#it sounds like melodrama 2

[andtosaturn]

NEW LORDE

[wolfofansbach]

BEING A LIST OF THE THIRTEEN GREATEST RIVERDALE LINES, ON THE OCCASION OF THAT SHOW'S TERMINATION

As our much loved/hated show comes to an end, I feel compelled to record, for posterity, the greatest thirteen pieces of dialogue to spring from the pens of RAS and his henchmen. It was, of course, originally a top ten list, but I simply could not exclude a few of these treasures. Without further ado: 

13. 

“I dropped out in the 4th grade, to sell drugs, to support my nana.” 

“That means you haven't known the triumphs and defeats, the epic highs and lows of high school football.” 

Spoken by: an inmate of Leopold and Loeb Juvenile Detention Center, and Archie Andrews. 

In: 3 x 2 

Yeah, okay, this one had to be on the list. It’s funny, I’ll admit. It’s a great example of the overwrought semi-sincere melodrama that helped make this show so special. It’s low on the list largely because The Normies got their hands on it, so every time I hear someone make a reference I get all “do not cite the deep magic to me, witch.” 

12. 

“No! No! What are we supposed to do now? I’m horny as heck!”

Spoken by: Archie Andrews 

In: 7 x 16

Season 7 is undeniably dreadful, and yet there are diamonds in the rough. The occasion is the failure of a projector, just as Archie and Reggie prepare to watch a pornographic film. The utter desperation with which KJ Apa delivers this line is exquisite. One is made to feel they are witnessing a genuine tragedy. 

11. 

“Tonight, they’re making an exception and debuting a cover of the song my parents claim they were listening to the night Jason and I were conceived.” 

Spoken by: Cheryl Blossom. 

In: 1 x 1 

Really a fantastic line. A wonderful encapsulation of the casual absurdity of Cheryl’s character, and a foretaste of the lunacy we would plumb in later episodes and seasons. 

10. 

“In case you haven’t noticed, I’m weird. I’m a weirdo. I don’t fit in and I don’t want to fit in. Have you ever seen me without this stupid hat on? That’s weird.” 

Spoken by: Jughead Jones

In: 1 x 10

A genuine classic. “High school football” before “high school football.” One is never entirely sure just how sincere the line is meant to be, both on a meta-level and in-universe. A perfect illumination of Jughead’s pretentiousness. It is made all the better by the occasional cuts to Lili Reinhard’s agonized face. 

9. 

“At the last dance, multiple students were murdered.” 

Spoken by: Principal Holden Honey. 

In: 4 x 2

Delivered as an explanation to Toni and Cheryl, as to why there would be no school dance this year. Principal Honey is in fact supremely rational in the cancellation of this dance. This being Riverdale, he is of course treated as an unreasonable tyrant. 

8. 

“Bro, I know all the secrets of this universe.” 

Spoken by: Archie Andrews (evil version)

In: 6 x 5 

Spoken as evil Archie reveals his evil plan to keep the parallel universes apart. KJ Apa’s delivery once again makes this line. He is comically sinister. Strangely, he sells it. 

7. 

“A Vughead kiss, right now, in the present might be precisely what it takes to save a future Bughead from imploding.” 

Spoken by: Jughead Jones. 

In: 2 x 14

One of those lines that both makes me laugh and makes me genuinely angry. This was a fairly early season, and this may have actually been the first line to get me asking, ‘did they genuinely write and deliver that?’ Extra points for use of the atrocious ‘Vughead’ portmanteau ship name rather than ‘Jeronica.’ 

6. 

“I’m the ultimate wild card. I am the daughter of The Black Hood. The nightmare from next door. I’m training with the FBI and I’m coming for you, you psycho bitch.” 

Spoken by: Betty Cooper

In: 4 x 14 

Just delicious. Another one of those lines that leaves you somewhat unsure whether or not the writers understood how genuinely hysterical it was. “The Nightmare from Next Door” sounds like an announcer hyping up a wrestler. Spoken with a raw sincerity by Lili Reinhart. Also points for the heavy homoeroticism between Betty and Donna. 

5. 

“For I am Cheryl Blossom, Queen of the Bees.” 

Spoken by: Cheryl Blossom.

In: 5 x 16. 

This one really doesn’t require any elaboration. 

4. 

“Elijah ascended…and I will, too.” 

Spoken by: Edgar Evernever.

In: 4 x 5. 

Admittedly, this one is only spectacular with context. But in context—the context being that Chad Michael Murray delivers this line while dressed like Evel Knievel and standing in a cartoon rocket right out of a Warner Bros cartoon—it becomes utterly magnificent. 

3. 

“It’s not queer baiting, it’s saving the world.” 

Spoken by: Veronica Lodge. 

In: 6 x 22. 

It’s actually hard for me to decide whether this one is funnier with or without context. Without context it’s wonderful, but it possibly becomes even funnier when you know that the context is that Veronica needs to kiss Cheryl to transfer superpowers into her body so she can turn into a Scarlet Witch knock-off and stop a magic comet summoned by Sephiroth an English wizard who is also the Devil. 

2. 

“If there’s no wedding reception, it means the Gargoyle King has won.” 

Spoken by: Kevin Keller. 

In: 3 x 12.

One of my personal favorites. This is a perfect line because like #3, it requires no real elaboration. There is absolutely no context in which it isn’t hysterical. 

1 .

“Word of my exploits serving Nick his comeuppance has seeped into the demimonde of mobsters and molls my father used to associate with, so the five families are sending their youngest and brightest, their ‘princes,’ as it were to, well, come court the rare Mafia Princess who can belly up to the bar with the big boys.

Spoken by: Veronica Lodge. 

In: 2 x 20. 

This is, in my opinion, the all-timer. Every word is perfect. The rapid-fire alliteration. The use of the word ‘demimonde.’ The entirely unnecessary addition of ‘as it were.’ This is borderline Dr. Seuss. The fact that Camila Mendes delivered it without cracking a smile should have won her an Emmy. No. An Oscar. This line is Riverdale. 

[hotvintagepoll]

Propaganda

Eleanor Parker (Scaramouche, The Sound of Music)— Eulogized as a ravishing beauty whose looks were merely ornamental to her craft, feast your eyes on Eleanor Parker. Listen! I know you're thinking of the Baroness in Sound of Music and saying NO I won't protect the woman who tried to steal him from Maria but forget about that (like you personally wouldn't shoot your shot with Plummer)! The trailer for Scaramouche describes her character Lenore as "The glamourous queen of the nightlife of Paris. A flame-haired wildcat" and this is a woman who was able to pull off that role, and you get the vibe she was like that irl too. There's a story about her changing hair colors that never fails to make me laugh. Take note of her stunning eyes! Her amazing legs! And to see her in motion is to make note of the aura about her, she has an amazing presence. Fall in love with Eleanor Parker today, and make your vote count!

Audrey Hepburn (My Fair Lady, Sabrina, Roman Holiday)—Growing up, Audrey Hepburn desperately wanting to be a professional ballerina, but she was starved during WWII and couldn't pursue her dream due to the effects of malnourishment. After she was cast in Roman Holiday, she skyrocketed to fame, and appeared in classics like My Fair Lady and Breakfast at Tiffany's. She's gorgeous, and mixes humor and class in all of her performances. After the majority of her acting career came to close, she became a UNICEF ambassador.

This is round 3 of the tournament. (yes I know it says round 2 in the poll. sometimes I post these when I’m sleepy.) All other polls in this bracket can be found here. Please reblog with further support of your beloved hot sexy vintage woman.

[additional propaganda submitted under the cut.]

Eleanor Parker:

“When I’m spotted somewhere, it means that my characterizations haven’t covered up Eleanor Parker the person. I prefer it the other way around.” So shy she was actively nervous about winning awards in person, her personal life remains mostly behind the scenes. But on screen? she was a force majeure. It's a shame the role most people remember her in is the Baroness in The Sound of Music, but then again, it did make Christopher Plummer reminisce upon her passing “I was sure she was enchanted and would live forever.”

Listen we all know Christopher Plummer and Julie Andrews had insane chemistry but the Baroness deserves some love too! She has such a glamorous presence but not in a hard way

She will be known as the fabulous baroness in TSOM, but she was so much more than that. Just as comfortable in westerns or melodrama, the scheming other woman, and the beauty that wins the heart of every man in town.

Audrey Hepburn propaganda:

"She may be a wispy, thin little thing, but when you see that girl, you know you're really in the presence of something. In that league there's only ever been Garbo, and the other Hepburn, and maybe Bergman. It's a rare quality, but boy, do you know when you've found it." - Billy Wilder

Raised money for the resistance in nazi occupied Hungary. Became a humanitarian after retiring. Two very sexy things to do!

where to begin......... i wont her so bad. i literally dont know what to say.

My dude. The big doe eyes, the cheekbones, the voice. The flawless way she carried herself. She was never in a movie where she wasn't drop dead gorgeous. Oh, also the fact she raised funds against the Nazis doing BALLET and she won the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her humanitarian work.

"It’s as if she dropped out of the sky into the ’50s, half wood-nymph, half princess, and then disappeared in her golden coach, wearing her glass slippers and leaving no footprints." - Molly Haskell

"All I want for Christmas is to make another movie with Audrey Hepburn." - Cary Grant

64.media.tumblr.com

I know people nowadays are probably sick of seeing her with all the beauty and fashion merch around that depicts her and/or Marilyn Monroe but she is considered a classic Hollywood beauty for a reason. Ironically in her day she was more of the alternative beauty when compared to many of her contemporaries. She always came off with such elegance and grace, and she was so charming. Apparently she was a delight to work with considering how many of her co-stars had wonderful things to say about her. Outside of her beauty and acting ability she was immensely kind. She helped raise funds for the Dutch resistance during WWII by putting on underground dance performances as well as volunteering at hospitals and other small things to help the resistance. During her Hollywood career and later years she worked with UNICEF a lot. Just an all around beautiful person both inside and out.

No one could wear clothes in this era like she could. She was every major designer's favorite star and as such her films are time capsules of high fashion at the time. But beyond that, she had such an elegance in her screen presence that belied a broad range of ability. From a naive princess, to a confused widow, to a loving and mischievous daughter, she could play it all.

Look at that woman's neck. Don't you want to bite it?

[venusgirltarot]

What Would An Album About You Sound Like?

Disclaimer: This reading is for entertainment purposes only. Tarot readings are about possibilities based on your current energy. Energy is forever changing and nothing is set in stone. Always remember, you have your own free will to make whatever decision you feel is best.

Close your eyes, take a deep breath, envision the person you are thinking of and then choose the pile(s) you feel most drawn to.

Pile One

Ahhh okay this is so cute. Im going to try to explain this as best as I can, Pile 1. So this seems like a concept album. The idea of the album (not the sound but idea ya know) reminds me of “Melodrama” by Lorde. I’ll leave a quote here for a better description but it’s like a concept album about a single night

“Melodrama is described as a loose concept album that explores the theme of solitude, in the framework of a single house party with the events and moods that entail it”

The album about you is similar in the sense that it’s a “loose concept album” but it’s about the writer seeing you. It’s like you’re at this party that the songwriter is also at and they’re obsessed from the moment they lay eyes on you. You’re like this beautiful unobtainable being to them and they want to get to know you so bad but they just can’t seem to talk to you. This could also progress to a one night stand that never progresses to more because of a lack of communication to this album is going through the writer meeting you and watching you throughout the night and then goes into their regrets and what they wish they would have said to you the next day, if that makes sense.

They see you at a party and think you’re so beautiful but can’t seem to find the words to tell you that. I keep hearing “I like the way my bedsheets look on your body” from “hello!” By role model. (I believe that’s the right song but lmk if it’s wrong so I can fix it!) and I keep being reminded of this musician on TikTok “Chappell Roan” and their song “Red Wine Supernova” I think that’s similar to what this album would sound like and it also fits the aesthetic. I highly recommend you listen to this song because it fits your album so perfectly. I tried to find a lyric that resonates the best to include but they all work so well that I couldn’t choose.

Despite this entire album being about only you and just one night leading into the next morning, it’s still so diverse (I hope that makes sense) like you’d think there’s only so many songs you could write about a 12ish hour time frame and one person but this writer has endless things to say about you and the night you met them. I could see one song having a feature and it’s later in the album somewhere between tracks 7-12 or so. The aesthetic of the album is very neon lights, the dance floor on prom night after everything has died down and people are starting to go home, slow, melodramatic and just really pretty. Again, I highly recommend you check out “Red Wine Supernova” because it fits so well.

Track list:

1. Pretty

2. Blooming

3. missing you

4. Shinning Eyes

5. Dying Slow

6. Party Streamers

7. Old Fashioned (Feat. Another Artist)

8. Starlight

9. Nova’s Surprise

10. Sunset

11. morning after

12. You

Pile Two

Pile two, your album sounds like one written by Hozier, Noah Kahan or The Lumineers. It reminds me a lot of “Angela” by The Lumineers. Specifically the lyric “Angela, spent your whole life running away” and “vacancy, hotel room, lost in me, lost in you” it also reminds me of Ethel Cain in the sense that it’s a concept album about running away and starting a new life (but not as dark as ethel’s and with a much better outcome than she got. I heard “success story” it’s about leaving behind a difficult past and moving forward. There’s hope for the future in these songs, remembrance of the past and healing trauma. It’s a beautiful album with a good balance of different emotions. I could see this album coming with a short film or a series of music videos that piece together to tell a store. Similar to “III” by the Lumineers.

I keep hearing a few snippets from the deluxe version of “Stick Season” (that will be out June 9th 👀) like “Medicate meditate swear your soul to Jesus / Throw a punch fall in love give yourself a reason” or “we ain’t angry at you love, you’re the greatest thing we’ve lost” it’s such a beautiful album with so much soul and emotion.

I could see this album getting an acoustic live version that artists do sometimes like “Album, live from Wherever” you know? This album has very unique and catchy lyrics that stick with people, the type of lyrics people take and sell on things in their Etsy shop or use as a quote in their yearbook or put in their instagram bio. It almost feels like poetry. I also heard “escapism” this is the type of music that paints a picture and takes you somewhere else. This album will kind of chronologically tell a story about you moving forward and healing from trauma and finding a peaceful ending. Ending with a song like “Angelia”

Track list

1. movement

2. Adelaide’s Interlude

3. mother

4. farmhouse

5. leave me behind

6. baby blue

7. mustang

8. you’re gonna go far

9. more than this

10. peace

11. at your own pace

12. growing pains

13. at last

Pile Three

I feel like this album has a soft rock sort of sound? Like hozier with a rockier edge if that makes sense? It reminds me of the way hozier sings about love. He sings about a very deep and impactful love and his writing his like poetry and I think that’s what an album about you would sound like. I think this album could be about the writer/musician fighting feelings for you because they’re focused on career or are just concerned about the outcome of the relationship. They might have a fear of falling or something.

However, the last card I pulled was the 10 of cups so the outcome is very good. I feel like this album is coming from a reflective place like this is after yourself and your spouse have settled down and had kids or pets or whatever you would like and your partner is looking back at your relationship from the very beginning up until now and writing about it.

I keep hearing “I’m in love with an emo girl” I don’t think this is what the album will sound like but maybe that’s your aesthetic/vibe? This might just be conformation for you. I also keep hearing that Shania Twain song “you’re still the one” this is the kind of album that fans would dissect like narrow down the time you met your person and talk about every lyric and how that lyric relates to you and your relationship etc. this album talks about how devoted and in love with you your person is but also talks about the (I heard “trials and tribulations”) it took for you two to get there so it may include religious reference. Like religion by Lana Del Rey or Don’t Blame Me by Taylor Swift where there’s this slight aspect of religion/devotion to your partner.

You hear a lot about how you have to actively choose your partner everyday to make a long term relationship work and this album would definitely delve into that a little. It could also be produced by you and your partner’s mutual friends or people who have been there since the beginning or very early in in your relationship. I think this would be a longer album and there’s definitely 18+ songs on there 👀

Track list

1. October

2. Cosmic

3. Full Moon

4. Bourbon Street

5. She’s All Over Me

6. Starla

7. The Empress

8. Diamond Eyes

9. Find More of Me

10. Dreamscape

11. Escapades

12. Midnight

13. You’re All I Need

14. Mirror

15. Apartment 32

16. Deep End

17. Eternity

[vivalarevolution]

𝓗𝓸𝔀 𝔀𝓮 𝓴𝓲𝓼𝓼 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓴𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓮𝓪𝓬𝓱 𝓸𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻

Jake Sully x Avatar Reader

Request: „Hiii can I request part 2 of melodrama? Maybe when Jake and reader leave their avatars and are as humans after they mate?‟

A/N: Part two to of Melodrama , requested by anon. I'm very pleased that first part was so loved by others and I am hoping that this one gonna get all the love it deserve as well. 

