#jean is a very easy character to hate if you know nothing about him. & you know what they say. easy target doesn’t make for a good practice

[cryptdfish]

“white mourning.”

[talaok]

An idea for pedro and reader

They are in a relationship and live together. The reader is also an actress. She asks pedro to practice her lines with her. In the play, she is having a really long line, breaking up with the person ans leaving them... pedro can't continue... at night in bed they are cuddling and pedro talks about how he hated the feeling or the thought of the reader ever leaving

Pairing: Pedro Pascal x reader

a/n: ahh this is amazing how do you come up with stuff like this

"I know that face," he said, busting you immediately as you emerged from the bedroom.

He was sat on the couch, lazily half-reading something on his phone.

"what is it sweetheart?" he asked, as with a soft click, his phone went black

You bit back a smile "How do you know there is something?"

"Because you're very easy to read" he explained "Now tell me what you need"

"Excuse me? I'm not easy to read" you gasped

"No?" he asked rhetorically "Then what's up with the script in your hand?"

You glanced down at the papers between your fingers, feeling a soft veil of defeat land on top of you.

"Fine" you gave up, "Can you help with a scene?"

It wasn't unusual for you to run lines with each other, god only knows how many times he made you go through that scene from The Last of Us...

"of course" he nodded "What's it about?"

"Break up scene," you told him as you joined him on the sofa "I just feel like I'm missing something" 

"What?"

"well I don't know" you laughed "That's why you're here"

"All right," he said, as you handed him the script.

"You just have to read the ones not underlined" you pointed to the paper

"Can do" he smiled, watching as you stood from the couch and ran your hands soothingly down your jeans.

"ok" you breathed closing your eyes for a moment to get in character.

Pedro took it as his cue to start

"baby I love you" he murmured as written.

"And I-" you stopped, your forehead creasing as if your next words physically pained you "I... I don't know if I do anymore" you spoke "I don't think so"

"what are you saying?" Pedro read again, his tone more clipped now, but you were too focused on your performance to notice the way his eyes had changed, had... saddened.

"I'm saying I don't feel that spark anymore, that-that I miss walking faster when I come home because I know that's where you are, that I can't remember the last time my heart swelled like it did on our first date"

Three long beats passed, before Pedro realized that was his cue

Something was happening inside of him.

He knew this all was fake, but a part of him couldn't help but wander on its own... sure it's just a scene now, but it's so real, people fall out of love constantly, and you- well, Pedro realized for an interminable, terrifying moment, that you weren't immune to it, that what was happening to Jeff in this scene could very well happen to him any day now.

He had always known he didn't deserve you, that you were too much, too perfect, too good, too kind to be with him.

And for the first time in a while, a dreaded thought crossed his mind.

What happens when she realizes it?

"Rose" he called, pulling himself out of his own thoughts

"I know" you sniffled, your eyes filled with tears now "I'm sorry jeff-I really am- I don't know what happened, I don't know what's wrong with me, I just know... I just know I don't love you anymore... I can't bring myself to anymore"

And that was it.

Pedro had to glance out the window to take his mind off of whatever was happening.

"It's perfect" he said, after taking a lungful of air "There's nothing missing sweetheart, you nailed it"

"but" you stuttered "the scene is not done baby, there's still-"

"I know" he shook his head, closing the script.

He didn't want that thing in his hands anymore

"But trust me it's perfect, you don't need any more practice"

"a-are you sure?" you asked, wiping away a leftover tear  

"I am" he nodded "don't worry, you were incredible" he forced a smile "as always"

You grinned now "Oh well, if the Emmy nominee says so..." you considered, sitting back next to him "I guess I'm gonna have to believe you"

__ __ __

the rhythmic thumps of his heartbeat were the only sound you could hear from your place on the bed.

You were curled up against him, your head on his chest, and his fingers playing with your hair as his ability to emanate warmth better than any thermostat ever could, proved itself once again even on such a cold winter night.

"You've been quiet today" you finally spoke the thought that had been eating at you for hours.

He really had been.

When he didn't answer, you looked up at him, stopping drawing circles on his belly.

"Is something wrong?" you asked, wishing you could have had a clearer image of his face than the one the soft streetlamp from outside the window granted.

"No sweetheart, nothing's wrong," he said... but there was something in his tone that felt off.

You propped yourself up on your elbows to meet his gaze.

"You know, I'm not the only one who's easy to read..." you murmured gently, as your right hand went to stroke his pecs soothingly "You can tell me whatever it is, you know?"

A beat passed, and then two, as silence spread around the darkness of the room

"I know baby, it's just" he sighed "it's stupid"

"I'm sure it's not" you reassured him "and it's not like I haven't told you my fair share of stupid things" 

He let out a weak chuckle.

"c'mon" you urged sweetly

He looked at you for a moment, before finally making up his mind.

"it's just- " he breathed "the scene you wanted my help with..."

"what about it?" you asked, after he didn't finish the sentence.

"I-It made me think"

Oh shit, your heart faltered, was he about to break up with you?

"That that could happen in real life too, you know?" he swallowed thickly "that one day you could stop loving me"

Oh

"oh"

"and the thought of you leaving... of- of not having you by my side anymore... it just- I wouldn't know how to do it"

"Baby" you whispered, "what are you talking about?" 

"you're too good for me y/n, and I guess I'm just scared that one day you'll realize it and just... leave"

"stop" You placed a hand on his lips to silence his nonsense "Baby, that was just a scene from a play"

"Yeah but stuff like that happens"

"well not to us" you promised "You're stuck with me forever, pretty boy, whether you want it or not"

"but-"

"no" you stopped him "no but. Pedro I love you" you breathed "I love you so much it actually hurts sometimes. So no, I'm not leaving"

You could now hear his heartbeat even if your ear wasn't placed above it anymore.

he looked at you, really looked at you, and slowly you watched the doubts melt from his irids.

"thank you" he said simply, leaning closer to you "and baby…I love you more"

[sweetbillwriting]

The Key To His Heart - VIII

Characters: AU Bill Skarsgård where his life changes in 2013 and later 2019.

Setting: L.A, 2024 but in an alternative universe with Bill having a completely different life.

Warnings: 18+, NSFW, heavy themes.

Bill sat on one of the couches in the living room, leaned back with closed eyes, and sighed a third time. Opposite him sat Herman, who chewed his lips. None of them had so much to say now that they had talked with Sandra. She refused to go silent and threatened to tell all of the girls about him and Sienna. If she did, Bill wondered how much he would be forced to pay for a broken contract. The producers had been nice to him, given him a chance to fix it all, but if he didn't, the contract would be followed.

“You must talk to her,” said Herman, causing Bill to look up. Bill furrowed his brows.

“No? I can't do that. She hates me; I will just make it worse!”

“I think she would listen more to you, you know, because she can see you're in love and doesn’t want to come between two lovers.”

Bill scoffed and shook his head.

“That's a nice thought, but it isn't realistic. She is too mad to pick ‘the side of love.’”

Herman sighed.

“Precious will continue to talk to her then. Tonight at the ceremony, two will leave. Do you know which ones you want to leave?”

Bill shrugged his shoulders indifferently.

“You can choose.”

Herman wasn't surprised that Bill was so indifferent to it all because in his head the game was already over, and he knew what girl would get the last key. Herman wasn't even surprised that was how it all unfolded. He had known from the start Bill didn't really fit the TV concept but was too high on the thought of a fairly known name being a part of the show, but now it bit him in the ass. Bill was never there to do TV, and those rules would always play second to him. He looked at his friend pulling up his phone from his jean pocket and saw a light pull in the corner of his mouth. Herman smiled a little too, because it was obvious Bill had gotten smitten with the girl so fast.

×××

The orangery was a hot because the sun shined in through the windows the whole day, and Bill could feel how his khaki-colored t-shirt got stuck to his back when he sat in the armchair. In front of him was a camera with a cameraman behind it and Precious on the left side of it.

“So you say that you maybe feel something for Sienna, that you're not sure, okay?”

Bill nodded a little but furrowed his brows. They had started to cook up something to give Sandra a reason to leave. Finally, Precious had convinced her to leave, but she had two demands: that she wouldn't leave the same episode she came back and that they would show in the program that she wasn't fooled by Bill, that she understood he had someone else. Bill didn't really know how it all would work out in the end but noticed that the production had a plan, so he let them handle it.

He said his line as easily as an actor, and then they let him be. Bill pulled out his phone as soon as they had finished and smirked towards the screen before answering Sienna's message. He was in a love bubble, all so nice, but it can also be easy to forget everything else and not question what people are doing around you.

×××

Tiffany.

Rose.

Sandra.

Esmeralda.

Maria.

The ceremony felt hollow for Bill. It was just a play, even if he was the only one who acted. Or Sandra did too, but not very well. She didn't even look at him, and he wondered if the other women had noticed. Some of them did, but instead they wondered if the two of them tried to hide something else. Esmeralda looked at him worriedly when she walked up to him. He had said her name second to last. She really thought she was a favorite. Bill tried to smile neutrally like nothing was weird, but she looked at Tiffany and wondered what she had done right.

Violet and Odette stood left behind; Bill looked around uncomfortably because the both of them cried. He didn't want to hurt any of them, but he would have done so even if he hadn't met a girl in secrecy. It was a part of the concept, more or less. While some of the girls comforted Odette, Violet stood a bit to the side, and Bill thought to himself that Sienna had never let her stand alone like that because he could remember that she had been one of them who checked the other girls regardless of their relationship. He walked up to Violet, who looked at him hurt but still followed him when he made a gesture to the porch.

“You never even gave me a chance,” she said between her sobs and dried her tears with a napkin she had gotten from Precious behind the camera. Bill licked his lips and looked around. He scratched his elbow and then mustered up the courage to look at her.

“I'm sorry for that, but our values are really different from each other.”

“I think you've listened to gossip! The other girls have been really mean to me!”

Bill looked at her with big eyes; it was sad she had felt like that even if she seemed to have encouraged it.

“That's awful that you feel like that, but my decision is based on what you've said to me. I haven't let anyone affect me.”

For a short second he thought about Sienna. She had affected him but not in the way that was discussed right then and there.

“I'm sorry, Violet.”

She continued to cry, but Bill didn't even have the thought of giving her a hug. He had lost a bit of the ability to be a part of the presence.

Bill was forced to let her cry alone because he had another woman to talk to and walked in to search for Odette. She stood with Tiffany, still drying her tears with a napkin. Bill walked doubtfully up to her side, and she smiled sadly.

“Second time around… I have not missed that you're not interested in me.” She laughed a little and shook her head. Tiffany took some step back, but Bill tried to get Odette to come with him to the deck, but she refused.

“Have the same talk again? No, thank you. I get it, Bill. The only thing I can't get is who of them you're actually interested in. I think we all thought Esmeralda, but something has changed there.”

Esmeralda, who stood close by, started to listen carefully, even walking a bit closer to them.

“We all said it earlier tonight: you're pulling away; you don't even seem to be interested in being with us. Are you gay or something?”

Bill looked at her stunned, then laughed a little at her question. It sounded forced, and it could be interpreted as him actually being gay, and she called him out.

“I'm not gay.” Bill looked around at the women, meeting Sandra's eyes. He shook his head and put his hands on his hips. He could see that all of them analyzed him, checking for signals, and he felt the pressure in his chest worsen for every second.

“Fuck it. I've met the woman I want to be with.”

×××

It was silent, completely silent, between both the girls and the crew until Herman stood up.

“Hey, hey, hey! Bill!” He said in panic and walked up to his friend with waving hands. Bill could see on his face it was him he was worried about, what this would do to him and his wallet, but Bill couldn't shut up anymore.

“I can't do this anymore, Herman. I'm not this kind of person, and this is my decision.” He looked into Herman's panicking eyes, then towards the women that all looked at him in confusion. All of them were there except Violet, and they wanted an answer. Bill dragged a hand over his face, then turned to them with a beating heart.

“I've met a woman. It was unexpected and confusing... And… It's Sienna.”

The tension lay down like a thick blanket over the room. No one said anything; everyone looked at Bill, and he really tried to keep a straight face. Of course he was ashamed, but he didn't want to look like he had done something wrong. He had fallen in love; he hadn't promised the women anything, and the concept was that they would compete for his love. The only thing that had happened was that one woman had won.

“Sienna..?” Said Maria suddenly, and Bill looked at her confused face. “Wait, Sienna who left?”

Bill nodded but then reminded himself to not act like he was ashamed.

“Yes. Sienna, who left.”

He looked at Maria with his full attention to not seem weak, but because of it he missed that Esmeralda turned her back to him and ran towards the door and was followed by Odette. He just saw their backs disappear out of the room. He didn't have anything to say and stood with his mouth open like a dead fish. He had just fallen in love.

“Still you continued this charade!” Sandra suddenly said, upset. She had probably had those feelings in her body all night because now when they left her body, the anger sparked like fire from her. Bill could feel the shame grow now because he hadn't thought about that at that moment. He was too busy trying to tell himself his behavior was okay and missed that he had lied to them all.

“I'm sorry… It wasn't planned and then... Fuck…”

He knew he would sound awfully selfish if he said he did it because of money, but it was a lot of money, and in that moment the anxiety that he would pay that money started to haunt him.

“I fell in love.”

The words left his mouth before he had thought about it, and when he heard them, it felt like he also told himself about his feelings. He was in love with Sienna, and the mess was because he already loved her. He looked at the women's faces. Tiffany looking at him with big eyes, Maria with shiny eyes, and Sandra with anger. The only one who didn't look like his words were horrible was Rose, who smiled a little sadly.

“Oh…” she said after a while, then looked at the other women. They looked like they wanted answers, but she didn't want that. It was a disappointment that Bill had chosen another woman, but it was something she also was prepared for, and she liked Sienna. She was kind with silly humor.

“I think I go then…” she said and smiled a bit strained to Bill. He looked down at the floor before nodding and looking up.

“I'm sorry…”

Rose shrugged her shoulders and walked to the room she had lived in.

“We kissed…!” Maria suddenly said, before Bill had really understood Rose had left. “We kissed; did you think about her then?” She wiped away an angry tear while looking at him intensely. For a few seconds, Bill tried to remember how it all had unfolded. He hadn't imagined Maria being Sienna, but he had her in the back of his mind, still confused over what he felt.

“No…”

It sounded doubtful, and he could see Maria swallow harshly, like her anger was rising from her belly up her throat.

“When did this start? When did you start to fool us all?” She sounded just as upset as Sandra, and Bill dragged his hands through his hair before he put them on his head with threaded fingers. To all the girls’ annoyance, his white shirt rose with the movement, and they could see sharp lines travel down to black boxer elastic. It was just one more thing that made Maria break, and with her hands in front of her face, she cried so her shoulders bobbed.

