#probably wont advertise him but hey

[xxx-calibur]

He's here too but like

at your own risk, ya know.

[grimmjowjaegerjaquez]

Remembering the brief period in my life when i was obsessed with ashido, the only filler character with rights bc kubo originally planned to include him in the manga but had to cut him for time

[ghoulfuckersincorporated]

umm how dark are u willing to go? I'm thinking abt turning to a life of prostitution and the ghoul being your first ever client and he's not very gentle about it, (plus you're scared bc he's a ghoul ffs) in fact he's very smug bc he's the first client, probably buys you for the night :) mwah xoxo

Working Girl

Pairing: Cooper Howard/The Ghoul x Sex Worker Female Reader

Word Count: 5,411

Warnings: smut (18+), sex for pay, rough sex, knife play, cannibalistic threats (he's joking...kinda), spitting, hair pulling, humiliation, rope play, dacryphilia, face and throat fucking, cum facial, some dubcon elements, soft-ish ending (I cannot help myself).

Notes: My answer to that question is "darker than this", anon. I suppose I should probably put together some sort of "wills-and-wonts" pinned post, though, honestly, there aren't many of the latter. With smut and romance content, I think it's important to keep an open mind and broaden your horizons. We are cool with sex work and sex workers in this house, by the way.

I had to let this one stew a bit to decide what direction I wanted to go with it. I'm obsessed with the idea of Cooper menacing around in New Vegas, so I hope you're alright with that. I am also obsessed with the outfits the sex workers outside the casinos wear. I went a little crazy with the length on this one, but I'm super happy with how it turned out. Hope you like it! XOXO

The uniform you'd been given for your new job was absolutely humiliating.

Sure, you looked...nice. They'd fed you, for once you'd had plenty of water, got the first chance to bathe that you'd had in weeks, maybe months. You'd even been able to wash your hair, a rare, rare thing that still had you trying to smell the silky strands as they blew by your face. Initially, you'd felt quite confident, actually; the cropped top even had sleeves, the tight black skirt and heels making your legs look quite nice, even if they were uncomfortable to walk and stand in.

However, your confidence had diminished a bit when they'd given you the black leather collar to wear around your neck, reducing to basically zero when you actually stepped outside to begin your work.

Okay, you had technically done this before, traded sex for medicine or repair work or a place to stay. Honestly, at this point, you thought you'd had more sex for trade than sex for pleasure, the latter hard to come by for someone as picky about actual dating as you. But it felt like one thing to have someone offer it in the moment, when you were truly desperate and a spur-of-the-moment decision was distastefully easy to make. This, standing along the New Vegas Strip and advertising yourself for it, felt like another. A late evening breeze blew across the road, stirring up some dust and making you shiver.

If you were honest with yourself, you got off easy. You weren't sure what the guys and girls with the chains around their bodies and their nipples exposed had done, right or wrong, to earn that uniform, but you weren't eager to find out.

There was a man across the way, leaning against the wall in the shadows outside the tram station, a lit cigarette hanging loosely from his hand. You couldn't see his face, obscured by a dingy, wide-brimmed cowboy hat, his figure hidden as well by a long, dark duster that was incredibly ratty at the ends. He'd been there a while; you weren't sure how long, but you were fairly certain he'd been checking you out. His smokes were lasting an awfully long time.

You'd been told that oftentimes johns were too nervous to initiate the transaction themselves, that you needed to be fun and flirty and try to hook them in yourself if you wanted any business. It didn't help that you, too, were nervous to initiate, but you wanted this to work out, at least for now, and no one else had been interested so far.

"Hey there, handsome. Are you looking to party?" you called out to him, waving as playfully as possible.

That got him, the burning red cherry at the end of his smoke glowing brightly for a few seconds before he tossed it to the ground, exhaling a big cloud of smoke as he stubbed it out with the toe of his boot.

"Handsome, huh? It's been a hot, hot minute since anyone called me that, darlin'." he drawled, his voice actually quite nice. His footsteps gave off a funny little jingle you couldn't place, and you calmly took him in as he approached. But then he came close enough that you could see his face, see the pits and the sunken eye sockets and the gaping hole in the middle of his face where a nose was supposed to be.

A ghoul. Holy shit, he was a ghoul.

Now, you didn't have anything against ghouls, per se, not like some people certainly seemed to. You didn't like the idea of anyone being barred from towns and outposts or harassed just because of what they were, to no fault of their own. You still gave pause at the idea of sleeping with one. Couldn't it make you sick? Didn't some ghouls eat people? Or was that just the feral ones? No, that was stupid. There were people who ate people in this world. Of course a ghoul could possibly eat you.

"Busy the rest of the night?" he asked as if it were automatically the response he'd receive.

You tried your best to giggle playfully, desperate to no longer have to stand outside and solicit for a while, even if it meant your first trick was a doozy.

"Not if you've got the caps." you replied, clenching your shaking hands behind your back.

"Oh, I've got 'em, sweetheart. So." he asked, looking you blatantly up and down. "Are we gonna party or what?"

The two of you made your way into the casino, the bright lights throwing intriguing shadows across your new friend's gaunt face. You left him at the front desk and told him where could meet you after he relinquished all of his weapons, including the big gun strapped to his back. You'd be happy to see that go.

After you left him, you went to the back to check in and described the john you were going back with. When you said he was a ghoul, you expected some sort of reaction or concern, but all the older woman behind the counter did was produce a Rad-X from a half-empty bottle and push it across the counter at you along with a room key.

"Room three. He paid for the night." she said flatly, barely looking your way. "You're gonna wanna take that now, not later."

You picked it up and turned to walk towards the back rooms where the dates happened. You were a little floored he'd paid for that much time; you'd been anticipating an hour, maybe two. But all night? Did turning into a ghoul give you some sort of super stamina? Or did he have other plans for you?

As you passed by the doorway to the gambling floor, you could see him still standing at the counter emptying his pockets.

Just how many weapons did one person need?

Hesitating a moment, you waited to catch his eye, holding up your hand and flashing him three fingers. He gave you a slight nod, and you continued on, unlocking the third door down the adjacent, isolated hall. The rooms weren't much but the basics; a dingy but functional bed, a chair and side table with a jug of water and a few glasses in the corner. A lamp with a stained shade. A clock to keep track of the time. That was about it. You poured yourself a small glass of water from the jug and swallowed the Rad-X down, a bitter taste coating the inside of your mouth. Pulling a face, you took a fidgety seat at the foot of the bed to wait for your companion for the night to arrive, leaving your uncomfortable heels on.

Don't take off the shoes before the john gets in there, you'd been told. Some guys like to take everything off themselves.

You were pulled from your ruminations by the sound of the door creaking open, making you startle ever-so-slightly as he entered.