English is not my native tongue so mistakes may happen. Also work contains slight smut , minors do not interact.

Part 1

Even with her eyes closed, she could feel the light on her. And unfortunately, it was not natural light from Pandora, but lamps from the unit in which they stayed.

Dissatisfied, she opened her eyes slowly, closing them almost immediately as the brightness hurt her delicate pupils.

-Don't pretend, I know you're with us - Grace said right next to the young woman's ear.

-A man can dream - she murmured softly, wiping her face from fatigue - Why did I come back? - she asked, sitting down slowly.

-Why didn't you come back, that's a better question - the doctor pointed out - You're coming back for the night, remember?

-I remember - she replied, looking at Augustine.

-What took you so long? - she wondered - Jake didn't want to tell me, so maybe I'll find answer from you.

Y/n put her head down. Of course he didn't told them. Maybe it was good in the end, maybe it was better to keep what they did a secret, even if it hurt her heart.

-We finally became part of the clan - she began, trying to modulate her voice to sound confident - Omaticaya threw a party because of it. It's very likely that we both went too crazy, that's all - she lied smoothly, not stuttering for a second.

-You're hiding something from me - replied the older woman bluntly - But I'll ask you more thoroughly later, first you have to eat.

-Okay mom - Y/n whispered sarcastically, standing up.

-Well, someone has to be if you forget you have another body - she announced with her arms folded - This one needs to be taken care of too.

She didn't answer, walking past her to get to the table where the food was and the source of her temporary problems was sitting. As she approached, she looked back for a moment. The rest of their crew was asleep, and only then did the woman realize that it was nearly five in the morning. Jake and Y/n were the only people up now because Grace was already on her bed after making sure they got up and ate like they should have done hours ago.

-Hi there marine - she said softly, tentatively kissing his cheek, which was rough with a day's beard.

Sully looked up at her. She was as exhausted as he was, but she still didn't shy away from the tenderness in her voice and the gentleness in her eyes. He smiled noticing it.

-Hi - he replied, following her movements.

Y/n seeing how his eyes wandered unpunished to the lower parts of her body, she grabbed his chin, lifting it quickly up. Placing one of her hands on her hip, she frowned and tilted her head, looking meaningfully at him.

-My eyes are up here - she remarked, and the man smiled sheepishly.

-Sorry, I got distracted - he announced, and the young woman only muttered something under her breath before her thumb began to run over his cheek.

-You need to shave that facial hear or you'll look like a sasquatch - she said suddenly - I prefer the second version, I'm used to smooth skin.

-I fell offended - he said, but she just gave him a malicious look, the same one he'd seen a few hours ago.

Jake watched as she moved around the small room with the same grace as in the body of her avatar. Her hair was much shorter and her hips wider, but that didn't stop him from fantasizing, even though he'd been scolded for it a few minutes ago. Only when she again turned back to him did he give her an innocent look.

He waited for a biting remark from her but surprisingly it didn't come, which caused him to frown in consternation.

-I'll sit on your lap - she said, though it sounded like a question mixed with an announcement.

-Is that a question or a statement? - the man asked.

-Both - she whispered, carefully sitting down.

Sully studied her carefully. The way she was looking for things in the cosmetic bag, the way she was grabbing the food she was eating with her free hand, the way she watched him out of the corner of her eye, making sure he was comfortable enough, even though she was the one who was tense.

-You don't have to worry about them - he started and she stopped any activities - You used to not care about them - he remarked, remembering that it was the first aspect that attracted him to her so much.

-I don't ... - she started but after a moment she sighed, letting her hands limply fall between her hips - Now it's different - she said uncertainly.

-Why? - he asked - Two days ago you were bragging about how you would finally win a race with someone - he noticed, trying to cheer her up.

-Now I care - she confessed, finally looking at him.

-It doesn't change anything - he replied, leaning back in the seat.

-This changes everything - she announced, frowning in irritation, one of the habits she carried with her everywhere.

Suddenly, Jake pulled her to him, connecting their lips in a slow kiss. Y/n, not expecting that, moaned softly and quickly grabbed his arms, indulging in the caress.

-I would be grateful if a woman who used sarcasm as her everyday language and does not shy away from jokes and laughter returned to me - he said after a moment, taking her cheek in his hand.

-And I would like a blue giant with a smooth face, not everyone can have what they want, marine - she bit back with a hum of irony, placing her forehead on his torso.

-Soon - he announced, stroking her back, which was half exposed through the woman's short shirt.

The feeling of cold hands on her waist made goosebumps appear on her skin, but she still accepted the brunette's touch with great desire, wanting only more and more. That's why she didn't like it when he pulled away from her, and there was a shadow of doubt in his eyes, a shadow of tearing.

-Oh God...- the woman whispered almost inaudibly - You regret it - she added and before Jake could explain himself, she got up, running away from him.

At first he wanted to scream to stop her, even though the room was so small that Y/n had nowhere to really run away, but he stopped with a heavy heart watching as she lay down on the bed, hiding under the blanket.

Rubbing his face, he began to think hard. Quaritch's words suddenly became louder than ever, overwhelming and irritating even more as his eyes stared at the woman who had stolen his heart.

He found himself between a rock and a hard place, and whichever path he chose, each of them had serious consequences.

Even though her eyes were closed, her mind had been working for a long time.

She could feel wet grass under her fingertips, and feeling of warmth  on her back that radiated from the avatar lying behind her, wrapping her body like ivy. She wondered whether to get up and disappear before he woke up or wait and look into his eyes, throw away everything she held in her heart.

But before she made a fully satisfying decision, the man behind her began to move, catching her in an even tighter embrace, burying his face in the crook of her neck.

-I know you're awake, Y/n. You got in earlier than me - he said.

-Brave of you not being afraid that I'll cut you after what I discovered - she noted angrily, and her tail involuntarily began to move quickly back and forth between their bodies.

-You didn't let me explain - he remarked, propping himself up on his hand so he could look at her.

-Your eyes were enough - she stated, trying to get up, but Jake's strong hand made it impossible.

Sully pinned her to the ground, his hands grabbing her wrists but Y/n quickly wrapped her legs around his waist, turning both of them so she was now sitting on his pelvis, however she still couldn't moved her arms.

-It's not because of you! - he said firmly, shifting his position efficiently to have any advantage even if it was only height - My inner struggle is not caused by what is between us.

-Then why don't you tell me? Why don't you tell me what's bothering you? - she asked angrily, flattening her ears - I'm not worth it knowing your secrets?

- You are worth it, you are more than worth it ,that's why I don't want to tell you because I'm not sure that I won't lose you - he replied looking into her yellow irises - I love you, you stubborn woman and I'm not going to let you out of my reach , not now not never.

-You love me? - she whispered, suddenly forgetting their sharp exchange.

She just hadn't heard this words in so long.

-Of course, everything that was and is between us. It's all real - he assured, connecting their foreheads - I just want to protect you, make sure you are safe - he added in a whisper.

-What have you gotten yourself into, Jake? - the woman asked in a motherly voice, catching his face in her hands.

The avatar didn't respond, kissing her soft lips, needing to be intoxicated by them once more. His hands traced a path through Y/n's body to her braid, which became his main focus. Their second connection was just as intense and erotic as the first. Just as overwhelming and insufficient at the same time.

Young woman wanted to think rationally, to dig to the root of the matter, but her mind was clouded by lust that was too tempting not to give in.

-Jake - she choked out, but he silenced her with one of many kisses.

-Let me apologize, okay? - he murmured in a low tone of voice, sliding down to her neck where there were livid marks from their last intercourse - And what better way than to worship the woman you love?

At these words, Y/n shivered, not knowing if she hated or loved how her body reacted to Sully's hoarse voice and his big warm hands, covering parts of her skin so perfectly.

When the new road of wet kisses ended in a place familiar to him, the golden eyes of the man found those belonging to his mate, whose pupils were already dilated, ears slightly placed, and the tail was wagging slowly rubbing against his shoulder from time to time. His lips involuntarily approached her womanhood hidden behind long but thin material, while his tongue started tasted her sweet juices.

A grunt and then a growl. That was the last warning before Jake caught her in an iron grip, feasting between her legs like a hungry animal ready to devour her at any moment. But the woman secretly enjoyed it, the feeling of being adored was welcome, even if it sounded selfish.

Her fingers involuntarily found their place in his hair, pulling them like reins as her bottom hung up in the position in which the avatar had placed her.

Every lick, every suck, every kiss drove her into sheer madness, and she decided not to keep it to herself only.

-Jake! So close , please! - she moaned, arching her back.

In response, the man thrust his tongue into her tight, wet canal, and it caused her to collapse like a fragile ancient temple, the temple where Sully held his prayers.

-So perfect, so perfect for me - he purred as he kissed every inch of her face - I'm gonna go inside now, yeah? Be good and open your legs wide.

The woman complied without hesitation, whimpering as his heavy member rubbed against her sensitive labia before he entered her, agonyally slowly, filling her to the brim.

-Jake - she moaned, hugging his neck tightly, clinging to his body like a second skin.

-I love you - he whispered into her ear - I love you, I love you.

-I love you - she repeated alternately with him, so quickly drunk by the erotic sensation - Forever yours.

-Forever mine - he replied, slowing his movements to look into the eyes of his beloved.

They stared at each other, two pairs of eyes as bright as the sun or liquid gold, absorbing both completely in their claws.

-Please - Y/n whispered on the verge of tears.

-I'll give you everything you want - he assured, unexpectedly accelerating his movements that they became almost brutal, bestial.

The climax hit both of them quickly and hard. The effect was so strong that it almost took their breaths away, and stars appeared before their eyes. Everything felt new and familiar at the same time.

And it was no secret that they both loved it. It was their escape, their paradise on earth, their own heaven. But for how long?

[granolawriting]

"Do you have a boyfriend?" •°. *࿐

pairing: no breakout! Cowboy costume!Joel x fem reader

Summary: Your best friend holds a halloween party at her house, where the often brooding Joel you often disregard adorns a new attire that sparks something in you. And he makes it clear he feels the same.

Content warning: 18+ NSFW, age gap (college senior and 50 year old), grey hairs so hes about that old, picture part 2 joel cause he’s the sexiest, porn with lots of plot, p in v, creampie, HEAVY praise, you guys are wearing matching costumes on accident, he fucks you IN costume if you're wondering, nice aftercare, pet names (darling, sweetheart, doll), southern hospitality misconstrued for shyness, sarah is your best friend

word count: 7.4k (holy shit)

masterlist

A/N: christ almighty. This took me all day. it has clouded my mind, overtaken my senses. finishing the final lines of this fic made me feel raw, completly finished. I have never written a fic this long in my entire life I'll be so honest. Anyways, I've been delving so deep into pedro stuff recently that reignighting the Joel adgenda made me quiver at night thinking about it. ANYWAYS. THANK YOU FOR 200 FOLLOWERS!!!! confetti thrown everywehere.

and in other news, I hope u enjoy the 4th installment of my kinktober list, I'll see you all again on the 20th with some bondage!Joel.... Make sure if you like my work to check out my requests/comissions or my ko-fi!!!

P.S. The title was made with scream in mind but since I changed up him from wearing a mask to a cowboy because christ how could I not I decided to just keep it as is.

Monotonous noise of worn out wheels against tired linoleum floors squeak softly at the turns of your cart against the rows of aisles that comprised the small store. Dimly lit bulbs illuminated the rows of supplies— plates upon masks upon streamers of different colors and themes overtake your senses as the whole display seems ostentatious and unflattering to you. 

“How's this for a Halloween costume?” 

A wolf mask hides the face of an otherwise non-furry Sarah Miller. Who seemed to not share the same sentiment as you regarding distaste for the design. 

“I don't know, how are you going to drink if you have a mask on your face?” 

“Straws exist.” 

“I'm not convinced” 

She takes it off with melodrama, sullen disdain for your lack of halloween spirit as you push the cart further down the aisle. 

A soft squeak of tires indicates a stop in your steps as you stand before a wall of costumes— what you needed more than anything to hold an answer for you. 

Eyes tracing up and down the rows floor to ceiling coated with cheaply made, scantily clad costumes makes your vision blur. Until it lands on a single item; one that stood out to you above all else. 

“A cowgirl?” 

Sarah sounds unimpressed. Eyeing the plastic wrapped costume labeled “ride my rodeo” with a model on the front wearing small red and white plaid tied to her front, small jean shorts cut at most with an inch’s inseam, and a cowboy hat— sold separately. 

“It's the best I've got. It's either this, or I repeat last year’s costume.” 

“You are not dressing up as Adam Sandler to my party.” 

You put the bag in the cart. 

Ever since moving to college, your career as a party-goer has been less than prolific, as a freshman assuming that time away from home was means to let yourself go, slowly turned into a reluctant senior year where parties were oftentimes the last thing you wanted to do on a given day. However, as Sarah lived in the area, she at the very least dragged you to her neighborhood functions. Which, was marginally better than what any Greek life could pull together. And as your car pulls into the empty spot within the miller’s lot, you become privy as to why; because you always had to help put it together. 

As smooth concrete lays beneath your car while you park, the truck parked beside you was none other than Joel Millers— Sarah's bachelor dad. 

Bachelor was an overstatement, a compliment that wasn't quite applicable to him. He wasn't looking for love, a bachelor without a cause, he was purposefully distant. A brood coated his face from eyes to lips that only ever contorted to something positive in the sight of his daughter. A contractor seemingly married to his work he had no means to find love. A part of you wonders when the last time he even had anyone was, romantically or sexually. Or even how he got ahold of one to make Sarah happen in the first place. You could never picture Joel as someone sexually active, if Sarah told you she was immaculately conceived you would have believed her. 

The click of boots against concrete greets the Millers doorstep as your cowgirl boots are adorned, the rest of your uncomfortable costume shoved in a bag across your shoulder as means to at least dress the house in comfort before having to walk around in costume for hours on end. 

Walking directly in you’re faced with a Mr. Miller, with a similar idea. He wore nothing at all, costume-wise. Something that you wish you could have done, as every year he seems to escape the wrath of Sarah’s demands regarding spirit, to be met with the regular weathered jeans and loose long sleeves. Standing tall upon a stepladder was he already being put to work however, thick fingers pushing small thumbtacks into the open space of his home, orange and black streamers littering the front room as he works. 

His head turns to you at the sound of his door being opened and shut, 

“Well, what’re you supposed ta’ be?” 

His eyes size you up and down, southern drawl brings sound to the quiet of the room, only otherwise broken by soft halloween music traveling its way downstairs from Sarah’s bedroom. If there was one attractive thing about him, it was his accent. The way he would slur his words together, the charming yet teasing air to everything he says. Having moved to Austin 4 years ago you would’ve thought you’d have grown used to it by now, and you have, besides Joel. The age that honeyed his voice like old whisky was unprecedented, and never paralleled by any other man you’d yet to mean in your time there. 

“Haven’t put it on yet Mr. Miller. But I can see that your costume is quite the classic.” 

“Oh quit it. Now, Sarah asks that you go upstairs when ya’ came in. Bosses orders.” 

You give a stern look to him and nod as though you were to be sent on the front lines, and he only gives a small chuckle before returning to his work. 

“Oh my god you’re finally here. Look—” 

She opens the door in hurried fashion, and quickly centers herself in the middle of the room to do a spin for you. A small gust of wind as she twirled letting her skirt float as she moved to reveal her outfit. Bells and jingles fill the room at the movement of her body. 

“Does it look too corny? Can you tell who I am?” 

Looking her up and down, large bundles of curly hair hiding a stuffed serpent around her neck as a green top wraps around the back of it, paired with loose bells and metal pieces adorning a small blue skirt with layers of tulle, it was quite obvious who she was meant to be if you were born prior to 2006. 

