#in case you guys are wondering what i've been up to for the past two months

[robert-deniro]

"Dammit, I happen to love this country."

OPPENHEIMER (2023), dir. Christopher Nolan

[angel-eyes05]

to leave the warmest bed i've ever known (part 4)

PREVIOUS CHAPTER

pairing: spider-woman!reader x miguel o’hara 

summary: so much time has passed since you last saw each other. will old feelings come up again once you two find each other again?

warnings: HUGE ATSV SPOILERS DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THIS MOVIE, this is so against canon its insane, NSFW (we did it guys we're finally here), switch!reader and switch!miguel, blood mention, fang and claws play, p in v unprotected, cumplay, angsty (i couldnt help it), it goes, angst, smut, and then angsty fluff at the end youre welcome

word count: 3.2k

notes: for some reason, it didn't let me tag as many people who wanted to be on the taglist, so if i didn't end up tagging you for the final part, sorry idk what went wrong

also forgive me i was listening to boygenius while writing the parts leading up to the smut so it might get a little angsty there (i cant help it) (miguel and y/n are so bite the hand and cool about it core)

but then i balanced it out by listening to frank ocean (pyramids specifically) while writing the smut so you're welcome

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Three years had passed. Three years since you finally found Miles, defeated The Spot, and caused the collapse of the Spider Society. Everyone had gone back to their separate dimensions, but were able to still visit each other with their still working portal watches. Miles and Gwen specifically were very happy. Peter B. went back home to live with MJ and Mayday, sending you frequent pictures of Mayday to keep you updates. You were different. You didn’t return to your home world. You didn’t necessarily have anyone to return to per se. Instead, you decided to hop between dimensions, seeing what crime there was to fight in cities that didn’t have anyone to protect it. It was enough to keep you occupied, and as long as your watch still worked, you had the option to stop if you wanted to. Life was nice. You finally had found peace.

But something felt off. Something thudding in the back of your head. Because even though you had been at peace for three years, it had also been three years since you saw him. You had seen him during the final showdown between all of Spider Society, but your team had managed to keep you two apart, due to fear for your safety. After the fight was over, you two had made eye contact with each other a couple of times, but never approached each other. If you were being honest, you were still scared of him at that point, even seeing him tied up there on the floor waiting for someone to deal with him. 

It took a while for your gashes to heal, the ones on your back taking much longer to turn into scars than the ones on your tricep and thigh. The marks on your body were frequent reminders of him and the damage he’s caused to your life. Part of you hated him for it. But most of you just missed him. Unlike Jess, who sent you pictures of her baby every now and then, neither of you had reached out to the other. It was crazy how five years of shared history can be thrown to the ground so quickly.

Right now, you were sitting on the railing of your apartment balcony. For the past month or so, you decided to park it in Earth-3819. There wasn’t much crime going on there, so it was a nice place to stop when you needed a break. Your feet dangled off the edge of the railing, as you looked out to see the sunset on the skyline. The wind blew faintly at your face, causing strands of hair to fall out of your high bun. You had been thinking more about him recently, wondering if he was feeling the same way you were. 

Almost as if you manifested it, you heard the sliding glass door from your bedroom slide open. Startled, you quickly turned around, ready just in case it was an attacker.

It was much worse than an attacker. 

You mouth laid agape as his massive shadow covered your smaller body. Feelings that laid dormant for the past three years suddenly erupting in your stomach. You looked up to the roof of your building as a signal to meet you up there, as you attached a web to the top and swung up there.

Once you were both at the top, you faced your back to him to take time to catch your breath. Your emotions were all over the place right now. “You’re really hard to find, you know,” he said trying to break the silence. You wanted to throw up. As much as you hoped this moment would come, you never realized how unprepared you would be if it ever did. You couldn’t bare to look at him right now, knowing you would lose control of yourself if you did. “You look…good.” How would he know, he only saw your face for a second before you bolted off. You both stood there, the wind growing louder and louder with each second you both stayed silent. 

All of your senses came to a freeze once you felt his hand place itself on your shoulder, causing a flinch from you. “I wanted to find you again, mi vida,” he said in that rich, deep, smooth tone of his that drives you crazy. You could tell he was getting closer when you felt the hairs on your neck stand up from him breathing on them. “I missed you, and I was hoping we could pick up where we left off,” he said into the crook of your neck and began to plant kisses there. You broke free from his grasp by the third kiss he left. “No no no no no, no we can’t. It’s not that simple Miguel,” you said, pinching your bridge and sighing. There's no way he could've thought it would be this easy. He's not this stupid….is he?

“Listen amor, I’m sorry for everything that happened. But the past is the past.” He walked closer to you. “And I want my future with you.” He was up against you again. This time instead of your shoulder, he dragged his finger up and down your back in an almost hypnotic motion. God, you wanted him so bad, you wanted it to be this simple. That he can just apologize and everything could be okay. But you were reminded it couldn't be that way once his finger hit a pressure point in your scar. You swatted your hands in the air and walked away from him again. “No Miguel, that's not how this works. You can just do the things you've done to me and just say sorry and expect it to fix everything. You're not a child.” 

Once you turned around to face him, you saw him standing there like a lost puppy. You just wish he could see what you were talking about. “Don't act like you didn't do horrible things then too. I saw what you did to Jess.” “Don't turn this onto me Miguel. This is about you.” You walked up to him and pressed your finger into his chest. “This is about you, and the horrible things you've done to me! I can't even take a shower anymore without looking at myself in the mirror and seeing your damage!” You lifted up your shirt sleeve. “You did this! This was all you!” Miguel looks down at you with sympathetic eyes as your eyes began to well up. 

“And you can’t just barge in on this life I’ve made for myself and ask for me back because I won't go with you!” You were fully crying at this point, desperately trying to get your words out between sobs and lightly punching at Miguel's chest while he just stared at you. “Because I hate you Miguel! I hate you, okay!” You couldn't manage to talk anymore, overcome with the emotions he caused you to feel. You rested your head on his chest as you continued to sob. He wrapped his arms around you, causing you to do the same to him immediately. You sat there crying into his arms for about a minute, until he lifted up your chin with his finger.

“I’m so sorry I did this to you mi princesa. I’m so sorry. But I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.” Overtaken by emotion, you grab his face and crash your lips into his. Almost instinctively, his hands find a home onto your hips. You pull away for a second. “Just stop talking already,” you say breathlessly. He rushes to connect the two of your lips again, already going as far as to slip his tongue in between your lips. He’s so passionate about everything he does. His hands hold a tight grip on your body as his tongue explores your mouth. Almost like he’s hungry for you. No, not hungry. Starving. Famished. Three years apart was too much for him to stand without you by his side or in his bed. He needed you desperately. Like his life depended on if he was going to be able to fuck you into your bed tonight or not. 

He let out moans as your hands ran through and tugged on his hair. But as soon as his claws came out and dug into your hips, you pulled your mouth off of his, a string of saliva still connecting you two. “No claws Miguel. Bring them out again, and its over okay.” You still weren’t mentally over his attack against you. He nods. “Of course, baby.” With that said, you let go of him to walk over to the edge of the building. Once your at the edge, you signal him over. He follows, almost as if he’s under some spell. You attach one of your webs to your balcony railing below and use it as a guide to fall down to it. You land on your balcony, Miguel following close behind as you open the sliding door to your bedroom.

After you close the door and blinds, you turn to find Miguel almost hovering over you. He looked like some kind of lost dog the way he kept following you around, begging for more of you. You gently kiss him and guide him over to your bed. He sits down on the edge of the bed and begins to pull your hoodie off your head as you help him take off his suit. Once your sweatpants are off as well, you gently push him onto his back on your bed. Goosebumps form all over your body, partially from exposure to the cold air in your room, and partially from seeing him like this underneath you again. Finally, you take his already hard cock, and slide it into your hole, causing a rough groan out of him as you begin to rock on his hips.

You take things nice and slow while you’re in control, knowing the moment you get sloppy he’ll start to take over for you. You kissed down his neck and collarbone as you rode him, with him gripping hard at your back and your hips. “Nng, m-missed you s-so much amor,” he groaned out. “Tan hermosa.” You begin to speed your thrusting, tugging at his hair to get strained noises out of him. His hands make their way up to your back, digging into your skin. But your quick to rip his hands out of your back and pin them above his head once his talons come out again, into your back this time. You also take your lips off of his and stop your thrusting.

Miguel searched your face for some kind of explanation to the sudden stop, to find you panting and nearly frozen still. You’re taken back to that fight, a result from his claws finding a way into your scars. You’re pulled back to reality by Miguel’s voice. “Amor, que paso?” he asks with concern. You quickly wipe the sweat off your face and look into his beautiful crimson eyes. You wanted to forget the pain he caused you all those years ago, but unfortunately you couldn’t. But, you were willing to forgive him though. “Nothing Miggy,” you say gently, pressing a soft kiss onto his lips. He tries to move his hands back onto you, but finds his hands still trapped to the headboard. He looks at you confused. “What did I say about the claws, Miguel.” 

“Ay, baby you know its hard for me to control them around you,” he says, slightly annoyed, driven by the need to touch you again. “Well you’re going to need to try to okay? For now though, you’re going to stay like this.” His face drops, and he makes a sound almost like a whine. “Ay coño, lo siento péro you don’t need to punish me.” You felt powerful hearing him whine and beg like this. You were denying a starving man of his woman, his source of energy. 

Arms squirmed in your hand, as you began to rock on top of him again. You made sure to not kiss him either, moving away whenever he would try to place his mouth onto yours. He whined as you picked up your speed, desperate to feel you again. “P-please, let me go cariño.” You moved your mouth down and whispered in his ear, running your finger up and down his stomach, causing him to melt under you and whimper like a madman. “Not just yet,” you whispered seductively, sending extra chills down his spine and into his stomach when you bit into his ear lobe.

Overcome with your own urge to feel him, you accidentally let go of his hands and moved yours to grab hold of each of his pecs as you planted kisses over his sternum. Suddenly, you’re overswept as Miguel is freed and takes control over the situation. “I love you amor, but you have to let me touch your,” he says in that beautiful, rich tone of his before he goes at his own pace: slamming himself into you. 

He goes much faster than you did, and you almost come there on the spot as he nearly breaks your bed with his ferocity. You grip onto his enormous triceps for leverage as you let out a series of incoherent moans. “You like that, huh?” he pants out. You shove your lips onto his to get him to stop talking. “I-if you’re gonna do this, n-ngh, you’re gonna have to s-hh-ut up,” you manage to get out in between your almost inhumane sounds. He nods and shoves his tongue into your mouth, exploring the insides of your cheeks while his tip slams into your walls, causing that white heat to begin to build up in your stomach.

His hands swarm across your body, making up for lost time before, and eventually land on your breasts as he begins to palm at them. Just as you thought he couldn’t arouse you any more than he already has, he moves his mouth along your jawline, down to your neck, and begins to mark it with kisses and slight sucking. “I-I missed you too, Miggy.” 

That nickname you had for him drove him crazy. So crazy in fact, his next move was to drive his fangs into your neck, making sure to not let his poison seep into your neck. He presses his lips and sucks on the skin on your neck while sinking his fangs deeper into you. You could feel yourself getting closer to the edge, as you held onto his broad shoulders while he basically slammed you into the bed. “Oh Miguel,” you moaned out. He nodded, not able to speak, due to his fangs still being attached to your neck. You could tell he was getting close too with how sloppy his pace was getting. 

You’re washed over with bliss when the heat in your stomach finally takes over the rest of your body, almost clawing at Miguel while you come. His hands put more pressure on your breasts as he comes as well, moaning into the softness of your neck. Once you two have both finished, he slowly pulls his teeth out of your neck, and licks up the metallic liquid with his warm, delicate tongue. He slowly pulls his cock out of the sweetness of your cunt and rolls over to lay next to you on the bed, dragging his fingers across your pussy, taking the cum his fingers picked up and putting it in his mouth.

He plants a kiss onto your forehead before saying, “One second, princesa, I’ll be right back,” as he got up to go to the bathroom. He must have been in there for about 10 minutes before coming back into your room and reaching out his hand for yours. You take his hand as he leads you out of bed, reminded of how naked you are when you reveal yourself from the sheets.

He leads you into the bathroom to see that hes drawn a bath for the two of you. You blush slightly at the gesture, as he gets in first and leads you in. The touch of the water numbs your body slightly with the mixture of the cold room to the hot bath water. You almost melt as you sink in, laying your back against Miguel’s chest as he wraps his arms around your body. You could fall asleep right here, mixed between the comfort of the bath water, and Miguel’s body finally against yours again. The bathtub was kind of small, so his body was taking up most of the space, causing him to basically engulf you. 

You were surrounded in him, his lips almost attached to the nape of your nack, his arms consuming your upper half, and his legs intwining with your lower half. He wiggles slightly to reach the soap, puts it in the water to wet it, and lathers it onto your body. First, he washes your arms, rubbing the soap back and forth over your arm hairs, and even under your armpits. Next, he moves to wash your chest. He takes the soap and moves it over your breasts and your underboob, causing you to move in closer to him. His response is to peck kisses into the crook of your neck, getting little giggles out of you. You stop giggling though after he stops kissing you and stays still for a second. 

You wait in silence for him to do something. “...Miggy…you okay?” you ask when he doesn’t say anything. You turn your head slightly to see him. Out of your peripherals, you see him staring solemnly at your back. He’s finally seen them. The four almost perfectly placed scars warping across your back. They were huge. And he knows they’re from him. You turned your head back to the front and dug it in between your knees, pushing out your back even more. Miguel delicately traced his fingers over them, as you waited curled up for him to say something. “I’m sorry,” is all he can manage to weakly push out. 

You decide to turn your body around to face him, splashing water around in the cramped bathtub while doing so. His eyes are down with sadness creeping over his face. You cup his cheek with your hand and press a loving, gentle kiss onto his lips. You bring his arms over your shoulders and wrap your legs around his hips. You wanted to be engulfed by him. You were so pressed on staying mad at him for so many years that you forgot how much you loved being this close to him. You could hear his heart softly beating as you pressed your head against his chest. He soon wrapped his arms around your body, taking you into him, and dug his head into the crook of your neck, almost as if he was hiding. 

You stayed there for a moment before eventually turning back around. You laid your head in a position so you could still see his face if you looked up. You could feel yourself slowly dozing off in his arms. Your last thoughts before you slipped out of consciousness was of how perfect this was. 

You had found your home again. Moreso, he found his way to you. And this time, you were never going to let go.

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a/n: i just wanted to say thank you to everyone for sticking around during this series. i know it wasn't meant to be 4 parts and only 2 so i really appreciate everyone who stuck around for the whole thing. make sure to look out for my next thing cause i wanna start writing an enemies to lover oc x miguel thing so please go and support that once thats out. thanks guys!!!!

taglist: @jenniferdixon05207 @sweetanimebakery @azxulaa @daimiyu @vinkar345 @pinkninja200 @luvstich @rin-matsuoka345-blog @lillunna @konniebon @hwanunjin @simp-nerd-16 @chucklefuvk @elwyn7 @haileybxxr @ilovemymomscooking @lansy-4 @maxi-ride @d4rno @callsign-blue @obamnas-soda @sophipet @violentlyneon @d1lf-loverrr @afro-hispwriter @kirke-is-my-name @ilovemiguelohara @lavnderluv @konniebon @msecho19 @kiamewrites

[dottores]

HELIOTROPES

pairing: dottore x fem!reader & segments

summary: the gods were sick and twisted. for five hundred years, he believed he was fated to be alone. he had long accepted it—embraced it, even. that is, until a midwinter night when that elusive red thread finally appeared on his finger. but as much as he wants to ignore it, the pull of a soulmate simply cannot be ignored.

genre: soulmate au, canon compliant for the most part.

warnings: fem!reader, worldbuilding for snezhnaya & fatui & fontaine, reader not in the best mental state (esp in first scene).

notes: FINALLY!!! its unedited so bear with me, i dont rlly have time to go through and edit + i've been sick as hell for two weeks straight now. but i hope u guys enjoy!!!

ALEA IACTA EST

You were trapped. 

You didn’t know what sort of witchcraft Pantalone used but you couldn’t leave his wing. You thought you might be going crazy, it took two days of making excuses for you to realize that something was severely wrong, and another three for the anxieties to start embedding in your head. You had your first panic attack in years on the sixth day, and now on the seventh, you were sitting in the small library alone—there was a book in your lap, but the words were swimming off the pages and your head was spinning. 

How was this what he wanted? 

You couldn’t understand how either of you were benefiting from this. He wasn’t getting whatever knowledge he wanted from you and you weren’t getting what you needed to know. You were just stuck here, alone and lost. Not even Pantalone was around for the past few days because he went to finalize a business deal in a Mondstadt port town, he should be coming back soon but even when he did, you knew he wouldn’t spare you much attention. 

How was this what he wanted? You wondered if it was supposed to be some sick sort of torture, wear down your mental fortitude so you’d be more apt to answer the questions he wanted. If that was the case, he would be severely disappointed when you spat in his face the next time he dared to make an appearance. Another part of you wondered if this was just how it would be—he would keep you locked up and alone so he didn’t have to deal with you but he also didn’t have to fear you running off and putting yourself in danger.

The more you thought about it, the more you convinced yourself of both options, and the more you hated your own soulmate. 

Seven days. It had been seven days of being trapped in this place with only Pantalone to occasionally talk to and of the few times he spoke to you, the majority were just of him going on a vicious rant about how the Tianquan of Liyue kept sidelining his proposals and how the wineries of Mondstadt were icing him out of the wine market with Liyue’s merchants. He claimed it was all some big conspiracy against him because there was no reason they should be blatantly disregarding his letters, all of his proposals were mostly targeted for their profit, which the Regrator thought was blasphemous in itself—the Jester apparently cared more for building relationships with the administrative and economic sectors of each of the nations than Pantalone’s dignity as a businessman. You, evidently, did not give him the outraged reaction he wanted and he hadn’t come back to speak with you since, leaving for his meeting across the nation without a word. 

