#imagine if they were still friends sharing recipes lol

[formiel1]

it's kinda funny to me how nico and lewis are both vegan

[wasitforrevenge]

new romantics

pairing: MODERN AU!college azriel x female reader

warnings: may be some triggering content including tampon is a douchbag at a party, mentions of drugs and alcohol, mentions of sexual activity but nothing major, smut books mentioned (hehehe) a fight occurs but can you blame him? he’s just defending your honor ugh, two idiots in love who want nothing but each other and can’t admit it, no use of y/n, imagine her as you, because it is YOU! half editted… ill get to it later i promise

word count: 4.5k

summary: your new study partner is better than you first realize… and now you can’t stop thinking about him, but he can’t stop thinking of you either.

authors note: hi first time writing for acotor! been a fan of these books for a while and my baby azriel does something to me!!! so here’s something i spent the night writing it was 10 different things before it was this lol! pls like, reblog and comment! thank you everyone for reading! photo credit to pinterest, and please i strive to do better so any thoughts pls free feel to let me know! thank you for the support! this is the first time i’ve had the energy to write in months so pls dont go too hard

you met azriel in a greek mythology lecture that you both ended up in during the second semester of your sophomore year. getting partnered with an incredibly built and handsome man for a history report your teacher assigned was the least of your problems when you realized how fucking kind and beautiful azriel is on the inside and out.

the real problem came when you realized how hard you were falling for this man when you started hanging out casually, hitting the coffee stand before class or getting food after a long day. you learned so much about him in a matter of months and couldn’t get him out of your head.

you never spoke existence to your feelings for him, mainly because you didn’t want to ruin a very good potential friendship but partly because you didn’t think you were good enough for someone like him. you’ve heard little whispers about his other… activities and you couldn’t help the way it made you feel.

at the start of your junior year, you and azriel were practically best friends and it just felt so natural. the way you two were together. the way your conversations flowed and the way the silence was never deafening when you were together. you spent time cuddling on the couch in your living room watching movies and rating tv shows and going to visit parks around town and getting high as fuck. once time you had even gone crazy and took some acid and spent hours at the aquarium watching all the fish. you studied for classes together, the one you shared and the ones you both took on your own.

you and azriel were always testing out new recipes in his large kitchen. its wonderful that he lives alone. alone as in by himself but you cannot glance over the fact that the rhysand and feyre along with cassian and nesta live on the same floor of this apartment building close to campus. you luckly only live 2 floors down, a thing you realized when you managed to see him in the elevator about a week or two after you first started studying together.

you were debating all summer about confessing your feelings to him but could not gather the courage to bring yourself to admit it to him and face rejection. you couldn’t mess up the relationship between you already. he was your best friend and you really didn’t have too many besides him. you’ve met his family and have spend a lot of time with them, they’re all practically adopted you at the point, they welcomed you with smiles and open arms (besides amren but they told you she’s always like that.)

but a couple weeks into the semester, you and nesta were standing in a kitchen of a person you don’t know debating on what shitty cheap alcohol you’ll be indulging in tonight. it was the first big back to school party and it was still hot as hell out so you were dressed in dark denim shorts and nice tank top along with your black converse.

you and nesta instantly clicked when you met. bonding over smutty books and all the tv shows you managed to watch. she’s felt like your first real girl-friend ever, you guys got some comfortable together and every time you guys hung out, it felt like no time had passed. it was refreshing to have someone to talk to. she also happens to be the only one who knows about the feelings you harbor for your other best friend.

as you’re about to pour the tequila into your red solo cup, you hear someone call nesta’s name and she tells you she’ll be right back before scurrying off to whichever of her friends was calling her. leaving you there alone not knowing anyone at the party, nesta told you the rest of the group was going to meet you there but you have yet to see any of them as you turn your head around the room.

as you fill your cup and turn to put the bottle back down on the counter, you feel a hand glide around your waist and are suddenly aware of a man extremely too close your liking. “hey baby” he said as he slurred his words, clearly intoxicated, by the way he looked and smelled. it sent more warnings through your head even after he grabbed you like that. you had to leave, this couldn’t happen. thoughts are rushing through your head. you move your hand to push his arm off you as you turn around to be face to face with a tall blonde with long hair.

“what was that for?” he drags out as he tried to put his hand back on you. you instantly tried to move towards the way nesta went and told him, “please get off!” but he was too fast and held your upper arm in a death grip before he tugged you closer to his chest, his other hand back on your waist like the first time he did it. your eyes close in fear as he leans down to whisper something in your ear, but he’s gone in an instant.

it all happened so fast. all you see is a large, muscular, tattooed arm flying in front of you, hitting the man who was on you just seconds ago. you watched shocked as you finally lock in to the situation before you.

azriel beating the shit out of the man who had just laid his hands on you.

azriel swung his fist again towards him, hitting him square in the jaw, “what the fuck do you think you’re doing?” he screamed at him, having another punch already landing with his other fist.

the man doesn’t respond before he swings back at azriel and managed to get a decent swing in, the hit landed to his lip but azriel doesn’t move at all. he’s standing still in the spot, continuing to tower over him.

azriel shoved the man back into the counter and landed a powerful hook right to his nose simultaneously. he cried out as it made contact, “fuck dude c’mon,” he reached up to grab it, blood pouring from his broken nose and busted lip. he steps closer as he removes his hand looking at the red liquid that has held onto his skin, ready to defend himself against the beautiful man that your eyes cannot stray from.

but azriel is faster and before he could even blink, managed to grab a hold of his shirt and pull him up to where his toes barely touched the floor. his hands fall at his sides and his eyes widen in fear as azriel gets closer to his face, leaning down to whisper something in his ear that you can’t hear over the loud music, people partying and the screaming and crying in your heart as you watched this all unfold.

suddenly azriel is tossing the man back into the counter and he barely managed to grab it and hold on, azriel suddenly grows larger, as if he could get any bigger, and leans to spit out the blood that had collected in his mouth behind him. and suddenly your attention is focused on the warmth now englufing your wrist. your eyes immediately register the sight of him standing in front of you, this was warm and right, his hands on you. it just felt so right.

his other hand reached out and gently lifts your chin to meet his gaze. the way the sense of safety coursed through you with his simple touch just confirmed, yet again, that this was going to be so hard for you to tell him.

“hey baby…” he spoke softly, his eyes darted between both yours. his attention solely on you. he let his finger rub against your cheek as he finished, “are you okay?” you can’t help the feeling the shoots through you at the use of the pet name and the look of shock that painted your face. not knowing if it came from, whether it was from what unfolded in front of you at this party or the fact he still holding your face and talking to you like this, so sweetly.

you blinked a couple times and the realization hit you that you’ve just been standing there, staring into his beautiful eyes. not paying attention to the group of people that crowded around as the fight was happening or the looks you guys are getting from other party goers that still surrounded you. the only thing you can stand to focus on his gaze.

azriel.

“i don’t know,” you almost whisper towards him, feeling his warmth covering you both. before you can talk again, he moves his scarred hand from your wrist, you feel almost… empty at the loss of contact but that doesn’t last long as he slipped his hand into yours and intertwined his fingers with yours as he guided you towards the front door.

you passed by so many people, you tried not to pay attention to all the looks you were getting. girls stared as they realized it wasn’t themselves in azriel’s grasp, but you. it was your hand he was holding. your heart beat at just the thought of it, your nerves were already shot as the events unfolded not even 10 minutes ago and this did not help one bit.

your eyes manage to catch nesta’s in the crowd, her eyes widen as she takes in the sight before her, azriel holding your hand and leading you out of the party. oblivious to what actually happened to cause this, she gave you a huge smile and two thumbs up. you cant help but silently chuckle at your friend despite the other overwhelming feelings you have. you’ll explain the situation later when you text her but you were sure eventually she’d hear what happened.

he leads you out the front door and looks back at you with a small smile as you trail behind him. he walked you over, without a word and hands still intertwined and you finally notice your next to his old beat up mustang on the side of the street, the one that smells like him and the faint smell of weed that always lingers regardless of the last time he smoked in there.

he opened the car door for you and you released your hand from his and got into the passengers seat. once you were in, he reached over and buckled your seatbelt for you, giving it a tug to make sure it was connected before smiling down at you from outside the car. he shut the door satisfied and walked around the back of the car to open his own door and sat inside.

the silence is comfortable. it always has been, you pray that sometimes it’s awkward or uncomfortable but it never is. you sit in your seat, eyes staring down towards the hand he had been holding, almost in disbelief, that he defended you like that. you’ve never seen azriel angry like that either. he turns to face you, wanting you to meet his eyes.

azriel walked in the front door of the party, after having a pretty day. the customers at the restaurant he works truly sucked today. small tips and even shittier people. all he wanted to do was smoke off some steam and get drunk with cassian and rhys. he knew you were going to be here. cassian mentioned it in passing while talking about nesta so he was also on the look out for you. the girl who managed to catch his heart after having been partnered together. azriel couldn’t help the way he felt about you even though it almost felt wrong to him.

he didn’t want to take advantage of you, he knew you were shy and never really been in a relationship. he found that out when he walked into the kitchen of cassian and nesta’s apartment, and overheard nesta telling cass all about you after her and you hung out for the first time outside the group. so he just tried to ignore his feelings but regardless of that fact you were his bestfriend. he just couldn’t escape you.

and when he walked into that kitchen to see tamlin standing over you, your arm tight in his grip, the way your eyes were slammed shut trying to back away from him. he didn’t even think. he was there pulling him off you before he could even recognize what he was doing. throwing punches left and right towards the man who dared touched you. he barely even registered the hit he managed on no one but him can put his hands on you. he’s had that thought before but never brought life to it, but here? now?

all thoughts of guilt for feeling that way vanished. there was no way he was letting anyone touch you. but him. that’s all he wanted. he wanted you in a way he didn’t think was reciprocated. love was a funny thing to him, something he was never accustomed to until after he met rhysand and cassian.

his family never showed it, he lives with the constant knowledge of that every time he looks down at his hands. he thought about the way you never judged him of them, like it was nothing at all to you but that was everything to him.

the one sided crush he harbored on mor for a couple years was nothing in comparison to the way he felt about you. his few flings he had over the past couple years (after he realized it was pointless liking mor, also… because she slept with cassian) were mildly of convince and of urge but once he met you, he knew he was a goner.

he stopped the girls. the stopped the meaningless flirting and hooks up and took to just pleasuring himself to the thought as you, as shitty as it made him felt after. sometimes he just couldn’t look you in the eye the next time he saw you but you never said anything. you never commented on it and he silently thanked you in his head.

but right now, after he pulled you out of the party, scarred hand in yours, he needed you to look him in the eyes. but you still hadn’t and he couldn’t just keep staring at the face of the beautiful woman in front of him while it was coated with anxiety and exhaustion.

azriel lifted his distorted hand to your face meeting the soft warm skin that was your own. he gently brought your face to meet his gaze and as you locked eyes, the spark hit you yet again.

gods he was breathtaking. dark hair that covered to above his ears, the eyes that seemed to stare into yours every single time they met, the tattoos that covered him and his golden brown skin that you swore shined outright during different points in the day. your heart cannot handle this man.

“please,” he practically whispered you barely even registered that he said it before he continued, “are you okay, what can i do?” the sound in his voice felt desperate as his eyes bore into yours, the feel of his hand on her face, you couldn’t help but lean into his grasp and close your eyes, taking in the feel of him. you responded a moment later after letting out a sigh and looking at him again.

“can we just go home? i just want to sleep” you asked him with a pleading tone as you feel his thumb rub against your cheek for the second time that night. ugh the things this man does to you. all you wanted was for him to hold you, to feel the press of his body against yours. anything to get the feeling of someone else off you. “yeah baby, we can.” he said gently before he moved his hand down to yours and gave you a light squeeze before he turned the car on and shifted into gear, pulling off in the direction of home.

once you arrived back to the apartment building, he parked in the lot next to the front door and moved around the car to open your door, he gave you his hand as you stepped out. he went to put his hand at your lower back as he opened the door for you but decided against just in case that was a lot for you right now. he did not want to make it worse. he could see the fear in your eyes back there, no way would he subject you to that if you weren’t comfortable with it. so instead he just followed behind you, hitting the button to the elevator to take you up to your floor.

the elevator luckily isn’t taking forever today so when it opens, you and azriel step in and he goes to hit the floor for your apartment but your hand reaches out and stops him. “can we go to yours please?” your head moves up to meet his gaze but his eyes are focused on where your hand is on his wrist. a second later his eyes meet yours and he gives you a small nod and hits the button for the fifth floor. you remove your hand and lean against the wall right next to him, his hand reaches out and entangles his bumpy fingers with yours.

“is this okay?” he asks you. you can barely hold it in after that, the tears finally fall. he feels the sudden change in your body as he moves closer to you but removing his hand from yours in fear that you didn’t want to touch him. but in reality that’s all you want. you want him to touch you. you want him to love you. you want everything with him. its all just so overwhelming, everything that has happened.

he goes to speak but before he can get a word out, your body is on his engulfing him in a hug around his long torso, he instantly wraps his arms around your smaller frame. he can feel your body shake with tears and all he wants to do is make sure that no one ever makes you feel like this again. you deserve so much better, he only wishes he could be better for you too. you squeeze him tighter and he just holds you until the elevator door opens and you pull away from him. mascara and tears running down your face, you can see it on his shirt. he smiles at you before he pulls his hands to your face and wipes your cheeks off with his rough yet soft hands.

you cant help the laugh that escapes you as he wipes his hands on the t-shirt staining it even more with the leftover residue on your face. he gives you a chuckle before connected your hands yet again, walking with you out of the elevator to his one bedroom apartment. he fishes in his pocket with his other hand and pulls out his keys. he unlocked the door and held it open for you to walk in.

your senses are taken over by the smell of him. the smell of his candle lingered from the coffee table covered with textbooks in the large living room, he has a basket of blankets he keeps in the corner because he knows you get cold watching tv. he has a big L shaped couch which had a 60 inch tv across the room, with a boatload of dvds underneath. something you both agreed was a dying art. you and azriel swear physical media will make a comeback one day but you guys will never forget how they ruined it!

his space was a lot bigger since you have a two bedroom apartment. but it was perfect for him. azriel had loved the way he made his space his own, his bass guitars set up in the corner next to his collection of vinyl records and a record player that rhys and cassian got him when he turned 21… as well as a shit ton of booze. he had a bookshelf that held his favorites, as well as your own.

he bought a copy of almost every book you talked about so that he was in the loop with what you were reading. even the ones you didn’t talk about that he caught on your nightstand or in your reading nook. when he bought one of those and read it, his jaw dropped. he immediately thought of nesta and her smutty books but this sent something else though his body. he couldn’t help but keep reading… he wondered if you thought about him while reading these scenes of them ravishing each other, in every way imaginable. he sure did! his right hand hates him!

and you definitely did to… thought about him in ways that you shouldn’t. thinking about him doing all those things to you. the way you knew he would take care of you. the way you knew you could take care of him, despite how inexperienced you are. the thoughts drove you crazy. it was practically all day and every day at this point. thinking about the way his hands would feel running up your thighs or the way his lips would feel on yours.

now here you are, standing in his living room, just wanting all that and little did you know… he did too.

“hey az…” you uttered towards him. he was already next to you as you spoke, “can we lay down please?” your voice was barely a whisper.

he didn’t even need to speak, he just brought you to his room. he lead you to sit on the corner of the bed as he turned and riffled through his dresser, pulling out a large dark green shirt and handing it to you with a smile, “change into this, i’ll be right back.”

“can i take a shower?” you asked azriel shyly. “yes of course, one sec.” you watched as he walked out the room and shut the door behind him. you took your shoes off and placed them by the bedroom door next to azriel’s shoes. he came back in a second later with a fresh towel and a water bottle.

