest of the night and he should too, but he’s still letting you—

“Aw crap, I can’t be all marked up. I-I-I like your bites and stuff but I’m not about to let Lucifer kill me, ya know. Even if the event is done, he’s still gonna have my tail.”

A pang of sadness hits you, but you relinquish your mouth. “No, it’s okay I get it.” You stand up and go to sit beside him but he grabs your hand.

“I don’t wanna leave ya high and dry, baby. Here, why don’t ya ride my thigh. You like that right?” He’s sincere, you can see it in the lust all over his face, his eyes look even more gorgeous when he wants you especially with the thick eyeliner and perfectly applied shadow adorning his pretty face.

“Yeah. I’d love that.” You go to sit on his clean, unclothed thigh but once again—

“Nah, the other one. Don’t worry about cleaning it, it’s just leather baby.” Mammon has been quite the fan of interjecting as of late. You blink at him before sitting down onto his right thigh while he watches you intently. “There we go.” He says, gently rubbing his thumb along your cheek. “Don’t worry bout rushing, take it nice and slow, Mammon’ll guide ya.”

When the leather brushed against your clothed clit, you understood why he had you switch thighs. “Mammon.” You whispered, starting slow and grinding as hard as you could without hurting yourself.

“So pretty like that, you’re so pretty.” He holds a hand on your hip as you ride his thigh, running his thumb along your skin. “Can’t believe you got this worked up already? Don’t like goin’ slow huh pretty baby?”

You look at him and notice the flush on his face, he’s just as aroused that hypocrite. “I wanna go faster.”

“Aw, you wanna go faster?” He’s really enjoying this power trip in this outfit if he’s talking like Lucifer. “You’re gonna have to wait a little longer, I like watching you melt.”

If it weren’t for how much you loved him, you’d probably smack him for being such a smug asshole, but it only made you throb more. “Mammon…” you whimpered instead.

“Come on now, use your words baby. Beg a bit more and I might let you go faster.” He couldn’t help but grin as you felt your body heat up making you more embarrassed.

“Mammon, can I please go faster? Please?” You begged him softly. You were in control 5 minutes ago what just happened?

“Aw, that’s a little weak don’t you think? Beg, beg more.”

“Please, Mammon, please, let me ride your thigh faster. Please!” You kept begging him, at this point, you knew he wasn’t in the mood to go easy on you.

“So fucking beautiful, you’re perfect when you beg like that. I wanna hear more, baby.” Mammon started to bounce his leg, cheering you on in his own way.

“Please, pleaseee Mammon, let me go faster, I need it so bad. Please Mammon!” You watched his face, waiting to see if he was willing to bless you with any mercy whatsoever.

“Wow, didn’t know you could be so obedient like this. I like seeing you get this desperate, maybe I should deny you more. Would you like that? Would you like if I made you desperate like this more often?”

He was smiling again, a twinkle in his eye as he asked you, he reached for your chin to pull your attention toward him. You didn’t know if you wanted to be honest and say the thought is a lot more fun than the practice at least on your end, or if you wanted to appease him and tell him yes you love being this desperate for him.

“Don’t be shy, Mc, you’ve already begged to just ride a little bit faster, it can’t be too hard to say yes or no.” Man, he can be so mean when he wants to.

“Yes.” Being honest, you do like it, you just don’t like the actual wait. When have you ever been so patient for him?

“So fucking good, that’s right. Wanna go a little faster for me now?” Mammon bounced his leg faster as well.

“Yes.” You were undeniably grateful to be able to ride him like this. “Fuck, it feels so good.” As you picked up your pace, you looked at his cock that was desperate to escape from the clothes he was wearing. Guess you can cut him some slack, he’s probably hiding his desperation behind all of this bravado. Perhaps you can abuse that later.

“Can’t have that right now, treasure. As much as you want me inside you, we just gotta wait. I know it must be so hard for you.” He’s definitely projecting, but fuck, is it hot.

“Mammon, I’m already getting close.” You told him and you could see his cock twitch in response.

“Gonna cum all over my thigh? That what you want? You know what, go ahead and go as fast as you want. I wanna see you lose control.”

His wish is your command. You didn’t hold back anymore, going as fast as you needed to get to your peak. “Mammon, I’m gonna cum!”

“Cum all over me, look at me when you do it.”