Now you were alone, and you couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was watching you—and you knew it was not Dottore. 

You exhaled as you tried to focus again on the book laying on your lap but your head throbbed and you were forced to avert your gaze back to the ceiling, trying to quell the pain through sheer willpower alone. The Regrator’s library was filled to the brim, but with nothing that would be of use to you trying to figure out how they had trapped you in this sector. Books on economics, the aristocratic families of Snezhnaya, the history of the northern lands and all of the old traditions and folklore that noble children were brought up learning, undoubtedly so he could fine tune that mask of his, pretending that he had always been one of them in order to shear more money from them.

A part of you wanted to warn him that the more he tried to fake it, the more they would ridicule him, but you didn’t want to be totally isolated again as soon as he came back so you figured you’d just let him figure it out himself. 

Regardless, even with the massive amount of books that stacked his library’s walls, not a single one could help you in figuring out this spell. You’d never seen magics like this before—it was not elemental based, it was psyche-based. Every time you got down the hall, to the eighth window from your room to the right, your head started feeling light and dizzy, you felt sick and nauseous and were forced to turn back lest you put yourself in a very, very vulnerable position in a place where you could not afford any vulnerability. 

As nervous as it made you, at first, you found amusement in it. You were irritated and scared, yes, but more than that, you knew that Dottore could feel everything you did. So, you made it your mission to stay right at that eighth window for as long as you possibly could, just because you knew that you were racking your soulmate with that same nausea and dizziness and light-headedness that you were experiencing. 

Now, the amusement was gone and you were just scared. You were scared that you would be trapped here forever, never again to see your mother and your half-siblings and your grandfather. You were scared that you’d disappoint your father, that you wouldn’t be able to succeed in your mission and he would never be able to rest peacefully without justice having been exacted. And as much as you hated him, you were scared that you would never see him again either, that he would just leave you here to rot, live out the rest of your miserable existence confined to a single hall with books that you would rather burn than read. 

You hated that you felt so attached to him already—that even though the thought of him filled you with vile rage and agony, your body still ached for his touch, your eyes still longed for the sight of him walking through the dark doors of the library, and your bond still screamed for you to somehow end this war between the two of you so it could find peace. 

Even if peace negotiations were in your hands, you would still stubbornly throw them out the window, but they weren’t because he continued to completely deny you his presence. You were at his mercy, only when he decided, would a white flag be lifted. 

“Excuse me.”

You stiffened, an unwelcome chill ran down your spine as you looked over your shoulder to where an unfamiliar figure was standing in the doorframe of the library. With golden blonde curls and green eyes, no more than a decade older than you, you thought that the man might’ve been handsome were it not for that there was a dark gleam behind his eyes that reminded you a lot of your step-father, one that promised danger and deceit. 

He smiled and even though his teeth were not sharpened, somehow they looked more like knives than Theta’s did. “You’re the aristocrat from Fontaine that the Regrator took in, no?” 

“I am,” you said. Your voice was hoarse from days without speaking, you cleared your throat, closing the book and placing it down on the couch next to you just in case the man tried to take a seat there with you. “And you are?”

He wasn’t as unfamiliar as you originally believed. You recognized him from the event, standing with the rest of the Harbingers—immediately, you were on edge, trying to figure out what he wanted from you. He came closer to you and you bit the words that tempted to fly from your mouth as he picked up the book you had placed as a deterrent to take a seat on the couch right next to you, too close for comfort. You could feel his thigh brushing yours as he looked to the side to watch you, eyes tracing over your body once before settling on your face.

“Brighella,” he greeted, holding a hand out to you. “Tenth of the Fatui Harbingers, delighted to make your acquaintance.”

You placed your hand in his, albeit reluctantly, watching raptly as he lifted your hand up to his lips, kissing your knuckles gently before letting go. His lips were soft and pleasant against your fingers yet it still made your skin crawl. You drew your hand back into your lap immediately, waiting for him to explain what he wanted.

“I was just curious,” he said, answering the unspoken question. “The Regrator is a very proud man, as I’m sure you’ve noticed, he never responds well to help. It came as a shock to hear that he was taking in an aristocrat from Fontaine as an advisor.”

He was lying—about what, you weren’t sure, but you knew somewhere in that statement of his that there was a lie, and though you had no way of confirming it, you suspected that it had to do with his initial claim: that he was simply curious. 

“He intends to expand the Northland Bank into Fontaine City,” was all you replied with, a thin smile painting your lips. “Even someone as proud and intelligent as him is not capable of such a feat alone, the Court of Fontaine is notoriously anti-Snezhnaya.”

“Yes, so I’ve heard.” Brighella waved off your words and relaxed into the chair next to you, eyes disarmingly beseeching as he watched your reactions. “But we have our own operatives in Fontaine City, I was surprised that he didn’t just come to me for information, rather insulting, actually.”

He laid the information in front of you like meat to seduce a starving beast, all the while he lurked behind the bushes and waited for you to lunge at it so he could drive his blade across your neck as an execution. You didn’t respond, maybe for a second longer than you should have, but the sudden information had thrown you off guard. 

It was him. 

The words rang resounding through your head, Brighella was the one running the Fatui’s operations in Fontaine. Why had he told you? What did he expect to gain from this? There was something you were missing still, but after a week of forced isolation and no progress in your mission, this was like a feast handed to you on a silver platter.

“Perhaps your operatives are just not capable enough for such a scheme,” you said dryly, but your voice sounded vacant even to your own ears, it was clear that you were focused on something else. 

Brighella raised a hand to his chest as if he’d been wounded by your words. “Oh, but the Knave and I had trained so many of them personally,” he sighed. “What use am I to this organization if my colleagues won’t even rely on me or my agents to deliver when necessary?” 

It was a rhetorical question but you didn’t know what to make of it, or of him. Faux-mourning tainted his tone as he spoke, a regretful expression on his face as he turned his eyes up to the ceiling above. 

What was he trying to gain from this? You asked yourself again, more desperately this time. His lips, still tilted up as they’d been this whole conversation, had a bit more of triumph in them than they’d had before and you knew that somewhere you had slipped up, revealing something you shouldn’t have. But you rewound the conversation in your head over and over and over again and you couldn’t quite place where you had. You’d been careful with your words, nothing to set off alarm bells—your cover with the Regrator’s expansion in Fontaine was true, but you were just not being quite as helpful as he would like you to be, and Pantalone was very clear in his opinions on their Fontaine plants and their inadequacy. 

It had to have been your tone, the emptiness in your response to his reveal about his subordinates in Fontaine. It gave away your interest, and you could play it off as if it was just a general interest in how they’d infiltrated Fontaine, but if your stepfather truly was his agent, then he would know very well who you were and your ulterior reasons for being here—or he would at least now have confirmation. 

Pantalone had told you that Pulcinella, Brighella and Tartaglia would be the three Harbingers who would be the least of your worries, but you thought that the Friar was much more dangerous than he made himself out to be. 

How were you supposed to proceed? You tested words on the tip of your tongue but you could not figure out what to say—if you were suddenly interested in him, he would know it was only because of the information he revealed, but if you were cold and distant, you risked him not returning and you needed more information one way or another, even if it meant consorting with a man that made your hair stand on end. 

You didn’t get the chance to speak up again though, as your lips parted to speak, Brighella rose to his feet.

“I should get going. I’d prefer not to draw the ire of my fellow Harbingers, but it was a pleasure talking to you,” he murmured, a small smile and eyes turned upward as he nodded his head down in acknowledgement. “I’ll stop by again soon, it’s cruel of the Regrator and the Doctor to leave you alone the way they have.”

Two days later, the Friar returned. 

You’d spent the two days alone reeling and trying to understand where you had gone wrong and how you could compensate for it. You needed a plan of action, and a fast and efficient one at that. Freezing him out would be stupid, as much as it might be the most comforting course of action, but you also couldn’t just suddenly be trying to get closer to him because he would realize something was up.

You weren’t stupid. If he had truly just been curious about you, he would have come much sooner than he did. He waited because he wanted you to be worn down and utterly alone, so you would latch onto him like he was a buoy in the raging sea. Unfortunately for him, you were far too used to being alone. As agonizing as a week of isolation was, it was not near enough to make you that desperate. 

But he had information you wanted desperately, so you wanted to let him think whatever plan he was concocting was working in hopes that he might reveal more to gain your trust and dependency. You thought it would be a slow and arduous process, not to mention agonizing, but considering neither Pantalone nor Dottore have come to see you in over a week now, you figured you had nothing better to do anyway and this was your best shot at getting what you wanted… and maybe, if you ended up being successful with this, you could free yourself too but you thought that was far less likely.

At the very least, it might force Dottore into action if he thought you were starting to get close with Brighella.

But that was a long shot anyway. Brighella was a type of beast that you were unfamiliar with. He kind of reminded you of some of the crueler members of Fontaine’s aristocracy, the ones who found entertainment in setting up trials that they knew would lead to one terrible sentencing, all the while smiling to the defendants face, but even then they were nothing like this. He was a wolf that portrayed himself as a sheep in the truest sense of the proverb and you just didn’t know what he was capable of, or what he wanted, and that was what scared you most—you didn’t like it when you didn’t know what someone’s intentions were with you.

Your stepfather was easy, all he wanted was more power in Fontaine, evidently to report back to the Fatui for a promotion—you and your father were obstacles in obtaining said power, so he removed your father from being able to influence your mother and you were certain that if you had stayed in Fontaine City, he would have gone after you too.

Dottore was somewhat frank in his intentions with you: he wanted you out of his life so that you couldn’t affect his research but he was keeping you here because he wanted information from you… and a part of you was certain that he was keeping you here also because it prevented you from going out and getting yourself hurt or killed, and that scared you because you didn’t know just how long he planned to keep you isolated here. Or if he ever even planned to release you.

Pantalone had been upfront with you: he wanted a way to get the Northland Bank into Fontaine, you had offered your help in exchange for assistance with removing your stepfather from the courts but you had no intention of giving him any help until he had pulled through on his end. And even then, you had never specified how much help you would give him—you were not going to give the Fatui more of a foothold than they already had. 

Not after what they did to your father. 

Brighella was an unknown. He had come to you with a goal two days ago, and whatever that goal had been, he had achieved it. You still couldn’t figure what it was, even after days of recounting your conversation to figure it out, and that unnerved you more than anything. 

“You actually came back,” you said quietly, eyes flickering up to where Brighella had entered the library. He brought something with him, you couldn’t quite tell what it was but it smelled good, and familiar. 

“I promised, didn’t I?” Brighella replied, amused. He came around the couch to sit next to you. He sat closer this time. 

“It’s been two days, I was beginning to doubt.”

“Yes, well, the Regrator grew a bit suspicious when he saw me coming from the direction of his wing, the last thing I needed was to draw his ire. The Doctor already has it out for me even when I do no wrong.” Brighella sounded aggrieved as he spoke but your ears rang loudly at his words. 

“The Regrator already returned from his meeting in Mondstadt?” you asked, keeping your voice free of all tightness but when Brighella only shot you a confused look, one that did not appear to be feigned in the slightest. “Ah, I see.”

There was no meeting in Mondstadt. 

You wondered if it was by Dottore’s will or his own that he had lied and left you here in isolation. You thought it would be easier to believe it was Dottore’s, you had already made him out to be your villain, but you knew better than to assume that. Dottore was obstinate and prideful, yes, but Pantalone was the one who had clawed his way from the bottom tiers of society to the very top, his manipulation would know no bounds—he knew that you were already struggling with Dottore’s refusal to acknowledge you, and he probably thought that his disappearance, after entertaining you for a few days, would put you over the edge.

Jaw tight and trying your best to keep your emotions off of your face lest Brighella take advantage of your distressed realization, you forced yourself to turn your attention back to the Harbinger.

“Here,” Brighella said, passing the covered dish over to you. “Tartiflette, I figure you must be missing home. I hear tartiflette has been rather popular amongst the aristocrats lately.”

I hear. 

Bitterly, you wanted to ask just how he managed to hear that but you refrained. Instead, you glanced down at the dish—it was covered with foil but it smelled good, just like the one you and Sylvie used to get from Cafe Lucerne before your father passed away.

You wondered if it was poisoned, or laced with something, you didn’t exactly put it past Brighella. Even if there were ulterior motives behind him bringing you the dish, it was thoughtful nonetheless. So instead of voicing your suspicions or refusing the dish, you took into your lap, letting the warmth of the bottom of the plate and the familiar scent sink in.

“Thank you.”

Brighella looked pleased, green eyes glittering. “You’re welcome.”

The two of you sat in silence for a moment, and you listened to the way the wind rattled the glass nearby. It was getting late already, you could see the moon rising over the trees in the distance. Nine days now with no word from Dottore at all. You were sure he was probably keeping the segments away from you too because you hadn’t seen a single one since that night.

After a few moments of silence, Brighella asked, “He told you that he had a meeting in Mondstadt?” 

You didn’t respond, you supposed that was answer enough because he let out a heavy sigh. 

“The Regrator does love his underhanded tactics.”

“And you don’t?” you couldn’t help but press, eyeing him curiously.

“I do.” At least he didn’t bother hiding it, shooting you a deceptively friendly smile as he relaxed back into the chair. “But it’s different, my underhanded tactics are for the greater good.”

“Many men have claimed to do terrible things for the greater good,” you murmured. “What makes you different?” 

Your subordinate killed my father, you were saying, tell me how that was for the greater good?

Brighella watched you for a second and then said, “Perhaps you’re right, but I’d like to believe otherwise.”

You hummed, looking away but you could feel that he was still looking at you and it was making you feel antsy, like a cornered animal. 

Finally, Brighella spoke up again. This time, his voice was far more quiet, as if he didn’t want someone listening in. “I wish we had more time to talk instead of rushing straight to business, but I fear that I’m testing many boundaries and patiences by coming to visit you and I’d like for you to understand why I am.” Curiously, your eyes focused onto him, he was still staring at you, watching your reactions. “The Regrator cannot give you what you want. He has no power in Fontaine, nor jurisdiction over any of the subordinates there, that is why he’s coming to you and trying to get your assistance. He does not want to use me as an intermediary for his business.”

There it was. You raised your chin a bit in surprise as Brighella’s words reached your ears and his motives became clearer. You didn’t doubt that there were other ulterior ones that he was keeping to himself, but this one was enough for you to get some clarity on the situation: Brighella and Pantalone were playing a game of chess for Fontaine, and both thought that you would be the piece that would win them the game. 

You realized, slowly, that you might just have a bit more power than you realized, and that Pantalone had been trying to keep you ignorant to it. 

It also gave you more insight on the Fatui itself, and more specifically, the relationship between the Harbingers. You had a feeling that the camaraderie shown during the event was just a show but you hadn’t thought the rivalry ran so deep as to having Harbingers competing for power through using outside sources. 

You wondered if Brighella realized just how much he had revealed to you. From the steady look in his eyes as he watched you, he very much did. You wondered then why, because it had to be something beyond just trying to get you to not help Pantalone—unless he was that desperate to keep Fontaine in his grasp. But you had a feeling that wasn’t the case.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” you finally responded with, pointedly meeting his eyes. 

He was studying you carefully and finally, he nodded, rising to his feet. “It’s alright. I’ll come back soon and give you some time to think. Just remember, what the Regrator promised you is not something he is able to give at this point and time. He’s making you think that you are the one dependent on him but without your cooperation, he doesn’t have a foothold in Fontaine, which is what he desperately wants.”

You didn’t respond as he walked out of the room, but before he stepped through the door, he turned to look at you one last time, “Enjoy the tartiflette—perhaps next time, I’ll bring you an even grander gift.”

You were not in the library the next time Brighella came to visit. You were lounging in your room preparing for bed when the knock came at your door. For a second, just a second, you might’ve hoped that it was Dottore, finally ending the war between the two of you—but as you called for the person to come in, and a head of curly blonde hair and green eyes peeked from around the door, the bit of hope that had sprung up withered in an instant. 

“May I?” Brighella asked, motioning for him to come into your room.

How improper, you thought to yourself, trying to force away the heat that rose to your cheeks. But you needed to keep talking to him, milk him for all that he knew before you made a decision about what you were going to do. 

“Of course,” you responded with, watching him carefully as he slipped into the room and made his way over to where you were sitting. He sat on the window nook next to where you were sitting at your vanity, leaning back on his hands as he studied you carefully. 

“Have you thought about my proposal yet?” Brighella murmured, his eyes were intense as he watched you, you could barely even hold his gaze and you had never had trouble holding anyone’s gaze before. 

You had. Of course, you had. With the newfound knowledge of Pantalone’s inability to actually get you what you want without you giving him what he wanted first, everything changed. Your whole position in this situation changed. You were still a prisoner, naturally, but you were a prisoner with power right now. You had two different Harbingers vying to acquire your support. It could change in a second, you knew that, you couldn’t get ahead of yourself, but you couldn’t just disregard the opportunity this presented.

You also could not take everything Brighella said at face value. 

You remembered the look in his eyes when you first met him, the skeevy one that reminded you of your stepfather and all of the other men and women in your life who had done terrible, terrible things without remorse. 

“I still don’t know what you’re talking about,” you replied instead, and Brighella sighed, disappointed but not surprised.

“Ah, I see,” Brighella said. “I haven’t quite gained your trust yet—well, perhaps this will change that.”