“Maria…” Bill said empathetically, thinking about walking up to her, but she pulled away and instead removed her hands from her face and looked at him with red eyes.

“I really thought you were one of the good guys…” She turned on her heel and walked out of the room; now it was just Tiffany and Sandra left.

Bill dragged his hands over his face, down to his neck. The shame started to become anxiety, and he felt the need to be alone and leave the problems behind, but he knew it would make everything even worse, so he stayed in the same place, just waiting on the other girl's accusations.

Sandra stood and looked at him unamused, like he had lost his worth and now was just a silly excuse of a man. She crossed her arms and shook her head.

“You're such a fucking asshole. I hope Sienna realizes that too, but maybe she's just as bad as you.”

Bill didn't have any energy left and didn't know what to say or do, so instead he sat down in one of the couches with a defeated look. He leaned his elbows on his knees and let his head hang between his shoulders. Sandra scoffed at him and gave Tiffany a look, but she looked away. Sandra clicked her tongue and looked at her up and down but then left the living room, stomping with her high heels.

Bill sat with his head low and eyes pushed together, so he thought both women had left. That's why he was surprised when someone lighter than him sat down next to him and laid her hand on his upper arm. He looked to the side and met Tiffany's brown eyes looking back at him. She caressed his biceps in silence for a while, until Bill's face became more and more confused.

“Are you okay?” She asked, hugging his bicep. Bill looked still confused and looked her up and down. He didn't deserve any comfort and wondered if this was something else. He nodded just a little to see what she would do next. She nodded too and combed back his hair with long, slim fingers. He didn't feel completely comfortable with her doing such an intimate act, but at that moment he didn't want to stir up anything.

“I'm a bit surprised.” She lowered her gaze but looked up at him again. Bill nodded; his tongue felt stiff as wood, so he couldn’t physically get a word out.

“You know… Sienna made fun of you sometimes.”

Bill was first confused but then remembered that Herman said she would do faces towards the camera, mocking him. He hadn't thought about that since he and Sienna started to talk, and the question came back then about what she had actually done.

“I don't think she was here for the right reason… I'm probably wrong, but she seems to need money?”

Bill looked out over the room, thinking about Sienna's small apartment, her son with special needs. Her past as a mistress. He cleared his throat and looked towards the camera. He was so used to the camera now he hadn't acknowledged it until then. He breathed deeply, and Tiffany dragged her hand over his back, but he tensed up in discomfort, and she pulled away.

“Do you need some time alone? She asked kindly, and he turned to her with sensitive eyes. Once again she stroked his hair, and Bill pulled back.

“I'm sorry, but yeah, I need to be alone.” He stood up on weak legs, all shaky after it all. He gave Tiffany an apologetic smile before walking up to his bedroom.

Bill lay down in the king-size bed with a sigh and with a tired hand on his forehead. It felt like his head would explode after all the screaming, tears, and accusations. He wished he could take an aspirin, but there wasn't any in his bedroom, and he didn't want to go down anymore. He didn't want to meet anyone, the women, or anyone from the production team either. His feelings were everywhere, and he didn't know how to calm them down.

There was a knock on the door, but he refused to open it, and the door was locked from the inside. He knew it was Herman, his friend and producer, and he had destroyed everything for him also in just 30 minutes, but he couldn't care about that at that moment. He thought about Sienna, the angry women, the money, his reputation, his daughters… He should have kept quiet, but it was just too much to bear. He couldn't say how it happened, but in his anxiety he succeeded in falling asleep but woke up when his phone vibrated under him. He didn't even remember he had it in bed but pulled it out and looked at it. Two missed calls from Sienna and two messages.

Hey, can I call you?

I tried to call, but you didn't pick up. You can call when you have time, Mom is babysitting.

He felt something in his chest but couldn't say what at that moment. He sat up, leaned against the headboard, cracking his back and stretching his arms. He took a deep breath before taking his iPad and video calling Sienna. She picked up so fast he wondered if she sat and waited on his call, but he had other things to think about when he saw her. She sat in a baby blue silk kimono with perfect hair and makeup and smiled at him brightly as soon as she saw him, but it fell and became a worried face.

“Hey baby, are you okay?”

Bill looked at her with a fluttering heart and smiled uncertain. He looked away while scratching his eyebrow and then nodded even if what he said would go against it.

“I told them. In front of the camera, I spilled it all.” He laughed unamused, and Sienna could see his Adam's apple bob. She looked at him surprised but then worriedly.

“Oh my god, Bill…” It just came out; she didn't want to make him even more anxious, but the news was unexpected.

“They got mad; some cried… And I guess the production is angry as fuck.”

“But how do you feel?” Sienna examined him with furrowed brows. Bill looked down, then lay down in bed, on his side with the iPad in front of him. He laid his head on the soft pillow while looking between Sienna and the ceiling.

“I dunno… I guess it wasn't that smart..."

Sienna didn't say anything, and maybe there wasn't much to say.

“And Tiffany said a thing, a thing Herman had said before… About you.”

Bill examined her face now while her face shifted to confusion.

“Okay?”

Bill took a deep breath and changed his position but continued to look at her.

“They say you've made fun of me. Mocking me in front of the cameras.”

Sienna didn't say anything; she just looked around the room she was in. Bill didn't know how to interpret her behavior and became more and more nervous about her silence.

“Is it true?”

Sienna looked at him and pulled on the kimono, covering herself more.

“What do you think?” She looked at him seriously with big eyes. Bill looked at her beautiful face, and felt his first impulse was to just say no and apologize, but he had the chance to talk about it now, and he needed to know.

“No, but I want to know if there is a reason why they say that.”

Sienna sighed and looked at him in shame.

“I… I didn't think you would pick me. You were completely uninterested in me, so when I was with a couple of the girls, I just... Imitated your pose. You know, the one where you clasp your hands in front of you and lower your chin…”

Bill looked at her first with a serious face, but it transformed to a smirk slowly.

“That's it?”

“And when we were at the fitness center, I bit my lip in a like, horny way when you came out in your swim trunks. And I might have done a little silly dance when you walked away from me to be with Esmeralda. Just a little ‘bye-bye dance.’”

Sienna looked so shameful, but Bill just smirked. He knew she could be silly like that, sing and dance and make faces. He loved her for that, and that she had done the same thing but without him knowing wasn't anything big; it was even quite cute.

“I'm sorry…” she said, not seeming to notice Bill was smirking. “I really didn't think I would get to stay when we were at the fitness center; you just left me there in the pool.”

Now it was Bill who was ashamed, both because he had left her and also for the shallow reason why he had let her stay.

“You looked so fucking good…”

“Hmm?” Sienna really didn't seem to have heard what he said, and Bill pulled his hair because he knew he would need to say it again.

“Right then and there I was more interested in Esmeralda, but… You looked so good in that red bikini. You were the hottest…”

“You mean I got to stay because I looked good in a bikini?” She tried to sound upset, but the laugh was too close.

“I must go on something! And yeah, you looked good in a bikini!” Bill defended himself but was just as amused as her. “You were mocking me!”

“Oh please, you deserve it! Stop looking so silly then! And be a pathetic man!”

Bill smiled big and sat up again, forgetting all his problems while looking at Sienna and her baby blue kimono.

“What's under the kimono?” He suddenly asked with a smirk and made Sienna give him a pointed but amused look.

“Panties.”

“Can I see?” He smirked playfully and got a laugh out of Sienna.

“You accused me of being a bitch, more or less, and now you want to see my panties?”

Bill smiled his most boyish smile, showing off every dimple in his face, and made Sienna laugh again and shook her head with love, then she placed the iPad on the bed so she could stand up and let the kimono fall. He looked at her with big eyes, still smirking, so pleased, like everything that happened earlier had blown away. He looked at every curve, tan line, and the black lacy panties.

“Pull them off,” he said with a low, dark voice and dragged his hand over the front of his pants.

×××

“I'm happy doing my service,” said Sienna and did a little salute after having wrapped the kimono around herself again. Bill smirked while tossing away a napkin on the floor. He lay in just boxers now, and for a few minutes his mind was completely calm until the anxiety started to creep up on him again. Sienna could see how he drifted away to heavier subjects and felt her own guilt rise.

“This is my fault too and… I really want to help; maybe I can loan some money-” Bill turned his gaze to her fast.

“No. No. No. This is my contract, not yours, and… No.” He shook his head.

“There must be a solution to this; maybe I’ll just sell my soul or something…”

Bill nodded to himself as he lay down. He looked at Sienna and let her hazel eyes comfort him. It felt like he was in a safe space when she was close, even through just a screen. He let her calm him down and forget it all for a while. What he didn't know was that several of the women were still in the house, and one of them had heard him moan together with a girl in his room.

“I remember that; yeah, I know you can handle all of me, dirty girl.”

×

[unnamed-locomotive]

getaway car.

pairing: Carmen Berzatto x gn!OC (or reader with a name)

description: eikka’s bad night at the bear is carmen’s best

warnings: nothing besides the way i mischaracterized everyone including my own character

notes: i hate this lol. eikka is my oc for the bear, but for the sake of posting, eikka is written entirely as gender neutral.

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

Pacing back and forth, burning a track into the floor. That’s what Carmen was doing before tonight’s service. This could’ve been solved if they kept their fixed menu, like they had planned. If Carmen didn’t take everything he and Sydney, mainly Sydney, had built and thrown it away.

Maybe an Italian menu. It was easy.

‘You don’t deserve easy. You know to be better than “easy”. Get ahold of yourself.’

He had managed to pull something complicated enough together. It was still Italian, but challenging enough that he would stop berating himself so harshly he could feel the air getting stuck in his throat.

It was seconds before showtime, and Sydney could feel her anxiety settling in for the next few hours until close. Until she’d have tomorrow to worry about too. Carmen was being a right twat, as always, and it continued through the night. It hit a high when Richie tried sneaking out a free slice of chocolate cake for a customer.

“We can’t fucking be giving these things away, Richie! Cicero’s already been up my ass about the fucking super-soaker bullshit. Put it down!”

As always, Richie said “Fuck you!” and took it out to the table anyways.

The table was a couple. Well, two people on a date. Or technically, a douchebag and a person putting up them solely to get their meal paid for.

The guy was a Class A Jackass, and it was obvious from simply watching him speak. He had seemed cute enough at the bar Eikka was peer pressured to go to. He was all blushes and stutters, and Eikka had found it endearing. Now, he was spitting some crybaby nonsense about how his ex was a “good for nothing whore” for having male friends other than just him.

This idiotic rant wasn’t the first thing to make Eikka dream of an alternate reality where this Friday night was spent home alone playing some Red Dead Redemption 2 and nursing a homemade margarita.

It started with the cab.

“You realize it’s more cost efficient to drive a car, right?”

‘It’s Chicago. How about using your gas money on a new and less fugly pair of jeans?’

Then it was the hand on the thigh.

‘We just met. What’re you awkwardly reaching across the cab for?’

“I’m taking you to this reservation I’ve had for a while. It’s this new place that opened up. It’s called ‘The Bear’.”

“Oh, that sounds cool. I think I’ve heard of it. It’s really fancy, right?”

“The term is ‘High-end’.” This comment ensued the first hidden eye-roll of the night.

“So why are you taking me here if you’ve had the reservation for a while?”

“My mom was supposed to go with me, but she was tired of going with me places.”

‘Oh my god. Calm down. They’re just close. It’s fine. Give him a chance.’

“You hang out with your mom a lot?”

“Yeah, I haven’t moved out yet. I’m saving for a house.”

“How big of a house are you wanting?” The first question of the night he elected to ignore.

When Eikka went to pay for the “oh so expensive” cab ride, the man insisted on paying for everything that night.

Eikka bit back the sarcastic remark about saving his money for his mansion.

Eikka ended up paying for tip on the cab. ‘Maybe he doesn’t know you’re supposed to tip. It’s clear he’s been living under a rock, or his mother, his whole life.’

A very long hour later of Eikka being forced to eavesdrop on the table next to them for some sort of entertainment, the man left for the bathroom.

It didn’t matter how agreeably nice the place was, Eikka‘s forehead was down on the table, praying to gain a strong enough mean streak to just bolt. Like all the others Eikka had ever sent up, it wasn’t answered.

Richie had been noticing the tension at the table since they walked in. It was his job, and the fact that it was blatantly obvious Eikka didn’t want to be there made it easier to tell as well.

“Are you alright? I’m sorry, I know it’s none of my business, but I can’t help but notice you’re not having a good time.” Richie said on one of his many sweeps.

“I’m alright. It’s not the food, it’s-“ Eikka paused, sighing, “Date’s not going well. At all. But really, this place is amazing, you’ve been excellent and the food is honestly the best thing I think I’ve ever had in my life.”

“But the date’s ruining it?” Richie asked with a smile.

“Oh, absolutely. I mean, this guy-“

“Oh, I’ve been able to tell.” Richie speaks, making them both laugh.

“This guy has to be one of the biggest pieces of work I’ve ever met, or at least tolerated this long. Man, this guy- I- I apologize for him… being the way he was with his order.”

Richie smiled empathetically at Eikka, “It’s alright, it’s my job. I’m not allowed to make your whole meal free, but let me see what I can do.”

“Oh, you don’t need to-“ Eikka starts protesting frantically, but Richie’s already headed off.

Carmen’s yelling at Richie as he heads out the door. He leans back to see what the hell Richie thinks he’s doing, when he sees Eikka. Sitting alone at the table, drinking red wine and looking around. Carmen freezes for precious seconds, his gaze unfaltering as the doors swing back and forth. Eikka was by far the most gorgeous thing he’d ever seen. Denmark was no comparison.

Eikka suddenly notices Carmen looking through the doors, but by then it’s too late, and the doors have shut. Eikka has looked off, sulk evident in every feature. Carmen blinks and focuses back on his plating. Both pairs of blue eyes have moved on.

Richie sets the chocolate cake down on the table. Eikka looks up at him like he was hand-delivered by some deity.

“You really don’t need to do that. Really, at least let me pay for it.”

“No, no. I want you to enjoy your time here,” Richie leans down a little and whispers, “Even if it means ignoring the jagoff in front of you.”

Eikka laughs softly with a wide smile. The beautiful smile manages to stay there, even as Richie walks away to another table and tonight’s godforsaken date sits back down.

“There’s that smile. Haven’t seen it all night.”

“That would be because you’re a dick.”

“Excuse me?”

“What? I didn’t say anything.”

“Yes, you did. You just-“

“Jason, are you alright? I didn’t say anything. Maybe you were hearing from a table over.”