“Britney spears. And you look perfect, but don't you think it’s a little early to try on your costume?” 

Her eyes pierce you with only the gaze of a woman who thought you clearly misunderstood what was going on. 

“The party is in 2 hours. I've yet to even do my makeup, or take photos before I get wasted. Time is of the essence. Here, put your costume on and help get ready with me.” 

Sarah, despite being in the same grade as you, was marginally less mature. Mostly driven by her intelligence boosting her into higher grades when she was younger, she was around 2 years younger than you despite graduating the same year as you. And despite her efforts sometimes her stress levels were purely driven by the fact she was barely 21. Still obsessed and enamored with arguably, menial things. Though through her age, you always attempted to discern her fathers. With grey growing into the roots of his head, speckling his beard as it traced the lines of his jaw, you had ventured to guess he was around 50. 

…

Ding Dong 

“Oh fuck oh fuck oh—” 

“It's okay Sarah, I'll get it.”

Feet scrambling up and out of her bedroom, you quickly find your way to the front door as the clock shone at 7:30, cursing the people who find joy in showing up so early to what is not a dinner party. Dressed in your cowgirl costume do you answer the door, expecting either trick or treaters or an older neighbor, does someone entirely different greet you as it opens. 

Joel towers before you within the doorway. He no longer wore the loose fitting shirts and jeans omnipresent on his person, moreover it was swapped for a much more form fitting attire. A cowboy hat for starters, sat upon his head of hair, usually messy and combed back did it now fall in front of his face, sculpting his jaw as it fell to the sides of chocolate eyes. Strands peppered his face as you took him in, a worn cowboy hat that complimented the tan of his skin, equally as sun bleached did it seem almost natural for him to adorn it. Followed by a small toothpick sticking from his lips, did it draw focus to the pink of them, shaped and contrasted by the peppered beard freshly trimmed, longer pieces of hair falling over his top lip to establish a thicker mustache that became the centerpiece of his look. As your eyes trailed down the rest of his body, you’re met with a form fitting tan tuscan button up as his underlayer, slightly unbuttoned at the top to reveal his chest lines do you notice fabric rolled to his elbows to reveal thick hairy forearms that held muscle visible unflexed. Trailing up to see the definition of bicep within the confines of cotton fabric almost bursting at the muscle he carried, only to be met with an overlayer of a dark brown vest seemingly made of corduroy or something similar, tightly buttoned around his waist to accentuate it's contrast to the broadness of his shoulders. The pants worn in tandem with the outfit were a chocolate brown, thick leather-like material clung to his quads as they tapered at the ends of his calves, square toed cowboy boots finding home beneath the heavy fabric of his pants. Around his waist was there a detailed belt, a worn leather belt held up the tie of his pants, and to his hip was a holster, housing a small toy gun that fell to his side as his hip stayed slightly cocked at the entrance. His thumb looped in the side of his pocket as he stood waiting at the front door. The scent of cologne fills your senses as it breeds with his natural scent to produce what was to you somewhat of an aphrodisiac. This was no longer the grumpy old man that wore clothes a size too large because he was too lazy to check the charts, no longer the father of your best friend— in this moment he was nothing but insatiably attractive. 

“Oh, Mr. Miller I— don't you have a key?” 

Only now do you notice the look he gave you. The equal look of awe as his eyes unabashedly trailed your body and it's curved. Much more revealing than him though equally as hidden from what he wanted. You watched as lips became slightly pursed, taking in the fit of your jeans and the curve of your hips, eyes falling for far too long upon your top and how it complimented you. 

He skips a beat. 

“Oh— uh, sorry kid. Though Sarah’d be comin’ down. Wanted to show her my outfit. S’ the last halloween we’re gonna have fer a while.” 

You feel yourself heat up, his eyes connecting with yours have a whole new meaning to it now. He seemed embarrassed, even, as his eyes darted from side to side, unable to connect with yours for more than a few seconds as he asked for his daughter. 

“She's still upstairs getting ready. Do you, do you want me to call her down?” 

“No, no that won’t be necessary. ‘Supose I’ll wait fer her inside.” 

It takes you a moment to register that as means for entry into his own house as you stood there agape in the center of the doorframe. Though quickly do you move your body to make room for him, as he dips his head to you in thanks before heavy boots hit the wooden floors of the downstairs in his entry. 

The tension that builds within the room is deafening as you both stand there in silence. Unable to remove yourself from his proximity does the air fill with feelings foreign and impure. 

“That’s a um, nice costume ya’ got there.” 

Joel breaks the silence with soft spoken words as he begins to pour a drink in the kitchen. Though not looking at you, the image of you within his mind pierced the darkest parts of his consciousness with glaring extremity as he felt himself grow hot in so many layers. 

“This? Oh, Sarah, she made me do it. But uh, I really like yours as well. It, it suits you well. And we’re matching, that's funny.” 

This was your poor attempt at flirting with a mind so foggy with memories completely turned on their head as your perception of Joel did that same. 

“WHO IS ITTTT!!!!!!!!!”

Sarah screams from the closed door of her upstairs bedroom. Clearly your time downstairs was limited before she began even more antics from the confines of her unkempt bedroom. 

He hands you a glass, amber liquid sloshes upon crackling ice fills up a quarter of the cylindrical glass. 

“Hope ya’ have fun t’night sweetheart. Make sure Sarah’s doin’ alright.” 

You flash him a shy smile as you take your drink to go, climbing the hardwood stairs leading to her bedroom as quickly as you can without spilling it. 

“Who was it? What took you so long! Is that whisky?” 

“Can you ask one question at a time?” 

“Well I already asked all of em so what's the point?”

“Just for future reference.” 

“Maybe. Well?” 

“your dad forgot his key, I helped him inside, he gave me a drink. Tis the story.” 

She looks you up and down as the recollection of her father instills newfound meekness at the mention of him. 

“Ok weirdo. Here, take candids.” 

…

Halloween music blares from speakers as the party comes to a head, the myriad of costumes all still holding creases from the cheap packaging they were purchased in become clustered together as the drinks you have begin to get to you. The smell of alcohol and pumpkin fill the room as a cacophony of laughter takes you out of a spell of staring thankfully focused on the floor and not upon unsuspecting persons. 

The only person who seemed to stand out amongst the crowds of duplicate costume and cheesy innuendos was a certain Mr. Miller— a prolific wallflower that only hosted these things as a means to keep Sarah close in situations like this. For if not here, she’d be somewhere else doing the same thing. 

Eyes scoured the home every few minutes, looking to catch a glimpse of Joel within his costume, politely smiling at guests through small talk or taking slow drinks of his flask. 

“Hey you!!!” 

You’re startled by the sound of Sarah's boom from across the room as she calls for you, a caramel hand stuck high in the air to signal you to her, drawing you out of the trance of Joel’s small movements. 

You walk to her with careful steps, trying not to step on capes or trailing costumes in the process. 

“What’s up with you! I’ve barely seen you at all tonight! I know you’re not a party girl anymore but please, try and live it up for me!” 

Something catches her eye as she speaks to you, her smiling face turning into an O with excitement; 

“And—” 

She points behind you. 

“I think that guy over there is checking you out. Go have fun! Let me hear all about it later!” 

Later. You forgot you’d promised to sleep over at her place too, rehashing the night's events as soon as they came to a close as you always did over the years. Though the first thing that comes to your mind is not the man behind you eyeing you, tacky tie-dye making up for a lackluster hippie costume, but Joel. the man who in fact owned the home you would be sleeping in, the man who kept eyeing you from the side of the room with a gaze you accepted much greater than the mans behind you, and above all, the man that had caught your heart in a way that led to it's seeping out between your thighs. 

God, what the fuck is wrong with me? This isn't right it's, it’s Sarah's dad. She’d be heartbroken to even know I think like this. 

You decide to throw away all the Clint Eastwood movies you stole from your dad and uninstall red dead redemption 2 when you got home, and blame your attraction solely on your overconsumption of cowboy media. You need a breather. 

There's a balcony, facing the back of the property that was off limits to the party guests. Entered only through Joel’s bedroom, anyone would be stupid to test their luck if getting caught within his personal dwellings. However, you were Sarah’s best friend. And was even shown this entryway by Sarah herself— of course when her father was not home. And so you decide with cautious steps to ascend the stairs of his home, the liquor giving way to uncertainty in every step as your eyes are glued to the placement of each foot upon the step one by one. Though as you reach the top with great pride, you venture into Joel’s room, to the left of the stairs as Sarah’s is farther to the right. 

You had never been in his room by yourself before, only for a brief moment with Sarah as she showed you one of her favorite spots in the house. It was secluded, of course looking over the backyard she lamented years past as a girl playing within the pool below. She was at the age where she wanted to be independent, but in no way could be yet; and for her that was about 10. And as means to give her her freedom but keep her close, he would watch from the confines of a balcony she paid no note to as the splashing of waves kept her occupied. And he doted on her from a distance. 

As you walk through his bedroom, walls covered in guitars and desk littered with wooden sculptures while a record shows to be finished upon his player. Sheets properly made upon his bed, and a sense of intimacy looking around at the things littered upon his shelves and tables. The framed photo of him and his daughter, his old watch he took off specifically for the occasion of dress. The distinct smell of him that enveloped your senses. 

Opening the door to the balcony does the feeling of cool air hitting a flustered face sober you everso slightly. Bracing yourself on the edges of the platform, you drift into a calm. The first time you’d felt that since the moment you opened the door for a cowboy Mr. Miller—  as you force yourself to call him in your mind. 

“Now what do you suppose yer doin’ in my room?” 

Your heart sinks. You knew you’d be fine, if caught, but the thing that sinks your heart is the uptick of your heartbeat and the twist in your stomach at the sight of familiar drawl sounding behind you. 

You hear heavy boots break the threshold of the doorway into where you stood as the sound of wood upon his feet changed to a scratch of concrete. 

He stands next to you, forearms pressed against the railing as his back curves along casual footing aside of you. The moonlight illuminates his face, the curve of his nose complimenting the side profile that gifted you sight at the tufts of hair poking out from the ends of his hat, and the proximity to him gave you the insight to the smell of whisky on his breath as he spoke.  

“Needed ta’ take a breather' myself. ‘Spose we had the same idea.” 

“Yeah, I guess so.” 

“Ya’ having a good time t’night kid?” 

“Oh yeah, I haven't seen all that much of Sarah though did you—” 

You stop as he shifts his body to turn to you. 

“Now, can I be honest with ya’?” 

As you turn to look at him, mirroring his stance he dwarfs you in the process, standing at around 6ft the broad of his shoulders shadowing your whole figure. 

You nod your head meekly. 

“I just— now, I don't know how ta’ say all this quite right. But, don't get me wrong darlin’, I’ve seen the way you’ve been lookin’ fer me all night. I don't know if ya’ think i'm blind or somethin, but i’ve seen ya’ all night, watchin me.” 

He pauses for a moment and within that silence does your heart shatter. The whole time you thought that he was eyeing you, looking you up and down, it was just a one sided coincidence that led you to this awkward conversation with a man twice your age. You start; 

“Oh listen I'm, I'm so sorry Mr. Miller I must have given the wrong impression or something I don't know i'm just so—” 

“Please, call me Joel. And don't hafta’ be so sorry sweetheart. Just callin’ it how I see it.” 

He pauses once more as he considers what he’s going to say next, a tinge of uncertainty covering his face as he decides how to follow up. 

“And I don't quite mind it, if that's what you’re worried ‘bout.” 

The tense of your muscles releases as he continues. 

“Just, wanted ta’ tell you you looked quite well yourself that’s all.” 

He’s holding back, you can tell by the sway of his legs as he goes on and the grip of his fingers upon the pocket of his pants. The way his gaze averted yours and his glancing upon the floor; for any look at you from your eyes to your body seemed to be hard for him to swallow with proper manners.

Your eyes lock in silence, the pale moonlight illuminating you two as the distance from Joel grows unconsciously closer as you take in his face, his body looming over yours and the prospect of their being more within his mind that he’s willing to give you. The southern hospitality still overshadows his true means. 

Rough fingers graze your face, tucking hair behind your ear as it falls in front of your face. And as he leans forward to do so, you lean in as well. Blinded by desire and complicated by liquor and closing the gap between the two of you. Tasting his lips reminiscent of whisky and the frosting of halloween cupcakes you feel him kiss you back for only a moment before shooting himself backwards. 

He almost trips over his own feet in adverse reaction, stumbling to the other side of the balcony as you watch him. 

“I'm—” 

“No darlin’ ya’ don't have to say anything. But I've probably got to get back down to company. Feel free to stay up here ‘s long as you want.” 

You watch as he rushes out of the room and the urge to chase after him grows weak as the taste lingers on your lips. The sense of defeat wells in your chest but not entirely, because for a moment he kissed back. A moment you felt him push forward on your lips and savor the flavor of them as you did for him. 

Later.

Now, a sleepover with Sarah is what you needed most. A sleepover with her, is a sleepover with Joel right across the way. And the mere feeling of that made your knees weaken with rushing dreams of him. 

The party seemed to drag on after that, only satiated by more drinks were you able to bear a night where you could feel him from across the room, sense his body and the heat that came with it. You felt naked for him, utterly exposed at the sight of his eyes trailing you— ones you could only hope followed you the way yours did for him whenever you noticed him with back turned. Drinking in every part of his body as he was none the wiser, finding joy and security within the turn from you as means to make him in for as long as you pleased. 

…

“Alright ma’am, seems ya’ need to be goin’ home, me ‘n Sarah got a lot of cleanin to do in the morning.” 

An outstretched arm grabs the bicep of a polite Joel, ushering out the final guest that had an affinity for his touch so it seemed. 

“Ohhh but darlin when will I see you in such a getup again? Oh i'd never want to leave.” 

“‘S a shame I’m about to take it off though ma’am. Now go walk home alright?” 

Her eyes hooded everstill she demands even more of him;

“Oh but will you take me? Don't think I trust myself in these conditions.” 

He closes his eyes and a heavy sigh leaves his nose. 

“‘Spose so ma’am— Sarah, I’ll be right back.” 

Her arm loops around his bicep as he leads her out of the house, jealousy overtaking you purely at the close proximity she had to him, for much longer than he ever had with you. 

Sarah turns to look at you as you stand a few feet back from the scene, a bemused look painted on your face unconsciously demanding explanation. 

“Oh- that was miss carey she uh, she’s had a thing for my dad for years now. It’s kind of funny if I'm being honest, given I didn't see her drink all night.” 

You let out a halfhearted laugh for a response, trying to deny the yearning within your stomach to feel Joel’s arm as she did, to touch him, fall over him. Just be close enough to smell him again, feel his warmth. It had felt like decades since the last feeling of him close to you. your body remembering calloused fingers grazing your heated cheek; contrasting with the cold tips that crept upon his hands as the air finally showed hints of the coming winter season. 

“Sorry to be a bother, but doya think you could start cleaning up? I’ve gotta get this costume off and shower before I vomit. Thanks!” 

As Sarah zips up the stairs all that’s left is you alone, standing within the living room of Joel Miller’s home. One where he could return any second. 

You decide to busy yourself with chores, cleaning up stray glasses and bottles littered across the house, fallen decorations and dessert trays now only holding wrappers and trash. It’s a hefty job, one that helps for a short while as the weight of hours prior looms over you with darring intent to seep deep within your mind, allowing visions of the taste of his tongue, the feel of his body pressed against you to consume you. What you would give to feel his nose clash against yours through sloppy kisses, lips puffy with desire as small nips and clashing of teeth is all that can fester in your mind as candy wrappers stuck to the floor fail to give enough distraction anymore to keep Joel off your mind. 

“Fuckin’ christ man I— oh.” 

You didn't even hear the door open, or the creak of boots as they settled into their first steps within the home. Only the sound of his voice did you perk up with your mind unable to shake your thoughts as you stand before him. Feet away with a small trash bag in your hand.

He continues. 

“Didn't know you’d still be here, my apologies.” 

“Oh yeah uh, Sarah didn't tell you I was spending the night?” 

“Spendin’ the night?” 

He repeats you, barely able to hide his shock. Clearly, she hadn't. And as you stand there, beginning to hear the water running for a shower she’s yet to even get into, the tension of the two of you grows immanent as he realizes just how alone he currently is with you. 

