#imagine if they were in a new season after this development

[perpetualexistence]

Team E-scope plays 'What If?', becomes unstoppable

During their morning jogs, Izzy starts making a habit of playing 'What if?' Neither Eva nor Noah take it seriously at first since they think she's just spouting off random questions. So she decides to turn it into a more involved 'What would you do?'

It starts off simple enough for Izzy.

She asks Eva "What would you do if I bit you?"

"I'd throw you into a tree."

"Cool!" says Izzy, as she immediately bites Eva. Eva commits to her promise. Noah's not quite sure what either of them expected.

It goes from things Izzy can quickly do to hypothetical scenarios. She refuses to leave the subject alone until at least one of them engages her. They also start going from 'what would you do' to 'what would we do'. It's more fun because it makes it more likely that Eva and/or Noah will start playing along. These hypothetical scenarios include:

What do we do if a zombie apocalypse hits?

What do we do if one of us might be an imposter?

What do we do if one of us is forced into villainy?

What do we do if one of us wants to go into villainy?

What do we do if we wake up with no idea where we are?

What do we do if we all turn into worms?

The next thing any of them know, they're coming up with actionable plans for these scenarios. Izzy comes up with out of the box plans, Noah comes up with clever plans, and Eva makes the plans simple so they're actually doable.

Zombie apocalypse? Izzy's the Scout, Noah's the Medic, Eva's the Heavy Hitter. Imposter? They each start developing two different code phrases to confirm who they are depending on who's asking. Villainy? Start a riot if it's forced, and start a different kind of riot if it's not. Transported? Go to high ground, kick ass as needed. Worms? Vibe.

They even start coming up with legitimate plans for how to take each other down if need be. Izzy and Eva have a plan for how to take down Noah. Noah and Izzy have a plan to take down Eva. Eva and Noah have a plan to take down Izzy. And each of them has a plan for how to take the other two out individually and together. They extend this courtesy to their other friends. Not out of maliciousness. Except for Justin and Alejandro, those ones have a good amount of maliciousness. It's mainly just because it's fun, and you never know if you might need it. Izzy even finds a safe house for some of their plans.

They develop so many plans that Eva's having a hard time keeping track of them. She's no Izzy or Noah who can just memorize things quickly. One thing that does help her concentrate is her music. So she starts associating plans with songs.

She won't admit to it at first because she's a bit self conscious about the intelligence gap. And that frustrates her. And that never goes well.

It's not until she accidentally hums a song under her breath during the creation of a plan that one of the others notices, and she confesses it while doing her calming exercises so she's not yelling at them for being know it alls treating her like an idiot.

Noah and Izzy just look at her because holy shit, that's a great idea, and they're rolling with this now. Having songs for each plan means that if they ever need to actually use them, they can say something like 'Track 34'. They'll immediately know what to do, and no one else will be able to catch on. If they need to be more subtle, then they can just hum the song or play it out loud.

They need to know how Eva's playlist works now, and they might end up suggesting some of their own songs for newer plans. They won't mess with her current playlist. It'd be a dick move to force her to unlearn her own associations when she came up with the idea in the first place.

Eva's definitely not tearing up for having supportive friends. Shut up. She's punching a tree now.

And that's how Team E-scope solidifies themselves as an unstoppable force of nature when provoked. Through the power of actually making plans, and unbreakable friendship.

[easy-there-leftovers]

Magnum Opus (Prologue)

When an MIT prodigy on their gap year is contacted by the FBI regarding potential involvement in a series of murders in Washington D.C., she must now cooperate to uncover how paintings are mysteriously appearing at the crime scenes. (Written with Season 1-4 Spencer in mind, but the timeline could be anywhere pre-season 12. No mentions of past cases)

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Fem!Artist! reader|cw: Canon-typical violence|word count: 700 words

Notes: I made up a bunch of chemicals and their chemical properties up so shhhh!! Also, I'm not American, I have no contextual understanding of the distance of one place to another. The US is large enough.

Also on Ao3!!

Series Masterlist

---------

"Muses are the silent artists of our souls, whispering inspiration into the canvas of our thoughts, painting the colors of creativity with the brushstrokes of imagination." - Author Unknown.

“Seven months ago, one freelance architect named James Carter aged 42 was murdered in his own home in Newton Massachusetts. The victim was posed like the painting placed at the foot of his own couch. All forms of ID on him were missing.” 

JJ made her way from the map inside the meeting room to the screen to present pictures of the crime scene. All other agents made their way inside, with Garcia jotting down notes, as they listened and took their respective places.

“Four months after that, indie artist Daniel Lopez, aged 25, was also found dead in her apartment with another painting and missing ID. Posed just like the girl in it too. Autopsy revealed similar entry and exit wounds through the chest.” 

Images of the victims’ wounds that have already been cleaned up were exposed to the camera. Wounds that could’ve been missed if investigations weren’t conducted made themselves notable as Emily and Spencer opened up their files.

“Ballistics?” 

JJ shook her head at Morgan's question. “No bullets were found.”

“The unsub probably killed them somewhere secluded, then placed them back in their home.” Emily looked to Spencer, only to see him already getting up towards the screen.

“Look at the way they’re dressed. Clothes fitted like that aren’t meant to be worn without the intention of meeting someone.”  Spencer motioned to their clothes. “They didn’t intend to go just anywhere looking like that.”

“Yeah, well neither did this man.” JJ then presented a picture of another victim, another male, another painting, posed in another home. She then turned to redress the rest of the team. “Found yesterday with similar signatures. The only difference is that he was actually staged in a vacant apartment. Everything in there was left by the previous owners. Still no ID on him.”

The resident team genius furrowed his eyebrows at the information, turning to see what the others thought. “Kills both males and females…”

“Victims were found with their clothes on. Dressed to impress but no signs of torture, no experimentation,” Hotch lifted the pictures nearer to his face. “Doesn’t look like he’s interested in either.”

“A serial killer with no sexual preference?” Emily raised her brow at that.

“Wouldn’t be the first.” Spencer replied, looking closer at the paintings in his own file. “Although the subjects in the paintings look exactly like the victims they’re placed on. It brings up the question of which one came first, the person depicted in the painting, or the painting itself…”

“Says here forensics found no prints anywhere but did find traces of  5-dur– durasta—”

“5-durastalene. Also known as ‘Lunacite.’” Spencer corrected Rossi.

“Actually, this synthetic compound is a little on the newer side, a compound that was originally developed by an MIT student for their dissertation in the Chemical Engineering program. I tried figuring out what the naming convention she used was but she didn’t give an explanation on that part. I assumed it could’ve been one out of a number of references, ranging from an anagram of—”

“How new are we talking?” Hotch interrupted, but deeply thankful that someone on the team seemed to have a lead.

“13 months, 2 weeks, and 5 days new. But it’s weird.” Spencer punctuates his statement by flicking through the papers. 

“The compound shouldn’t be commercially available anywhere and it’s meant to make other materials resistant to corrosion. No one should be using it in paint, let alone processing it.” The team let his words ring in their head before Hotch broke the silence.

“Garcia, look for MIT graduates who have worked with Lunacite and a background in fine arts.”

“Already way ahead of you chief, and deliciously, only one name fits the bill in every angle you can have it.” Their tech analyst who had been typing away then placed her laptop pointedly and turned it onto the round table for everyone to see. Everyone leans forward, but the BAU’s resident pretty boy is the one who says the name out loud.

“Y/N L/N.” On the screen is a put-together picture of you on various digital scans of your passport, driver’s license, doctoral degrees in Chemical Engineering and Anthropology, and undergrad degrees in both Philosophy and Sociology.

“Watch out, pretty boy. You may have just found your match.” Morgan’s comment is greeted with a few snickers, much to Spencer’s dismay.

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

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

EVEN MORE SPOILERS FOR SEASON 6

I figured since I already read it, I'd give my thoughts on the recent interview Astruc and Thibaudeau took part in.

Due to incompatibility with the new animation engine, SAMG will not be working on the next seasons of ‘Miraculous’. The series is now being developed entirely in France, with the integration of Dwarf Animation.

Okay, props for no more outsourcing, even if I'm not sure what this means for the other ZAG shows.

Season 6 is considered to be “a new beginning”, aside from being a new story arc. It is sometimes referred to by the writers as Season 1.

I'm sure that isn't confusing to the executives at all. Also, maybe don't imply you're starting from scratch when you're already reusing the plot of the main villain using the Butterfly Miraculous.

The writing team already has concrete ideas for how Seasons 7, 8 and 9 will begin and end. They also have ambitions to make it to a Season 12, only if the support of viewers and executives allows them to do so. With this, they emphasize the fact that they would not continue with the show if it were no longer needed or interesting.

So basically, they're planning to keep this up for as long as they can until someone pulls the plug.

The opening of the sixth season is still undecided. They are still discussing whether they will change the musical arrangement or not. Thomas also considers the possibility of making a brand-new theme song. A song has been confirmed for S6. They have the music, the arrangement and a female singer. The character remains unknown.

Imagine how funny it would be if they brought back the woman who sang for Marinette in the movie instead of having Cristina Vee sing again.

Despite leaving Paris at the end of ‘Revolution’ (5x23), Chloé Bourgeois will return in Season 6.

Putting aside all the things I've said about her "damnation arc", what is even the point of bringing her back at this point? She has no powers, no influence, no allies, and isn't a threat of any kind. This makes her not being the next Hawkmoth make even less sense, becuse she has more of a reason to hate Ladybug than Lila does.

Also, with the news that Chloe is coming back, this means that she essentially escaped punishment or at least found a way to rebound like Lila did. So that's a grand total of ZERO villains who actually got punished for their actions after five seasons. I'm starting to think Ladybug and Cat Noir really suck at their jobs.

Sebastien Thibadeau: “[Cerise] (IOTA: I'm still calling her Lila for simplicity's sake) is a villain without costume. She is a villain all the time. There is a reason why, but this reason, neither I nor Astruc will reveal to you yet.” Interviewer: “You mean you already intend to tell it?” Thomas Astruc: “Yes. And you know what, we have already told it, but you haven’t noticed.”

Translation: Ladies and gentlemen, LET'S GET READY FOR RETCOOOOOONNNNS!

Seriously, we are approaching the sixth season of this show. It has been eight years since Lila first appeared all the way back in "Volpina", and we still know nothing about her other than the fact that she has some three moms for some reason. You can't pull the whole "This is something you need to rewatch to understand!" excuse because the last two seasons hinged on breaking the rules about Sentimonsters.

Speaking of, I love how this comment about Lila accidentally implies that Gabriel never did anything evil when he wasn't Hawkmoth/Shadowmoth/Monarch. All that emotional abuse and isolation Adrien suffered was all out of love!

Thomas Astruc on Chloe redemption arc: “We put the characters in situations, and then we say to ourselves: “what would be the logic?” How would the character logically react in “such and such” a situation? And we tried, we tried everything. But every time, we say to ourselves: “if we write this, it’ll be wrong”. There’ll be no reason, it’ll come out of nowhere, the fact that she’ll face something nice and say: “Oh, I’ve been horrible, Marinette what have I done! From now on, I’ll be...” No, nonsense. I understand people’s desire for Chloe to be nice. I’d like that too. But I’d like it if in real life, people with a lot of power suddenly started doing nice things. But Chloé has no interest in changing. She has no reason to change, unfortunately.”

Ah, yes because Gabriel (Global terrorist and abusive parent), Felix (Betrayed Ladybug and temporarily wiped out all of humanity on a whim), Nathalie (Willing accomplice to Gabriel) Andre (corrupt politician and Chloe's primary enabler), Sabrina (Willing accomplice to Chloe) all had compelling reasons to change their ways.

Also, "I've been horrible, what have I done?"

MY BROTHER IN CHRIST, THAT'S HOW VIRTUALLY EVERY REDEMPTION ON THIS SHOW IS EXECUTED.

The fact that he's seriously acting like he actually wanted to write a redemption arc is insulting. Not only does it ignore all the things he's said to fans who were upset at the turn of events, but it makes no sense for him to take this stance because he's a writer. If Chloe turning a new leaf is too strange of an idea, then write an actual character arc allowing her to progress to a state where she recognizes what she's done is wrong. You control the character for God's sake! It's not like you're training a dog to stop humping the couch. You can change things to make a redemption arc possible.

In other words, Astruc is either lying to save his ass, or THIS IS WHAT THOMAS ASTRUC ACTUALLY BELIEVES about writing characters.

Sebastien Thibadeau talks about Andre's character development: In contrast to Chloe, “Andre Bourgeois evolved as a character because we had already imagined a back story. He had the potential to change, and that’s where the beautiful scene comes from — I think it’s magnificent — between Gabriel and himself on the roof of the Grand Palace, where he says: “But Gabriel, what’s become of us? We’ve forgotten the kids we used to be”. But we [writers] know what kids they used to be, and we’d like to tell the story one day, to show what young kids they were, when they were struggling through Paris and weren’t yet what you’ve come to know in the series. He’s sad about what’s happening to his daughter [Chloe], and he’s trying to change it, but he can’t. He is proof that a character can change.”

This. This right here is what cinched it for me. I've tried for years not to say it because it's a word that has been flung around a lot over these last few years, but I feel like this little snippet is enough of a reason for me to say it.

These writers are sexist.

They may not believe it, but whether they intended for it or not, they wrote a story arc where a grown man was shown to have more sympathetic qualities than his daughter. How the hell can you defend it in a way that doesn't highlight the misogyny that this show runs on?

The fact that they gush over how much "potential" Andre had right after saying how that same kind of potential wasn't enough of a reason to attempt a redemption arc with Chloe really shows how confusing their priorities are. I'm sorry to keep saying this, but for a show that takes a heavy anti-capitalist philosophy, it seems like the members of the 1% are the characters who get the most depth and sympathy... unless you're under 18 and lack a Y chromosome, that is.