You snapped your eyes to his face and in that moment, you came hard. He was breathing heavy as your hole clenched around nothing, so empty, but so satisfied. Your clit throbbed as you released, each touch of the leather now making you jolt from overstimulation. “Mammon! Mammon!” You repeated his name a few strained thank yous as you came. He slowly stopped bouncing his leg as you slowed to a stop. You leaned your head forward to nuzzle into the fur on his shoulder, turning your head to look at his face.

“Was that good enough for you, treasure?” He stroked your face.

“Yes, my Mammon.” You answered him, wanting to cuddle or take his cock or whatever. “I know that wasn’t enough for you.” You told him, already predicting what he was about to say.

“Damn straight it wasn’t. You’re lucky I’m obligated to do something, if not you’d be a twitching mess on the floor, begging for more.” He boasted, looking at you like he won. “Better be ready later cuz I ain’t showin’ mercy.”

“I wouldn’t want you to.” You kissed his cheek and slid off of him, looking at the wet slicked leather garter and then back to his eyes that were clearly hungry to taste it. Instead, he patted it away like it was just some water and stood up.

“I would stay with ya but I gotta go to the after party… you gonna be okay alone?”

“Yeah.” You nodded. “I just gotta pull myself together, I’ll see you there pretty demon.”

He smiled and left the room, normally he’d stay and wait for you, but Lucifer is probably about to tear up the entire party looking for Mammon. You went ahead and cleaned up before going out to the floor, excited as you were to finish the day, you were sure Mammon was doing everything he could to pass the time faster than you were earlier.

You were certainly in for a treat tonight, that is if Mammon doesn’t pass the fuck out directly after the party. Only time will tell.

[silverskye13]

"Do you believe in the gods, Pix?"

The archeologist chuckles, and continues adjusting measurements on his hologram projector. "You trying to convert me, Joel?"

The god of Stratos waves his hand dismissively, and though Pix isn't looking at his face, he can almost feel an the eye roll as clouds briefly wink over the sun. "Obviously you believe in me. If you didn't, we wouldn't be talking right now."

"Ah."

"I mean the old ones. You know." Joel waves a hand vaguely the direction of the ruined capital. "The absent ones."

Pix pauses in his work to turn and look past the bridge. The burnished gold of the tip of one of the angel's wings is all he can see over the hillside gates, but he knows the goddess is there. He memorized every curve and angle of that monument when he'd found it. It was... An impressive statue. He turns back to his projector and keys in a few more measurements, trying to get the height of the road just right.

"I don't know."

"Oh. Well I suppose you wouldn't." Joel shrugs at Pix's questioning glance. "You're human."

There is a moment where they're silent. Pix works keys a few buttons, adjusting the placement of his projection, and Joel watches, arms crossed like a sentinel. He doesn't help Pix. Not really. Joel isn't really that kind of god. He bestows gifts and blessings, but he reserves his hands for his people and his whims. But Pix didn't invite the god here to build. He doesn't mind reconstructing this old capital by himself. Joel does, however, grunt disapprovingly every time Pix places the structure wrong, and flick his eyes a little to the left, and Pix takes the hint and adjusts the hologram in that direction.

"You wanna know what I think?" Pix says, setting the hologram in its final place and taking a few steps back to observe it.

"You think?" The god chuckles, and when he does, distant thunder rumbles.

"I think more than you."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"I think worshipping the world is the closest we can get to an omniscient god." Pix finishes the thought before they can devolve into ribbing each other. It's fun to bicker with Joel, but that's not where Pix is going with this conversation.

Joel cocks his head to the side thoughtfully. "You don't think I'm omniscient?"

"Would you ask me this stuff if you were, oh all-knowing god of storms and things?"

"Sky god," Joel corrected. "Touché, little history man. So, you worship the world, then?"

"Everything we do leaves a footprint," Pix tells him. He adjusts his hologram just a bit to the left again. Joel nods at him almost unconsciously. Pix stops fiddling and starts playing shulkers, preparing to build. He's going to finish this bridge today. "The earth records these footprints. It's the nature of things that change, that they hold impressions of what changed them."

Pix gestures to the rock slide that cuts off one side of his hologram. "This gate used to carve right through this hill. Even though this side has collapsed, and erosion has eaten the side, beneath that rubble, there are cobblestones someone laid by hand. Maybe they were slaves, or skilled craftsman, but regardless they existed. The lived a full life, whatever that meant for them, they spoke to people they loved, ate their favorite foods when they were sad, and one day, they died. Bones turn to dust, epitaphs fade, but that builder's hands still touched those cobblestones."