“Oh… um, yeah, I’m alright. Where’s that waiter with my check?”

Eikka takes a bite of the cake Richie brought, and it was probably better than all the sex Eikka’s had in the past six months. Combined.

“Oh, honey— I was wondering, can I get another chocolate cake to go? A full one?”

“You need a full one?” Eikka surpresses the offended scoff and nods.

“Yeah, I’d love to bring one to your mom when we go back to your place tonight.” Eikka winks. Jason immediately orders another cake.

Once the check had been paid, the bottle of wine gets emptied into the glass nearest Eikka.

“You’re supposed to savour it,” he says as Eikka chugs the glass down.

“You’re supposed to be nice. You were supposed to take me out and I was supposed to have a good time. Instead, I had to listen to you bitch the whole evening about every little thing you could possibly bitch about. Your ex sounds like a completely reasonable person, and I commend them for being able to put up with you for as long as they did because in these couple hours, I have found you to be a completely insufferable human being, if you could be called that. You’re a gluttonous pig, leeching off your poor mother and as far as you’ve told me, everyone else around you. If you seriously believe that your significant other can’t talk to other people besides you, then you should never be in a relationship, ever, because in no way could the other person be happy. The only thing I can thank you for tonight is for showing me a great restaurant and reaffirming that I should keep doing my makeup this way because I look fucking stunning. I’m gonna stay and leave a great tip for the waiter that you continuously disrespected throughout our meal.”

Jason’s mouth hangs open.

“I-I paid for this reservation!”

“With Mommy’s money?”

Jason’s face falls flat. He stands and immediately storms out like a child not getting their way. The place was mostly empty by now, giving Richie a good opening to waltz over.

“I take it everything went well?”

“Great. Thanks for the cake…?”

“Richie.”

“Eikka,” Richie stares blankly, “It’s Finnish. Along with my accent?”

“Oh! Ooo, fancy.”

Eikka raises an eyebrow, “You know where you are, right?”

Richie laughs, “Yeah. Yeah, I know.”

He looks around, his gaze stopping on the window into the kitchen.

There’s a moment of silence. Reflective, contemplative. Nice.

“I’m gonna go ahead and take these from you, and I’ll be right back with something,” Richie starts with a small smile, grabbing the dirty plates on the table.

“Oh, no you don’t. You’re not bringing me more free food,” Eikka points his finger at the older man.

“Who said it was food?” Richie asks, beginning to step away.

“What else do you have back there?” Richie catches the comment and laughs with a shake of his head.

Richie pushes the kitchen doors open. Carmen doesn’t look up at him, focusing on starting to close. Sydney just passes him a glance as he crosses the kitchen to be right behind Carmen.

“What’s up, Richie?” Carmen asks, not wanting to be told there’s a problem with anything.

‘If there was, it’d be his fault,’ He thinks childishly.

“Cousin,” Richie starts, hands clasped behind his back appeasingly.

“Aren’t you supposed to be checking on five?”

“Fak’s checking it.”

“That’s not Fak’s table.”

“Would you stop being such a fucking jagoff and just fuckin listen to me?”

Carmen looks up at him finally.

“I want you to come out to this table.”

“Did they ask for me? I don’t have time to talk to tables-“

“Okay, let me rephrase, you’re coming out to this fucking table. You’re gonna fucking talk and flirt and be charming and not an ass, alright?”

“I’m not gonna fucking do that, Richie-“

“Yes, you are-“ Carmen’s trying to yell over him to stop ordering him around, but Richie’s not listening, “Yes! You are! You’re gonna fuckin come out there, you’re gonna fuckin talk to ‘em, you’re gonna be all sorts of sweet and shit because a customer has had a rough night!”

“Fuck you! Like talking to me is gonna make it fucking better?”

“I think you’d fucking hit it off! Just hear me out, cousin.”

“Will you never talk to me about her ever again if I do this?”

“Her?”

Carmen swallows, “Claire.”

“You still need to apologize to her.”

“I said, will you fucking leave me alone about it?!”

“Yes, yes, fucking fine, you fucking asshole.”

Carmen rolls his eyes and shrugs, aggressively gesturing Richie to show him to the table.

Richie walks up to the table to find it empty. He frowns. Carmen’s just about to bitch when Eikka walks back up to the table from the bathrooms.

“Ah, sorry. I had a feeling you were gonna come back out when I went to the restroom.”

“It’s okay! It’s okay- Eikka, meet Carmen. Head chef and owner.”

“Oh- uh- Hi, um,” A hand is extended over the table, “Everything about tonight was astounding,” Eikka couldn’t be more surprised and nervous.

Carmen stares like a deer in headlights, like a man who just saw a miracle take place before his very eyes. Richie smirks and nudges him.

“Thank you,” Richie nudges him again, “Ri- Richie tells me you had a rough night?”

Eikka cringes internally, ‘Richie, why?’

“Uh, yeah. But nothing to do with the food or staff! Just a lackluster dinner partner,” Eikka gives a nervous half laugh, mortified inside.

Richie urges Carmen to sit down at the table with Eikka. Carmen resists, but eventually loses as Richie kicks him in the shin and pushes him down into the chair by his shoulder. He points at him sternly and strides into the kitchen, leaving them alone.

“Uh… a lackluster dinner partner?” Carmen attempts, fingertips nervously going to his lips. Eikka’s eyes track the movement, lingering.

“A bad date,” Eikka confesses, eyes flickering up to Carmen’s.

‘God, he’s beautiful. He looks my age too. I wish he was my date instead of that stupid fuck- Oh my god. Did my waiter just set me up with the chef?’

“Well… I’m sorry about that.”

“It’s okay. It’s not the first and it won’t be the last, most likely. I mean, I’m 25, I’ve probably got a long way to go. Unfortunately.”

“Yeah…” Carmen doesn’t know what to say. It’s clear Eikka doesn’t either.

“Where’s Carmen?” Sydney asks Richie as she strides around the kitchen. The last of the food has gone out and now it’s just a matter of cleanup.

“I sent him out to a table.” Richie states, trying to get a peek out into the dining room with neither Eikka or Carmen noticing.

“You… sent him out… to a table? Richie, what does that even mean? Did they ask to speak to the chef?” Sydney’s face scrunches up in confusion as she picks up different dirty knives.

“Uhh, sure.”

“Richie. What does ‘Uhh, sure’ mean?” Sydney inquires, following him.

“It means don’t fuckin worry about it, Syd.” He barely glances at her over his shoulder before turning back to the window.

“Well, I’m worrying about it, Richie!” She exclaims, sending him a frustrated glare.

“The night’s over, do you really have to keep arguing?” Natalie asks, rubbing her forehead. Spending all this time here was hard on her already, having to listen to the constant bickering. The baby wasn’t any help.

More fighting broke out. The baby was going to come out with a permanent migraine.

“Well, uh, you look good. You’ll probably find someone in no time,” Carmen tries to “flirt” like Richie told him to. He’s never been good at this.

Despite Eikka’s suspicions, the room feels hotter at Carmen’s words, “Thanks. You too- er, um, if you haven’t already. Sorry.”

“Thanks. I haven’t.”

More awkward silence.

“Well, I’m sure you’re probably busy. You don’t have to sit with me. I’m gonna probably get going anyway.” Sure, Carmen was pretty. Nice face. Was Eikka gonna stay and hopelessly flirt at some stranger? No.

“Okay, uh, yeah! You have a better night,” Carmen was already shooting out of his seat. Sure, Eikka was pretty. Nice face. Was Carmen gonna stay and hopelessly flirt at some stranger? No.

Was Richie going to let them? No.

Richie sees them stand from within the kitchen. He quickly rushes out to their table with whatever desert was closest to him. Cannolis.

“Woah, where are we going? I got some leftover cannoli’s here for you both to enjoy together… here we are…” He sets them down on the table, one in front of Carmen and Eikka. He forces Carmen down with another shove to his shoulder.

“Oh no, no, no- You don’t have to-“ Eikka’s beginning to feel extremely guilty about all the free items; probably just as much as Carmen is pissed about it.

“Oh, don’t be stupid! Here, you kids enjoy.”

The first thing the two shared besides awkward silence that night was a confused glare at Richie as he strides away. ‘Kids?’

The next thing would be cannoli’s, apparently.

“Okay, I’m going to just go out and say this. I know this is going to sound so egotistical, but.. if he’s trying to set us up, it’s okay. You can just go back in the kitchen. You’re cute and all, you seem sweet, but I’m sure you’re just trying to get through your night-“

Carmen debates for a second. Part of him is already gearing to leave, but he can hear Sydney and Richie raising their voices at each other in the kitchen, and he’s so tired of the yelling.

“No- no, I’ll stay. Kinda don’t wanna have to go back in there and manage that.”

Eikka laughs, “Understandable.”

A smile creeps its way onto Carmen’s face as he sees Eikka’s face light up.

“Tell me about the date. How’d you get wrapped up into it?”

“Oh god, are you sure you wanna hear about that?” Eikka’s head shakes with mirth.

“As long as it means you’re talking.”

Eikka’s brows furrow, “What’s that mean?”

“It means you’re cute and all.”

Eikka gives the chef a curious look with a slight smirk forming.

“What? You said it first.”

[pyromanicsghost]

I genuinely don't understand why people hate the new season. Spoilers to follow.

To start, the Five and Lila subplot was shit. I won't front - it existing outside of the plot made it easy for me to just act like it didnt happen. Diego and Lila and Five deserved better and it sounds like the actors knew it. But if a bad romance subplot could ruin a whole show, I'd hate a lot more things.

I'm on the fence about Klaus's plot - felt like sidelining him and was questionable. But also a natural part of Klaus's life. Lila had her kids, Allison had Claire, Diego his family, on and on. Klaus's whole life was avoiding being sober and then a huge focus on sobriety. This is his thing. All y'all loved his drugged antics and it gets messy and sad especially when facing it post rock bottom and change.

I see a lot of Ben being unimportant complaints - Ben was always auxilary and a mcguffin there to bond or split the group - Umbrella Ben was a concept, a guilt source, Klaus's conscience, Klaus's id...never a character and dead before the show ever began. Sparrow Ben was literally never part of this family and plot about the family embracing him would have been nice, but him having his own solo quest because he is alone in this world was also fine. Jennifer was a plot device - and in a comic book show about another apocalypse thats not neccessarily a bad thing - especially with a group of dynamic characters I care about on the board.

I see a lot of complaints about the lack of fun villains. What was Sy (I know who was in him but that performance was fun)? Gene and Jean? Those are classic villains that are right up there with the Swedes and the Handler. Hazel & Cha Cha are still standouts but thats not cause these guys sucked.

I see a lot of ending complaints - going from "it was all for nothing" to "it was harmful". If it was harmful for you please be safe and that's a personal decision each time - but also that's media sometimes. It wasn't an irresponisble move like The Magicians or 13 Reasons or other things that just don't consider the audiences needs in order to gain shock value and I don't think they did anything irresponsible with it.

(I am a survivor of unalive attempts, one right after magicians so I get it. And I'm a year sober re: Klaus stuff.)

But, I loved the ending. I don't think it was all for nothing. They saved thier families! They saved everyone! The whole world! Universe! Future and past! Their moms! Hundreds of people who died in their fight to save it, on either side because without the conflict caused by them they're lives were different! I wish the Flash, or Winchesters, or anyone else who keeps ruining lives and causing death and strife sometimes on an apocalypse scale or multiverse timesplit scale had, at literally any point, said "Actually we should value this over my mom/brother/self"...like the scale was apocalyptic. That has a cost. And wow they fixed more than even I hoped. The families? Nice. Hazel and his diner wife are where I got emotional - very nice touch to show everyone.

Why isn't there a kugelblitz? Either the deletion of the timelines and that energy removed the issue Golden Compass style or its a fun comic book show with time assassins and a new element called marigold.. take your pick. It's never been that deep.

The marigolds at the end were probably not thought about as much as anyone on here has. I thought it was just a fun finale goodbye, like getting a bouqet at curtain. I liked that Ben and Lila both had one.

Genuinely confused and had to write to the void and see if I'm alone or crazy. I recommend a lot of people read and watch more media for literacy and stop hoping for plots that are fanservice as they often tank good things and fanfiction and your imagination remain goated, often better, or touch grass and realize the silly fun comic book apocalypse multiverse romp may just be a lil dumb and that's okay...if you read all that I'd love feedback 🩷

And I loved so much more than this stuff! Claire being an actualized young adult and loving her uncle and mom and being a teen? Viktor getting the validation he craved. Diego getting his skills and lust for life back. The fucking cut from baby shark to "He's dying" and so many shots/editing/music choices that highlight the dark comedy this show is.

[lavender-lotion]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

How many works do you have on ao3?

868, which is bonkers???

What's your total ao3 word count?

2,445,126 words! I'm aiming for 5mil within the next decade haha

What fandoms do you write for?

CURRENTLY I am (only) writing teen wolf fic! it's so strange to be back where I started, but it's also been really nice coming back to all these familiar characters

Top five fics by kudos:

1. (baby) maybe that matters more - Steter, 40k

2. The Perceptions of You and I - Seter, 5k

3. With You, I Belong - Stalion, 59k

4. Mates and Marriage Proposals - Steter, 15k

5. Breathing You In - Steter, 29k

... should I just call myself a steter writer at this point?

Do you respond to comments?

yes!! all the time. literally nothing brings me as much joy as comments do

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I reaaaaally don't write a lot of angst, but one of the unhappiest fics I've ever written is probably this one?

And Now? - Stetopher, 300 words

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

there actually isn't one fic I would say that fits this? I primarily write schmoop, so a lot of my fic would count as having very happy endings! p

Do you get hate on fics?

oooooooh yeah babes. I've gotten some mean comments lol

Do you write smut?

yes! not a favourite thing of mine, but I do write it here and there. I recently wrote a fic w/ smut that I really really liked it!

keep me warm in the cradle of your skin - Sterekira, 7k

Craziest crossover:

ooooh this is actually SUCH an easy answer for me! it's 100% this one teen wolf/x-men cross over (possibly my only one?) where Logan (wolverine) knew the sheriff from the way when they'd been lovers and he goes to find him, and stiles is a lil jean grey esque character. I think about this thing allllll the time, too. I freaking love it.

what-ifs (don’t fuckin’ matter to no one) - Logan (X-Men)/Sheriff Stilinski, 2k

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I have actually! I only know of one for sure, and it was a stackson fic that someone had reposted to ao3? im so glad I found it (I think someone sent it to me?) and I was able to report it and get it taken down!

Have you ever had a fic translated?

yes! I love it, it's such a crazy labour of love. if you wanna translate my work, just send me a link so I can see it!