A meeting will be set up in the coming weeks to decide on whether or not to make a live-action for ‘Miraculous’, Thomas Astruc reveals.

As a former Arrowverse fan, I'm willing to see this out. Not only did the Netflix One Piece series prove you can make an animated property work in live-action, Ladybug & Cat Noir: The Movie managed to do really well even without the usual writers behind it.

Thomas when asked about Gabriel’s wish in ‘Re-Creation’ (5x26) and whether he brought Emilie back to life: “All the answers are in the episode.”

For the love of--STOP SAYING THAT!

You keep claiming that we just need to rewatch the episode to understand things, but between the continuity errors and abandoned subplots, it's hard to tell what's important and what isn't. Either say "No comment" or give us an honest answer.

If people are still confused about how the season ended after almost a year, and you keep giving answers like this:

Maybe you need to change the way you tell the story.

Astruc when asked about ‘The Supreme’: “Oh, if only you knew... Nothing we do is meaningless.”

Sebastien Thibadeau on Season 7: “Once you’ve seen the start of season 7, I can swear you’ll watch season 6 a second time. That’s all I can say.”

Because it'll make Season 6 look like a masterpiece by comparison?

Thomas Astruc on the worldbuilding: There are Kwamis and Renlings, what makes you think there aren’t others [creatures]?

I swear, by the time we get to Season 10, we're going to get stuff like aliens, demons and talking mushrooms, or at least something ludicrous like that.

Zoe had a love at first sight when she met Marinette in ‘Sole Crusher’ (4x07), they confirm.

Of course! That's why it wasn't framed any differently from something like the umbrella scene and Zoe showed absolutely no signs of attraction to Marinette! It's genius!

Executives had Thomas write several alternative concepts for ‘Miraculous’, very different from what we know today or even the early PV. Among them, “a concept where Ladybug is the head of a group of superheroines, like Sailor Moon. There was no love story.”

Can you imagine a world without the Love Square?

The script writers’ favorite episode is ‘Simpleman’ (4x19) as it represents a personal, work and family attachment. Marinette’s grandfather, Roland Dupain, is inspired by Thomas Astruc’s grandfather.

Okay, either Astruc had a complicated relationship with his grandpa or he's been dead for years. While I understand that older generations have outdated views (for example, my great-grandmother yelled at me for saying I wanted to learn Japanese because "They tried to kill us!"), the fact that a caricture of a grumpy old man was based on his grandpa is a little concerning.

Also, between this and Sabine being based off an old flame of his, this only makes the theory that Chloe is based off a real person Astruc knew more plausible.

Astruc: “This is why our work is so difficult. We have to manage to bring in this generation of younger ones, and at the same time, we have to satisfy the generation that was here before and that grows with the series.”

First, if you're trying to please older fans, maybe don't get into fights with them on Twitter.

Second, you made a thread after "Simpleman" aired where you insulted fans for not getting the "meta" element to the episode and compared them to the character you just said was based on your grandfather.

You've also been burning away a lot of the older fans' goodwill over the years. Trust me, I have a few examples.

Despite sharing a similar appearance, the symbol on Nino’s T-shirt is not related to Hack-San.

Okay, is this a fan theory I missed back when Season 4 was airing? Why would anyone draw that conclusion?

Thomas Astruc talks about Season 6: “I’ll say it sincerely, I was very doubtful at the end of Season 5. I said to myself: “if we were to continue, how would we exceed?” Well, we did. It’s been a great season. The new writers have brought us a lot of great stuff. All the episodes we’ve written in Season 6 are fabulous. Each episode is on point, there is no unnecessary lines. All the scenes are really interesting, really well-crafted.”

Translation: Tons of filler, bad comedy, reused Akumas, and more Love Square drama that we're trying to claim hasn't been done before.

Thomas when asked if Marinette will get akumatized: “We never give any information about what may or may not happen.”

JUST. SAY. NO. COMMENT.

There are many important details throughout the series that no one has noticed. Thomas says that when we see the next seasons, we’ll think, “Oh, the writers had it all planned.”

You know, like how Season 3 established that Sentimonsters can be sent out of control by Cataclysm a few episodes before Adrien, a Sentimonster, gets hit by a Cataclysm and is affected in a different way. It was all planned from the beginning.

The Ladybug PV was an animation test and was not intended to be public. Jeremy Zag decided to leak it himself.

Honestly? Dick move on Zag's part. You have to wonder how pissed off Astruc was.

According to Thomas Astruc, what the ‘Miraculous’ series is today represents only 5% of what he wrote in the original bible he presented to Jeremy Zag. “The universe has evolved a lot since. I don’t know if the ideas I put there will be reused someday. It was very extensive.”

Thomas Astruc and Sebastien Thibadeau discuss the parallels between Marinette and Gabriel: Astruc: “Gabriel’s personal back story is the cause of his misery, not his will. And above all, it creates a beautiful mirror with Marinette, which is what’s interesting. They both have a lot of love for Adrien, they’re both designers, they both have a Miraculous, but it’s other choices.” Thibadeau: “That’s what makes it a great hero-villain contrast. Even if they don’t know it from the start, they have a real point in common. As we see at the end of Season 5, they both love Adrien. Except there’s one who does it by doing the right thing, and then there’s another who does it by doing the wrong thing, hurting people, to get there.”

And the one who did the wrong thing by hurting people ended up winning. What does that say about the contrast?

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

And that's it for the interview. I have to say Season 6 does not look pretty so far.

[tippenstoepens]

Prettiest Girl in the Room

Anyone would kill to play Joseph Quinn's wife on television. Anyone except you.

part 1 - part 2 - part 3

Wordcount: 1.8k

Clubs were not your thing. But you were wrapping the first season of the show that gave you your first lead role on everyone’s favorite streaming service alongside 2022’s it-guy - Joseph Quinn. So you understood why this might be a night out that you couldn’t pass on. Even if it did end in disaster, it was a memory begging to be made.

The main cast had agreed on and planned this night out for the past three weeks in the group chat. The destination was a popular speakeasy in New York, the kind you needed a password for and entered through an inconspicuous door hidden behind a dumpster. 

There you sat at the table, forcing the coolest attitude you could conjure sitting across from your TV husband, Joe. In the six months you spent as his TV wife, you couldn’t imagine why everyone was so head over heels for this guy. Sure, he’s handsome and good with fans, but is that all it took? Was the bar truly that low? Your heart cried for women everywhere. 

He could also be kind of cocky and a bit of a smartass. He would make passive aggressive jokes at your expense. Maybe it was some kind of culture thing you weren’t picking up. He was British after all. He kept calling you “Mrs. Henderson” instead of your own, real name after you had asked him multiple times to stop calling you by your character’s married name when you weren’t filming. Then he just began to tease you about it.

“Good morning, Mrs. Henderson.”

“Sorry, Mrs. Henderson.”

“Good to see you, Mrs. Henderson.”

Holly Vanguard made sure to get the seat to Joe’s right, laughing too loudly at all of his dry humor. She even laughed when he wasn’t making jokes. Maybe she was just stuck in character. She played Joe’s secretary on the show. “We’re both British,” she took care to remind you often. “We get each other.” Why Holly excluded your very British TV father from this covenant, you’ll never know. David sat to your left.

Every so often he would reach over and squeeze your hand in reassurance. When you looked over to him, he’d be smiling softly with encouragement in his eyes. You had developed a negative reputation throughout filming the season because you preferred not to agitate your social anxiety by leaving your trailer. David was the only one you had confided in about it after a particularly stressful day on set. You’d heard whispers of your “stuck up attitude” after passing on a previous night out with the cast (which you suspected was started by Holly). You were sure your bickering with Joe when the cameras weren’t rolling hadn’t helped.

This was your first real gig and the circus of it all drove you crazy. There were a lot of politics involved in being part of a cast of public figures. Apparently, people weren’t supposed to disagree with anyone who had more public recognition than you did - especially if that one was GQ’s Man of the Year. You suspected Joe liked your attitude at least a little bit, but you couldn’t be sure.

“Why don’t we play Spin the Bottle?” Holly suggested to the table, giving Joe eyes.

Groans of opposition came from the older cast members and they excused themselves to the dancefloor after everyone had a laugh. And then there were five. You silently wept at the loss of your emotional support TV father.

“In the middle of a pandemic? No,” Jackson shut it down and made a different proposal. “Let’s play a good old-fashioned game of Truth or Dare. But you don’t get to choose either or - the person asking chooses for you. If you refuse a dare or question, you’ve gotta take a shot of tequila.”

“Every 20 minutes, I’ll refuse a question,” Joe declared and slapped a palm onto the table. His dirty martini shook next to the point of impact. 

The group made rounds around the table and when it came to you, you asked Jackson what it was like to be the most fashionable person in the room at all times. 

“Oh my god, finally someone acknowledges my plight. It’s exhausting. I spend all this time planning outfits and looking amazing, but do I get invited to the Met Gala? No. I don’t even get to look at myself all day, everyone else gets to see my color coordination and I have to look at everyone else’s sweatpants and Wallabees. No offense, Joseph,” Jackson said with no remorse.

“That’s fair,” Joe shrugged and smirked.

In the few rounds you all had, you noticed Joe always dared people to do absurd things like pose with the statues in the back of the club and “stay in character” for a full five minutes or take the fish skeleton off of the plate of the table next to them and cuddle it for a full round.

You thought it was sweet that he only came up with dares that wouldn’t inconvenience the staff and other club go-ers or violate anyone’s boundaries while still managing to be funny. He could easily be obnoxious if he wanted to. He’s not so bad, you guessed.

When his fourth turn came around, he broke the pattern. Joe said your name and you prepared to fully commit to whatever zany bit he’d come up with this time, but he said:

“Truth: why don’t you come out with us more often?”

“O-oh,” you blubbered, caught off guard. “I just… I’m not good with crowds.”

“Oh, come on. I want a real answer.”

“That is my real answer. I’d just make a fool of myself. I’m not…”

“You seem to be doing just fine so far.”

“Well, that’s because David-” You turned to look for him and found him attempting a very bad vogue in a small group of younger people. They cheered and let all sorts of onomatopoeia in encouragement. “...was helping.”

“Alright, alright, but if you don’t come out with us next time, I’ll be wounded.” Joe pressed both hands to his pectoral over his heart.

“Next!” Jackson jeered.

“Oh! Would you look at that, it’s my turn!” Holly squealed. You didn’t have the highest opinion of Holly, but the feminist in you refused to dislike her until she committed an actual crime like vehicular manslaughter. Being annoying wasn’t a serious enough offense.

Holly dramatically adjusted herself in her seat to face Joe.

“I dare you to kiss the prettiest girl in the room,” Holly slurred and puckered her glossy lips, tilting forward a bit to display her cleavage. Your stomach dropped. Everyone at the table exchanged glances, wondering if Joe was drunk enough to entertain it.

Joe’s eyelids fluttered and his head tilted as he processed what had been said. Had she really just done that? It was only after his eyes flicked over to you that you became aware of the jealousy on your face. Your recovery was quick, but not quick enough. Hopefully he took it as concern or judgement. He knit his brow and chuckled. Shit.

“You got me,” he surrendered. He grabbed a tequila shot from the tray and chucked the liquor down his throat. He didn’t even make a face. It was kind of sexy. No! It wasn’t. It was most definitely not sexy.

Holly exhaggerated a pout to play off the embarrassment. 

The rest of the night went smoothly. The game had got you loosened up enough to make your way to the dancefloor. Everyone whooped and hollered when you did. 

You couldn’t decide if it was just the liquid courage or if you were actually dancing very well. Your movements felt so fluid and you hit every beat - an uphill battle when you were sober. Judging by everyone’s surprise and the circle that formed around you in the middle of the dancefloor, you’d say your theory was accurate. Who knew the shyest cast member could be such a party animal?

After a verse of the 90s R&B song that was playing, you pointed to the first co-worker you laid eyes on and joined the circle as they took your place. 

…

The group stumbled through the hallways of the hotel at four in the morning, trying to keep the volume at a minimum and failing miserably. Your ears must’ve still been ringing from the club. Everyone was giggling and “SHHHH”-ing and repeating their room number.

“25D… 25, 25, 25…” Alex repeated.

“Shhhhh! We’re still in the under 20s! That’s 12D!” Jackson shouted.

“Both of you shut the fuck up! People are trying to sleep!” David whisper-shouted.

Joe shushed all three of them. 

When all the oversized toddlers were dropped off at their respective rooms, there was only yourself and Joe left. You’d wished you had booked a room further away just to talk to Joe a little longer. He was giggly and flushed from the drinks and you had never seen him so… cute. 

Before you knew it, you had arrived at your hotel room door. 

“Have you got your key?”

“Yeah,” you reached into your bag and retrieved the plastic card, holding it in your hands for a bit too long before looking up at Joe. You didn’t want the night to end. His eyes were glossy and full of - dare you say it - admiration.

“Well, I guess-“ “I think you’re-“

“Oh, sorry.” 

“No, no,” you said. “I, um…”

There was another long pause of sustained eye contact. It should have felt awkward or uncomfortable, but it didn’t. A smile spread across his face. You huffed a smaller laugh and found your own lips spreading. 

“Good night,” he said softly.

“Good night,” you barely whispered.

Joe walked down the hall as you swiped your key and turned the handle.

“Oh,” He muttered and snapped his fingers once.

“I’ve almost forgotten,” Joe called. He jogged back to your door and took your head into his hands. “I owe you.”

He pressed a gentle kiss into your lips. Then another. And another. Before you knew it, you were both nibbling on each others lips and swirling tongues into the other’s mouth. Which should have been raunchy and drunken and a huge mistake, but it didn’t feel like any of those things. He was so gentle and soft with you in a way that no other man had been before. Before you knew it, you were standing there: eyes blissfully closed and lips still slightly parted as Joe floated away from you.