The god of Stratos watches the hologram with a new and open curiosity. He reaches out a massive hand and places it gently on the particles of light, as though he could touch the recreation. Instead, his fingers dip through the projection, making long flickering shadows in the light field, distorting the image like rain on a glassy lake. It's almost comical watching the massive god be so gentle and reverent, especially over something so inconsequential as a bridge piece.

"So is this how you worship the world, then?" Joel asks quietly. "By helping it remember what it's forgotten?"

There is something loaded in the words. Pix looks up at the god, and he remembers signs underneath a floating city as citizens gently remind their god they love him, and they need him. He thinks of temples to gods whose names have passed out of history, floating amidst a living city made by a god who has no temple built. Not yet.

Pix doesn't know what to say, so he opts to say nothing, instead reverently laying out his tools on the bridge like precious gifts on an altar. The two don't talk. Pix begins laying stones for a new foundation, and Joel watches thoughtfully, not seeing the world in front of him. They finish the bridge.

[insufferableprotagonistpoll]

Propaganda why Aang is insufferable:

He has some very bad ideas that the narrative never explores and gets rewarded by the narrative for bad behavior.

Mostly just the way he deals with his crush on Katara and kind of forces it on her. It’s honestly really shitty because she never truly reciprocated his feelings and had plenty of moments where she shows she’s just trying not to hurt his feelings with a straight up rejection, but ends up with him in the end just because that’s what he wanted.

Like we know what it looks like when Katara actually has a crush on someone, she wouldn’t let the situation like the war affect how she feels about demonstrating those feelings when she’s so in touch with them. Like how she was with Jet and Haru. I just wish the writing team did a better job of showing Katara developing feelings for Aang way better than they did lol.

Made a series that was otherwise reasonably tolerable impossible to watch. I hate that all the jokes written for his character target 8-year-olds exclusively. Also his little TV show keeps appearing on my dash no matter how many words I block and I hate it

Propaganda why Gregory is insufferable:

This boy is so poorly written, it hurts. In the gameplay, he just acts annoyed and pissed off the whole time. Then, in the endings, he becomes a whole other character who acts scared and sad, which does not match the previous hours of gameplay AT ALL

But that just annoyed me

What really made me hate him was the GGY and Robot Gregory stuff, because OH NO, Gregory could not just be a normal kid who got into this situation by chance, he has to be a robotic recreation of the Crying Child, despite not acting one bit like CC, or, according to the GGY story in the books, he's responsible for multiple murders and is Afton's/the Mimic's apprentice.

Just let this kid be fucking normal!

(Also, unlike a lot of people, I really enjoy what the Ruin DLC did to his character. And don't try to say that's still the mimic, the mimic recycles dialog from the main game. This Gregory uses completely unique dialog, and unless the mimic was able to form new words in his voice all of a sudden, that's still him. He had to make a tough decision, one life or over hundreds and I can respect that)

Suffers from being made into another one of Matpat's ""is actually a robot theory"". It is annoying as hell, especially if its canon. We do not need robot children theories in a game about possession, child murder and serial killers. Especially not dumb theories about him being a 'recreation' of someone with a completely different personality. It has completely ruined any enjoyment I had in that character because we're just going back to the Afton family again

Someone made a good point about how his personality seems to be reminiscent of a certain trend where a video game protagonist has to be snarky even though it would’ve worked better for the horror atmosphere if he was more scared because it would’ve made the player feel his fear. I recall people being surprised about his personality and expecting him to be more scared, and I assume the developers were just afraid of ppl calling Gregory “whiny”, but it still feels like a missed opportunity

[widowbitessting]

We never got to know how wanda’s dentist appointment went ☹️ could u maybe uhm, write about how it went? 🥹

The amount of searching, reading and re-reading I had to do for this😂 I hope you like nonnie, it dusted my writing fingers off for sure!

This is for the people who need just that extra bit of fluff today xox

Love Livvy

To say it put a damper on Wanda's perfect day, was an understatement.

Day. Officially. Ruined.

All because she has to go to the dentist.

There isn't anything she hates more than going to the dentist.

Except this very moment right now.

Leaving you back in the apartment with Carol, while she has no other choice than to go sit in a chair while a woman sticks her fingers in her mouth.

God, she doesn't like the dentist.

From it's too sterile smell, to the overly cheery receptionist (who blushes every time Natasha speaks to her), to the reclining chair that squeaks every time Wanda sits in it.