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

me & @flightinflame co-wrote an almando series where we wrote the same fic from different pov's which was a suuuuuper super fun experience! I've started a few other co-writes, but unfortunately they've never taken off and gone anywhere :(

there's nothing i wouldn't do to make you feel my love - Almando, 27k

All time favourite ship?

nope. nope nope nope I don't knowwwwwww

What's a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

oh!! this is marked completed on ao3 now because honestly, I'm never going to finish it, but I love love love the premise of this one and I always wished I had finished it

Love Thy Family - Stilinskicest, 12k

What are your writing strengths?

this is soooo tricky lol I hate talking about myself. I would say probably dialogue! I also really like how I write romance, specifically getting together works, and I think I do a good job at nailing down the feelings that go along with them!

What are your writing weaknesses?

settings. actions. plot. I hate plot!

Thoughts on dialogue in another language?

I used to use a looooot more than I do now, and I would use google translate. it's never GREAT, so I mostly avoid it now. I'll translate like, a single sentence every now and again, but I don't do a lot with it anymore.

as for how I feel about it as a reader - as long as I can figure out what's going on from context clues, I really don't mind it!

First fandom you wrote in?

Percy Jackson & the Olympians!

To Long For Lust - Percico, 3k

Favorite fic you've written?

this is sooooo hard and so unfair and so difficultimpossiblehorrible to answer. if I had to pick one, gun to my head, it would currently be poly fic. it's the longest, plotiest, most developed thing I've ever written, and if nothing else, it's shown me that I can write things I've never imagined being able to write! once im done act 4, I wanna print it out lol

lift our faces, together, towards the glistening - Stisaackson, 159k

@lucky-bishop @mirrorthoughts @thotpuppy @like-lazarus @rosieposiepuddingnpie @kordyceps @whimsicalmeerkat

[rikomoriyama01]

I love media analysis and I saw your discussion questions so...yea sorry about the length. (I'm open to discussion)

Look, I'm new here (been here for about a month) so I wasn't aware people don't like Riko? I personally quite like him as a character and didn't know that's not a particularly popular opinion? But I'm of the firm belief that not all villains are meant to be "redeemable". You can understand or sympathize with their motivations and character, but that's not the same as having redeeming qualities. And I think Riko is one of those characters who doesn't have redeeming qualities. He's supposed to be a hated villain. Heck, his first appearance in the series is literally him swooping in on stage to dark ominous music, dressed in black like a bloody supervillain. He gets all the "classic abusive ex" lines, an obscene amount of power, and some really bizarre unhinged moments (ex. handcuffing Neil to a bed and spitting in his mouth).

We're told right at the top, "Hey, this guy is a villain and he's not going to stop being a villain." So he's pretty easy to hate if you are just trying to get through the story. The last character in a novel I really hated was Professor Lovell in Babel by R.F. Kuang. He's another one of those characters you are meant to hate but you're also meant to comes to hate him slowly. You see him from the eyes of the person he abused so you get to see what it's like for the main character to slowly realize that this man who starts off by saving him and giving him a home is and has always been, a terrible person.

Riko doesn't get that treatment. We see him first from the perspective of someone who has never met him but already hates him (Neil) and second, from the perspective of someone who's suffered him and hated him for a long time and is already done with him (Jean).

If he ever had any good sides, the reader doesn't see them so it's easy to hate him. But I would argue, that's the point. We're supposed to see Riko as the insane abusive ex and we're supposed to wonder along with Neil and Andrew why the fuck Kevin can't let him go. Like, what's so good about this ludicrous supervillain that you can't even shit-talk him behind his back?

But Riko's not actually a one-dimensional supervillain. Neil says it straight up and gets it exactly right (he's kind of just spit-balling but Riko reacts to it like he's been read to filth) -- that Riko was brought up as a commodity and not as a human, that his delusions of grandeur were encouraged and that no one ever wanted him as a human (not his uncle, not his brother, certainly not his father). TSC does a lot to confirm it with descriptions of how he was treated by his uncle and how he obsessed over the letter about Kevin's father along with Kevin.

But ultimately, I think the reason why Riko doesn't get as nuanced a treatment as one might like is because the main conflicts the characters overcome have nothing actually to do with Riko. Neil overcomes fear and mistrust in others, Andrew overcomes his fear of letting himself have anything good. Even Kevin's conflict is more about asserting himself than about fighting Riko. (And Jean has so much trauma, Riko's barely a drop in the bucket.)

Anyway, I like Riko because I think properly sadistic villains are fun and because I think he's an interesting character.

This ask read like very sexy Riko fanfic anon drop your ao3 so I can check something for myself ty, if not let me commission you for some riko writtign after I get cash

[hbyrde36]

Self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love 🖤

oh! so fun, thanks anon!

In no particular order because they are all precious to me:

Steve Harrington: Vampire Hunter

Vampire Eddie Munson, Vampire Hunter Steve Harrington, P.I. Robin Buckley, bad-ass gun toting Nancy Wheeler, VAMPIRE DUSTIN!, Stripper Chrissy Cunningham, and so much more.

My ‘steddie as Anita and Jean-Claude from the Anita Blake novels’ fic. I fucking love this thing. It’s SO FUN. The book series it’s pulled from start out in the 90’s (yes I’m old and I read them when they were originally published🙈) and as much as I love the idea of Vampire Hunter Steve having a beeper, I decided to bring things up to present day (along with quite a few other changes to make it my own, and to fit the steddie vibe). It’s weird and a little challenging writing a fic intermingling two different pieces of media, but I love weaving in and combing elements of each universe's lore, while still maintaining the main beats of the story. If nothing else, read this one for the dream sequences!

2. Caught in the Undertow

Post season 4, Canon Divergent – Eddie lives and Vecna has been defeated.

AKA the sad Eddie fic, or, as i used to call it in my head, 'the passively suicidal Eddie fic'. This was my first foray into the ‘giving my own issues to my blorbos’ thing, although it still seems to be in character for them, I think. Don’t worry, I spread it out between both Eddie and Steve, so they’re both a little fucked up. I loved and hated writing every word of this fic. It was so hard sometimes and I made myself cry more than once, but it was incredibly cathartic. This is the fic I go back to and read parts of more than anything else I’ve written.

3. Times Like These

Time loop, Eddie POV

TLT was my first brain worm, my first ever fanfic, and the first thing I’d written period in a very long time. I had no idea what I was doing, but I was so intrigued by the idea and there weren’t many (any?) Eddie POV time loops on ao3 at that point so it was definitely a little bit of a “fine I’ll do it myself” moment. I was just so curious how it would play out if Eddie, the new guy who knew so little about the upside down, who got thrown into the mix and died all within a single week, were to be the one stuck in a loop. What would he think was happening to him? Would he trust the party enough to tell them? What would he do or change to try and fix things? I think I’ve improved quite a bit as a writer since I finished this, just through sheer practice, but I’m still so very proud of my first baby and think about it often.

4. Life is a Game (and True Love is a Trophy)

Canon was just a crazy homebrew D&D game, sort of.

My second brain worm, this fic lived in my head for 8 months before I had written a single word of it. It all started with the idea that, 'what if all of the events from the show had just been a D&D game played by the boys in Mike’s basement?', and then I ran with it from there. It’s a work in progress and we have still have a ways to go (I’m not sure we’re even at the halfway point yet) but I love how it’s turning out. The response from readers, in comments on ao3 and tumblr, to this one has been very kind and encouraging. It makes it SO easy to work on knowing others love it as much as I do.

5. Thank God we didn’t peak in High School

Friends-with-Benefits to Lovers, Modern Au, life after high school au, no upside down

I wrote this series at the last minute for Steddie Week. Last minute, as in I didn’t even start until several days into the event. I’ve never put out so many words so fast. This fic is loosely based on my own marriage’s origin story, although our beginnings were even more dramatic than this (I felt like I had to tone it down to make it believable). This is the first project that made me realize how fun writing from prompts could be! It’s definitely not my best writing, but the story is fun and cute, a little dramatic and angsty, and as always the boys get their happy ending!

[simba-bonfamille-lyons]

soooo -- i was going to post this playlist when i closed simba, and have been sitting on it for like many many months, adding to it slowly and curating it. but, i realized, it actually fits the task. at least, i think so, because this playlist is my little love letter to swynlake. or, simba's swynlake--which has been a character in his story from the very beginning. she has been, at times, a cruel mistress, but also a guiding light for simba, something for him to orient his compass to.

though, it is a character in all our stories. we all very much love this little magical town. so, this is dedicated to everyone and to swynlake, the arguably, most important character in the RP.

see below for analysis on all the songs bc i have meditated deeply on all of them.

Here I Am - Bryan Adams

Here I am, this is me / I come into this world so wild and free / Here I am, so young and strong / Right here in the place where I belong

Felt right to start this with Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, which is a movie all about home. Protecting it, caring for it, etc. It is a meditation on colonization, environmental conservation, nature, exploitation, and rebellion. Which feels very fitting, as those are the stories many of us take on in the undertones of our characters. And something that Swynlake deals with on a semi-regular basis. Especially since this is Swynlake from Simba's perspective, it also speaks to having been born right here in Swynlake, which is not a thing many people can claim. <3

Gold - The Lone Bellow

It's in my blood, it's in the water / It's calling me still / I could leave, I know I oughta / But there's gold in them hills

There is so many songs about small towns: loving small towns, hating small towns, wanting to leave small towns, returning to small towns...I can think of like five right off the top of my head. (Fast Car, anyone?) But I love this song because it talks about the tug-of-war that one feels to their hometown. Which is something Simba feels. He knows he'll always settle in Swynlake, but he wants to have a life outside of it. The line that really sold me on this song is in the title--so it's kind of the whole concept of the song: "there's gold in them hills." Maybe this is just a simple small town to some, but to others, it is so, so special and it calls to you. <3

BIGGER - Beyonce

Forgiveness is key because we're fightin' something way bigger / You'll never lose, we are winners / I'll be the roots, you be the tree / Pass on the fruit that was given to me / Legacy, ah, we're part of something way bigger

It also felt very appropriate to include a song from Beyonce's Lion King concept album. (Which is nothing but straight bangers and you should listen to it.) But, since Simba's story (and the Lion King) is heavily tied up in Swynlake, I thought this would be a good song to include. Since it is all about legacies and being bigger than yourself. Which is something all of our characters are in Swynlake. Everyone is the main character! Swynlake helps them shine. <3

An Act of Kindness - Bastille

Kindness / Is what you showed to me / It holds me 'till I ache / Overflow and start to break / Oh I, got a feeling this will shake me down / Oh, I'm kind of hoping this will turn me round / And now it follows me every day

This is moving in to phase two of the playlist, which is how Swynlake treats its residents. This song, of course, is about all the little acts of kindness that can turn things around for someone. Very Jean Valjean in the beginning of Les Mis vibes. Lots of people come to Swynlake seeking some sort of salvation or shelter and they are met with the (mostly) wonderful citizens of Swynlake who become their friends and family and help them grow. <3

Heaven Go Easy on Me - The Head and the Heart

It's damn good to have met you / I hope that you stay / We're well on our way

I think this one says very similar things to the last song. It is about going through life and the people you meet, and the things that life throws at you. (In this metaphor, Swynlake is heaven, and you are asking her to go easy on you lmao.)

Pay No Rent - Delta Rae

When my time comes, think of the living / Be good to your neighbor, and ask for forgiveness / I won't be there to share in the struggle / Can't get much deeper with axes and shovels / And if I don't see ya, know that I loved ya / I won't pay no rent / For the land that I'm under / I won't feel any pain / I won't know any hunger

This song is one of those ones that I feel deep down in my soul and it just makes me want to WEEP. It is about dying, of course, but also the things you leave behind and how peaceful things are. The first time I heard it, it also reminded me of this Arabic proverb that I love: "Come live in my heart and pay no rent." Which, even though Delta Rae is a Christian band...I wonder if there is a similar saying/they got inspiration from it anyway. IDK -- I just love this idea of Swynlake taking care of you, even after you've passed on...

Watch Over Us - The Lone Bellow

I don't need no crown / I don't need no glory / You've had your life / But that ain't my story / Sometimes I'm up / Sometimes I'm down / Sometimes I'm almost / Leveled to the ground / But my baby's sleeping / Sleeping in peace / So watch over us

...Which leads perfectly into my next song. I have always loved this song because it has a very...ancestor vibe. (Even though The Lone Bellow is also a Christian band. (Listen, sometimes the Christian folk music just be hitting and I like to appropriate it.) It is a little bit of a sadder song (the back half definitely are more sad because I am thinking about Simba leaving this place that he loves so much...)

Take Off Your Shoes - Delta Rae

Did you ever wonder / What's underneath / Ghosts in every floorboard / That'll touch your feet / When we lose the past / The future's nothing new / When you come to my house / Take off your shoes

This song is actually the first one that I put on the playlist, because it just immediately said "Swynlake" to me when it first came out. (Yeah, I originally added it in Dec of 2022, I told you, I've had this playlist for a long ass time. It's been making me weep all this time.) Anyway, I wanted to add a song that was kind of ooky-spooky, because a playlist about Swynlake wouldn't be complete without a little bit of foreboding, because as loving as Swynlake is, we all know she is also a cruel mistress.

Like a River Runs - Bleachers

When I fall asleep I can see your face / What I lost in you I will not replace / And I could run away, I could let them down / But I will remember your light

This is another one of those kind of more ooky-spooky Swynlake songs. Or, at least, that's how it feels to me. I think this song speaks to the amount of tragic backstories ™️that are in Swynlake. Everyone who is haunted ~~ by their pasts but comes to Swynlake to finally outrun those ghosts. <3

Laughter Lines - Bastille

I'll see you in the future when we're older / And we are full of stories to be told. / Cross my heart and hope to die, / I'll see you with your laughter lines.

I think this song is in nice conversation with the last song. It is also the song I thought about deleting several times, because I feel like it is the most "predictable" to be on this list. BUT -- I just couldn't because it feels overdone and predictable for a reason. This song makes me want to stab myself in the heart!!!! This is the beginning of the end "act" of the playlist: which is Simba talking about how Swynlake will always be where he comes back to. He is leaving, yes, but not forever. <3

Home - Dotan

The sound of the wind is whispering in your head / Can you feel it coming back? / Through the warmth, through the cold, keep running till we're there / We're coming home now, we're coming home now

Another song that kind of borders onto "ooky-spooky" vibes. It is almost haunting in its chorus. It is another song, of course, of returning home. Back to the place that you have left but which is still tangled up inside of you and you can't let it go.