“here you go, you already know where the shower is,” he says with a small chuckle. you give him a grateful smile and a thank you as you took the items from his hands and gave him one last look before heading into his connecting bathroom.

you turned on the hot water and you stripped out of your clothes and threw them into the laundry hamper in the corner of the bathroom. you got in the shower and felt instantly better. the way the water followed hot you could feel the touch of the man from the party washing away, only to be replaced with thoughts of azriel touching you instead. you reviled in it.

you washed your hair and body with his shampoo, conditioner and body wash. silently thanking him for not using 3-in-1 (nesta found out that’s what cassian used and flipped shit) you finished your shower and dried off with the towel he gave you.

you put on his t-shirt that made its way down to your mid thigh when it was on completely. you loved when you were covered in him. you walked back out into the room and didn’t see azriel so you took your seat at the edge of the bed and waiting for him to come back. you sat there and picked at your nails, feeling so wore out you didn’t even want to cry anymore.

azriel came in two minutes later, dressed him long flannel pajama pants and you can see the band of his underwear peeking out as he gets closer to you. he changed after you went into the bathroom, and then went to the kitchen to make sure he was stocked up on the tea you liked and the snacks you guys enjoy together, just in case you got hungry.

he ran around his living room and cleaned random odds and ends. putting dishes in the sink, folding the blankets thrown on the couch and organizing his cd collection. anything to busy himself instead of thinking of you in his shower. anything to get his mind off the amazing woman just in the other room. he hears the shower turn off and waited a few more moments before heading back into the room.

he moved the covers down to make room for you as he said, “after you princess,” with a smile on his face. you returned it and stood up to make your way to the bed but not before turning to hug him again. his arms wrapped around you as you mumbled “thank you azriel,” into his chest. you hold on for a few moments before releasing him. he looks at you before motioning to the bed, “i would do anything for you, you know that.” you felt your cheeks grow red at the thought, at the knowledge that he would.

you climb into the bed and laid your head on the pillow, turning to look at azriel, you wondered why he was still standing. “az are you coming?” you said bashfully. he blinked and bent down to the bed to be eye level with you. “i’m gonna sleep on the couch tonight.” you could feel the way your face dropped in disappointment as you registered what he said. he saw it too and felt it deep in his chest.

he stood up and was about to say goodnight but you beat him to it, “azriel please i need you.”

you could feel how desperate you sounded but you didn’t care. you just needed him. next to you right now. he said nothing else as he moved the blankets again, but this time he was under them. he didn’t hesitate to pull you into his chest, your hand found it’s way over his fast beating heart and his tattooed arm wrapping around you. the warmth and scent of him took over everything in your body. you finally felt safe. your legs tangled together as you eventually fell asleep to the rise and fall of his chest.

“i need you too.” he said to a room with no one awake but him to hear.

part 2??? i would love to write one! let me know what you think! i’d love to keep writing for acotor so yay! pls enjoy :) i’m on the edge of my seat writing this hehe

[the-likeable-wizard-mack]

Modern Fantasy Monsters: Summer Time!

I have said this once and I will say it again. ORC BBQ BLOCK PARTIES. Imagine all the food. Like seriously ALL of the food you could ever eat plus some really cool war stories from everyone who has them. Orcs trading recipes with other members of the family while they also share different smithing techniques.

Merfolk gathering at night at the beach when humans are our partying disguising themselves to look like humans to take food and drinks back down to their secret cove to have their own party that actually recycles all the excess wrappers that nonmerfolk don’t think about throwing away.

Werecreatures having close to turning bon-fire nights where they all commune with each other in their wildness. All were creatures are invited to be to feel as free as they are while in their shifted form.

Vampires who stay out of the sun already are used as cold-water-bottles since they’re naturally pretty cold due to being a vampire. So this makes them prime content for their non vampy friends hugging them with their warm bodies to try to cool down. Vampire emotion can range from okay to this practice or “I SWEAR IF YOU DO NOT GET YOUR SWEATY BODY OFF OF MEEEE!!!”

Demons that sneak into abandoned places to have wicked parties. Imagine a group of rambunctious demon teens sneaking into an amusement park after dark partying it up.

Merfolk using small kiddie pools as tanning beds to get a nice summer tan.

Witches that create mix potions with cool drinks for different effects. Mostly effects to cool the body…hopefully it won’t turn the person drinking the potion into a giant ice cube.

Dryads soaking In pools to keep their bodies from drying out due to the heat. Sometimes they have to stay inside due to hot wealthier advisories.

Dragons who sometimes stay out in the sun and let the sun shine on their scales to sunbath (like the big lizards they are lol) or they sit in a pool of water just to cool down from all the excess heat.

Giants that don’t mind their smaller friends using their arm and hands as a diving board. Though they are still careful that their friends are safe and won’t raise their arm too high for them to jump into the water.

[caitlynskitten]

mmmmmmmmm

Anyway, here I go again lol

Wednesday isn't soft, never was, and never dreamed herself to be so. Nobody could change that, many tried to and they all met either a swift end or were forced to change their identity, permanently. Wednesday is a razor-sharp edge and the rest of the world is just a whetstone that she is constantly sharpened against.

Well, at least she was. That knife's blade has slowly been dulled by a pair nobody could've imagined would be capable of such an impossible feat. A blonde, hyperenergetic werewolf and dark-haired, cocky-as-hell vampire. Ugh, there are undoubtedly some jealous perverts who would just love to take her place, Wednesday would happily rip them apart herself.

Somehow, some way, Enid and Yoko had managed to melt away those well-built walls around Wednesday's heart. Perhaps their personalities just mixed together into a recipe of acid, perfect for the task of exposing the kind girl inside, desperate for love and affection and desperate to show it to those she cares for. Either way, after giving herself to the two women, both body and heart, Wednesday wasn't quite the same anymore.

Typically, in public, nothing really appeared to change. At least, not to anyone who didn't know her well, her image of the terrifying Addams girl still well intact to the general school populous. But to her friends and family? Well, they could see the change, some of it. But only the wolf and vampire saw her, truly saw Wednesday. Whenever it was just the three of them, Wednesday held nothing back. She was touchy, needy, and even whiny when she was especially desperate for them, usually on harder days when the rest of the world got on her nerves.

Like today, for example. A group of werewolves thought it would be real funny to mess with her in small ways, all in build-up to some big show to humiliate the raven in front of the school. Thankfully, they never got the chance as Bianca, Nevermore's Queen B herself, caught wind of it and shut them down, hard. However, enough damage was done to Wednesday's social battery and she desperately needed her partners to bring her back to herself.

Returning to her dorm room, Wednesday sees the two waiting for her on her bed. Yoko and Enid quickly stand up just in time to catch the tiny seer in their shared embrace and less than a second later, they can feel their shirts dampen with tears as the body in their arms shakes subtly, tiny sobs wracking through her as the day's exhaustion catches up to her.

"Oh Wends, it's okay. They're not gonna bother you anymore, little raven. We've got you, Mommy and Daddy have you." Enid strokes Wednesday's hair softly, gently scratching her scalp the way she knows she loves. Meanwhile, Yoko guides them all slowly onto the bed and places Wednesday between her and Enid. Once they're all lying down, the vampire and wolf take their time to undress the raven and themselves, giving Wednesday the skin contact she desperately craves at the end of every day.

The rest of the afternoon and long into the night is spent like that, with Enid and Yoko holding Wednesday tight and whispering soft praises, telling her how much they love her and how proud they are of her until Wednesday finally slips softly into sleep.

End. <3

Oops, this was really long, didn't mean for that to happen... Anyway, I hope this is good fluff for my new favorite OT3. Also, I couldn't help myself, I had to slip in a little Mommy and Daddy in there, but it's not sexual in this context, just something to help Wednesday relax. Reminds her that she's safe, if Enid and Yoko ever refer to themselves that way, it means they're alone and Wednesday can let go.

Oh my god. Now this is the fluffiest fluff I’ve read of the three and I am LIVING for it 😭😭😭😭 Enid and Yoko comforting and reassuring their cute Raven after hard days is just *chefs kiss* Ugh it’s so cute it’s so adorable it’s so fluffy I love them together. I 1000% agree that these two are the reason Wednesday finally feels love and happiness and found two people she genuinely love and can be herself.

ALSO THE

“We’ve got you, Mommy and Daddy’s got you” OH MY GOD MY FUCKING HEART

MY FUCKING HEART

Sorry I just keep rereading that segment where the two of them comfort Wednesday and praise her for being such a good girl and a good girlfriend. And how much they love her. Ugh and the two of them sandwiching her as they all fall asleep together. Fuck I love these three they’re so cute.

Can’t stop thinking about these two praising their beautiful short girlfriend🥺🥺🥺

[parkminijiminie]

Can I share one of my theories about Jikook’s relationship? Yes, I have several and this one is my current favorite, lol

So I thought about the possibility because one of my co-workers told me her story with her husband and when I started having doubts about Jikook still being together last year I connected it with her story. Emma, if you ever end up here, hi! Lol, no chance (hopefully, that would be awkward)

Basically, she met her husband in high school. They were each other’s first love and it lasted a few years, I can’t remember how long exactly but they were still together at uni. But then things started to get complicated, they still loved each other but it wasn’t working. Like they got together too young and their relationship went too fast. So they decided to go separate ways. But after a while they would always come back to each and sleep together, apparently it was very messy - cheating involved and all. And finally after some years they got tired of it and realized they were each other’s person and got married. So I wondered if maaaaybe Jikook are experiencing something similar? Because I like to play detective and just so much stuff doesn’t add up. It looks like they could have been each other’s first love and it worked well for a few years but the way I see it the pandemic could have hit them hard. Maybe they tried living together and it didn’t work? Jimin wasn’t doing well as we all know, I feel like he needed some time alone. I wonder if they broke up at some point but like in my co-worker’s story something is unresolved and the feelings won’t go away? It’s so hard to think of them as exes who moved on. But it’s also so hard to only think of them as very close friends. I truly feel like they were together for quite a while. But then 2022 and 2023 happened… and then the NY trip recently. What was that? We know they filmed something there, but if they were exes how could they accept to collab on something that soon? Wouldn’t it a bit weird? Would the company even propose it? It’s a bit of a risky move. And Jungkook’s live in bed, what was that? And all his previous lives watching Jimin content actually? And now it seems like they spend some time together for Chuseok. There’s so many missing pieces, for me their relationship status reads are "it’s complicated", lol. Maybe I think too much!

Sorry for the rant and the mistakes, English isn’t my first language and I still need to improve.

It could be! So many real life relationships are complicated, especially when they started young. Now imagine you're young, queer, live in a homophobic country, you're work with your loved interest and you're both in the biggest band in the world? A recipe for disaster.

Your theory may have some truth to it.

[oriigirii]

Given I don't have so much NRC students given I have more of a fanschool, lemme offer my fandorm for interactiosn with your babies. What would they think of Leroy, Henry and Mellow, maybe also Carol.

(AN: Im sorry if I only got to draw Leroy and Henry 😭 its like 1am and my back is no longer shrimp, its clam

Anyways here are some of Charlie's thoughts towards your characters! :D )

▫️Leroy

》 He radiates chaotic energy? Good he'll definitely balance out Charlie's calm demeanor

》 Has that big brother energy, so if somehow hes shown his love for manga and his favorites, hed probably get hooked (Hes a shoujo reader, he likes the cheesy romance lol)

》 Would even listen to him ranble about his favorite manga as he does his homework, but would end up forgetting it if he gets to the good parts haha

》 If they ever get close hed probably be keeping track of him and Ruggie as so they arent causing too much trouble lol

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▫️Henry

》 He'd probably be intimidated by him at first tbh, But he'll come around! He would probably ask him for small guides though on certain school topics, and it could always escalate from there,

》 Would probably start sliding a piece of candy towards him as thank you for the help

》 Remember if you get a candy piece from this tol giraffe, youre both bounded as friends now sorry, no take backs 💅 but hes chill 👌

------

▪︎ Mellow

》 Truly a soft boi this one. Once again, Charlie's big brother energy radiates and hed probably be a little softer towards him

》 If they were close hed def make him some nice snacks that are vegetarian though! Hes the only herbivore at the school, hes gotta share his recipe with someone yknow?

》 He'd def be willing to help about his monster form too if he needs it~

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▫️ Carol

》 Maam, your style 💅 Slay queen yes!

》 Would def ask for help to look as cool as she does, Hes in a dorm full of predators, gotta fit in somehow yknow?

》 Still I honestly imagine Carol and Charlie complaining bout the 'kids' they have and how hard it is to be their group's mom 😩💅

---

▪︎ Overall, Hed 10/10 hang out with each and one of them >0<)/ They all seem chill and as long as they dont look down on him then theyll all get along well!! This gentle giant will def give them headpats as well, theyre all doing great 😭🤚

[dreamkidddream]

I’d like to request hc’s of the Brothers and Diavolo reacting to an MC that’s so cute, she could pass off as a doll. If she stands perfectly still, she could pass off as a full sized doll until she moves again. She has adorable doe eyes, wears cute clothes (Lolita fashion or just has an anime girl style), and even makes cute desserts. If the usual MC was weak and frail to them already, Doll!MC seems so dainty, precious, and fragile; these guys would ban paper if she ever got a paper cut.

Oooooo this is really interesting! I can just imagine Doll!MC just making everyone so scared every time she moves because they could probably hurt themselves just bumping into a wall because they look so fragile lol. These were short, so hope you enjoy!

Update: here’s part 2 with the other Undateables!

The Brothers and Diavolo Reacting to Doll!MC

Lucifer

...maybe he made a mistake in picking you for the exchange program after all

You just look so delicate, and just so pure. 

You have definitely made cute little snacks and brought it to him while he locked himself in the office with paperwork

He lowkey highkey likes it no matter how he brushes it off with the usual thanks. Keep doing it, MC, he really appreciates it

When you get in trouble and he gives you the usual lectures, he can’t look into your eyes for long

Geez, he already can’t stay mad at you for long but now he can just feel his resolve cracking

If you get hurt oh Diavolo prepare for helicopter parent Lucifer

As soon as you accidently cut yourself in the kitchen (it would be the tiniest cut, barely noticeable),  you’re no longer allowed in the kitchen unsupervised and can’t handle anything with a sharp end (whether its a butter knife or kid proof scissors that would be safe for Luke to use unsupervised)

“Let me do it for you, I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Lucifer, thank you but I’ll be okay. It’s just a frosting spatula it’s not sharp-”

Will punish his brothers 10x worse and demons 100x more if he finds out you got hurt (doesn’t matter what the injury is, could be so much as a paper cut there will be hell to pay)

Constantly checks on you when he can’t see you in person

Handles you so lightly that you barely feel his touch

Move over Belphie, you’re the baby of the house now 

Mammon

Protective x100000

Is still tsudere around you, but doesn’t insult you as much

Who are you kidding as soon as he looks into your cute doe eyes, he forgets what he’s saying 

Complains about having to do stuff for you but doesn’t mind at all really. He loves it because it feels like you’re depending on him, and that makes him feel worth something.

“C’mon human, let the Great Mammon carry your books! You’re gonna hurt yourself and I don’t feel like hearing Lucifer’s mouth today!”

It was just your planner and a small recipe book that Luke gave you, and it weighed less than 10 pounds but okay. You don’t complain either when you see that he genuinely wants to help and do these things

Basically your loud guard dog and secret service agent rolled into one

He’s gotten into trouble more than once for “protecting you”. A student barely bumped your shoulder and Mammon already tackled him. Lucifer was not pleased (but he secretly understood)

He can’t help it that you’re weak and surrounded by hungry demons! It’s a pain to go through this much effort to just protect you, since you look so helpless

MC he’s just worried that you easily break if a demon so much as breathes on you but he likes that he can protect you because he knows that he can keep you safe. You’re just too cute and sweet okay??

Also stand in his room after watching a horror movie to freak him out and he’ll be sounding like Mariah Carey lmao

Leviathan

RURI-CHAN IS THAT YOU??!

Is for sure having an otaku/weaboo freakout moment

You blend in with figurines so well, every time you come into his room he asks you to stand next to them so he can feel that his collection is complete 

He does it sometimes when he streams so people can think he has a rare limited-edition life sized doll that they can’t get. Makes him feel superior 

DRESSING YOU UP IN COSPLAY 100%

You’re like an anime character but in real life and he does not know how to handle it 

Can’t stare into your eyes, it makes them too flustered because he’s used to seeing it in his otome games and not from an actual person that he likes

Who needs maid cafes when he has you? You even dress and make anime themed desserts (once he built up the courage to ask you to make it for him)

Has to calm his beating heart every time he talks to you, you’re too precious for him MC! 