The people at the front desk had almost certainly offered to take his hat and coat, but it seemed he had declined. Maybe he had some particular personal attachment to them, you thought as he shucked the dirty duster, hanging it by the door. The hat remained on as he turned and appraised you, sitting straight on the bed, your hands daintily in your lap. He still wore a few layers, but you took comfort in knowing that he'd had his pockets emptied. They'd let him keep the lasso he'd been wearing, though, and you eyed it cautiously as it hung from his hip.

The ghoul didn't say anything to you as he crossed the room, pouring himself a tall glass of water and sitting in the chair, drinking it down as he stared at you. That sent you squirming ever so slightly, uncertain of how you were supposed to react.

"So, how long have you been in town?" you asked, eager to fill the silence. He didn't answer for an unsettlingly long time, finishing the first glass of water and pouring another.

"Long enough. Just blowing through." he replied, brim over his eyes and glass over his mouth.

"Ah." you responded, unsure what else to say to that. Things were quiet again for a long time, several minutes passing as you watched him dig an inhaler out of his pocket and take a long drag. You weren't sure what it was; you'd recognize a Jet container. Lots of people used it.

"I was surprised you wanted me for the whole night." you confessed.

"That right?" he responded. "Not in this line of work long, eh?"

"Oh. Uh, I guess." you replied, taken aback by that. "It's just that all night's a long time."

You were trying to make your voice as sweet and seductive as possible, despite the tingle of worry creeping up your spine.

"It sure is." he replied, a glint in his eye that you couldn't read. It frightened you a little, but you told yourself you were overreacting. Another few minutes passed by, another puff of the inhaler, before he raised his hand, still wearing those thick gloves, and beckoned you over. You stood, somewhat shakily walked over to stand in front of him as he sat reclined in the chair, and waited for him to direct you.

"Alright," he said, voice calm as ever as he suddenly produced a long, slender blade from...somewhere. "let's get that outfit off."

This, of course, sent you screaming, turning quickly to flee towards the door. However, he quickly appeared behind you, a hand moving to cover your mouth with one of those filthy gloves as he yanked you back into his chest, making you stumble in those awful shoes. The smell of leather and gunpowder washed over you.

"Jesus Christ." he said, mild annoyance in his tone as he held you almost effortlessly with the one arm. "If you're already screamin' like this when we ain't even had any fun, maybe you ain't cut out for this, baby doll. Never seen a knife before?"

Your hollering choked down into a little cry as the strange-smelling glove muffled you, as you took in what he said. You desperately didn't want to fuck up this job on your literal first night, didn't want to lose a chance to have some stability, a roof over your head. But you couldn't stop the way your brain screamed at you to run. He brought the blade back up to your eye level, turning it to and fro, as if to show it off to you, the small silver blade glinting dangerously in the lamplight.

"You aren't supposed to have that." you whimpered between his fingers, trembling.

"Lotsa people do things they aren't supposed to in this world." was his reply as he slid the blade directly between your breasts, slicing through the crop top from hem to collar. You swore you felt the blade swipe your skin, and it made you gasp in fear, but when you looked, the skin was untouched.

His hands made quick work of the button and zipper of your skirt, dropping it around you feet and leaving you standing before him in nothing but your underwear and your uncomfortable shoes, your heart clamoring in your rib cage.

Looking you up and down once more, he stepped back and took in the whole scene before slinking back down into the chair in the corner, his hands moving down to undo his own belt and fly. He paused, however, to invite you forward again, urging you to close the few foot distance between you. You moved as instructed, still shaken as you stood a foot or so in front of him.

"Kneel."

Carefully, you lowered yourself down onto the scuffed old floor, cool against your bare knees as you looked up at him.

From this angle, it was much easier to see his whole face, including his eyes, and they were gorgeous. You hadn't noticed before, between the nerves and the hat, that they were like pools of dark honey. They distracted you so much that you missed him actually tugging his cock free. When you looked down at it, you were pleasantly surprised at how normal it looked, save for the radiation-roughened texture of the skin. Save for that, all the normal parts were there in normal quantities. You let out a very soft sigh of relief.

"Well, go on." he said, brandishing the thing at you like a weapon. "If you're gonna be a whore, you gotta act like one."

You could feel yourself pouting at his statement, and you hated it, hated the way his words rang through your brain, but you felt some ease at finally getting into something you had experience with, at least. Promptly crawling forward the last foot or so, you let yourself sit a tad more comfortably, leaning forward and reaching out to wrap your fingers around him.

"Uh-uh." he corrected, stopping you in your tracks. "If you're any good at it, you shouldn't need your hands."

This gave you some pause, scanning him over as your palms came to rest on the bit of exposed chair between his legs. Slowly, you leaned forward and dragged your tongue along the underside of his erection, sending it twitching at the contact. The man sitting before you hummed in approval, fully reclining against the back of the chair to watch you closely as you cocked your head somewhat awkwardly to allow your lips to wrap around the tip. He tasted differently than you were accustomed to, you thought as you began to let your head bob up and down on the first few inches of him, your tongue running along the leaking slit; there was an almost metallic aftertaste to him, like licking a cap.

"There you go." he praised lowly as you slid down to take as much of him as you comfortably could, his right hand coming to softly fist in your hair. The movement made you vaguely suspicious, and rightly so, as a few moments later, his other hand joined the first, and together they held your head in place, his hips pistoning up to fuck your face. You tolerated it well, only gagging at the last few thrusts when it seemed he was trying to push deeper and deeper. When you did, the sensation made him pull your head back, his saliva-coated cock laying against his leather-clad stomach as he appraised you, his eyes largely obscured again, drool all over your lips and chin.

"Let's move over to the bed, shall we?" he said, already standing by the time he finished.

Awkwardly, you attempted to right yourself out of your kneeling posture, but before you could even try, he stooped and grabbed you around the waist, tossing you over his shoulder like you weighed absolutely nothing. He was so strong and it made you blush as an indignant sound left you.

"Hey!" you let out before you could stop yourself. You weren't supposed to complain, but it felt like he was almost antagonizing you.

"Allow me." he replied, shooting you a look over his shoulder.

He dropped you down back onto the foot of the bed rather unceremoniously, your hair falling in your face and eyes; when you moved it away again, the switchblade was back in his hand, and you screamed again, unable to stop yourself.

"Keep it comin', sweetheart. I doubt anyone's rushing in here to help you. Honestly, I think they'd respond quicker if you quit screamin' for too long." he said, mocking.

"Quit scaring me and I'll quit screaming!" you shot back, righting yourself so that you were at least properly sitting upright.

"Boy, you sure do love to run that filthy little cocksucking mouth of yours, don'tcha?" he sneered, grabbing your hair again and yanking you close. "Pretty sure I'm payin' you to put out, not to bitch."

The blade traced back down your cleavage to dig into the waistband of your black bra, quickly slicing through it as well and sending your breasts popping out, the now damaged garment hanging uselessly from your arms. The ghoul insistently urged you down onto your back by your hair, and you followed, your legs dangling over the foot of the bed past your knee. For a moment, he simply looked at you.