From his pocket, Brighella pulled out a piece of parchment, sealed with a wax Fatui insignia. He held it out to you and you reached out cautiously, taking it into your hands and turning it over to view the blank back of the parchment. You had no way of knowing the contents of it without breaking the wax seal, you looked up at Brighella, questioningly. He looked pleased, a small smile teasing at his lips. 

“This is a letter I have addressed to a particular subordinate of mine stationed down in Fontaine,” Brighella explained, leaning his chin on his hand, elbow propped up on his knee as he watched you. You could only barely bite back the sharp intake of breath as you looked down at the parchment again. “Yes, yes, I know, you don’t know what I’m talking about. But hypothetically, if you did, I was willing to gift you one of two options.”

“What are these hypothetical options?” you asked, your knuckles just a bit too tight around the parchment to pass it off as normal.

“You can keep that letter, and we can work together as partners. I can work with the Knave to set up a mission with the Jester and the Tsaritsa to have you head back to Fontaine, where you can use the letter as evidence to put said subordinate on trial before the Hydro Archon and Chief Justice,” Brighella said, your throat felt tight and swollen, your lips on the verge of trembling. 

Everything you wanted, but there had to be a catch. You knew better. For all you knew, the contents of the letter was empty, he could let you go down to Fontaine only to make you look like a fool when you presented the letter as evidence. 

“The second option?” you asked, proud that your voice remained steady and void of the turbulent emotions rushing through you.

“I will send it south and summon him back to Snezhnaya. You can exact your own justice here.”

What was the catch?

There had to be a catch, but you couldn’t for the life of you figure it out. You knew it was something more than just preventing Pantalone from stepping into his territory but Brighella was impossible to read and far more unpredictable than you expected. You were baffled that he would go to this length to try to get you to trust him. 

“You can hold onto the letter until you’ve made your decision, I-”

“My, my,” a familiar, smooth voice drawled. “What is this?”

At once, your blood ran cold as you looked up to see a familiar figure standing in your doorframe, violet eyes cold and cruel as he stared at where you were sitting with Brighella. Brighella only smiled thinly, mocking, as he looked at Pantalone and said: “Regrator, I hope you don’t mind me spending time with your new advisor, she’s quite the lovely little thing. I’m rather fond of her.”

“Is that meant to mean much?” Pantalone asked dryly, the smile on his lips tightening at the corners and you braced yourself for whatever he was about to say. “You’re fond of everything with two legs that will open for you.”

Your face felt hot, fingers tightening around the parchment as his words registered. Two legs that will open? 

How dare he?

Who does he think he is?

The barrage of livid questions battered your head, begging to be let loose but you bit your tongue, sharpening it as you instead responded with: “How crude, I know you had an unfortunate upbringing but I thought you’d learned better by now than to speak every vile word that crosses through that repulsive mind of yours.”

Next to you, Brighella hid his smile behind his hand and you at least felt a little validated even as Pantalone’s eyes bore down into you, you could see the promise for bloodshed barely veiled beneath his calm expression. 

“I’ll take my leave.” Brighella rose to his feet and to your horror, he leaned in close to you, taking both of your hands in his and you wanted to pull away, ask him what the hell he was thinking, but the words died on your tongue as he took the parchment from your hand before Pantalone could catch sight of it, subtly letting it drop to the floor before using his foot to slip it beneath the bed. His lips flickered upward. “Think about what I said. I’ll come by again.”

“No, you will not,” Pantalone interjected coolly. “I believe I have mentioned before that you are not welcome in my wing of the palace, Friar.”

“Then I will send one of my subordinates to fetch her to bring her to mine.” Brighella waved off the comment. “It’s no bother.”

He directed a faux-smile toward Pantalone as he slipped past the other Harbinger and left the room, leaving you alone with him. Pantalone stared after Brighella for a moment before turning his attention on you. 

You raised your chin and asked sweetly, “How did your business deal down in Mondstadt fare?” knowing damn well that there was no business deal down in Mondstadt.

He very clearly understood what you were getting at, the sweet smile on his lips just as fake as your tone as he said, “Very well.”

“I’m sure.”

The mockery in his eyes slowly slipped away the longer he stared at you—he wanted to say something, that was for sure, but he either didn’t know how to say it or he couldn’t, and you had a distinct feeling that Pantalone spoke more than he breathed so finding a way to say it was not the problem, he felt that he couldn’t. 

“The Friar is not to be trusted,” he finally decided. 

“There is not a single soul within this palace that is to be trusted,” you countered icily. 

He smiled, but the smile did not meet his eyes. “Fair enough.” 

There was a quiet tone to his voice, you wondered if any of Brighella’s statements held any truth to them, if he was worried that you would side with the Tenth instead of him, and he would lose his shot at expanding the Northland Bank into Fontaine. 

Something wicked swam in his eyes as his gaze cast over where you were sitting once more, voice more scathing now. “I do wonder how the Doctor will feel about your newfound relationship with the Friar,” and you realized that the Regrator did not fret over anything. And if he was backed into a corner like a wounded animal, he would lash out ten times as deadly. 

He was threatening to tell Dottore if you did not speak to his liking, if you did not dismiss Brighella’s option. 

Your eyes widened, just a bit—you knew there was nothing wrong with what you’d been talking about with the Friar. Dottore knew that you were here for one thing, and one thing alone: obtaining the evidence to convict your stepfather of your father’s murder. But you had a feeling that Pantalone would be spiteful and describe what he had walked in on as not what really happened, he’d put it in the worst light possible and blow the slim chance you had for Dottore ever showing up…

Or, it would finally force him into action. 

It was a risky gamble—one that you weren’t sure if you should take. Dottore was prideful and stubborn and you didn’t know how far it extended. It could blow up in your face, or it could finally get you what you wanted: the upperhand. 

You had never been a gambling woman before, but ever since you got to Snezhnaya, you were being put into situations forcing you to change and adapt just so you could survive, so you could bring justice to your father.

You didn’t think you liked the person who you were becoming, but you didn’t think you had a choice.

You smiled at Pantalone, but the smile was as empty as you felt. 

“I don’t particularly care what the Doctor feels concerning my relationship with Brighella. Tell him whatever you please, do pass on my regards to the younger segments though.”

“I must say your soulmate truly is a little spitfire, she has proven it time and time again.”

Dottore sighed as he looked up from his vial, heavy eyes focusing on Pantalone as the man slunk into his labs as if he owned them. His smile was tight and his eyes were not in the typical upturn they usually turned up whenever he was amused—whatever you had said to him had severely pissed him off, it nearly made his own lips twitch upward, wondering what exactly you had said to get under his skin so badly. 

“And what did she say this time?” Dottore drawled, not even bothering to feign curiosity, placing the vial back down on the burner as he looked up at Pantalone, whose eye twitched at the question. 

“It’s about time you stop playing this game with her, Doctor.” Was all Pantalone said in response, observing a failed, burnt test subject disdainfully, poking at it with a long, gloved finger before drawing his gaze back up to Dottore. 

“And here I thought you were playing the same game,” Dottore dismissed, although he would beg to differ that it was not a game, but the last thing he wanted was to get into a battle of semantics with Pantalone. “Was that not why you’ve been loitering around my labs this past week?”

“Yes, I was,” Pantalone agreed, but there was an edge to his voice that made Dottore suspicious, “and it backfired. A certain snake rose from the grasses to take advantage.”

“Hm?” Dottore tilted his head to the side, red eyes narrowing as Pantalone’s words registered.

“Now is not the time for your stubbornness, Doctor,” the banker warned. “Continue to disregard her and she will turn to someone else… or I suppose, she already has. I caught her acting rather intimately with the Friar in her quarters just before I came here.”

Dottore’s lips flattened and his eyes went cold, Pantalone caught the physical reaction, eyebrows shooting upward, mockingly. But Pantalone could only see the physical reaction, he could not feel how Dottore’s blood somehow felt like it was burning and freezing at the same time, he could not see how his vision tunneled and he could not hear how his ears were ringing. 

Intimately?

There it was again—that prideful and possessive feeling rearing its ugly head. You were his, only by fate and by chance, but you were his nonetheless, even if he was loathe to admit it. He ignored the hypocrisy of his thoughts, you were his and yet he had ignored you for over a week? He was laying claim to you after all of his denial and anger?

He had been doing what was right, separating himself from you to prevent the bond from getting any stronger. He wasn’t playing the same game that Pantalone was, isolating you to try to make you more malleable to his requests when he finally came back around; Dottore did not play games, not with anyone, much less with you. 

But was he okay with you turning your attention elsewhere with his absence?

No. No, he was not. The thought filled him with an emotion he hadn’t felt in over four hundred years, not since his years as a Fatui recruit before he’d learned to separate himself from his emotions.

“She asked for me to pass on my regards to the younger segments.” Pantalone smiled as he spoke, knowing that the words were bound to set Dottore off even more because how dare you send your regards to the children as you let another man into your quarters. “I’ll be heading to my office now. I have some paperwork to finish filling out. Do think on what I said, I expected a branch of the Northland Bank in Fontaine to come out of this arrangement. If it does not, you will have to make up for it.”

“Your expectations are not my responsibility,” Dottore said, voice clipped and icy and far more strained than he meant for it to be. 

Pantalone only let out a huff of laughter as he spun on his heel, shooting Dottore one last long look that had Dottore’s body begging for violence as a response. Nearly twenty years of him being forced into a corner because of you, and it was only getting worse.

“It is in this situation,” he said as he made his way out of the lab as quickly as he had come, leaving Dottore there alone with raging thoughts and turbulent emotions. 

The Friar. 

Brighella. 

Lip curled up in a type of rage he hadn’t felt in a long, long time, he finished putting his equipment away and reached for his mask, intent on heading to your quarters himself to understand just what was going on between you and the Tenth. 

It was the first time you’d been in Snezhnaya where there hadn’t been a storm battering the night. Once the Regrator had left you to your business, and you were finally able to finish getting ready for bed, you curled up at the window nook to look outside, where the air was still bitter and cold but the harsh winds had subsided and the moon was reflecting prettily over the frozen lake north of the palace. 

It looked calm and peaceful—you thought there was a beauty to Snezhnaya that was unique. The Hydro Archon and her acolytes liked to frame the nation as one big frozen wasteland but the more time you spent there, the more you realized that it was just not true. It was frozen, yes, but there were towering trees and massive lakes, the snow sparkled beneath the sun and moon in a way you’d never seen before.

You pressed the pad of your finger against the glass, a longing feeling sweeping over you as your eyes focused on the line of trees on the opposite side of the frozen lake. You thought that this might be your chance—the storms had subsided, you could make a break for it, but you knew deep down that the lack of storm was a deception you couldn’t afford to fall for. Just because the winds had died and the snow and ice had stopped falling, it didn’t mean that it was safe enough to travel through. You would still freeze. Perhaps if you had a pyro vision, it would be different but your hydro vision would do nothing to protect you against the cold.

You sighed, laying your forehead against the window and letting the chilly feeling spread through you, a stark contrast from the warmth of the fireplace emanating throughout your room. 

You wondered if you made a mistake. You had antagonized Pantalone, and he had likely antagonized Dottore on your behalf. It had felt good in the moment—a sharp jab that relieved some of the heavy pressure that isolation had put on you, but now the pressure was back and worse than before. 

You were not wondering. You knew it had been a mistake. 

Even if Brighella had been telling the truth and you held more power than Pantalone was leading you to believe, you couldn’t afford to isolate yourself from the option he presented. Dottore clearly trusted him enough to trust him with you, which you thought was about the biggest show of trust anyone could get from the Second.

And neither of them trusted Brighella. 

Your pride and anger had gotten the best of you—they had gotten the best of you when you had thought you had been in control. You laid everything out logically, convinced yourself that the option Brighella posed was just as appealing as Pantalone, forgetting that at the very least, Dottore and Pantalone were known threats to you. That yes, Pantalone wanted to use you and Dottore wanted nothing to do with you, but neither of them would risk your safety. Brighella was an unknown, just a charming and manipulative one that knew precisely when and how to strike.

You weren’t cut out for this. You let your eyes slide shut as you tried to force away the tears building in them. Frustration, anger, desperation, they were all becoming too much for you to handle. You didn’t know what to do. If Brighella was telling the truth, he really was the key to getting what you want, but you couldn’t trust him, you didn’t know what his motives were. Behind the pretty eyes and glittering smile was a snake with venomous fangs that could clamp down at any moment. 

You thought the courts of Fontaine had prepared you for this but the Snezhnayan court and the heart of the Fatui was a beast that you were not equipped to deal with. The courts of Fontaine were a beast, you would never think otherwise, but you’d been foolish enough to let yourself believe that they were similar enough to Snezhnaya’s that you’d be able to handle it. 

In Fontaine, your name had power and words were as sharp and lethal as daggers—as long as you put on a pretty mask and an entertaining performance, you would survive, but the aristocrats and observers of justice would eat alive anyone who could not put on a convincing and beguiling show.

In Snezhnaya, your name meant nothing and the only coat of protection you could place over yourself was Dottore’s position in the Fatui, and his forced bond to you. Your mask was shattering the longer you were stuck in the cold, and the entertaining performances you were so adept at putting on were becoming more pathetic than anything else. Danger lurked around every corner, not even just those who wanted to kill you as a means to weaken the Doctor, but also those who hated you for the country you come from. You had seen the way one of the Harbingers had looked at you during the event, and having even one Harbinger against you meant that you had hundreds of subordinates out for your throat to try to gain her approval. 

You were well beyond your depth. A vast ocean all around you and the currents were dragging you under, water filling your lungs as you tried to thrash your way back to the surface but there was an anchor chained to your ankle that you simply couldn’t fight against. 

You took in a deep, shuddered breath. You thought back to the old prophecy, the one that whispered that one day Fontaine and all of its citizens would be washed away by the rising waters, drowned by that which is supposed to protect them, finding their eternal rest in the sands until they became one with the sea. 

Sometimes you wondered if it was a literal or metaphorical fate, you had always taken it as literal and dismissed it as an old wives’ tale, but now you were questioning everything you held as true: you felt like you were drowning, your identity dissolving as the water closed in around you, and you felt helpless to it, just like how the ancient prophecy threatened.

Finally, you raised your head and looked back outside, eyes widening when you caught sight of a figure standing in the frame of your door through the reflection of the window, tall and imposing. You hadn’t even heard the door open. Even with the mask, you could feel the coldness behind his gaze. 

He only spoke one word:

“Come.”

reblogs appreciated!

[lumizwrld]

𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐱𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐏𝐮𝐬𝐬𝐲 🂺

"𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙜𝙪𝙮𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨."

➢ ¡Switch! Ryohei Arisu ♥︎ Black Fem Reader

☕︎ word count ・4.0k

(no cuz there's barely any smuts of him, so I gotta be the one to make some because he's so fine and nobody wanna give him love fr)

⚠︎NSFW WARNING⚠︎

cw ✐ intoxication, shy Arisu taking control of you, fingering, dick sucking, missionary, deprived reader and Arisu, submissive and dominant Arisu, whimpering, dirty talking, riding, overstimulation, teasing, nearly caught, sex in a hot tub, drunk sex

✍︎ Summary = Arisu and you had accompanied a blowout party right before Hatter's death and the 10 of Hearts game, he proposed you both ease and take some time into partying away the night, sipping your desperations away, and soon after you both ending up in a hot tub together. During your time, you both don't speak until the silence is broken, all these emotions end up being confessed, and soon after you find yourself on top of him, confessing a love of desire for each other. ✧

✄ This is literally my first ever smut LMAO but I've spent months trying to articulate this shit and IT'S FINALLY FINISHED. ♡ Sending much love to all who read this and like it #yallfrthebest♡

Tranquility, the littlest ripple of water or even taking the slightest breath would disturb the moment of solitude between Arisu and you.

The pool deserted hours ago, leaving nothing but clutter and the two of you intoxicated. Unwinding in a hot tub, out of sight from the Beach. Nothing but emptiness appeared to run across your minds, speaking not a single word to each other in the past hour but rather the language of eye contact.

How deliberately his eyes had wandered on your frame, tilting his head with parted lips as his arms folded. He kept wondering what ran through your dazed mind, minding the fact of how lethargic you occurred to him. Your inanimate body sat in the same position for the past hour, eyes lost in the waves of the water while running your fingers through the tangles in your hair. Seemingly, at this moment, he had gazed intensely at your beauty, gradually scrutinizing every subtle part of you. He didn't comprehend why he felt so fond of you in this very moment, nor did he comprehend why his body began to erupt with ardor, nonetheless, he just felt so guilty to think of you in such a way. But how was it that this wasn't the first time he had thought of you like this before? How tensive the yearning of attaining a slight touch on your body besides your hands seemed like a wish come true to him, to feel the weight of your body rest on his lap, caressing your hips while you reflected down on him so passionately. Well, even the innocent-looking guys appear to have the heaviest thoughts.

Regardless, Arisu was way too shy of a guy to express any of that to you, considering how close you both were. So there he sat, withering in a lustful pool of desirable intentions of you, rewinding themselves in a constant motion. Curiouser and curiouser he thought, how would you feel if he were to make a slight move on you? What type of feelings did you have for him? Did your feelings fall in unison with his? He sighed, catching your attention accidentally.

“You tired Arisu?” You questioned, a small grin appearing on your face.

“Kind of.” He grinned in unison, “Are you?”

“Yeah, but I like it out here.” You responded, “It's peaceful, but it's been quiet for too long. How about we break the silence, do you know how long has it been since one of us has said anything?”

He chuckled, “I can’t even remember, but break the silence huh? In that case, how do you like it here?” He questioned, resting his elbow on the rim behind him.