Your like his very own idol, minus the singing and dancing. However, if you can sing and dance....

Levi.exe has stopped working 

Satan

Thought you were a real doll until you introduced yourself

He really thought that someone brought you to life Pinocchio style

You looked like a princess from the many stories that he read, and he was smitten

Treated you so graceful and elegant like until he had his rage moments, which he told you to stay far, far, far away from him until he calmed down completely

Secretly placed a hex on you to where if someone tried to attack you or touch you with harmful intentions, they would be somehow be subjected to looking at their worst fear

You were wondering why that random stranger was just staring wide at you with extensive terror, but then you saw Satan grinning, so you left it alone. You thought it was just some weird demon thing

Loved when you made him cat-themed desserts

If you wore cat ears while doing it, he will turn extremely red

If you meow for him, he won’t know how to handle himself 

Asmodeus

You are just the cutest thing he has ever laid his eyes on!!

Besides from himself of course, don’t get it twisted he’s still #1

He has most definitely had more than one photoshoot done with you both. And you guys have been trending on the Devilgram a couple of times already

Really you guys trend at least twice a month, and his fans love you!

They always ask where he got the doll from but he always laughs and says that “it’s a secret”

Imagine their shock when they see you walking and talking at RAD, some are amazed and some are downright scared

Fashion shows! 

He lives for dressing you up in cute clothes. Your style already suited you and he had great tastes so the new outfits he got you were just *chef’s kiss*

The cute little desserts that you made for him, he always posted it on the Devilgram before he ate it. They were just so cute MC and he couldn’t not show his fans!

Is the most careful brother when it comes to keeping you out of danger. He refused to let his body or skin damaged, and he wasn’t about to let it happen to you either! You are both way too dainty and fragile to let anything happen

Also spa days and self-care nights weekly!

You’re the perfect match made just for him MC

He finally has someone that can understand his struggle of being beautiful, bless you MC

Beelzebub

Soft boy is scared of touching you :(

He towers over you, and he’s scared to even be near you

It takes some time, but he starts to warm up to you

Is always gentle with you, no matter the scenario

Holding hands? He is hardly gripping your hand, said hand fitting loosely in his

Getting hugs? He’s meagerly holding you, not wanting to crush you

You once complained to Beel that it wasn’t fair to get half done hugs (if you were hugging, you were getting a real hug, not a scared one). 

He made you swear that if he was hurting you to let him know, so now you have your very own signal to use for him just in case

He was very tempted to wrap you in bubble wrap and just carry you around like that

He LOVES your sweets, even more than Luke’s and Barbatos’

No matter the size, he loves them, mainly because you made them and it was made with love, just for him

It always makes him feel so warm inside, and he doesn’t feel his appetite gnawing at him like usual

No one is dumb enough to try anything with you both in his presence and not, unless they want to end up either a: deep into the ground or b: into his stomach

You just make him feel all warm and fuzzy inside, and he just loves everything about you. He just loves you

Belphegor

Hm, you look cute 

For a human

Acts like he doesn’t care, but you’ve caught him blushing before (he still does it too)

Won’t outright admit that you’re charming in your own little way, but he does in his sarcastic way like usual

“MC, you’re such a half-pint. You’re like my personal sized teddy bear.”

Has cuddled with you like you were his personal teddy bear (and still does, but you don’t complain at all)

Has a secret sweet tooth and eat your desserts whenever you make it just for him (and he doesn’t even share it with Beel, that monster)

Demons just have to look Belphie in the eyes, watch him flex his claws, and they all of a sudden forget about whatever they were planning. Good

He hates that you look so fragile, but at the same time he kinda likes it

You just look so soft, and you’re just so kind

It makes him feel like he’s protecting and caring for you, and that makes him feel calm and peaceful 

Please make sure that he’s okay MC, he’s scared that he’s gonna mess up again

Diavolo

The Prince of Hell is both surprised and pleased at your appearance

Do all humans look this charming or is it just you??

If someone as soft as you can survive living and going to school with demons, then this is great

Knew that you weren’t a doll, but still liked to admire you like one

Has asked more than once for pictures, you are just too enchanting!

Wants to have a portrait painted of you so he can hang it up in the castle

LOVES you baking for him! Loves when Barbatos does it too (even though it is kinda part of his job), but it feels different with you. It feels...domestic in a sense. Makes him feel like Diavolo, your friend and very interested in being your boyfriend, instead of Lord Diavolo, the prince that will be residing over Hell in the future

No one would be foolish enough to hurt you. If someone was, they wouldn’t even get the chance to lift a finger before they were directly dealing with him. Don’t take his kindness for weakness, he still is a demon after all, the future King of Hell to be exact

Was scared of touching you at first, but quickly grew out of it! He can handle his own strength, and you guys also have a signal to use just in case he does squeeze a little too tight

Will want to dress you up in royal clothes (if you were okay with it). Nothing is wrong with your current style, as a matter of fact it suits you! He basically just wants to play a fancy game of dress up/have a fashion show with royal clothing

Will take 100s of photos, no exaggeration

Asmo will be jealous, so be warned

Plus, he wants to know how his future lover/ruler would look in a crown so he can start taking measurements. You can never be too ready, right MC?

[dontbipanicjonsa]

Still thinking about Sansa and friendships- this time about her friendship with male characters. Overall there is a major lack of male-female friendships in ASOIAF. For Sansa, there are no canon male-female friendships. I'm not even going to talk about canon.

Instead, I can so clearly imagine-

Sam and Sansa meet through Jon, but they exchange numbers when he isn't looking. They exchange recipes and cat memes and talk about their favourite movies. They are also relentless gossips. Nobody is exempted from their gentle judgement.

Podrick and Sansa were assigned to do some project together once, and they've had a solid, silent friendship since. Sometimes they hang out in the library just to enjoy some peace and quiet together. Sansa puts together Pod's date outfits and Pod is always Sansa's go-to plus one.

Satin and Sansa have ran in the same artsy circles since forever. They went to the same school and then he came back as the music teacher. She likes to hang out with him sometimes because he's chill and he gives her tips for her singing.

Or maybe they meet in some competition. Some fashion show. They know who the other is, even if they've never interacted much. They know they're in each other's corner.

Sansa has had the strangest, deepest conversations with Jaime in the dark corners of high society parties, or the grocery store. If asked, they'll pretend as if they've never said a word to each other, but they know. They know each other.

Harry is that guy who kept trying to hit on her, but she's seen guys like him before and she's not interested. Still, he's fun to talk to. He hits on her, and before he knows it he's spilling his guts to her about something-or-the-other and she's holding his hand all sympathetic. Or maybe- he hits on her, and before he knows it they're having the most inane conversation about semantics. They flirt with each other for fun and give each other weekly life updates. Their friendship is made up of 80% random conversation and 20% flirty affection.

Gendry goes to Sansa for how-to-high-society lessons- A would say he doesn't need it, but he disagrees. Everyone is amazed at his good manner, but it's all over for him when he compliments someone's name ("that's pretty"). He'll never live it down.

Aegon and Sansa are both The Second ChildTM. Somehow, people seem to think they're frivolous and at the same time think they're too-perfect-at-everything and therefore boring, nevermind how contradictory it seems. At their core, they're Good Kids, but some very justified issues with their daddies drive them to "act out" in very justified ways. Others don't see it that way, but that's ok. They're used to others making the weirdest presumptions about them. They are the same person.

(tho Ned and Rh*egar aren't really comparable lol)

Littlest Brothers Bonus -

People assume Rickon sees Sansa as a sort of second mother, and he does....but they don't see how he mothers her too. No one brings out the mother hen in him the way she does- he's a mother GODZILLA.

Sansa has always been Sweetrobin's favourite cousin. They have some weird shared experiences they don't talk about, but anyway. He has a sixth sense about when she's feeling uncomfortable- he'll come at her then all teary eyed asking for increasingly outrageous things. It's all good when he's like 8, but earns them a good number of side eyes when he's 20.

Like....just friendship for it's own sake. Relationships with guys that are not the friends-to-lovers variety, not the lovers-to-friends variety. Relationships with guys that exist independently of her (or their) relationships with Jon/her family/her female friends.

The lack of male-female friendships in the books is a consequence of the society it is set in. Still, Sansa being one of those characters who canonically has no guy friends shouldn't be discounted. Sansa's best friends are other girls. Sansa is most comfortable and free hanging out with other girls. If Sansa had a group of friends they would mostly be other girls. But since we're not talking about canon here, Sansa should (and most likely would) have this too. Easy friendships with guys who appreciate her as she is.

[littlemessyjessi]

So, reading the Easter reaction, my Jewish soul is hungering for something I've never once seen: a BTS Passover reaction. How do you think BTS would interact with their Jewish girlfriend celebrating what is kind of the Penultimate Jewish Holiday? Thank you in advance if you do it and feel free to ask me any questions about Passover if you need to! 🌹

Hello, darling!

I would love to do this Passover request! All walks of life are welcome here!

I'm Pagan, my fiance is Catholic, my family is primarily Christian with some other things mixed in as well, lol. AND my childhood best friend who I am still close with today is Jewish!

I have been to many holidays at her house over the years and that has very much included Passover! Her parents were always very welcoming to me and always invited me for celebrations!

I think my interest in the study of all faiths and beliefs actually came from her Bubbie. We would sit for hours when I was younger talking of different faiths around the world. I was entranced with the stories she would tell me. And she had this beautiful painting in her dining room of the breastplate of the Jewish high priest. It was gold and full of gorgeous glimmering stones and she told me that each stone represented each of the twelve tribes. To a child, it looked like the most marvelous artist's palette meets mighty warrior armor. It was something of my dreams. Needless to say, I HAD to know them all. So I had her tell me about a stone every time I saw her until I knew them all from Odem all the way to Yashpheh!

So I may include some moments of my own experience over the years if that's all right and I've ran it all by Leah as well, lol. She seemed to like it, so I hope you do as well!

Excuse my rant of excitement, lol. Moving forward, I hope I can do this justice and bring you some joy, my love.

-------

First and foremost, I think all of the guys would be more than welcoming to any culture. They have their own traditions that correspond with Korean culture that could be different to others and those seven are kind and caring gentlemen. I would imagine that the would thrive and take delight in sharing both their traditions and their partner's traditions.

----

Jin

I think Jin would go IN on the food stuff. I mean, of course, he is quite picky, lol. However, man loves to eat and he also seems to quite enjoy cooking. So I would think it quite likely that he would have ordered a few things such as:

A sedar plate

Likely a fun one, maybe with some cute illustrations or maybe he'd go the traditional route. Who can tell with Jin?

But I think it would be quiet sweet. I could easily see him as the type of person to say,

"I'm all in, love. I want us to be able to have this for our little family for years and to pass it down. Whether we pass it to children or family or friends, doesn't matter. I just want to be able to create these memories together and when I see it in the cabinet, it'll make us smile because we're remember."

Excuse me while I go sob in the corner because while Jin can be goofy, he also seems to be very sweet and caring and I could imagine that with his partner, he would share those tender moments.

On the other hand, Mr. World Wide Funny Guy would definitely charm your family/chosen family if you choose to celebrate with them. He is NATURALLY charming and quick witted. Expect them all to absolutely fall in love with him.

Like, get in line though. We all love Seokjin and want to give him the world.

Also, sorry, I got a bit carried away with Jin. I just love sweet Seokjinnie, ya know.

Yoongi:

Oh, boy.

Alright, so you just need to prepare yourself. You will be eating matzah ball soup and probably a lot of it because ya boy will NOT stop until he has perfected a recipe that even judgy aunties can not criticize.

Also, soft boy over here is just so touched to be able to share this experience with you.

Additionally, he will be bringing only the FRESHEST herbs as a gift. Don't you DARE try and buy it the day before. He will not have it.

And the best fruits and nuts.

And probably a rather expensive bottle of kosher wine because his respectable, dammit.

Hoseok:

Ok, listen. The research king is on it. Also, prepare yourself for matching outfit. You wear what you want but fully expect Hoseok to match you. Like it's happening. Hoseok would also probably very much be into the prep for Passover that some participate in such as spring cleaning. Many faiths participate in this as spring is a time to clear the stagnant air of winter and welcome the warmth and fresh life of spring. I think he would go HARD for this as we know it's been mentioned that Hoseok is a bit of a clean freak himself.

Also, Hoseok seems to be quite the optimistic person. Yes, we have Sunshine Hobi but there is also Hoseok, the person. Yes, he tries to bring light to others as much as he can but he still a person. The point is that, I think he would heavily relate to the concept that Passover is a tale of freedom. He has had dark moments in his past and, since he is human, I'm sure he has them now as well. I think he would resonate with the idea of looking back at trials and tribulations and also looking forward with ( no pun intended, but heck, this is J Hope so sure) - hope.

Namjoon:

While Joon has identified as an Aetheist in the past, he is also a sponge for knowledge. There is a bright, childlike wonder in those eyes and he seems to love to learn. I would imagine that he would want to read up on everything but also, he would love for YOU to tell him about it. Your beliefs and faiths. He would love hearing stories passed down that either came from your family or just ones you've clung to. Your memories, all of them. I could see him wanting to engage with family members (if you celebrate with them) and wanting to talk things out. I think he would thrive in learning about the Haggadah, the retelling of the story of Exodus!

He's a poet at heart and so I think he would love hearing the stories and also would likely find bounds on inspiration just from experiencing this with you.

Jimin:

Jimin, the sweet caring man that he is, would feel all the more closer to you because you've included him. He cares deeply and loves to be included. Quality time is a huge thing for him. Also, also family seems to be huge for him. So whether it's blood family or found family or simply the two of you in your home together, he will feel immensely touched to have been included. He also seems to be the type of person to be INVESTED in the people he cares for. So I could seem him being all in and wanting to participate in all of it. He loves you and wants to share in the things that are important you, whatever those things may be. Tell him what you like, tell him what you don't. Tell him if you do the full fast or if you don't. But tell him and let him do it with you. He is your rock and you his.

Taehyung:

Taehyung strikes me as someone who would be very interested in the traditions of Passover. Not only yours but those around the world. He would like to read the special prayers and/or blessings. He might want to visit a Synagogue if possible. He loves art and all temples of worship are works of art in their own right. I could see him reading up on the Torah. Much like Namjoon, Taehyung is also a sponge for knowledge and when his interest is sparked, I could see him delving in. And if it pertains to someone he loves, his interest in certainly peeked. Also, I think he would particularly connect with the focus on charity and giving back that is associated with Passover. He would probably ask you what charities mean something special to you. He might want to make a donation or perhaps, if you're down, go and spend some time with the people or animals of those organizations. Taehyung has a big heart and family is huge to him. And his partner would also be his family. So YOU'RE traditions would mean just as much to him as his do.

Jungkook:

Ok, so while we all know that Jungkook loves his bread, I could see that he would also be very interested to know about unleavened bread and it's history. Jungkook, ever the hardworker and often humble and kind, would likely resonate with the concept of watching one's ego and not getting 'puffed up'. And the romantic poet in him would probably find the metaphor of that through bread quite beautiful.

Also, on a somewhat comical note, we all know Jungkookie is competitive by nature and loves a challenge. So while he would be respectful and appreciative of the history behind it, I think he would probably be one to want to attempt the fast. Of course, as always it depends on the person, their situation and their beliefs but I think Jungkook would enjoy learning about it and trying it as a way to deeper connect with your culture. He's in. The dogs are too. Let's get it.

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I hope you liked it and I did it justice! Thank you so much for requesting this as it took me down memory lane!

Also, also thank you to Leah for reading this for me and giving me feedback! I love you always, darling!

Hey loves! Thanks for checking out my work! For all kpop content check Masterlist 2.0 in my navi! Link in bio! Love, K 💋

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[bbrandy2002]

Friends, Football, And The Rys Cup -- TRR AU

The Good Life: Thanksgiving

A/N: I’ve wanted to do a Friends AU that included the TRR characters since I started on tumblr in 2019. One of the best parts about the show was always their Thanksgiving episodes and this one is one of my favorites. None of the characters belong to me or even the plot or most dialogue--I made only a few creatove changes -- but it was just a fun little thing for me to do.