He didn't know what to do, feeling palms grow sweaty as his desire clashed with his sense of respect and responsibility as a father and his yearning grew too prominent to hide behind the unforgiving stretch of tightly fitted pants he busied himself once more. 

“Oh, right then. Well I ‘spose i’ll be in the kitchen if ya’ need me.” 

Walking past you with a heavy stride does the scent of him once more draw you to him— something primal, wanton is elicited from him when in close proximity. One that with a room now void of people to maneuver through, you refused to ignore any longer. You followed his quick steps into the kitchen, separating yourself even further from Sarah as the stairs fell into your purview as you ventured deeper into the home. 

You greet Joel at the counter of the kitchen where he stood, pouring another drink for himself does the hand gripping his drink suspend mid air at the sight of your trail behind him. 

“Ya’ need somethin’?” 

You don't know if it’s the liquor talking, or the suspense and tease of a night full of dreaming for a moment like this to arise but you don't allow yourself to beat around the bush anymore. If this old man failed to make a move, you would. 

“I do Joel, really— I think we both do.” 

He sets the glass down on the counter with a light chink filling the air. His demeanor changes; you watch as both hands lean forward on the counter to inch closer to you, arms outstretched flex his forearms to reveal muscles only garnered by heavy and hard working. His hip cocked to his left as he made unwavering eye contact with you, a smile forming slightly upon his face. 

“And what would that be darlin’?” 

He made you nervous. This was a first. The mild mannered gentleman that often stood before you, speaking only when necessary and smiling only when compelled to. You always shook him off, an old man not worth anything but a gracious thank you as he catered to you and his daughter when times came. But as you looked upon that man now, face shadowed by a cowboy hat perfectly curved at its edges lining his head, hairs falling in just the right places over the sides of his face, and the hooded eyes coated with lust you found yourself hard to speak. Hard to even think. 

“Well? Cmon’ now I ain't got all day.” 

He's taunting you. Watching you grow nervous under his gaze as you become the one that can't hold it anymore. 

“You, and me I mean. The way you look at me— I want you Joel. And so do you, right?” 

Without skipping a beat, Joel retorts

“So come closer then sweetheart. Can't do anything with ya’ so far away.” 

your heartbeat picks up again. Shaking steps inch around the bend of the countertop, until you’re no more than an inch away from him. Watching, as he looks down upon you. 

“Good girl— now, what’s this about wanting me hm?” 

“What?” 

“Oh don't play coy darlin’, I love hearin’ you tell me all about how much you need me. The look in those pretty little eyes.” 

A coarse finger falls upon your cheek once more, this time lingering there before toying with stray hairs. His fingers trail to your chin and jaw, gripping onto your face to lift it higher to lock dark eyes with his.

“Such a doll. I wanna hear ya’ beg for it.” 

You feel a pool of slick well between your thighs, heating and dampening already ruined underwear at the sight of him as the night went on. Though as you listened to the sink in his voice, demanding you to beg for him. You don't even know what you were so needy for, his kiss? That was too little. You wanted all of him, and as knees felt weak at the thought of it— him, and you completely at his disposal. He dwarfed you from this closeness, you realized this as you approached him. He overpowered you in every way, and that made it even harder to say what you wanted. Every semblance of confidence leaves your body as all you want to do now is whatever he demands, whatever he says. 

“Please Joel I— I need you. Every part of you. I can't take my eyes off of you. Every part of you looks so perfect no matter the angle or the lighting. Id, i’d never noticed it before but now I…” 

The gust of articulation you had quickly dwindled as his face lit up from such compliment, such desperation. You were desperate, needy for him. That much was true. And he knew that. 

“Mmm that's all ya’ had to say sweetheart.” 

Now he is the one that closes the gap between you, the yearning for his taste finally satiated as your lips collided once more, the fantasies of clashing of teeth against one another with impassioned touch as his hand falls from your face to trail bare stomach. Feeling the large of his hands take in every inch of you with precision, like he had memorized exactly where he wished to be. Feeling as his hands trace down to your hips, and slowly maneuvering up to the wire of your bra. 

“Take it off. Please.” 

You beg through breathy moans as you stay inside his mouth, taking into him as you refuse to open any gap of distance between the two of you. 

“Since ya’ asked so nicely.” 

His fingers trace the center of your chest where a simple tie kept together thin fabric that complimented your chest. Unraveling it's knot does he guide it off your arms and onto the floor, a free hand snaking to your back to unhook your bra, leaving you with nothing but the shorts you wore and the hat upon your head to constitute a costume. 

His mouth lets up from you to look down on your chest, his palms engulfing them as he kneeds them within his hands, letting the weight of them move with his fingers as he massages them. Fingers slowly trailed down to the mountain of your nipple, toying with them with two fingers as his eye flitted back up to you to watch your reaction. Sighing in relief, your eyes fluttering at the feeling of his cool touch against a body so overwhelmed with heat for him. 

He leans in to you, his lips pressing softly against your ear his voice no matter a whisper is still laced with lust creating deep tones otherwise foreign to you to emit from him as he speaks to you;

“God you don't know what you do to me darlin’.”  

“Then show me.” 

His hands make quick way to the back of your thighs, lifting you up to his hips where you can feel his bulge pressing into you, the thin material of your shorts leaving little room for imagination. 

Walking to the dining room adjacent to the kitchen, he sets you on a table that meets him at about hip level, lowering your back onto the wooden finish that often held dinners with the three of you now making way for just the two of you as you watch the buckle of his pants become the main spot of his attention. 

“Bet ya’ could feel what you’re doin’ to me sweetheart, you like that hm? Feelin’ my cock against you even for a fuckin second?” 

He talks down to you as he undresses his lower half, relieving himself to only his boxers as he now knelt down to face your heat, legs dangling off the edge of the table to uses that as means to slide your shorts off with ease, revealing the soaked underwear that gave you constant reminder of the eyes you held the whole night. 

“All this for me hm? Ain’t I lucky.” 

He lifts a finger to massage the outside of your heat, slowly pressing on the wet spots as he toys with you, making your breath hitch at the feeling of his touch, the sensitivity only growing overtime as you were denied for so long. 

Slowly he peels off your underwear, allowing your slick to trail down the side of your thigh as it leaves a trace when it hits the floor. The cool air hitting your clit makes you jolt, but Joel wasting no time allows himself to dig straight into you. Feeling his tongue explore every crevice of you, every place where you have leaked for him he wants to take in every drop of it. Tasting you was like heaven to him. As his lips were pressed against your heat as his tongue began to make a repeated circular motion along your clit.

your fingers beg for his hair, grasping it in desperate fingers do you confine him within the bars of your thighs as they squeeze against his head. 

“Mmng— god Joel it feels so nice please I-” 

He waited for you to speak before sticking a finger inside of you. Thick callused fingers grabbed at your core and pushed its way into your center, hooking at sponge from inside you right at the spot that felt best. No longer could you ever think he didn't know what he was doing, it’s as if he knew your own body in and out, and with the whines you have to bite back out of fear of it drowning out the shower's thud of water upon a clueless Sarah. 

“You like that sweetheart?” 

Joel groans into your pussy, he’s enjoying this just as much as you are. Hearing your stifled yelps and desperate moans over his tongue, his finger inside of you. 

“Y..yes please Joel I need more.” 

He slides in with a second finger, though lets up from your clit. Slick drips to his chin as he rises to face you, leaning over you as fingers still pump inside of you. 

“Never fuckin’ satisfied, is that it? Whaddya need darlin’ hm? How about ya’ use those words for me.” 

He made it hard for you to speak or even think as the steady grind of his fingers inside of you overtook your senses. But you obliged, trying through breathed heaves to try and relay what you desperately needed from him. 

“Fuck me. Please fuckme Joel I cant— ngh I cant fucking take it anymore.” 

“Good girl. Guess you’re in luck ‘cause I aint ever wanted to fuck someone this bad in my entire life. And I’m not gonna be gentle on ya’ alright? I know you can take it.” 

Slowly removing his fingers from you, he lifts them up to his own mouth to let him taste you one last time, slowly licking clean what was just knuckle deep within you. You watch as he slithers his boxers off, revealing what seemed to be impossible to fit inside of you. His cock was pulsating, almost red as it yearned to be touched, it yearned to be inside of you. You watch as beads of precum already coat its tip, and veins throb against the slight curve of him that twitches at the feeling of release. 

Inching towards you you feel his tip graze your core before pushing into your folds, covering himself with your slick does he push himself flush against you as you see how far his cock rides up onto your body. You see him smile at the sight of it lying on your stomach, predicting how deep it’ll push inside of you before he centers it once more at your entrance, slowly spreading you open as you feel a fire burn within your stomach at the initial pain of it. It felt as though he was ripping you apart slowly, legs instinctively closing did his hand grab onto your thighs to push them open.

His body flushes against yours with a deep groan, letting your walls warm his cock for a moment as he looks down on you. 

“You’ve got a pretty fuckin’ body ya’ know that? All done up fer me, feel so lucky finally gettin’ to do this.” 

He begins inching in and out of you with slow pace, your body moving with every stroke of his cock around you as you fell hopelessly obsessed with the feeling of him inside of you. 

“Been wantin’ to do this all night— imagining what ya’ looked like under that pretty little costume of yours. Fuck, woulda fucked you right on that balcony if I could’ve. Nngh—” 

His thrusts in you grow faster as he speaks to you, talking you through the whole thing makes you only look at him with wide eyes, desperately needing his cock and drinking in the southern drawl that detailed how he felt the exact same. 

“Body’s fuckin’ perfect. Pretty little pussy all fer me, yaknow that? Right now you’re all fuckin’ mine hm? Ain't that right doll?” 

“Yes, yes Joel— all for you nngh. My body is all yours please, please don't stop.” 

His finger trails down from your thigh to your clit, throbbing with pain at the need to be touched does he satiate it with a thumb beginning to circle where his tongue did moments prior. 

“Fuckkk please oh my god” 

your breath grows irregular as the fire burning in your stomach grows white hot, unable to utter anything coherent as babbling of desperate please escape your mouth as your body becomes addicted to his every touch. The push of his cock directly against your cervix, the circle of his thumb perfectly against your heat, you felt it bubble inside you. Nearing on toppling over all you can think of, unconsciously chanting as he fucks into you Joel Joel Joel Joel 

“Ya’ gonna fuckin’ come for me? Cmon, I wanna feel it darlin’ I want it to swallow me I want you to cum on my fuckin’ cock hm? Can ya’ do that for me?” 

He groans over you, thrusts growing irregular at the desperation of his own climax reaching a head at the same time yours does. Only letting a few more thrusts greet you before you feel it toppling over, every inch of your body becoming utterly ruined below him. Feeling his cock inside of you pistoning into you through your orgasm, legs lock around his clothed waist as your hips buck up, shaking as your back arches against the table with legs raised, most of your body not even on the table anymore as he holds your legs stable to fuck through his own orgasm. 

“Fuck fuck darlin’ you’re so fuckin’ tight— shit you feel so good.” 

“Inside of me” 

You manage to breathe through a fogged mind and blurry vision as the sensitivity of your body makes his use of you mind numbing. 

“Please. Please Joel please cum inside of me please—” 

You feel heavy liquid fill you as he slows his pace, heavy groan being the only thing that fills the room now as he pumps in and out of you, softening inside of you as his seed leaks from you. He slowly removes himself from you, a collection of your own fluid and his trails down the side of your thigh as you both stay there breathless. Watching as he slowly shifts on his boxers, and loosely does pants that are soon to come off later. 

Before you’re able to right yourself or even get up, you watch as Joel slides your clothes back on you, latching your bra softly as he raises your back up to do so. Slipping your top on and tying a proper knot is the only thing missing from your wardrobe, the underwear he took off of you, that of which becomes missing as he slips your shorts onto you. 

“I think you forgot something.” 

“Think I deserve a little trophy don't you darlin’?” 

You flush at the implication, Joel keeping them as a sort of token of remembrance of you, of this night. 

Straightening yourself up as he finishes clothing you do you stand there, as you watch his back once more fill up glasses of water for you and him. Taking in all he is, form fitting cowboy attire still decorating his body, do you outstretched a hand to feel his bicep, a desire you’d had the moment that woman did. As he turns to face you, feeling your hand brush against his body once more he smiles slightly, teasing; 

“Ya’ like what ya see sweetheart?” 

“I just wanted to feel you.” 

“Already did a lotta that don't ya’ think? But be my guest.” 

He hands you a small glass of water as he drinks out of his own, and as silence engulfs the two of you you hear the dreaded creak of a shower turning off sound from the upstairs as reality sets in for the two of you once more.

“Think ya’ best go check on Sarah now.” 

“Yeah that’d be smart.” 

You avert his eyes as you’d done once prior, engulfed by embarrassment as you remember Sarah after the intimate moment you shared. 

“Well, I’ll be down here for a bit longer, then headed ta’ bed. You just uh, let me know if ya need anythin’ right? You know where my room is.” 

A small smile across his face implies a very different definition of ‘needing’ something, depending on how you view it. But as you ascend the stairs to help deal with Sarah once more, part of you knows that you’ll be asking him for some more help, cleaning, before night's end. 

[astoundingbeyondbelief]

Kaiju Week in Review (November 26-December 2, 2023)

I wasn't over the moon when Toho announced that Takashi Yamazaki's Blockbuster Monster Movie was in fact the next Godzilla film. I had seen a few of his works—none bad, but none spectacular either. Well, I've set my sights on watching the rest in the new year, because Godzilla Minus One is an unqualified masterpiece. A tagline from the original Godzilla, King of the Monsters! comes to mind (as it often does when you're me): "Mightiest melodrama of them all!" A lot of the post-Showa films suffer from an abundance of characters who just spout exposition and look at monitors; here, almost everyone in the small cast gets at least one close encounter with Godzilla, and the monster's backstory is conveyed with extreme efficiency. This tale of a war veteran trying to rebuild his life in the ruins of Tokyo, stumbling into a family, finding fulfillment in blowing up leftover mines, and haunted by what he perceives as his cowardice in combat, would have been plenty compelling without Godzilla.

Since it does have Godzilla, it's high on my list of the best movies of the year, and I only need one viewing to call it one of the best installments in the almost-70-year-old series. Yamazaki patiently waited some 15 years after Always: Sunset on Third Street 2 for his shot at a Godzilla feature. You certainly get the sense, watching one of the most brutal, pissed-off incarnations of the monster ever to grace the screen, that he spent every day of it in preparation. Watch it often while it's still in theaters, and watch it big.

Godzilla Minus One will gross about $10 million in its U.S. opening "weekend", a third-place finish that beat expectations. For context, Godzilla 2000, the last Toho Godzilla film to receive a wide release here, made about $10 million during its entire theatrical run here. Ticket prices were cheaper then, of course, and Minus One was helped along further by almost half of attendees going to premium-format screenings. Conversely, it had to overcome Americans' subtitle phobia, and the first weekend of December is usually a slow one. I was pessimistic at the outset, but now I expect larger theaters to carry the film into the new year, especially with near-universal raves from critics and audiences.

Yes, a third section for Godzilla Minus One; it's well-deserved, I promise. MyKaiju is risking life and limb by hosting an English translation of the film's novelization, written by Takashi Yamazaki himself. It appears to be at least partially machine-translated, but the Japanese text is included for comparison. Haven't read it yet, as I want to see the film a second time first, but quite a breakthrough given how mysterious this sort of thing usually is.

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters could never hope to compare with the opening of a stellar new Godzilla film; unfortunately, I also thought this week's episode was the weakest so far. It's bookended by Frost-Vark action, but the rest just drags. All's forgiven if the teacher and the hacker smooch though.

Toho and Legendary used to let each other's live-action Godzilla movies breathe; now the U.S. opening weekend of one is coinciding with the opening marketing push of the other. IGN released a trio of pics from Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, showing Kong with his axe; Dr. Andrews, Jia, and Trapper (Dan Stevens's character) in uniform; and Godzilla "evolving into a powerful new form." The same article included an interview with director Adam Wingard. Naturally, he didn't give away much... besides the return of Doug.