“It's a vibe, most of the time. Then again it beats me how after the games everyone can just go back to normal and party as if nothing happened. Somethings up about this place but I can't seem to put my finger on it.” You claimed, embracing the sides of your body as you averted your eyes toward the water and then back to him, “What about you?”

“Yeah, it's the same for me.”

“It's so crazy, I still can't believe you're an executive, it shows how special you are Arisu.” You grinned.

“Heh, special? They only need me for the games, I'm not that important. Why do you think that?” He questioned, tilting his head curiously.

“You're able to figure a game out and win no matter the difficulty, I mean...I'm pretty good at solving games but I tend to have a bit of trouble.” You asserted, watching him smile softly.

“Hey! You're just as smart! Your confidence is what makes you special. Y'know sometimes I can be confident, well- barely most of the time. But with your confidence and how you get right into the game without needing help, it seems as if you don't even need me. Now that's something, I would say, special about you Y/N.” He conversed, slouching forward to you.

You giggled, “Thanks. Honestly, without you, I don't know where I would be.”

“Anytime. I can say the same for you Y/N.” He giggled in unison, gazing at you. “Hey...What are your thoughts right now? I know it's a bit off-topic but I wanna know what goes through your mind?” He uttered in curiosity.

“Well, nothing right now besides the next game.” You responded.

“There has to be something you're thinking about...I-I mean It's okay if you don't wanna talk about it I understand, but we can never just talk and have serious conversations that much, I wanna take this time to understand you more.” He expressed.

“Understand me more? That's so adorable of you to say. I...I really--Well, actually there is something.” You articulated as his eyes glistened, “Recently, I've been having these emotions...About someone. It's not that important but, I wonder what they feel about me.”

“S-Somone?”

“Yeah. I don't know...I’ve been feeling so heavy with keeping this building up inside me.”

He had maintained his breath, wondering, was this feeling towards him? Did she...finally find someone else? Who was this person, and what did she see in them? He brushed his chin, “Can you tell me about them?”

“Well, he’s a nice guy, but that's all I can say.” You grinned.

“Oh…I-I don’t know what to say I-" He stammered, "Do you have an emotional connection with him? How does he treat you? Has he ever made it evident on how he feels toward you?” He questioned, evidently uninterested yet uncomfortable to admit.

“Well, he never admitted it, he preferably holds in his feelings someway like me. However, I can tell he sees something in me…I-I might be wrong but…” You expressed, reflecting your gaze into his. However, he sat there so oblivious. Slowly averting his eyes from yours, he could feel nerves run down his spine as he observed you gradually swimming towards him, “He has to confirm it to me, otherwise, there's nothing else I can say about him.”

“T-Then you're gonna have to speak to him about it...” Arisu stumbled with dilated eyes, “Y/N, w-what are you doing?”

You tilted your head at him, relaxing your hands on his thighs, “Nothing, it's just funny how clueless you can be sometimes.”

“W-What do you mean? Clueless? Me?” He stuttered.

“Arisu, I love how innocent you are,” You emitted, softly giggling as a faint gasp fled his mouth. “You have something, that I never knew I could be so tempted to before. You think I don't know how you feel about me, yet...I see it all over your face.”

“I...I don't understand what you m-mean.” He stuttered as you watched his pale complexion shift.

“I hope you don't find it weird of me but, I hear you every night. Sweat runs down your face as you whine and groan in your sleep. I don't want to be weird but, I tend to observe you once in a while. There have been times I heard my name fly out of your mouth in a way that...Made me feel things at night. I see the way you are with me, that's why I have to be the one to initiate things. You’re so shy yet...You’re so bold with yourself that, you show it to me without even noticing that you're doing it.” You spoke softly, watching his eyes roam all over your face.

“Is…That bad?” He doubted, choking up with surprise.

“It’s adorable, really.”

“I…I-"

“Why are you nervous? Is it because I finally called you out on it?” You giggled as you slowly crept closer to his face.

“Y/N...I-I don’t know what to say I-” He spoke with chuckles in between, concealing his agitated state.

“Confirm it. Confirm those thoughts you have of me, Arisu.” You urged, lust sparkling in your eyes. “Why is that, you being so shy right now is making me feel so needy.” You expressed with your lips scarcely touching his.

“N-Needy? I'm making you needy?” He asked, embracing your arms tightly.

“Is that bad?” You reverted, watching him resist the urge to kiss you.

“N-No! I-I just didn't expect you to be so turned on right now...Y-You didn't have to call me out like that you know? For a second, I-I thought you were talking about someone else.” He doubted.

“I don't know. Maybe I was, maybe I was talking about-” You teased, sensing his hands bind your waist profoundly and arrange you on his lap roughly. “Who? Don't play around now” He asserted, evidently more confident than before, “You can't just take back what you said now can you?”

“Arisu-”

“What's wrong? You can tease me but I can't?” He uttered mischievously, releasing your waist and repositioning his hands on your wrists. “I don't think it would be fair now, would it?”

You deeply sighed, abruptly sensing the pounding of your heart. Surprisingly, he had reverted your energy. You didn't acknowledge how turned on you made him, scrutinizing his eyes satisfy themselves with lust as his breathing heightened. “What are you doing Arisu?” You contested, knowing his intentions with a grin.

“What you want me to do, confirm my feelings to you.” He whispered, seizing a kiss from your lips. He hauled your wrists to his neck, signaling you to grasp him as his hands went about on your waist. His words were assertive, yet, his kisses were subtle and deprived. You felt so vulnerable, sensing his trailing hands up your back towards the string of your bikini top.

“You say I'm bold? Then, let me express these feelings I have for you.” He pleaded, trailing his roaming hands down to your thighs gradually. “Let me show it by pleasing that deprived pussy of yours.”

“I-Arisu-” You whimpered, racing your fingers through the back of his hair.

“Was I too forward? Heh, I'm sorry about that. Do you want me to beg? How about I just beg- let me touch you, let me please.”

“I…I-" You choked, averting your eyes back and forth from his hands to his face.

“Please Y/N…I’ll do anything for you.”

You felt appalled, your pumping heart racing to a burst as you desired to risk it all for him. It was all your fault, teasing him was amusing until he revealed to be so deprived. Apparently, you adored every extent of his pleading.

“I was only teasing, I-I didn't mean to make you so-”

“Turned on? Horny? Eager to fuck you? Awe, but this is what you wanted Y/N.” He pleaded, reaching his face toward your neck “You say it's all over my face but...Your beautiful face says it all as well." He teased, darting his eyes at your adorable flustered face.

“Fuck.” You whined.

He delivered a giggle, fondling your inner thigh. “I know how shy I can be but, you made me think things through with myself and...” He spoke before, drawing aside your bathing suit and gliding his fingers into the folds of your pussy, “At this moment, I'm permitting myself to be confident with you.” You bounded your arms around his neck, feeling his fingers explore your pussy as he kept his eyes on you. Circling your clit gradually, he watched your body squirm slightly, making himself comfortable when he discovered the right spot to attend to.

“Ari-Arisu!" You gasped as his lips seized your neck, leaving kisses and subtle bites all over to overstimulate you. Your breathing became erratic, uncomprehending on whether to respire or moan. However, he carried support with which to focus, picking the momentum up when he caught your struggling state of fixation.

“Awe- keep saying my name beautiful. Your cries, the way how your body responds to my fingers, it's showing me how much you're enjoying this.”

“Stop being so cocky- fuck- please” You whined, bucking your hips as his free hand groped your tender breasts.

“Yeah? But your loving every moment hani, swaying your hips to the rhythm as you make beautiful songs along the lines? If only you could see how gorgeous you look right now Y/N.” He teased as he grasped your chin, seizing another kiss that forced you to moan in his mouth.

(Hani ~ Honey) inspo goes to @usetheeauthor

You could feel his fingers reposition themselves, his thumb this time circling your clit as two fingers began to entreat the entrance of your hymen. At this point, you had given up, permitting himself to stick his fingers all the way inside your needy pussy. His rough fingers, fucking your insides, making you toss your head back, whining his name as he reached closer to watch your reaction, “Yes Mommy, you like that huh? Fucking you like this with my fingers?” Arisu questioned with pleading eyes.

“Mommy?- Fuck- You are enjoying this aren't you-” You moaned in between your words, observing his innocent smile which made you smile in unison. You felt like such a slut at the moment, giggling intently while moaning for him to fuck you faster.

“Is making me feel like a slut turning you on? Is watching me ride your fingers like this while you sit there, make you throb?” You teased, watching his eyes dilate in shock. “You don't think I can’t see how badly you want to touch it?” You giggled.

His head was thrown back by your words, stopping the pace which allowed you to pose next to him. Squeezing your warm body next to his, wrapping your leg around his as your arm wrapped around his head, forcing him to look at you as you slowly trailed your fingers down his chest. This was all a little trap. “I see right through you, catching at all that confidence exposed like that, how I loved every bit of it. However,” You spoke, sensing his heart race, “You will always be a shy guy to me, and I tend to have a weakness for guys who-” You spoke whilst caressing his hardened bulge, “are so shy to even let a word form out of their mouths, Arisu.” You asserted.

“Hah-” He whimpered, with worried eyes and quivering lips as you kissed his cheek.

“You taking control yet, trembling immediately is so hot to me Arisu.” You whispered, reaching your way into his shorts.

“R-Really?” He trembled.

“Oh but yes puppy, so hot to where...I was desiring to fuck you so badly, letting your cum drip out of my pussy."

“Y-Y/N fuck-” He whined, sensing your hands grasp the tip of his dick.

“Yeah, just imagine, my pussy fucking you like this.” You insisted, stroking the tip.

Arisu jerked up instantly, huffing out a moan to the sensitivity while all you could do was giggle and stroke him faster. His tensive body rapidly reacting to your strokes made you torture him even more, whispering lustful lullabies as he could do nothing but whine for help.

“F-Fuck mommy, please don't focus on the tip s-so m-much.” He begged, shoving his head into your shoulder as you fondled faster, hearing his whines all in your ear.

“Awe, but baby you're enjoying this though. I bet if I keep going, keeping all my attention on your tip just like this might make you cum like a good boy huh?”

“Yeah?” He moaned, “You wanna make me cum Mommy?” He moaned again, tossing his head back as you compelled a kiss on his lips. Keeping a fast pace, his face was as red as a rose. Watching him catch his breath as he could feel his essence grow nearer, you could only imagine how hot he would sound when he cums. How could only a little tease from you, end up at this point? How was it that, you both went from sitting across each other with no communication to him begging, whining to cum for you? He wrapped his arm around your waist, signifying how close he seemed to be.

He exhaled deeply, “W-Why am I starting to feel it-”

Your eyes glistened, just hearing those words made you focus even more on his tip. Gradually edging him then giving him a ruined orgasm was your plan, like just imagine, his cum spewing all over your hands as he begged for more, whining to fuck your pretty body and treat you like the fucking slut you were…However, he grasped your hand and stroked it himself at a rapid pace.

“A-Arisu?” You questioned as he attained a kiss, feeling your body maneuver slowly closer to him.

“I-I don't wanna cum y-yet.” He stammered, quitting his strokes. It seemed to be all a blur because, you didn’t imagine yourself looking up at his pretty face while his dick stood tall in yours. You were stunned, feeling your body shiver and your cheeks flush up with warmth. Abruptly how close his dick was towards your lips, you didn’t even expect him to be big since he was skinny compared to you. Sweat was rushing down his face as he caught his breath, looking downward at you so innocently while you slowly grasped him, lips parting until he gently grasped your hair, pushing you closer to the tip.

“Is this what you want?” You spoke whilst subtly leaving kisses.

“Y-You don’t have to…” He stammered.

“You want me to though, you wouldn’t be holding my hair up like that unless you wanted me to-” You spoke, suckling gently.

You watched him struggle to pull the bottom hems of his shirt up, munching down vigorously as your hand trailed up his stomach.

“You’re gonna have to use your big boy words, tell me you want me to-” You teased, licking him as he groaned in his shirt.

“M-Make me cum in your mouth Mommy.“ He whined indistinctly, surveying you to consume him slowly as his eyes rolled back in pleasure. You sensed how hard he was inside your mouth, tasting his surging pre-cum as well as how nervous he seemed to be in this situation. His straining body, veiny hands tightening on the grip of your hair as you mouth fucked his dick sloppily, you knew for a fact he couldn’t think straight at all. You had made full eye contact with him, however, he couldn’t force himself to stop tossing his head backwards from all the pleasure you were tending him, it made you smile because you knew that if he were to keep his pretty eyes on you, this session would last for only a minute utmost.

“Look at me Arisu-“ You demanded, trailing your tongue on his shaft.

“I-I’m trying hani-" He whined, breathing heavily in between words.

“I'm sorry, I got carried away. I just want you to last a little longer okay?-“ You pleaded, suckling the tip again.

“You doing anything will make me cum quicker Mommy.” He whined, “B-But if you want me to last,” He indulged, positioning his hands on your jaw, signaling you to stand up, “Don't put all your attention on me please, I don't want you to sit there unsatisfied.”

“H-Huh?” You startled, feeling his hands grasp yours and then drag you to the rim.

“C-Can you sit on the rim for me?” He questioned, watching you sit for him.

“Arisu? What are you doing?” You questioned as he grasped your thighs gently, spreading them apart and pulling you close to his hips.

“I've never expected this to happen,” He uttered, grasping his dick and slowly entreating the lips of your pussy, “Watching you while you're in pleasure...I-It does something to me Y/N...”

“Arisu-” You moaned, locking your legs around him, “Tell me what you want- don't be nervous please.”

“Let me f-fuck you please, listening to your pretty moans knowing they're from me, watching your pretty face make those expressions that I-I-”

“Love? Then, don't tremble to puppy.” You uttered, feeling his free hand grasp the back of your neck, forcing your upper body closer to his, “I want all of you, give it to me…Ryohei.” You begged.

You watched him throw his head back. It was something that had set him off, your pretty voice begging for him to enter you and the way how you cried out his name. Regardless, you couldn't waste any time, feeling so needy that you penetrated yourself with him. Hearing him moan in unison with you as your eyes averted directly at each other. He whimpered, slowly thrusting himself. How sensitive he became inside your soaking pussy, gripping your neck tighter as you begged him to fuck you profoundly. He completely submitted to you. You couldn't focus on anything in this moment, not even his face, you tried to block out his moans but he pushed you further into a breaking point where you couldn't do anything but respond vigorously, surrounding your arm around his neck, bringing him closer into a sloppy kiss while singing in each other's mouths, increasing his pace inside you.

“S-So aggressive-” You panted, “Keep going my love.” You panted again as you brushed his damp hair away from his beautiful face, wanting to see him in action.

“I wanna see your pretty eyes while you fuck me like this.” You begged, biting your lip as he grasped your neck gently.

“Yeah-Keep talking like that Hani, I love it when you fucking tease me.” He whimpered, struggling to catching his breath, “M-Mommy s-stop squeezing me l-like that.” He whimpered once more, elongating a fuck from his mouth as you marked his neck.

“W-Why? Are you starting to feel it? I'm sorry it's not my fault your s-starting to make me--” You whined, sensing his twitching body strain from exhilaration.

He groaned, pulling you closer, almost picking you up off the rim. “Do it on me please, I want you to please Hani.”

He soon begged you to stretch out your legs for him, arranging his arms to your sides as he slowly thrusted deeper inside you. Watching his face strain with every stroke as you couldn't take the pressure, gradually playing your clit in front of him.

“Oh fuck- l-let me do it, let me do it for you Mommy please.” He begged, shoving your fingers away as his thumb was thrown on your clit, circling you in rhythm with his strokes.

“Ryohei--you're so desperate.” You moaned in anticipation, “S-Stop- I'm starting to feel it--” You stammered, however, he responded with a kiss.

“Do it all over me please hani, be comfortable with me please.” He huffed, pulling away but resting his forehead on yours while gazing into your eyes. “F-F-Fuck-” He exclaimed, “I'm starting to feel it too-”

“Keep going my love, drain yourself into me please, you're doing so good. I want you to give me all of you please puppy.” You begged, seizing your sporadic breaths out your mouth as his tongue instinctively entered.

“Y-You want me to c-cum inside you momma?” He pleaded, sensing an abrupt warmth about to surge out of him. “M-Mommy- I...I feel...it...Y/N.” He whimpered.

“Yeah? You feel it Ryohei?”

“Yeah- I-I feel it Mommy I feel it-”

“Then cum inside me Daddy, please.”

“Ohh fuck- M-Mommy I'm gonna cum I'm gonna-”

“Y/N...I...I love y-”

....

For a second, you thought you had seen things. (That's when you knew, he had fucked your brains out completely.) A beam of light had flickered on his face. As he kissed you again, you kept your eyes open, and that's when it happened again. To make sure you were correct, you turned around to see a flashlight in the far distance...

That's when you shoved him away from you.

What, the absolute, fuck...

“Who the hell is still out here?” A voice spoke, flashing his light on Arisu's face, he covered his eyes from the high beam while you quickly shoved his shaft back into his pants, fixing yourself up afterwards and pretending as if nothing happened. The guy soon flashed his light on you but you couldn't make out who it was until he laughed.

That's when you realized.....

“I would never expected a fuck fest to happen out here now.” The voice spoke, you quickly presided your eyes at Arisu, watching his eyes widen with shock.

“No...N-Niragi?” He stumbled.

Niragi soon made himself visible. He watched you both stand there like complete idiots while he obnoxiously laughed, “What could you both possibly be doing eh? You virgins need to go the fuck to--wait--” He hesitated, taking another look at you both once more.

“What?” You spoke, watching his jaw drop.

“No--No--NO--I CANT FUCKING BELIEVE IT-ARISU-YOU-FUCKED-HER?” He exclaimed as Arisu had glanced at you innocently, “NOW I DIDN'T KNOW YOU COULD HANDLE A WOMAN WITH CURVES.” Niragi exclaimed again.