"Open your mouth." he demanded, leaning over you.

You did as you were told, the command not unusual, but then he puckered his lips and let a rather large gob of spit fall onto your tongue, sending you gagging and scrambling to sit up.

"Nope. Swallow it." he said, maintaining that painful grip against your scalp, keeping you on your back. "You need to remember where your place is right about now, girlie."

Incensed, you hesitated a moment before forcing yourself to do as he told you. Your face was burning bright red with humiliation. He was still leaning over you, bringing the sharp edge close to your skin again. You steeled yourself, calling his bluff despite how dangerous that felt, trying your best to keep your eyes on his, challenging him as he traced the point across your flesh.

"Such pretty, smooth skin." he muttered, watching your reaction closely. "Looks good enough to slice a piece off and eat..."

As he spoke, he let the sharpened edge dig fully into the side of your breast, and you let out a whimper, your stomach rolling at the feeling, at his words. You were certain he was about to really hurt you.

However, he stopped after a moment, pulling the thing away to reveal nothing more than a thin red dash the length of the blade. A kitten scratch. A joke. You looked to him rather incredulously, and he rolled his eyes, folding the edge back into its handle, showing you that it was fully closed before tossing it across the room, landing with a thud in the chair.

"Since you're so afraid of it." he taunted, putting his hands on your hips to flip you onto your stomach. "Hands and knees. Face down."

A frustrated huff escaped you at this newest little jape as you pulled yourself up into the proper position, watching him out of the corner of your eye, your face buried in the musty mattress. It was hard to focus your vision like this, but you watched him move up towards the head of the bed until you couldn't see him anymore. There was a sound you couldn't put your finger on, quick and quiet, but by the time you could even hazard a guess at what it was, he'd seized your right arm by the wrist and was wrapping the rope he'd been carrying around it, finishing it off with a knot. This was enough for you to risk a quick glimpse in his direction, only to see that he'd used the lasso to tie your arm to the head of the bed. Your heart raced as he gave the knot at the headboard a yank before disappearing behind you, tugging your collar loose and dropping it on the floor.

He left the heels on.

"It's funny that these fancy casinos think all these dirtbags and desert rats'll come in here and just give up every weapon they have willingly. That's not how things work out there, and it's still not how they work in here, no matter how much they pretend it is." he mused, his voice making it seem almost as if he were talking to himself and not you. His still-gloved hand petted at the round globe of your ass.

Now you were annoyed. Why was he fucking with you like this?

"Are you a dirtbag or a desert rat?" you muttered into the sheets, jumping when he suddenly grabbed you by your hair again in response, holding you tight in his grip as he forced you to look at him.

"I'm the first thing, darlin'. It'll be good for you to learn the difference." he said, actually smirking at you, at the pained look on your face as the feeling once more burned in your scalp, one of his hands slowly moving up the back of your thigh to stroke your mound over your underwear. Quickly, he pushed them aside, his longest finger tracing up and down your embarrassingly wet slit, and you bit your lips hard to muffle the moan you wanted to let out.

Soon, he was working that finger inside you, then another, and another, all in quick succession; this wasn't about making you feel good, it was about making sure you could take him properly. You could feel the head of his cock nudging against your bare ass cheek, leaking and throbbing. He was eager, no matter how cool and calm he seemed to be.

"Spread your legs more." he mumbled, knee pushing at your right leg to "help" you open yourself wider for him. You did as much as possible, feeling like you could fall at any moment. However, you tensed again when you felt the tip of him slip through your folds, collecting some of the wetness there before sliding down to press at your entrance. You held your breath.

It burned when he pushed inside, though whether that was because of the rough texture of his skin or because you weren't completely prepared, you didn't know. He didn't give you much time to adjust to his size, simply bracing one knee against the mattress as he began to fuck you. The sound of flesh slapping flesh filled the room, his blunt cock head slamming painfully against your cervix.

At one point, he shifted himself higher over you, seeking a way to be deeper inside. The change in angle caused the slick head of his cock to slip out of you for a moment, pressing against your taut asshole for just a split second, but it was enough to make you panic, squirming wildly beneath him. Pure fear shot up your spine. He only laughed sardonically, tugging your hair to make you look over your shoulder at him.

"You're lucky I ain't real mean, sweetheart." he murmured, slamming his cock back into your leaking, sore cunt. The way it hit hard against your already tender cervix made you whimper, but you were glad he didn't do what you'd thought he was gonna do. It was upsetting you that you weren't more upset, frankly. The whole thing made you wanna be sick, especially the part where you were insanely close to orgasm suddenly.

"The funniest part of all this is that you're still gettin' off on it." he called you out as if he could read your mind.

You desperately shook your head, silent tears beginning to run down your cheeks and tickle onto your chin. You weren't enjoying this, weren't enjoying the rough way he was using you. You certainly weren't enjoying those strangely captivating eyes pinning you as he held you down.

"Please." he scolded. "It's one thing to be a whore. It's another thing to be a liar."

That actually managed to draw an embarrassing little sniffle from you; not his taunts, but the fact that you were fluttering so enthusiastically around him at his words. The man on top of you tilted his head again at this, watching you teeter on the edge of something terribly amazing.

"Poor pretty thing." he cooed with fake sympathy, rubbing away an errant tear with his thumb. Your neck ached at the angle he was holding it at. "Open."

You obeyed, and he spat in your mouth again. It actually didn't have much taste, and you swallowed with no complaint, your brain foggy from the rough way he was fucking you. The feeling of humiliation was still there, creeping hot up your back, but it also made you clench hard around him.

"Fuck." he snarled, suddenly pulling back from you, standing beside the bed again, one hand jerking himself as he grabbed you up onto your knees once more, his fist in your hair as he rubbed and slapped his throbbing cock against your face.

"Open your fuckin' mouth." he growled, pushing himself as far back down your throat as he could go as soon as you did, both hands cupping the back of your head as he skull-fucked you with wild abandon. Your hands braced on his hips, your efforts to blunt his thrusts futile. You gagged and choked and drooled as he used your throat; embarrassingly, one of your hands appeared on your swollen, aching clit, rubbing it in tight circles as he began to throb.

"Shit, girlie, you're gonna make me cum." he panted, pulling himself back from you, leaving you sputtering for air as he resumed rubbing his cockhead on your lips and cheeks. His eyes were burning into yours. "Better keep your mouth closed."

You clenched your lips between your teeth just as the first jet of his release hit your cheek, much thicker and hotter than you'd anticipated, another and then another, seemingly an endless amount covering your entire lower face, dribbling from your lips and chin as he groaned and growled his way through it. Your hand was still rubbing furiously between your legs, and he must've noticed, slipping his fingers down in place of yours and rubbing those same circles, his rough touch just what you needed to fall over the edge as well, moaning loudly as your whole body seized.