A/N: This is different in that Liam and Leo aren’t brothers in this. If you’ve seen Friends, you’ll figure out how everyone knows and relates to each other. Hopefully one day I’ll finish writing the prologue.

Warnings: None

Thanks Burns for pre-reading and letting me use your girl. All grammar errors are my own as I refused to let her spend her Thanksgiving break on beta reading lol

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

It was their third Thanksgiving together. Just six friends from all walks of life, living out the best years of their young adult lives in the Upper East Side of Manhattan. While they could spend today carrying on family traditions with their own, for Liam, Maxwell, Leo, Riley, and Alyssa, they couldn’t imagine sharing this holiday with anyone else. Even Drake, who hated the very existence of this day of thanks, begrudgingly joined along in the festivities. It wouldn’t be the same without another regaling of the trauma of past Walker family Thanksgivings. 

Alyssa put the finishing touches on the stuffing she had transferred from a mixing bowl to a large casserole dish -- a Rys family secret recipe -- and popped it into the oven. She couldn’t cook for shit but wasn’t too bad when it came to baking. An even worse person in the kitchen: Riley sat at the kitchen table, quietly concentrating on placing the mini-marshmallows needed for the sweet potato casserole, when Maxwell struggled through the apartment door with a giant roasting pan, holding a turkey.

“Eight blocks, five flights of stairs, and a mugger who tried to steal my shoes, but we have one badass precooked turkey people!” An out-of-breath Maxwell exclaimed as Alyssa rushed over to relieve him of the heavy load.

Riley twisted around in her chair with a look of concern. “Oh my God, Max! You were mugged? Are you okay?”

Maxwell nodded his head as he slipped a pair of gloves off his hands. “Yeah. I had to use one of the turkey legs to fight him off, though. A little jab in the jewels, and that guy was down for the count. In case you’re keeping score at home … Maxwell and Mr.Turkey -- one … Sore nutsack loser -- zero.” 

“Say, Max …” Alyssa curiously lifted up the corner piece of foil and peeked under at the piping-hot bird. “Please tell me you didn’t put that leg back in here?”  

“Naw.” Maxwell grinned.” Hopefully, it’s still jammed into his --”

“YES! YES! YES! Noooo” A raucous cheer followed by the disheartened sighs of Liam, Drake, and Leo tore through the apartment. The three men sat heavily preoccupied with a football game between the Giants and Patriots on television from the living room sofa.

While the girls worked on in the kitchen, Maxwell stepped over to the couch. “Hey, it’s your Thanksgiving too, y’know. Instead of watching football, you could help.”

“We will,” the guys muttered flippantly in unison, though none of them moved an inch as the game continued to play.

“You know, for once, maybe I should sit down and try to watch one of these games too.” Just as he moved around the sofa and sat down, the three other men jumped up at the same time.

“Half-time!” Liam announced, as one-by-one, the guys scattered around the apartment, much to the chagrin of Maxwell.

Juggling a football between his hands, Leo looked around the room, “Hey, who wants to, ah, throw the ball around a little, maybe get a little three on three going?”

Riley rose from the table, setting her bowl of sweet potatoes aside. “Ohhh, that would be so much fun!”

Maxwell sat straighter, raising a hand excitedly over his hand. “Oh, can I play too? I’ve never played football ... like ever.”

Leo nodded. “Great! You can cover Drake.” He gestured with the football toward the large balcony window, where a morose Drake was sitting atop a wooden desk, feet planted in a chair, gazing out into the gray November sky. 

At the mention of his name, Drake glanced back over at the group with a frown. “No, that’s alright … I don’t … I don’t really wanna play,” he responded in a subdued tone.

Letting out a disappointed sigh, Leo strolled up the step and stood beside his roommate. “Come on, man! You never want to do anything since you and Penelope broke up.”

“That’s not true,” Drake replied while fidgeting with the frills from one of Alyssa’s decorative chair pillows. “I wanted to lounge around in my boxer briefs and eat beef jerky all day. I wanted to start drinking in the morning.” He wagged a finger exaggeratingly at Leo and raised his voice an octave. “Don’t say I don’t have goals, man.”

“Drake, you have to start getting over her. Alright? If you play, you get some fresh air, maybe it’ll take your mind off Penelope ... and if you don’t play, everyone will be mad at you ‘cause the teams won’t be even. Come on.” Leo pleaded.

Drake was never one to care much about what others thought of him, but he knew Leo was right this time. It would help take his mind off the recent breakup of a woman that overall annoyed the ever-living hell out of him. “Yeah, Alright, I’ll play.”

“Yay!” Maxwell and Riley clapped in response, just as Liam came out of the bathroom and was making his way into the kitchen.

“Let’s do this!” Riley jumped up from the couch and turned to her boyfriend, who was now standing beside his sister at the table. “Liam?”

“What?”

“Wanna play football? Riley asked with a hopeful glint in her eyes.  

An awkward silence clung between the Rys siblings as Alyssa stopped mixing a bowl of pumpkin puree and shared a timid glance with her older brother. Behaving like a child who’d just got caught with his hand in the cookie jar, Liam finally responded, “Um … Alyssa and I … aren’t supposed to play football.” Alyssa shook her head in concurrence, licking a drop of pumpkin from her thumb. 

Leaned up the back of the sofa with a grin, Leo teased, “Say’s who? Your mom?”

“Yes,” they answered sheepishly.

Feeling the weight of curious stares on her, Alyssa faced her friends and explained, “See, every Thanksgiving … um, we used to have a touch football game called the Rys Bowl --”

“ No, no, no, you say that proudly,” Drake interjected sardonically.

“Anyway, Liam and I were always captains, and um .. it got kind of competitive and one year: Rys Bowl Six -- I accidentally,” Alyssa stressed, prompting Liam to shake his head furiously, “broke Liam’s nose.”

Liam’s hands snapped to his hips as he glared down at his sister. “It was sooo not an accident.” He glanced back up to his friends. “She saw I was about to tag her, so she threw her big fat grandma-arm elbow right into my face and just kept running.”

Alyssa smirked, leaning in a bit closer to Leo and Drake. “To score the winning touchdown, by the way,” she bragged.

Liam hastily objected, “ Whoa, whoa, whoa, ho, ho, ho, you did not win the game. The touchdown didn’t count because of the spectacularly illegal, oh, and by the way, savage nose breaking.”

Rolling her eyes, Alyssa smugly reiterated to everyone, “I won the game.”

Liam guffawed, shooting her a pointed look. “Then how come you didn’t get the Rys cup?”

Much like the rest of her friends hearing this bizarre argument with slight amusement, Riley couldn’t help but ask the question that was on everyone’s else mind in that moment, “The uh … Rys Cup?”

“Yes, it was the trophy you got if you won the game.” Liam elaborated, his voice shifting more somberly, “But our Dad said, ‘nobody won that game, and he was sick of our fighting,' so he took the trophy and ...” Placing a fist over his mouth, Liam paused to collect himself, as he and Alyssa were on the verge of tears as they recalled to themselves what had happened all those years ago. “ … threw it in the lake.”

Though Riley and Maxwell were fighting back laughs, leave it to a surly Drake to add more well-timed humor to the situation. “And was the curse lifted?” He mocked.

“Anyway …” Liam continued, “That’s when our Mom said we were not to play football ever again.”

Alyssa boldly turned to Liam. “You know what? I think we should play a game. I mean, come on, it’s been twelve years,” she reasoned.

Liam clasped his hands together in disapproval. “Can I see you for a second?” 

The two walked over to the sink and began arguing in hushed tones. It was evident by the tenseness in Liam’s jaw, he wasn’t thrilled with his younger sister’s insistency that they should play; "they were more mature now,” Alyssa would argue, -- they were anything, but. Both continued their hostile argument until …

“Wuss!” Alyssa shouted at him.

That struck a nerve as Liam plastered on an unmistakable, fake smile and stepped away from her. “Alright ... we’re gonna play.”

“Well, wait a minute,” Drake looked around at the others and asked wryly, “how are we going to get there because my mom won’t let me cross the street?”

========

The crisp autumn leaves littered the ground at a nearby city park, which crunched loudly under the feet of the six friends as they warmed up for their game. Typically, at this time of day, the park was full of rowdy children playing, older folks taking time to people-watch on the benches, or a couple of college kids out for a quick jog. But with it being a holiday and all, it was mostly unoccupied and the perfect place to start a game of tag football. 

Now dressed in everything from sports jerseys, sweatpants, and their favorite team shirts, the group hunkered down within a small area surrounded by a tall, chain-linked fence, where they spent a moment tossing the football around. 

Eager to get things underway, Alyssa loudly clapped after throwing the football to Leo to gather everyone’s attention. “Okay, let’s bring it in.” She led them to the center of the field. 

“All right, we have to pick captains,” Leo suggested.

Maxwell furrowed his brows. “Okay, so how do we decide that?”

Glancing between her friends, Alyssa said, “Why don’t we just bunny up?” 

Aside from her and Liam, no one else knew what the hell she was talking about as they watched the two Rys siblings hop, hold two fingers on both sides of their heads, like rabbit ears, and shout out, “Bunny!”

Confused, Leo knit his forehead. “What?”

“Okay, looks like Liam and I are captains,” Alyssa pointed out cheerily as the two of them stepped forward together and faced the other. “Okay, so um, I bunnied first, so that means I get to pick first … Leo.” She pointed to the muscle-clad blonde, who gladly took his spot behind her.

Shocked and feeling rejected, Riley dropped her arms loosely to her side. “Alyssa? I’m your best friend.”

“Sweetie,” Liam affectionately interjected before reassuring her, “don’t worry. You’re gonna get picked.” Riley’s smile soon dwindled as Liam’s gaze and finger pointed slightly to her right. “Drake.”

Riley’s jaw dropped as Drake jogged to Liam’s side. “Liam!”

“Maxwell.” Alyssa chose and gestured him over with a thumb behind her shoulder to her team.

An excited Maxwell kissed a pouting Riley’s cheek before heading over to join Lyss and Leo.

“Now, sweetie, I pick you,” Liam smiled as he extended his hand out to her.

“You don’t pick me,” Riley spat with an icy glare as she lazily shuffled toward him. “You’re stuck with me.”

Taking the initiative, Liam scanned the field. “Okay … let’s see. Let’s play from that trash can --” He pointed with the ball to the corner section of the fence before switching the football to his other hand and gesturing to the opposite end. “ -- to that light post. Two-hand-touch … we’ll kick-off.”

“Alright, people,” Alyssa pulled her phone out and tapped on the screen. “I have exactly 28 minutes until I have to get the stuffing out of the oven,” she exclaimed as she set the timer.

“Wow ... Just like in the pro’s,” Drake quipped.

Liam, Riley, and Drake huddled together to discuss their strategy for the opening play. Alyssa gathered her team together several feet away from them, hunching in closely with Maxwell and Leo. 

“Ohhh, this is so exciting! My first huddle! ” Maxwell beamed as he stretched his arms out over his teammate's shoulders. “Okay, so, what do you all really think of Drake?”

This was no time to mess around; for Alyssa, this was almost as important as the Superbowl. She wanted with everything inside her petite, little body to beat her brother again like she did when they were kids. “Maxwell! You know what you’re doing, right?”

“Yeah,” he replied.

“Okay, Leo is gonna catch the ball, and you are I are going to block,” she instructed.

Maxwell tilted his head to the side. “What’s block?”

Alyssa groaned. “Maxwell, I thought you knew what you were doing.”

“I thought you meant in life.” He shrugged.

After they broke from the huddle and took their places on the field, Drake rolled his head from side-to-side, mentally preparing himself to kick off the ball and get the game started. Liam crouched on the ground, one leg outstretched in front of him, steading the ball on the tip of his sneaker and forefinger, only steps in front of Drake. Loosening up the tension in his arms and shoulders, Drake repeated to himself, “The ball is Penelope. The ball is Penelope. The ball is Penelope.” 

He was ready to kick the hell out of it now. 

Bouncing in place for a moment, Drake took one step back to get more running room, then bound ahead toward the ball. Putting all his emotional energy into booting “Penelope’s head” clear to the Bronx, he drew his foot back, then quickly extended it forward in one powerful kick. Missing the intended target by a long shot, he accidentally landed the blow on Liam’s ankle instead.

“Owww! Son-of-a-bitch!” Liam jumped up, dropping the ball, before hobbling around on one leg, while Drake apologized profusely for his blunder. “What the hell was that for? Come on!”

“I’m sorry,” Drake again apologized, bending down to swoop up the ball into his clutches. “You know what? We’re just going to throw it.”

Alyssa’s team was already lined up several yards away as Drake threw the football downfield, where it landed squarely in Leo’s hands.

Palming the ball securely, Leo ran forward in a determined dash to cross the invisible line where the garbage bin marked his teams goal. Liam bolted straight for him, making every effort to block him from scoring. Using his athletic skills, Leo contemplated Liam’s move and weaved right, faking out Liam, who quickly fell for the scheme, before stealthily dodging left, giving Leo free range to go in for the first touchdown of the game.

“Score!” Alyssa cheered, giving Leo a high-five. “Seven to nothing!”

In a loving gesture, Riley stepped over to Liam, who was pushing himself off the ground in frustration, and asked, “Are you okay?”

“Come on! Let’s just go!” he sputtered, wiping the dirt from his knees before walking away from her, only to run smack dab into an obnoxiously chirpy Alyssa, who was eager to taunt him on.

“Loser’s walk.” She jabbed Liam’s shoulder with a cocky smirk.

“Yeah, well, losers talk,” Liam countered peevishly.

“No, no … actually losers rhyme,” Drake said snarkily, pulling Liam by the arm away from the standoff with his sister, back to the line of scrimmage.

Another brief huddle and the friends were ready to face off again. Acting in the center position, Liam bent over, his large palms wrapped around the ball, preparing for the snap. Drake came up behind him, playing quarterback, placing both hands between Liam’s legs to receive the snap. “Twenty-three, seventy-four --” Drake called out before Liam stood back up and gave him an awkward look. Realizing neither one of them was entirely comfortable with where Drake’s hands just were on Liam’s body, he suggested, “Wanna go shotgun?”

“Yeah,” Liam insisted.

Stepping back two paces, Drake hollered, “Hike!” Liam snapped the ball to him as Riley ran downfield. Noticing the opposing team completely covering Liam, he turned to his only other option: Riley. Drake threw a perfect spiral pass that landed and quickly bounced out of her grip.

Proud of her near-catch, Riley gleamed with pride as she ran back cheering. “Ha, did you guys see that? I almost caught that one!”

With a lackluster smile, Drake nodded his head, allowing sarcasm to roll from his tongue. “Great. Now the score is seven to almost seven.” He begrudgingly accepted an oblivious Riley’s high-five.

Liam pulled his team into another huddle, gripping Drake’s shoulder as he went over the next plan, “On this play, I want you to do a down-and-out to the right, okay?” Drake nodded as they broke away to start the down. 

“Wait!” Riley piped up and turned to Liam. “What am I gonna do?”

“You?” Liam carefully considered his words. “You … you go long.”

“Well … how long?” she wondered.

“Until we start to look very, very small.” Liam held his thumb and forefinger barely a centimeter apart in front of her, so she was clear on exactly how small, failing miserably at disguising the insistence in his expression.

None-the-wiser, a chipper Riley smiled back. “Okay. I can do that.”

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

Several minutes and plays later, Leo hiked the ball to Alyssa, who dropped back into position, allowing teammates ample time to get down the field. Leo called for the ball, and she threw a high-arching pass that completely overshot his reach. The ball landed behind him and rolled further away until it was stopped by the heel of a stunning woman with intoxicating, brown eyes and a smile that lit up her entire complexion. 

Going to retrieve the football,L eo knelt and reached for it, catching a glimpse of slender legs. His entranced gaze trailed up the length of her body as he rose back to his feet, standing before her. “Heyyy.” He grinned broadly. “Thanks for stopping our ball.”

Transfixed on the ball in his hand, the mystery woman asked curiously in a thick accented voice, “You are playing American football, oui?” 