“Cut the bullshit we weren't doing anything.” Arisu claimed, leading you out the hot tub.

You watched Niragi walk over, scanning you both down as he took a slight whiff, “Bullshit? Oh but I smell nothing but sweat and sex. It’s all over your faces.”

“Don’t go near her.” Arisu claimed, pulling you closer to him as Niragi looked downwards at you with a snarky grin.

“Y/N, tell me, how good was his fucking eh? I don’t know what you see in his loser ass, but I bet if I had my way with you, you wouldn't be standing here so pretty.” He commented, laughing as Arisu stood in front of you.

“She wouldn't go near you at all, what makes you think you can say that bullshit huh? We were just leaving.” Arisu snapped, grasping your hand generously.

“Arisu, oh Arisu, the only thing that was leaving was that cum you've been saving for how long now? Watch yourself, don't make it a habit of fucking in public, unless I'm in it.” He laughed, winking at you then soon after glaring down at Arisu.

“C’mon Arisu, lets go inside now.” You insisted, hauling him away from Niragi.

“Hmph, are you okay?” He questioned.

“Yeah I'm alright. I am so sorry for what I am about to say but--Niragi ate you up with that comeback.” You spoke, covering your mouth as his eyes averted to your face.

“WHAT?”

“I'm sorry!” you giggled, watching his serious face break down into a light grin.

“Because it's you, I'll let it pass. Your mean.” He uttered, lightly pushing you away before grasping you and pulling you in close, “He could've at least waited, I don't feel it anymore...”

“Oh? So what I'm hearing is, your desperate and you still wanna cum huh?”

“NO I-I”

“I'm playing! Sorta.” You giggled, watching his face fluster.

“H-How was I anyways, I feel like I didn't do good enough.” He doubted

“Oh puppy, you were spectacular. However, I still wanna finish you off.” You uttered.

“F-Finish me off?”

“You thought cumming inside me was gonna be it? Oh love, you will always remember how good we fucked, even when I'm not there, I want you to throb every time you think about it.....”

[icantpickabiasugh]

Our Secret-yjw

☆*:.｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆

Our secret- yang Jungwon

Parring-Yang Jungwon x fem!reader

Summary- Dim lights and locker room vibes leave mutual friends in a bit of a situation

Word count- 1k+

Warnings- SMUT!! Hickeys, making out, awkwardness, like bit of fluff. Lmk if there is anything more!

Reading time-4 minutes (in head)

A/n. Heyyy so this is my first fan fic ever I’m kinda nervous ahhh. Sorry it took awhile it’s currently 1:30 am but I wanted to post something before I went to bed! I was writing the Han fic but hit a bit of a wall so I quickly wrote this I was planning on doing a pt. 2 but only if you guys want. Please please PLEASE send feedback I could really use it! Enjoy my loves-☺️😘

You didn’t like going out much, you felt that it was a waste of time to get wasted with a bunch of people you didn’t know in a hot gross frat house, instead you rather liked the idea of spending your Saturday nights on the couch with your favorite drama and some snacks.

“Come on y/n, it’s the pep rally you HAVE to come!”

“Do I though, do I really”

Your friend Yujin however loved going out and meeting new people.

“Oh come on party pooper it’s your second year here and away from home and you’ve only been to TWO parties, you know how sad that is y/n?”

“FINE fine! But as after I’m going home I’m not leaving to some party”

You’d meet up with all your friends and their friends at the pep rally and go find a good view with some drinks and snacks

You left to go to the bathroom.

Excusing yourself from the group you go to the locker rooms looking for the bathroom.

You’re just outside the boy's football team’s locker room near the bathrooms you see Jungwon exiting giving him a small smile and walking past a couple feet away he calls out your name.

“Hey y/n”

Slowly turning around to look at him a bit confused

“Y-yeah? Jungwon?”

Jungwon was a part of your friends circle but you never really talked you saw a lot of his posts and comments on insta though and you did have the occasional chat online but that was about it what would he want to talk about?

“I was wondering y-you don’t post about Changbin anymore, did d-did you guys break up?”

“Ah y-yeah we did about three months ago”

“Oh well I’m-im sorry”

“Ah no need to be it was mutual”

“Well in that case I was wondering if maybe you wanted to hang out… sometime?”

“That'd be great Jungwon id love to”

Hearing keys rattling and someone jogging you get startled as Jungwon quickly pulls you into the changing rooms

“Wha-“

“Shhhh, we’re not meant to be here. Quietly run into that shower stall”

He softly whispers into your ear.

Backed against the wall and Jungwon’s body you are stuck breathing in his intoxicating scent you watch as he peeks out of the small stall and out into the looker room

“I think they’re leaving”

A second after saying so he’s push-up against your faces mere inches apart. He puts a finger to his lips brushing yours in the process

Sighing in relief he straightens up his posture a little

“S-sorry I didn’t mean to-mhnp”

Quick to shut him up you pull him in for a kiss by the back of his neck

“Mmhm~mmm y-y/n we should~mmhm mmm s-stop”

Pulling away confused you look at him

“D-do you not like me!?”

"NO no I-I do I really do it’s just, are YOU sure you want to do this? I get it if you're not over your last relationship-“

“What are you on about of course I want this I've wanted this for 3 years”

Wha- t-three years!?”

“Yes okay, now shut up and kiss me”

“Fine by me”

You and Jungwon had been gone from your friends for like fifteen minutes now and since then things had gotten a little more heated.

Your hand where in his hair as he suckles on your skin just under your ear his hand held your waist as he kisses the span of your neck making a trail back to your lips he moans as you pull his hair.

“Fuck I want you so bad”

“We can’t, the game will be over soon and the others will want to leave”

“Fuck the game and fuck the others I want you here and I want you now”

“Hell Jungwon you're so hot”

Releasing a shaky breath he moves to pull up your dress.

Moving your panties to the side he runs a finger through your folds and up your slit you moan at the feeling

“Ohh shit, Jungwon please”

“Please what baby, use your words”

“Please fuck me, ahh please I need it”

“Good girl” he growls in your ear undoing his pants and pulling his hard cock out it hits his stomach with a slap

“Jump baby”

Doing so you jump up and wrap your legs around his waist. positioning his cock at your entrance he slides it up and down your folds teasing you a bit

“You sure you want this baby”

“Couldn’t be more certain, now hurry up and put it in”

“Nghhh fuck baby you're so tight”

Giving you time to adjust to his size you slowly start rolling your hips on his.

Now Jungwon wasn’t awfully long as he was thick with a long vein running from the base of his cock to his pretty pink tip

As he stands moving he starts finding a steady pace and angle after shifting a bit he hit a squishy spot inside of you that felt just oh so good seeming happy with the sudden loud moan he’s pulled from you he smirks

“Did I find it, baby”

To fucked dumb to give a response you babble out his name.

He soon picks up the pace hitting that spot fast and hard each time

“J-Jungwon I’m gonna-fuck! I’m gonna cum!”

“Do it baby cum all over my big cock”

“Ahh ahh fuck shit I can’t hold it!”

He whispers in your ear one last time holding you tight against him “cum”

He’s quick to follow suit cumming deep In you he fucks you both through your highs

Pulling out he replaces his cock with his two fingers

“Keep it In for me yeah?”

Nodding softly you catch your breath and let him take care of you

“You did so good for me, I’m so proud” he whispers kissing your teary cheeks

☆*:.｡. .｡.:*☆

Walking hand in hand back to your friends you find them coming the opposite way

“Hey there you guys are we’ve been looking for you two for ages” called out Sunoo

“Hey why are you guys holding hands” Jake questions

“Y/n IS THAT A HICKEY on your neck!!?” Yujin yells running at you

“Shit” you mutter under your breath.

☆*:.｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆

[kisscara]

could u do one with fatui scara and his spouse like a normal doting day??

home, with me. [scaramouche x gn!reader] ⎯⎯ angst mixed w/ fluff, fatui!scaramouche

a/n: was originally supposed to be cute and sappy but here we are.

the balladeer's spouse? oh, not a single soul would be able to know exactly how he ended up with such a person as them. kind, caring and thoughtful; it all seemed so odd. the fatui subordinates whisper amongst themselves, how your relationship with him is just for mora and... well, that.

in that case, everything would make perfect sense. both you and him would benefit from such a status. but what they didn't know was that you met him when he was still that sweet and vulnerable puppet, kunikuzushi. even though you were against the idea of him joining the fatui, you still chose to love and support him unconditionally.

"scaramouche," you softly call out, gracing his office with your presence. scaramouche simply gestures with a wave of his hand to close the door behind you and you do so. "come now, have you forgotten your promise already?" you query with a slight pout.

scaramouche leans back in his chair and finally removes his attention from the papers across his desk. "i haven't. i was just about to leave." scaramouche re-adjusts his hat and a rare smile tugs at the corner of his lips as he makes his way to you.

"did you eat yet?" scaramouche mumbles, holding your hand in his and opening the door. a fatui recruit standing by the frame flinches upon seeing you and him walking out. "don't ask me that! i don't have to eat for something like this," you coo in a matter that shows how hopelessly in love you are with him.

scaramouche scoffs, "still. i can't have you passing out if you haven't eaten properly." you cup the side of your face and hum, "oh my, how gentlemanly of my husband."

the two of you find a beautiful and secluded spot by the grounds of your shared house, choosing to have a peaceful picnic beneath a lovely sakura tree. as scaramouche lays out the blanket onto the grass, you comment, "it's been a while since we've spent time alone together, hasn't it?"

scaramouche removes his hat from his head and runs a hand through his hair. "it has. her majesty has been growing more and more impatient as the seconds fly past," he says. you sit next to him and hold a basket in your lap. "let's... forget about that for now. right now is the chance for us to make up for lost time."

scaramouche sighs, "you're right, darling." he queries, "what have you been up to without me around?" you start taking out plates from the basket and happily reply, "everything's been mundane. i go to the city every now and then to buy from the vendors and..."

scaramouche aids you in putting out the cutlery, "and?" you add, "i met a really kind guy the other day! his name is thoma and he's a housekeeper for the kamisatos." scaramouche narrows his eyes, "thoma, huh? sounds like a real nice guy." he emphasizes the 'real' part and this, you notice.

"don't worry, dear, he's just a friend," you reassure him, using a fork to stab into the strawberry perched on top of your cake slice. scaramouche grits his teeth, "when did i say i was worried, huh?" you hold up the fork by his lips and he tsks before eating the fruit.

because he doesn't like sweets, you always treat him to the fruits that come with it. "have i ever told you how cute you are?" you playfully prod. scaramouche hides the rising blush on his face by looking away. "definitely cuter than that thomas guy or whatever..."

you laugh in amusement at his antics. he dips the tip of his index finger into the whip cream of your strawberry shortcake and wipes it onto your nose. you blink a few times and he chuckles. you use a tissue to carefully clean it off, "how childish of you." you suddenly grin.

"your lips are so soft." the pads of your fingers gently caress his lips and scaramouche longingly gazes at you. you take another strawberry and bite into it. "i've always wondered what you'd look like with lipstick," you giggle. you dab the bitten strawberry against his lips, staining it into a sheen red.

scaramouche holds your wrist and uses his other hand to hold your face. you and him lean in, sharing a sweet kiss between lovers. the tangy flavor of strawberry sends your tastebuds into a tingling sensation as he deepens into you, quietly gasping in between kisses.

you pull away and he allows your arms to envelop his figure as you mutter against the crook of his neck, "can you stay home, just for tonight?" scaramouche frowns, "you know i can't do that." you tighten your embrace. "please?"

in response, your husband picks you up bridal style and brings you inside the house. even though he placed you onto the bed, you cling onto his neck with your arms, afraid he'll leave you the second you let go of him. scaramouche slowly removes your hold from him and he plants multiple kisses onto your hands.

he murmurs, "i'm sorry, my love, my darling. i really am but i can't stay much more than i already have." you're struck with silence and stare at him in a sorrowful way. however, he takes it as a reply, his heart twinging with pain as he walks to the door.

scaramouche stops in his tracks when he feels a tightened grip on his sleeve. he turns his head and finds you desperately hugging his arm. "can you stay with me until i fall asleep?" you ask. scaramouche tenses up and hesitantly looks at the front door before back to you.

he nods and leads you back to the bed. "i didn't know my spouse was this clingy." scaramouche's frail attempt at lightening the mood changes nothing. you rest your head onto his chest and shakily sigh. "i love you, (name)." scaramouche strokes your hair and you sniffle. "i love you too, kunikuzushi."

a few minutes later, can he hear your soft snores and easy breathing as you sleep away. scaramouche is careful to remove himself from the bed and he tucks you into the blanket. he presses a kiss to your tear stained face before leaving the house.

he passes by the area you and him had the picnic at and instantly looks the other way. it seems like it hurts more everytime he leaves you. he goes months without seeing you, sometimes even years but this time, scaramouche swears he won't be gone for too long.

when he returns, he'll have completed his plan of stealing the gnosis to become a God. 'wait a little bit, (name). i'll come back.' scaramouche's solemn gaze returns to that of a cold one, returning to his identity of the balladeer himself as he continues the life of a ruthless harbinger.

[yanderes-galore]

Yandere concept for Dave miller/William from The silver eyes with a co-worker darling who's a security guard at the mall with him?

Just rewatched the Graphic Novel on YT to write this for you! I like this version of Afton as he is unhinged but I also find him uncomfortable (Rightfully so). So this is what I've got, hope you like it regardless.

This definitely just falls under horror so enjoy :)

Yandere! TSE! Dave Miller/William Afton with Coworker! Darling

Pairing: Romantic/Platonic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Obsession, Stalking, Manipulation, Murder/Death, Deception, Kidnapping, Violence, Brief gore mention, Delusional behavior, Blood, Dubious but forced companionship.

I feel like Dave is just... unnerving to be around.

Even when you have no idea about what he's gone he still has such an odd smile and dead eyes.

He almost looks like a corpse himself.

Yet you try to excuse it as just what the night shift does to people.

Dave is certainly not a person to have many close connections.

Obviously, he's a serial killer who has little to no empathy.

However, he can act rather caring to fool others.

Regardless on his intentions you feel uneasy around Dave.

He has a certain way he talks and a bit of an ego.

He gets a bit too close with you as his coworker.

You understand you two are the only ones in this mall but you really hate having conversations with the guy.

As a result you mostly try to avoid him.

Only to have said man follow you so you "don't get lost".

Even if you avoid Dave while on the job he always manages to have some excuse to speak with you.

Maybe it's a way to get you to trust him so you don't find out the truth?

Maybe you're a rare case of him having compassion, as unlikely as that seems.

When it comes to Dave you won't be able to fully tell what his obsession means.

However, I will say this...

Dave is not new to kidnapping or murder.

He has no remorse about it.

So if Dave wanted to get you alone to force you to get along with him in some way, he could.

The moment he hears about your friends and family he plans to keep a close eye on them.

Plus if he really wanted you to rely on him he could easily corner you in the mall.

With the swift hit of a flashlight he could bring you anywhere.

In fact he'd probably most likely hide you deep in the old pizzeria, maybe even placing you in an old springlock suit.

I feel what makes Dave terrifying is the inability to read past his deception.

Even if you are uneasy he does make attempts to have you trust him.

When it doesn't work is when he decides to lock you away.

His plan originally was to just trap you in a springlock suit and keep you locked in the pizzeria.

However, I wouldn't put it past him to springlock you to keep you here with him.

In fact, that is most likely where this goes.

By this point, even when not Springtrap, he kinda already sees himself as one with the animatronics here.

If anything, springlocking you here is like his personal invitation to all the fun.

He feels you're worthy enough for this role.

Come on, the kids will surely trust you once the process is over?

Dave would give you a grin as he sets off you springlocks.

He'd watch in anticipation as you quickly sputter and twitch before going silent.

The springlocks have quickly entered your body, tightening and pulling in a painful demise.

If anything he may even wear his yellow rabbit suit for such a special occasion.

In your dying moments, as you stare up at the rabbit watching the blood spill out of you, you wonder how long he's been planning this.

You wonder how long he's been doing this.

The rabbit, Dave, says nothing.

He stands quietly with you and he waits.

He promises you that you'll have so much fun with him and the others here.

Once you perish, you'll be stuck here.

Only Dave as the yellow rabbit will be there to greet you...

Soon you'll meet the others... and the fun will never end with them.

[lokavisi]

So about two nights ago, I had a really solid conversation with Loki. A friend got some cues from him through their pendulum, we were both very confused, and then my wife (who barely gives a shit about the Guy lol) interprets this message so pristinely. It was like getting slapped upside the head when she gave her explanation. So I started free writing to continue the conversation more directly with Loki. There were a few big points made in this conversation.

First, he expressed frustration that, in spite of working with him for 4 years now, I still don't seem to "get" him. Like I keep coming to him to vent about some bullshit that's winding me up, he offers a suggestion to help me unwind, and then I brush it off or forget or just straight up ignore it. So he was like, "I've been telling you the same shit for 4 years now... It feels like you're just fundamentally ignoring all the parts of me that make me, ME." So...naturally I felt really fucking stupid and shitty.

Then he very lovingly affirmed that "this isn't me being facetious or angry or trying to put you down. I'm frustrated and irritated, yes, but surely you do realize by now that I fucking love you and you're stuck with me." This meant a lot to me more so than it might for others because my ADHD comes with mad rejection sensitivity dysphoria. Any time anyone says something that indicates some level of upset at me, my brain catastrophizes and breaks down because "clearly" it means they hate me. (This is basically never the case.) This leads me to the primary nugget of wisdom that came from this conversation.