Earlier in the week, Legendary put out a trio of posters featuring Godzilla, Kong, and the film's antagonist, now christened Skar King. The taglines ("Unite" for our heroes, "Bow to Your King" for SK) sound like kaiju campaign slogans. Makes me wonder if, like Godzilla vs. Megalon before it, the movie will improbably capitalize on the presidential election next year. To steal a joke from Titanollante: Godzilla/Kong unity ticket? They'd have my vote.

Godzilla's new form, meanwhile, has already been spoiled by a T-shirt on Legendary's own site and some dire-looking Playmates figures. It makes sense that Wingard would want to have his own spin on the character after keeping the design from Godzilla: King of the Monsters for Godzilla vs. Kong. Hard to cast judgment without seeing the real design in full, but there's one particular detail I really like.

The film also has a booth at CCXP in Brazil, with a panel later today, so I think a trailer is incoming (the main reason I hammered out this whole post so quickly).

I missed this one last week: Tsuburaya announced an anime project called Ultraman: DARKNESS HEELS. The DARKNESS HEELS branding has been around for a while, spotlighting prominent evil Ultras—and, of course, Jugglus Juggler. No details on the anime yet, but if the Juggleman's there, so am I.

The big toy reveal this weekend was Super7's ULTIMATES! MaiGoji figure. Previous Godzilla figures from this line haven't lived up to the official photos, but hope springs eternal. It's $85 (much less than the MonsterArts); preorders started Friday. Other highlights: a Super7 ReAction figure of the original Godzilla's skeleton, which comes with a little Oxygen Destroyer, and a plush Mothra from Surreal Entertainment that can flip to imago form to a neck pillow-shaped larva.

[thegridgoddess]

Prove It | Charles Leclerc Pt. 8

One Shot | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7

Pairings: Charles Leclerc x fem!wolff!driver oc

Summary: Charles has a new teammate, but just because she's pretty doesn't mean he's gonna make things easy for her.

Warnings: Enemies to lovers, angsty Charles, slow burn till it hits you in the face. Piningggg. George Russell best friend and ultimate mom energy, Lando Norris sibling energy, Pierre Gasly is the worst in this ngl, and Toto Wolff sucks here (not a good dad!). Also did I mention the angst? Remember that this is all purely fictional.

A/N: I have been waiting to write this chapter foreverrrr and I think it's my favorite one yet... Also, ended up throwing another pairing in there, but let me know what you guys think🤭

Word Count: 5.4k

_____________________________________________________________

He won.

Riley could have kissed him. The way he lit up, beaming, pumping a victorious fist in the air as he exited the car. The way it seemed, even time bent to his will, slowing to stop as she took him in. The champagne droplets fell around him like fresh summer rain, soaking his hair even more than the sweat of 78 laps in Monaco–his home race. The sight was too much for her. Charles finally did it. He won his home race, fulfilling a long-awaited dream of his, and Riley was placated with the fact she could be near him as a teammate, if nothing more. 

Lando got lucky today, stealing her third-place spot only because the stewards got nitpicky, handing out five-second penalties like they were Oprah tossing out car keys. Still, she couldn’t be happier for Charles. She just wished she could show it better. 

They still hadn’t talked things out after what went down in Miami, but all things considered, Riley wouldn’t even know what to say. Hey, about that drunk kiss… yes, I’m dating your best friend, but also, I know you’re in love with me? It didn’t sound like the start of a very promising conversation to her either.

Despite all that awkward tension in the air, he still hugged her as soon as he hopped out of the car. He didn’t hesitate to envelop her in a hug–albeit a sweaty and rushed one, yes, but a hug nonetheless. His arms wrapped around her, pulling her in deeply before he was instantly pulled in a hundred different directions by other Ferrari crew members. Needless to say, he didn’t hug any of them. He threw her a sheepish smile as he got dragged away in the frenzy.

It’s just the excitement, she told herself, nothing more. It was pointless to think about it anyway. She was with Pierre and blah blah blah, a million reasons why she shouldn’t be with Charles, why she shouldn’t act on the information she heard. Yes, it was his friend she was with, for starters, but also the fact that Charles hadn’t been the one to divulge his feelings to her. Until she hears the words coming from his mouth, they might as well not have been real at all. Love, what was he thinking? It was ridiculous to even conceive the notion, so if Charles was really in love with her, he would have to prove it.

She was lost in thought until a hand wound up on her shoulder, bringing her back into the moment. She assumed it might have been her boyfriend, but she turned around instead to find her best friend standing before her.

“That must have been rough,” he said, an apologetic smile on his lips.

“What? I’m fine,” she dismissed, but it was useless. George could see right through her on the best of days. This was no different.

“Sure you are,” he indulged her.

“I should probably talk to him about it at some point, I’m aware, but not now,” she sighed, her eyes following Charles on his victory tour around the paddock. “He deserves this moment without my melodrama to ruin it.” She nodded to herself, reassured she was doing the right thing by speaking her thoughts out loud.

“I could have been talking about your race, you know? You made this about Charles. I’m just saying.” He brought his hands up in a no-offense kind of way. “Either way, are you still coming to celebrate with us tonight?”

Riley let loose another sigh. “I can’t. I’m supposed to meet Pierre tonight.”

George rolled his eyes, ever against the Frenchman. “You can’t just ditch him this one time? Lando doesn’t just get a podium every day.”

“No, I can’t just ditch him this one time. I’ve already been blowing him off to be with you two since we landed here because you guys can’t mind your own business.” Then to add the icing on the cake, “You remember when you and Lando dabbled in breaking and entering?”

“Hey, it’s not ‘breaking’ if you gave me a spare key,” Lando says, materializing. “Just entering,” he says more thoughtfully as if this distinction matters.

“Yeah, in case of emergencies because you’re the only person I know in this stupid country,” Riley said tight-lipped, arms crossed.

“Oh well, that’s just completely false,” another voice chimed in behind Riley. His voice was silky smooth despite the amount of cheering and shouting he must have done. That adorable accent would always give him away. “You know me,” Charles said cheerfully. “And my country is not stupid,” he added.

It helped that everyone laughed. It meant that Riley didn’t actually have to come up with a serious response to that comment. At least not here. Not right now, in front of her closest friends and just about most of the online world–not that she wouldn’t put it past Lando to curate the rumors regardless of who was around.

She searched for a way out of the conversational group. She didn’t want to stand next to Charles and pretend they were fine when things were not in any way fine between them. She spotted salvation in the form of Pierre Gasly, her boyfriend. Perfect.

“Gotta go. Need to talk to Pierre about something,” she said while already speeding away. She turned over her shoulder and added a wink for good measure. Totally normal behavior from someone who was totally fine.

Pierre must have been deep in thought because he didn’t notice her coming until she stopped right in front of him. His surprise softened into a smile with her presence, and he greeted her with a deep kiss.

“They seem to be doing well,” Charles smiled wistfully. It was apparent that George and Lando didn’t share the same mindset as they were staring daggers at Pierre’s back. Charles was glad that Riley had people that really cared about her. He could live without Riley considering him one of them as long as she was happy. “But you both can let her know that she doesn’t need to worry about anything. I’ve thought about it, and I decided we should just let things go and go back to the way things used to be. We don’t even have to talk at all if that would make her more comfortable. I’d tell her myself, but I feel like she’ll just run away again.”

“What?!” Lando and George exclaim at the same time.

“You can’t do that!” Lando cried out. “What if she’s in l–” 

George slapped a hand over Lando’s mouth before he could do any damage. Lando tried mumbling against George’s hand, but George had learned his lesson with Lando the last time he allowed him freedom of speech.

“What Lando means to say is, you can’t do that!” George realized his outburst and blanched at his unexpected response, feeling faintly embarrassed to have lashed out at Charles in the same way as Lando. Was he feeling alright? To Charles’ credit, he didn’t even react to George, that placated look still lingering on his face. George cleared his throat, trying to regain some dignity. “I mean, have you tried telling her how you feel? Because I think you should really try talking to her.”

“There’s no point. If she’s happy with Pierre, then I’m not going to stand in the way of that. Pierre told me they’re taking things seriously, so I won’t mess with that. And there’s nothing more to say about it besides that.” At that point, George felt a slimy wetness against his hand and dropped it instantly, forgetting why it was necessary to be held there in the first place. He made a sound of disgust and wiped his hand on his racing suit.

“But what about your feelings?” Lando asked fervently. 

“It’s Riley’s feelings that matter, not mine,” Charles answered calmly.

“But how do you know she doesn’t feel the same if you don’t talk to her?” George continued, not caring that he was stooping to Lando’s level of meddling.

“If she felt the same way, she wouldn’t be with Pierre.” Charles sighed ruefully as if he fully resigned himself to the situation and the reality he was forced to come to. There was no other way.

Lando and George started a series of half sentences they couldn’t continue out of respect for Riley, but there was more each of them wanted to say about the matter. The fact of it was that it just wasn’t their place, and it couldn’t be helped.

“Ugh! Fine,” George finally said, dragging Lando away by the arm. “I still don’t understand why I chose to surround myself with children,” he muttered to himself.

“Because you care about us, for one,” Lando answered as if it was a question George was actually proposing.

“Don’t start with me,” he said. The look he gave Lando was enough to shut him up as they left Charles behind to more crowds of celebration. “If they’re gonna figure this thing out, it’s gonna happen regardless of what we think is best. You got that, Lando?” 

George didn’t actually wait for a response to that. He knew the other boy well enough. But much to his surprise, Lando groaned in agreement. 

Charles and Riley were just gonna have to work this thing out for themselves, if at all. No outside help, however well-meaning. The only question about it now was as to how Lando and George would fill the time.

_____________________________________________________________

Charles was on a high like never before. He was downright cheery despite his resolve to let Riley go. This win was special, and nothing could change that. If anything, the fact that he won today only strengthened his resolve. He was certainly on the right track, and this was a sign.

Not much else could bring him down, except possibly for Toto Wolff obstructing his path.

“Charles, I would like to speak with you,” he said without hesitation. The permanent smile on Charles’ face faltered as he thought about how this was Riley’s father, the man who abandoned and ignored her for years. He did not want to speak with the man any more than she did.

Toto caught his face falling and dropped his similarly. All pretenses of politeness fell away just the same. “Look, I don’t know what she’s told you, but it doesn’t matter–not in the face of your future,” he said with a finger pointed in the air.

“My future?” Charles repeated bewilderedly. Anyone could see them having this conversation here. The paddock wasn’t the most private place to be having this conversation. Toto had to be really assured of himself to be lacking all subtlety.

“Yes, the future you could have here at Mercedes if you keep this up. Nothing is final, of course, you know how these deals work. But I can say that Lewis will have to retire eventually, and it would be a shame not to have that seat filled by someone of your talent.”

Charles scoffed, taking Toto aback. “Talent? You wouldn’t know talent if it hit you over the head. And I know this because it did.” Charles shook his head in disbelief. “Riley is a talented driver. And an even better person at that, but you wouldn’t know about that, would you? You don’t have a shred of the kindness, humor, and ingenuity that she has, so why would I waste my time with you?” Charles didn’t wait for a response as he walked past Toto, checking him. 

Somehow, that cheery attitude found him once again, and a smile returned to its rightful place on his face. He was looking forward to the rest of the day. Despite his win, he didn’t really want to do anything in celebration. He wouldn’t be going out anywhere with anyone–not that it had ever been his thing. Finally, he has some time to focus on himself and maybe begin to let go of his feelings for Riley. Because what was the point in celebrating if he couldn’t even do it with the person he wanted to the most?

It was just a little past 11 PM when he saw the headlines, and he jumped in his car well before his phone even had the chance to ring. So much for staying in tonight.

_____________________________________________________________

For once, Riley did not feel like going out. There was a first time for everything, but she didn’t think there would ever be a first time for this. Maybe it was because she didn’t actually win today and had no reason to be celebrating, or maybe it was because these stupid heels were already killing her. It felt like her foot was going to be stuck in that permanent arch if she didn’t take them off soon enough. And she was certain that if the black satin material of her dress kept riding up, she was going to kill someone.

The building itself was gorgeous, of course. Everyone knew that the Casino de Monte-Carlo was a sight to see, with its marble architecture and columns along every wall. The number of chandeliers lighting each room made Riley wonder how much the casino spent on electricity alone. Then again, the cost of the paintings probably wouldn’t pale in the face of that insane number. The space was filled with the gentle cacophony of games happening all around.

Riley wasn’t sure what she was meant to do here, but Pierre wanted to come so she would indulge him. They had actually been having a rather good time together as of late. Before today’s race, they had stupid conversations that made Riley laugh while Pierre rolled his eyes and just hung out like normal people would. It was simple between them, and that was nice—no headaches required. 

She texted him of her arrival and waited for him to come find her.

People were mingling all around her, looking effortlessly classy in a way that made Riley feel out of place, even in her nicest black satin dress. Though she knew her friends weren’t there, she kept scanning the room, holding out hope for a friendly face.

She almost wished she already had a drink in her hands so that she would at least have something to do with them. She hated having to stand around awkwardly, fidgeting with her hands. Finally, she pulled out her phone to text George and Lando, but her messages sat there on delivered. This meant they were probably getting absolutely plastered somewhere. It almost concerned her since she didn’t know anyone else who could be with them to look after them, and George certainly wasn’t the reckless type to be partying without someone declared to stay sober. She hoped wherever they were, they were being safe but still having a good time–not like she was while waiting for her boyfriend to turn up.

She stared at the small screen, willing something to happen, anything at all. It had been almost ten minutes, and nothing. Originally, she and Pierre were supposed to arrive together, as they agreed earlier in the day, but he had changed his mind after the race, saying he’d rather wait for Riley at the casino. He didn’t give a reason for his change of mind, but Riley didn’t really mind. This way, she could get ready in peace without him hounding her to get going. And even still, the night was still young.

She almost started taking a turn around the room to find Pierre when a grating voice stopped her in her tracks.

“Well, if it isn’t Riley Wolff,” Lance Stroll drawled out, walking up to her with Esteban Ocon following closely behind. “Wouldn’t expect to see you here.”

She had avoided Stroll for so long in the hopes of distancing herself from any nepo-baby allegations, but it seemed it couldn’t be helped at this moment. He hadn’t taken kindly to being blown off regularly, and she always paid for it on the road with him. Despite this, she was glad to see people she recognized, albeit if they weren’t the friendliest. It’s not that she had anything against Ocon, but they hadn’t spoken much, and as far as she knew, Ocon had some rivalry going with her boyfriend. Needless to say, the universe couldn’t have picked worse people to walk up to her.

“Stroll,” she said in acknowledgment with a nod. “Ocon,” she turned to him as well. Ocon had the decency to nod back respectably so, but Stroll remained impassive with a mischievous gleam in his eyes. There was no point in picking anything with them, so she just let it go, moving to walk away.

“We were just talking to Pierre by the bar over there if you’re looking for him,” Stroll said innocently. It was unsettling, but Riley wouldn’t give him the time of day. She just had to find her boyfriend, and then everything would be fine.

“Thanks…” she said warily and stepped away from them toward the bar. She threw a look back over her shoulder only to see the boys were still watching her with something akin to fascination. She quickened her step.

It didn’t take her long to spot Pierre–only, he had a hand on another girl’s upper arm, and she held a blush on her cheeks and wonder in her eyes. He was unsteady on his feet, eyes half-lidded, clearly drunk. He reached up to the girl’s loose blonde ponytail and began playing with it nonchalantly.

“...love to see them sometime,” she heard Pierre say as she neared. The girl giggled and reached out to hand her phone to him in turn. Riley promptly stepped in between them, the phone falling to the ground with a clack as it was knocked out of the blonde girl’s hands. She scoffed at Riley’s intrusion, obviously unaware of who she was.

“What the fuck,” she said, dead staring Pierre’s cloudy green eyes. 

“Riley!” Pierre said, failing to school his shock into excitement and stumbling over a bit. He latched onto her for support, but she shook him off. “You were supposed to text me when you got here.” As he patted the pockets of his suit, he noted the total absence of his phone. Explanation dawned on him in the form of a cackling Stroll, keeled over ten feet away with Ocon waving a phone in the air as if to say looking for this?

It gave Riley all the confirmation she needed as to what was going on right there. She should have known better.

He tried changing his tune. “Shit. Riley, I’m sorry–”

“Save it,” She spat out, suddenly not caring about what everyone else thought around her. “I’m leaving. Come find when you’re sober and ready to talk like an adult instead of getting trashed.” 