Yeah, the dentist sucks.

Wanda is pouting in the car, chin resting on her hand as she glares out of the passenger window.

Natasha sits next to her, one hand on the wheel while her other rests on Wanda's thigh.

Her thumb softly moves in small circles in a way that normally soothes any anxiety Wanda has.

But today it just irritates her.

As Natasha brings the car to a stop, Wanda grips her hand and puts it back on the gear stick.

"Still being grumpy, hmm?"

"Obviously."

Natasha can only let out a small laugh before glancing at her pouting partner.

"Really don't wanna go today, eh?"

"No I do not." Wanda grumbles, letting out a huff to ensure Natasha fully knew how annoyed she was.

"Not only did you carry me to the car, which was extremely embarrassing - "

"You don't hate it when I'm taking your ass to bed."

"...irrelevant. Anyway. You carried me to the car and you let Y/N watch!"

"And she loved every second, bunny." Natasha smiles.

"But you also took me away from our new girlfriend! We've been official for like 2 hours! It's not fair."

"Carry on, sweet. Get it all out." Natasha starts driving again.

"And not only do you take me away from her, mid kiss may I add, you drag me away to go to the dentist!"

"Sorry but you had an appointment, baby girl."

"We also have a new girlfriend!"

"Don't raise your voice at me, baby. Remember your place." Natasha warns.

Wanda quickly backs off.

"Sorry."

"Better. And we haven't left her. Carol is with her. They'll still be there when we get back home."

"But she's there now. And we're not."

"Wanda." Natasha says, glancing in her direction. "I know you're sad about having to leave Y/N. But I had to leave too. I even rang ahead and tried to postpone your appointment but it was too short of notice."

"Oh."

"Exactly. We won't even be an hour, my love. In and out, back under the blanket with Carol and Y/N before you know it."

"I swear to God, if we get back and they're doing stuff I'll -"

"Be my jealous little bunny?"

"...yes."

"How about we do our own stuff in the back of the car when we're done here. See if we can really make the receptionist blush."

"I just can't believe I didn't get a lollipop."

"You bit her finger, Wanda."

"And? She was hitting on you; while her fingers were in my mouth. What was I supposed to do?"

"Not bite your dentist." Natasha is smiling, biting her bottom lip as she tries, and fails, to suppress her laugh.

"I reacted perfectly, thank you." Wanda smiles. "Now she knows not to hit on what's mine."

"Is that so, bunny? Didn't like the fact that your daddy was being hit on?"

"Not at all."

The red head leans down to drag Wanda's lip into her mouth.

"I think I like it when you get jealous, darling." She says. "It's hot."

The two stumble into the wall.

"Shall we go and see our ladies upstairs?" Natasha asks. "Tell them how brave you were and how healthy your teeth are...and how you now have a warning next to your name."

"Not my fault, she deserved it."

The two kiss again.

And when they get back upstairs, they kiss you and Carol.

Over and over until you're a giggling mess under their bodies.

"Y'know," Wanda says, nestling into your neck. "The dentist isn't too bad."

"Yeah?" You ask.

"Yeah." Wanda replies, "'cos now I get to come home to you."

"Oh, I see how it is," Carol gasps. "Me and Natasha aren't enough for you!"

The blonde flops back dramatically.

"My heart! Oh, it's wounded."

"Oh can it, Danvers." Wanda smiles. "You knew what I meant."

"I can't - oh, I'm so upset..."

Wanda moves from you to jump on Carol, causing them both to fall off the couch and onto the floor.

Natasha pulls you closer as you enjoy the show, of Wanda tickling Carol relentlessly.

"I hope you know what you've gotten yourself into."

"I do," You say. "I do.

[quitealotofsodapop]

So if Wukong didn't know MK was playing superhero, why was he able to be caught by Spider Queen? The answer is clear. He took the younger cubs down to see the parade. That way, he could be closer to the fireworks, and his kids are entertained. He ended up being caught up in the initial attack and discovered MK playing hero while trying to evacuate the cubs away from the angry spider lady trying to turn people into spider zombies.

Wukong is not happy, but at this point there are far more important things to deal with. He orders MK to get his siblings somewhere safe while he handles Spider Queen. When MK protests, he tells him that MK's arachnophobia would only get in the way, and he is still Sun Wukong, the gods be damned Great Sage Equal To Heaven and the Monkey King. He isn't so far into his retirement that he can't put an upstart little princess in her place.