I realized this whole time (once my wife interpreted the initial message) I was hearing him more clearly than I had in a long time. It was nearly as if a physical person sat next to me speaking. As the conversation was wrapping up, I made a note of this and asked, "Why do I feel l hear you clearest when you're frustrated with me?" We've had plenty of similar conversations, and when I look back at past moments when I simply couldn't deny the messages were coming from outside myself, he usually had some level of frustration with me. But to answer my question, he said:

"Because that's all you wanna hear. That's all you think you deserve. Even when you seek love or comfort and I provide, you don't always fully receive it. I try to be funny to cheer you up and you won't have it, just calling me stupid. You are terrible at receiving input that doesn't put you down or reinforce any negative thoughts you believe about yourself. So stop it. Seriously. Fucking stop believing bad shit about yourself."

He went on to talk about the rune readings I did for a bunch you on here (thanks again for the practice❤️), and how I should be pumping myself up from all the positive feedback I got from it. And we exchanged some jokes and "I love you"'s before calling it a night.

As per usual, I share my story in a giant block of text to remind everyone of what Loki reminded me: to not just take in the messaging that supports a negative view of yourself. Allow yourself to believe that you are the gods' gift to humanity. (I just heard him say, "Seriously. I do it all the time. It works wonders for your self-esteem." 😂❤️) Maybe that verbage doesn't have the greatest connotations, but the point is to think more highly of yourself. Believe in the power and confidence that you possess. Even if it doesn't feel like you have either of these things, fake it til you make it - until you realize they've been here this whole time.

I'm on this struggle bus, too, y'all. We're gonna find ourselves together. Hail Loki ❤️

[unreliablesnake]

Help (Miguel O'Hara x reader)

Summary: After his sabotaged attempt to fix things, Miguel is on the run. He goes to you for a night, just until he makes a plan to make things right.

Note: Just a short something I wanted to write. This is an “x reader” story despite both of them being idiots in love who just won't be honest with each other.

Your phone began to ring and vibrate on your desk, and when you looked at the screen, you saw it was your neighbor, a middle-aged man who loved to complain about everything. When you turned off the music you'd been listening to, your ears picked up another sound, a loud banging that came from your front door. Was he already there? This man was a nightmare.

“Hello, James,” you said into the phone in the sweetest tone you could manage. “Was the music too loud?”

“No, not this time. But I guess you couldn't hear that loud noise coming from the hallway. There's this creepy guy who's been trying to get you to open your door for the past five minutes. Be careful, he looks like some drug addict,” he added, sounding genuinely worried about your safety.

Who the hell could that be? “Thanks for the warning. I'll peek out to see who it could be. Thanks for the warning. Have a good evening.”

With a sigh, you picked up a pair of scissors and made your way to the door with your phone in your other hand in case you had to call the police. You cautiously looked out the peephole and the man you saw standing there made you gasp.

“Jesus, Miguel,” you said once you opened the door and faced your colleague with a worried look on your face. He looked disheveled, distressed, and generally in a bad shape. You grabbed his arm and pulled him inside, putting the items in your hands on the small table beside the door before turning back to him. “What the hell happened to you?”

Instead of answering, he went to the wall in the living room to push a few buttons and roll down the blind of the window. You didn't understand why he did that, but once they were down, he took off his sunglasses and revealed a pair of red eyes. You wondered if he had suddenly decided to wear colored contacts, but then he opened his mouth a little as if he was about to say something, and you noticed he had fangs.

“My eyes have been really sensitive to light,” he explained in the end as he sat down on the couch. “I know I've changed a lot, but it's… I don't… You're the only one I can trust right now.”

Nodding, you sat on the edge of the coffee table in front of him and took his hands in yours. “Why don't you go back to the beginning and tell me what the hell is going on with you?”

“I wanted to resign from the project I've been working on, but Stone didn't let me, instead he tricked me into taking Rapture,” he explained hurriedly.

“You're joking, right? That thing is highly–”

“Trust me, I know,” Miguel cut in as he buried his face in his hands. “I tried to fix things, but they didn't let me. Delgado found out and sabotaged the process. My DNA changed, and now here I am with fangs, talons, and light-sensitive red eyes, and other abilities I don't even fully understand yet. I think they're looking for me, I hoped you could let me hide here for a day or two.”

You sat on the couch next to him and put a hand on his back supportively. “You can stay here as long as you want,” you assured him.

“I need to do something, I can't just sit back and hope it will go away. It won't, I know that.”

He sounded sad and confused, and it broke your heart. The two of you had been close at Alchemax, with you bringing him late lunch when you heard he hadn't eaten anything all day, or with him keeping you company when you were among the last people in the building late at night.

But you barely met outside of work, you didn't even know he knew where you lived. And now here he was, asking for your help. Who were you to make him leave? He had been nothing but kind to you in the past, pushing him away now would have been the cruelest thing to do.

And in all honesty, you didn't want to hurt him. You liked him, maybe a little too much, but you weren’t about to take advantage of the situation. The best you could do now was being a supportive friend. “Just make sure you have a plan, okay?” you asked him. When he looked at you, you pulled your lower lip between your teeth. Damn, those red eyes saw right through you. “Don’t do anything in a rush. Like I said, you can stay as long as you want. Tell me how I can help and I will.”

Miguel was watching you with wide eyes, and you didn’t really understand it at first. But then he pulled you into a hug and placed a soft kiss on the crown of your head. “I don’t know what I did to deserve you,” he said quietly. “But I don’t want you to be involved in this, I’ll be gone in the morning.”

“I’ll get the spare room ready for you. But first, we order food because I’m starving,” you said with a smile as you began to stand up.

“Thank you,” Miguel said when he caught your hand and kept you back. “I don’t know how I’ll repay it. I show up out of nowhere and you help me without asking questions.”

You nodded with a warm smile. “That’s what friends are for, right?”

He gulped as he thought about your words. “Right. Friends,” he said, and you couldn’t really understand why he said it like that.

But you didn’t waste your time trying to figure it out, instead you ordered some food and went to the spare room to make his bed. Miguel seemed to be lost in his thoughts so you didn’t want to bother him, and he also seemed like he could use some sleep. The two of you quickly ate the dinner when it arrived, then you said goodnight and went to your bedroom to sleep.

By the time you woke up the next morning, Miguel was already gone. The only trace of him ever being there was a message he left for you, in which he thanked you for your help and promised to stay away until he fixed things. You knew it would be hard to be in the dark about him, but if he thought it would be for the best, you had no choice but to respect his decision.

[wander-wren]

every once in a while i like to poke my head into "anti [x]" tags just to see what the other side thinks. recently i was looking through "anti ao3" and found a really funny post claiming that ao3 is not anticapitalist, but actually the Definition Of Capitalism, bc it relies on volunteer labor while supposedly having the money to pay a staff.

oh, honey.

but i am not going to make unsubstantiated claims on the internet, no, and this gives me an excuse to look at ao3's whole budget myself, which i've been meaning to do for a while. these numbers are taken from the 2022 budget post and budget spreadsheet.

ao3's total income for 2022, from the two donation drives, regular donations, donation matching programs, interest, and royalties was $1,012,543.42. less than $300 of that was from interest and royalties, so it's almost all donations. and that's a lot, right? surely an organization making a million dollars a year can afford to pay some staff, right?

well, let's look at expenses. first of all, they lose almost $37,000 to transaction fees right away. ao3 and fanlore (~$341k and ~$18k, respectively) take up the biggest chunks of the budget by far. that money pays for, to quote the 2022 budget post, "server expenses—both new purchases and ongoing colocation and maintenance—website performance monitoring tools, and various systems-related licenses."

in some years, otw also pays external contractors to perform audits for security issues, and for more servers to handle the growing userbase. servers are expensive as hell, guys. in 2022, new server costs alone were $203k.

each of their other programs only cost around $3,000 or less, and otw paid around $78k for fundraising and development. wait, how do you lose so much money on your fundraising?? from the 2022 budget post: "Our fundraising and development expenses consist of transaction fees charged by our third-party payment processors for each donation, thank-you gift purchases and shipping, and the tools used to host the OTW’s membership database and track communications with donors and potential donors."

then the otw paid an additional $74k in administration expenses, which covers "hosting for our website, trademarks, domains, insurance, tax filing, and annual financial statement audits, as well as communication, management, and accounting tools."

in case you weren't following all of that math, the total expenses for 2022 come out to $518,978.48. woah! that's a lot! but it's still only a little over half of their net revenue. weird. i wonder what they do with that extra $494k?

well, $400k of it goes to the reserves, which i'll get to in a second. the last $93k, near as i can tell, gets rolled over to the next year. i'll admit this part i'm a little unsure about, as it's not clear on the spreadsheet, but that's the only thing that makes sense.

the reserves, though are clear. the most recent post i could find on the otw site about it were in the board meeting minutes from april 2, 2022: "We’re holding about $1million in operating cash that is about twice the amount of our annual operating costs. There is another $1million in reserves due to highly successful fundraisers in the past. The current plan for the reserves is to hold the money for paid staff in the future. It’s been talked about before in the past and we’re still working out the details, but it’s a rather expensive undertaking that will result in large annual expenses in addition to the initial cost of implementation."

woah....they're PLANNING to have paid staff eventually! wild!

so let's assume, for easy numbers, that the otw currently has $1.5 million in reserves. before we even get to how to use that money, let's look at the issues with implementing paid staff:

deciding which positions are going to be paid, because it can't be all of them

deciding how much to pay them, bc minimum wage sure as hell isn't enough, and cost of living is different everywhere, and volunteers come from all over the world

hiring staff and implementing new systems/tools to handle things like payroll and accounting

making sure you continue to earn enough money both to pay all of the staff and have some in reserves for emergencies or leaner donation drives

probably even more stuff than that! i don't run a nonprofit, that's just what i can think of off the top of my head.

okay, okay, okay. for the sake of argument, let's assume there is a best-case scenario where the otw starts paying some staff tomorrow. how much should they be paid? i'm picking $15 an hour, since that's what we fought for the minimum wage to be. by now, it should be closer to $20 or $25, but i'm trying to give "ao3 is capitalism" the fairest shot it can get here, okay?

ideally, if someone is being paid to help run ao3, they shouldn't need a second job. every job should pay enough to live off of. and running a nonprofit is hard work that leads to a lot of burnout--two board members JUST resigned before their terms were up. what i'm saying is, i'm going to assume a paid otw staff is getting paid for 40 hours of work a week, minimum. that's $31,200.

at $400,000 per year, the otw can afford to pay 12 people. that's WITHOUT taking into account the new systems, tools, software, etc they would have to pay for, any kind of fees, etc, etc.

oh, and btw, if you're an american you're still making barely enough to survive in most places, AND you don't have universal healthcare, vision, or dental. want otw to give people insurance, too? the number of people they can pay goes down.

it's. not. possible.

a million dollars is a lot of money on the face of it, but once you realize how MUCH goes into running something like the otw, it goes away fast.

just for reference, wikipedia also has donation drives every year. wikipedia, as of 2021, has $86.8 million in cash reserves and $137.4 million in investments. sure, wikipedia and ao3 are very different entities, but that disparity is massive. and i should note that if you give $10 to wikipedia they don't give you voting rights, i'm just saying.

by the way, you may have noticed that i didn't mention legal costs at all here. isn't one of otw's big Things about how they do legal advocacy?

yes, it is. they have a whole page about that work. and i can't for the life of me find a source on otw's website (and i'm running out of time to write this post, i'll look harder later), but i am 90% sure i learned before that most, if not all, of otw's legal work/advice/etc is done pro bono. i've also seen an anti-ao3 person claim their legal budget is only $5k or so, but they didn't have a source. but keep in mind that if they don't have a legal budget, all the numbers above stay the same, and if they do, there is even less money available for paid staff.

you can criticize ao3 and the otw all you want! there are many valid reasons to criticize them, and i do not think they're perfect either. but if you're going to do so, you should at least make sure you can back up your claims, bc otherwise you just look silly.

[fooled-around-and-fell]

The Two of Us

Summary: Joel unexpectedly meets an old friend near Jackson City.

Characters: Joel Miller x female reader

Genre: romance

Warnings: mention of death (not main characters), killing a loved one

a/n: I'm back from my hole to write about this fine, fine man.

please note that some stuff may not be the same as the game/series.

Joel and Tommy were out scouting a horde of infected, they were sent by Maria early that morning. Joel's had a bad feeling the entire ride there, so he kept an eye out.

"Alright, that was the last one." Tommy said as he got on his horse. "Let's head back."

Joel's horse followed Tommy, but Joel came to a halt when he heard noises. "Wait." He motioned Tommy to go around the back of the bush from where he heard the noise.

He got off his horse, shotgun in hand, as he silently stepped on the snow, careful not to be seen. Joel turned his body around the bush, his shotgun ready to fire. He was met with another gun by his head.

"Drop it." You commanded, clicking your gun.

"No," Tommy clicked his gun from behind you, "You drop it."

Joel moved away from his position and faced you, there was a frown of confusion but also of relief. "Y/N?"

"Joel?"

After Tommy and Joel cleared that you weren't infected, Joel took you back to his house. The ride back was more like an interrogation, no one's ever heard from you -- not like people knew who you were.

You weren't as sociable as Joel, though he's not one himself, but he had friends. You mostly kept to yourself, even back in the Quarantine Zone, the only person you could let in your life was Joel.

"So where have you been all this time?" Joel asked, pouring a glass of whiskey for you. "I haven't seen you in... what, 5 years?"

You took a sip of the liquor. "I've just been around. Trying to survive, don't really have a goal in mind."

He nodded, "How did you uh.. how did you get out?"

You smiled bitterly. "When you left, a lot of people suddenly started disappearing. I didn't know if they just started killing people or what, but something in me snapped and decided I didn't want to live like that anymore."

"So I sneaked out. It wasn't easy, but I followed some guys and got out." You continued, "Made some friends along the way, lost some.. and here I am."

"How'd you find this place?" Tommy asked.

His suspicious tone didn't go unnoticed by you. "I grew up in Jackson. I just wanted to go home, didn't know there'd be survivors here."

"There's quite a few of us here. It's not much, but we survive." Joel explained. "Tommy, go talk to Maria for me. Y/N can meet her after a night's rest."

You raised a brow at Joel's demands, but said nothing. Tommy did as he was told and left you and Joel alone.

Joel didn't say anything. He just took in the sight of you, he couldn't believe you're alive. The Y/N he knew 5 years ago did not know how to fight, let alone survive in the wild.

You were also looking at Joel in return. He looked much older, but that was definitely not a bad thing. If anything he looked even hotter. Joel seemed more careful, but also more open at the same time. You didn't know his story for the past 5 years, but it definitely took a toll on him.

"Joel?"

"Hey," Joel greeted, a wary glance around the corner. "Mind if I come in?"

"No, of course not."

Joel was already a friend. He offered you oxy one time but you didn't want it. Everyone had trouble sleeping at that point, but you figured you'd rather be awake than numb the pain.

That sparked an interesting conversation with the man.

"Everything okay?"

Joel sighed, "I'm leaving tomorrow night. You might not see me again."

"...oh." You didn't know what to say. "Good luck."

He nodded, "I just wanted to tell you.. cause.. I guess in case you'd be wondering where I went."

"Thanks."

Joel gave you one last look before leaving. "If you ever get out of here one day... I hope we meet again."

Joel left you to shower and prepared your room. He'd get you your own place tomorrow, but since it's late you'll just have to stay at his for a night.

He brought your bag into your room and noticed an empty bullet case that you turned into a keychain. He recognized that bullet -- it was the one he gave you and had carved your name on it as a birthday gift.

"Thanks for letting me stay here." You said, not noticing what Joel was looking at.

"You still have it." Joel commented, motioning to the bullet case.

"Ah.. yeah. It's important to me. I keep it as a lucky charm." You explained, a blush slowly made its way to your cheeks. "I killed a clicker with it, had to search for the case too, but it's worth it."

Joel sat on the bed next to you. His hand holding your face while he examined every nook and cranny. You can feel your heart racing, but you've never felt more at home.

You lean into his touch and Joel took your hand, bringing it to his lips. "I'm glad you're okay."

You admitted. "I've missed you. So much."

"Me too, darling. Me too." Joel captured your lips with his, tongues dancing hungrily for the amount of years you both missed.

You climbed onto Joel's lap while his hands roamed around your body, trying to get you out of your clothes. He stopped when he came across a new scar -- and there was a lot.

"I know," You sighed, "they're not pretty to look at."

"Don't kid yourself, sweetheart." He whispered, "All of these scars... you're a fighter, a survivor. It shows that you're brave, and I love every. single. one. of. them." He said in between kisses.

"Joel..."

"Yes, princess?"

You gave him a knowing look. Of course Joel knew what it meant, what you wanted, what you needed. It was just like old times.

While Joel was in the shower, you took it upon yourself to check the pictures in his room. There was one of him and Sarah, and there was another one of him with another girl.

Does Joel have another daughter? Ellie's her name, you saw the note on the back. There was also his guitar, his books, he didn't really change.. not that you know of.

"You know curiosity killed the cat." Joel said as he took you by surprise from behind. "What were you looking at, huh?"

You chuckled. "Just some pictures, tried to figure out who you are now before I can ask questions."

"All you gotta do is ask." Joel smiled, putting on his shirt.

You leaned against his table while he laid on his bed. "Something easy first. What have you been doing for the last 5 years?"

Joel explained his journey (short version) of meeting Ellie, losing friends, their bond, and you could tell he loved the girl as if she was his own daughter.

"My turn."

"Ugh, haven't you guys interrogated me enough already?"

"That was the official stuff. Now it's me who's asking." He had a smile on his face, but it faltered. "You said you made friends and lost them too. Tell me about that."