He didn’t say anything to that. Riley just didn’t understand why? What made him act out this way? They were doing so well, she thought.

The blonde girl tapped her on the shoulder, and Riley almost bit her head off until she realized she was just trying to get to her phone, which was lodged directly under Riley’s heel. She felt a little bad–it wasn’t the girl’s fault Pierre made poor decisions, but the glare in the girl’s eyes quickly made her change her mind about that. Not innocent then, I suppose.

Riley lifted her foot off the girl’s phone and stormed away, rage fueling her senses. She was not five steps away when she heard Pierre say, “Don’t worry about it. She’s one to talk–but what can you expect from a spoiled girl with daddy issues.” 

Riley had never turned around so fast in her life, nor had she ever clocked anyone square in the face. But this was exactly what she did as she whirled around and lined up her fist to meet Pierre’s nose. “Ah!” He cried out in pain, blood pouring from his now disfigured nose. Several shocked gasps were coming from the crowd around them. Multiple games came to a halt, and the murmuring started a half-second later.

Oh, and it felt good–for all of two seconds until her knuckles started hurting from the pain of colliding with Pierre’s bones and skull. This time, she couldn’t have walked away even if she wanted to, as two arms seized her on each side, forcibly pulling her away. Security.

Riley would be more embarrassed if it wasn’t for Pierre being dragged away as well; somehow, that made her feel better. All of the journalists, podcasters, and influencers were going to be having a field day with this one, to say the least. 

_____________________________________________________________

Apparently, casinos had detainment rooms for this kind of thing, in the same way, that you might get held at a grocery store for shoplifting until the police arrive. Lucky for them, the management at the casino decided they didn’t want to get the police involved. Not only would it be bad press for them, but Riley and Pierre just so happened to be considered high-profile guests in a country where everyone was a multi-millionaire–so that meant something.

It also probably had to do with the fact that neither of them had done anything illegal to harm the casino, like cheating. So they were getting off easy. All they were asked to do was have somebody there to escort them, and they would be allowed to leave the premises–no press or cops involved.

Regrettably, Riley only had a short list of people to call, and none of them would pick up the damn phone. Just what the hell were George and Lando up to? 

She was left with no choice but to leave Charles a voicemail and hope that he would see it sometime soon.

“Hey, it’s me. Um– I need a favor from you,” she cleared her throat, feeling uncomfortable begging Charles for help. “I’m in a bit of trouble right now, and well, you’re the only other person I trust in this country, as we established,” she chuckled awkwardly even though Charles wasn’t actually on the phone with her. “Anyway, if you could please come pick me up I would really appreciate that. Uh– just open Instagram or something, and you’ll know where to look.”

She left the message at that, not knowing what else to say.

“You have some nerve,” Pierre piped up from his side of the room. There was only one detainment room in the casino (Riley supposed it had something to do with fist fights being more uncommon amongst those who thought themselves classy), and this meant that security had handcuffed Riley to the bench on one side of the small room, and Pierre on the other. There was also a tiny camera in the corner surveilling them. “Calling my best friend to pick you up after you hit me.”

He was given a ziplock bag of ice for his wound, and he held it up with his free hand. Riley didn’t have the satisfaction of seeing him cry out in pain once again as he was taken elsewhere in the casino to have the bone reset. The blood was dry on the stubble above his lip, just as it was dry on her knuckles. She was also given ice for her wound, but it was awkward to apply with her good hand being cuffed, so she quickly gave up on it.

Riley clicked her tongue. “Well, my teammate can decide whether or not that punch was justified when he gets here. It was warranted,” she gave a hmph. What the fuck had gotten into Pierre? They were just fine before this.

Then again, now that she thought about it, he did try to shake her off rather quickly after she caught up with him after the race. She had assumed he was tired, but clearly, it was something more.

Pierre tilted his head all the way back in cacophonous laughter as if Riley had made the joke of the century. “He’s not coming, Riley,” an air of finality rang in the words. “Even if you two are screwing around behind my back–”

“Whoa- what the hell?!” Riley raised her eyebrows at him. She wanted to throw her arms up too, but the move wasn’t as effective with only one of her arms free.

“--he couldn’t come even if he wanted to,” Pierre finished.

“We’re not ‘screwing around behind your back.’ All right?” Riley clarified. For all she thought of Charles, she hadn’t made a move on him at all since she and Pierre decided to go steady. At the very least, she couldn’t be accused of that.

Pierre gave a little scoff and rolled his eyes. “It doesn’t matter. He’s clearly into you. More than into you, even.”

“What does that matter? I chose you,” Riley made sure to emphasize that last word.

“But you didn’t. Not really,” he said more quietly. “I’ve seen the way you look at him and god–have you heard the way he talks about you?” There was pain in his voice. “You may have agreed to date me, Riley, but you never chose me. Let’s not pretend otherwise.”

Riley was stunned into silence as Pierre continued, “I liked you first, Riley. For the first time in my life, I was nervous around a girl, and I didn’t know what to do with you. How was I supposed to show you I wanted more without messing it all up? I’m not exactly known for being great at relationships.” His eyes were trained on the floor. “And when I was finally getting round to telling you everything, I realized it was pointless. Because he liked you. Why bother trying when I could see you were already inclined to pick him either way.”

“You don’t know that,” Riley shook her head incredulously. It was hard to describe how she was feeling at the moment. She was still mad at him, of course, but something about the severity of his voice at that moment made her turn in on herself.

“Except I do know that because it’s been this way forever. My whole life, Charles has taken everything I’ve done and done it better. I made it to F1 before him with a decent team, and I thought to myself, wow, I actually did something better than him for once. Only for Charles to come in the following year and just be so goddamned perfect as always that he gets a seat at a front-field team like it’s nothing.”

“So you have poor self-esteem issues when it comes to Charles,” Riley said, “that still doesn’t explain what you think happened between us or why you couldn’t just talk to me,” She gave a light shrug with her shoulder and wrapped one arm around herself in comfort.

“I tried to pretend like it didn’t matter to me, okay? Like I didn’t want you the way I did. I even lied to Charles about it, thinking that it would help me believe it, but it didn’t.” He paused, taking a deep breath. “I wanted to surprise you that night in Miami and make things official in a special way. I was always going to come back for you. I didn’t imagine George would have left you and that you would end up inviting Charles back to your room.”

Riley sucked in a sharp breath at that. She had certainly been drinking that night, but she remembered the situation all too well. The way she wanted to just let everything go to hell if she could just have Charles for one night.

“I was coming back, and he didn’t even notice me on his way to the bar.” Did everyone see Charles that morning? Riley held back the question, but she almost began to wonder if she was the only one who didn’t understand Charles was in love with her then. All things considered, it was likely. “I could see his emotions written all over his face, and it pissed me off. Just for once, I wanted to have something of my own. Just for once, I wanted to be selfish. That’s when I decided to be selfish with you anyway, despite knowing how he felt about you and how you felt about him. It wasn’t enough in the end, of course. And before you say anything, Riley, it is so obvious that you’re in love with him. It was painful to see you two together today, and I had to pretend like you were still mine.”

Riley wanted to be shocked at the insinuation, but she couldn’t, not when this was what everyone was telling her. Her. Charles. Love. It just all fit together like a puzzle she didn’t know she was building. How could that be? It was just yesterday that Charles was her rude teammate who she couldn’t figure out. Now, she wanted him in a way that could only really be translated as a need. 

That reminded her. “What did you mean when you said that Charles couldn’t come here even if he wanted to?”

Pierre gave a small grin, and she was sure it had to do with her lack of rebuttal against his claims. He was right, and he didn’t need to be told, but it was all the confirmation he needed.

“Charles is a Monegasque citizen,” he said plainly.

“Yes, I happen to be aware of that fact, thank you very much,” Riley replied snarkily, her patience growing thin with this tiresome turn of events.

“You didn’t let me finish,” he pulled a tight line with his lips. “He’s a Monegasque citizen; therefore, he cannot enter the casino. They’re not allowed to gamble.”

“What? That’s ridiculous,” she dismissed. The more she thought of the metal bench under her, the more uncomfortable it grew. She needed to leave. Her dress and heels were already enough of a discomfort.

“It’s true. It’s the law,” Pierre continued, sitting up straighter with not a hint of humor in his voice. He was serious. “Government didn’t want all its citizens to spend all their money here. They’re not just checking IDs for age at the door, Riley. They’re checking for proof of overseas residency.” He waved a hand pragmatically. “Charles would be arrested if he did find a way in, and it’s not as if every person in this country doesn’t know his face either–it’s his home, and he’s famous.”

“Shit.” She hung her head a bit. Charles was already a last resort for her. What was she gonna do without him? “And where are my friends?” She muttered to herself.

Pierre must have heard her because he said, “You mean George and Lando?” He pressed further when Riley gave a nod. “Well–” he stopped himself, chuckling a bit, “I always had the impression that Lando was gay. And George always did enjoy taking care of him too much. If I had to guess, they’re probably ahem together, right now, if you know what I mean.”

Riley's jaw dropped to the floor, only giving Pierre cause for further laughter. This couldn’t be true. There was no way she was so wrapped up in her own life that she could have missed her two best friends getting together or even remotely liking each other in that fashion. 

But she had been rather focused on other things as of late… And all they ever talked about were her relationship issues… Wait, except that one time she was talking to Lando, and he mentioned that nothing happened with a girl he was talking with. But Lando should have already known that eating McDonald’s in a hotel room wasn’t a great date idea because it was something he did with Riley all the time as friends. Then it dawned on her. He was never trying in the first place! Oh my god, they are together!

Riley was lost deep in this thought when keys began to jangle outside the door. One of the security guards came through, but Riley was barely in this reality–astounded still by this revelation. She almost didn’t register the words coming out of the guard’s mouth.

“Riley Wolff, there’s someone here for you. You’re free to go.”

_____________________________________________________________

A/N: For those who are curious, this is actually a real law if you can believe it or not. Learning about it kind of inspired this whole fic, so I suggest looking it up if you want to know more :)

As always, let me know if you enjoyed it and would like to be added to the taglist for all future chapters! I really enjoy reading all your comments!!

Taglist: @leclercwifey @hihiroc511-blog @omnesmorimur3 @siovhanroy @charlesswife @chilifanacc @satanfinalgirl @nikolaisblog @91vhs @dr3lover @onlyonetifosi @chiliwhore @nataliambc @livster @celine-xox @mrsmaybank13 @peachiicherries @purplephantomwolf @leclerc13 @deepestkpoponanime @moonclaine

[mattalit]

A Broken Clock Never Ticks (pt. 2)

Ghost x Male Reader

Part One | Part Two (here!) | Part Three

“It’s raining.”

Ghost looked across the room to the (H/C) haired man. (M/N) had placed a bookmark into his book and placed it onto his lap. He stared out of the window into the dark wet night.

“It’s raining,” (M/N) repeated, nodding to himself. “Can’t you hear the rain?”

He could, in fact, hear the small consistent pitters and patters of rain hitting the window.

“I can,” said Ghost.

(M/N) hummed in response, but he didn’t look over. “Do you like when it rains, Lieutenant?”

“Occasionally.”

“It’s relaxing, isn’t it?”

“Quite.”

(M/N) offered a contented sigh and a small dreamy smile. He went to check his watch. Its hands were unmoving. Oh, right, he thought, I haven’t gotten it fixed yet.

(M/N) had established a his own personal sanctuary in the corner of the 141’s so-called ‘living room.’ He had dragged a chair and lamp over to the window and cocooned himself in a blanket. After he had his early morning tea, he slept the day away, and, waking at a healthy 6 p.m., he finally allowed himself to relax with a book—or a play, rather. Hamlet was the natural choice. Who doesn’t love a tragedy?

At some point—(M/N) wasn’t entirely sure when—Ghost had decided to join him in his corner. Not adjacent, no—that would be far too close—but parallel, facing each other. (M/N) discarded his copy of Hamlet onto the floor, and with his mind fueled by the melodrama of nightly rain, he let out a second contented sigh and laid his heavy attention onto Ghost.

“Forgive me if this is too personal, Lieutenant—“

“Simon,” Ghost interrupted. “Simon is fine.”

A corner of (M/N)’s lip twitched up. “Of course, Simon.” He paused. He liked the way his name rolled through his mouth and off his lips—smooth and sweet like freshly churned buttercream icing. “When was the last time you’ve felt peace?”

Ghost let his brown eyes meet (M/N)’s (E/C). He held his gaze for a moment—Ghost’s own severe even in the best of times, (M/N)’s calm even in the worst of times—and let the question linger. When he finally chose to respond, he responded decisively. “Right now.”

(M/N) tilted his head. “You mean that?”

“Yes.”

“Because of me?” (M/N) wiggled his eyebrows flirtatiously once, twice, and winked.

“Yes.” A single nod, and, more decisively, “Because of you.”

Tentatively, (M/N) stood and took one step, two steps, three, towards Ghost.

“Is this okay?” he asked in a whisper, slowly leaning in to Ghost.

The breathless reply: “Yes.”

(M/N) settled himself onto Ghost’s lap, straddling him. “Still okay?” he mused. Like a man calms a dog, he placed a gentle hand onto Ghost’s cheek.

No reply, but a nod.

“Can I see your face, pretty boy?”

Again, no response. (M/N) removed his hand and lowered it to his side. A soft (practically embarrassing) breathy gasp left his mouth when a large, strong hand grasped his wrist. He watched in eager silence as Ghost’s free hand trailed to his face.

He lifted the bottom half and, in one fluid motion, removed the rest.

“Woah.” (M/N)’s hand returned to Ghost’s face, tracing his eyebrow, his cheekbone, his jawline, and finally, his lips. “You weren’t joking.”

And there, to the sounds of rain and in the veil of night, lips met lips.

[devilheartsblog]

Here’s Part 2 of some ideas I’m doodled for my Winx rewrite

Last post seemed to do better than I expected and I’m glad a few people enjoyed it. So here are some more things I want to work with.

I like Artu and Roxy’s relationship but I would have also liked some backstory on them and more depth. Like Gantlos said “it’s just a dog”. How did Roxy get Artu? Is he adopted or bought? Is there a reason he doesn’t like anyone outside of Roxy and Klaus?

In my rewrite, yes. Abandoned as a puppy, a kid Roxy took him in after her mother left her dad unexpectedly. She basically raised Artu and he means a lot to her, but she never socialised him since she herself isn’t social with people (so while Artu may tolerate someone’s prescence he doesn’t like being touched or seen upclose). Roxy raising Artu is also why she gets pissed and earns her fairy form but doesn’t want the fairy gig since it ended up hurting her dog, because as a fairy the wizards are after her and Gantlos hurt Artu.

Speaking of Gantlos

Gantlos my beloved you’re so fucking bland the only personality trait you have is having fucked up pointy hands and a cool hat <3

Ok in all honestly I like his apathy to animals and the Winx in general, but that also applies to the other wizards to some extent. At least you can say something about the other wizards; Orgon’s voice is top tier, Duman has really cool powers and design, Anagan’s banter with Flora’s entertaining. This one’s technically a headcannon I made cannon in the rewrite. I did my research btw.

Gantlos has a pretty intense fear of deers also called Elafiphobia, even asking Duman to not shapeshift into one. It’s pretty bad, seeing a deer gets him pretty close to a panic attack. I’m not going to spoil why but I’ll say it’s a consequence of the Great Fairy Hunt. In fact all the Wizards despite being the cause have been affected by the fairy hunt, either overall or because of a major event. Gantlos’ deer phobia is also why he doesn’t like/care about animals initially, I mean, why should he like them? Just cause they’re cute? Hah!

Apart from Riven and Musa I hate the melodrama in season 4 it’s so shit. Since in my version Sky isn’t in the story cause king stuff, Mitzi is narratively cremated and Nabu doesn’t die, on top of planning to expand on Anagan and Flora’s relationship as rivals and Anagan “flirting” with her, it’d be weird for Helia to be like “eh”. Like even if Flora can hold her own I think he’d at least be a little concerned and annoyed at Anagan.