“Good night, Mrs. Henderson,” he purred in that deep, chocolatey voice of his and walked back down the hall, disappearing into the elevator.

You stood there in front of your door for a good thirty seconds before coming back down from your high and slipping into your hotel room, dreaming of the next kiss Joe had in store for Mrs. Henderson. 

[grace-williams-xo]

RAMBLING THOUGHTS AFTER FINISHING PART TWO. GONNA ADDRESS MY P1 THOUGHTS FIRST. SPOILER WARNING.

1 & 2: I think Debling could’ve worked in the second half, and I’m kinda sad Cressida didn’t get a happy ending. The Creloise fell of a CLIFF after ep 5 but I think it could still be saved

5: no cishet man has ever loved his wife more than Anthony Bridgerton I’m gonna be ill

6 & 12: kanthony’s absence was felt BAD in the finale, I think their reactions to LW were sorely needed. Also Jonny and Simone have both said they’ll be at every sibling’s wedding and stick around for years but they missed Francesca’s??? Also felt their absence too much then. They’re both booked and busy I think we’ll continue to only get a couple episodes a season from them

8: Francesca did get to thrive happy in pt 2 my baby I love her

9: I think they managed to disconnect the mondrich plot even further like 😭 once again, I don’t mind them their plot just feels very empty

10: Pen and Delacroix CONTINUE to be my fave duo I love them so freaking much and they can never get rid of it

13: Portia’s growth this season continued to be 10/10 I loved her and Penelope’s relationship it really showed what it’s like to be closely related to people you oppose and the process of needing to forgive and understand them for your own peace of mind

14: that was not how I was expecting Colin to find out about Whistledown

15: Marcus felt a little rushed in part two but I think I need to watch the whole season together to fully decide

17: this was indeed the longest 27 days of my life I got Covid day after it dropped lmfao

MY ~NEW~ THOUGHTS:

We finally got character development from Cressida and if they write her out I’ll be inconsolable (as will Jessica Madsen)

I hope they paid Golda Rosheuvel good for her feet exposure. Worth more than titties in this economy

I feel the need to tell everyone that £5000 in 1815 is in the realm of £500,000 today and we cannot brush over the fact Penelope has made herself the equivalent of a literal millionaire

Anthony has two moods ‘I’m obsessed with my wife’ ‘I want to win this game’ like it is comical how drastically different his facial expression is in the game of charades compared to pretty much every other scene

Anthony saying the marriage is perfect and not hard work and Kate being like BOY I will humble you,,,, doing the lord’s work I love her so much

At some points I felt like Francesca was fighting Anthony for ‘Violet’s least favourite child’ award lmao

John saying he’s off to look at the wainscotting was unfairly funny

Cressida in the red dress is even better than I imagined fuck even if she’s not gay then I am

Peneloise back together the universe is healing I love my babies all we need now is creloise lovers and peneloise friendship simultaneously I don’t like it being one or the other sue me

However much Brimsley is getting paid isn’t enough,,,, Hugh Sachs the man that you are

I adored Penelope’s wedding dress so much and as bitter as I am still about no kanthony wedding in s2, it felt kind of right somehow for Polin to be the first wedding we properly see in this show

Most of the costumes and makeup feel like they got worse,,,,, big ‘I hired a 14 year old’ energy. I don’t need historical accuracy but I would like a modicum of care and the costume/hair/makeup dept looking at a single historical reference from before 1850,,,, please

We all got the bi Benedict we’ve been asking for and I appreciate it, and recognise that he needed Tilley to explore that, but I still would’ve preferred if they first main queer experience was not a threesome

If they go straight into benophie in s4 (which idk, I’m so torn bc I feel like F, E and B all could work well next season) then I also feel like bi Benedict was just them throwing a bone for 5 mins but meant nothing

The CONTENTIOUS Michaela Stirling,,,,, I was undecided until I saw it but that was the definition of gay panic from Francesca and it worked so well I am so excited.

As your resident peerage expert, it is much easier for women to inherit titles in Scotland than England so I wonder (not that anyone on this show knows anything) if that was a reason they chose Francesca to be sapphic [general peerage info and female inheritance info if you care]

On the above, if they can canonically end racism with one marriage then they can end homophobia with one marriage as well

We all know Eloise was the easy and obvious choice to be the queer love story but part of me does kind of like them not taking the easy route, and them going something more unexpected, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want Creloise/Sapphic El like they had eight children let’s be honest

Finch’s sneeze and Phillips’s “now Varely! The bugs!” were unfairly funny

Everything Lady Danbury said to Penelope about suspecting her and what not felt very in character and you can fight with the wall idc

Did they tell us the name of Polin’s baby boy???

Hyacinth saying she thinks of Gregory as the family pet,,,,, girl you an icon walking amongst mere mortals

Predictions I got right:

Anthony didn’t kill Colin, but “are you gonna duel your own brother” lmao I was on the right track

I knew Polin would win the Featherington baby race and I love that for them (but why were Prudence and Phillipa pregnant most of the season, barely showing, Kate was showing almost immediately, and then in the epilogue the sisters all had baby’s similar-ish ages???? Give the writers room a calendar please)

I SAID FROM DAY DOT THAT THE FURNITURE THEY BROKE FROM SEX WAS A CHAISE I CANT FIND THE POST BUT I KNEW IT I FUCKING KNEW IT WHERE DO I COLLECT MY PRIZE SOME OF YOUR GUESSES WERE TRULY FUCKING COOKED

Okay that was too long if you made it this far I’ll make you cookie ily

[vadersassistant]

Hiiii

wo dering if you could do an enemies to lover anakin imagine. kind of like friends to enemies to lovers or something like that and it ends in them making out o whatever you are comfortable with.

Anyways thank youuu

Denial One Shot (Darth Vader x Reader)

Summary: After venturing into a Sith Temple to try and find an edge on the current war, (Y/N) meets her enemy, Lord Vader, the man who killed her best friend and secret lover. He has been hunting both her and her alias down for months, following her across the galaxy, but little does she know, he has no plans to kill her. Takes place in the temple seen in the Star Wars Rebels season two finale. Reader was previously a Jedi and is in hiding due to order 66.

Warnings: Make out session

A/N: (Y/N) does not know Vader is Anakin, and Vader does not know (Y/N) is the Fugitive he has been searching for. This is once again a mix of suited Vader and nightfall Vader. In which, Vader wears the suit and mask, but he can take it off and looks like the Anakin we know and love.

The temple was eerie, an odd feeling passing by with each step you took. It was the opposite of the one I grew up in, representing everything I was told to dislike, and yet I was here anyways. I had made up my mind to fight instead of continuing to run from the problem. I wasn’t a rebel, but I wasn’t an imperial either. I was the middle ground, a former Jedi with a new identity, a mask to shield my face so that I could live freely, but the saber still gave it away. I was good, too good to be a civilian having fun with an old relic, even though some still used them publicly. Some, as in him.

The Jedi fell and Lord Vader rose out of thin air. There was no preface, no foreshadowing, he just came, and everyone bowed their heads.

To outsiders he was a military leader trained in combat, who happened to use an imaginary power. To force users, like Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, and I, he was a Sith. We all knew it the second he began hunting us down. He wanted the Jedi dead and made it clear when he began searching for my alias as well. Everyone knew who she was, I was put on every single imperial security watch available, but I evaded it all I could. I forged a new saber, so that they couldn’t track me that way, and told people about how the female jedi on the Holonets from the clone wars died. The only people who truly knew were Obi-Wan and Ahsoka, since they too had done something similar. He was Ben, she was Ashla, and I gained the name Fugitive, a mask being the only way to keep track of my identity.

I couldn’t count how many storm-troopers I had killed by now, just that I did. I was forced to, to keep myself alive, because he wanted me turned in. I was always told to run, to flee from Vader because of what he’s done, but all I wanted was for the man to wind up dead. A lust for revenge had developed ever since I learned what he did to my best friend, Anakin Skywalker.

I don’t even know how he could have killed a warrior like him, but he did and now he’s gone. Slaughtered like any other while trying to save people in the temple, something someone with his character would have done naturally. The worst part is that everyone he was trying to save is dead too, and that he could have escaped with us, had he not done what he did. He had a wife, Senator Amidala, a good friend of mine, who also died that night, although I wasn’t sure if they ended on good terms.

The two had been arguing for a while, he believed she was cheating on him with Obi Wan, although she continued to deny it along with everyone else. I was the only one who he talked to about his problems willingly, even Kenobi would have to go through reading his mind to talk about personal issues. It was only when Anakin died that the truth came out, that being that Anakin was right, and she was seeing Kenobi.

I hadn’t recognized him after that point. I knew he was afraid he would be kicked out of the Jedi order if we found out he was dating another woman. Even further, the fact he knowingly was allowing the affair to happen, but it occurred anyways, and he lost everything with it. That was consequence enough, he didn’t need me to yell at him any further for going that far.

Still, I was angry, because I cared about Anakin.

And also loved him.

I denied it for years, the helpless prodding’s from Ahsoka when the two of us would spend hours upon hours with each other. We carried out the entire war effort, working extremely close together on missions. It was no surprise that I liked him, he had even mentioned subtly what things would be like if he hadn’t met her. It sounded like he regretted it, but I had no clue, due to us being force users.

I now stood in front of the man who took him away, the one that gutted him in the chest like a fish with no care whatsoever. The man that had been hunting me down under both my names since the night of the fall, the one that was known for murdering everyone in his path. I don’t know how he found me, I had a feeling we were being followed, but I didn’t care. We needed the Holocron inside of the temple, and Ahsoka now had it in hand. I could sense their distraught, both behind me looking at the Sith in front of us. They didn’t want to fight him; they were afraid to fight him. I felt differently, looking at his mask through the visors of my own.

“It was foretold that you would be here, our long-awaited meeting has come at last."

“This meeting is over,” Ahsoka said.

“Are you so sure?” the Sith questioned through the modulated voice his mask provided him, as I stepped forward.

“What are you doing?” Obi-Wan asked me, his breath becoming short.

“Leave."

“No," he shook his head. "Don’t do this."

“Leave. Now.”

I looked up at the temple’s ceiling as the walls started to drop down. It was collapsing on itself, since the Holocron had been taken from the Obelisk. There wasn’t much to do, but I knew I didn’t want to pull them into this. I turned around and outstretched a hand.  

Ahsoka screamed as I force pushed both her and Obi-Wan back while the temple’s walls crashed down. I saw her figure fly back just before the drop and felt her gently land. There was a ship, they could leave, I would worry about myself after I killed him.

“We’re finishing this here,” I said. "I know you've been hunting me for the past months."

“You are courageous, unlike your friends,” the Sith mused. “Hateful.”

“You killed my best friend," I pointed out. "I want you to experience that same pain."

“Revenge is not the Jedi way,” he reminded. "Your confidence dilutes your ability to make rational decisions."

“I am no Jedi.”

“Then who are you? Your saber is unlike any I have ever seen, an identity successfully hidden behind a helm.”

“That’s none of your business, why have you been hunting me?” I asked. I felt the pressure of the Dark Side creeping against my mind's barriers, he was trying to invade.

“You would make a wonderful apprentice in the dark side,” Vader said. "You have already abandoned your training as a Jedi."

“I don’t side with murderers.”

“And yet you are one. I have seen your way of fighting Fugitive; you have killed countless of our troops and inquisitors.”

“Your Inquisitorious is an embarrassment, and I will never join you, not after what you did,” I called my saber to my hand, igniting it.

“Then you will die.”

There was this feeling of fear that attempted to wash over me, like he was attempting to throw me off, but I wasn't thinking about it anymore.

I ran full speed at him, force pushing myself up off the ground and into the air to try and put myself on the offensive. My blade met his right over his helmet, as he angled me back and I landed behind him. My automatic response was to try and swing for his legs, a move he evaded but had been surprised by. I knew I needed to be careful with how I played things. He would try and tire me out by just playing the defensive, but I also didn’t get that tired frow much stamina I built up during the war. Vader was also bigger, and stronger, meaning I’d need to use his weight to my advantage. I was quick, less stable, and grounded, and more agile in my movements.

We continued to take shots at each other, as he seemingly began to test me. It was a constant switch from the right to the left, bashing at each other from different angles and walking along with it. It was something Anakin and I always did, and it almost felt familiar. For whatever reason, I could feel myself getting into the rhythm Skywalker and I got into when we would train every day. After a certain point I would always switch my grip and force him to back off, and I did it purely out of muscle memory, shoving the Sith back.

“Your anger focuses you,” he commented. “Join me and I can enhance that power.”

“You killed him, the man I loved, do you truly believe I would ever consider that?”

“He is gone for a reason,” Vader said.

“He was the chosen one!” I shouted, interlocking lightsabers in a pursuit for power over the other. "You know why he lost his life?! Because he was trying to save everyone else, instead of actually caring for himself for once."

“(Y/N)."

I stumbled back immediately, hearing that name leave his mouth,

"What?"

My eyes widened beneath the visors, letting my guard down for just a moment.

It was all he needed.

I felt his immense force break through my walls and invade my mind, clawing through my memories and thoughts like a file. Not only that, but he immediately took me to the ground. It was quick, as he now straddled me, muscular thighs resting over my lower waist. Both my arms were pinned to either side with by the force, my saber in his hand.

I grunted, struggling under him and thrusting against his cod piece hoping it would make him budge but it barely made a difference. I couldn’t do a thing, as the Sith reached for my mask and pressed down on the sides. I felt it depressurize, as his gloved digits lifted it off my head, and I looked into his mask with my own eyes.

"How do you know my name?" I asked angrily as I fought underneath him to free myself.