Everything was eerily quiet and calm as you both let your breathing settle, one hand supporting his weight against the wall by the head of the bed for a moment, his eyes hidden by the hat once more. Surprisingly, he undid the knot at the headboard, then the one around your wrist, tossing the rope down onto the floor next to the bed as he went rummaging around in his pockets. You noticed that he was tucked back away into his pants. Suddenly, a dingy handkerchief was pressed into your palm; it took you a moment to realize that he intended for you to clean the mess from your face with it.

You set to it, the incredibly thick, almost gelatinous substance difficult to wipe away with the thin square of cloth, but you managed to make it happen. Mostly. As you tidied yourself, he pulled the inhaler from one pocket and a rumpled pack of cigarettes from another, taking a puff and jamming a cig between his thin, cracked lips. He paused to hold the pack out to you, and you shook your head.

"You can take a break, kid. We've got all night." he said, lighting the smoke and sitting down on the edge of the bed.

You supposed he was right; you were absolutely exhausted physically after that whole ordeal, and it was his time. If he was alright with you resting some, you'd rest some. Carefully, you crawled up and laid your head on one of the pillows, your side against his back as he sat there, smoking and righting his clothes. In the back of your head, a little bug nagged at you.

"How did you know?" you asked, voice almost timid.

"Hmm?" he replied, his focus seemingly on re-winding the lasso.

"How did you know that, uh, tonight's my first night on the job?"

This got him to turn to you, a mischievous, but not unkind gleam in his gaze.

"I watched you for a while. Just got off the tram when you came outside, wanted a smoke. Noticed you. Couldn't not notice you. You looked like a nervous little bunny out there, just waitin' for a hawk to come and snatch you up."

"So you decided to be the hawk?"

"Yep."

You were both quiet again at this, the perfectly coiled rope now sitting near your feet. Outside, you could hear the clinking of glasses, the drunken laughter of gamblers and bar patrons. Your eyelids were so heavy.

You'd sort of assumed that you would want to cry yourself to sleep after what you'd been through, between the roller coaster of emotions and the general humiliation of it all; oddly enough, you didn't. Instead, you drifted off into a brief, fitful rest, dreaming of disgusting leather gloves and radiation-pillaged skin.

-

The Strip at twilight was quite the sight, the neon and bright colors washed mute by the early morning hues. It would be nice to stop and admire if you weren't so desperate to get out of town.

As much as you were loathe to admit it, the ghoul you'd been with the night before was right; you absolutely weren't cut out for this. You'd hated every single second of trying to entice people to pay you for sex, the way people had looked and leered at you as they'd gone by. Besides, your employers gave you the impression that they didn't have your best interest at heart. They also gave you the creeps.

And if anyone in the future wanted to go further than he had, you now knew you wouldn't be able to handle it. Though, you'd be lying if you said that you hadn't learned some things about yourself.

An unidentifiable feeling passed over you as you thought of him.

You'd awoken, shocked you'd managed to sleep at all, with quite the start, eyes frantically jumping to the clock to find that only about half an hour had passed. To your genuine surprise, the ghoul was gone, several hours still left in the time he'd paid for. The jug of water on the table was empty. You'd waited dutifully, naked on the bed, for the remainder of his time slot. You'd even kept the heels on. At first, you'd wondered if he'd maybe gone to the bar for a drink. But after another hour passed, you were fairly certain he wasn't coming back. Despite yourself, you were strangely disappointed.

At the end of his paid time, the end of your shift, you checked back in at the desk, collected your pay, and immediately went upstairs to collect your things.

Your meager possessions were few enough to fit into a little drawstring; you'd cast a quick glimpse at the destroyed shirt the man had cut off of you, crumpled on the floor with the rest of your uniform after you'd changed back into your dingy street clothes, before tucking it away into the bag. You weren't sure why. After that, you'd tucked the bag up inside your jacket, calmly walked outside for a "smoke", and kept walking until you made it outside the walls of Freeside, feeling like there were eyes on you the whole way. It was only once you were past the border of the junk fences that you allowed yourself to pause and take a shaky breath.

"You made the right choice." came a familiar drawl from behind you.

The voice startled you, already on edge as you worried about being followed from the casino, sending you freezing in the middle of the decaying road. Through the dusty haze, you could make out his hat and coat, emerging from behind a barricade of concrete, smoke in hand. The big gun was back in its place, slung loosely across his broad shoulders.

"You scared me." you hissed, your hand resting on your flying heart.

He tilted his head at you, those hauntingly beautiful eyes scanning you. He gave a shrug, which was very apparently not an apology.

"Where you headed?" he asked.

"I dunno." you confessed flatly, trying your best to not fidget in place. "Not here."

He took a long, long drag off of his smoke before dropping it into the dirt, stubbing it out with the toe of his boot before looking up at you underneath the brim of that accursed hat. Everything felt very familiar, all of the sudden. Another transaction waiting to happen.

"Quite the coincidence. I'm also headed 'not here'." he replied, quietly assessing you as he leaned against the barricade, lighting another cig.

You hesitated for a moment before responding, considering some things. But eventually, you replied, tone teasing:

"Looking for some company, are you?"

He smirked at you, smoldering cigarette hanging loosely between those vicious teeth.

"Sure am. Interested?"

You crossed the rest of the way over to him, standing close. The smell of leather and gunpowder washed over you once more.

"If you've got the caps, handsome."

[weebsinstash]

Okay but AU where Miguel is an alpha and reader is normal but they still give off the smell of being in heat before their period or just once a month so poor Miguel has to struggle with an oblivious reader whose just going around saying hi to people like they’re not a walking talking advertisement for sex

Reader: what do you mean 'I probably shouldn't go near Miguel right now? I thought he looked like he had a headache earlier so I got him some of those empanadas he likes from the cafeteria and some migraine tea

Peter B, not sure how he can tell you without sounding like an absolute freak that his friend is an Alpha and can smell that you're ovulating right now and if you go near Miguel when you're like this you could end up pregnant: beeeeecaaaussssse, Mayday misses you! Yeah, come hold my baby and come this way and hang with us and definitely NOT to Miguel's office!