So yeah, Helia’s conflict is having a case of Impostor syndrome because Anagan’s a foil to him; confident, extroverted, confrontational, and actually bounces off of Flora really well. (Like, I don’t ship Anagan and Flora but the people who do I don’t blame them, it sounds more interesting) Even if Flora doesn’t reciprocate Anagan’s feelings, Helia feels inadequate and is anxious Flora will lose interest and might even break up with him since he’s the anti-social poet of the group. Timmy could even help after his confidence arc in Season 2. He’s not overprotective of Flora like wanting to fight Anagan since it kinda goes against his pacifism but the narrative doesn’t care about that as much as I do :/

And lastly I think it’s be neat if we saw a more fleshed out dynamic between the Wizards, the best I can think of is when they’re protected by Syllia and Duman almost slips their plan to which Anagan says he’s being whoosy, Orgon complains about being protected by fairies while Gantlos is fine with it.

A lot of the rewrite is focused on fleshing out the wizards because I want complex villains grr, and they’re perfect for it. The Earth Fairies? They’re good but they’re dead in my rewrite soooo-

I like to think Orgon is pretty manipulative of them. Was he always like this? No, but he’s desperate to secure the disappearance of magic from Earth, and his manipulation gets worse and worse as the episodes go on, in the end being threats and guilt-tripping. He still cares but mostly how the wizards can be of service to the Black Circle. And yes Duman is his favorite because he has the best powers. Shapeshifting will always be OP and the best power in my heart.

Anyway that’s all folks. If I make a part 3 it’ll probs cover some other stuff like Jason Queen, which I like his character, it’s perfect for Musa’s development (until they made Bloom the fucking main singer like WHYYY) or perhaps talk about Klaus or Morgana, Tecna and Timmy and more about Nabu. Anyway I’ll go watch some more nostalgic minecraft videos and webtoon rants. See ya!

[loveinhawkins]

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21 ao3

Joyce drops off Will, El and Mike with more homemade food after they’ve had dinner, which makes Steve smile. 

“Tell your mom I’m not gonna have enough space to put all of this in the fridge.”

“You can just eat some of it and then you will have space,” El says, matter-of-fact, “like what Eddie is doing.”

Eddie pauses in his eating of Koogle chocolate spread straight out the jar.

Steve laughs loudly.

Eddie sighs, leans into the melodrama of it. “Damn, right for the jugular. Haven’t I suffered enough?”

El makes a show of thinking in response. Eddie watches her with infinitely growing fondness, how she fights to keep a straight face, unable to stop her smile from breaking through. “No.”

Eddie slumps against the counter like he’s just received a fatal blow.

“Hey, person without a cast,” Steve says dryly, “help put some stuff away, this isn’t a hotel.”

“I dunno, Harrington, you seem like the type to have monogrammed dressing gowns and shit.”

The tips of Steve’s ears turn a damning red.

Eddie pounces on the sight with a delighted grin. “Oh dear god.”

“Eddie—”

“Holy shit,” Eddie whispers, like he’s found the Holy Grail. “I was just talking out my ass man, but. You do.”

“Only ‘cause Robin—it was one joke Christmas present, all right?”

“Yeah, that’s what they all say.”

They all make short work of putting the food away, but the kids linger in the kitchen, like they don’t want to say goodbye just yet.

It’s funny, Eddie has distant memories of Hawkins characterising Will Byers as a quiet little kid when he went ‘missing’, but there’s hardly any of that shyness now. The only slight hint of uneasiness Eddie can discern is that every so often, Will’s hand will rise up as if to scratch the back of his neck, like he’s hardly aware that he’s doing it; he spots El catching his hand in hers once, gently pulling it back down—does it in such a way that it never draws attention.

If anything, Mike is the quiet one, which is tripping Eddie up; he’s so used to his vocal commentary at Hellfire. He can’t tell if it’s just general post-nearly end of the world exhaustion or—something else. He doesn’t know what.

From the way Mike is standing, shoulders occasionally hiking up to his ears, Eddie gets the feeling that he doesn’t want to be asked about it.

Will does the majority of the talking, spends most of the time making references to what went down in California that Eddie can barely follow, revels in teasing Dustin about Suzie—

“Wait, Henderson’s girlfriend is real?” Eddie says.

Dustin glares at him. “Hey!”

Steve nods seriously. “I know.”

Dustin spins around, pokes Steve in the side. “Hey.”

Bizarrely, this prompts Will into an enthusiastic rendition of NeverEnding Story, which makes Dustin groan as if he’s been plagued with it for centuries. But there’s a celebratory sound to all of it, to the way Will sings cheekily, even the way Dustin is rolling his eyes—like they can’t believe they can afford the time to just be silly.

Under the cover of the kids’ laughter, Steve leans forward in his seat, catching Eddie by the wrist.

“Hey, later could you—would you mind helping me up the stairs? I wanna…” He pushes back his hair, grimacing. “Got, like, a sink wash in hospital, but it wasn’t that great.”

There’s a self-conscious air to how he speaks, how he keeps fiddling with flyaway strands of hair.

“Yeah, man, no problem,” Eddie says, matching Steve’s lowered volume. Still look good to me.

They wait until they’re alone—Dustin leaves in Joyce’s car, too, with a firm, “I’ll be back,” flung over his shoulder; Steve snorts, “Sure thing, Arnie.”

Once they conquer the stairs, Eddie’s shoulder aching from Steve needing to lean on it, Eddie optimistically believes that the rest will be plain sailing from here.

Steve’s set up on a stool, and Eddie’s standing in the bathtub, about to see how far the shower-head can stretch.

Steve is in the middle of saying, “Oh, just watch out, don’t think I changed the temperature from when I last—”

Eddie’s elbow catches on the dial. He shrieks as he’s immediately hit with a blast of cold water.

“Jesus Christ,” he wheezes, finally managing to switch the shower off. His hair is sopping wet. “How am I the freak? What kind of monster takes a cold shower willingly?”

And Steve laughs so hard that he nearly falls off the stool, as if the light-heartedness of the kids earlier has lifted his spirits, made him giddy.

“You look,” he says, through a raucous fit of giggles, “like a drowned rat.”

“Excuse me? Oh, tread very, very carefully, Harrington,” Eddie says, raising the shower-head in warning.

Steve raises an eyebrow coolly. “You’re bluffing.”

Eddie is, in fact, not bluffing.

-

“Oh wow.” Eddie makes a low whistle, like he’s just discovered a rare antique. “Why isn’t this behind glass? This shit is history; it should be preserved.”

Steve blinks, gives him a sardonic look from where he’s lying on the bed, leg propped up with pillows. “Pretty sure I’m not the only person to own a Hawkins Phys. Ed T-shirt.”

Eddie scoffs, shaking out the shirt with a pointless flourish before putting it back in the closet. “Yeah, but you, like, wore it.”

“Oh, sorry, I misunderstood you, man. So I’m the only person ever to wear a Hawkins Phys. Ed T-shirt.”

“You know what I mean, asshole.”

Before Steve got round to actually washing his hair, they had spent a lot of time just goofing around, trying to soak the other. While attempting to ensure that it was a fair fight, that Steve didn’t overbalance on the stool, Eddie ended up nearly braining himself on the tub’s faucets—but maybe he really did suffer a head injury, he reasons, otherwise there’s no excuse for what he says next.

“You made it part of your whole thing, you know? Like, yeah, people wear clothes, but you wore outfits.”

Steve laughs, rolling his eyes. “Shut up. You’re making me sound like a sitcom character.”

“Oh, but you were,” Eddie says, grinning with the knowledge that he’s about to be very annoying. “Did you see yourself in the school corridors? You walked like you had your own theme music, man.”

“Says you,” Steve retorts. “I think a laugh track would’ve helped your cafeteria sermons.” And before Eddie can attempt a theatrical gasp of offence, Steve points at a baggy sweater in the closet. “Hey, gimme that one, it’ll do.”

Eddie actually puts some effort into properly aiming the shirt when he throws it, but Steve almost drops it. Eddie turns, ready to tease him, because Steve Harrington is hardly known for fumbling a catch, but stops when he sees the stricken look on Steve’s face.

“What is it?”

“I just—I just remembered,” Steve stutters out, eyes wide. “Shit, Eddie, I’m sorry. Your vest.”

Eddie stares, uncomprehending. “Come again?”

“Your vest. Damn it, I didn’t even think to ask for… they must’ve cut it off me or—”

“Oh, Jesus,” Eddie says, and the hair on the back of his neck stands on end. He shakes his head to try and clear it of the awful image they must’ve cut it off me conjures up then says, with fervour, “Steve. Don’t worry about it. Like, honestly, truly? Do not worry about it. I really can’t stress how much I don’t give a shit.”

Steve frowns, clearly still unhappy about it.

“I’ll just steal one of your polos and call it even.”

Steve smiles weakly; Eddie still counts it as a win. “Mm, I have it on good authority that the Phys. Ed T-shirt is highly sought after.”

“Damn, what idiot said that?”

Eddie turns while shutting the closet, glancing over at Steve as he does so. That’s when he sees it, sees Steve’s bare skin as he takes his shirt off, about to change into the sweater—

There’s no bandages wrapped around his middle anymore. They have healed faster than any normal wounds should, but that fact doesn’t diminish the way Eddie’s stomach lurches at the sight: the gouges in the skin from the bats, and several deep, ragged claw marks. There’s a sudden ringing in his ears; the wetness of Steve’s blood on his fingers…

He feels his knee slam against the bed frame distantly, like it’s happening to someone else. Then Steve’s hand is wrapped around his wrist, and he’s thrown back into his body, and he tilts—

“Hey, hey, you’re all right,” Steve says, and he pulls Eddie down to sit on the bed.

Eddie sways, tries to stand up again—but that just makes the sudden faintness worse.

“Woah, take it easy,” Steve murmurs, and Eddie blinks and blinks until his face swims into view, eyebrows drawn in concern. “God, you feeling okay? You went white.”

“You were bleeding,” Eddie says stupidly. He squeezes his eyes shut, tips his head down and just breathes.

And then he feels Steve gently guide his hand to rest over the wounds. Places it there, puts his own hand on top.

“Not anymore,” Steve says simply.

Eddie traces the marks. They don’t feel overly cold which helps. His hand rises and falls with every breath Steve takes.

Steve keeps his eyes on him, doesn’t let go of his hand until Eddie can stand again.

-

Steve has already drifted off to sleep on the couch when the phone rings.

Eddie picks it up with a quiet, “Hello?”

“E-Eddie?”

At first, Eddie doesn’t recognise the voice on the other end. It’s only when his name is repeated that the realisation hits.

It’s Mike.

Eddie has never heard him sound so uncertain, not even when he was first invited to sit at Hellfire’s lunch table.

“Hey, Mike,” he says, can’t stop a note of anxiety bleeding through. “What’s up?”

“It’s… it’s Nancy,” Mike says. He starts off almost reluctant, as if he’s worried about breaking some sort of sibling code by mentioning her, but the sound of his true fear quickly overrides that. “She—she left, and she told me she was gonna, um, call you, or something? I don’t know, but she… she’s not back yet and I… I don’t think she did. Call you.”

“She didn’t,” Eddie confirms, grabs a piece of his hair and pulls.

Mike’s voice pitches a little higher; he sounds very young. “I don’t know where she’s gone. Eddie, she didn’t even take her car.”

“Okay, okay.” Eddie’s eyes dart about the room, land on Steve’s car keys. “Hey, Mike? It’ll be okay, man. I’m gonna go get her.”

He heads for the door in a mad dash, one arm through his leather jacket. Before he goes, he takes the time to write Steve a note—if he wakes up, Eddie figures that there’s no point in him just sitting there alone, worrying, so he settles for something that will hopefully make him laugh instead.

Back soon. Totally not stealing your car. Cross my heart. On an unrelated note, I took your car keys. -E

-

He finds her at the trailer park, of course. Sitting right by his and Wayne’s place, in the spot where…

She’s hugging her knees, pressing the side of one cheek into them. Her boots are muddy again.

Eddie gets out of the car with more noise than is strictly necessary, so she’s not startled by his approach.

“This wasn’t the deal, Wheeler,” he says mildly, sitting down beside her.

She’s shivering.

Eddie tries very hard not to look at the trailer; it’s just a shell now, it’s just…

“Sorry,” Nancy says, too quiet. “I was… gonna call but. Lost track of time.” She sniffs, mumbles into her jeans, “Had enough of driving.”

“Why?” Eddie asks carefully.

“Because.” Nancy sniffs again. “I had to drive Jason Carver around town.”

For a moment, Eddie forgets how to breathe.

“What? Why the fuck would you even—? He could’ve—”

He stops talking abruptly as Nancy shakes her head, looking scarily calm about the whole thing.

“No. He would’ve killed you immediately. Not me; he’d have to think about it before he… It was… a calculated risk, I guess.”

Eddie barks out a sharp, fearful laugh—remembers Steve saying that him and Nancy were too similar and thinks yeah, no fucking kidding.

“Wheeler,” he breathes, “that was a stupid move.” It feels inadequate for what he actually means, which is some panicked stream of We’ve come too close to losing people, but the terror cuts down his words, makes them small. Stupid.

“He had a gun,” Nancy says, voice flat. She hovers a hand over her side, and Eddie doesn’t need to see it to know that there’ll be a mark there, from where the gun was pressed into her skin.

“Jesus Christ. Are you—”

“I’m fine. He didn’t…” Nancy sighs. “He didn’t do anything, really. I did most of the talking. Just… drove around. Stopped in a parking lot, right where one of the cracks… It’s still visible, only a little bit. Then I just. I asked him.”

“Asked him what?” Eddie says hoarsely.

Nancy’s smile is grim. “If he believed it,” she says. Her voice is as cold as steel. “If he could honestly sit there and think that a boy, that you could have done all this. And I could tell from his eyes that he didn’t, but that he was in too deep. Too cowardly to…” She seethes, spits out the next words: “I told him he could go rot.”

“Wheeler,” Eddie whispers. “God, please tell me he didn’t hurt you.”

She reaches for his hand. Squeezes. “No. I promise. He’s… everything’s being dealt with. It’s bigger than you,” she says, not unkindly. “Plus there’s—we’ve got some, um.” A tiny smile, a proper one. “Unique resources. It’s getting buried, Eddie, I swear, everything to do with you. I’m—we’re working on it. We just. The idea is to, um, replace one paranoia with another, that’s how we sell the—not a full lie, just…” She sets her jaw. “I don’t want you to be looking over your shoulder, ever again.”

Eddie has countless replies on his tongue, namely, What the fuck does all that even mean?

Is this why he’s hardly been given a second glance in the street?

Out loud, he says, “That… sounds like a helluva lot of work. You—you don’t have to—”

“I needed to.” Nancy smiles weakly. “That was the whole plan, right? Find Vecna, kill him. Clear your name.” Her smile falls. “I don’t like… I don’t like things being left… unfinished.” She sighs, repeats, voice small, “I needed to.”

It sounds different this time. Like if she didn’t have that objective, she’d fall apart.

It throws Eddie. How can he be that important? But he looks in her eyes and can tell she means it with all her heart. 

“Eddie, I…” She looks down at the ground. Briefly presses the back of her hand to her mouth. “I need to apologise to Steve. To you.”

Eddie stares at her. “No, I’m… kinda confident that you don’t.”

“No, you.” Her hand starts to shake in his. “You don’t understand.” She looks at him, eyes filled with tears. “I saw it. I saw everything. When he—when Henry showed me… there was so much of it, and it was so fast, and I. I just convinced myself that I was wrong. But then, when I saw you driving. And Steve. There was… this look on his face. And I knew—I knew he was going to die, because Henry… he showed me what he was going to do.”

Eddie can feel himself pale. Nancy withdraws her hand, turns away from him.

“I’m sorry. I thought I could stop it, if I just kept it in my head, it wouldn’t… oh, God.”

“Wheeler. Wheeler, look at me.” Eddie waits until she does, her face wet. “It wasn’t your fault. None of it.”

She moves forward, trembles in his arms. “God, Eddie,” she says, distraught, “it was awful. The whole thing.”

“Yeah.” Eddie leans his head against hers, shuts his eyes. “Fucking sucked.”

“You wouldn’t stop screaming,” Nancy whispers. She jerks her head over to where Eddie parked Steve’s car. “You fell there, and I—I was so scared you wouldn’t get up again. I told you that you had to let h-him go, and it. It was like you couldn’t hear me, and a-all I could think was I’m going to lose them both.” 