Everywhere, Everything - Noah Kahan, Gracie Abrams

Drive slowly, I know every route in this county / Maybe that ain't such a bad thing / I'll tell you where not to speed / It's been a long year and all of our book's pages dog-eared / We write out the ends on our palms, dear / Then forget to read

We didn't know that the sun was collapsing / 'Til the seas rose and the buildings came crashing / We cried, "Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh" /Everywhere, everything / I wanna love you 'til we're food for the worms to eat / 'Til our fingers decompose / Keep my hand in yours

The first time I heard this song, it made me cry. Maybe I was feeling particularly homesick that day but again: this song speaks to that young person in you who has a place that you spent most of your childhood. Where you know all the streets and all the haunts. And now that you're older, you appreciate that place for what it made of you and you want to show it to the people you love. <3

I Will Always Return - Bryan Adams

I've seen every sunset / And with all that I've learned / It's to you I will always, always return...

And I'm a crying disaster. Thank you for coming to my Ted talk.

[c0rps3g0bbl3r]

I've been ruminating on this more and I don't think I was exact in what I was talking about.

K'Sante is a gay black man whose lore indicates his relationship fell apart because he was too individually-focused. That's totally fine...if he weren't the first canonically gay character in the champion (not runeterra universe mind you) lore. It's an easy way to make sure that it can be removed for areas-and most players who do NOT read lore-to skirt around anti-lgbt laws. It's normal, of course, but it still bothers me that the representation is whether or not you were privy to "this is legit just Lil Nas X as a power fantasy" or the little bit of information in a single, less than a research paper, story.

And, unfortunately, his design really struggles to portray that much queerness because he isn't supposed to be readible as queer. It's about power and aggression, not his dangly earrings and intimacy with his ex-lover. Maybe you could make an argument that his design has queer symbology for his culture, which could be true, but we don't know that. We know nothing about Nazumah as a nuanced society with intense historical, social, and political informative expectations and scripts on being a cisgender gay man. Maybe the earrings mean something, maybe they don't. Who knows? We sure don't.

Hwei, by comparison, is the opposite problem. He is a walking gay icon. The hair, the earrings, the flowy shirt, the skinny jeans, and the rail-thin gay chic is all screaming QUEER like a neon light at a gay bar. It's just all so flamboyant-don't forget the RAINBOW PAINT HE USES- and so in your face it's...frustrating. Because he is not gay. Not canonically anyways. It's instead a design built off of Jhin, one of Riot's most recognizable and well-made champions AND character designs.

It's a response to a character that is a literal psychopathic serial killer. It's the literal starving-for-his-tortured-art artist trope that is not only cliche, but a real dumb response to also a tortured artist trope done a LOT better. Hwei is just what got left on the chopping block for Jhin at some point and you cannot prove to me otherwise.

But...it's the tunic shirt thing that tells me it's not just about responding to Jhin's designs. The pale skin and gaunt frame with an open shirt showing the neck/collar-bones is, uh, a bad queer thing.

Like, I don't think anybody wanted it to read this way, but it works as a remark on HIV/AIDs in a very, very tacky fashion. Especially because there are many queer artists and many queer artists died from AIDs. The intense decay of a person's body is a no brainer in the corpse-colored Hwei when making this analysis, and that's not what made me uncomfortable.

It's the shirt. It's something I grew up around and it gets under my skin. When someone has HIV/AIDs, often there's a physical symptoms early on where your lymph nodes swell and many are located around your neck. It's colloquially called "the pearl necklace (of death)" because it was one of the outward tell-tale signs of having HIV/AIDs. It's not something that we, those who did not live through the crisis, think about unless we were raised in the queer community. I know this is a me thing because I was raised by queers who lived through the crisis, but I just--

Hwei just feels like a perfect storm of inevitability when it comes to covert queerness/queerbaiting. He is exactly and perfectly designed to make gay-hating peoples seem him as an eccentric artist and pull in the gays because they see themselves or our symbols in his design and story.

Which perfectly explains my problems with HEARTSTEEL, especially after reading their dumbass and obviously-cannot-be-real fake Korean tv/radio "interview".

yknow as much as I like more overtly and covert queer representation in league of legends I am not happy with the usage of our historic symbols in co-opted make-a-company-worth-billions-worth-more-billions. Rewriting our existence through commodification of a language and culture lost over and over again is...g r e a t

K'Sante, Hwei, and Heartsteel really get under my skin for different reasons

I want these symbols and stories to matter in a way that inspires young and old queers alike to remind ourselves that our culture is not insignificant nor something to use for the sake of profits. It's something that should be seen as sacred and overwhelming resilient in the face of negligence and genocide. The same goes for the queer sub-cultures like punk and poverty fashion symbols; I hate that we have to compromise for our morals and self-identities to feel "seen" by our favorite corporate overlords.

[blackberry-gingham]

For mental health reasons, I'm going back to my roots and doing imagines again, but this time with my new fixation: the xmen (doesn't mean I won't do fics btw, just that it's not my main content anymore).

Here's X-men with a human s/o

Cyclops

Very chill about it, as with most things

He's one of the biggest believers of "humans and mutants are equal", so he really doesn't even think about the difference between you two

Well, ok, he does in times of danger and crisis tho

He's the type to try and explain that he doesn't think you're weak, per say...

It's just that there are some things and people out here that you simply can't defend yourself against

Scott is naturally protective, but he's just a little more alert for trouble when he's with you

Gambit

Actually, sometimes I feel like he doesn't really consciously identify as a "mutant" tbh

By that I mean, he considers himself to be just like anyone else, rather then being a Mutant First(tm), human second type

He's a "Can't we all get along" type, until someone starts causing trouble for mutants

....Which happens rather often, it seems

He doesn't hate humans, but he's a little suspicious at times

He'll flirt with you easy, but when things start getting serious he may start to lay off a little

It's not personal, you just need to earn his trust a little first

Thankfully, he's a good judge of character and will come around in his own time

Jean

You guys get along so well!

Unsurprisingly, Jean has the same mindset as Scott as far as human and mutant relations

It's a little easier for her to blend into human society then it is for Scott however

That, and her lighter personality make it so that you wouldn't even know she's with the X-men at all

She's nothing if not transparent tho, and as long as she trusts you, will be pretty forthcoming about it all

Jean does feel a bit of responsibility in keeping you safe from harm, but she's not as inadvertently condescending about it as Scott can sometimes be

But don't be fooled, just because she's a little more tactful about it doesn't mean she's going to let you anywhere near danger tho

Nightcrawler

Interestingly, Kurt also holds the mutants and humans are equals ideology too, even with all he's been through at the hands of humans

The two are both created equally after all, and the sins of the few do not mean the sins of all as far as he's concerned

He is, however, very aware of his appearance meaning it's quite impossible for him to go the gambit route and act as though he too is "just like everyone else", despite how he feels

He's probably just more surprised that you actually want to be with him then anything specifically about you being a human or something tbh

I could see him trying to use an image inducer around you a lot, at least for the first little while

Don't worry tho, after a while and with some reassurance, he'll get used to going about in his natural form

Kurt's power is extremely passive rather then aggressive, just like his personality, so while I defiantly see him being protective of you...

He's more likely to just teleport you both away and stay out of dodge rather then fight for your honor or anything lol

Rogue

If you think being with Jean is a cool time, just go ahead and crank that up to 11 with Rogue

She honestly doesn't give a shit about whether you're a fellow mutant or not, and once she knows, she doesn't think about it

Well, sometimes in a moment of insecurity she might... But never does she think about you in a bad way

She's probably the most relatable in a sense, because as a mutant who looks fully human, she also wants nothing more then to be human too

Maybe you two can work out a way to get in quick moments of contact without it being to dangerous for you

She'll protest this, of course, but who knows? Maybe it's possible to build a little resistance

Because if such a thing is possible...

Gosh, you better get ready, because she'd never leave your side after all you've done to try and get closer to her

Sabretooth

Ok ok, I know that like basically ever since the 80s or so Sabretooth has been portrayed as little more then a bloodthirsty, human hating, killing machine...

But in his earlier debuts, at least once he's expressed a genuine sense of loneliness and desire to acquire a partner for himself

Sure to get there he basically kidnapped a human woman and held her hostage down in the tunnels where he was living, but you wouldn't be reading this if you didn't want to know how this could possibly work out would you?

I'll also have you know that in that very same comic, he's described by said woman as having been surprisingly nice to her and showing no signs of aggression, so there's that

Personally I kind of... don't like "smart sabretooth", if you will, but in a world where he can speak in complete sentences and use technology without smashing it in a fit of frustrated rage:

He will never let you forget that you are an itty bitty human and will tease you for it a lot

Don't take this as him not caring about you though, he's easily the most protective mf-er on this list and would, quite literally, both kill and die for you

No one gets to touch his frail

Storm

Another one for the humans and mutants are equal lot

She does, however, acknowledge that there are more often then not, notable differences between the two tho

Storm admires human resilience as well as their capacity for good, despite what some of the masses may get up to

As a result, she tends to see that trait in you and appreciates your support for mutant rights and freedoms

She can be a little intense and seem stern at times, but that's really only when she's been on missions

It can be difficult for her to relax because of how her emotions tie into her powers, but she says that simply being able to enjoy your company helps

If you two really get to know each other, you might catch her growing a little more playful with her powers around you

A gust of wind to tussle your hair, a splash of rain to cool you off, stuff like that

Times like these are rare admittedly, but knowing she's this comfortable around you is a reward all in it's own

Toad

Sabretooth is a special case, so he's excluded here, but Toad definably has the hardest time of all the others here getting on with a human s/o

It may have something to do with his feral nature, but while Vic still expresses the desire to "find a mate", be them human or mutant, despite what he too went through at the hands of humans as a kid...

Toad has no such designs, neither to go with his mutation nor to simply help him push past his childhood hatred for humans

Kurt may think he knows how it feels to be mocked, feared, and shunned, but even he eventually found some peace in his little monastery

Mort has had no such luck. Even his fellow mutants belittle him

Any advance from a human, even just friendly ones, will be instantly rejected

...However. He won't go so far as to completely keep distance from you

He may hate humans, but... Well... Maybe there is a little piece of him that's still holding on for acceptance

He's EXTREMELY slow to trust you, but once it's earned, you'll find he's actually very sweet and caring

Unfortunately tho, I don't really see him being able to drop the inferiority complex he's had ingrained into him anytime soon

Wolverine

Are you kidding? This guy has had so many human relationships, it's almost a joke

He never really talks about it, but there have been a few rare times where wolverine, like Rogue, has also expressed a desire to just be human instead of a mutant

Unlike Rogue, he will never discuss this with you however and assuming you don't somehow know he's a mutant before hand, he will most likely do his best to make sure things stay that way

Especially if he reeeeeally likes you

He more so hates what was done to him rather then his actual powers tbh, so while he's not particularly ashamed of being a mutant or anything like that...

He'd just rather you didn't know unless if you have to

Regardless of if you know or not, he's a close second to Sabre for most over protective mf-er on this list lol

In fact, this trait of his is most likely how you end up finding out he's a mutant

Damn it Logan. just can't keep those claws sheathed, huh?

[frodokas]

WHY I DISLIKE AOT'S ENDING

Well, the journey has ended - and I've never imagined that it would happen in a disappointing way like this. Before I'd jump into anything THIS ISN'T A HATE POST - I respect Isayama and am really grateful his more than a decade-long hardwork, preciseness. I completely understand that in the end he got tired of it and he absolutely has the right to finish his own story as he pleases - but as auidence we have the right to criticize it in a cultured way. The post is based off the untranslated, korean chapter. Not proof-read.

SPOILERS FOR ATTACK ON TITAN'S 139TH (FINAL) CHAPTER BELOW!!!

The conclusion of Mikasa. Okay, we've had our rounds(bee - boo) why I'm personally not a big fan of her and why she's objectively a badly-written character - but I'd be upset even as a Mikasa fan. I was glad that she seemingly was ready to let Eren go, BUT NO. Mikasa killed Eren, but didn't actually let him go. Seemingly she's gonna grieve over him forever, and this isn't a good message, it isn't a big development from her - I think this is a very bad (main!!!) character writing - many people refer to Mikasa a badass, independent, but she sticks to her deceased loved one in a self-destructive way, even withdrawing from society. I understand that she isn't able to process Eren's death, but I they could've shown it to us in a better way. Mikasa isn't a good role model in general, especially with this conclusion of her story.

I've always been reassuring myself, that Historia will surely have a reason being almost written-out. Well, her pregnancy didn't have importance, the identy of the father neither. Just an easy, plot-saving movement, which is really disappointing, it completely ruins her character.

No titans anymore. A thing I enjoyed about Attack on Titan is that actions, decisions actually had weight - if something happened that couldn't be turned back. I was almost certain that everyone will turned back into human - suprise, suprise I was right. It was just a cheap movement to keep the fans thrilled for a month. My heart cried for Connie and Jean, but this upsets me even more.

Jean really didn't have a vision about Marco? REALLY? When the spirits of all the deceased SC members are there, and Jean, one of the most important characters doesn't have a last-last goodbye with the person WHO WAS THE MAIN MOTIVE FOR HIM? It's okay if you ruin this man's whole character arc, but now totally forgetting about a thing that has determined his personality, development and actions during the WHOLE series? Keep me hung.

Connie, where's your mom? You were fighting for her and would even feed a child if that meant you can bring her back to life. HAHAHA.

I think I won't list all the characters whose development and/or arc were thrown into trash.

Everything is just rushed. I haven't been satisifed with the last eight-ten chapters - they weren't logical, some characters started to act OOC and the story just fell into pieces, being the shadow of itself. The Attack on Titan was a morally grey story about soldier life and centuries of hatred, but it got sugarcoated in the end - former enemies are acting like nothing happened, like none of the killed each other's loved ones or committed mass war-crimes. Yes, I know they've been trough a lot - but suddenly the whole world just forgets all of it? Meh. Completely goes against what AoT was originally about.

Of course, it's not a catastrophe, there were some stuff I enjoyed:

Levi's fate. He's an average character, but at least everything is okay about him - there are no holes. He's fufilled his promise to Erwin and now (as predicted) he is the only remaining veteran SC member of his generation. The last one. Also, his salute was beautiful despite the fact I didn't like the whole "SC ghosts" element in the series.

Gabi-Falco reunion. Anatomy 0%, meme material at max.

Overall the first ~130 chapters. They were truly excellent.

I'm grateful, that this story ever existed, its messages, characters and story is still something outstanding. I feel bad for it, I'm disappointed but that's it. It be like that sometimes.

Hitch is a mood as always. Gotta love this bitch.♡

[miekasa]

speaking of college boys, what do the college au aot babies study??