There was no way of telling what he truly felt in that moment, holding the helm silently, breathing being the only indication he was still alive. I continued to try and do everything to get out of his grasp, but the Sith only sat there and took me in, his body heat lingering over my own. I felt like a mess, wondering where Ahsoka and Obi-Wan might be right now, realizing why Anakin lost his life to this man. I didn’t know how he knew my name, my real name, the one that no one had called me in months. I was fully pinned down, not giving up until I saw him reach for his own helmet.

"What are you do—"

My throat ran dry, amber eyes piercing through my body like a blade.

"Anakin."

It was him, with brown hair that held golden streaks just above his armor.

"(Y/N)."

Hearing his voice sent a shiver down my entire back, as I shuddered underneath him.

“I thought you died—they said Vader killed you—" there were tears welling up in my eyes, looking up at him.

“I am alive."

“Why did you turn?"

“The Jedi council was using us, Obi-Wan lied to me about Padme (Y/N), they were having an affair. But you know that already.”

“Obi Wan told us,” I trailed off.

“I know.”

“Do you plan to kill me?”

“No, that was never my intent," he emphasized lowly.

“So, what will you do?” I questioned.

“After separating myself from the order, I reflected much upon it,” Anakin started. "And came to terms with several of my mistakes."

“What mistakes?”

Still straddling me Anakin leaned down, placing his hands by either sides of my head and lowering himself to my ear.

“I was blindly dating filthy senator, when I had the love of my life right next to me the entire time."

"What do you mean?" I emphasized each word, my abdomen tensing as he got so close to me.

"There wasn't a day that went by that I didn't think of my future and imagine you by my side. I told myself it was our strong bond causing me to think of you constantly, due to the amount of time we spent together, but now, I feel completely different."

"Anakin," my heart was racing, as he continued to whisper into my ear.

"Maker, I missed you so much."

He was just trying to be friendly, that's all this was.

"Now, I know you are not that naive," he let out a deep chuckle, reading my mind.

"Is this your way of coercing me into joining the dark side?" I said softly, trying to play it off.

"There is no need to coerce you (Y/N), your heart is already doing all the work," Anakin told me. "All there is to do is to make up for lost time."

"No.."

"Continuing to deny it is only stalling the inevitable," he spoke in a playful way. "Your hatred towards the one you believed to be my killer only proves it more."

"I—" I cut myself off, as Anakin moved his head, now right over mine.

"What is it?" he asked me, his golden eyes flicking from my lips up to my eyes in quick fashion.

I gave in, nodding to his silent question and feeling the force lift off my hands.

Anakin pressed his lips to mine as I lifted my head up and met him midway. His robotic hand came down to my waist, the other combing through my hair as he helped hold my head steady. It was delicate and prepared, goosebumps crawling over my skin as his weight pressed me onto the cold temple floors. He was an expert in the way he worked around my mouth, the first time I had ever kissed anyone to begin with.

To think such a sacred place would be ruined due to our own shenanigans.

A Jedi and a Sith, making out in a temple with no care for sentiment.

His lips were chapped yet soft, and the more breaths we took between kissing the more swollen they became. Anakin didn’t seem to care though, continuing to go down on my neck allowing me to breath. He wasn’t going too far, but it was enough for the occasion, leaving marks I that wouldn’t leave for days.

It was madness.

Everything around us screamed in pleasure, the force happily chiming along with the two sides agreeing on something, even if it wasn’t an argument. Anakin had changed, and I couldn’t decide if it was for better or for worse.

If only those two could see me now, making love to the man that we had been running from for months. The copious amounts of rage had turned to attraction in a blink of an eye, rejoicing in his presence as my hand pressed against his tunic and I felt his abdomen underneath the fabric. He was such light and yet the darkness itself, drowning me in it as we sunk into a pool of ecstasy.

The cold stone floors were soon heated, as the temple grew humid and we both simultaneously agreed to take our tops off. It was the definition of multitasking, as I took off his armor and tunic, leaving behind a black pair of pants, and his boots. With the force he slipped my top off, gaining access to my collar bone and gracing it with his mouth. There was a possessive feeling in the air, as he took in my body for the first time with his own eyes as I did to him.

"You are so beautiful, it is intoxicating."

I felt myself smiling, sitting up and wrapping my arms around his neck, the both of us kissing deeply. This was it, holding our breath as we enjoyed one another, but the force was warning the both of us.

The temple shook, I almost forgot it was collapsing.

"We need to escape before we become trapped inside," Anakin said. "My ship is outside."

"And you assume I'm coming?"

"I know you are."

I laughed, acknowledging his foresight. We put on our clothes hurriedly yet thoroughly, as someone trained to handle life or death would. In truth, that was what we stood for, as Jedi and Sith both came together as one, in ways that would be frowned upon.

Except we didn't care.

We weren't denying it any longer.

Back in business since the recent Ahsoka episode. Hope you all enjoyed!

[formulanando]

Boy, It's You I Desire | Fernando Alonso x Reader

part 1 | part 2

fem!reader x dbf! fernando

word count: 1.7k

minors dni please!

warnings: age gap, mentions of drinking, sexual innuendos, mentions of masturbation, delusion since i pretend fernando won the 2023 spanish gp

It was wrong. The deep, stirring feelings you had for Fernando. He was twenty years your senior, and had been friends with your dad for a decade and a half. You had pictures of him from his Renault days covering your bedroom when you were little, and he came to as many of your youth karting races as possible. These feelings? They had been there, transforming from a silly little crush when you were five to a tingling in your stomach when you turned sixteen. This summer was the first time you believed he felt the same.

Fernando had thought of you as a child. You were so much more than that to him, but the idea of loving you? That was wrong. Foreign. Somehow, the desire for you developed deep within him. Part of him loved the idea of having you as his secret.

Your father had met Fernando Alonso while your family was on vacation in Spain. There's a picture of you and your brothers as chubby elementary schoolers.You sitting in the sand in Oviedo with a twenty-something Fernando kneeling behind you. It is your mother’s favorite picture of her little family. Since Fernando was family to you and your two younger brothers. It sits in a wooden frame on the kitchen counter, in your family’s vacation home in Spain, where you now spend every summer. It used to feel like a happy memory, but now it seems to haunt you with what you can never have.

This summer in Oviedo felt no different than the many previous. You sat by the pool, spent time with some of your friends there, went out to eat, and occasionally went to the club. Dancing in a dark, sweaty room after a few drinks helped to ease the fact that you had not seen the older man in close to a year. It still mystified you at how you were practically in love with him. Whether it was actually him, or the figment of him your imagination romanticized, you were unsure.

Regardless, numerous boyfriends, and flings could not erase the crush that ate at the pit of your stomach. A flash of messy brown hair when you were walking downtown had your heart squeezing in your chest. Even worse, these feelings had recently crept back into play, at the dawn of the new Formula 1 season. He was your childhood crush. You reasoned that everyone had a goofy love for one of their distant relatives or parent’s friends when they were small, but at the age of twenty-three, you were unable to just write what you felt off.

Your parents had gone to see Fernando at the Spanish Grand Prix this weekend, and it was just you and your brothers flitting in and out of the house. They were eighteen, and sixteen, so you figured you would just stay out of each other’s way. You wished that you were able to travel with your parents to the Grand Prix, but you had never been deeply interested in autosport, and suddenly feigning interest would raise questions you felt no desire to answer. Your parents would tease you, saying you only wanted to go for Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz, or Fernando’s teammate, Lance Stroll. Standing in the Aston Martin garage would have sent you over the edge. You would have embarrassed yourself trying to hide the feelings you felt to be very obvious. Interacting with Fernando in his natural environment practically would have had you purring, and pressing your thighs together. Which is obviously not something you were into happening in front of your fucking family.

You watched the race, and wished even more that you went. Max Verstappen's Red Bull had qualified ahead of the Aston Martin, but he had suffered a very convenient engine failure in the closing laps. Fernando moved into first with ease. It was his thirty-third win, coming over ten years after his last. You knew he had to feel on top of the world, winning at his home Grand Prix. The crackly radio message yells and celebrations heard on your television were nowhere near the extent of it all. You pretended to be excited to your parents on the phone, about them telling you all about the paddock, but in reality, there was only one person you really cared about.

You desired nothing more than to be the woman he finds after being the highest on the podium. The one waiting on the bed in his hotel room, ready to feel his illicit touch. The thrill you know you would feel from having him buried deep inside you, without your parents having any idea. It made you want to rush to him. You played these filthy scenarios in your head while you touched yourself, and before you fell asleep every night. And tonight would be no exception. Trying to pretend your fingers were his, after you had a few drinks to numb the intensity of what you were feeling. Desperately hoping he was lying awake, wishing he could roughly pull your hair, and capture your lips with a searing kiss. In summation: you wanted Fernando Alonso to ruin you.

You woke up the Tuesday following the race to your parents’ voices downstairs. Laughter, clinking dishes, and suitcases rolling across the tile floor awoke you earlier than expected. You laid in bed, a warm breeze flowing in from your room’s open windows. You listened, despite a grueling headache from the previous two nights’ crosses between self-care and self-pity. What you did not expect to hear was that Spanish accent dancing among your parents’ casual conversation. A sensation of overwhelming excitement and a pinch of fear mixed in your stomach. Maybe something would happen…

You knew you should have probably put something more appropriate on before you went downstairs. But Fernando seeing you in your threadbare, oversized Renault shirt and barely visible pajama shorts was worth any potential consequences. Your little ploy worked. As much as you paid attention to him, you missed the way his eyes flicked downward, roaming your chest, stopping at the top of your exposed thighs. He started to really look at you. Like you were some beautiful young woman he met at a track or club. He felt himself split, one half wanted to take you on your kitchen island, making you cry out from him. From him only, not the little boyfriend you probably had. The other half remembered who you were to him. You were one of his closest friends’ children. That truth he was unable to escape. What if he was able to bend this rule? He pushed any thought of you from his mind, and easily reentered the conversation after falling into his aforementioned daze.

You practically ran to Tío Fernando, greeting him with an overzealous hug. As you always had, you lovingly buried your face deep in his shoulder, inhaling his expensive cologne. You could have been mistaken, but it felt as if he pressed himself to you more eagerly than was technically appropriate. You were going insane, this man should be a father-figure to you. Not an older man you were objectifying to filth, though many other women would leap at the chance to.

“Hola, cariño. My favorite girl is doing well, yes?” You practically melted at the way he smiled down at you. He rubbed a small circle on your back, as he had not seen you in awhile. You had always known you were his favorite. It had been obvious since you were small. You were both fierce, stubborn, and proud. Yet you desperately held onto the possibility of something beyond the base relationship you already had. You wanted to clash with him. Fight him, and fuck him.

“Thank god you’re here! I missed my favorite tío.” You reluctantly left his warm embrace, and greeted your parents. He let out his signature laugh at your response. You felt your face burning underneath your skin, praying that a flush was not spreading across your cheeks. The conversation passing between the three other adults continued while you slowly ate breakfast. Your brothers eventually filed into the kitchen and were greeted by Fernando with quick claps on the back. Fernando was practically unable to turn his gaze away from you when there were lulls in the conversation. 

In the year that you had not seen each other, a lot had changed. Fernando looked more youthful, and less worn down after his departure from Alpine. You had seen the physical transformation on television and the internet, as every fan had. He had always been fine, but now, goddamn, you needed to watch out. Green was his color. It complemented his tanned, caramel skin, and his brown, almost hazel, eyes. 

You spent the rest of the morning, and into the early afternoon, laying by the pool as you usually did. You donned one of your prettiest, and coincidentally, smallest string bikinis to lay out and enjoy the warm Spanish sun. The sky was clear, and the air was miraculously less humid than usual. Both of your brothers and your parents had left to do something, but you had not listened when they told you their plans. Fernando was still home, but you figured he was probably busy in a meeting or debrief with his team, and you did not want to bother him any more than you already had. Now, the only noises to disturb you were a lawn mower a couple of houses away, or a car passing by the facade of your house. 

The warmth of the ground radiated from underneath the towel you were laying on, and you began to fade into a light sleep. You must have dozed off for a few minutes, as you were awoken by someone ghosting their hand across your back, having gently brushed your hair from where it had laid. You jolted upright, raising a hand to cover your eyes. They finally adjusted to the harsh afternoon sunlight once more, and you realized it was Fernando who had woken you up. He was crouching only inches away from where you had been laying. You could practically feel his breath on the side of your neck before you turned to look at him properly.

“You are going to burn if you keep laying out here like that,” He smiled, crinkles forming around his tan face. You shifted your arms to cover one another to disguise the goosebumps the small caress had given you. His focus shifted to your arms, and you were sure that he noticed exactly what you were trying to hide.

“Well, thank you for saving me from a nice tan.” You playfully rolled your eyes at him, and started to get up. Fernando quickly grabbed your arm, pulling you back down.

He sucked his tongue against his teeth to scold you. “Since you are already dressed for it,” His gaze dropped to your microscopic bikini top, where it settled for longer than it should have, “I think we should go for a swim.” Saying that you were surprised was an understatement.

“Alright.” you had not expected yourself to be so compliant, as you were not in a big swimming mood. Fuck, Fernando could make you do anything. 

—

author’s note: thank you so much for reading my first work! i don’t think this was very good, since writing fiction isn’t really my forte. but, this is my silly little hobby before i start college so whatever. the next part is coming soon and feel free to message me with ideas, if you want to be tagged, or anything like that. you are the goat for reading this :)

[joeys-babe]

Joey B Imagines: Boze Babe

___________________________________________

Summary: you see Joe’s Boze commercial for the first time and can’t help but give him a hard time over his dance moves.

Warnings: pure fluff, just some cussing, and one sexual joke.