(Lmao Miguel just checking security feeds by coincidence and, ugh, double whammy combo, he sees you holding the baby, in his eyes looking like the CUTEST potential mom, and he's just like "well, if she gets pregnant it's God's will 🙏". 'Poke holes in the condoms' girl he doesnt OWN condoms and he tells you up front, on his shit like "we're married, this is what married couples do". Or it's like. Kinda like with superman lol, where Miguel's altered not completely human DNA skirts around the spermacide in condoms that's formulated for humans so he might knock you up unintentionally but once it's on the way he wont let you get rid of it and he's actually so excited)

He overhears another Alpha make comments on your body and your scent and you just turn your head to see Miguel holding them by the collar as their little feeties dangle in the air and he's growling at them to "watch who they're speaking about that way" and you're just left ignorant that he's basically strangling the dude cause he was saying the equivalent of "if Y/N doesn't watch out she's gonna end up knocked up" and "hey maybe it'll be me" (no, absolutely not, run laps cadet, the boss ain't happy with ya)

And it works in reverse too! He smells good and you definitely cant help but notice 😩❤️ He stands just a little too close to you one day and you can smell this kind of masculine musk, I feel like he's kind of like too lowkey a recluse holing himself up to wear men's cologne but he's also like kind of an older man so just like, the thought of him having the scented pomade for his hair and you smell things like his deodorant and body wash when he's too close and it all smells very much you know Male but in a sexy way, the scent of aftershave sticking to him some mornings, coffee on his breath when he points to something on a monitor over your shoulder, just all these sorts of smells to associate with his presence even if you can't pick up the intricacies of his more "biological" components. You're up working late once and you fall asleep in a chair and later on you wake up tucked in on a couch in a break room with a blanket that has a scent on it (to tell other Alphas to back off and let you rest) and you can't help but put your face into it. like, as a young girl I didn't understand but I'm 26 now and there are just some male colognes and just like idk scents where you smell it and it's just like UGH I bet the man who left this is big 😩❤️ if it's not overpowering and you're not used to smelling "dude scents" that shit can be dangerous in the wrong hands

You experience the rare event of Miguel actually sitting down for once (shocking I know) and your desire to help and also your coochie activates when you see him looking kind of tired and run down and like, rubbing his face with a hand and he's got a migraine and here you are, "let me platonically rub your shoulders sir it definitely isn't at least partially because I'm crazy crazy horny for you and something about you kinda lowkey makes me wanna serve you"

Like you reach out and start rubbing his neck and shoulders and he's just so sore and had been working so hard he's like GROANING and shit like 😩 how could I not run my fingers through his hair, how could I SURVIVE if he started doing that shit. I couldn't, he felt your nails lightly drag against his scalp and it sent shivers up his spine and now you're getting your back put on the nearest flat surface while he pulls all your clothes off

"Sorry, but I don't think I can hold myself back anymore."

[starmonsterrr]

hey i just saw you reblogged this desantis passing kosa act thing which is misinformation. he passed a completely different bill

the kosa bill was to make sure that social media has completely child safe content. its a censorship bill

he passed a bill that limits minors under the age of 14 from using social media. the thing is dude theres no way to do that unless your asking for someones government id. the real kosa act states that your government id wont be used to verify your age

."The bill states explicitly that it does not require age gating, age verification, or the collection of additional data from users."

from: https://www.blumenthal.senate.gov/about/issues/kids-online-safety-act

"Under the Kids Online Safety Act, if an online platform already knows that a user is underage, then it has to provide the safety and privacy protections required by the legislation—the platform cannot bury its head in the sand when it knows a user is underage.

Online platforms often already request a date of birth from new users, either for advertising and profiling the user, or for compliance with Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). Online platforms also frequently collect or purchase substantial amounts of other data to understand  more about their users.  

But if an online platform truly doesn’t know the age of the user, then it does not face any obligation to provide protections or safeguards under the bill or to collect more data in order to determine the user’s age. "

also from: https://www.blumenthal.senate.gov/about/issues/kids-online-safety-act

so basically he passed a bill that theres no way to implement unless he wants to drive away the people voting for kosa in the first place. (which is probably most of the people who vote for him) they dont actually care about kids. the people voting for kosa care about themselves and having to put your government id into social media is gonna make them less safe

this bills a lot more similar to the protecting kids on social media act

just wanted to let you know

Ah- thank you for the info, I'll delete the rb asap and I deeply apologize for any confusion

[childotkw]

i love the hadrian breaking into another dimension au, it has so much potential for chaos lol...

especially depending on the timeline? i had this funny thought that if it were during 6th year, aka when dumbledore started to get serious with the horcrux hunting, he would just like... probably yoink any found ones lmao? just, mail them straight back to voldemort or something lol.

also like. im crying laughing at how scandalized everyone would be if they ever found out hadrian is not particularly on their side in the war. would he like, particularly care about hiding that part? or would it be more a case of, he doesnt really care since it wont be him dealing with the consequences (i hope so, because that would be the extra funny option)? (thats not even to speak if they ever found out who he's romantically involved with lmao, dumbledore would probably be done in by a hearattack on the spot if he did)

im sorry with spamming you with questions (though thks is still me holding back) ive just gotten over two back to back 20h flights (16h layover too) for a work trip and the only thing thats kept me from straight up Perishing was thinking about this shiny new AU of yours hahah

Lmao I'm glad you enjoyed it!

I think I was originally planning end of fifth year / sixth year for this one, so the timeline would work out for the horcrux hunting. Not sure if Hadrian would get involved in the actual hunting, but he might tell Harry that "hey if you wanna get Voldemort to stop being a dick, why not hold his soul pieces hostage rather than destroy them? Slap that bitch with an unbreakable vow while you've got leverage?"

Harry does seriously consider it, since he's not exactly keen to be a killer (even though he will do it if push comes to shove).

But oh yeah, a lot of people aren't happy when Hadrian declares himself Switzerland for this upcoming fight. He wouldn't advertise it, but he's certainly not hiding his opinions - which rubs a lot of people the wrong way because you're harry potter too, aren't you? why aren't you trying to stop voldemort as well?

Hadrian just disengages when people try to start those arguments because they refuse to listen when he outlines a) not his world, not his voldemort, not his problem; b) why kill voldemort when you can strong-arm the asshole into working with you to improve the wizarding world?; c) some of voldemort's points do kinda make sense, he's just being an extremist.

I think Hadrian would clash particularly hard with Hermione and Ron whenever these arguments take place.

Them finding out that Hadrian is fucking his version of Voldemort just disgusts them - but Hadrian doubles down whenever they try and use that against him and goes into explicit detail of how much he and Riddle get along until they leave him alone.

And don't apologise for the spam! I love it 🥰 but also omg jfc you need a nap my darling. I hope you got to fall into a good bed for a bit to recover xx

[violentdevotion]

Why the Moz hate? I'm not saying I disagree with you, just wondering what your reasoning is.

Hes a raging racist and islamaphobe who's gone on stage wearing a "Britain First" badge and has been appealing to his skinhead fans since the 80s. As a brown Muslim I kind of have personal stakes in it when someone so publicly wants me gone. He also has said some anti-black stuff, stuff about #me too and idiot politics in general that I'll link, but the above is more than enough reason for me to hate him and want him dead.

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2019-10-24/morrissey-anti-immigrant-white-nationalist-hollywood-bowl

https://www.theweek.co.uk/92990/morrissey-interview-five-most-controversial-comments-by-the-smiths-singer

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/morrissey-interview-far-right-for-britain-racist-brexit-nigel-farage-a8973276.html

https://www.nme.com/news/music/morrissey-fire-appearing-wear-britain-badge-2485776

[can reblog]

[levi-supreme]

Levi's Valentine (Part 2/5)

Characters: Levi x fem!reader

Genre: Modern!au

Warnings: SFW, fluff. High school AU. Reader insert (y/n). Some drama involved. Some characters make cameo appearances. More pinning (?). Also some brewing of affection. One mention of a cartoon character.