Eddie inhales. Exhales. She’d gotten him out. Time for him to return the favour.

“Nancy. Come on.” He gently guides her to stand up. “Time to go home, ‘kay?”

Mike’s waiting outside when Eddie drives up to the house; the headlights illuminate him, his too short dressing gown, his gangly teenaged vulnerability.

Nancy fumbles with the car door handle. Sighs through a sob. “Oh, Mike.”

Eddie watches them embrace, how they cling to one another. He sees Mike raise his hand while still holding onto his sister, sees him mouth Thank you.

Eddie doesn’t pull away until they’re both safely inside.

The fact that he’s driving Steve’s car helps him keep it together for the rest of the drive: the thought that he cannot be seen in public having a breakdown in it.

And then he’s back at Steve’s, and Steve is still asleep, thank God, and there’s an uncontrollable tremor to his hands when he sets Steve’s car keys on the table.

Shit, is he going to throw up? He might.

Oh no you don’t. You’re not waking Steve by upchucking onto the rug, get it together.

“You’re fine,” Eddie says, tugging harshly on his hair. “You’re fine, you’re fucking fine.”

He forces himself to breathe in and out as the wave of everything crashes over him, until he no longer sees the trailer park flash across his vision, like a ghostly afterimage.

When the worst of it is over, he perches on the arm of the couch, then carefully hovers his hand near Steve’s face, just so he can feel him breathing.

See? He’s right here, you’re not… not back there. Not anymore.

Steve stirs very slightly at the movement.

“Sorry, sweetheart,” Eddie whispers, still catching his breath through the remnants of panic.

Steve makes a soft, questioning noise. And then Eddie feels a finger, tracing letters on the back of his hand.

OK?

Eddie smiles tremulously. “Yeah, I-I’m… I am now.”

-

Eddie stays up all night.

It’s not so bad, not when he gets to see Steve wake up for his early morning meds, taken so he can have breakfast with the upcoming dose in a few hours.

“Huh? You’re never…” Steve yawns. His hair is soft from being air dried last night, falling into his eyes. “Never up this early. Not normally.”

“First time for everything,” Eddie says, which is easier than my heart was beating too fast to sleep.

Steve doesn’t call him out on the obvious dodge, still drowsy, growing even more so after he takes the pills.

“You bored? Can put something on if you want, but Dustin might’ve left a… a tape in the, um…”

Oh, there you go, Eddie thinks fondly, and watches as Steve falls asleep mid-sentence.

Some time later, he’s not sure when, the sun starts to poke through the curtains. It’s a dull kind of brightness, but still bright enough to make his eyes blink a little more… and more…

-

He’s been moved to lie on the inside of the couch. Eddie turns his head, feels the warmth of someone next to him. Steve.

“Hi,” Steve says, looking down at him with a smile. “You want some breakfast? Dustin dropped off doughnuts.”

There’s sugar at the corner of Steve’s mouth, like glitter.

Eddie hums, low and lethargic. “Maybe later. Just… mm.” He goes to rub at his eyes, but his hand stills then falls away from his face, a lassitude to his movements. “Five more minutes. Gotta… rest my eyes, just for…”

“Sure,” Steve says, and there’s affection in his teasing when he says, “You go ahead and ‘rest your eyes’ for a few more hours.”

“Mm…”

“Nance called,” Steve says, soft as anything, like he doesn’t want to wake Eddie if he’s already fallen asleep, but still wants him to know. “She’s okay. She says thanks.”

Eddie reaches out, eyes closed, pats Steve’s knee clumsily. “S’good.”

“Yeah,” Steve says, quiet. Eddie can feel him smoothing hair off his forehead, tracing his finger down his nose—makes it impossible for him to even try opening his eyes.

He barely catches it, nearly drifting… But he swears he hears Steve murmur, as if to himself, “You’re so good.”

“You’re warm,” Eddie mumbles without really meaning to.

Steve chuckles, so gently. Keeps stroking that soothing pattern, from Eddie’s brow down to his nose. “Am I now?”

Oh, you don’t know, Eddie thinks, and everything’s fading now, the world going all soft and indistinct, like cotton wool. You don’t know what it was like. I never want to feel you be that cold again.

[inconsistentlywrittensoul]

I want to talk about Buffy and Angel's relationship in Ted (and, I guess, Bad Eggs as well, a little). And I think it's a good time to look at them together - for one thing, at this point, post-What's My Line, I think they are definitely in a relationship, rather than the weird murky situation they were in for most of the early season. And in two episodes time, Angel's going to lose his soul - this is basically the peak of their Season 2 relationship, and also of what I see as Angel's pre-'Surprise' arc, of him gradually becoming less of a complete fucking disaster.

So now in Ted, we see them together as boyfriend and girlfriend, and... well, the scene starts with her talking his ear off complaining about Ted and him clearly bored. It's not as bad as it sounds - he's pretty good in this scene, and gives Buffy some sensible advice. (Ignoring the fact that Ted turns out to be abusive and also a robot, which isn't a factor yet.) This might be the first time in the series that Angel actually seems more emotionally mature than Buffy, and he uses that maturity to be a good, supportive boyfriend helping her through her issues...

But...

This is also a scene where Buffy is very much a teenager and Angel very much isn't. (This is also in an episode partly about Buffy's parental issues, which seems relevant to their relationship but I'd like to ignore for ick reasons.) His maturity is an advantage here, but there's also a clear disconnect between them, and that becomes more apparent as Angel gradually works his way towards being a functional person.

Bad Eggs is similar. Again, we see the positive side of their relationship, in the form of fun makeouts, but we also see the shadow of deeper problems in their relationship from a long-term perspective - the fact Angel can't have kids, Buffy's immaturity and inability to think about the future (for both normal teenager and doomed slayer reasons).

I am glad we get this period of them being mostly happy together, of their relationship mostly working - it's not just all-angsty- melodrama-all-the-time, a common failure state for their relationship and for Buffy as a whole. But even at the best of times, the issues in their relationship are always present - not the grand, dramatic problems that are the focus of Season 2, but the mundane issues that are the reason they ultimately break up in Season 3.

[pinkandpurple360]

BRO I NEED to know more about these stella leaks

Im tweaking

(Asking anonymously coz viv fans scare the shit outta me)

Oh heyyy uh yeah, it’s not pretty.

Fake leaks with this much detail aren’t a thing and its all on YouTube. so here goes, Stolas moves out of his palace and Stella with Andre take it back. It seems stolas had no choice but to move due to him getting his powers and position taken away for lending his grimoire out illegally (my guess). Kindve a shame because I always liked his palace it added more character than his dialogue ever did.

Via has a mental break about her father leaving her but Stella made him, and faking happiness for her sake all this time, and she’s enraged and confused at him for it, seeing the anti sad pills he overused so much as proof of the deep depression he hid from her. While also demonising anti depressants way to go show, she has visions of her innocent smiling dad being corrupted by an evil imp who he loves. There’s also a scene where she takes her child self from his arms to hold in her own, which I really liked. She also says “you will only know my name” which I bet will last maybe 2 episodes before she moves in with stolas and blitz or something.

The melodrama is incredibly bizarre compared to the cherubs LooLoo land and spring broken fun times we all want but the shippers wanted stolitz drama so here it is. Also the You will be Okay reprise will be nice but I hear it sounds like a Wheezer song.

She awakens her Andrealphus inherited powers, and her scene is basically exactly the same as when Elsa freaked out in front of her palace in front of commoners and threw ice spears around or smth. Knocking stolas over but guess who picks him back up. Then stolas, as you can imagine, runs to her and cries a lot and fawns over her because he’s done nothing wrong in his life it was all that bitch Stella.

It’s literally just Anna confronting Elsa at the palace and her freaking out. It’s literally just that.

Anywayyys back on 4chan it says “Octavia basically kills her mom” after she rejects stolas she renters the palace and most likely either by a misplaced ice spear from her crazy female emotions, or petrification powers bouncing off a mirror? Stella is turned into a statue or into ice. Andrealphus I think, as well. For some reason this time they’re at his house I think. And all four of IMP are standing around for some reason and it looks extremely awkward because they don’t even know this girl but are all very emotionally invested in the Goetia family drama.

But Viv said it’s all ok in the end this is just a plot device to get Stella out of the way of stolitz and force the two to live together all cozy and domestic while Via provides some drama to trauma bind them over. It’s kinda like if Seeing Stars was an entire show.

[hotvintagepoll]

Propaganda

Eleanor Parker (Scaramouche, The Sound of Music)— Eulogized as a ravishing beauty who's looks were merely ornamental to her craft, feast your eyes on Eleanor Parker. Listen! I know you're thinking of the Baroness in Sound of Music and saying NO I won't protect the woman who tried to steal him from Maria but forget about that (like you personally wouldn't shoot your shot with Plummer)! The trailer for Scaramouche describes her character Lenore as "The glamourous queen of the nightlife of Paris. A flame-haired wildcat" and this is a woman who was able to pull off that role, and you get the vibe she was like that irl too. There's a story about her changing hair colors that never fails to make me laugh. Take note of her stunning eyes! Her amazing legs! And to see her in motion is to make note of the aura about her, she has an amazing presence. Fall in love with Eleanor Parker today, and make your vote count!

Sheila Guyse (Sepia Cinderella)—sheila guyse was a popular actress and singer in the 40s and 50s, appearing on broadway and in several independent films with all-black casts "For several years, Ms. Guyse (rhymes with 'nice') was compared to stars like Dorothy Dandridge, Lena Horne and Ruby Dee, black actresses who broke through racial barriers. But by the late 1950s she was out of show business, a result of some combination of health problems, a religious conversion and family obligations. [...] 'It wasn’t easy to be a glamorous movie star with people following you for your autograph and now you’re home making pancakes,' [her daughter] Ms. Devin said. 'She did it, but I don’t think it was easy.'" [submitted video below the cut]

This is round 1 of the tournament. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. Please reblog with further support of your beloved hot sexy vintage woman.

[additional propaganda submitted under the cut]

Eleanor Parker:

“When I’m spotted somewhere, it means that my characterizations haven’t covered up Eleanor Parker the person. I prefer it the other way around.” So shy she was actively nervous about winning awards in person, her personal life remains mostly behind the scenes. But on screen? she was a force majeure. It's a shame the role most people remember her in is the Baroness in The Sound of Music, but then again, it did make Christopher Plummer reminisce upon her passing “I was sure she was enchanted and would live forever.”

Listen we all know Christopher Plummer and Julie Andrews had insane chemistry but the Baroness deserves some love too! She has such a glamorous presence but not in a hard way

She will be known as the fabulous baroness in TSOM, but she was so much more than that. Just as comfortable in westerns or melodrama, the scheming other woman, and the beauty that wins the heart of every man in town.

Sheila Guyse:

[mingigoo]

ur wip titles sound so good!! can't decide which one I'm excited for the most, so pls tell us more abt all of them👀 ! (if u want ofc)

AH oh yes! Gladly!

1. Melancholia — song mingi

summary: when all hell breaks loose among the main mafia families, your father arranges your own marriage to Song Mingi, the son of the most dangerous mafia boss. You’re told he’s cold-blooded, a monster of men, but when you start to get closer to him, you begin to see his true, sweet persona no one ever cared to know about.

genre/au: mafia au, arranged marriage au, enemies to lovers, smut, angst

This one is a request

2. Orange Juice — song mingi

summary: growing up as neighbors, you and Mingi were inseparable. Everything came to a screeching halt when he disappeared one summer after a terrible car accident. Years later, he walks through your door, nearly in tears when he sees you. So much has changed, but not how you feel about each other.

genre: angst, smut

3. Sensual Politics — jeong Yunho

part of swift classics series collab with @yourdreamsyourwish-2

summary: set in the 1970’s, you push your way through the obstacles to enter the country's most prestigious law school. With your head on straight, you meet a shy, handsome boy in your major, and fall into a sweet love that you hoped would last forever and ever.

genre/au: more than friends, less than lovers, college au, 1970’s

4. If We Were Vampires — kang yeosang

summary: while living out the last of your sickly days, you begin to wonder how your life would be if you were a vampire. Living forever with the love of your life sounds delightful, but one nightmare changes your whole perspective. Knowing that this can’t go on forever makes it much more special.

genre/au: angst, melodrama, some fluff, smut

based on the song 'if we were vampires'

5. We fell in love in July — Choi San

summary: as the daughter of the notorious underground fight club owner, you’ve had to deal with a fair share of crazy fighters—and there’s one you hate the most. He’s brutal, has no class, and is a certified dickhead. But after a drunken kiss…it’s impossible to see him in the same light as before…

genre/au: smut, slight angst, enemies to lovers, fight club au, grumpy-sunshine

6. Astrophilia — park seonghwa

part of swift classics series collab with @yourdreamsyourwish-2

summary: with only a month left after being diagnosed with cancer, you meet a mysterious man on your train to nowhere. He offers you an ultimatum—you can be pain free for your remaining days if you teach him how to love, as it guarantees both his salvation and your comfort.

genre/au: supernatural au, terminal illness au, angst, fluff

7. Blissful Ignorance — choi jongho

summary: Jongho is the all-star on the University’s basketball team, but as his grades start to drop, he is about to fall from the heights. As he struggles to raise his grades, you swoop in to save him from the fall as his tutor. Despite him being the man of your dreams, you act like you hate him and everything about him. As he falls for you despite your ignorance, he begins to question who he is and where his priorities lie.

genre/au: enemies to lovers, reverse academic rivals, university au

8. Everywhere, Everything, You. — jung wooyoung

summary: love is a tricky word for you and wooyoung. you grew up together, shared your firsts together, and as the years went on, you both went your separate ways. when you meet again, everything in you craves for his love. everywhere you go, everything reminds you of him. Can you let yourself fall once again, even when the future isn't guaranteed?

genre/au: angst, fluff, smut

9. Savior Complex — kim hongjoong

summary: Your life wasn't worth living anymore. After a night of drinking alone, you find yourself on top of your apartment building, ready to risk it all. Suddenly, you are tackled to the ground by a pizza delivery boy, who looks even more upset than you were. Now, ever since then, he is hell-bent on making sure you're okay—following you around to protect you as if his life depended on it.

genre/au: strangers to lovers, angst, smut

10. Tis the Damn Season — kim hongjoong

summary: as you arrive in your hometown for the holidays, you run into the only boy you ever loved. Knowing that this time of the year was rough for both of you, you promise to spend the weekend together one last time, giving both your families a little hope for the future.

genre/au: old flame au, holiday au, angst, smut, slight fluff

Hope these interest you!!!! I’m currently working on a few of them more than others, so hopefully they’ll be out soon!!

[booperbeanv3]

🔥 Dirkjake?

UNPOPULAR OPINION: ohhhhhhh my god dirkjake. *groans* there;s something deeply wrong with most dirkjake fans

okay so i like dirkjake. it's awesome. good dirkjake content is really good but BAD dirkjake content is REALLY FUCKING BAD two reasons

putting too much faith in Jake English

Trying to enhance Jake's vocabulary to sound less embarrassing; they're trying to make him too sexy, too romantic, too wistful and charming.

Like, that's who Jake WANTS you to believe he is. Congrats, you fell for the oldest trick in the book here.

Basically people are writing him to be smooth and adventurous when that's just the persona he wants to project to other people. Also, I think the teaboo fascination with exquisite English accents does not help this either. Even in recent fics I see him throw around stuff like "clementine" and shit. Just because him and Dirk are lovers now does not mean they'll stop their brospeak. TO ME.

Like I know Jake has more of this transatlantic thing going on and is therefore stuck in this little period of sexy Hollywood movies and stuff but like... *retch*. No one's actually gonna swoon for you if you pull out the "sugarplum" on them.

Speaking of,

2. too much ushy-gushy shit

Pumping up the prose with so much fucking purple it makes my lungs burst with lavender clouds. And all that sticky gooey shit, it's like hazing honey straight into my fucking trachea. This goes hand-in-hand with the first point because the stuffier the narrative, the stuffier the English.

"BUT IT'S ROMANTIC! Don't you love romance?"

Please. I'm suffocating under all this perfume here.

Like... You're taking this too seriously, mate. Chill out. Roll your shoulders back. I love a tragic love story, but melodrama isn't my thing.