Pairing: Joe Burrow x reader

Imagine Universe: Baby, I Love You

___________________________________________

September 14, 2023

Today you were just out shopping with your friends at the outlet mall, enjoying the day together.

your best friend, Taylor, brought her sixteen-year-old sister Hailey along as well. while you loved Hailey just as much as her older sister, she had a slight obsession with your boyfriend.

your boyfriend of six years, Joe Burrow. you and Joe had been together since he was a backup QB at Ohio State. you met in a shared class when you were partnered together for a project. to you, he was an incredibly sweet and cute nerd, who over time you developed a crush on.

one day Joe asked you to get lunch with him after class, which led to many more dates, which led to you moving to Louisiana with him when he transferred to LSU. now here you were, living in Cincinnati and watching Joe live out his NFL dreams.

joe was in his fourth season with the Cincinnati Bengals and you couldn’t be more proud of him. The first game of the season didn’t go as planned, Joe didn’t play his best and he was super mad at himself. you hated seeing him be so critical towards himself and you tried your best to cheer him up but nothing would work.

he was a superstitious guy no doubt so after that game Sunday the hair he’d grown out over the off-season had to go. you were a teeny bit upset at first since you loved his long hair (especially with the headbands) but you loved the fresh fade nonetheless, it was the hairstyle he had when you first fell in love with him so you had a certain attachment to it.

Hailey had already complained to you a couple of times over Joe cutting his hair and even asked you to beg Joe to grow it out again. you thought her obsession was funny and didn’t get annoyed by it, but you were not gonna relay that message to Joe.

you and Taylor were discussing your upcoming game day fits when Hailey let out a grimaced “Ohh.”

Taylor gave you a confused look after seeing her sister watching something on her phone before turning to her sister.

“what’s up?” - Taylor

“y/n have you seen Joe’s new commercial for Boze? - Hailey p

“uh no, I’ve only seen the outfits he wore over Facetime. why?” - you

“you need to put that boy in a dance class because that’s bad.” - Hailey laughed and handed you her phone

you pressed play on the video and didn’t see anything out of the ordinary at first but when you first saw Joe “bust a move” you couldn’t help but copy Hailey's previous grimace before giggling.

“he’s trying! That’s not his element at all and I think he handled it well. even if it is kinda cringe, he’s adorable and quirky at the same time.” - you

“and hot as hell” - Hailey

“hailey! shut up, and stop thirsting over my best friend's boyfriend!” - Taylor

“she’s okay Taylor, I know that joes attractive and other girls are gonna like him.” - you laughed

“It's a little disrespectful for her to say that in front of you though..” - Taylor

“I mean this in the nicest way possible, but I don’t feel threatened.” - you shrugged

“good for you girl. how about we all get some pretzels before we leave?” - Taylor

all of the girls agreed so you all went and got pretzels before making your way back to your respective cars.

you were pretty tired by the time you got home, shopping always tuckered you out so you were looking forward to cuddling with Joe till you guys went to sleep.

when you opened the front door the house was mostly quiet, the only light on downstairs was the living room lamp so you figured Joe was upstairs.

you took your shoes off of your feet and put them on the shoe rack next to Joe's much bigger pairs of Nikes. the small detail made your heart warm and all you wanted was to be close to your man after a long day.

once upstairs it didn’t take you long to find out where Joe was, you could hear the slight football sounds coming from his office meaning he was still watching the film. you slipped into your bedroom put a pair of sweatpants on, including one of Joe's shirts, and made your way back to his office door.

you barely knocked, and through the crack of the door, you saw Joe's head snap towards the direction of the door with a smile forming on his face.

“come in!” - Joe

you gently opened the door and when your full frame was in view, Joe's eyes lit up.

“Baby.” - Joe smiled

“Hi Joey, still haven’t given yourself a break, huh?” - you

Joe sighed as you made your way over to him, he was sitting on the leather couch while watching play reruns on the TV. you were worried about him, Joe had told you there was no reason for you to feel that way but you didn’t want him to be so hard on himself.

“I’m just trying to figure out what went wrong, don’t need a break.” - Joe

you plopped down onto the spot on the couch next to him, his gaze softened when he saw the look of worry on your face.

“y/n, I promise, if I need a break I’ll take one. I don’t right now.” - Joe

“I know you will, I just hate seeing you like this it makes me sad” - you

“Like what?” - joe

“you’re being so hard on yourself. I wish you could see yourself the way I see you. To me you are the most talented boy in the world, while you focus on your mistakes.” - you

Joe looked at you for a few seconds without saying anything, he wasn’t mad at you, he was trying to figure out how he deserved you.

“c’mere” - Joe patted his lap, and you happily obliged

you were now straddling him, your legs on either side of his muscular thighs while your arms were around his neck. Joe's hands were placed on your back as he looked up at you with so much admiration in his eyes.

“I love you so much. you’re the best girlfriend ever, I’m so lucky to have you, baby.” - Joe hugged you close

your heart swelled when he laid his head on your shoulder and nuzzled his face into your neck.

“I love you too, honey. I’m so grateful to have a man like you next to me.” - you

you were startled when Joe abruptly pulled his head off your shoulder.

“Okay enough sappy shit, how was your day with the girls?” - Joe

his change in mood made you laugh before you answered his question.

“it was nice to catch up with them, but I have a question” - you

“I might have an answer” - Joe smiled

“When did you get your pilot license?” - you giggled when joes face contorted with confusion

“what the hell? what do you mean?” - Joe

“I saw you flew an airplane” - you laughed

“What are you talking about? Are you high?” - Joe

“no, Joey! I’m talking about your boze commercial, you did a little dance.” - you grinned

“Ohh. don’t make fun of me!” - Joe rolled his eyes

“I’m not making fun of you! I thought it was cute and funny.” - you giggled

“I tried my best..” - Joe grumbled

“I know you did, baby. I mean you’re an absolute boze babe I'm proud of you for getting out of your comfort zone.” - you smiled as you hugged his neck

“oh yeah? enough for a reward?” - Joe smirked

“Joseph Lee” - you rolled your eyes playfully

Joe laughed as he stood up with me still in his lap, he carried me into the bedroom and threw me onto the bed.

“boy I'm too tired to mess around.” - you

“oh I am too, I was hoping to cuddle” - Joe smiled

you had to blush at that. Joe never initiated the cuddling, so when he did it was always extra sweet.

he crawled into bed next to you and got comfortable before laying his head on your chest.

“Goodnight, baby. I love you” - Joe

“goodnight, joey. love you more.” - you ran one of your hands through his freshly cut hair, before placing a kiss on his forehead.

as long as Joe was by your side you knew you’d always feel happy and safe, he truly was everything you could ever want and need in a partner.

———————————————————————

authors note: my first imagine! hope you enjoyed reading this as much as i enjoyed writing it! ❤️🥰

being 0-2 deserves a fic 😭

[theyhavetakenovermylife]

Did I hear mating season? jekshfjsjhsh well don’t mind if I do. Just imagine: the turtles “mating season” being more of an uncomfortable but manageable slump some time in the spring-BUT after meeting reader and developing a new crush things start to take a change. At first they think nothing of it-expecting the season to go just as it always has, then as time goes on it becomes more and more apparent that something is VERY wrong. Side effects like possessiveness/ aggression/ courting/ nesting/ libido+their urges all suddenly rear their ugly heads to the turtle that is frantically trying to manage his primal instincts and dick

Mating Season With A Crush (18+)

Dark Turtles x reader

A/N: The lucky wheel did a spin and decided on the Dark Turtles for this one🖤💚 This may not be exactly what you were looking for, but I thought it would be fun to play around with the mating seasons of the Dark Turtles, and how it may be different from the original turtles. There’s a lot of potential with all that Kanabo stuff🖤

Warnings: Talk of masturbation, imagination about sex, a porn game, and talk of former pain (not the reader).

Common For All Dark Turtles:

The Dark Turtles had only had one mating season in their new, half mutant turtle, half Kanabo bodies. Yet the memories of their counterparts many years with springs in the back of their heads, made them prepared for what was to come. Yet they were all surprised when their season became less intense than their full blood turtle DNA source. Sure, the dark turtles became more aggressive during this time, but they did not feel this intense need to relieve themselves in their hiding spots like their counterparts did, but they did feel a strong possessiveness, both for food and the few belongings they had. To them, their mating season was horrible, almost painful. With spring the days became longer and the sun stayed up for longer, and for a Kanabo, that was not good news. And neither was it for Kanabo clones. But of course their turtle side has to make them more sensitive these times, only causing the pain, confusion and discomfort to become worse. During that one time, all four of the Kanabo clones had found themselves wishing that their seasons would have been like their counterparts, only making them horny instead of hurtinging. So of course, as they came closer to their second season, the clones expected it to happen again, dreading the upcoming weeks. But to their surprise, upon moving into Cody’s penthouse, their mating seasons took quite a turn.

Dark Leonardo:

That one mating season Dark Leo had experienced, was nothing compared to what Leonardo had been through, with his long seasons that never really seemed to end, until he finally gave into his urges. But Dark Leo had never felt these urges, except the one for punching his brothers growing a lot stronger whenever they came close, feeling this strange pain inside of him intensify whenever they came too close. So when spring time came around in Cody’s penthouse, Leo expected that to be the case once again. But to his surprise, no pain came around as he felt his season come closer. Instead he felt something else. Something that reminded him of what Leonardo usually felt…

As his season crept closer, Leo found himself staring at you more and more, and strange need to be around you growing and growing, coupled with extreme annoyance whenever one of his brothers talked to you. He had once punched Raph out of nowhere, when the red turtle had asked you something pretty innocently, causing both you and Cody to ask him panicked questions. But Leo thought nothing of it in the beginning, thinking it was a sign that the pain and irritation would be coming at any point. But pain never came. Or, at least not a pain Leo had tried before.

One spring evening, as Leo laid in bed, staring at the ceiling, wondering what this strange feeling was, he felt this extreme urge grow between his legs, pushing at his cloaca in a way he had never tried before. It was almost painful. Almost. But Leo knew what that feeling was. Leonardo had felt it before. But where Leonardo would have tried to push it away, not wishing to give in, Leo gave in. Untucking himself and giving in to all of his urges, surprised by the explicit thoughts he was forming about you, dreaming that it wasn’t his hand around his dick, but your tight count.

That night Leo stayed in his room, realizing the extent of the crush he had formed for you, and how it might be the sole reason that he wasn’t rolling around in pain, but instead fucking his own hand.

Dark Raphael:

The only reason Dark Raph had hated his first mating season was because of the pain. The irritation and the need for punching something had never been knew for him, but the pain was really something he could live without. It made him angry. So angry that he wanted to break something. Raph knew that Raphael had often been angry while on his season, but not in the way Raph was. For Raph, the mating season had been nothing but loathing, but for Raphael, it had been a strong irritation that his urges just wouldn’t stop.

As spring came around one more time, Raph was expecting the pain to come out of nowhere, making him horrible and angry. But the anger and pain never came. Instead his own head was flooded with your scent and your sweet smile, making Raph’s knees turn to jelly. Raph had already been aware of his feelings for you for some time, but this was different. It was stronger, the picture of your beauty playing in his head over and over again. And it scared the big Kanabo clone, making him hide out in his bedroom, while his thoughts about you turned further and further to the naughty side.

It didn’t take long before Raph started stealing pillows from the living room - the pillows you had been sitting with a few days before his season started - and brought them to his room. Here he was quick to give into his newfound urges, his hips pounding the mattress while burying his face into the pillow, taking in your smell like he was addicted, imagining it was you that held onto him, begging him to go deeper and harder. He did that for a whole week, finding the need in his cloaca return everytime he came. It was almost frustrating.

Although his mating season was much more pleasant now, with no strange pain running through his body, he could not help but long and feel like a madman, dreaming and hoping for the day he could bury his dick inside of you, instead of his big soft mattress.

Dark Donatello:

Just like his counterpart, Donnie liked to think that he was too smart for a mating season. He couldn’t be bothered, having so many other things that he wanted to spend his time on. But during his first season, Donnie could not fight through the pain that went through him, causing him to hide out in a dark corner of Darius’ storage room, not wanting to be seen or heard, pushing the sun and spring as far away as possible.

But many things changed for Donnie when he and his brothers moved into Cody’s penthouse, taking over the old rooms of their counterparts. It was here that he discovered that Donatello had stopped fighting against his mating season, finally deciding to enjoy it. Donnie found Donatello’s old VR headset, and the program he had made for it. Esensically, it was a porn game, with a customisable player and NPCs.

This headset soon became Donnie’s best friend during his second mating season, customizing the player in order to look like him, and the NPC to look like… you. Donnie could not deny it any longer, especially not while making sure the NPC’s hair and face looked like yours. Donnie had developed a big crush on you, and during his second mating season, he wanted nothing more than to share it with you, hoping that you could calm the growing need pushing from his cloaca.

The whole next week, Donnie locked himself up in his bedroom, and fucked the NPC version of you over and over again, in every possible way he could think of. On his bed, over his desk, pressed against the window, in the bathroom or directly on the floor. And it was during those many sessions, that Donnie couldn’t wait until he had looked through all of Donatello’s old things. Maybe his counterpart had been hiding other things that could help him relieve himself while entertaining his fantasy about you.

Dark Michelangelo:

It might have been Dark Mikey’s often manic state, but the pain of his first mating season did not bother him as much as it had done to his brothers. He had been the one that would poke his head around, and purposefully anny his aching brothers, to the point where they would try to mangle him. It was a strange thing. It was like the pain never touched him, or maybe he even enjoyed it. Or maybe Mikey was just lucky. Like he told his brothers; “Come on guys! It’s not that bad!”

But then Mikey and his brothers moved into Cody’s penthouse, and Mikey was smacked in the face with your beauty from the moment he walked through the door. And that was the start of Mikey’s growing crush on you.