Word count: 4.2k

A/N: Here's to Chapter Two! I love this chapter, it's my favourite. If you're a fan of shoujo manga or Taiwanese idol dramas like me, you will love this. Scratch that, as long as you love fluff, you will love this <3

Part Three will be posted on 28 February!

Read on AO3 here.

Levi’s Valentine master list | Frequently used terms | Part One | Part Three

[2009, December]

“Hey boys!” Hange shouted one morning, bringing a bunch of food brochures to Erwin’s desk where Mike and Levi were. Levi rolled his eyes and groaned, already knowing what Hange’s purpose was. It was only 8 am and Hange was too cheerful for everyone’s own good.

“Don’t ask me to decide. You know I wont,” Levi stood up and went back to his desk, uninterested in whatever that was going on. Erwin and Mike took the brochures and glanced through them. There were advertisements for a new ramen joint, a new café, an all-you-can-eat buffet, and even coupons for a pizzeria. Hange sighed at Levi’s retreating figure.

“Oh come on guys, we have to decide what to eat on Levi’s birth—hey! Y/n!” Hange gestured to you as you came into class. Bewildered, you walked over and greeted them. Hange shoved the brochures into your hand and told you to choose one. You glanced through all of them, still unsure of why Hange asked you to do this until Mike explained that it was Levi’s birthday on Christmas, and they had to make reservations early to avoid the Christmas crowd. Hange added saying the three of them had been celebrating Levi’s birthday every year since they knew each other in junior high school. You felt your cheeks heat up.

“W-wait, are you all inviting me to celebrate Levi’s birthday together?” You were surprised at the invitation. For some reason, you felt like you were an outsider intruding on a little family reunion. Furthermore, it didn’t seem like Levi was aware of them inviting you since he wasn’t here. On the other hand, you felt really honoured that the rest of them felt familiar enough with you to invite you to join them in something special and personal. You wondered how Levi would react when he found out you were joining in this year. Would he be glad? Or would he think otherwise?

“Yeah of course! The more the merrier. And trust me, Levi wouldn’t mind at all.” Hange patted your arm and answered you as though they could read your mind. Hange quickly urged you to decide on a place and the four of you were looking at all the brochures attentively. The ramen menu looked really good and the price was affordable too, but it would probably be very crowded and all of you won’t be able to sit together and have a good chat. The two guys mentioned that the new café would be a nice place to go after dinner and you agreed. Moving to the buffet menu, your thoughts were interrupted by someone outside the class.

“Y/n-chan~” You heard from outside the classroom door. Sighing, you pretended you didn’t hear Zeke calling you non-stop. Zeke started knocking on the classroom door loudly after a few seconds of silence.

“Oh god, what should I do?” You silently mouthed to the rest, eyes darting left and right.

“Just ignore him.” Erwin mumbled while Mike looked around. Zeke started knocking on the door again and calling your name out loud.

“Y/n-chan, are you free on Christmas?” You continued to ignore Zeke, a worried look on your face. People in class were starting to notice Zeke’s presence and whispers of ‘psst’ and ‘your boyfriend’s looking for you’ echoed around the class. You wanted Zeke to leave, but Hange told you to ignore him. “Yoohoo, my pretty y/n?” Zeke called out in the background and you groaned. Hange bumped your shoulder.

“Don’t worry, Levi’s ‘Anti-Zeke Radar’ will be activated soon.”

“Y/n~ let’s go on a Christmas date, shall we?” Zeke continued calling you a few more times and you were starting to get annoyed.

“No, Zeke, I have plans already.” You finally spoke up after a long while, hoping Zeke would leave you alone. You studied the buffet menu with Hange and complained how expensive it was, paying no attention to Zeke who was still standing outside. “Guys, should we have pizza instead?” You asked the rest, hearing their voices draining Zeke’s away.

“Aw, don’t lie to me, y/n-chan, I know it’s a lie!” Zeke chimed from outside once more. “Come on, don’t be shy and go out—”

“Fuck off, pale face, and stop disturbing y/n.” You looked up from the menu and saw Levi standing by the door, his voice full of malice. When did Levi get there? Zeke pretended to be offended.

“Don’t interrupt people when they’re talking, Levi, didn’t your mum—” Levi’s fist hit Zeke’s jaw before he could even continue his sentence and everything was just a chaotic mess. Levi and Zeke started throwing punches and kicks everywhere, tugging and pulling on one another’s uniform, the sound of fists hitting flesh and grimaces of pain everywhere. Some of the guys from Zeke’s class gathered outside your classroom door, and Erwin and Mike immediately jumped in to try and pull Levi away while Porco and Reiner ran towards Zeke and Levi, trying to separate them as well. A few of your classmates started cheering, some even telling Levi to “give Zeke a good one!”.

You were at a loss, shouting and trying to get everyone to stop before the teachers caught wind of the commotion and what was happening. You looked to Hange for help, but they just told you to remain in your seat. Mike was holding on tight to Levi’s arms against his back while Erwin managed to step in between Zeke and Levi.

“Guys, come on, stop this, before Homeroom begins.”

“The fucktart started it first.” Levi struggled against Mike’s grip, eyes sending daggers towards Zeke’s direction. Reiner helped Zeke up while Porco tried dragging Zeke back to their classroom. Zeke’s jaw was red and he had a nosebleed. He impatiently wiped the blood from his face and briefly swiped the dust off his uniform.

“Where are your manners, Levi? Oh I forgot, your mother died before—”

“FUCK YOU!” Levi screamed out loud and tried to dash towards Zeke like a wild canine while Mike continued to restrain Levi. Erwin quickly told Reiner and Porco to bring Zeke away. Mike only released his hold on Levi when he was sure Levi wouldn’t run out of the class to kick Zeke’s ass. You saw that Levi had a cut on the edge of his left eyebrow and his uniform sleeve had a tear. He stormed back to his seat without another word and you followed behind, your eyes filled with worry. Mike told you to leave Levi alone first, but you assured Mike that you would be fine and trotted behind him while Hange, Erwin, and Mike watched you.

Levi was still fuming mad when he went back to his seat, his mind full of hatred and rage. He hated seeing Zeke flirt with you even when you showed him zero interest. He wanted to rip the smirk out of Zeke’s face every time he tried to be cheeky with you. Levi didn’t know why he got so pissed off when he heard Zeke asking you out on Christmas. She’s a close friend, Levi convinced himself. I’m pissed because Zeke tried to flirt with my close friend. It wasn’t like you two had plans anyway. Or maybe, he secretly wished he could ask you along to celebrate his birthday with Erwin and the rest this year. Levi didn’t know why he wanted you to join them.