Leo nodded his head. “Yeah. Wow. You’re like from ... a whole other country or something.”

She laughed and confirmed. “I am Cordonian.”

Mistaking ‘Cordonian’ as her first name, Leo replied with a slight chuckle, “Hi. I’m, Leo.”

“Hello Leo, I’m Kiara.”

Leo edged closer to her, supposing he misunderstood the accent. “I’m sorry, Cordonian. I didn’t catch that last little bit.”

“Hey, Leo! You wanna play football … whoa ...” Drake ran up to the two and stopped short at the sight of this gorgeous, raven-haired woman chatting with Leo. He extended his hand to her. “Hi, I’m Drake.” She’s hot!

“Hello, Drake.” She shook his hand graciously as a hint of pink blushed her cheeks.

Leo faced Drake while motioning to Kiara. “Her name is Cordonian, and also Kiernan.” He pronounced it with a horrible, gurgling sound to mimic her accent.

“Kiara,” she corrected.

“Karen?” A puzzled Leo asked.

She shook her head and slowly enunciated, “Ki-ar-ah.”

Leo knit his brows and tried again. “Key-Llama?”

Drake planted his face in the palms of his hands “Good God, Leo.”

“Come on, guys! Let’s go! Come on; it’s second down.” Alyssa corralled everyone back to the game, her sights and words directed at the distracted Drake and Leo, who were holding things up.

Liam shot her a look. “Second down?” he challenged in haste. “Hello … it’s third down.”

“Uh, no, it’s not. It’s second down,” Alyssa retorted.

“Wow.” Liam smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “It just amazes me that you’re still trying to pull this stuff?”

Perplexed, Alyssa asked, “Pulling what stuff? It’s still second down.”

“Okay, Alyssa. It’s second down.” Liam rolled his eyes and turned to walk away from his dumbfounded sister, but not before adding one last retort for good measure, “Take all the second down’s you need.”

Her jaw dropped at his accusation that she was basically cheating. She shuffled after him. “Hey! I heard that.”

Liam stopped moving and twisted around to face her with a dead-pan expression. “Well, I said it loud.”

The two snarled and bickered with one another before regrouping with their teammates for the next play. Liam, Drake, and Riley clustered together in their huddle. 

“Drake, I want you to run a post pattern to the left, okay? And sweetie -- “

“Yeah, I know, go long.” Riley huffed bitterly. “Y'know, it’s like all I’m doing is running back and forth from the huddle.” Her hand absentmindedly gesticulated between the two imaginary end zones.

“Well, uh,” Liam puffed out his cheeks as he came up with what he thought was the best solution to Riley’s claim. “You just … want to stay out there then?”

He meant well, but Riley was having none of it. She snatched the football from Liam’s hands and bounced it off his forehead, with Drake catching the rebound. Without a word, the three promptly headed back to the line of scrimmage to face Alyssa, Leo, and Maxwell.

Riley knelt and snapped the ball back to Liam. He then turned quickly and pitched it over to Drake, who was sweeping wide from behind him. Drake powered forward, advancing to the goal line, but lost his footing and stumbled for just a split-second as Leo was fast approaching. With that minor error, Leo quickly stole the ball from Drake’s hands and into his possession. Leo reversed the direction of the play and took off toward’s his team’s goal line. 

Angered over having the ball stripped from him, Drake narrowed his sights on Leo and went after him in full force. Once he was close enough, he reached out and grabbed the back of a running Leo’s jersey with a fierce tug. The momentum of the pull while Leo was still running forward caused the entire back of the thin, mesh cloth to rip like paper in two.

Leo stopped and glanced down at his shirt, now dangling loosely off his broad shoulders, then tore a glare through a smug Drake. “What the hell is wrong with you, man? This was my favorite jersey.”

“Well ... now you have two.” A slightly out of breath, Drake smirked.

“Fine,” Leo scowled as he pulled the torn jersey off, revealing a white tee underneath, and tossed the pieces aside. “Prepare to feel very bad about yourself.”

Drake scoffed, “I’ve been preparing for that my whole life.”

“All right, come on guys, let’s go!” Alyssa clapped, rallying the teams back together. “Tie score, and we’re runnin’ out of time.” She stood behind Maxwell for the snap as they all got in place. “Forty-two!! Thirty-eight!! Hike!”

The alarm on Alyssa’s phone chirped noisily.

While everyone else assumed the alert signaled the end of the half and began slowly making their way to the sidelines, Maxwell kept running down the field, waving his arms high above his head. “Throw it to me, Lyssa.” Alyssa launched a wild pass, striking the young Beaumont between his legs, where he still caught it in his hands. “Ew! Broken dick! Broken dick! Ow,” he squealed with a squirm.

The others, realizing the play was still going, took off after him. 

Alyssa saw the opportunity for an easy score and shouted out. “Run, Maxwell! Run”

Hearing her direction -- ignoring the throbbing in his groin -- Maxwell’s eyes shot open and hurriedly raced across the goal line with the help of a block from Leo.

 “Yes! Touchdown! I gotta touchdown!” Maxwell celebrated like a child, jumping up and down as his teammates ran up to give him a celebratory hug. Shaking the ball above his head proudly, he cleared the space around him to make room for a moonwalk-of-victory. “I gotta touchdown. I gotta touchdown. Now break it down, nice and slow,” he sang.

Liam shook his head. “Um … hello … the buzzer sounded. It doesn’t count.”

Alyssa’s brows bumped together in a scowl. “After the snap, Liam. It does so count.”

“Before the snap,” Liam rebutted.

“After,” Leo objected.

“Before,” Drake continued the debate.

Riley sighed, “Now, does it really matter?”

“YES!” They all agreed in unison.

Still beaming proudly at himself, Maxwell bubbled, “Well, okay, but I made a touchdown. It was my very first touchdown ever. So …”

“That’s great, Max.” Liam smiled, genuinely happy for his friend. “But it still doesn’t count.”

Alyssa glowered up at her brother towering above her. “IT DOES COUNT!”

Deciding to go for the low-blow, Liam stared her straight in the eyes and resorted to what he knew would be a surefire way to get under her skin. 

“Cheater, cheater, compulsive eater.”

The formerly heavyset Alyssa’s jaw dropped as Maxwell’s hand shot to his mouth with a gasp at Liam’s audacity. “Oh my God!”

Trying to rise above his petty comment, Alyssa tipped her chin bravely. “Y'know what, that’s fine, maybe you haven’t grown up, but I have.”

“Oh-ho, okay,” Liam mocked.

Even more aggravated with his smartass, Alyssa stormed her way up to Liam, kicking him in the shin, “DEAD-LEG!” 

“Ow-Ow -- “ Liam yelled out as he hobbled around in pain. Feeling justified in her assault, Alyssa crossed her arms over her chest and looked on. 

“Okay, okay, fine!” he snapped, “you wanna win by cheating, go ahead … Maxwell, the touchdown does count, you win.”

Maxwell clapped enthusiastically. “Woo, yay --”

“NO!” Alyssa hollered, then let out an embittered exhale. “Listen, I’m not gonna go through this with you again, okay? Just once, I wanna beat when you can’t blame it on the broken nose, the buzzer, or the fact that you thought you were getting mono. Let’s just call this a tie score, and it’s half-time.”

“Okay, first of all, I don’t play with cheaters, and second of all, you know I had swollen glands!!”

“Y’know what?” Alyssa asked as she cocked her head to the side with a gleam of deviltry in her bright blue eyes. “I think you’ll play,” it was said with certainty.

Liam scoffed, “Oh yeah? And why is that? ...”

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

Back at Alyssa and Riley’s apartment, the gang stood eagerly around the kitchen table, waiting for Alyssa to reveal to Liam -- who was the only one seated -- what she held behind her back.

“You wanna know how I know you’ll play?” Alyssa raised a brow, feeling presumptuous that what she was about to show her brother would change everything. “Because the winner gets ... this.” Liam watched as she pulled out a grimy makeshift “trophy” and set it on the table with a flourish for all eyes to see. 

“The Rys Cup,” Liam cooed raptly, holding back tears. His misty eyes swept over the peculiar object, flooded with joyful memories that left him nearly speechless. “When did you? …H-how the hell did you get this? Dad threw it in the lake.”

Alyssa simply shrugged. “When Mom and Dad drove you to the hospital to get your nose fixed, I swam into the lake and fished it out,” she explained as if it were nothing.”

Along with everyone else gathered around, Drake stared blankly at the gadget that had caused such a squabble between Alyssa and Liam, less than enthused. “Is anyone else seeing a troll doll nailed to a two-by-four?” The tone in his voice was sluggish. When the three other friends not involved in this dispute nodded, Drake blinked once and responded dryly. “Okay … Good.”

________________

Bellies continued to rumble with hunger as the friends headed back down to the park to finish up the second half of their Thanksgiving football game, now lugging a mangy troll doll with them. Although Riley whined about being hungry and wanting to eat already, Alyssa and Liam were dead-set on besting each other and either keeping or winning that coveted Rys Cup. 

There was no time to waste after Alyssa took the dressing out of the oven and set it aside. It was now or never to answer the long sought-after question: Who was the better Rys sibling at football -- The holiday feast could wait.

In her huddle, Alyssa rallied her teammates: Maxwell and Leo, reminding them how important this game was. They didn’t entirely view it that way, but went along with her for sportsmanship’s sake. “This is serious,” she warned them, “Leo, you have to keep your head in the game.”

Leo glimpsed over Alyssa’s shoulder at the other team, his sight set on Drake, reminded of how he ripped his favororite apart in a earlier play. “I can’t help it,” he whined, “Drake destroyed my jersey. I loved that jersey!”

She regarded him thoughtfully, but with fierceness etched on her face. “Alright, if I take Drake out, will you be able to focus better?”

Somewhat petrified of Alyssa’s response, Leo nervously asked, “What’re you gonna do to him?”

Her eyes grew sinister; a crooked grin broadened her lips. “You just make sure Drake catches the ball ... I’ll take care of the rest.” Maxwell and Leo shared a glance then gulped.

Starting on the next play, Maxwell hiked the ball to Leo. Following Alyssa’s instructions to a T, he hurled the football directly to a surprised Drake. Getting the interception, Drake sprinted forward, but was instantly surprised to observe the much tinier Alyssa charging for him with the tenacity of a freight train. He mused it was cute how fierce and ruthless she was attempting to portray herself as -- it was tag football, after all. It wasn’t like this teeny little thing actually believed she was going to tag him.

And she didn’t ...

She plowed the hell out of him.

Alyssa dropped her head and barrelled it directly below Drake’s ribcage, the impact causing him to land on his ass and tumble head-over-feet as she tackled him furiously to the ground. Alyssa shot up,  practically floating over him in a taunting manner, laughing like crazy. “Tackled by a girl! Bet you don’t see that every day.”

Drake was still trying to catch his breath when a furious Liam marched over and confronted her, “What the fuck was that?” His eyes flashed outrage at his sister.

“What?” Alyssa asked innocently. “I just touched him, and he went over.” Drake let out a sardonic laugh, still clutching the ache in his stomach, not sure how she managed to pull it off.

Liam hunched down, nearly nose-to-nose, and challenged with an edge in his voice, “You wanna play rough, Alyssa? We can play rough.”

The next several plays were a revolving series of revenge against the opposing team. Riley was the only one who didn’t give a shit about winning or losing, and Maxwell felt the same, but still up for anything. For all the others, they were out for blood and humiliation. The competitive spirit entangled them all: Leo tackled Drake, Drake tackled Leo. Liam intercepted the ball from an unsuspecting Alyssa after yanking her sweats down. Maxwell delivered a forearm-shiver to Drake before he could get tackled, and proceeded to run the ball in for his second touchdown. 

With that last goal, the spread was now doubled. Alyssa curled her hands under her underarms like chicken wiings and flapped, heckling her brother with a chant, “Forty-two to twenty-one! Like the turkey, Liam is done!”

Liam frowned. “It’s no surprise that you're winning, ‘cause you got to pick first, so you got the better team.”

Alyssa chuckled, “You’re so pathetic! Why can’t you just accept it: we’re winning because I’m better than you.”

Liam snorted. “Yeah, right.” 

“Oh, what a great argument: exhaling!” Alyssa dimpled. “All right, y'know what, I’ll prove it to you, okay? I’ll trade you, Leo for Riley, and I’ll still win the game.”

Liam let out a boisterous laugh, astonished by her proposition. “Us three guys against you two girls and Maxwell? See, that’s ridiculous, Lyss, because I’m only down by three touchdowns.”

“Oh, then bring it on! Unless of course, you’re afraid you might lose to a bunch of girls and Maxwell,” she sing-songed in a provoking manner.

“Fine!” Liam conceded before shifting his focus to his girlfriend. “Riley, you’re with Alyssa ... Leo, you’re with me.”

Astounded, Riley glared at Liam as she shuffled her way to her new team and spat, “I cannot believe you are trading me.”

“Come on, Ri.” Alyssa embraced her roommate. “Come see what it’s like to be on a winning team for a change.”

Riley’s big brown eyes glistened with a flicker of hope as they huddled up. “So that means you’ll let me play?”

Alyssa chose to overlook her best friend's question and quickly moved on. Her team was up by 21 points, but a lot of time was left, and the odds of maintaining that spread were now stacked incredibly against them. Alyssa had skill, she knew the game,  but was small and thin. Maxwell had shown a lot of promise on the field for his first time playing, but of the four men in their little clique, he was more on the gentle side with a lankier build. As for Riley … she was just plain awful.

Slinging an arm around both Riley and Maxwell, Alyssa leaned forward in their huddle to drum up their motivation. “Okay, we have to do this. We are playing for the underdogs everywhere -- For all womankind. Just think about every lousy date you ever had ... Every guy who kept an eye on the TV while you’re making out …”

Maxwell’s eyes grew wider. “You dated someone with a glass eye too?”

Alyssa shook her fist passionately. “Come on, okay? We gotta do this is for all women --er, and ... Maxwell-kind.” All revved up,she clenched her teeth. “ Let’s kill ‘um!”

“Yeah! Kill’em,” Riley was feeling a little more ruthless especially after her own boyfriend picked her last for his team and then traded her. Damn Liam.

A sense of uncertainty crossed over Maxwell in that second as he peeked across the way, noticing three strong and athletically-built men. He looked back over at Alyssa and muttered, “I want to kill them too, but they’re big guys, y'know? How are the three of us gonna beat the three of them?”

“Like this …”

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

“Thirty two. Fifty eight. Hut.” Drake caught Leo’s snap and rounded up the side of the field, avoiding a rush from Maxwell and easily sweeping past Riley. Up ahead of him, Alyssa stood frozen in place and Drake became a little wary she was preparing to annihilate him again. Sucking in a deep breath in case her head collided into his liver once more, Drake powered forward as Liam urged him on.

Alyssa patiently waited for the perfect time to act, calculating the seconds until she could unleash her greatest asset. “Closer … closer,” she muttered. Just as Drake quickly pivoted right, then bounced left to avoid her tackle, Alyssa gripped the bottom of her blue, New York Giants sweatshit with both fists and yanked it up over her breast. Drake skid to a halt, his big, brown eyes growing larger than the entirestate of Texas. With her opponent stuck in a deep trance, wearing a crooked grin, Alyssa let go of the grasp on her sweatshirt, allowing it to fall back into place around her waist;  lunging forward, she stole the ball right out of Drake’s arm without a fight. Seconds later, Alyssa was spiking the ball in the end zone after scoring the touchdown -- Drake never moved.

Even though both gave up something on that play: a shred of dignity and a much needed score for his team, both agreed it was well worth it.

Several plays later, Liam’s team had closed the gap on the score; they were only losing by five points now, After Drake intercepted the ball again, Maxwell thought he would try his luck with a distraction of his own. Maybe Alyssa was onto something earlier, he thought.

Blocked out by Liam, Maxwell pushed himself off the strapping figure at the precise time Drake approached. Here goes nothing.  Tugging on the elastic waistband of his sweatpants, Maxwell dropped them -- boxers and all -- to his knees.