The plan backfires and Wukong gets captured by LBD and Spider Queen, of course, but hey, the Noodle Crew gets to meet MK's siblings! Sandy babysits them while they're in Heaven trying to get the stuff. All they know of it is that MK's mom was caught by the Spider Queen, they don't know yet exactly who his parent is. Not until much later when Wukong and DBK break out of their bonds and save them.

"Holy shit, is that Sun Wukong!?" ;Probably Tang

"Mom!" :MK

"MOM!?" :Literally eveyone

After all is said and dine Wukong makes good on his promise of a long talk, or rather lecture, and MK is grounded.

"I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU WOULD BE SO RECKLESS! Xiaotian, your father an I taught you better than this! What were you thinking!?"

"But when you were my age you were at war with Heaven, though!"

"And look what that got me! Thrown in a furnace and pinned under a mountain for 500 years! What you did was stupid and reckless. What if you'd gotten hurt!? Your still mortal, MK!"

Referencing.

Yesss. Wukong canonically adores New Years, and I def agree that love extends to the cubs too.

Wukong does a "surprise" visit to Megapolis to show the younger cubs the New Years Parade + check up on his eldest while MK is helping Pigsy with the foodtruck. Likely all in glamours, but MK 100% gets an embarassing visit from his mom at work. The Noodle shop gang tease him endlessly about it.

Then cue the Spider Queen's invasion, and Wukong giving MK the cubs to watch for the moment while he Kings Up. MK doesn't want his mom to go in his condition, but Wukong is still The Monkey King, and has no idea that his son has been superhero-ing for the past couple of months.

The gang all meet up on Sandy's airship, and the kiddos glamours all drop from stress. This is where the gang confirms (they had suspiscions) that MK is a disguised demon - they dont mind since thats sadly common in human-dominated cities. MK specifically being a monkey demon gets Tang asking questions though.

Red Son shows up and has a brain-fart mid-plan when he recognises who "Noodle Boy" actually is;

Red Son: "Xiaotian!? I haven't seen you since we were calves! This explains so much!" MK, nervous sweating: "Not now dude! My mom got captured by the Spider Queen, and my dad is MIA right now." Red Son: "Ah but of course. Seems we have the same predicament then. No fear, I have a plan to defeat the Spider Queen and save our respective parents." Tang, panic-nerding: "MK, how do you know Red Son!?" MK, flash of SWK-esque anger: "NOT NOW."

The gang get to the Celestial Realm and retrieve what they need to make the antidote - though not without attracting the attention of a certain hound that just realised her fave monkey is here.

MK, petting the dog: "I'm sorry Quan. I can't play right now! I'm saving the city." Xiaotian Quan: (*sad whine!*)

Meanwhile at the Spider Mech; DBK has finally met his little brother/enemy once again. DBK in his anger, yells about Sun Wukong's "little-thief successor MK" ruining so many of his family's attempts at gaining power, and Wukong just blanks;

Wukong, scary parent voice: "Xiaotian has been doing what!?" DBK: "The Little Thief is Xiaotian!?"

DBK would also shout at Wukong for putting himself in danger in his condition, but quiets when he learns that Macaque is missing. Tieshan had seemed worried since DBK got back (infact, maybe its why she decided to free him), and everyone knows that the shadow monkey wouldn't leave his mate without reason. When LBD arrives, DBK and Wukong immediate get a chill up their spines. They both know that she's somehow involved with Mac's disappearance... DBK has his super-saiyan moment of worried-anger and frees both himself and his xiandi so that they can find their reckless kids.

The Noodle Shop gang (+ Red Son and the cubs) bust on through with the spider-venom antidote and manage to subdue the Spider Queen with their combined forces.

Tang is about to fanboy at the sight of Sun Wukong in the flesh when MK and the cubs yell something that shatters his preconceptions.

MK & the cubs: "Mom!" "Mama!" Noodle Shop Gang: "MOM?!?" Wukong, swarmed by baby monkeys: "Thank Nuwa you're all ok!" (*hugs them all tight*) Wukong: (*suddenly bonks MK on head with a sandal*) Wukong: "And you! How dare you not tell me that you've been fighting demons this whole time! You told me you were only getting a job for mortal experience!" MK: "But mom! I did get a job! I've been using my spare time trying to figure out what happened to dad!" Wukong: "Which I specifically told you Not to do!! Your father has gotten himself tangled up with a very dangerous witch and I'm not letting you run into one of her traps!" Noddle Shop Gang + DB fam: (*standing at a safe distance from the yelling*) Tang, dizzy with excitement: "Anyone else feel like they're in a fantasy right now?" Mei: "Hm, not really. I knew Xiaotian since we were pups. My grunkle Ao Lie is the same dragon-horse from the stories." Tang: "Excuse me!?"