You pursed your lips and sat next to him. "His name was James. He saved me when I was surrounded, and we camped together. He was a good friend, but he got bit." You sighed, "He begged me to end his suffering.. So I did."

Joel knew you were just telling the story without really telling him what happened, but he didn't want to pressure you. He really just wanted to know what you've been through.

"I'm sorry, darling." He kissed your forehead. "Similar thing happened to Tess. She got infected while we were trying to transport Ellie. She sacrificed herself and saved us."

You held each other for a little while. Losing friends was part of life now, it was normal, but it was still a loss.

"Um, next question." Joel changed the subject. "Are you staying here? In Jackson? Would you like to?"

You haven't thought about that. You don't know where to go, cause your first goal was just to arrive in Jackson. Now that people are living here... should you join them?

"You know you're welcome to stay. And... I'd like it if you'd stay."

"Can I answer that with a question?"

Joel didn't protest.

"Are your feelings still the same?"

He smiled longingly, cupping your face with his hands again. "It hasn't changed for me, darling. Both have changed as people, so if that means getting to know you all over again.. I'd do it all over again."

--

[patdkoala]

The Odds in Our Favor

Pairing: Finnick Odair x female reader

Warnings: smut no plot, dom!Finnick, pet names (Honey), overstimulation, Gale older brother

I was sharpening my knives like always when my brother walked into my room.

"Gale, I thought I told you to knock before you enter a room. What if I had a guy in here?"

"Then I would have to kill him," He said as he picked up one of the knives I finished earlier.

"I'm not a child anymore. You don't have to protect me," I said as he frowned.

"No, but you'll always be my little sister," He said as I smiled and then set down my knives. I slipped them back into their leather case as Gale sat down next to me.

"You don't have to fight, you know," He said as I rolled my eyes.

Gale has been trying to get me to forfeit the games for days now leading up to them.

I won the games three years ago. Two years before Katniss.

I then got told I have to fight in the games again. I thought the whole point of being a victor is that I don't have to fight again but I guess I was wrong. I am fighting tomorrow morning. I might die tomorrow morning.

"I should get some sleep. I've got a big day tomorrow. Good night, big brother," I said as we stood and hugged. He held the back of my head close like how one might hold a baby.

Gale left my room and I cleaned up. I want my room to look nice for when I'm gone so Gale doesn't have any trouble going through my things.

When I was finished, I just stood there and stared at my room and all it had to offer. Someone else is going to move in soon and they are going to take down my pictures and put their own up.

"Hey, are you still awake?" Finnick asked outside my door. I opened it and there he was standing there in nothing but some sweatpants and the necklace that he's always wearing.

"Yeah, I was just about to lie and tell everyone that I'm going to bed but I was just going to stare off in the distance," I said as he smiled his cheeky grin at me.

"Wanna be together tonight? I don't really feel like being alone," He said as I nodded and then walked over towards him at the door.

"Where are we going?" He asked as I looked up at him. He is much taller than I am.

"Uhm, your room? Why?"

"Oh, well. I walked all the way over here so I just assumed that we would hang out here." He then looked around the room. "But now that I see it, it looks like a dead person lives here. Which is ironic since you are very much alive," He said as he looked at the framed picture of me with my older brother.

"I mean, I'm practically dead," I said under my breath.

"No, you're not!" Finnick yelled as he grabbed me by the arm to get my attention. "I will protect you in there, I promise you," He then realized that he was holding onto my arm for too long and a bit too tight.

"Okay, I believe you."

"We can stay here," I said but instead he loosened his grip on my arm but didn't let go.

"No, we can go to my room. I don't think I can stand being in such a sad room any longer," He said as I nodded and followed him out in the hall and past the main room of the bunker we were staying in.

"Where are you taking my little sister?" Gale asked as Finnick and I walked past Gale and Katniss.

"Don't worry about it, Gale," I said as Finnick held my hand and pulled me towards his room.

I closed the door behind us.

Finnick went and sat down on his bed. I looked around the room.

A little messy, but somehow still tidy, Dirty clothes are scattered on the floor, and pictures of who I assume are family.

"Want to watch something? I wonder what is going on at the capitol not that they have decided to kill a bunch of us off again for sport," He said as he turned it on.

"Finnick Odair and that (Y/N) Hawthorne have got something magical going on don't they?" Ceasar asked his guest as she smiled. "Oh, certainly. They are just the cutest. I hope they make it far in the games tomorrow so we can see that relationship develop," She said as I just stood there watching them talk about us.

"Let's just hope he taps that soon-"

Finnick turned off the tv.

"Maybe we can just talk," He said as I smiled at him and then sat down next to him. "About what?"

"I don't know. We can talk about anything. We are all about to die right?" He said as I smiled.

"Okay. What are you going to do if you win?" I asked as I got on my tummy and rested my head on my hands.

"I don't know. Maybe get a nice home and settle down. I kind of missed out on that when my girlfriend dumped me after the first Hunger Games that I won," He said as I laughed.

"So, your plans are lame."

"What are your plans?" He asked as I crossed my arms.

"Well, not if but when I win I'm hoping to get laid," I laughed out as his tight crossed arms became loose.

"You're a virgin?" He asked as I rolled my eyes.

"Dude, I won the Hunger Games at 17 years old and then went into hiding from the Capitol with my brother, Gale. He had Katniss and Katniss had Peeta. I didn't want anyone to know I exist because I thought that would keep me safe. Turns out, they found me anyway, and now here I am about to die."

"So, yes. You are a virgin."

"What are you asking me, Finnick?"

"Have you ever even kissed anyone?"

"I kissed Katniss on a dare and then Peeta shortly after."

"But have you-"

"Fucked anyone? No," I said as I rolled over and lay on my back staring at the ceiling.

"Would you like to? Before we die?"

"What makes you think we are both going to die?" I asked as I now crossed my arms to match him except his arms weren't crossed any longer. They were draped across his chest and he was staring at me so intensely.

"We are fighting alongside Katniss Everdeen. We are absolutely dying," He laughed uncomfortably.

"Well then I might as well live a little before the end of the world," I said as I looked at Finnick and he was crawling on the bed closer to me. Soon enough he was on top of me.

"Kiss me Finny," I moaned as he smirked and removed my shirt over my head.

"Anything for you, Honey."

He kissed me all over my face, neck, chest, and tummy.

He held me by my back as I moaned out from his touch.

He then made his way to my pants and took them off of me. He kissed my inner thigh and I tugged on his hair pulling his face closer to where I needed him most.

"Is this where you need me, honey?" He asked as all I could do was nod. I was so infatuated with him that my body lost control.

He ate me out as I groaned, moaned more, and tugged at his hair. He smiled at me because he knew what he was doing and loved its effect on me.

We moved slightly so that he had a better grip on my ass and I was more comfortable with laying on my back.

He stopped once he felt me close to my release. I whined as he got on top of me.

"Hush," He demanded as I smirked at his dominance.

He took off his last remaining bits of clothing before pushing himself inside of me. We both moaned at the sudden feeling.

He moved with such force at first but then slowed down when he felt that it was too much for me.

"Please, I need to cum," I said as he held my legs around him and then he moved even harder and quicker than before.

We were both so close to coming that he flipped us so that when we came, I was on top.

I lay next to him and he held me.

I felt so safe in that moment that I wasn't worried about dying anymore. Whatever the games have for me, I know the odds will be in my favor. ;)

[cineresis]

Angels in America

It's amazing how fast an evening at your favorite club can be ruined by someone keeling over and frothing at the mouth. The band never quite gets back into the swing of things afterwards.

"Angel," sighed one of the men, or nearest approximants, at the table next to mine, "why is it that I can never go anywhere with you without stumbling across a body?"

"Oh, come now," said his partner, a soft, fluffy confection in caramel and cream, rising hastily to make his way toward the source of the commotion. The first gentleman, dark, lanky, and excruciatingly chic, got up to follow him. "It's hardly every time."

I stayed where I was for now, casting my gaze around the room as I went over my memory of the past twenty or thirty minutes. Too many people passing close enough to slip something into the victim's drink, too many others to watch at the same time, too many more opportunities to poison him outside my field of view. I was a detective, not God.

"Stumbling upon, once. Literally. Do you know what it's like to have to clean up after that sort of thing? It takes a personal toll."

"Hush, Crowley," chided "Angel". "People can hear you, and you know how queer they get about these things. Ooh, yes, that's strychnine, all right," he added cheerfully, pulling a small vial from his vest pocket and tipping it into his handkerchief. "Nasty stuff."

I got up. As I approached, I caught the faint, unmistakable chemical sweetness of ether fumes and gave them a wide berth, choosing instead to inspect the victim's plate and glass before turning to scan the room from this perspective.

"Now, just what might you be doing?" drawled Crowley.

I looked him over, too, while I was at it. In Crowley's case, this involved a lot of looking and not much over; he was easily more than six feet tall, even while slouching rakishly. The snake tattoo on his right temple suggested certain things about him. The dark glasses that he hadn't removed since he'd entered just suggested questions, since I highly doubted he was blind. "I'm a detective," I said, leaving the obviously at the end of that sentence to implication. "What are you doing?"

This response seemed to delight him. "So are we," Crowley answered, and grinned. "But if you want to get specific about it, I'm keeping you distracted while my friend saves this man's life. Let's see your license, then."

As I took it out, keeping at least one eye on him and his partner, Angel called out to the rubbernecking crowd around us, "I need someone here to run and call the nearest hospital, and a couple of strong men to help get this poor fellow someplace dark and quiet to rest. Best use one of the tablecloths for a stretcher," he added to the first volunteer who stepped forward.

Crowley leaned in closer to study my license. "Drake Silas Donovan," he read off. "'Silas', really?"

"What about it?"

"I've just always wondered what kind of parent would name their kid Silas."

"The kind who had a grandfather named Silas," I replied coolly, snagging my license back. "Your turn."

He obliged. Anthony J. Crowley, it read, licensed in London since 1905, the year before mine. I wondered how long he'd been at this; he looked too young for his apparent age, but then I looked too old for mine. "A. J. Crowley," I read his signature aloud. "Get asked if you're any relation every time, or just most?"

There's a certain motion a person's head makes when they roll their eyes. Crowley's was making it. "The man's an embarrassment to the side," he griped. "I made my name legitimately."

"And your friend?" It wasn't as if I couldn't put two and two together. There's a certain type of person who's got both a nose for trouble and the brains to prepare for it; if it walks, talks, and thinks like a dick, it probably is one. It was just that I wasn't in the habit of trusting people, and I'd be a real schmuck to neglect basic due diligence on the guy purportedly surrounded by bodies. 

Detectives are no better or worse than any other person. They just think it's usually more interesting to solve crimes than commit them.

"Oh, he's as legitimate as it gets." Crowley turned to his companion, who was getting to his feet, brushing his clothes off fussily. Beside him, the two volunteers hoisted the unconscious victim onto a tablecloth spread across the floor, momentarily dislodging the ether-soaked cloth before Angel caught it and laid it carefully back in place over the victim's nose and mouth. "Aren't you, Aziraphale?"

Angel — "Aziraphale"? — looked up, startled. "Pardon?"

"Mr. Donovan here wants to see your detective's license," Crowley explained, enunciating his words with malice aforethought.

"Oh! Yes. Of course I always have that with me. Now just where did I..." He started patting down his pockets, stopped suddenly, and took a lovely calfskin card holder out of his coat. "Ah. Here it is."

Beaming, he passed it to Crowley, who passed it to me with the comment, "You'll find everything in order, I'm sure."

I glanced down at the card, then back up at Angel. "Am I supposed to call you A. Z. Fell or Aziraphale?" I asked, pronouncing the Z correctly as zed.

"A. Z. Fell is how 'Aziraphale' is pronounced in the King's English," said Crowley blandly, affecting a cut-glass Oxford accent on the last phrase. His partner seemed pleased by this comment, rather than annoyed.

"I'm afraid my progenitor bestowed me with a rather unwieldy given name," Fell admitted, raising fascinating questions about just how many syllables the British peerage could fit on a birth certificate when they really tried. "Aziraphale just sounds so much more euphonious, don't you think?" Crowley was right; I couldn't tell whether Fell had meant to say A. Z. Fell or the de-accented gloss. He'd lengthened the half-syllable between zed and Fell to a full vowel, but some people said zetta.

"I wouldn't know," I replied, handing the license back to Crowley, who was nearest. When Fell didn't take my bait, I added, "Lucky that you happened to have ether handy. I wouldn't like to imagine what might've happened if you'd decided to stay in tonight." I also lied when I said sorry, and when I swore to tell the whole truth and nothing but. Little white lies are the oil in the gears of civilization.

"Oh, I always carry that, too," Fell explained earnestly. "One gets into the habit after one's first run-in with strychnine, and of course ether has so many useful applica—"

"I wouldn't, angel," Crowley interrupted, sounding very amused. "Mr. Donovan thinks you're the one behind this."

"Oh," said Fell, nonplussed. "Gosh. Well, I — I suppose I can't blame him. He doesn't know me from Adam, after all, and has no reason to trust me — I did warn you about giving people funny ideas, Crowley, honestly. Of course," Fell turned to me, laying an elegant hand across his chest, "if you were to search me, you would find only a small collection of antidotes — oh, but a habitual poisoner would probably carry those, too, especially if he were the sort of voyeur with a penchant for playing the hero. I certainly wouldn't be convinced of my innocence. Yes, I can certainly understand whatever suspicion you might feel towards me, however misplaced it may be."

Crowley watched this thought process with an expression somewhere between fascination and agony. "Well, at least now he probably thinks that if you'd done it, you'd have been caught by now," he remarked, presumably because he was thinking the same thing. "You'll have to excuse my friend," Crowley added to me. "He still believes that the innocent have nothing to fear. Somehow."

"First time visiting?" I guessed.

Fell's bemusement answered my question before he did. "Pardon?"

"Never mind."

[cosmichorrorsarestillnicerthanme]

Futaba Sakura and Makoto niijima (separate) with a delinquent boyfriend that they find out is actually extremely smart like a futaba level genius but they cover it up and intentionally get average or bad grades. The reason is that in the past they were made fun of and an outcast throughout their life because of how smart they are.

I would like you to consider this your Christmas Gift from me to you my friend, I've been working on this for a while to get the style just right.

NOW! YOUR WISH IS MY COMMAND!

You and Futaba ran into each other through the most random of chances.

On a day she came into LeBlanc a tad later than usual, the bell rang as you stepped in, knuckles skint up, and wiping blood from your nose.

Sojiro, of course, gave you flack about how beat up you were.

You in turn teased him about his habit of adopting whatever downtrodden kids walked through his door.

Meanwhile, Futaba was wondering who in the world you were, and debating if this was the opportunity to try and put into practice what her and Joker were working on.

Then Sojiro asked her to grab the first aid kit under the bar.

And Futaba decided to at the very least try.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

“H-here you go!” Futaba stuttered as she gave Sojiro the small white case from under the bar.

“Thanks Futaba.” Sojiro said with a smile as he went to open the box before clicking his tongue.

“Damn, I knew I should’ve checked this when I went to grab some things for the shop.” Sojiro muttered.

“Hey, Futaba, do you mind keeping an eye on this jackass?” Sojiro asked, giving you the side eye as he spoke.

“S-sure I can, Sojiro!” Futaba responded.

This was her chance… to talk to another person!

“Thanks, I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t have to. This guy however has a bad habit of running off to galavant, kinda like that other guy in a way.” Sojiro groaned as he turned to grab his hat from off the hanger.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be right back.”

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Futaba fidgeted nervously on the stool as she looked at you.

“How the hell am I supposed to do this!” Futaba screamed in her head before her eyes locked onto your jacket’s pocket.

A featherman pin…

Futaba could work with this!

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

After that, the two of you hit it off quickly.

As it turns out, tv makes great conversation starters.

As it also turns out, you were a lot sharper than Futaba gave you credit for.

Almost as sharp as her if not just as.

It makes her wonder what you're doing as a delinquent…

Eh, who cares.

…

…

Okay, Futaba cared.

Especially when she told Sojiro how she felt after you left.

Because that's when Sojiro started teasing her about having her first crush.

And after the allotted period of denying and panicking over it, Futaba was forced to admit.

She did, in fact, have a crush.

On someone who liked the same things she did.

She applauded herself for having such good taste.

So, after a lot of prodding and poking from Joker and Sojiro, she managed to gather up the courage to ask to have dinner with you at LeBlanc.

It snowballed from there.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

“Hey… if you don’t mind me asking, why are ya a delinquent?” Futaba asked as she kicked her legs in the air while reading Manga.

“I’m not a delinquent, I’m a-” You began before saying in union with Futaba.

“Alternative School Security!”

“Yeah, yeah, I know, but I don’t think most security guards would beat the heck out of anyone who tried to bully others. Probably.” Futaba stated.

“Well, it's a boring story, not something that will keep you entertained.” You said as you leaned back in your chair.

“Try me, mister delinquent~!” Futaba teased.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Within the next few minutes, Futaba Sakura was ready to absolutely murder a lot of people.

Why would they do that?

Why?

That's just cruel!

Futaba knew what the Phantom Thieves' next mission in Mementos would be!

Oh she was gonna absolutely throttle those shadows!

You made an impression on Makoto when the two of you first met.

More specifically, you made an impression on some guy's face.

Several guys in fact.

You see, when the two of you met.

Makoto Nijimia, was being mugged.

Then you, the local delinquent stepped in.

And seeing as this was your turf…

You doled out some… fitting punishment for those trespassers.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Makoto prepared to step in as the first and leader of the men charged you.

She may not be in the metaverse, but she still does know how to fight.