“The fuck,” Drake murmured to himself, though he might as well have screamed it by the fire red fury that burned his face at seeing Maxwell’s dick flop out before him. Mouth agape, Liam jumped back to avoid whatever crazy plan Maxwell had in mind for his teammate; he wanted no part of it. Furious with the run-by-flashing of man-meat, Drake dropped the ball and sneered, “I’m gonna to fucking kill you, Beaumont!” As Maxwell yanked his drawers back up and took off with a hot-headed Drake stomping after him, Leo scooped up the ball, unguarded, and ran in for the easy touchdown.

The guys now had a two point lead. Though disappointed with the outcome of that play, Alyssa was proud of Maxwell’s solid effort to do whatever it took.

For all of their brilliant schemes to stop the men, the girls and Max were simply outmatched, with time running out. 

More frustrated than ever, Alyssa gathered her team together. “All right, we still have a minute and a half to go, and we’re down by two points. Two points.” Hearing the guys celebrating, she pauses briefly  to peek over at them in the middle of  giving one another slow-motion high-fives. Holding onto the last thread of hope, Alyssa faced her players again and said, “ Maxwell, you do a button-hook again. Riley, you go long.”

“No! Come on! Don’t make me go long. Use me. They never cover me,” Riley argued.

Alyssa placed a hand on Riley’s arm. “Honey … there’s a reason.”

“God, I’m not lame, okay,” Riley bemoaned, “I can do something. I can throw, would you let me throw? Come on this is my game too.”

“Come on Lyss, let her throw the ball,” Maxwell encouraged.

“Alright Riley, you sweep behind, I’ll pitch it to you, you throw it down field to Maxwell.”

“Thank you! … Break.” Riley clapped as the group broke away and fell into their positions.

“Thirty-two! Seventy-one! Hike!” Maxwell snapped the ball to Alyssa, and as planned, pitched it  back to Riley. 

There was no time to think or even react as Riley spotted Liam, Leo, and Drake gunning for her. In a panic, she started screaming frantically and ran away in no particular direction. She came upon a clearing in the fence, passing through it, and careened out of the park. While dashing up along the fence, the guys continued to chase her. Riley stumbled upon another break in the fence and swerved back inside, yapping and bawling the entire way.  With Alyssa readily standing by to help her, Riley hurled the ball at her friend -- just wanting to get rid of it -- before whacking Alyssa in the eye..

“OW!” Alyssa immediately covered the painful eye with a hand.

“’I’m so sorry! Are you okay?” A distraught Riley worried, feeling horrible for injuring her best friend.

"No! I’m not okay!" Alyssa bellowed as she alternated between lightly rubbing and fluttering her reddened eye several times.

"I’m sorry, they were just all coming at me, and I didn’t know what to do," Riley yammered on.

"Thirty seconds on the timer," Leo announced to everyone, holding up Alyssa's cell before placing it back on the bench.

"Okay, okay, so ... we get to take that stupid troll thing home?" Drake hastily asked, motioning toward the highly sought-after Rys Cup displayed atop a nearby drinking fountain.

Alyssa assembled her team quickly. "Come on! Come on! Hurry! We’re running out of time! Huddle up!"

"Oh, this is our last huddle. Yay!" Maxwell looked between Alyssa and Riley with a huge smile.

Alyssa continued to rub her sore eye with one hand as she pointed around with the other. "Maxwell, get open. Riley .... " she exhaled, "go long."

Close to tears, Riley whimpered, "Okay."

There were ten seconds left on the timer when Maxwell hiked the ball to Alyssa. Riley took off down the field, while three of the men did the same several yards away. As predicted, no one from the opposing team bothered to cover Riley. Meanwhile, Drake and Leo stuck to Maxwell like glue: he had nowhere to go, and Liam bolted for Alyssa. 

Alyssa squinted downfield, noticing Maxwell was double covered and Liam was getting closer. Out of desperation, she launched the ball just as her brother wrapped an arm around her midsection, hurdling them both to the ground. 

Riley watched the football fly through the air in her direction and ran underneath it as Drake and Leo watched on in shock. With the grace of the most talented wide receivers in NFL history, Riley Brooks caught the ball. She stopped where she was, finding it hard to believe she actually did it.  Glowing from ear to ear, Riley let out an exuberant cheer and spiked the ball.

"Ahhhh, I scored a touchdown," Riley crowed as Alyssa and Maxwell erupted into cheers of their own. “We did it!”

Disappointed and shocked, Liam slowly made his way through the celebratory hugs. He hated to lose, but he loved his girlfriend and was proud of her. He pulled her into his own hug and kissed her softly. "I'm happy for you, love."

Riley smiled and looked up at him through her lashes. "You traded me."

Observant as ever, Drake couldn’t help but notice there was one major problem with Riley’s big moment. “Funny thing, Riley: your end zone started at that pole and you’re about five feet short,” he smirked, “so actually … we win.” He turned to Leo for a high five.

Before anyone had a chance to get all up in an uproar over what Drake pointed out, Maxwell elbowed through and wondered, "Wait ...  if no one tagged Riley, isn't the play still going?"

All six heads snapped over to the ball. Liam and Alyssa were the first to dive and get their hands on it, struggling to rip it away from the other. This wasn't a battle the other four had any intentions of carrying on any longer.  Leo, Riley, Maxwell, and Drake looked at each other, shrugged, and headed home.

"Let go!" Liam pulled harder on the ball.

"No!" Alyssa jerked it back even harder. "I'm just a tiny little woman!"

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

Hours had passed since the game. The sunset blanketed the New York sky with a splash of darkness. The air that earlier had a touch of chill was now frosty and bitter. And while the rest of the country carried on following their gigantic feasts, rubbing aching, full tummies, crashing into food comas, and downing bottles of Pepto, the rivalry in the park was far from over.

Still laying flat on their stomachs, fighting over the football, Liam glared at his sister. “Give me the ball, Alyssa!” 

“NO!”

“How come it’s always us left on the field, holding the ball?” Liam asked, his voice much less sharp and edgy than before.

Alyssa slowly shook her head and let out a small exhale. “I don’t know. I guess the other people just don’t care enough.” Liam nodded his head in agreement and felt the first flickers of cold snow on the bare skin of his forearms. Sensing it too, Alyssa shivered as Liam glanced upward and was mesmerized by the beauty of billowy, white flakes raining down on them.

“It’s starting to snow,” Liam observed with fondness.

Alyssa stuck out her tongue, catching and giggling at the tickle of frozen droplets hitting it. Liam thought she was silly, but couldn’t help himself from joining along. For a brief moment, they laughed together like they once did as children, seeing who could catch the most snowflakes on their tongue.

“Ah, sis, this is so much fun. We should do it more often,” Liam proposed lovingly.

“We really should,” Alyssa agreed until she felt the ball in her hands, tugging ever-so-slightly closer to Liam. 

And then the fight recommenced.

“It’s my ball!”

“Gimme this!”

[deejadabbles]

Heres some post-canon-Atem-stays-AU headcanons bc I will forever be in denial that the ending of ygo ever happened.

First off can we all address the fact that Atem would have an accent!?! He knows Japanese bc of Yugi but once he has his own body back, his muscles and brain are used to different speech patterns, therefore we get an accent! The first time the gang hears him talk and this (adorable) accent they're floored but love it, it kinda helps further cement that he really is his own person apart from Yugi (not that the gang really needs that but still).

I think this would also lead to Yugi asking Atem to teach him some Ancient Egyptian. He says it just because he's interested but really he wants Atem to feel slightly less alone now that literally no one else speaks his language.

Also. Contrary to what some (*cough*Kaiba*cough*) think, Atem knows how to work modern tech. Like, come on he shared Yugi's body for years, he knows how to work a phone and computer. Now, he may be a bit of an old man and prefer not to use some modern things, but he's competent at least.

(okay okay but can we entertain the idea of Atem making "back in my day" jokes bc he thinks it's funny and Honda n Jonouchi take to calling him "old man" and it's just a big running joke between everyone?? that'd be great.)

Another misconception I think Atem would prove wrong is that he actually doesn't have all too much trouble adjusting to being a "commoner" and having to live a normal, rather un-luxurious, life. Again, he spent years watching Yugi interact with the world and live in it as someone who wasn't royalty, or even rich, and did that with no context of his previous life.

So yeah when Atem returns to earth with his own body he doesn't like...expect to have everything provided for him, or be waited on hand and foot like some ppl expected since he was royalty. Sure, he may not actively think "oh, I have to get a job in order to live now" on his own (mostly bc I think he's just still amazed he's alive at all, a lot of things don't come to mind), but when the subject comes up Atem isn't astonished or taken aback by the idea or anything weird, logically he knows he has to provide for himself now and knows at least the basics of how to accomplish that in modern times.

Okay but seriously can we all take a minute imagining Atem getting a fast food or clerk job to get by until he figures out what he wants to do next. Jou and Honda thought he'd be too prideful to "stoop that low" as ppl say, but Atem's fine with it. If dishing out fries to shitty customers or ringing up cigarettes at a gas station ensures that grandpa and Yugi don't have to carry him through life he's fine with it.

That being said, I can see Atem just being...forgetful that he has to take care of himself sometimes. He's not ignorant of the modern world, but he also has his memories back now, so I can see him laying in bed for a good 10 min before he finally remembers "oh yeah servants aren't coming to dress me, okay lets do this". And sure he knows the basics of life from his time with Yugi, like cooking and doing laundry for himself. But there's times where he just runs out of clean clothes bc he forgot to do laundry, things like that, but hey that's stuff even us non-ex-royals do as Adults so that's okay.

My point is that Atem adjusts to the modern world and not being royalty really well. He's just a forgetful dork sometimes.

Okay but going back to my "Atem gets an entry-level job" headcanon. Now I'm thinking about Kaiba finding out that Atem got a fast-food job instead of coming to him for work. Next thing Atem knows Kaiba storms in (probably cutting the line because of course he would) and starts this melodramatic speech about how no one has the right to employ the rival of Seto Kaiba besides SETO KAIBA himself.

Atem, who was already chewed out by a customer for getting the wrong sized drink, is having NONE of this and is completely ignoring him, trying to serve the next customer in line. When all Atem will say to him is "sir if you wont buy anything please leave" the petty giraffe known as Kaiba slams a pile of bills on the counter ....this then leads to Atem matching his pettiness! You know that tiktok, it's basically that. Atem takes the entire stack of bills, looks Kaiba dead in the eye, and tells him to get his own chicken nuggets.

Next thing we know Atem's managers are trying to pry them apart because Kaiba hopped the counter. There are nuggets and fries everywhere, someone threw a large coke, the customers are filming. It's a big mess.

OMG imagine the headline "Local billionaire has melt down at McDonald's"

Okay, moving on from that, sorry I just had to get that outta my head.

Once again I'm going to drive home my "touch starved Atem" headcanon by saying that Atem actually likes not being royalty in his 2nd life because Yugi and his friends aren't afraid to show him affection. This boy craves touch so much and is loving the fact that no one thinks it's offensive to hug him. Atem's the type that once he's comfortable with someone, expect hugs for every hello and goodbye. He's also known for putting his hands on shoulders and sometimes playing with hair (only if the other is comfortable with it of course!).

The hair-playing thing is because he has these precious memories of brushing and styling Mana's hair when they were younger (and once or twice being able to beg Mahad to join their hairstyling sessions). Now he loves doing it because he equates it with affection and unconditional friendship. He especially loves playing with Ryou's hair since it's so long and soft, and even bought Ryou these tarot card themed hairpieces just so he could style his hair with them.

After experimenting with alcohol a bit, Atem finds that he likes some wine cooler-type drinks but sometimes he'll crave a beer, since that was the drink of choice in ancient egypt. He weirds ppl out though because he prefers them warm, cold beer is too harsh on his sensitive teeth and he's just not used to it. Also, it took a long time to find a beer brand he likes because most aren't up to the quality he had "back in his day" lol.

At first Atem only knows how to cook basic things (again, what Yugi knows) but he soon realizes that he enjoys cooking. He gets a Pinterest account just so he can save recipes he wants to try (he starts saving other things though, he likes aesthetic boards and interior design!). The whole gang ends up loving this because he cooks meals for them sometimes and they're so good! While they're still in high school he makes Bentos for everyone about once a week and it's the highlight of their week <3

He does get a bit sad though, when he tries to recreate meals from his culture and they just don't taste quite right.

oKaY I WAS going to go on about what career I think Atem would eventually pursue, but they got really long and this is already long so I'm going to put them in their own post. All I'll say right now is: college student Atem and later, professor Atem.

That's all for now, expect more in the future though because I will never not support Atem stays AUs <3

[hyeque]

(Edit: this turned into a whole ass easy my b bby)

AHHHH RISUUUU okay let me hush about your tags on my kita fic pretty please 🥺 I was smiling so hard reading them !!

First—thank you for your sweet words about my writing and characterization and dialogue I’m always so worried about it and this made me so happy I love u. And for noticing my attempts at dialect difference as I struggled to remember who was talking in what the whole time lol

But YES best friend Suna has my heart-I love him sm and honestly I projected what I needed onto him a bit because yes, you guessed it—my ex ditched me the night before we were meant to turn in paperwork for an apartment and I struggled to pack and clean a 3 bedroom house on my own—I’m still crashing in my friends spare room til Friday

But anyways—besides that—Suna cooking? I imagine it more like pasta out of a box like it’s got all the ingredients in the box 😂—ask him to follow a recipe that he’s gotta buy the ingredients for and he’s like forgotten half the ingredients cause “wasn’t that important was it”—tried but pls bby no

Embarrassing myself like that so many times is totally something I would do—it’s ok kita thinks it’s cute

Okay but the creepy neighbor? Inspired by my irl temp neighbor who literally blocked my dads path as we tried to bring stuff up the stairs by sitting on them, literally said “I’ve been hit before” literally tried to block my car in and almost followed me, and stared at me creepily from his cracked door as I came home from a 1am Taco Bell trip—creepily just watched me

But I digress—KITA walking in on you…..I was so embarrassed writing it-had to keep pausing and hide my face. And him taking care of us after? Aftercare king who? Telling tsumu “his girl” self indulgent but like 😭 ahhhhh I squealed writing it. Suna is a sneaky little shit-saw how kita was looking at us.

I’m so glad you didn’t want it to end—makes me so ☺️☺️💜 but kita has me in a chokehold so maybe there will be more kita and pretty neighbor… 👀

eeep ty for sharing the background for all of these little details, personally agree that suna just makes instant stuff bc that’s all he can do 😭😭 but gosh men are so weird,,, why do they have to make our (non-men) lives difficult at times???

ahh i’m so sorry you had to deal with those stressful experiences 😞 but i hope things are much better now! i always admire when people intwine their real life experiences with their writing,,, and indulging is one of the best things we can do!

i will be so hype if you decide to make more of kita amd pretty neighbor <3

[giorno-plays-piano]

Promises

Hi dear! As agreed, I’ve changed it to dad’s friend!Bucky <3 Hope you’re going to enjoy this!

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader

Warnings: yandere, obsession, age gap, daddy kink, allusion to non-con, death of minor characters.

Words: 3000.

_______________________

Looking at the lonely chocolate muffin laying on the table in front of you, you closed your eyes for a couple of seconds, making a wish: it was your birthday, and you were stuck in some filthy roadside diner with no one but Mr. Barnes by your side.

Bucky. You were ought to call him Bucky, you reminded yourself, opening your eyes and blowing softly on a single candle sitting on the top of your muffin.

It wasn’t his fault you two ended up here - there had been a huge accident on your way back home, a tanker truck exploded into flames in the middle of the highway. In fact, you were lucky you were far away since several drivers and passengers who had the misfortune to be close to the truck had already been declared dead. It was all over the news, most of the people inside diner glued to the old TV hanging on the wall.

Staring at the candle, you carefully pulled it off and dropped it on a cheap white napkin, taking the muffin and eagerly having a bite. Mr. Barn... Bucky watched you from the other side of the table, his coffee already long cold. There was no smile on his face as you quietly said thank you to him, but you barely remembered him smiling at all despite knowing him for several years at the very least. He was your dad’s friend, and he often visited your house to share a beer and watch hockey with your dad late in the evening. Who could imagine it would be Bucky of all people helping you stay afloat.