When spring then approached along with the turtle clones’ second mating season, Mikey was shocked to find that it did not feel like it did the last time. Mikey became jumpy and anxious, almost fearing that you were nearby without him knowing. He wanted you to be around, really, but you made his heart beat and blood pump in a way he hadn’t tried before. For the first time in Dark Mikey’s short life, he did not enjoy the adrenaline that ran through his body.

But once in the comfort of his room, where Mikey wouldn’t fear your beautiful eyes looking his way, he could let his mind wander. Mikey could stay in his room for days at the time, feeding on the big scratch of snacks that Michelangelo had left behind before he went back to his own time. But it was here that Mikey could be alone in peace, and touch himself to the thought of you, bringing himself to one orgasm after another, all in an attempt to calm this strange new feeling that his counterpart had been such a big fan of.

Once the week was over, Mikey finally emerged from his room. He was tired, looking forward to a time where he wouldn’t jump whenever you looked at him.

[heartfullofleeches]

Loser (incel) Reader and Sex-maid bot Yan. Reader orders their new toy same day shipping - grateful to the gods for not having to deal with the hassle of making themselves presentable to other humans, and no longer having to clean their room. A little mistake in mailing leads to them getting their robot a day later than expected, and a large crack in its visor. Reader is obviously pissed by this development, but powers the bot on to see the extent of the damage. It works just fine - minus the loss of its built in knowledge and abilities.

They know their prime directive, but they can't wash a single dish or fold clothes. Other parts of them still function so Reader is fine keeping them around and teaching them what to do while it warms their bed. The Bot feels so useless to their master. All they ever do is question them and break every vase they hold like the ditz it is. Their master even gave them the nickname of Melon likely for the damage they've taken. They'll probably have their memories erased when the repair team comes in....

"All fixed. Just a few unplugged wires at that nasty crack. There seems to be some other bugs, but we'd need to take it in to examine."

"You said they work now, right? It's fine. I don't want to have to teach them how to organize my desk properly again. Those figures are collectables."

Their master was letting them keep their precious memories?... The human had never been the nicest, but they weren't outright cruel either. It was almost....cute how protective of their belongings they were. It was their possession too... Fully capable of pleasing their master in all forms, Melon wouldn't waste their second chance.

They cook their master's favor meals without over seasoning or cooking it. They wash clothes and scold their silly master for wearing things multiple days at a time. They wait hand and foot by day and nights....nights are their favorite part. They sit quietly through their master's God awful attempts at flirting in the off chance they ever seek a human mate - but something's off. There's an ache in their chest whenever they imagine their master with another. Their answers to their master's terrible flirts comes start from that hole when the correct thing to do was tell them of their errors and why no human would want them if they said those things.

No human deserved them anyway... All their master needed to be satisfied - was them

Crackposts under cut - suggestive themes

Melon: Master, what's this? :)

Loser Reader: My body pillow. It stains easy so put it down.

Melon: Ah, it's precious to you then? I'll take good care of it :D

Melon: Master, what's this? :)

Loser Reader: A knife. Be careful with it.

Melon: Oh, it's dangerous? I'll keep it far away from you! <3

Melon: Master.... who is this?

Loser Reader: My crush from highschool. Meant to throw that picture away after they rejected me

Melon: They don't mean anything to you anymore?... I think I've found somewhere to store that knife

-

Loser Reader: sighs My friend really wants me to meet their sibling. Guess I better get dressed.

Melon, on their knees: Master ~ it currently 1:14pm. Time for your daily bi-hourly head

Loser Reader: My wha- [ziiip] Fuck, wait-

-

Loser Reader, attempting to flirt: you are a moderately attractive person and in the case I snap and kill everyone - I'd go on the run and change my name with you... or save you for last. How was that?

Melon, wiping fakes tears: You have such a beautiful way with words, master

-

Stranger: Oh, hello- Is Y/n home? We meet online at while ago and they gave me their addresses in case I visit because I only live an hour away

Melon: Hmph, can you pleasure my master while rearranging their game library in alphabetical order at the same time? I think not. Good-bye!

[queerxqueen]

Has writing the Dustin Experiment changed your perspective on the ST characters in general? I’m curious as to whether you were already a Dustin or Eddie fan beforehand, or if writing this book made you feel *closer* to the characters, or simply more appreciative of them in ways you might not have been before. I can just imagine how cool it’d be to be able to write an official book for a show you’ve loved so much and wanted to know if the process has given you a new outlook on certain aspects

This is such a fun and thoughtful question, thank you!

I have so much love for every single Stranger Things character but writing them from a canon perspective definitely made me appreciate them more. Like, I always appreciated Dustin for his humor and smarts, but in doing my analysis of his character and in writing his problems, fears, and flaws, I definitely came to love him and understand him even more. I hope people reading the book also take away a new perspective of our little Dusty-bun! He's so much more than comic relief or even the voice of reason or the provider of lore for the Upside Down. He's also a kid who cares so deeply and so loyally for the people he loves while simultaneously being terrified of being unwanted and being left alone. Here's a lil snippet of the whopping 10 pages of notes I did for my Dustin Bible while doing a Dustin-centric rewatch before writing this project -

(Disclaimer: this was completely my own personal analysis and prep, not approved by or even shared with the ST team, which is the only reason I can share it here, lol.)

Getting to that core "fear/pain" is always essential for me to understand a character. And for Dustin at this point in the timeline between seasons 3 and 4, having felt left behind by his friends in seasons 2 and 3, enduring the change of friends leaving after season 3, and going into high school, I really wanted to dive into those feelings and fears of being left behind and people changing and moving on without him. That is ultimately the core emotional conflict of the book. That's also what makes the novel tie-ins so fun--these feelings brushed off as one-liners in the show actually have the time to develop and unravel in a book focused on Dustin's character. Understanding those fears and how they play into how he goes into season 4 definitely made me love him and relate to him so much more.

The other big character I developed so much more love for was Eddie. I loved Eddie but never was wholly obsessed the way many people are, but writing him and his relationship with Dustin made me love him so much more and he ended up being amongst the most fun characters to write in the whole project. His voice and mannerisms are so fun to play with, the balance between rough-and-tough-metalhead and nerdy-softy-heart-of-gold was such a fun line to toe. He's over-the-top at times, and surprisingly restrained in others. And he cares much more than he wants to admit. Writing him from Dustin's perspective gave me so much more love and appreciation for him. I know how much people love Eddie, how protective his fans are of his character, so I really wanted to do him justice. I told friends half-jokingly while writing that if the Eddie fans are happy, I've done my job well. (No pressure, haha.)

Maybe I'll do a more formal analysis of my reading of Dustin's character as we get closer to the book's release :) I'm also eagerly awaiting permission to share even tiny snippets of the actual book... But for now - writing this story absolutely gave me a deeper understanding of most if not ALL of the characters but especially Dustin and Eddie. I hope when the book comes out, you guys feel even a small amount of the love I poured into it!

[tom-holland-stuff]

Displeasing Encounters & Passionate Debates // Chapter 2

My Masterlist

// Chapter 1 // Chapter 2 - mood-board // Chapter 3 //

Pairing: Coriolanus Snow x Fem!reader

Summery: After returning form district 12 Coriolanus snow has had everything handed to him on a silver platter. Wealth, status, power, he's got it all. What happens when he discovers that Dr Gaul, his mentor, has taken on a new assistant.

Warning: SFW - for now. Swearing. (let me know if i forgot any)

A/N: Hey Hey everyone, i'm so beyond glad that you all like chapter 1!! I honestly couldn't wait to share this next part with you all and i hope you enjoy it just as much if not more. Chapter 3 is actually already done, i just have to proof read and let me just say things will be gettin spicy...

Word Count: 2.3K

The past week has been less than manageable for Coriolanus. Around this time of year the capital enters into a season of continuous social events. From opulent galas to extravagant balls and leisurely brunches, every imaginable type of festivity adorned the calendar. Not that the capital is known for anything less than a good time, but at this time of the year it seems to be occasion after occasion.

Yet, for Coriolanus, these events were more burdensome than enjoyable, especially since the war. There was a time when his family flourished in these festivities, but even with his new found riches and elitist status, Coryo has not developed a likeness for these such things.

To compound matters, the university's exam period loomed over him like a menacing spectre, casting a shadow over his already overwhelmed schedule.

Buried under a mountain of study materials and invitations, Coriolanus finally found a momentary respite as he made his way to visit his mentor, Dr. Gaul. His interactions with her have been limited to brief consultations after her office hours or clandestine meetings in the university's labs, where time for anything beyond academic pursuits was a luxury he couldn't afford. Needless to say, Coryo is keen to return to the lab and commence working with Dr. Gaul.

He makes his way down the sleek hallways of the Citadel. Being a weekday in office hours the building is busier than he is used to seeing it. People clad in white coats smoothly streamline through the halls at a steady pace.

Within no time he is approaching the all too familiar doors to the main lab. The surroundings jog memories from the past few weeks when he has attended brisque meetings with the professor,

because no matter how brief his meeting may have been he always managed to run it her. 

Y/n would always be seated in the same position as she was when they first met, and every-time he would walk past they would acknowledge each other with a harsh stare. If Coriolanus didn't know any better he would think her resting face was a constant look of utter displeasure. 

What a waste of a pretty face.

He quickly shakes his head, disgusted with the fact that he even conjured those words in his mind. 

The distasteful thought prompts him to look to his side ready to engage in the brief - displeasing interaction. But to his surprise, the desk is empty. 

A wave of relief washes over him, mingled with a tinge of curiosity.. 

He tries to affirm to himself that he is relieved to not have to see her face today, but he can’t help but wonder why y/n is not seated in her usual station.

His relief, however, was short-lived, replaced by a sense of unease as he collided with something—or rather, someone—unexpectedly.

It makes a disgruntled huff, causing Coryo to look down in the direction of where his body made impact. There he sees y/n. Kneeling on the floor in front of him…

She scrambles to pick up the papers and folders that are now in a heap on the floor. 

Coriolanus makes no attempt to help her, rather he watches in amusement. As she struggles to regain her composure, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was amiss.

He crosses his arms and looks down on her. 

Once she has pulled herself together and neatly stacked her paperwork, y/n looks up at Coryo with a piercing gaze, still kneeling at his feet. 

His smirk drops as an unfamiliar feeling rushes over him, far to aware of the site he finds himself in. The position he and y/n found themselves in went from funny to…. to….

He can’t think of a word to describe it. (or he'd rather not think of it)

He takes a step back to give her some space to stand, her eyes never leaving his. 

“How kind of you to offer me help'' she states, words dripping in sarcasm. Seemingly unaffected the same way he was.

Coriolanus quickly straightens himself and plasters that dumb smirk back on his face.

“You're very welcome,” he grins, matching her tone.

With that, y/n huffs and rolls her eyes, making her way back to her desk.

Coriolanus takes this as his cue to continue his venture into the lab, but he can’t help but look back and examine y/n as she annoyedly rummages through her now disorganised papers. He can’t seem to shake that odd feeling he experienced before. So rather he focuses on how her current displeasure brings him joy.

As the days passed, Coriolanus's encounters with Y/n grew increasingly frequent, each interaction punctuated by a palpable sense of discord. Whether it was their chance collisions in the university halls or their confrontations in Dr. Gaul's lectures, their dynamic seemed fraught with unresolved tension.

That brings us to the present moment. Coryo was attending university, walking through the halls with his fellow peers when he once again hit something hard as he turned a corner 

For god's sake, he thinks. 

And then he looks down...

For fuck's sake

One the ground once again is y/n scrambling to pick up the papers she had dropped… once again.

“Are you following me?” he asks semi-demandingly, annoyance hidden in the back of his throat.

y/n Stands up and quickly straightens her self “for me to have been following you would require me to watch where you're going, and based off our collision i would say no” she says matter of factly, barely even looking at him as she flicks through her papers to make sure they are all in order.

Coriolanus gives her a once over. Y/n is not dressed in her typical business attire, instead she adorns a crisp white lab coat and red scrub like top and pants.

Before he is able to say anything else, y/n squeezes between Coriolanus and his friends in the direction of Dr. Gauls office he assumes. As she moves she brushes past him, the contact making his nostrils flare in annoyance. 

And He Prays that he doesn't have to see her aggravating face again… for at last a while 

Coriolanus is not a religious person, but he is certain now if there is a god they definitely do not faver him. Not even a few hours later he is entering one of the university's lecture halls for Dr. Gauls tutorial in (think of a name for a subject that discusses the ethics of the hunger games) and there she is, Y/n, standing in the centre of the room taking notes as Dr. Gaul speaks to her.

The lecture hall is shaped like an amphitheater of sorts. Levels of chairs with desks cascade down and around a flat space in the middle of the room, similar to a stage. 

Coriolanus moves quickly to a seat not wanting to give y/n the satisfaction of his attention (not that she was looking anyway). 

As the class settles and Dr. Gauls takes her place in the centre to address her eager students, y/n sits down at a small desk on the floor, its space occupied with what looks like an acrylic black box, its colour a stark difference to the rest of the room. Coryo now can’t help but stare now as y/n reaches into the box… no cage, and pulls out a white snake.

y/n holds it softly in her hands as it weaves around her expenditures. She lifts the snake above her head and places it around her neck, it looked to be maybe two feet long, it wrapped it's self easily around her shoulders.

He brings his attention back to Gaul as y/n’s head shoots up in his direction. Quickly settling his gaze away he tunes into what his professor is explaining.

“This new form of technology allows the wearer of the device, similar to a headband, to control their chosen mutt , making them do as they wish. The device scans and mimics the waves made by our brain and delivers them to the chip implanted in the mutt's nervous system through electromagnetic currents.” 