As Levi opened his water bottle to drink some water and slowly calmed down, he was starting to regret losing his temper and punching Zeke. How would you think of him now? Probably just some hot-tempered and violent uncouth jerk. Why was knowing your impression about him so important? She’s a friend, of course I care about what she thinks. Levi inwardly groaned and gulped down more water, rubbing his forehead. The cut on his eyebrow was starting to itch. Levi swore he didn’t have the intention to punch Zeke at all, but he lost his sanity the moment he talked about his mother. Everyone in school knew to never talk about his mother. But Zeke the asshole never failed to step on Levi’s tail. Rage started flooding Levi’s being again and he clenched his fists in anger.

You saw Levi gulping down water and you were contemplating if you should approach him. What if he wanted to be alone and found you annoying? You saw Levi wincing when he touched the cut on his eyebrow, and saw him clenching his fists again. You decided to forgo your worries.

“Hey, Levi, you okay?” You sheepishly asked, afraid you might be stepping over his boundaries. Levi was about to shout at whoever was talking to him but he closed his mouth when he heard your voice. Without him knowing, his fists relaxed and all the anger seemed to have drained out. Levi stared at you wordlessly, unsure of what to say. Was he okay? He didn’t know how to answer. He merely remained silent.

You continued staring at Levi sadly. Maybe he didn’t want your company. Maybe he wasn’t ready to talk. You returned back to your seat and saw Levi suddenly sitting upright, he opened his mouth and looked like he had something to say. You took out a small pouch from your bag.

“Your sleeve is torn. Do you want me to patch it back for you?” You asked Levi softly. Maybe you can help him feel better in other ways. “It’ll only take five minutes, before Homeroom begins.” You quickly added, looking at Levi hopefully. Levi stared at you for a while before nodding silently, unbuttoning his uniform top and passing it to you with shaky hands and his fingertips accidentally grazing past yours.

Fireworks erupted in your heart as you felt his fingertips touch yours. Warmth flowed through your body. You weren’t expecting him to say yes. You gave him a small smile and started patching up his sleeve. You bit your lip, occasionally stealing glances at Levi who was looking at you. Flowers bloomed in your chest, wondering why he was looking at you so intently. Levi had a dazed and almost woeful expression, and you badly wanted to know what was going through his mind.

Levi’s inner shirt was a little damp and sticking to his body, making you ponder about how his torso might look underneath. You accidentally pricked your finger with the needle when you imagined Levi topless and you jumped, immediately forcing yourself to focus on the task at hand and not how hot Levi would look. Focus, y/n, focus! No, not on Levi’s body, no! Bad girl! Focus on your sewing! You bit your lip again and concentrated on your task, not wanting to leave uneven stitch lines on his sleeve.

While you were sewing his sleeve, Levi couldn’t help but stare at you. You had a look of concentration on your face and you looked really adorable when you were biting your lip. Levi felt like he was stupefied, like he could watch you all day while you were doing your favourite things. The scene of you patching up his sleeve felt really familiar. It made him feel nostalgic all of a sudden, and it suddenly reminded him of his mother. Memories of his childhood started replaying in his mind. Levi used to get into fights all the time when he was younger, and his mother would always patch up his torn shirts while he watched her from the opposite side of the table.

I miss you, Mama… Levi felt a pang in his chest and his eyes started becoming watery. He quickly blinked those tears away, not wanting you or anyone to see his moment of weakness. He didn’t know why he suddenly thought of his mother. It’s been so long anyway, why did he suddenly miss her? Just then, you suddenly jumped and Levi jerked up as well, his thoughts interrupted and he wondered what happened. A few moments later, you returned the uniform top back to him. Levi’s fingers gently caressed the stitches on his sleeve. A sudden warmth bloomed in his chest and he found himself unable to meet your eye.

“T-thank you, y/n…” Levi muttered, hastily putting on his uniform top. Why was he feeling so bashful all of a sudden? What the fuck is wrong with me?

As you passed the uniform top back to Levi, you couldn’t help but notice that Levi had a blush forming on his face. You resisted the urge to giggle and continued looking at Levi. So cute, you told yourself as Levi thanked you. You quickly took out a bandaid from another pouch. Unfortunately, they were all pink and had Kuromi’s face on them. Ignoring the embarrassment Levi might face, you quickly took out some disposable antiseptic wipes and pulled your chair over to Levi’s desk. Levi jumped in surprise, not knowing why you were suddenly so close to him. He sucked in his breath and didn’t dare to move.

“Your cut’s nasty,” you casually said as you ripped open the antiseptic wipe and gently cleaned up Levi's cut. Levi winced when the antiseptic burned him, but he grit his teeth and stayed still. Your lips were parted and your breath was hot against Levi's skin. Your presence was suffocating yet he doesn't want you to go away. Your touch was featherlight as you cleaned up his cut. Your voice was like a nightingale singing when you unknowingly hummed while applying the bandaid on him. Levi felt giddy, like he hit his head hard.

Your flowery scent overpowered his mind, and in that moment it was as though time stood still and the both of you were the only two that existed in the world. Levi felt you blowing against his cut and he willed himself to not do anything stupid, like grabbing you out of nowhere and kissing you. He looked up at you while you pasted a bandaid over the cut and just then, your eyes briefly met. Levi felt like he was standing among a beautiful sea of flowers, and he didn’t want this feeling to go away.

You saw Levi wince when you were cleaning up the cut and you reminded yourself to be more gentle. You lightly blew on the cut, hoping it would dissipate some of the burn. Your favourite song suddenly came to mind and you started humming lightly, hoping to distract Levi from the burn he was feeling. You tore open the wrapper of the bandaid and placed it over his cut.

“There,” you let out a small giggle and Levi was brought back to Earth. Your eyes met for a brief moment and Levi held your gaze. The both of you wordlessly stared into each other’s eyes, and in that split second you didn’t know why you had a strong urge to lean forward a little and—

“Nice bandaid,” Mike sniggered as he returned with Hange. The both of you jumped at the sudden intrusion and you quickly scurried back to your seat like a mouse, clutching the edges of your skirt and feeling your heart stuck in your throat. Levi touched the bandaid on his eyebrow and wondered why did you and Mike laugh.

“What are you two laughing at?” Levi frowned, touching the bandaid. Hange tried to hold in their laughter as well. Before Mike could speak, Pixis Sensei came into the class and everyone quietened down. The class monitor got everyone to stand up.

“Good morning, Pixis Sensei.” The class called out in unison.

“All right, good morning class. Take a seat.” Pixis Sensei gestured for everyone to sit down.

“I will begin with attendance marking. Ackerman?”Pixis Sensei called out and looked for Levi sitting in the left corner at the back of the class. Levi raised his hand.