“What did you wish for?” He asked you, and chuckled grimly at him, wiping your mouth with the back of your hand. Apparently, you had to keep it a secret to make your wish come true, but it didn’t matter now.

“To have a family.”

You gulped down a sob and stared at the red table as Bucky reached out to pat your shoulder gently. Both of you knew what you meant, but you had no strength to talk about it again. It was still painful as hell.

“It will get better.” He said quietly as you nodded, wiping away your tears and gulping down your coke. “You need time.”

Yeah, time, that was what everyone around you kept saying as if time could change the fact you were all alone now; as if it could make you forget all that happened and keep the pain away. What could time do? Make you insensitive, unsympathetic, and unable to feel anything at all. All this time could probably do to you, sure.

He bought a couple of ham sandwiches and bottles of coke for the evening and left with you following him closely. The motel room was just as dirty as the diner, but you didn’t expect anything else, preparing to cleaning it up - anyway, there wasn’t much you could do around here. Although there were lots of people stuck here along with you two, you had no wish to go talk to them about the tragedy. You had your own already, and it was enough for you.

“Your uncle looks scary on this photo.” Your phone buzzed in your pocket, and you picked it up, reading the message from April, your best friend - your only friend, to be completely honest. “Like he’s straight out of those serial killer documentaries.”

“April, come on."

"what, I'm serious lol"

"Maybe he’s not your sunshine guy, but he’s the only one who stayed with me after all that happened."

"And he is NOT my uncle!”

“sorry girl just wanted to cheer you up”

You smiled at the text, missing Bucky’s gaze as he came closer to you.

“Who’s that?” He asked, and you raised your eyes at him, immediately getting back to your grim state.

“April. She saw the photo I sent her.” Explaining quietly, you tried pretending you were happy, stretching your lips in a thin smile and thinking whether Bucky could feel it. “She’s checking on how we are here.”

“Good.”

With that he left to bathroom, leaving you on your knees scrubbing the floor. He was bad at cleaning - really bad, missing tons of dirty spots to the point it felt like he didn’t clean anything at all. That was why you preferred doing it yourself. Besides, it was him who paid for the room and food despite you trying to share the expenses, so you felt obliged to him.

Bucky certainly wasn’t the most talkative or friendly type, but he still cared about you, supporting you the way he could. Even if he was way older than you, and a part of you still didn’t feel very comfortable around him, Bucky was the only one by your side. He agreed living with you when most of your relatives had little interest in staying even for a few days longer, leaving you all alone. He helped you with all the legal stuff you knew nothing about, never having to deal with these issues before. He gave you a drive to your university campus every morning and called you every time when you were supposed to come home, probably afraid you’d do something to yourself. That was what you thought, at least.

He was a good man. Maybe a little gruff, seemingly unfriendly, intimidating even, but still better then all those who promised to look after you and then vanished.

“I’m going to go for a walk.” Bucky said after leaving bathroom and putting his sneakers on. “Will you be okay by yourself?”

You felt shame bubbling up inside you at his words. He still thought you might be suicidal.

“Of course. I’ll be waiting here.”

With that he nodded and left you alone with a bright pack of Lysol and dirty doormat on the floor. Sighing, you felt relieved, finally staying all by yourself in the grim silence of the room. It wasn’t that bad. You weren’t stuck together somewhere in the desert with no food and shelter. Tomorrow morning you’d be able to return home from that little improvised vacation Bucky organized purely for you, staying in a cabin close to the beautiful lake in the woods. It wasn’t his fault you were spending your birthday like this, scrubbing the floor clean and wiping the dust from shelves and nightstands instead of celebrating somewhere in the club with April, drinking fancy cocktails.

In half an hour you finished the clean up and had a shower, changing into your funny pink pajamas - you knew your looked pathetic in it, considering how old it was, but it was one of the things that made you feel safe. Anyway, Bucky didn’t care about the way you looked, so you simply wore whatever you found comfortable, often looking like a kid who was too big to fit into their old clothes.

“Whatcha doin??” A message popped up on the screen as you checked your phone again.

“Gonna go to sleep, I guess. I didn’t sleep well yesterday again.”

“i have a gooood recipe for a nice 8-hour sleep”

“Really? What’s that?”

Instead of answering you clearly, she sent you a link. To your horror, instead of checking the name first you simply clicked on it and found out April sent you some porno. Groaning, you quickly turned it off, afraid somebody gonna hear it - the walls here were out of paper, you could swear.

“WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?” You typed furiously. “Are you mad?”

“come on, what are we, holy virgins?? Ima telling you, this thing works! Just try it, you’ll be sleeping after this in no time!”

“April, even if I’m gonna believe this crap, Bucky just went for a walk. I have no clue when he’s going to come back. Do you really think I’m ready to do this when he’s around?”

“damn girl just don’t put earphones, cover yourself with a blanket and sit facing the door.” You could literally see her rolling her eyes at you. “you’re a grown up, there’s nothing to be ashamed of. When you hear the man coming, just turn it off!”

Rubbing your eyes tiredly, you muted your phone and carefully opened the link again, trying to understand what kind of porno she sent you exactly. Apparently, it was that daddy thing she kept telling you about - you read the name of the video, and your face grew unbearably hot in a second. Damn, this girl had no shame whatsoever.

But maybe she was right: you needed to release some tension that had been building up over the last months. It was quite an innocent way to do it, really, and you’d be careful enough to do it before Bucky came back, finding anything suspicious. You were a human being, after all! There was nothing nasty in what you were going to do, you tried assuring yourself.

“I’m gonna regret it.”

“NO GIRL YOU WON’T! Treat yourself!!”

Laughing, you quickly dropped your phone on your bed, taking a tablet out of your backpack along with a pair of pink socks - you couldn’t explain it, but your feet were always getting cold while you pleasured yourself. Getting comfortable on your bed and wrapping a comforter around yourself, you opened your tablet, setting the volume level low and finding that link April sent you. You threw a quick glance to the door, prepared to switch the tablet off any second if Bucky was going to show up. Shoot, were you doing it for real? Yes, yes you were.

Opening the video, you bit down on your lower lip, a little ashamed still. Trying to get these thoughts out of your head, you concentrated on what was happening in the video, watching a girl sitting on the lap of a beefy bearded man stroking her ass. He was speaking to her softly, but in a very low, husky voice, and you realized it was getting warm in between your thighs. You closed your eyes, listening to the voice that, along with a sound of him slapping the girl, was making you aroused way more than the picture itself.

"Have you been good, princess?" The man whispered, and you could see the smug grin on his face even with your eyes closed.

Yes, you have, you thought, your hand slowly trailling down your belly and touching the elastic of your cotton panties.

Fuck, you heard the sound of one more slap and bit your lip again, imagining it was you he spanked, caressing your raw, hot skin with his calloused palm, his fingers digging in your soft flesh when you tried moving away, quietly squirming from his touch. You were a good girl for him. You'd do what your daddy told you, baring your ass in front of him and getting back on his lap, moving on top of him, making him feel you through the fabric of his pants until you ruined them. Would daddy be happy if you rode him, moaning like some dirty slut until he shut you with his mouth? Would he like you cumming on his cock with your eyes rolling inside your skull out of immense pleasure?

With your fingers on your clit, you gently stroked that bundle of nerves, getting more and more wet until you soaked your panties, listening to the voice of that man and imagining being with your own daddy, somebody who would take care of you, somebody who would never leave you alone and comfort you when you needed it the most. Oh, were you crying, thinking of it? You could feel your eyes growing wet as you softly moaned. You imagined the man touching your hair and kissing your forehead, and tears were now streaming down your cheeks.

You were pathetic, you thought. You couldn't even pleasure yourself while watching porno anymore.

Softly sobbing, you kept listening to the video, touching your sleek folds and missing the shadow that descended upon you - you couldn't see the stranger behind the window, watching you sitting there on your bed with a tablet in front of you, seeing the video clearly. Maybe Bucky couldn't hear it from the outside, but he knew it - he saw it a couple of weeks ago when he felt a little lonely.

You almost cummed when you heard the steps right outside the door, inmediately hitting the screen to stop the video and hiding your tablet beneath the comforter. You didn't figure out anything better than pretending you were already asleep, aside from the fact it was barely seven.

Covering your head, you prayed Bucky didn't see anything suspicious, mentally cursing April for sending you the link. Shit, you knew this wasn't going to end well! Why on Earth did you even tried something as reckless and stupid as this when Bucky could show up any minute?

"I know you're not sleeping."

His voice sounded so much closer than you anticipated that you almost flinched, holding your breath for a couple of seconds. Fuck, did he know? Did he hear you? Could he see the tablet beneath your blanket?

You stilled, still pretending you were sleeping when Bucky landed close to you, the bed dipping under him. When he suddenly touched your leg, making you flinch involuntarily, you clamped a hand around your mouth. Shit! What was he doing? He had never ever touched you like that before. Was he mad? Did he-

"You can stop pretending, little one." As Bucky lifted your comforter, you stared at him, terrified to the core with your eyes almost popping out of their sockets.

Immediately, you tried moving away, determined to get to the other side of the room, but he quickly held you down with his hands on your wrists, getting on top of you. Shit. Staring at his dark but calm expression, you saw a strange glint in his eyes that had never been there before. The thought made you shiver.

Something was wrong with the way he hold you, looked at you - it was not like before when he treated you like some sad kid, patting your head awkwardly when you cried and rarely giving you a hug. You were staring at the man who barely reminded you of Bucky who had been coming to your house to watch a hockey game late in the evening. This man seemed like a stranger.

"Please, Mr. Barnes-"

"Shhhh." He interrupted your pleading, leaning closer to you so his dark hair brushed against your face. "Don't be scared. It's alright."

No, no, it wasn't alright in any sense, and you kept struggling, doing your best to break free from his grasp until Bucky made you yelp from pain, grabbing your hands so hard you thought you'd have bruises. When you got silent, trembling beneath him with your eyes full of tears, he got closer, his forehead touching yours as he exhaled into your face.

“P-please, I don’t want to.”

“Don’t you? I’ve seen what you’ve been doing while I was gone.” His stormy grey eyes bore into you, and you thought Bucky was angry at you watching that filthy porno. “But I won’t punish you.”

“What do you want then?” You sobbed, then froze when he kissed your cheek, and then your nose and eyelids, his chapped lips brushing softly against your skin. His touch felt warm.

“To take care of you.”

You looked at him with your watery eyes, whimpering softly when Bucky kissed your forehead as you relaxed beneath him, shocked at his words. Take care of you? What did he mean by that? Wasn’t he taking care of you already? No, now you knew why Bucky was close, and he definitely wasn’t some good Samaritan you imagined him to be. Was it all for this? Did he pretend to be your friend just to let you lower your guard?

Crying, you closed your eyes, thinking how silly you were wanting someone to be by your side, having dreams about someone taking care of you, comforting you when even the one you thought was there for you just wanted to use a silly little girl and throw her away.

“Take what you want and go.” You managed to mumble, choking on a sob. “Just leave me alone.”

Bucky raised his brows, his gaze heavy as he stared at your face wet with tears. “Why would I? Didn’t you hear what I just said, little one?”

You gave him a sarcastic smile, avoiding looking him in the eyes. “You’re here because you want to take something from me. So, take it and go. Please!”

Bucky let out a loud breath, getting off you and rolling to the side, but holding you close and pressing your face into his chest. You could feel a subtle smell of sweat coming from him; strangely, it was almost comforting. Anyway, you had no strength left to fight him, so you just laid there, his hands on your back and in your hair. His black zipped hoodie was quickly getting wet with you still sobbing quietly.

“I’m not going anywhere, little girl.” He whispered, touching the top of your head with his lips. “You’re mine to take care off. Look at you, barely able to sleep on your own. How do you think you will manage without me?”

You didn’t answer, not knowing what to say. What Bucky told you was true - you barely existed outside of your house, facing the reality where you were always alone. April was trying her best to help you come to your senses, but she wasn’t family. You needed a family.

“Will you stay?” You whimpered, shaking lightly at the though Bucky would go, too, and you would end up all by yourself, talking to four walls until one day they would talk to you, too.

“Remember your birthday wish?” He asked instead of answering your question, and you felt like the air was sucked out of your lungs. But before you had time to said something, Bucky dropped a kiss to your forehead again, caressing your head tenderly. “I am your family, little one. You will never be alone.”

______________________

Tags: @finleyjayne @alexakeyloveloki   @helenaeisenhower @villanellevi @hurricanerin​ @abyssaint @heeeyitskay @chris-evans-indian-fanfic @navegandoaciegas @rosalynshields @brattycherubwrites @sllooney @angrythingstarlight @lookiamtrying @buckysbunny @soleil-dor @stargazingfangirl18 @dillybuggg @ninefuckingoneone @iheartsebastianstan @inlovewiththefictionalcharacters

[normal-thoughts-official]

magnus bane can cook anon here. also: cooking is a love language for raphael bc food is so rooted in community/family. they absolutely teach each other traditional recipes. big family meals hosted by father and son pls 🥺 or magnus making a comfort meal for himself when he's feeling nostalgic and inviting cat over for dinner bc she's been so busy and he wants to catch up while also making sure she's nourished--two birds, one stone (he absolutely makes her take home leftovers). let magnus cook...

ugh i know this ask is old but i'm not sure what you mean by "magnus bane can cook anon", like, if you sent me another ask about this, i didn't get it rip. unless it's something i have already answered and i don't remember, in that case i'm sorry

anyway, YOU ARE RIGHT! magnus being unable to cook is preposterous tbh, i will not listen to these lies. HE! IS! INDONESIAN! food is important! and as an immigrant in particular he knows that better than anyone because food is a way to keep connected to his roots, to his love, to his culture. i will not accept any "magnus can't cook" slander, he CAN! plus like you see the way he made alec's stew amazing?? yeah yeah he used magic but i doubt there is a "make this delicious" spell, he needed to have known WHAT he would have done to the stew, add this and this and that to alter the taste, so like? he knows how to handle himself in the kitchen okay and he knows what tastes good and what doesn't, he can cook

and he knows exactly how important food is as a love language and YES him and raphael!!!! i don't have to argue that raphael can cook of course, we all know he does, and again! immigrant! LATINO!!!!! food is so fucking important for latines in general, even non-immigrants, and i imagine that it is even more so for immigrants. it's part of your culture, part of who you are. and like! raphael has been unable to eat for so long! i bet he misses it so much and i think when he wants to thank magnus for something, food is the way to go

especially in the early years. he didn't have much he could have done for magnus when he was just a recently Turned vampire kid with nowhere to go and nothing to his name, but he COULD cook for him. and i bet he was ecstactic to. i hc that magnus grows his own ingredients at home because he simply doesn't trust gringo markets to have good food and while he can and will travel to jakarta every now and then to enjoy a good food market - again, it's an intrinsic part of his culture! of course he wants to go to those when he can, it's not just the food, it's the sharing and the experience - he also wants to grow his own food. plus i think he is attached to plants. you've seen the way he talks to snakes, you mean to tell me he doesn't have a bunch of plants he grows (both for potions and foods) and talks with and grooms and is all loving towards? nonsense. absurd. i won't listen to these lies

and YES i am projecting unto him but i don't care! magnus loves his little plant friends (they have been particularly therapeutic for him in the early years after camille i feel, when he was so lonely. of course he has his cats but cats aren't really fans of hanging out all the time and plants are always there and just looking at a plant you helped grow makes you feel so much better) and prunes them with so much love and care, and because of magic he can control the weather conditions so it's always ideal for them, and make sure they are well taken care of. but he likes to do it himself without the need of magic when he can, because it's all about bonding with the plants. and when he gets to literally take the fruits of his labor, well. it makes the food and potions even more special :)

actually i bet that it actually does make a difference for potions, like... when you know the ingredients and they have been grown with love and care and a connection to the warlock they are more powerful. because plants are living, breathing things that build connections, and magic connects all things, and also because i said so!