Erlang shows up on Earth asking Wukong tf just happened - his third eye showed him the chaos in the Celestial Realm and Lao Tzu is pissed for his missing pills and Furnace. But he immediately leaves when he sees tje carnage of a saved mortal city + Sun Wukong. (Erlang: "Ah. Say no more.")

[1d1195]

Time Extra I

Read Time here

This was one of the first stories I wrote when I came back from my hiatus a couple years ago. I thought about it every day for years when I was really not feeling my best and finally put it on paper. There are, what I think, some pretty intense trigger warnings on the other parts of the series--it's pretty different than my other happy fluffy writing. This is not going to be too sad though--there is a vague mention of the previous parts so read with caution but it won't be anything vivid. It's fluffy stuff based on this ask.

~2.6k words

I hope you like it :)

Everything was completely perfect. After so many years of feeling distraught and lost, Harry thought it was a miracle—no, that she was a miracle—that he could feel so happy, so complete.

Which was why it was terrifying to imagine that he could ruin it all.

Over the two years since they reunited, they didn’t talk much about the actual day once they moved past it. She would hear from her ex-fiancé’s family now and again. She would run into them at the store or something. Most were pretty kind to her overall, but she could feel the contempt in their voices. It didn’t bother her completely—it was just frustrating that she knew they would neverunderstand.

Harry still went to his regularly scheduled therapy appointment. She did as well. They both worked, they both lived together, everything was easy. They danced in the kitchen and watched Niall play his guitar at open mic nights.

Everything was completely perfect. After so many years of feeling distraught and lost, Harry thought it was a miracle—no, that she was a miracle—that he could feel so happy, so complete.

Which was why it was terrifying to imagine that he could ruin it all.

There was a plan. A big to do. He was going to have her family, his family, their friends all in the same place. He was going to tell her how much he loved her and that he never wanted to be away from her ever. The way time had separated them only to bring them back together had to mean something.

Harry was terrified.

Maybe it was just some sort of savior’s complex. She always said he saved her that day. He didn’t see how it was possible. There was no saving he did. He did the drowning, he ruined her day, he made her pass out, he made her scared and feel sick to her stomach.

Sometimes, when Harry was having a bad day, he would think about what her life would be like if he hadn’t called her. He imagined it would be very much the same as it was with him, but she would maybe have a baby to take care of by then. She would make dinner for her husband. There would be a pile of laundry to fold on the sofa and a new episode of her show playing on the TV. It would be normal.

But it was normal in their lives as well.

There were days they argued—nothing major, but the world didn’t end the way Harry thought it would. She slept soundly beside him and reached blindly for him if they separated at night. Her baking skills never ceased to amaze him. On days that he didn’t even realize he was struggling a little more than others, he arrived home to his favorite chocolate chip cookies (the ones that she put walnuts in because she knew Harry loved them) or those fudgy brownies that he could only eat one or he would get a stomachache. But they made him feel whole. Cared for.

She was there.

So of course, when he asked her to marry him it had to be perfect. It had to be special. It needed to be the most perfect moment of her life. The people who loved and adored her needed to be there and see how much Harry adored her. Very few people knew what happened that day. Most only knew that she found Harry again. They fell in love again—or as she liked to point out—they remembered they were in love.

Harry had stayed home unbeknownst to her. The final details of the plan needed to be taken care of and he was nothing if not thorough. As far as she knew, they were having a date night when she got home from work. Nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing that would set off some kind of alarm or spoil the surprise.

Harry was reading the speech he had on his phone—it had been memorized for over a year. He just needed to get the details in order. When she moved in, it felt so right. Part of him wished he had asked her right then.

You wanted red roses or pink ones? Niall texted.

Both.

Aren’t you a regular Casanova.

Proposing in front of everyone they knew seemed a little crazy now. Harry had left the restaurant after seeing the set-up, the little private table that would keep them out of sight of those waiting for her response. Now it was waiting. Waiting for her to get home, they would get ready, they would drive to the restaurant as boyfriend and girlfriend and hopefully return as an engaged couple.