However, Makoto learned quickly that you did not need any help from her when you dodged the first punch and countered by hitting him with an uppercut to the chin that sent him stumbling back and then another punch to the nose which knocked him out cold.

Needless to say, the two minions of that man ran off immediately after.

Or they attempted to, as it turns out being clotheslined and having a bent metal pipe tossed at someone tends to stop the person on the receiving end of that in their tracks.

You were content to leave it at that.

Unfortunately, a pretty lady with short hair and who was also a stickler for rules decided otherwise.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

“So then, get mugged around here often?” You asked the young woman next to you.

“I am SO sorry about this…” Makoto groaned as she put her face in her hands.

“Oh don’t worry, I just love spending my nights in handcuffs!” You stated sarcastically as you raised your hands from the table, or as far as you could with your hands cuffed to it.

As it turns out, a known delinquent walking into the Police Station with three unconscious guys and an innocent young woman tends to send the wrong message.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

And that's how you and Makoto Niijima met.

Needless to say, you and Makoto were attached at the hip after that.

Then one thing led to another and then the two of you just…

Started dating. 

It wasn’t really anything big, it just… happened.

Then Makoto noticed something.

All of your schoolwork was…

Exceedingly average…

Everything was actually perfectly average…

To the exact point…

This warrants a call to a friend.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

“Hey, Futaba, can you check something for me?” Makoto asked Futaba over the phone.

“Sure ya can Queenie! Is this about your new beau?” Futaba teased.

“H-how did you- *Sigh* Yes, it is. I need you to check his grades, his all time grades.” Makoto told her friend with a sigh.

Futaba was silent on the other side of the line for a moment.

Then Makoto heard Futaba let out a whistle.

“Wow! This guy is good! Really, really, really, good!” Futaba exclaimed excitedly.

“Wha-” Makoto tried to speak before being cut off by Futaba.

“Aces in everything, on every assignment, every test, in every subject, and I mean everything, and a spotless record to boot! At least until… last year. Then it's all perfectly average work, and constant write ups about getting into the middle of fights and punching bullies out.” Futaba told Makoto, the clacking of a keyboard coming through the speaker of her phone.

“Looking at this guy’s record… Makoto, be sure to avoid telling him what your after school job is, yeah? I don’t doubt the shift manager would want the help, but Mona probably wouldn’t be all that happy with a new guy to drive around.” Futaba told Makoto, warning her about the way you might react to the Metaverse if exposed to it.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Shortly following this conversation, Makoto asked you about your grades.

You dodged the questions as best as you could, but Makoto, your wonderful girlfriend, continued to press the question.

It took her a little while, but you did answer.

You told her about how, once upon a time, you were the top of your class, unparalleled in basically anything you learned, constantly earning the highest possible grades with ease and even used as a shining example of what a good student should be.

But then, at the beginning of the last school year, the perception around you turned sour due to envy.

A group of bullies started harassing you and, no matter what you said or tried, the school did nothing.

So, you dropped out of the spotlight, avoided the reputation you had and managed to transfer schools.

After that, you gained a new reputation for completely average work and stopping bullies that the school would refuse to do anything about.

The rest, as they say, is history.

In response to this, Makoto asked only for the names of the bullies and the teachers.

By this point you already figured out what Makoto’s “After School Job” was.

But that doesn’t mean you didn’t give her the names without any lip.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

The following day, you received a series of calls and texts.

All of them being apologies.

All of them from the people who bullied you.

[dontyouworrydaddy]

hi!! i stumbled across ur blog and i loved ur writing so i thought i’d drop a request ^_^

so…. 141 x famous! reader

like…. HEHHEHE

like im talking realllyyy famous

celebrity type

ESPECIALLY WITH SOMEONE LIKE SIMON… POLAR OPPOSITES

ofc there would be some problems but whenever they get on leave reader just immediately frees up her schedule for the time he’ll be back !!

concert? sorry…..

touring? oops…

YK? HEHEH :3

𝐀 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫

Task Force 141 x gn! reader

YOU ARE A GENIUSSSSS!!!! OH MY GODDD I absolutely love this idea and I‘m soooo excited to write about it.

Thank you so much! I hope you love this one💘

♛ ♕ ♚ ♔ ♜ ♖ ♝ ♗ ♞ ♘ ♟ ♙

Simon Riley

Simon had always been the quiet and private person. Just a simple guy in the army who has a high position.

You, known simply as "Little Star" for the world, which you got the name from Simon, are a phenomenal actor and song writer, making millions out of acting in songs you produce.

It was a love that had surprised everyone, including themselves. Polar opposites in every sense, but they say opposites attract, and in your case, it couldn't be truer.

"Hey my little star." Simon murmured as he walked through the door of your shared apartment. He had just returned from a long, grueling mission.

You looked up from the colorful bouquet you were arranging, your face lighting up as you rushed into his arms. "Simon! You're back! I've been counting the minutes."

Simon's usually stern expression softened as he held you close. "I missed you too," he admitted quietly.

Months passed the last time you saw him and it wasn't always easy, of course. Simon's work often kept him away for long stretches, and the secrecy surrounding it meant that there were many moments he couldn't share with you. But whenever he had leave, you had a knack for freeing up your schedule, as if nothing else in the world was as important as those moments with him.

"Hey, y/n.." Simon would say, his voice filled with a mix of gratitude and love. "I can't believe you're here with me."

You'd smile and reply, "Of course, Simon. You're my priority when you're home."

It wasn't always smooth sailing. You were the extrovert, and Simon was the introvert. He preferred quiet nights in, while you loved going out with friends. But you learned to compromise, to find joy in the little things.

One evening, you sat on the couch with a pile of board games in front of you. "Come on, Ghosty, let's have some fun tonight."

Simon raised an eyebrow but couldn't resist your infectious enthusiasm. "Alright, little star. You're on."

The game night ended up being filled with laughter, playful arguments, and a hot make out sessions. But amidst the chaos, there was a connection that ran deeper than any mission or song/show.

Ad you both lie on the bed, out of breath, you notice Simon looking… distracted by something. "What's on your mind, Simon?"

He sighed, looking at you. "Sometimes, I wonder if I'm cut out for this. The darkness, the secrecy... it's a lonely path."

You sat down beside him and took his hand. "Simon, you're more than your job and past. You're a person with a heart, with emotions, and you have me. I'll be your light in the darkness."

Tears welled up in Simon's eyes, and he pulled you close. "I don't know what I'd do without you, You."

Love was the force that held you two together. It was in the simple moments like cooking dinner together, sharing stories about your day, and in the way Simon's eyes lit up when he saw you waiting for him.

Simon looked at you with an intensity that made your heart skip a beat. "You mean everything to me," he said. "I don't say it enough, but I love you more than words can express."

Tears welled up in your eyes as you replied, "I love you too, Simon, more than anything in this world."

John MacTavish

The first time you met, it was in a bar on the outskirts of a small town. John had just returned from a covert mission, weary and battle-scarred. You were seated at the corner of the bar, reading a book and sipping a glass of wine. John couldn't help but be drawn to you, the serenity in your eyes a stark contrast to the chaos he had witnessed.

"Can I join you?" he asked, his voice gruff from days in the field.

You looked up from your book and gave him a soft smile. "Of course, you can. You seem like you could use some company."

That night marked the beginning of a connection that would change both your lives. You and John spent hours talking, discovering that you had little in common on the surface, but something profound connected you deep within. He regaled you with stories of his missions, and you listened with unwavering attention. You spoke of your passions and dreams, and he hung onto every word.

Despite the challenges of John's career, you made it work. Your relationship was a blend of late-night phone calls, handwritten letters, and stolen moments whenever he was on leave… and some moments with you and him in his car, somewhere quiet. There were also times when it seemed impossible, the worlds you inhabited so far apart, but every time he was home, you dropped everything just to be with him.

One evening, as the two of you sat on a quiet beach, watching the sun dip below the horizon, John took your hand in his and said, "I can't believe you make time for me every single time I come home. It means the world to me."

You smiled, leaning your head on his shoulder. "You're worth it, John. You make my life feel complete, even in the midst of chaos.. where I‘m stressed with my open life."

Your relationship was a rollercoaster of emotions. There were nights of tears and longing, but there were also days of pure happiness. When John was deployed, your world revolved around waiting for his safe return and it was also the time you weren’t really home because of you tourings. And when he was back, you created moments that felt like a lifetime's worth of love in every stolen kiss and embrace.

One night you whispered to your boyfriend, "John, I never thought I'd find someone who understands me so completely. This is why my upcoming Album is about you."

John held you close, his voice full of love, "You, my love. I can't imagine facing the world without you by my side. I‘ll make sure to listen to it even if I‘m in the middle of a battlefield "

You both laughed as you laid in each other's arms, you both found love and solace amidst the chaos of your worlds.

John Price

In a chaotic city of England, you and John Price were a match that shouldn't have worked, yet somehow, you complemented each other perfectly. Your life, filled with the fame and glamour of the city, was a whirlwind of events and you touring through the UK.

Despite your wildly different lives, your love was undeniable. John would often tease you, saying, "I still can't believe you make time for a rough old captain like me." And every time, you'd respond with a smile, "You're worth every second, John."

In the evening, you stood on the balcony of your penthouse apartment, gazing at the city lights. John wrapped his arms around your waist, pressing a tender kiss to your neck. "I can't believe you've cleared your schedule for my leave again."

You turned to face him, placing your hands on his chest. "There's nowhere else I'd rather be, babe."

He smiled, his blue eyes filled with warmth. "You know, I never thought I'd find someone like you."

"You're my everything, John," you confessed, your fingers tracing his stubbled jaw. "I love you."

His lips met yours in a passionate kiss, and for a moment, the world around you disappeared. In the midst of this whirlwind romance, love was the constant that held you both together.

Over the years, you faced your fair share of challenges. John's demanding career and your busy social life often pulled you in different directions, but whenever he was on leave, your schedules aligned.

As you cuddled on the couch, John traced a finger along your cheek. "You're everything I've ever wanted," he said, his voice filled with emotion.

Tears welled up in your eyes as you replied, "And you're my rock, John."

Kyle Garrick

It was one of those rare moments when you both had some time off. Kyle, exhausted from his rigorous military duties, looked forward to spending his leave with you. You, on the other hand, were in the middle of an art project, but you knew just how much he needed this break. So, you cleared your schedule with a quick text that read, "I'm all yours when you're back, love."

As you waited for him, your mind wandered back to the first time you met. It had been at an art gallery where your work was being showcased. Kyle had stood there, captivated by the vibrant colors and abstract forms on the canvases. He approached you, and your worlds collided in a beautiful mess of colors and light. You'd never met anyone like him, and he'd never met anyone quite like you.

Now, as you prepared for his return, you couldn't help but smile at the memories that flooded your mind. The first time he'd attempted to sing with you, ending up with cringing as he heard himself singing over your instrumentals and how you'd laughed until your sides ached. He, in turn, had shown you the discipline and honor that came with his job, and you admired him for it.

Finally, the day came when Kyle returned home. The excitement in your heart was palpable as you rushed to the airport to greet him. When you saw him walking towards you in his uniform, it was like something out of a movie. You rushed into his arms, your emotions bubbling over.

"I missed you," you whispered, your voice filled with love.

Kyle held you close, his strong arms wrapping around you. "I missed you more, you have no idea."

The drive back home was filled with laughter and stories of what you both had been up to. Kyle had a knack for making even the most mundane military anecdotes sound fascinating. You, in turn, shared the progress on your latest album, and he glanced at your creativity.

Once you were home, you cooked his favorite meal, and you both sat down to eat. As you sipped wine and shared stories, the hours slipped away. The love and connection you both felt were undeniable.

Later, you found yourselves snuggled on the couch, watching a movie. Kyle's fingers traced lazy circles on your hand as he said, "I can't believe how lucky I am to have you in my life. You make everything look so normal, even in the midst of chaos."

You smiled and nestled closer, your head resting on his shoulder. "And you bring a sense of order and purpose into my world. Together, we make the perfect blend of chaos and discipline."

As the night wore on, you realized that this was where you both belonged – in each other's arms.

[utilitycaster]

The wildest part about people being mad on Imogen's behalf is Imogen herself understood Keyleth's position in spite of her own wishful thinking, helps acquire the blue flowers for her, was the first to acknowledge the Changebringer's help, and the first to say "I'm sorry" to Orym losing more of his people. I'm really baffled to read these "Orym is manipulative" takes and that it was dangerous of Keyleth to validate his anger. Do you think it goes back to the god stuff, or is it just Imodna?

I think a little of column A, little of column B, little of several other things. Since I've been on the "hey could we consider that Imogen and Laudna are adult women who are responsible for their own actions" train for over a year, the specific "Imogen can be mean-spirited as well as unintentionally insensitive" train since at least this past February, and the "Orym is correct and Bor'Dor signed his own death warrant by casting Vitriolic Sphere at a group of people who were not violent towards him" train for a month, let's break it down.

There are a small handful of people in the fandom who just really hate Liam. Per a very salty rant I put into my drafts shortly after 3x63 to describe this type of person, it is a small, scattered, bizarre group of people who for no apparent reason have decided to be foaming-at-the-mouth levels of furious because, as far as I can tell, a nerdy Gen X-er dad who went to Tisch is kind of corny sometimes. Anyway nothing he does will ever sit well with them so we can ignore them forever. Moving on.

Some is Imodna; I thought the whole issue of Imogen and Laudna as agency-less infants against a cruel world would have been ameliorated by them entering a canon relationship (one currently compatible with the 2013 Pinterest board vibes of fanon no less) but it appears to have not been the case. For more on this, see this still relevant post and, while I personally haven't ever written something up, there's just, again, a complete black hole of empathy from a segment of the fandom when it comes to any of the other characters; my post from this morning about Imogen as compared to Caleb touches upon it. You know the Far Side cartoon where a guy is talking to his dog and the dog only recognizes a small handful of words? I feel this is similar, like, they see that Imogen wanted one thing and Orym and Keyleth wanted another thing that wasn't even, as you point out, terribly incompatible, and then the "well if not thing Imogen wants and not 100% deferential to her then BAD BAD BAD" attitude kicked in.

But I do think, in the end, a lot of it does come back to if not the gods exactly, the idea that the Vanguard is, unmistakably, the enemy. They are not the revolution here to usher in a new era of rule by the people. Keyleth is not here to raze Vasselheim to the ground but to have a diplomatic discussion; neither is she here to grant any leniency to the woman who attacked Vax regardless of her connection to Imogen. And she finds the idea of a world without the gods, regardless of her own personal feelings, to be one to be avoided. [sidebar: I hope we get Matt on 4SD; I am wondering, after the one-two-three punch of Hevestro, the Raven Queen, and Keyleth all placing a heavy thumb on the scale opposing the Vanguard if he did not expect the party to be as conflicted about the role of the gods and is trying to wind up an argument that I think as of last episode reached the end of its useful life.] When you couple that with Orym's positive attitude towards the gods, that explains the animosity towards him.

The undermining of Orym's position over the past few episodes has always been one of emotion. First he was not objective - as if anyone else was objective! As if any moral decision is ever 100% objective! We all have biases! What kind of early 2000s atheist forum shit are you on to claim perfect rationality that conveniently matches the ideas that apparently came to you in a godless vision? It's insane. Then it was his grief; grief makes you irrational (unless you're Imogen grieving Laudna, in which case you are objectively right at all times, even as you shout down every other suggestion, beseech Laudna's first murderer, not a month later consider the potential validity of the her second, and try to to undo her immutable past) and remember, moral decisions must be made by the rational. Then it was his impatience (nevermind that Imogen has absolutely no patience). And now it's his anger, and he's apparently been manipulating the party the whole time by...having suggestions for the group which he mentions, and openly stating what he was feeling and what he wanted, and not intuiting that Laudna reawoke Delilah with his approximately no magical ability and then encouraging her to finish a job she had started herself. Because god Rational Objective Conceptual Being forbid women do anything; it is the role of the man to protect their fragile souls from all consequences.

Even more generally I think a lot of people- not just in this fandom, though certainly within this fandom - are terrified of anger. Like, they think they like it - they say they love barbarians (though rage is its own beast and I think very different from the anger Orym and Keyleth exhibit) but most of the discussion of them tends to veer more into angst, and most players of barbarians are often exploring emotions like grief, self-pity (as Ashton says), or frustration just as much if not more so than anger. I think a lot of people perceive anger as this awful thing inside them to be controlled and denied, or alternately to only be let out for whatever they think is a sufficiently righteous cause, and instead sit in an increasingly toxic stew of simmering resentment and conflict avoidance until they begin to think this is not just normal but aspirational - anything but that awful beast they call anger. It's not new in discussions of Keyleth, and it's not limited to her and Orym; I can point to nearly every single character who has had even the slightest of outbursts - even something as mild and controlled as Orym's whispered profanity or less - and I promise you there's been pearl-clutching for every single one of them.

Anyway, you make great points! One of the things that struck me about this episode and prompted my frustration and my post earlier today is that Imogen has changed. I think she's been mulling over Liliana since her appeals to her during the Key's activation were unsuccessful; she hesitantly told Chetney when he asked in Uthodurn that yes, if Liliana's death is necessary, she understands; and I think seeing the utter devastation and pain that was inflicted on Keyleth brought it into focus. She was much more open to FCG and the coin as well. And, you know, if one had embraced Imogen's moral ambiguity in the leadup to the solstice, and the possibility that she could betray the party, instead of shouting that down? Then one could see this as a beautiful moment of growth for Imogen. One could, in fact, if one was so inclined, attribute it to her new sense of ease thanks to her circlet, or even to her nascent romantic relationship. If one, of course, had wholeheartedly embraced Imogen's past moral ambiguity and the possibility of her betrayal.