Okay, okay, I think I’ve talked about this in an ask before but I can’t find it 😭😭 but it’s okay, I love college aus, so I’ll talk about it again! Plus, now I’ve got more thoughts for more characters, so here we go

Levi — neuroscience and psychology of human behavior

He started out on track to do a bachelor of arts in psychology, but when they touched on the anatomy and biological parts of it during his first year lecture, he switched to a bachelor of science.

The focus is still psychology, but through a more clinical lens. Essentially, he gets the best of both worlds this way. He’s intuitive and analytical, so clinical and mental diagnosis is easy to dissect for him. He’s also canonically good at math, so the calculus and stats parts aren’t too bad, either.

This major also leaves him with a few options post-grad, which is a nice bonus for him. He’s likely going to medical school, but that’s not the only route open to him: law school, therapy, lab work, medicine and pharmacy, even teaching are all viable options without going to grad school.

Do not talk to him about Freud unless you wanna get punted off a building.

Be careful with him, because with a single glance he’s already got scarily accurate predictions about your parental and emotional attachment styles, your behavior in social settings, and the onset (or seemingly lack thereof) of your frontal lobe development.

He thinks he’s so smart making comments like, “I see those synaptic connections aren’t working so well for you today,” like mf come here let me lobotomize you and see how well your synaptic connects are working after that🙄

Eren — general health sciences

He’s interested in science and the discovery aspects of it, but picking a specific field of focus right now feels too final. He likes it this way, because his schedule and requirements are less restrictive, and he has more room to find out what really interests him.

He does best when he’s doing something he loves, so picking a major with a bunch of reqs that he couldn’t care less about would have sucked big time for him. It also would have affected his grades. There are still some classes he has to take that he’s not fond of (see: chemistry), but that’s to be expected. Science in general is cool to him and he hopes to make his own discovery some day, even if it’s microscopic.

He also plays a lot of sports, keeping his schedule flexible is important. The sports end up helping him excel academically, which is a nice bonus. Honestly, Eren uses his time at university to learn more about himself than anything, so having control and freedom to do what he likes the majority of the time was important to him. 

He uses his elective credits to take philosophy or history courses of his interest, or maybe even a course that you’re in just to spend time with you. He also uses you as a live model for his homework bye, congrats on being patient number one to him.

Armin — astronomy and physics

He’s still interested in marine biology, but unless he attended a school near a coast, or with a specialized integrated program for that, it’s unlikely he’d major in it during undergrad.

Space and ocean exploration aren’t all that different. Both are vast, largely unexplored domains that reel-in Armin’s interest for discovery. So, while studying astronomy, he still gets to study evolution and make his own predictions about what could be out there because there’s so much to know.

Physics comes with the territory of learning about planetary science, and he’s mathematically inclined, so it works out for him. Learning about the different physical properties of other planets and space masses is honestly pretty sick to him. Because math isn’t a struggle, he actually considered aeronautical engineering, but he didn’t want to be a part of the college to military pipeline; that is, he didn’t want any potential design of his to be weaponized. 

He still gets to study animal biology through his elective courses, and might even find a few focused on marine animals to satiate him. Plant and cell biology are also of interest to him, and are just further applications of his primary study anyway, so he’s got plenty of room to work with.

This boy is interning at NASA and still, with his whole chest out is like, “I don’t need to discover a new planet, you’re my whole world.” Armin, go check on the Mars rover or something please.

Mikasa — anthropology + minor in japanese language studies

Anthropology is virtually interdisciplinary in nature, and Mikasa is a pretty well rounded student, so she’s able to excel in a program like this. She gets to study history, science, cultural studies, and even a bit of art all at once.

She’s still debating between going to law school vs med school, so anthro this is a good in-betweener. She gets a taste of science through her anatomy and kin courses; and lots of practice with reading and dissecting texts through the historical and cultural lectures. So, when the time comes to decide, she’ll have some experience with both.

Don’t know whether it’s confirmed that she’s (part) Japanese or not, but either way I headcanon that she speaks/spoke some second language at home. She wanted to delve more into it, and courses were offered at the university so why not?

Cultural studies courses end up being her favorite. She likes learning about the history of people and their cultures, and it encourages her to learn more about her own family history and culture. It also propels her to apply for a study abroad opportunity, so she spends at least one semester doing an exchange program and absolutely loves it.

She would also encourage you to apply and go, too. You guys might not be in the same program, but if there’s an applicable program in the same country she’s going to, then she’d definitely want you to apply. Spending the semester away with you would be a dream come true.

Hange — bioengineering + minor in political philosophy and law

It’s almost self-sabotage to be in an engineering program and have a minor; the coursework for engineering alone is backbreaking, and bioengineering has the added weight of human intricacies, but of course Hange makes it possible. 

They’re nothing short of a genius, so of course they have time to work a completely unrelated minor into their schedule. It doesn’t surprise anyone that they go on to complete an MD-PhD after undergrad. Insane. 

Bioengineering is essentially the synthesis of chemical engineering and health sciences; Hange spends their time exploring biological sciences and applies the engineering aspects of their coursework to their understanding of (and interest in creating) medicine. Truly a one of a kind mind. 

They also have an interest in philosophy and justice, so when they found out they only needed a measly nine or ten courses to minor in, they went for it, of course. In honesty, they don’t find the studies all that opposing: both law making and medicine making both have some kind of philosophy or method to them in their eyes. 

Hange has... little to no free time pls. They don’t mind it, because they love their coursework, but this means you are essentially ducking into their labs or scrambling to find them in-between their classes during your time in undergrad. They appreciate every second spent with you tho, and will gladly rope you into long discussions about their work. 

Jean — biochemistry + minor in art sustainability

He was undeclared his first year, and took a little bit of everything: art, science, history, anthropology, english. Basically, anything that fit into his schedule. It was hard for him to pick one thing—he liked the science and lab applications of STEM courses, but not the math; and the obvious painting and creativity of art, but hated the pretentious air about art history.

What he wants to do is make a difference, which is how he ends up knowing that he wants to go to med school after, so he picks a science-heavy major, but uses his elective spaces to take art courses. When he mixes the two, he ends up on sustainability—and the complexities about it that are applicable to both science and art are what really reels him in.

Interdisciplinary studies end up being his forte. He can approach sustainability from a science perspective which impacts his art style and materials; and tuning into his creative side allows him to think about science not just from a purely clinical perspective, but from a human one, too—patients are people after all.

He believes that everything is connected somehow, even things as seemingly opposite as art and biochemistry. And he works towards finding the unique intersection where everything overlaps. His studies are pretty cool, and he’s very passionate about them, so ask him about it 😌

The art he makes is pretty sick, too, and often commentary about science; he’s proving they’re not so opposite. You also heavily influence his studies in both areas: caring about you so much inspires him to take the healthcare focus seriously, and your very nature is inspiration to his art. 

Sasha — nursing

She’s friendly and good at working with people, so nursing was an easy choice for her. She accredits most of her motivation to being around her younger family members, and learns that she finds a simple kind of joy in helping to take care of others.

She struggles a bit her first year when it’s mostly all grades and standardized testing, but when she starts getting clinical experience and working in the hospital on campus, things round out for her.

Patient care is her strongest point. A lot of people often forget that knowing everything isn’t everything; if you don’t know how to calm or even just talk to your patient, you’re not that great of a healthcare professional.

Pretty certain that she wants to work with kids in the future, but she’s open to public health and even being a travel nurse if she finds opportunity there!

Of course, she’s pretty doting when it comes to you and all her friends. She might want to go into pediatrics, but the basics of nursing and health care extend to everyone, so you’re guaranteed to be well taken care of with Sasha around. You might even have to switch roles and take care of her sometimes, because her coursework can get pretty out of hand.

Connie — computer engineering with a focus on game design

He might not look it, but Connie has a brain under that shaved head of his. Computer engineering is cool to him because he basically learns about how simple things he uses every day (ie: phone, computer, microwave) works.

Systems and coding are actually the easy part for him, especially when they get into the application of it and aren’t just stuck looking at examples. That’s how he gets into game design.

The part about math and electricity and magnetic fields… well let’s just say he needed to make friends with someone who likes math and hardware his first year to get through it. But the struggle was worth it, because by his junior year he’s found a professor willing to mentor/supervise him as he works on his game and other projects, so life is good.

His school work is definitely hard, which is why the lives by the mantra of “work hard, party harder.” It’s only fair. 

He makes you a little avatar so you can test out his games for him <33 best boyfriend things <33 He’d also… build a game about your relationship. Every level is a different date you guys went on, and he definitely includes something cheesy, like “There are unlimited lives because I love you forever babe <3”

Porco — kinesiology + maybe mechanical engineering

He’s pretty into athletics and working out, but didn’t wanna go down the sports psychology route; he wanted something that left him with a few more options, so he ended up in kinesiology.

He was surprisingly pretty good at biology in high school, so something stem-oriented works out in his favor, and it turns out he’s pretty damn good at anatomy, too. He’ll probably end up in physical therapy after graduation.

He’s also got a knack for cars, which is where the engineering comes in, but he doesn’t care so much for the math part of it (he doesn’t care for it at all actually, fuck that); he just wants the hands on experience of building/fixing things and working with his hands. So, if he can get a minor in it and not struggle through 4 years of math, then he’d do that. If not, he’d take a few workshop-like classes.

Because he wants to go into physical therapy, you are essentially his practice patient. Your back hurts? Not a problem, he’s basically a professional masseuse. Muscle aches? He’s got a remedy and understanding of why it’s happening. Don’t let him catch you hunting over your desk grinding away at your homework, because he will poke your neck and correct your posture (he’ll also massage your shoulders, but after the scolding).

Pieck — classics + minor in philosophy

Ancient studies interest her, but more than that, the language of ancient Greek and Roman culture fascinates her, so classics is the way to go.

Because her focus within Classics ends up being Greek and Latin language studies, she is essentially learning both languages at the same time. She gets farther with Latin that she does with Greek. For whatever reason, the former comes almost naturally to her, so her written and translated work is more complex in Latin.

However, she finds cultural studies relation to Greece more interesting than that of Rome, so it’s a give and take with both; better at languages for Roman studies, better at culture and history for Greek studies.

Her minor is a natural evolution from her primary coursework. Ancient Romans and Greeks set the foundation for a lot of modern day philosophy, so it comes up in her major classes, but she wanted to delve further into the philosophy, and not just look at it historically, so she takes more courses to fulfill the minor.

Can be found laying on a blanket in the quad on a hot day, with her books spread out all around her, highlighter in hand as she works through her reading. You’re always invited to sit with her, and more often than not, it ends up with Pieck’s head in your lap, a book in her hands, and your own schoolwork in yours as you both read in each other’s company.

Bertholdt — computer science and coding

He’s level headed, good at planning, and above all, patient, so he’s cut out for this. He doesn’t consider himself to be particularly creative, which is why he doesn’t pick a speciality with lots of design; but he’s good at streamlining and ideas to life.

The patience really comes in when his code doesn’t run. It’s frustrating to scroll for two hours just to find out that the issue is a missing semi-colon in line 273 that he overlooked, but Berty will sit there until he finds it.

He’s also good at fixing issues. That’s not limited to issues in the code itself; it can mean finding shorter ways to produce the same function or loop, or integrating new aspects into existing code.

Also, he’d just be so cute, coding away on his computer. Just imagine: Berty working on his homework in the library, he’s got his signature crewneck + collared shirt look going for him, his blue-light glasses, a cup of coffee nearly as tall as him sitting at the corner of his desk. Adorable.

He’d make little codes/programs for you, too, even if it’s silly. A simple code that helps you decide what to eat for dinner or where to go on a date, one that shuffles different reminders for you, hell he’ll even forgo the torture of design engineering just to build you a little robot that says “I love you” to you.

Reiner — english + minor in justice & political philosophy

Everyone expects Reiner, star quarterback of the university’s rugby team, to be a business student or communications student; but no, he’s an English major, and he loves it.

Just imagine a guy as huge as Reiner absolutely manhandling someone on the field, just to show up in his lectures with a tiny paperback of The Great Gatsby tucked between his fingers with his reading glasses on. It’s so precious.

He’s always running a bit late to class—either coming from the gym, or practice, or oversleeping from exhaustion—but he’s so sweet to his professors and genuinely interested in the literature that they don’t give him a hard time about it. They can tell that balancing school and sports is difficult, and they just appreciate that he takes his studies seriously.

Yeah he’s in a book club and he dog-ears his books. What about it. They’re doing poetry this month and Reiner actually likes Edgar Allen Poe. Who said jocks can’t be sentimental.

He also reads a lot outside of his classes, and has a soft spot for coming of age stories. He usually empathizes with the main character somehow. His ideal weekend plans after a week of grueling games and essays is taking a long, relaxing shower at your place, while you both share a bottle of wine, and maybe even get you to read a chapter or two of his current book out loud to him.

Annie — clinical psychology/neuroscience

Almost scarily analytical and methodic, so this major was calling her name. Localizing brain legions is… insanely intuitive to her it’s incredible. She’ll be an insanely impressive doctor someday, even if she doesn’t end up working with patients directly. 

She doesn’t care too much for the more philosophical/reading heavy parts of psychology. Even experiments and research closer to the social end of the spectrum aren’t all that interesting to her; but the brain science behind it it.

Nobody should be good at cellular biology. Nobody should be able to ace cell bio and neuro and calc and work towards their thesis proposal in the same semester, but Annie proves it’s possible.

Ends up working in one of her professor’s labs by her junior year. She was offered three TA positions working with first year students, but she swiftly turned them down. Teaching isn’t her thing.

She doesn’t bring up her studies to you unprompted, but if you ask her about them she’ll explain it to you. Her notes are color coded and it’s super neat, and very cute; coloring them is somewhat relaxing for her. She usually saves the coloring part for when you guys study together; there’s extra comfort in doing it with you around.

[sasa-gay-yo]

Phone Call - Levi Ackerman - 200 Follower Special

Levi Ackerman - ModernAU - Light Smut -  “Are you horny right now?”- “This was supposed to be a one-time thing.” - “We’re just friends? I fucked you though.” - MINORS DNI

❀ღ✦❁♡ッ✽❀ꕤღ✦♡❁✽ッ✧❀

In front of everyone. Literally, as you were trying to babysit the college kids from breaking into your liquor cabinet, yelling at your brother who started this whole drunken mess, he grabbed your ass. It wasn’t like he was trying to hide it either, and it made you jump two feet in the air. At first, you thought it was one of Jean’s friends, maybe Eren who you knew had a crush on you, but the raven-haired man never failed to surprise you. I mean, who would have thought you and Levi Ackerman would have sex sober? You two always claimed to be annoyed by the other. Then, last week happened...