Harry felt dizzy. If he messed up and it was less than perfect, less than what she deserved, he would lose his mind. She was his angel. Every single day. Each day he saw her and spoke to her. There was nothing, no one, more important than her. For a few moments he sat on the couch, his head tilted toward the ceiling, and he took those deep breaths that his therapist instructed him to take when he was feeling overwhelmed.

He thought about the first time he did them and she looked at him curiously when he turned his attention back to the show they were watching. “Are you alright?” She asked.

He felt embarrassed. “When m’feeling overwhelmed, m’therapist told me how t’breathe—”

She blinked. “Oh,” she interrupted. “Are you feeling overwhelmed about something I can help with?” She asked.

Of course she asked. The kindness that emanated from her was overwhelming in itself. “No, sometimes m’jus’ a little...” he shrugged.

She nodded understandingly. “I get that way too. Can you teach me?” She asked.

“Kitten,” he chuckled with a shake of his head. “M’sure y’know how t’do the deep breathing exercises.”

“Every doctor is different,” she shrugged. “Tell me,” she encouraged.

He knew she was trying to help bond with him over something she didn’t need to. Another way she could help take care of his addled brain. It was so sweet. He talked her through the steps, feeling awkward that he was explaining how to breathe to a professional that did this with her own patients every day.

“It’s supposed t’feel like a balloon is being inflated in your ribs,” he explained the metaphor his own doctor used with him.

“Oh, I like that,” she mumbled adding it to the back of her mind as she followed his instructions. “I’m sorry you’re feeling overwhelmed, baby,” she cooed softly, stroking his hair behind his ear. “Do you want tea or something?”

Harry smiled at the memory, eyes closed, face toward the ceiling. He heard the door open and in walked the angel. Her phone pressed to her ear, while she tilted her head to the side. Once she set her bag down, held the phone in her hand, she shook her head.

But when she made eye contact, she smiled at Harry, mouthing hi, and blowing a kiss with her free hand. Harry thought his heart would explode. “Mom, I just got home, and I’ve had a really long day,” she explained. “Can I call you tomorrow?” She asked. “Great. Love you too, bye.”

She put her phone on the counter and sighed deeply. “Every time I leave this apartment, I’m reminded why I never want to leave,” she grumbled.

Harry chuckled. “Everything okay with your mum?”

She nodded. “Fine, just going on and on about nonsense,” she rolled her eyes. “She’s meeting my sister for dinner and my sister did not offer to drive. It makes me immensely angry.”

“I see,” he frowned. “Where are they going?” He asked, wondering how much of the surprise her mum may have let slip.

“She didn’t say. I don’t care. It’s not like I can go drive her and pick her up myself,” she rubbed her forehead. “I’m sorry. I had a tough day with some tough patients and I’m letting it dip into our date night,” the frustration on her face disappeared at the word date and a smile replaced it. “I’m looking forward to dinner and especially dessert. They have lava cake,” she said knowingly.

Harry already knew that of course. He was sure to tell the hostess that she would want one. “I know, kitten,” he smiled. It pained him to say the next sentence, but he had to. It wasn’t fair to her frustrated. “Y’know... if you’re not feeling well, we could stay in and—”

“Absolutely not,” she shook her head fiercely. “I just need to change and touch up my makeup. I need a nice date night,” she leaned over the couch, kissed him squarely on the mouth and then headed toward the bedroom.

Harry smirked, feeling at ease for a moment and listening to the sound of her hum as she fixed herself up for the night. His heart started pounding as the minutes ticked by. In less than three hours he would have a fiancée.

Or so he hoped.

The thought of her saying no hadn’t really occurred to him. They lived together, they loved each other, it seemed like a natural step in the relationship.

Right?

Suddenly the thoughts of inadequacy rushed through him and stuck to every crevice of his brain. Every thought was plagued with the notion of shortcomings. He wasn’t good enough for her. There were all the thoughts of her being trapped with him for nothing but ruining her original wedding day.

Maybe she didn’t even want to be married again. Maybe reliving the memory of the first time she tried getting married was something she never wanted to experience again. The idea that he would bring it up and make her sad made him nauseous.

“What time is our reservation?” She called.

“Six,” he cleared his throat trying to push the emotion out of his voice and mind, but it was next to impossible.

They would leave in twenty minutes.