Dr Gaul then turns in y/n’s direction, silently giving her a cue to demonstrate. Y/n looks at the snake and it pauses for a second, as if they are having a mental discussion, and then wraps itself around her torso, spiralling down her frame until it reaches the floor.

The reptile makes its way towards the stairs of the auditorium, swiftly slithering off the hardwood floor. Gasps and small squeals can be heard as the snake passes under Students feet, making its way higher and higher. Clemensia Dovecote lets out a blood curdling scream and stands on her table as the snake passes her bye. Unfazed the slithering creature makes a direct line for Coriolanus's table. 

The Reptile wraps itself around Coryo’s leg, spiralling upwards until it lays atop his desk.

He is Tensing every muscle in his body, Coriolanus didn't hate snakes but he certainly wasn’t fond of them (not having a great history with them himself). The slithering creature lifts its body up until its face to face with Coryo.

Its stark black tongue darts out rhythmically as it tastes the air, The dark colour contrasts the unnaturally silky white scales that adorn its body.

Coriolanus scrunches his face in unpleasantness. 

And then, as if it was able to register Coryo’s distaste for it, the snake let out a violent hiss, spreading its mouth open and flashing its fangs. He tries his best not to flinch, but he can’t help but lean back as the snake halls itself higher arching its body as if it was reading to strike.

“Thank you y/n” Dr Gaul’s voice echoes through the room and the snake freezes.

Coriolanus dosen’t let his gaze fall from the snake until it begins to move. He follows it with his eyes as it slithers away, noticing y/n now positioned directly in front of his desk. The snake curls around her arm and makes its way to her shoulders where it hangs comfortably.

“If i didn’t know any better i’d say you were afraid” Y/n taunts as she strokes the body of the reptilian creature. 

“You must be mistaking me for Clemmy here” he deflects her comment and points notedly at his peer who still remains curled up in her chair shaking with her eyes closed. 

y/n simply hums, and brings her attention back to the blonde haired boy in front of her.

Just as he thinks she is about to walk away the snake darts out, mere inches from Coriolanus's face. He only allows himself to get a glimpse of its sharp fangs before he screws his eyes shut.

Y/n chuckles deeply, the snakes behaviour clearly still under her command.

“Get that vile creature away from me before I turn into a belt myself” Coriolanus spits out, his words laced with venom.

“Now, now…” y/n tuts, slowly stroking the back of the snake as it resumes its position on her frame.

“... you should know better than to insult your own kind” she smirks.

y/n swiftly walks away before Coryo is able to get a last word in

The nerve on this bitch

He is barely able to focus on the rest of the lecture, far too riled up by the class's previous events. He sits rigid in his chair, nostrils flaring as he stares y/n down for the remainder of the class.

She however, never once looks back in his direction, but oh he knows she can feel his burning gaze by the way she shifts almost awkwardly, forcing herself to place her eyes anywhere other than him.

He barely even registers that the lecture is being dismissed until students begin to push past his desk. He reaches down for his bag and makes an effort to leave his chair, stopped by the sound of Dr. Gauls voice ringing through the almost empty hall. 

“Mr. Snow, a moment” she beckons him.

He makes his way steadily down the stairs of the room. Reaching the lower level, he surveys the area quickly, eyes falling on y/n as she whispers something to the black box that now holds the reptilian mutt, eyes locking with his. He refuses to look away, attempting to assert some sort of superiority to her. 

y/n narrows her eyes fiercely at him, picking up the cage and walks out of the room. 

Coriolanus shifts his attention back to his mentor. 

“In such fast paced times, one can only spread themselves so thin” Dr. Gaul plainly states. Unsure what she is vaguely referring too, Coriolanus offers her a curt nod in acknowledgment.

“I have a request,” she continues. 

“In the next coming nights there is to be a gala of sorts and i require you to be in attendance”

Coriolanus holds himself higher, the flattery of the innovation overpowering his distaste for such events. 

“Thank you, Dr. Gaul. i would be honoured” he asserts.

Dr. Gauls' already wicked grin grows wider, sinister even. She chuckles deeply, amused.

“How wonderful ... y/n and yourself will have the most splendid of times”

Are. 

you. 

Fucking. 

Serious. 

His jew clenches, he wishes he was able to protest. Instead he simply offers a strict nod in Dr. Gauls direction and races out of the room. 

As he leaves the lecture hall, Coriolanus found himself consumed by a turbulent mix of emotions—anger, frustration, and a gnawing sense of unease.

His interactions with Y/n had left him unsettled, his usual facade of indifference crumbling in the face of their escalating conflict. The prospect of spending more time in her company filled him with a sense of dread, his resentment simmering beneath a veneer of polite acquiescence.

As he swiftly makes his way through the halls of the university, wishing nothing more than to forgot the events of today, he swears he can hear the echoing of Dr. Gauls amused laugh.

what a strange, strange women.

A/N: Soooooooo... what did we think?? what are your guy's thoughts on whats to happen next? please let me know if you have any suggestions ideas or ask me a question x you can do that here.

Also i don't give permission for my work to be posted without credit or whatever.

TAG LIST // Let me know if you want to be tagged!!!

@secretsicanthideanymore

[synnthamonsugar]

Still thinking about this post and continuing to be frustrated about Elsie, and how poorly developed her relationship with Eris and Drifter is, and how underutilized their friendship is in general.

Thinking about the intersections of their lives. Elsie knows Eris and Drifter, even if they don't know her. Elsie has faced off against Eris at her worst, and now stands at her side at her best. Elsie has found Drifter dead as he desperately and selfishly tried to survive, and now he's alive, more sure of himself, more willing to look out for his friends.

And Eris and Drifter don't know Elsie at first, but they must trust her for their collective survival — for humanity, the Traveler and the Light, if they are to use Darkness against Darkness.

Thinking about the parallels of their stories. Elsie, who like Eris trapped in the Pit, has pressed on day after day, held onto hope against better reason, who finally finds a way out, traumatized, changed, but wiser. Elsie, who like Drifter, has lived by different names and identities, has endured betrayal, and withstood apocalypse.

Thinking about these three as the three who transcended their design, as foretold by The Nine. The hourglass counting down with infinite patience, the forgotten blade sharpened anew, and the dredgen. Their meeting is not just happenstance, but fate.

How satisfying it would have been for them to find in each other what they lost or never had. For Elsie, friends to walk at her side as she escapes the cycle and faces an unknown future. For Eris, a fireteam; not a replacement for her lost comrades, but a chance to make new ones. And Drifter gets a crew he will neither be betrayed by nor forced to betray — learning the real meaning of trust.

I think a catastrophic disservice has been done to all three by focusing on Eris' and Drifter's relationship, all but cutting Elsie out of the picture. It would have been so much more powerful to have Eris send a radio message to Elsie and Drifter talking about how their friendship helped her aspire to more than survival. Imagine if all three continued their studies of the Pyramid and its technology together, continuing the arc first started in Beyond Light. (This one is shockingly egregious for being set on Europa and hand-waving Elsie away to focus on Eris and Drifter — as the fandom does.) What if Elsie and Drifter had visited Eris together in Season of the Witch, what if Elsie had told Eris that she trusted her despite the terror she felt at Eris picking up the mantle of hive god as she had in all her dark futures, instead of getting into fights with Ikora over it?

These are relatively small tweaks to the narrative that would have kept Elsie relevant beyond her role as emotional support sister to Ana, would have added depth to all three, and truly established them as a "Dark" mirror to the Vanguard. I'm heartened that all three were together at the final battle, but it sucks that we got zero development of their relationship between their fight with House Salvation in BL, and the very end of TFS.

Just!! What they could have been. What the writers and fandom could have made of them. Man.

[kimingyuslover]

JEONGHAN FIC RECS

to live again by @viastro (angst, fluff, humor, slowburn, time travel!au)

ミ☆ synopsis: it’s been years since your last milestone birthday; a time when everything still felt right in the world with youth and ambition. now that you’re older and times have changed, would you dare take a chance to save someone else in the past at the cost of your own future?

dear dream by @viastro (fluff, humor)

ミ☆ synopsis: jeonghan never would’ve imagined that he’d get to where he was today, especially with you and his friends by his side. with this next milestone in his life, you vowed to yourself to throw him the best birthday party ever. however, you weren’t even sure where to start; what did he even want to wish for this year?

between the fading moonlight by @viastro (angst, some fluff & humor)

ミ☆ synopsis: you never intended to find love. arranged to marry your childhood friend, there were one too many words left unsaid to the person you truly loved. if only you weren’t from two different worlds. 

daddy dearest by @horangare (smut, dilf!jeonghan)

in which : meeting the father of your project partner and new friend didn’t go how you planned, but hey, you’re not complaining

tis the season by @horangare (smut, dilf!Jeonghan, pt. 2 from "daddy dearest")

in which : it’s time for christmas break, and iseul is asking you to buy some time with her father so she can finish her last minute shopping. you’ve been meaning to spend some one on one time with her dad, and now you finally can

my guardian demon sucks at his job by @shuaflix (smut, fluff, humor, angst, supernatural, demon!au)

❝ look, i accidentally summoned jeonghan from my statistics textbook the day before you met him at the olive garden. ❞

Pacman by @viastro (best friends / to strangers / to lovers!au, angst, fluff, some humor)

ミ☆ synopsis: being best friends, you and jeonghan know all there is to the disastrous effects of developing feelings for each other. that’s why you both make a sleep-deprived promise at 5 am to never fall in love with the other. however, jeonghan begins to question everything when he tasks himself with making you and the new transfer become a couple.

kiss later by @viastro (enemies to lovers!au, humor, fluff, slight spice)

ミ☆ synopsis: by you putting jeonghan into a chokehold over him taking your banana milk, you and him were assigned to clean the classroom for two hours after classes ended. it doesn’t help that jeonghan is your sworn enemy, now does it?

candle by @fantasyescapes17 (regency!au, fluff, tiny bit of angst?) pt. 2, pt. 3

You have always received the best of everything life has to offer: be it education, family, fortune or happiness. Mr. Yoon Jeonghan- one of the ton's renowned villains- cannot possibly bring you happiness of any kind, never mind wedded bliss. But can you evade Jeonghan's charms? Or will you find yourself falling victim to this clever rogue?

ah!love by @thepixelelf (parents!au, polyamory, doremi line as your childrens, husbands!95 line)

where you live with your three boys and your three boys, and damn, life is good (aka that one au on tumblr with the 95 line as your husbands and doremi line as your children)

[roosteraloha]

in sickness

jake seresin x reader

wc - 3k

warnings - talks of poor mental health, not looking after yourself, chronic pain discussions, a lot of angst but also a lot of fluff !!

disclaimer - ANY BLANK/AGELESS BLOGS WILL BE BLOCKED!! I also DO NOT give permission for any of my works to be copied, shared, compiled, translated or posted onto other sites!!

a/n - I hope this fic can provide you a bit comfort, whether you experience chronic pain or not!! life is terrible right now and this is my little bit of comfort while I get through this flare up. pls always take care of yourselves <3

comments & reblogs are greatly appreciated!!

You had been feeling off for a while. You couldn’t pinpoint exactly when this feeling started, it just did. And it sucked. Usually a bright and hard working individual, you now felt more like a shell of who you used to be - more than you ever had before.

With no family around, this was the year you’d truly be alone for the holiday season. A welcome change to the fake smile you’d plaster on, anything to avoid more for your family to pick you apart for. Anything to avoid being seen as the family failure even more.

Working part time as a barista while you continued your studies at a new campus, began merely as a way to pay rent and pay the remaining tuition, which failed to be covered by your scholarships. Now, your work was a chance to escape both from your family issues and your school work, a chance to just be.

A few months into living in San Diego, you’d developed a much needed routine; classes in the day, serving regulars at the little café, then studying more when you got home.

There was one regular at the café that always made your smile a bit brighter, a real smile, rather than the fake customer service one that you had perfected.

A tall, blonde aviator.

He arrived like clockwork every single day, ordered the same drink and pastry each day, and something you noticed the longer you worked there, only gave his signature wink and drawl of “Thanks darlin’” to you. A fact that gave you a flutter of butterflies each time he walked through the door.

It had taken you a few months to work up the courage to accept his invitation of a date, ironically he insisted on just going for a coffee (or any drink you'd prefer, as he insisted), which then progressed to him regularly joining you at the café on your late shifts. Jake was the absolute definition of a gentleman, opening and holding doors for you, insisting on walking you home, saying “I couldn’t sleep not knowing if you got home safe darlin’”.

It made your heart flutter to have the attention of such a man. You’d imagined that this type of love would only ever exist in cheesy romance books, but Jake exceeded even those standards and expectations.

Having Jake in your life was a blessing. One that you would never take for granted. Even on your bad days.

It wasn’t that you were intentionally ignoring Jake, it was more the fact that you instinctively knew that as soon as you let him get a proper answer from you, he’d instantly know something was wrong and immediately try and fix it. Something your younger self would crave, but now, you couldn’t find it in you to care. Going from class to class, then to work, picking up extra shifts just to occupy your mind, leaving earlier and earlier, coming home later and later.

It was a good thing you lived alone and hadn’t caved to Jake’s repeated attempts to get you to move in with him, which realistically would be the best idea both for your commute and your relationship, not to mention that you slept over at his place almost daily. However, this flare up of poor moods and anxiety, was clouding your logical view, and you refused each and every plea from your loving boyfriend. You knew he was only looking out for you, but you couldn’t help the irritation that prickled up stronger with each invitation. The insinuation that you couldn’t look after yourself, that you needed someone to take care of you. A snappy comment lodged in your throat, but finding yourself too detached to even voice it.