Levi was the uptight upperclassman, in your grade, who somehow got involved with the “brats” and could never get away from them. Part of the reason was because Hange, your best friend, and Armin, Jean’s friend, were co-presidents of the Biochemistry Club, and the other part, unknown to you, was that he thought Jean’s sister was incredibly hot. And incredibly beautiful. And Levi wanted you to date him. So much so, he even told Erwin about it. Levi was serious about pursuing something if Erwin knew about it. However, you didn’t know and the fact that he didn’t try to contact you for another round after what you thought was quite a good session, made you think he was over it.

Now, a week later, he’d shown up at your apartment on the tails of Hange and Armin. Jean had asked to host this party at your place, knowing how small his four-bedroom was, and you had no ability to say no to your little brother. Now, again, we come back to the present. Levi groping your bent over ass, something pressing into your thigh, while you were trying to shut your expensive liquor collection from the already drunk crew.

“What are you doing?” You stood up, facing him, and he had that blank look on his face. The first and only time he’d given you emotion was when he was inside of you. In class. Blank. Study session at Erwin and his place. Blank.

“I’m bored of these kids trying to mix the strongest drinks they possibly can using nothing but Coke and everclear. Want to do something?” Your eyes widened at bit, putting your hands on your hips to show some opposition. You weren’t going to let Levi Ackerman think you were that easy.

“Hm, I remember you saying in the morning that this was supposed to be a one-time thing. What changed your mind?” You want to walk away from him, rolling your eyes at how his faced morphed into one of annoyance. The hand he grabbed, he pulled straight down, right to his hard-on threatening the integrity of the jeans he wore.

“Could stop thinking of when I bent you over that cabinet. Thought I’d try to do it again.” You looked down the hallway at the kids who’d gathered to play a round of drunk truth or dare. There was no way you were letting him fuck you in a house full of Jean’s friends. One, you’d be mortified, and two, Jean’s friends would never let you live it down. You had a thesis to prepare and couldn’t deal with that constant headache.

“Maybe next time,” you said, swatting at his lower half to push him back. You tossed him a quick wink over your shoulder before joining the drunk truth or dare, only watching and laughing at the stupid things they made each other do. At one point, Hange had to put her clothes on upside down and Historia had to drunk call her ex-Reiner. Then, Jean noticed you were being excluded from his punishments and couldn’t have that.

“Hey! Truth or dare!” He yelled at you, and now everyone had turned, egging you on to answer. You guessed just one little round wouldn’t hurt.

“Dare.” There were ooh’s and Jean hadn’t expected you to say that, so he looked around the room trying to muster up a good enough dare. He wasn’t going to give his sister a sexual one like the others before it, but Connie had bigger ideas.

“I dare you to call the last person you had sex with and give them a rating! Like an Uber ride!”

“Connie, what the hell man?!” Jean yelled, not wanting to hear that, but the other certainly did. They’d heard things you and Jean have told them, and for the girls in the group, you were the resident sex advice expert, coming to you for any advise or sex item buying. You had no shame in helping them. Therefore, with your wealth of knowledge, they knew you’d have someone to call. However, you weren’t about to do that, when sitting right across from you was the receiver. He was staring right at you too, seeing if you had enough confidence to do it.

“Do I have to do it in front of you all?”

“No, I don’t wanna he-“

“Yes, you do,” Eren cut in, glaring at Jean. You sighed. It wasn’t the fact that you had to do this, in all honesty, it was a boring dare, but it was because Levi was in the room. If his phone rang in his pocket, you would die right there and then. Just a few days ago, you were ranting up and down to them, having your weekly lunch at the undergraduate cafeteria after your TA-ing, about how much you hated Levi. This was also during the time he ghosted you after giving you the best sex ever. You were a bit salty.

“Ugh, it’s not like I can give a good rating to this person.” You saw Levi’s eyes flicker with amusement, and he got up right away to walk down the hallway into the kitchen. That line was to hide your embarrassment, but he seemed to have a different idea.

“I’m not listening to her ass rant about sex again. All goddamn day I hear this shit,” grumbling in character, and you saw him take his phone out of his pocket before turning the corner. Now that you insulted him, he wanted you to call. He wanted to see if you had the guts to say that while he was whispering in your ear. He had big plans.

“Literally, this is boring. Can we just move on?” No one listened to Jean, even if you wanted them too, and Hange was the one who pulled your phone out of your purse and threw it at you… probably because she was the only one who knew. She wanted to see how this all would play out.

“Fine. Fine. It won’t be a long call though.” You scrolled through your contacts, thumb hovering over his name for a few seconds before pressing the call button. Levi was smart, and let it ring until it almost went to voice mail.

“Hello?” You shifted in your seat, hearing his voice on the other line. It was laced with the same poison he used to whisper sweet nothings in your ear last week, making you come so much, you’d lost count. It was all because of a dare too. Last week, you’d personally dared him. He couldn’t make a woman come, not with that attitude. Boy, did he show you the talent he possessed. Thinking about it made you shift in your seat.

“Hey, you got a minute. Just wanted to run somethings down with you.” He hummed, and the pairs of eyes staring at you got more and more intense. It was a good thing they couldn’t hear him, and that he was whispering in the other room.

“So, you remember last week right? After the bar?” He chuckled, and of course, it had to send shivers down your spine. No matter how awkward this was, no matter if your brother and his friends were staring and whispering, you were literally getting dirty talked to over the phone by Levi. This was, perhaps, a dream, but you had to play it cool.

“How could I forget the way you clenched around me? I made you cum twice with my dick, no? Three with just my tongue.” You gripped the phone, feeling your stomach heat up. You felt something else too, but you had to ignore it. You had too. There would be hell to pay if you showed signs of getting aroused in front of everyone, especially Hange who had a shit-eating grin on her face.

“Yeah, I know this is weird… but, uh, it’s a dare. Just play along, yeah? It’ll be over soon.” You heard him shift and started to get curious as to what position he was in, only a wall in between the both of you.

“Are you horny right now? In front of Jean and his friends? How dirty of you. Imagine if they knew you were getting off to just my voice, baby girl. Do you think they’d believe it? That I was the one who had you bent over on that very couch, spread for me?”  You swallowed hard, and that’s when the smart ones in the group knew something was up. You could tell by Armin, Mikasa, and Annie’s faces that they knew. They knew whatever this stranger was saying was affecting you in all the right ways.

But, you continued like he was saying nothing.

“Well, yeah, so I’m rating it. Our experience. I’d say out of five stars, give it a two-point-five, maybe three?” He scoffed into the phone and had to hold himself back from laughing out loud and blowing his cover. He knew better than anyone that that was a lie. Levi’s dick had you crying out in pleasure. Hell, he still had the scratches on his back from you and the imagine of you squirming underneath him permanently engraved in his mind. An image of innate, lustful beauty. If anything, he should receive five-out-of-five-stars.

“You want to lie to me right now? Two-point-five? I should make you choke on my dick for saying that. Come to the kitchen and find out what a two-point-five is. I’ll just leave you on the floor after, my cum on your face, begging for me to fuck you.” The groan came out. You couldn’t hide it. It was the way he was being so vivid. It was the way you were glad you were sitting with your legs underneath you, trying to find some relief from his voice. God, he already had you dripping. You shouldn’t have fucking denied him by the liquor cabinet.

Still, you had to hide that groan.

“No, just stop there. Look. We agreed, just friends yeah. I’d like to keep it that way. If we do things twice, it’ll lead to something else. I mean, if you want I can-“ He cut you off, and you heard him groan to. You heard the shallow breaths he was taking. Was he… was he jacking off in your kitchen?

“We’re just friends? I fucked you though. Besides, I don’t give head to my friends, hm? Are you sure we’re just friends, baby? What did you call me the other night or did you forget because I fucked you dumb?” He moaned in your ear after saying it, adding to the pressure of the situation. You were getting so hot and bothered. The moan was just loud enough for it to have lasting effects in your stomach. He was fucking edging you over the phone, your body radiating with heat. Fuck. At this point, you didn’t care if the others heard, you needed relief. You were quick to give him some subliminal messages, steering him in your direction. You know you’d get shit for it later, but you didn’t care. You needed him to touch you and fast.

“No, no. I never said that. Just stick to what we’re doing, yeah?” You didn’t give him a chance to answer, “Mhm, alright. If you wanna meet up with some friends Monday, sure! Like I said, we’re still friends. Yeah, totally. Your house?” You asked that last question, hoping to God that he would get the hint. You needed him now and he was just a five-minute drive. Damn, maybe you’d just fuck him in the car.

“My house? What if I just fuck you right here in front of all of them? I know Eren would like it. You want Eren to watch me fuck you? Claim you as mine? We all know you caught him jerking off to you. I don’t like to share. Even images in other peoples’ minds. They don’t get to dream of your pussy like I do.”  You took one last shaky breath, seeing now everyone’s faces. They were either confused or getting bored of the conversation. Those confused were starting to pick up on your physical signals. Those bored were Eren and Connie, who were hoping you’d at least give them some explicit details to jack-off to later. Shoot, it was hard to not want to have sex with Jean’s hot older sister. Everyone in the group had a desire to do it at some point, but Levi had secretly gotten to you first.

“Yeah, you can, but I’d prefer my suggestion. Just works better in my timetable.” He chucked, and you heard him set the phone down, a belt buckle clinking in the background.

“How about once in the car and a few times at my place? Let’s try to break last week’s record, yeah? You came five times on Friday. Let’s make it six or seven. I want to see those tears on your cheeks. Meet me at my car?” You smiled and almost shouted out with joy, partly because you’d finally be able to get rid of the ache between your thighs, and two because you needed to keep up the act.

“Sure! I’ll see you then.” Finally, fucking finally, you got to hang up. It was a sigh of relief that followed, and then you turned to everyone.

“Talking to that guy is so boring. One of the wo-“ Your phone rang again, and you answered it without thinking.

“Hell-“

“I forgot to tell you, I don’t have condoms at mine, so were going to have to stop on the way back and buy some.” Levi smirked down at you, phone to his ear. He’d walked back into the living room, and you saw his shirt was untucked. You also saw everyone’s reaction and Hange bursting out in laughter. It only took a few seconds for everyone to realize what was happening, and in the process, Levi hung up, the stupid smirk plastered all over his face. He didn’t care what the brats thought or knew about his sex life, all that matter was the payback and feeling of self-fulfillment with the look he put on your face... and maybe making Eren Jaeger want to be him. Sure, he’d get some shit later form Jean, but nothing he couldn’t handle. The sex was going to be worth it anyways.

“You two had sex! Oh. My. God!”

“No way! You were just complaining about him last week!”

“If he was the last person you had sex with, didn’t you say that that was the best di-“ You shot up, cutting off Historia from indulging the others in front of you. They could talk about it however much they wanted when you left, and you knew you’d grow to regret telling her and Mikasa in detail about Levi and your experience. You left out his name, but at that point you wanted to brag about the best dick you ever received to them. You know, girl talk. Now it was fucking awful they knew.

“Goodbye!” You yelled out, grabbing Levi’s wrist and not caring that you just walked out in house slippers. You were leaving that place as fast as you could. It wasn’t until inside the elevator that you let go of him and could finally breath again. Then you turned to him.

“What the he-!“ He pushed you against the wall, a hand on the small of your back and the other above your head. His lips cut you off, using your open mouth to dive right in. He stole a small grope too, the same place on your ass that he squeezed earlier. Before the elevator hit the parking garage, he finally let you breathe, your lips already red from his attack. He didn’t stop though, continuing to kiss down your jaw, lifting your leg up off the ground just to grind into you slowly. Teasing. 

“Best dick you ever had huh? Is that what Historia was about to say?” You groaned and he just laughed, noticing how red you lit up. You were also trying to move your body to feel his bulge over your own arousal. He was playing with you too much for you liking.

“The best dick I ever had ignored me for a week, too. Almost moved on.” The door dinged, and he pushed off you, leading you with his hand to his car.

“You want me to have sex with you so all of Erwin’s political science nerds can hear? I know Jean’s at your house 24/7 too.” That’s when you remembered that Erwin went home on the weekends to have family dinner with his mother. It was currently Saturday night.

“You just threatened to fuck me in front of all of them, I think you wouldn’t mind Erwin’s political science nerds.” Again, he pushed you up against his car, the chill of the red metal and his closeness, his heat, causing goosebumps to raise on your skin. He just moved his neck sideways, his mouth right on your ear to give you the same effect the phone call did. He brought his hand up too, gently squeezing the sides of your neck. It made you literally moan out loud, echoing through the underground parking garage. He smirked at how he was affecting you.

“You’re mine now. No one gets to see you stripped but me. Is that clear?” You whimpered as his hands began to wander, the heat pooling between your thighs. It took all of you to not jump him right there and then, but at least he had similar ideas.

“Yes, sir.” He chucked, pressing one kiss to the side of your neck. His seal of approval. Permission to finally do what you want. 

“Good. Now take those panties off and get in the back of the car, beautiful. I can’t wait any longer.”

❀ღ✦❁♡ッ✽❀ꕤღ✦♡❁✽ッ✧❀

This request was supposed to have some fluff in it too, but I, uh, well this took me places.

[strangethings-everywhere]

F. W. // Everything & Nothing // Part One

Masterlist Requested: nope Word Count: 990 Warnings: cursing Author’s Note: Hi again! I’m back with a new fanfic. Hope you guys enjoy it!

You’re a production assistant on Voyagers, a new sci-fi thriller. On the first day of rehearsals, you encounter Fionn Whitehead... and immediately hate him.

At first, his presence wasn’t acknowledged. The black-haired actor was a rumor, spoken about in whispers and passing comments. You knew precisely three things about him by the end of your first day:

He was British.

He was very quiet.

His name was Fionn but pronounced like Finn (weird). 

The fact of his softness was of interest, considering the character he was playing. As a new production assistant, you didn’t know much about the film. Voyagers was a space epic, a thriller in which a crew of young adults descends into madness and chaos. Fionn played Zac, the antagonist. 

When he first walked into the rehearsal room, you had to stop yourself from making noises of surprise. You had expected the villain to be less… sweet looking. Fionn was wearing a gray hoodie and a pair of tattered jeans with ratty black Converse. He had a shy grin on his face as he made his way to his seat, giving handshakes and high-fives along the way.

You didn’t have much experience with movie stars. The only jobs you’d had before Voyagers had been small and full of cast and crew members who had no idea what they were doing. This cast was full of professionals like Colin Farrell and Tye Sheridan, whose names you’d known for practically forever. 

Surprisingly, the pros were not the problem.

As a PA, your job was fetching things like water and snacks for the cast while they did their script read-through. You were to stay quiet and out of the way, like ghosts. 