She would say yes. Save him embarrassment. Wait to talk with him in private. They wouldn’t get married. She would move out. There wouldn't be a them anymore. Harry would—

“Do you think they’ll have bread?” Her voice was closer, Harry could hear her heels on the floor of the apartment echoing closer to him. “Or should I have a snack?” Her fingers were fiddling with the earring on her left ear then she opened the fridge to look inside, scanning the contents of leftovers, and cheese bites that she kept for emergencies such as the current one. “Are you hungry at all?” Harry’s stomach hurt so much but it wasn’t from hunger. She didn’t look at him to ask the question, focusing on the snacks too much to notice that he had left the couch. “I’m honestly starving—”

“Will you marry me?”

The room seemed to freeze. The moment of time suspended for who knew how long. Slowly, she half-closed the fridge door to get a visual of her boyfriend in front of her. Her dress was unzipped—she intended for Harry to zip her up once she found a suitable snack. Only one earring was in her ear. The bobby pin she had pinched between her teeth muffled her voice just a bit.

Harry was on the floor. Knelt all but two feet away from her, a little velvet box held out to her in his shaky hands, making the sparkling diamond twinkle in the kitchen light. The bobby pin fell from her lips and sounded like a bookshelf had fallen on the floor in contrast to the quietness of the moment.

“Harry,” she whispered.

“I’m sorry,” he croaked, closing his eyes tightly to try and will the tears away. “I have this huge thing planned. All our friends and family are going t’be at the restaurant. It was supposed t’be a surprise because y’deserve everyone y’know and love t’be there but m’realizing y’might say no. Y’might—”

“Harry,” she repeated, her voice so gentle, but there was the sound of disapproval evident in just the tone of her voice.

“—not want t’get married. Not after last time. Maybe not t’me. M’sorry. I wanted it t’be perfect,” he whispered. “I had a whole speech planned ‘bout how much I love and adore you. How you’re m’favorite person on this earth and how I feel so completely safe and cared for and I want t’do that for you for the rest of our lives,” he paraphrased the monologue that he had memorized ages ago but suddenly couldn’t remember a word of it. “But you’ve had a long day and m’not going t’make it any easier asking in front of all of them if y’want t’say no. So, I have t’do it now. Will you marry me?” He repeated.

Her lips were parted just slightly. Her eyes shiny and beautiful. God, she never looked so beautiful. “Harry,” her voice was soft.

“If s’a no,” his voice cracked. “M’gonna say you’re sick. That I can’t in good conscience let y’go out when y’don’t feel well.”

“Harry Styles,” she whispered, a shake of her head. “Yes, isn’t an adequate enough word for what I want to say to you,” she promised.

His head snapped up again, he hadn’t realized he wasn’t looking at her while he rambled, terrified to see the rejection on her face. But that wasn’t rejection. Yes, he realized, wasn’t a word that meant rejection.

“You said yes,” he murmured.

“Did you honestly think I would say no?”

It was silent again. Like time suspended once more, he tried to remember if time was necessary to breathe. If there was something he was supposed to do or say. It took him that moment to realize he was memorizing every detail. Every skin cell on her pretty face, the way the air smelled, how the chill from the fridge was giving him goosebumps.

Without noticing it happened, he was standing. Harry’s face was in her neck, his arms around her waist and his nose inhaling her sweet scent. His eyes watered and he swallowed hard as he shook his head against her skin. “I love you,” he whispered.

“I love you, Harry,” she giggled, teary as well. Her arms around him just as tightly and she kissed the side of his head buried in her neck.

He wasn’t sure how long he stayed in her embrace, but she didn’t rush him. Eventually he pulled away from her. He grabbed the ring out of its cushion, dropping the little box to the floor beside her bobby pin, and slipped it on her fourth finger. She looked at it briefly. She had seen a diamond on that finger before but looking at this one now, the other one looked terrible in comparison. It wasn’t right.

This was right.

“I have t’take it back,” he whispered.

She smiled and nodded. “I know.”

“I’m sorry. I’ll never do it again.”

“Can’t believe you thought I would say no,” she giggled.

He rolled his eyes. “You are so perfect, kitten. M’so in love with you. If something isn’t perfect for you...” he shook his head. “You deserve perfect.”

“I hope you know,” she wiggled her ring finger in front of his eyes. “That means you,” she promised.

This relieved, happy expression crossed his face and he felt so overwhelmed with happiness that he thought he would cry. “How much time do we have before we need t'leave?” He murmured to himself looking at the stove clock.

“Forever,” she shook her head with a smile. Cupped his face and leaned in for his sweet, pink lips. “We have all the time in the world.”

--

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If you like this, check out my masterlist for more of my writing.