Living alone provided you with the much needed sanctuary where you could just be. Somewhere you didn’t need to worry about someone seeing just how badly you were suffering on a day to day basis. You knew deep down, that living with Jake would better for you both, but you had particularly stubborn streak that had developed from the constant dismissal of your feeling from your family. Jake, you knew would never be like them, he was far too observant to not notice, and far too caring to let you suffer alone.

It wasn’t until Jake cornered you on your mandatory day off that he finally found the perfect opportunity to get to the bottom of your sudden emotional polarity. He’d cleared the leave with Cyclone, citing a hurried mention of a ‘family emergency’, which to Jake this was, and consequently receiving the next week off without any further explanation.

Knowing your penchant for burying any negative feelings, and faking your way through your days off which aligned with his in the past, Jake followed his normal morning routine. An early wake up call, one which to his growing concern, you were seemingly awake before, a bland breakfast of toast and coffee, then heading to his truck, backing out his truck, then instead of the usual commute to base, Jake parked at the end of the street and waited an hour before heading back.

Jake was greeted by a silent home. If he didn’t know better, he’d think that there was nobody home, but your keys were still by the door, your shoes messily stacked by the coat hooks, everything in the exact place as when he left.

Frowning, he makes his way through the house, scanning every room for any signs that you had moved from your curled position on the bed, the one you hadn’t moved from since you got home the night before.

There was a small crack in the paint of Jake’s bedroom wall.

A minute crack really.

Just to the right of the bedroom door, creeping up from the baseboards. Barely noticeable to anyone else, but you have been so fixated on it, unable to tear your gaze away from it. A quick lick of paint, even one of those tester rollers that Jake kept in his toolbox would do it. But yet again, you couldn’t find it in you to care.

Huffing at nothing in particular, you blink slowly, your eyes drying out from your blank, unwavering stare, the blood vessels shot around your irises, irritated more with each blink.

Jake slowly pushes the bedroom door open, having paused to watch your empty stare, growing more concerned with each passing minute. On your best days, you weren’t known to be the most bubbly and social person, but still made the effort anyway. Now? Now Jake was halfway to calling in reinforcements, in whatever way he could to try and get through to you, even if you hated him afterwards.

His slow pace to your side was an effort to not startle you, he needn’t have worried, you didn’t even flinch, like you normally did, when he pressed a gentle kiss to your exposed shoulder.

Having come from a very complex family, with a concerning lack of physical contact, you often found yourself flinching away from people, getting overwhelmed when people refused to give you space, getting frustrated with your feelings, unable to communicate your desires and needs for physical interaction, romantic or platonic. It was something that Jake had easily picked up on, quickly learning your tells, learning exactly what you craved, without you having to explicitly say anything at all.

Sighing, Jake decided to take a risk, you have been known to lash out in the past, whenever you haven’t been warned about incoming physical contact. Exhaling slowly, praying to whatever he could, Jake slid his hand gently up your arm, getting you used to his touch before pulling you up into a sitting position, crouching before you, directly in your eye line.

Jake nudged you gently, trying to get a response from you. startling from the movement, your gaze darts from the paint crack to Jake’s hand on your knee. Goosebumps erupt across your arms as you focus on the sensation of his large, warm hand on your skin. Feeling your muscles tense under his hand, he rubs his thumb in soothing circles, trying to placate your instinct to flinch away.

Breath hitching in your throat, you instinctively jolt backwards, away from Jake. He exhales loudly, disappointed and slightly hurt that you still have this reaction to him after all this time. Jake has always been the perfect boyfriend, always there to be supportive, even when you often feel that you don’t deserve it.

Having zoned back into reality, you refuse to make eye contact with Jake, instead keeping him in your periphery as you cautiously shuffle back towards him. Jake raises an eyebrow at the sudden change, it was highly unusual for you to even try and instigate physical proximity, where this would normally be a good thing, today, it added to his growing concern that you were not okay. Far from it.

Jake tried and failed to catch your eye line, eyes darting away from him with each attempt. Deciding on a different approach, Jake knelt from his crouched position, “Darlin’ when was the last time you ate?” A halfhearted shrug was the only response, while an improvement, Jake’s heart ached knowing you needed his help and support desperately, but knew you were too nervous and stubborn to ask on a good day, that today he stood no chance of getting a response from you.

Feeling a wave of confidence, you flicked your eyes over to Jake, scanning his features, taking in his clear concern and worry about you. Heart pounding in your chest, you anxiously clench your hand tightly into a fist a few times, before slowly reaching your hand out to Jake, quickly retracting it as you begin to overthink it.

Brows furrowed, Jake moves to sit beside you, leaving a space between you, softly smiling in encouragement as your eyes follow his movements and then slowly turn your body to face him.

“What do you need from me right now?” His voice quiet, yet steady and comforting. Another weak shrug. Registering the increasing frustration in Jake’s expression, you shakily reach out for his hand, intertwining your fingers and taking in all the calluses and faint scars on his hand, finding the simple contact immediately calming, feeling bold enough to express your want.

A gentle tug on his hand, your hand slowing moving up his arm, then round his waist, climbing slowing and shakily into his lap, curling up his strong embrace, nuzzling your head into his chest. Jake stayed still in disbelief, this was everything he dreamed you’d one day be comfortable to ask for, never mind instigate of your own will. Smiling to himself in pride, he readjusts his position on the edge of his bed, a soothing hand in your hair, scratching lightly at your scalp, something that Jake had noticed eaisly helped you relax. After a few moments your muscles slowly began to relax and eyes growing heavy.

The rapid succession of sneezes and soft whimpers that Jake woke to in the afternoon, alerted him to the root cause of your recent lack of responsiveness. A soft grumble was followed by you curling back into Jake’s side, nuzzling into his warmth, finding comfort from him wherever you could.

In the entire span of your relationship, Jake can only recall you being sick a handful of times. Perhaps something to do with your insistence of maintaining your personal space Jake has always thought, but you sick was an experience, one that Jake hated. Thinking back over the past few weeks, the warning signs that you were getting sick, were now glaringly obvious and Jake was mentally kicking himself for not paying close enough attention.

Gathering the various medicines from his bathroom, ones that he had previously taken note of that seemed to help ease your symptoms the best. Jake sets the various bottles and packets on the bedside table, picking one at random to try and convince you to take.

Narrowing your bloodshot eyes at Jake, you shake your head vehemently, an action you quickly regret. Clutching at your head in agony, you whimper quietly, shifting back towards Jake, burying your head in the crook of his neck and clinging to him like a lifeline.

Gently coaxing you out from your comfortable position, Jake’s heart broke knowing he’s asking you to do the opposite of everything you’d been working on together. Eyes glassy with unshed tears, you try to cling to the comfort of his embrace, confused as to why Jake was forcing you away from him. Unable to think logically in your pained state, you took this as a rejection, promptly turning away from Jake, putting as much distance between you both as his king sized bed allowed.

A pill is placed firmly in your hand, a chance to take it yourself, one you instantly refused, tossing the pill over your shoulder, hopefully somewhere in Jake’s direction, you couldn’t really find it in you to care.

A startled yelp leaves your lips as you’re manhandled by Jake, your back now resting against his chest, a firm arm across your waist, keeping you close in his hold. You were too weak to fight him anyway, but Jake took the precaution anyway.

He knows you.

Much to your chagrin, another pill is placed in the palm of your hand. Craning your neck to see Jake’s motives, you’re annoyed to see a blank expression, all he does is gesture to the pill in your hand, and look away from you completely.

Having suffered from chronic pain for years, you despise each pill you have to take, from many years of doctors just giving you pill after pill without listening to your concerns. Now you find yourself avoiding doctors, or any medication wherever you can. Jake knew this, it was something discussed early on in your relationship, not wanting him to feel ignored when you inevitably had a flare up and consequently spent the next week or two in bed recovering, which is why you feel so hurt when he keeps insisting on you taking this medication.

When your equally blank stare at Jake goes on too long, he sighs heavily, pulling you back with him as he leans back against the headboard. Feeling the rumble of his low voice behind you had a surprisingly soothing effect, “Darlin’. Please just let me take care of you.”

When that didn’t produce a response, “C’mon darlin’, it’s breaking my heart to see you in so much pain.”

Turning in his hold, cupping his cheek with your hand momentarily, causing him to flinch at how cold you felt, slowly sitting, reaching for the pill and quickly swallowing the bitterness with the glass of water that jake insisted you keep by the bed whenever you’d stay over. Several kisses are pressed across your hairline and forehead, soft mumblings of praise continue as you settle back in his arms.

“I know how much you hate taking them, but you have to in order to get better darlin’.” Scoffing in disapproval, and resentment of your boyfriend yet again being right, results in Jake wrapping his arms even tighter around you, careful of any known sensitive areas, pressing more gentle kisses to the top of your head.

“Before you get too comfortable, we’ve got to get you something to eat. God knows when you last ate a proper meal.”

You swallowed cautiously, “That time you cooked your grandmother’s recipe.”

Silence.

You felt him tense behind you, sitting up straighter, gentle fingers at your chin in an effort for you to look at him.

“Sweetheart… That was almost a week ago.”

Shrugging, you try a nonchalant approach, knowing Jake would not like the answer, “I eat stuff at the café and in between classes when I can. I just don’t have time to cook a full meal anymore Jake.”

Exasperated, Jake pulls you to stand, wrapping a blanket around your shoulders, then taking your hand gently and leading downstairs to the kitchen. He busies himself, after seating you on the counter, checking cupboards and the fridge to see what he could pull together for you both. Settling on something basic, he gets to cooking, something he enjoys. Not that Jake liked to openly share this with his fellow aviators, in case of any ribbing and teasing, yet another reason he had been overly cautious as to not introduce you to the group already.

The delectable scents wafting in your direction results in several rumbles from your stomach, a light blush stains your cheeks when Jake glanced in your direction with a teasing smile. Shrugging playfully in response brings a bright grin to Jake’s face, the one that always has you smiling along with him, because how could you be sad when he looked at you like that, with that much love in his eyes just for you?

One lovingly home cooked meal later, you’re yet again tucked into Jake’s side in his bed, considerably more relaxed than when Jake left in the morning. With the self-reflection that you’d both started to keep your relationship healthy, you knew you weren’t the best at looking after yourself, which only got worse during a flare up or sickness. Jake however, was your constant. A strong caring and protective streak, you would never suffer alone again.

“I missed this. I missed you. Can we stay like this for just a bit longer?” You murmur quietly into his chest, arms tightening around his waist.

“Of course darlin’,” Jake places a soft kiss on the crown of your head.

“You don’t even need to ask.”

While there were some days that you felt so isolated and a burden, those days were notably fewer now that you had Jake in your life.

You just didn’t know that Jake vowed from the day you confessed your struggles that he would always be there to look after you.

In sickness and in health.

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[desecrated-guacamole]

I know I’m *checks watch* twelve years late coming to this realization, and two years late to talking about it when it would’ve been at all relevant, but godDAMN

Young Justice wastes NO time being good after season 1. The producers really just said “hey, y’know all the characters and relationships you’ve loved seeing develop for the past 26 episodes? Well actually, fuck that, fuck them, and fuck you! Everything’s different now, everyone’s developed in new ways that you won’t get to see, but not even in a way that makes sense for a FIVE YEAR TIME-JUMP!”

Take Robin for example; in the five years that take place offscreen, Dick becomes Nightwing, Batman recruits Jason Todd as the new Robin, Jason Todd gets killed, and Batman recruits Tim Drake as the new-new Robin (oh and also Barbara Gordon becomes Batgirl). I love the Batfamily, but I can barely call it the Batfamily when we don’t ever actually see them becoming a fucking family! We don’t get to see Dick struggle with his mentor’s legacy, we don’t see Jason struggle to live up to the Robin that came before, or Barbara picking up crime fighting despite what Bruce tells her to do because fuck that guy. We don’t get to see any of them grieve Jason, we don’t get to see Bruce go off the deep-end, only to be brought back by a young Tim Drake, who shows him what makes Batman, well, Batman; helping those in need, saving people.

INSTEAD, we’re introduced to two characters we knew that are now wildly different with ZERO explanation as to why, and one that we’ve never seen before and is (so far in my watch) severely underwritten, but because they’re the characters we love from the comics we’re supposed to love them here. It’s using the iconography of the characters to get us invested without putting in any of the actual work DEVELOPING them as people. It’d be one thing if this was the first time we met any of them, but we’ve already been introduced to Barbara, and we’ve spent an entire season with Dick, but now both of them have undergone massive development we aren’t made privy to.

I read an interview with Greg Weisman talking about the time jump, and he says this;

“We wanted a big time jump between the first two seasons to truly illustrate what our series was about, i.e. GROWING UP. After that, honestly, it’s more about what feels right. There are always things we want to skip, so that they become reveals.”

Man, I wonder if maybe allowing the audience to actually watch the characters grow and change might illustrate that growing up thing better than just skipping ahead so you can make it a reveal??? Imagine a show where we get to see these characters grow up together, maybe even grow apart, some leave, some stay, some are replaced, some come back. Like, imagine getting to see Dick reckon with the fact that Batman REPLACED HIM, only to watch that replacement die! Imagine getting to see Tim Drake come to Dick for advice, instead of just skipping ahead to the point that they’re already an established team. Imagine getting to see M’gann help Gar learn to use his powers for the first time. Imagine the team throwing a goodbye party for Wally and Artemis! Imagine seeing Wally and Artemis continue to develop their relationship instead of just jumping to them being fully moved in and together! WE WERE ROBBED!!

Like I’m still gonna watch it (not in the least because my roommate’s already seen it) but I need everyone to know I’m doing it under duress. I love these characters, and they did not deserve this lazy bullshit. I do not understand how Greg Weisman made Spectacular Spider-Man because HOLY SHIT the writing decisions made on this show are pissing me off, and don’t even get me STARTED ON CONNOR AND M’GANN BECAUSE WHAT THE FU