BACK TO COOKING

i think part of the reason we've never seen him cook tbh is just because it's so... intimate. like it requires opening up about his culture and his past and a part of who he is and how he feels is in a dish (as with every dish) so it's just... way more intimate and intense than just taking someone out to dinner or something. and most of his interactions in the show were with shadowhunters, whom he either doesn't trust for obvious reasons, or does trust (alec and izzy basically, maybe clary) but knows they don't really fully understand what it means to him so there's just too big a chance to feel like he wore his heart on his sleeve for nothing (i'm talking mainly about alec here cuz i don't think he'd cook for izzy or clary lol but i do think they're on his trusted or somewhat trusted list)

and with raphael it's just painful because raphael can't eat and that's a big thing that probably upsets him on the regular, like, it's another thing that makes him feel a- human; and b- connected to his culture. and when i say human i don't mean it as just "humans eat food", i mean it as in eating for humans is about socialization and self-expression and having that taken away from him makes him feel soulless

but that just makes raphael want to cook MORE! i mean we've seen him cooking for rosa('s nursing home) so that's pretty much canon anyway. and i have no doubts in my mind that raphael used to cook for magnus all the time. initially recipes he already knew from his mom and his abuela, because again, it's just... sharing who he is and almost like welcoming magnus as a part of his family, and magnus understands that 100% and probably cries the first time rapha makes him pozole or something (he knows it's rapha's comfort food and he's just had a hard day and he's tired and maybe a bit worn by depression and raphael makes it for him and he's just... so touched and overwhelmed by the immenseness of the gesture). and then magnus starts to tentatively teach him the recipes he remembers for his own mom and again that's just.... ugh the magnitude of that is incalculable. and rapha knows it too

and he's highkey nervous because he knows magnus hasn't really tasted this in so long and he doesn't want to butcher it, you know? and he can't try the food to see if it's good, he can basically only go by smell (which i figure he has perfected over the years but he's known magnus since the early years so that was probably harder by then) but magnus is just happy to have someone to pass this down to, you know? like he's cooked meals for ragnor, dot, cat, elias, etc., before (immortal squad dinner meetups where everyone brings their favorite foods from their childhoods and ragnor makes tea because no one is putting up with that shit <3) but passing the recipes on to someone else is a whole different deal, it speaks of their father-son bond and it's basically welcoming raphael into the family back, you know? and rapha knows

and from then on rapha starts cooking these recipes for magnus, particularly when he's feeling down or just as a thank you for everything he's done for him and aaaaaaaaaaa

and then of course eventually the potion that allows vampires to eat is created and raphael can FINALLY eat again and try all the recipes he's been making for magnus (and sometimes cat) for years!!! after of course the first order of business which is making himself some pozole and everything else he's been cooking for rosa and missing terribly. but AFTER he has his mexican feast they absolutely have one of these meetups again and everyone gives raphael a little something from their culture for him to try and it's just <3 beautiful and i need a moment

AND CAT YES. we all know cat is overworked to death and magnus will NOT put up with it. and food is a love language so you know <3 half the time she will get home and find some little delivery packages from magnus, dot, ragnor, elias, raphael, or all of them (lol) with food because they know sometimes she gets home too tired and skips dinner and she SHOULD NOT. and they all have little notes like "i've sealed it magically so it's still hot, enjoy <3" and it's just sweet okay

and then there are the dinners... not just the super big dinners they all have together where everyone cooks something but sometimes just cat and magnus in magnus' loft and magnus makes her something, including some recipes she's taught him, and he absolutely makes extra and he's not even subtle about it because when is he ever ("*presenting cat a industrial-sized pan filled with food* oh, guess i miscalculated how much we'd eat" "really, magnus?" "yes") and makes her take the leftovers and she's just grinning at him the whole time and gives him a little kiss on the cheek for his troubles. then they sit down and drink wine and gossip and have fun until the tension has left both of their shoulders and they feel recharged. and cat might sleep there or might go back home the same day but either way when they have to part they trade "take care"s and catarina has this huge smile on her face as she takes thousands of conteiners filled with food, and magnus has that soft smile that he gives her, and aa <3

[the-family-we-choose-118]

Why I Think Albert Doesn't Die in 4B: A Meta Post

Maybe this is me reaching or some really wishful thinking, but i don't think albert is the one who dies, though i think he does get seriously injured (explanation below the cut so hear me out lol)

Based on scenes from 3b, 4a, the 4b promos, and some interviews done after 4x08 about 4x09.

In multiple interviews (one example below ⬇), Tim has stressed that there is going to be a divide between Bobby and Athena because he feels that she's too independent and won't let him in when she has issues. 4b is being set up to build off of last season's attack at the storage unit. Athena has made peace with the attack, so it will take something (encountering the attacker, being trapped while looking for a suspect, a storage unit, or experiencing other trauma) to act as the catalyst to trigger her into needing Bobby's help but refusing to ask. Albert dying will in no way drive or affect this plot line and will only really heavily affect Chimney, Maddie, and Buck and maybe Chris and Eddie.

Tim did a different interview where he said that multiple characters will be in life or death situations ⬇

As far as we know from the promo Hen, Buck, Bobby, Athena, May, Eddie, and Chimney are working the crash and Maddie is shown at work going into labor or having false contractions. None are likely contenders for a life or death situation, which leaves the side characters. Since this involves a massive pile-up, and we already know that Albert is in one car, that leaves three others.

The scenario I see best playing out in term of writing and setting up 4b and going into season 5 is this:

Albert gets horribly injured in the crash and has a long recovery. (This plays into 4a when Taylor said Buck was selfish and has no real friends because he doesn't know how to treat a friend.) If Albert gets injured and has a long recovery, he has 2 options for care. He either moves back in with Madney (but they have their hands full with the baby) or he stays with Buck, who has had to recover from a serious injury before. By staying with Buck, he learns how to really care for a friend unselfishly (tho we're gonna ignore the Buddie friendship for a minute bc the writers did). This also gives them the opportunity to set Albert and Buck up in a friendship so Buck can have friends outside the 118.

OR Albert goes into a coma because the writers are playing with a lot of characters right now and I don't think they know what to do with Albert and how to give him enough screen time for anything meaningful to happen. This way, they can revisit his arc in the future. Also, imagine Chimney and Maddie getting ready to take their daughter home and stopping by Albert's room to introduce their baby to her Uncle Albert 😭 Putting Albert in a coma or giving him a long recovery time is something that could be revisited at the end of the season easily.

I think the 3 others in jeopardy are in one car and I think it is Michael, David, and Harry after going to dinner one night or something and I think they are at the center of the crash.

I think the person who dies is Michael or David, mainly because of this interview ⬇

First, they've brought in David, but like Albert's storyline, they can't fit him in enough for it to really be meaningful. We see them meet towards the end of season 3 and by season 4 they have quarantined together (even though David is on the front lines) and are now living together. Most of their story occurs off screen. The only reason we even saw Michael and David in most of 4a was because it was a storyline attached to Athena and Bobby. Killing off David is less characters to deal with and would affect Bobby and Athena, but not to a degree I would see it driving a wedge in their own relationship. It would affect Michael and encourage him to complete his bucket list he referenced in 4a but it wouldn't have an impact on the whole 118.

Both Bobby and Athena are really close with Michael, though I'm gonna focus on Bobby for a minute. If Michael dies suddenly, that "lighthearted and hilarious" relationship "quickly turns on a dime" and suddenly it "ends up being quite emotional" because Bobby is dealing with losing a friend. This could also dredge up those feelings of having lost his family in a fire and not being able to save them because Michael is now part of Bobby's family. Later in the season, it would be easy to revisit if Harry is mad that his step dad and dad's boyfriend weren't able to save his dad. Bobby would be dealing with his feelings of losing a friend while trying to help Athena (who doesn't want help) deal with the loss of her ex husband.

Shifting the focus to Athena, Michael dying would absolutely devastate Athena. They were married for nearly 2 decades and he is still a close friend and confidante. Losing her ex husband at the site of a crash she responded to would be traumatic. And if you compound that with her unresolved trauma from the attack, now you've got Athena trying to deal with everything on her own and not asking for help. Now Bobby gets mad/sad/distanced because Athena won't ask for help and he needs his own support from her. And maybe she is giving that support but she won't let him reciprocate it and now you have a recipe for anger and unresolved grief that begins to drive them apart.

Focusing on May for a moment, she became an operator because she wanted to make sure Athena was never alone in the field. Though I can't imagine her taking the call for Michael because he is on the line when Albert is injured, her dad dying in a crash she responded to would likely drive her out of the field and into college or another path (1 less character to have around to try to give screen time.)

Michael's death was also foreshadowed in 4a when Athena is concerned he gets the telescope and is spying on neighbors. He talks about having a bucket list that he never got to do because the pandemic forced him into isolation. He also talked about how his only concern during the cancer was preparing his kids for losing him.

Michael's plot is stagnant. He is happy and living with his boyfriend and son. He's cancer free. His whole plot is tied up in a nice bow where they could easily kill him off and the only loose threads to deal with on screen are his family members and friends grieving his loss. This would impact the 118 as a whole.

Honestly, I thought they were going to kill off Michael when he first got cancer and he decided to stop treatments but they bad May talk to him and convince him to go through with the treatments.

Now, by killing off Michael, it is 2 less stories they have to tell, and it is less they'll have to include storylines for Harry as much as they were because he was linked to Michael's storyline. And if they have May decide to leave the field to pursue other dreams or complete her dad's bucket list for him, that is 4 less storylines where they can now focus on the Madney baby, Bathena's relationship, introducing friends for Buck (they mentioned brining back Taylor), focus on ending Eddie/Ana, and establishing Albert as a character (based on a quote from the above article, I think Albert's storyline is going to parallel Buck's 1.0 to 2.0 phase ➡ "If you think about how we ended season 2, Buck being smashed by the firetruck. We knew he was going to survive... I would expect something similar here.")

Referring back to that first article, where it says "Then look for a significant source of agitation for the entire 118."

At this point, Michael would have passed and Bobby and Athena are now having marital problems AKA mom and dad are fighting.

Hen would be stuck in the middle because she is good friends with both Bobby and Athena. She is also facing her own loss of Nia being returned to her birth mom and doesn't have time for their marital problems but still tries to help. She can also pull from her experiences from the season 1 cheating storyline to tell them to communicate or it'll ruin their relationship (yes i too hate that storyline but it would work here)

Buck would likely (nonverbally) side with Bobby, but he sees them both as parental figures, so he gets stuck in the middle like a middle child who is just going with the flow. This would also parallel the Buck Begins storyline where Buck feels caught in the middle after his parents face a loss.

Chimney is raising a baby and (if this theory is right) worrying about Albert in a coma or recovering from a massive injury. He has no time for their marital problems but still lets Bobby confide in him and gives advice (maybe this is just cause i wanna see the bobby/chim friendship we used to get in s1)

Eddie sides with Bobby but he thinks the whole argument is dumb. He can also offer advice to Bobby based on his own experience, but it's going to be something about communication, at which point Bobby will start ripping his hair out because why won't she just tell me her problems and let me help?

Lastly, when have we ever known the show to go ahead and give a major spoiler of the episode 2 weeks in advance? They let us speculate about Daniel for like 8 months and imo it wasn't as big of a deal as they made it out to be. It seems more likely to me that they offered the promo to get the viewers with a twist ending when the show comes back.

Feel free to share your thoughts if you made it this far lol

TL;DR Based on the interviews Tim has done, Albert dying would have little impact on the 118 as a whole, but Michael dying would offer exactly what they need to set up season 5 and finish 4b.

[mysticalmusicwhispers]

what’s your favorite headcanon of indchu? what kind of dates do you think indchu would go on?

aaaaa sorry for taking stupid long to answer your ask! I am glad though that we are getting a resurgence in Indchu interest because they deserve it :)

(also the actual headcanon is in the 3rd paragraph... sorry about the long preamble...)

Ship asks!

tw addiction and drugs?

ooh... I already have a couple here, and while it might not be a favorite, I think the most interesting hc is their tension/awkward situation around the Opium Wars. I headcanon China to have had opium addiction starting in about the 1830s and so his head was like, sometimes perfectly clear and sometimes really foggy, which led to poor decision making, detachment from reality, etc. Also his government was kinda rotting and was another hit to his health and well being as a nation personification. Meanwhile India was grappling with the East India Company’s strengthening hold on him and the unsustainability of growing opium and other cash crops instead of actual edible stuff, and a lot of upheaval in politics as well. And when 2 people are tired, bruised, and faring badly politically, it leads to snarkiness, lashing out, and general crankiness associated with tiredness, which is a nice atmosphere for misunderstanding.

Additionally, Wang Yao is someone who’s constantly scheming and expects other people to be doing the same and looking for a way to stab their friends in the back, coercing and blackmailing to get what they want, pretty manipulative. Because India’s opium was getting shipped to China to fuel the illegal opium trade, and there were (according to Wikipedia, so I’m not sure if it’s accurate) around 7,000 British Indian troops that fought on behalf of Britain in the 1st Opium War, I think when he found out India was on Britain’s side and against him, he kinda thought India had betrayed him? China thought India had finally decided to suck up to Britain and sorta left him to fend for himself—that obviously wasn’t true, but given how Yao expects others to always be playing for their own interests AND his fog of opium addiction, he probably would’ve believed it. India on the other hand: I think he reluctantly and resentfully went along with Arthur,,, there was no choice besides to go along with the East India Co and march into China when he was ordered to. I think there was a little apprehension; India has known China long enough to realize he might feel betrayed by this, but there was nothing he could have done.

I imagine them meeting somewhere near Guangdong/Canton, probably in some restaurant/tavern and having a rather tense conversation, but one that cleared up some misunderstandings, mostly on China’s end. Yao is very hostile and sort of butt hurt at first; they start talking vaguely with all the general niceties (India: “I haven’t seen you in a long time.” “And I you.” China speaks slowly, each word falling like heavy stones in a pond. His voice is scratchier than India remembers (and he thinks about China’s flute-like laugh he’d heard, centuries ago), but the acid sharpness is still the same. He doesn’t say anything else, and the silence stretches on, a chasm of awkwardness growing between them. India clears his throat. “You look... you look-” “I know the state I am in. But thanks for the compliment, British India.” China’s voice is biting and bitter. India grimaces, perhaps from the insult of ‘British India’, which he has not accepted yet, or perhaps from China’s rebuke, but hides it almost immediately with a blank face. “You are welcome,” he says, and somehow his voice sounds sincere enough to stop it from sounding like sarcasm. And China looks up, and his face is momentarily absolved of its sour, tired expression, and for once, he looks genuinely confused.) Then they somehow travel to important topics after some food and maybe some baijiu on China’s part, and they just,,, really talk and release the tension that has resulted from not seeing each other for a long time. They talk about what’s changed, and their interactions with the West, maybe rag on England’s absurd ways of everything, and it’s a little bit of a pity party + mutual understanding + just a time to catch up on the things that have happened to both. By the end of it both of them are still assured that yes, deep down the other is still the snarky neighbor they’ve had for centuries, just perhaps a little worn, and a little ragged. They part ways, because the First Opium War will not be resolved by 2 of the 3 nation personifications involved talking it out and sharing memories over a table; India goes back to playing his part as England’s almost-colony and assistant in a war he has no interest in, and China falls back on a fog of opium and goes to see what the Daoguang Emperor has been up to and how badly his people are losing to England.

slk;fd;safdjksfkj I don’t think that was a headcanon but yeah... I just want a fic of someone exploring their interactions around the time of the Opium Wars and hope it won’t have to be me lol

As for date ideas, I think just going to a cheap restaurant (Yao is stingy and usually doesn’t really feel like paying lots for food) and people watching would be something they’d do. An alternative would be cooking each other’s food/trying new recipes/fusion cuisine at one of their houses; I know it’s very cliche, but it just feels like their thing. I don’t think they really care about romantic dates but aren’t really the type to do super fun, adventurous stuff lol; they’re both old men who don’t put any effort into dating anymore (but are still charming when they want to be; 4,000-5,000 years of living doesn’t count for nothing). But also lowkey I can see them going into a mall or something and just wreaking havoc, playing pranks on people and the poor cashier, trying on all sorts of crazy clothes, etc., or going to a flea market/open air market and just wandering around, looking at cool things, clothes, little trinkets, stuff like that

They are both magpies; sorry I don’t make the rules