By the first break, you were seething.

Fionn had knocked into you as you passed behind him with a pitcher of water and had not stopped to help you clean it up, not even to apologize. He just kept on reading as if nothing had happened. In fact, no one in the cast had turned to help you.

Armed with fresh clothes and a bitter attitude, you made your way back to the conference room. Most of the cast had wandered off, but Fionn was still seated at the table, looking through his script.

You bit your lip and began to organize the coffee cart in the far corner of the room. It was better to focus on your work, the reason you were there, rather than on the lone actor. As you finished stacking the plastic cups, a hand on your back made you jump. 

“Can you pass me one of those?” 

Fionn stood behind you, his palm resting lightly on your shoulder. You pulled away from him as quickly as you could, keeping your back to him. 

“Miss?”

“Sorry, I’m a bit busy.” You muttered. 

“Okay…” He stood next to you at the cart, close enough for your arms to brush. “Well you’re actually in my way.” 

“And you’re in my space, so could you actually fuck off a few feet?” You snapped, slamming the cups in your hand down on the cart. Fionn took a few steps back with a huff. 

“Fucking hell.” He muttered. “Coffee isn’t worth this.” 

The two of you were silent for the rest of break. In that silence, you took a moment to observe Fionn.

He sat with a strange sort of confidence, an easy smile and a friendly face. He got on very well with his other castmates and you could tell he was good at making friends. It was infuriating, he had been so rude to you and you alone. 

As the rehearsal came to an end, you once again found yourself alone with Fionn. He seemed to move slower than the rest of the cast, taking his time with packing up his belongings and saying goodbye. You moved around the table to clean up, and stopped when you came to him. 

“You’re kind of in my way.” You snapped, reaching past him for his placecard. 

“You don’t have to be a bitch about it.” 

A bitch, is he serious? 

You clenched your jaw and snatched the placecard, letting it whack his neck as you turned away. You stormed out of the room. If the first day was going to be this bad, you dreaded how the rest of shooting was going to go.

You hated Fionn Whitehead. 

***

The rest of the day was blissfully uneventful. Most of your time was spent running errands and to be honest, you didn’t mind. You barely had time to interact with the cast and that was perfectly fine with you. Most of them were fine, but Fionn… you could do without seeing him. 

It was actually incredible to watch them all work. Most of them weren’t like their characters at all and it was strange to watch them switch back and forth. It looked tiring. 

You sat on the sidelines, watching Tye and Fionn argue back and forth. As much as you hated him, Fionn was a great actor. He was charismatic and full of energy, an addictive energy that you couldn’t quite describe. Playing the villain suited him. 

The director, Neil, yelled cut and the two boys made their way over to the monitors. Neil beckoned you over. “Y/N, can you grab these boys some water?” 

“She doesn’t have to, I can grab some.” Tye spoke up before you could answer. He turned to Fionn. “You coming along?”

“Neil asked her to do it mate, why would I go?” He answered, glancing over at you. 

God, I could kill him. 

You did the next best thing: you tripped and spilled both cups of water on Fionn. “Oh my god, I am soooooo sorry!” You feigned panic, doing a little acting of your own. He let out a slew of curses as Tye ran to grab some paper towels. “Clumsy little me.” 

“Whatever.” He snapped. As you walked away, you couldn’t help but grin. That’s what he gets for being an asshole.

[angellesword]

YOUR EYES TELL | JJK (03)

Summary: You live in a world where people see in black and white. The solution to finally see the colors? It's simple. You need to meet your soulmate and look at him in the eyes, but what if the person bound to you is already contented with the monochromatic world? What if...Jeongguk, your soulmate, is already in love with someone else?

Alternatively;

"A future without you is a world without color."

Genre: soulmate au, e2l, slow burn, angst, fluff, roommate au

Pairing: Artist!Jungkook x Lawyer!Reader

Word Count: 2.4k

SERIES: CHAPTER 2 | CHAPTER 4

Note: OC is a lawyer but the author knows nothing about law except the three law subjects she took last semester. errors. ah. there will always be errors here bc english isn’t my first language. anyway!!! enjoy!

Jimin wasn't lying when he said you were a mess. This was evident to Jeongguk the second he stepped inside your apartment.

Pile of cardboard boxes and papers were cluttered all over the floor, causing him to feel uneasy. The faint colors visible in his eyes didn't help to calm his nerves. It was as if he suddenly became hypersensitive to his surroundings.

He assumed that your house wasn't really that untidy, but as stated, the colors made it seem like it was untidier.

"Hi there, buddy." Jeongguk forced a smile at the cat glaring at him. He remembered Jimin telling him that your cat was a bitch. The fury pet was making this strange, scary sound. Jeongguk suddenly wished you were here to stop the cat from attacking him.

He wasn't expecting you to lock yourself inside your room the moment you realized that he was your soulmate.

He was so startled by your reaction that his first instinct was to run after you. The thing was, your cat was blocking your bedroom door—stopping him from intruding your personal space. It was obvious that the little animal didn't like the fact that Jeongguk invited himself inside your home.

Jeongguk didn't know why you were hiding from him. In your defense, you were embarrassed. What were you supposed to say to your soulmate? How were you going to explain to him that the reason why you looked like a mess was because of your demanding job?

Being a civil lawyer was exhausting. One second you're negotiating settlement with the other side's attorney, then you would just find yourself filing motions in court and of course, there were many instances where you're standing before the jury and judge to present a case.

Expertise wasn't the only thing necessary in law. You also needed a great amount of empathy so that you could understand your clients. You cared for them a lot; this was why it was such a big deal for you whenever they choose to omit facts.

You hated it when your clients were being dishonest, you didn't need them to be innocent. You only wanted them to tell you the absolute truth so that you could properly defend them. It wasn't like your job was easy. The fact that most people living in your world see in black and white was already a pain in the ass. Earlier this day, you had a client who was suing a businessperson for selling fake whitening products. She claimed that she spent a whopping two thousand dollars to get that fair skin tone. Sadly, it didn't work.

The opposing side asked your client this: how can you say that the products don’t work when you can’t even see colors?

You were shocked to learn this. Your client was subject to a color test for eyes. She said she could see colors when in fact, she couldn't. Actually, the only reason why the vendor sold your client the whitening products was because she also lied to the seller. The latter's rule was that she wouldn't allow people who see in black and white to purchase her products. This was so she could protect her business' image from fraudster like your client.

Things like this often happened in court. The one you encountered were usually easier to resolve, unlike what criminal lawyers face. This, however, didn't mean your job should be taken lightly.

What happened in court today actually took a toll on you. Your boss humiliated you in front of your colleagues, saying that he couldn't believe an experienced lawyer like you would make such rookie mistake. This made you feel like a loser that's why you decided to go home early to rest. You knew you couldn't work when your heart was this heavy.

You ran yourself a bath the moment you reached your apartment. Jimin was bombarding your phone with text messages to remind you that Jeongguk, a friend of his, was going to drop at your place later today since he was interested to be your roommate.

You simply replied 'Yes, I haven't forgotten. Stop pestering me,' to your best friend. Truthfully, Jimin hadn't shut up about this guy named Jeongguk since last week. He kept telling you that he was the perfect replacement for Seulgi, your former roommate.

You just shrugged it off. Honestly, you didn't care if Jeongguk was the perfect roommate or not. At this point, you would take anyone in. You seriously needed someone who could help you with the household chores.

The warm water grazing your skin made you feel sleepy. Before you knew it, you're off to dreamland; however, your little slumber was disrupted by loud knocks coming from your front door.

"Shit!" Your eyes went wide upon realizing that your supposed to be new roommate was already at the door. As if to confirm the horror, your phone rang.

Jimin was calling.

"Where the hell are you? Jeongguk is in front of your door!"

"I know. I'm so sorry! I fell asleep." You got out of the tub, hurriedly putting on your bathrobe.

"Talk to you later!" You ended the voice call, rushing towards the door. Unfortunately, you slipped on the wet floor.

You whined in pain. Luck was truly not on your side today, but instead of getting annoyed, you simply stood up and went your way to the door.

"I'm sorry, I was in the shower. I swear I heard you the first time you knocked, but I was panicking so I slipped down the floor and I..." You were already blabbering right after opening the door. You hadn't seen your future roommate's face because it was easier to lie without looking at someone in the eyes.

You didn't know why you told him you heard his first knock, when in reality, you didn't. You guessed you just hated disappointing people. What happened with your boss today was something you couldn't let to be repeated again. You couldn't bear to irritate another person.

You kept yourself busy as you reasoned out. You ran your hand through your wet hair, eyes widening when you saw your fingers covered in soap suds.

"Oh, my God!" You were panicking again. This time, you finally looked at Jeongguk to see his reaction.

It was like the world stopped.

No. You did not see colors instantly. What you felt was something strange—mystical perhaps. It was just like how they described it in books and movies.

You thought people were exaggerating about what they claimed they felt when they met their soulmates.

Apparently, they were not.

You know the feeling of finally seeing the rainbow after the strong storm? It was like that. Except this was way better. Your young self was probably rejoicing now. Being able to meet and look in your soulmate's eyes was dazzling.

The colors were becoming visible now, it was faint—this was in contrast to the embarrassment you were feeling.

You suddenly became very self-conscious with what you looked like. You were wrong. Your young self wasn't that happy because she wasn't expecting to meet her soulmate like this.

You were aware that you looked awful. The bags under your bloodshot eyes were probably so deep. The soap suds in your hair made you appear ridiculous. The most horrifying of all? You were wearing a bathrobe designed with the face of your favorite cartoon character.

"Uh—"

You ran away, locking yourself in your room before Jeongguk could finish what he was about to say.

Your heart was beating so fast as you stared in the mirror. The disgust you felt intensified. God. You looked horrible. You mentally cursed the brand of the mascara you were wearing. So much for claiming to be smudge proof! Curse yourself too because this wouldn't happen in the first place if you only refrained from crying over your boss' mean words, but it seemed like you never learned. You just scolded yourself from crying easily, but here you were, tears were painting your cheeks once again.

"No..." Your lips quivered. You were stronger than this. You weren't going to ruin your chance with your soulmate.

Determined, you quickly changed into a sage dress. Your hands were trembling because of your new found excitement. You loved colors ever since you were a kid. The fact that you couldn't see them didn't stop you from learning its meaning. You studied good color combination before. You were aware how to aesthetically match the hues. For instance, you knew that you would look ridiculous if you wore a neon green shirt and bright pink jeans. You were always careful in choosing what to wear, so now that you could finally see colors without referring to your color palette generator, you were beyond happy.

When you looked decent enough, you decided to finally face your soulmate. The first thing you saw as you opened your bedroom door was Jeongguk sitting on your couch—this was a very shocking scene. No. You weren't surprised because he was casually plopped down on your sofa, what you didn't expect was to see Miri, your bitch of a cat, to be so comfortable on Jeongguk's lap. Your pet looked at peace; the usual hiss she was making was replaced by a silent purring. Her bambi eyes mirrored your soulmate's same big, doe eyes.

You cleared your throat to get Jeongguk's attention.

"I let myself in, I hope you don't mind." You couldn't decipher what he was feeling. Jeongguk's voice was soft, but there was no hint of emotion there. His expression was also unreadable.

Jeongguk tore his gaze away from you when he realized that you were staring. As if this wasn't already awkward for him, you went on to say something that made him more uncomfortable.

"I've been waiting so long to meet you! Are you going to move in with me now?" You plopped down beside Jeongguk, squeezing your body between him and the arm of your sofa. Miri hissed since she was astounded by your sudden action. Actually, Jeongguk was surprised too. Your couch was pretty spacious; he didn't understand why you had to press yourself beside him.

Jeongguk also didn't know why you sounded so hopeful. The sparks in your eyes caused him to scowl; however, this didn't stop you from speaking your hopeless thoughts.

"We could do a lot of things together! I had planned everything since I was young!" You giggled. You didn't know why you were so comfortable telling him things. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that you two were soulmates.

However Jeongguk was confused with your weird idea of wanting to do all of this romantic stuff with him. The uneasiness he felt couldn't be contained anymore when you abruptly talked about dating—as in dating him.

"Whoa, whoa..." He cut you off, arching his brow and moving away from you. "Slow down, will you? I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Oh." You blushed, immediately realizing that you had gone too far. "I'm sorry I got carried away. I was just excited to meet you." You couldn't help but beam at him.

Jeongguk continued to raise his brow at you.

"Why? Are you really that desperate to find a roommate?"

It was your turn to raise a brow at him.

"N-No, I just..." You breathed in, unsure of what to say. "I'm just happy to finally meet my soulmate."

"Soulmate?"

You flinched because of the bitterness in his voice. His innocent eyes turned dark, he was glaring at you. Miri was startled once more. She jumped on your lap because she was getting scared of Jeongguk.

"I'm sorry to break it to you, but I don't believe in soulmates." The word 'soulmate' sounded so rough coming from him, making you flinch again.

Many people had told you that you were good at gauging the feelings of other people, this was why your heart skipped a beat when you saw pain and anger crossed Jeongguk's feature. It was as if he was betrayed by someone.

"It's the most absurd thing I've heard in my entire life. Only stupid people believe in soulmates. I mean—" Jeongguk sucked in a breath. He was so annoyed that he didn't even know how to express his thoughts without breaking apart. "It's limiting the possibilities for people. Why am I required to fall in love with someone I barely know? Why should I leave the person I truly love just because a person meant to be the love of my life," he paused, quoting the words love of my life in the air. "Helped me see colors? It's like forcing me to do something I don't—no, I can't do. It's such a burden. Love can't be bought. I refuse to be with people just because they helped me."

There was silence after Jeongguk's long speech of the reasons why he didn't—or as what he claimed—couldn't love you.

Jeongguk wetted his bottom lip. The silence was making him hate himself. He hated himself because he saw the tears forming in your eyes, an obvious sign that you were hurt because of what he said. But most importantly, he hated you.

It was unlikely of him to hate someone he just met—or to simply hate anyone at all, but everything about you was making him mad as hell.

He hated your hopeful eyes, he hated your beliefs, he hated that you were the person hindering him from being with Red.

He knew it was unfair to blame you since Red chose to leave on her own, but he still couldn't help himself because the idea of soulmate was what urged her to leave.

You were Jeongguk's soulmate and for him, it meant nothing. So with a furrowed brow, he stared hard at you as he said this:

"I'm making you choose right now. Either accept me as Jeongguk, your tenant or Jeongguk, your soulmate. But just so you know, I will never stay with you if you treat me like a soulmate."

His word stung, though you were aware that the only way to make him stay was to choose the former option. At least this way, you got to be with your soulmate.

The colors you see were starting to fade away and it was okay...