“Nice bandaid, Ackerman.” Pixis Sensei commented and the entire class started laughing. Levi turned as red as a bottle of tomato sauce and you felt bad. After all, it was your bandaid you stuck on him. Levi looked confused. He didn’t know what was so funny and why was everyone laughing at him. First you and Mike, followed by Hange. And now even Pixis Sensei made fun of him.

“Go wash your face, Ackerman.” Pixis Sensei continued, secretly hinting Levi to go to the washroom to have a look at his face. Levi stood up and dashed to the washroom while Pixis Sensei continued with the attendance marking.

“Y/n what did you do?” Hange turned around and whispered once Pixis Sensei called out their name ‘Zoe!’ and continued with the administrative briefing. “Levi was pissed off as hell just now but now he’s docile, like a cute little bunny.”

“I didn’t do anything though, we didn’t even talk,” you recalled, taking out your textbook. “I just helped him to sew up his torn sleeve and clean up his cut.” Hange’s eyes widened and they gawked at you.

“And Levi let you do that? ALL OF THAT? Without complaining?” Hange was awestruck. They couldn’t believe what they heard. You nodded after Hange’s sentence, unsure of the significance of your actions.

“Every time Levi got himself into shit, he would always tell us to fuck off and he doesn’t talk to us for the entire day. Especially if Zeke was the one who irked him.” Hange tilted their chair towards your desk, glancing to make sure Levi wasn’t back yet. “He would always shoo us away if we showed even the slightest bit of concern or wanting to comfort him.” Pixis Sensei left the classroom once he was done and the both of you saw Levi coming back.

“I can’t believe you managed to calm him down,” Hange quickly muttered as Levi returned, looking a little pink in the face. While Levi took his seat, he saw you talking to Hange and he quickly looked away, touching his face and hoping his cheeks weren’t hot.

Levi’s trip to the toilet earlier left him feeling more confused and conflicted than ever. When Pixis Sensei told him to wash his face, Levi could tell that Pixis Sensei didn’t know what he’s gotten himself into. And when Levi saw his own reflection in the mirror, he immediately knew why everyone was laughing. The pink Kuromi sticker stuck out against his skin like a sore thumb and it definitely didn’t suit him. He thought he looked stupid. Maybe that was why everyone was laughing. Yet, Levi was reluctant to peel the bandaid off.

He didn’t know why he let you sew his sleeve and let you come so close to him, even letting you clean his cut and paste this pink bandaid. If it were Erwin, Mike, or Hange, whom he has known longer, he would have told them to fuck off and leave him alone. Levi didn’t understand why he didn’t mind your company and your presence, he didn’t know why having you around him made him feel better. He didn’t know why he always felt a fuzzy warm feeling growing inside him whenever you were around. Levi didn’t like how he’s acting, he didn’t know what’s happening.

Do I…Like her? Levi splashed water on his cheeks. No. I like her as a friend. Levi reminded himself once more. I like her around because she’s a friend. She’s not like Erwin and the rest. Levi splashed water on his face once more and headed back to class.

As soon as the lunch bell rang, Erwin took his bento and joined the four of you at the opposite side of the class today. Today you had a cheese hamburg steak with rice and a side of vegetables. Hange was having some cha soba. Erwin’s lunchbox was packed with crispy tonkatsu and rice, and Mike had tempura. Levi stared blankly at his bento box.

“Aren’t you eating, Levi? Or are you in pain or something?” You looked at him, cutting a small piece of hamburg steak. “Uh, no, I-I’m—” Levi cut himself off and opened his bento box, looking at his saba fish and rice. The rest of you ate and talked about the classes earlier while Levi ate in complete silence. You gave Levi furtive glances and looked at your hamburg steak. Everyone was minding their own business until you cut half of your hamburg steak and placed it on Levi’s rice.

“Here,” you looked away quickly, eating a mouthful of rice to hide your embarrassment. Levi stared at you blankly, not knowing your intentions. “I-I can’t finish the entire thing and I don’t want to waste food so—” you took another mouthful of rice. Levi continued to look at you before turning his attention back to his saba fish. Wordlessly, Levi sliced half of the saba fish neatly before placing it in your bento box and he continued eating his rice with a pinkish tint on his cheeks.

You turned around to glance at Levi before chewing on your chopsticks, trying to hide the smile that threatened to appear on your face. The rest of you ate in comfortable silence. Once you all were done, you told the rest you were going to the washroom. Levi saw you standing up and immediately followed behind. Once the both of you left, Mike, Erwin, and Hange huddled their heads together.

“What the heck just happened?” Mike whispered to his other two friends, bewildered by Levi and your behaviour. “What’s with Levi and his dumbstruck expression?! What’s with him offering y/n food? He NEVER shares food!”

“Did you see him blushing when he was looking at y/n patch up his shirt with that lovesick look on his face?” Hange added in, finishing their bottle of sencha. Erwin shrugged.

“What I did see was the two of them behaving and acting like a shy high school couple in denial of each other’s feelings, like a scene from a shoujo manga.” Erwin hummed, looking at the ceiling. “How would you know anything about shoujo mangas?” Mike threw a dirty look at him and Erwin frowned.

“My nee-san has lots of them at home.”

The three of them sat in silence until they all looked at one another as though they had realised something.

“That idiot likes y/n!” Mike hit his forehead with his palm. Seeing Levi return, Erwin promptly walks to his desk while Hange and Mike pretend nothing ever happened.

While you left for the washroom, you didn’t notice Levi following you until you heard him call your name.

“H-hey, y/n,” you paused in your step, turning around to see Levi still looking a little pink in the face. “I, uh, I—”

“You’re welcome, Levi.” You flashed him another sweet smile before going inside the washroom. The Kuromi bandaid really looked out of place. It clashed with Levi and his beautiful features, but he still looked adorable.

Levi stood outside the washroom, unsure of how to react. He wasn’t envious of the fact that all of your lunches looked better than his; his circumstances just won’t allow him anything luxurious. Levi was used to it anyway. Levi just wasn’t expecting you to share your food with him, furthermore giving him so much of your hamburg steak, leaving you to eat plain rice with nothing else on the side. Levi saw the look you gave him and he knew that you were feeling some sort of pity for him, even though it wasn’t his first time having a simple lunch . Levi didn’t want your pity or your generosity. If Hange and the rest did this, he would have thrown his rice at them.

But why? Why did he allow you to show him concern? And why did he feel compelled to share his food with you as well? Levi never shared food. Levi hardly shared anything about himself to anyone. It took the rest nearly a year to break through his tough walls and make him befriend them. How are you making him do things against his norm and experience all these unusual feelings in just a matter of three months?

As you entered the washroom, you clutched your chest hard, feeling your heart thumping wildly against your ribcage. You were afraid Levi might be offended when you offered him your portion of food, because you didn’t see the rest doing the same. You were afraid that Levi thought you were pitying him, which wasn’t your intention at all. You didn’t expect Levi to return the favour and gave you half a portion of his own food too.

When Levi called out to you, you had a feeling he wanted to thank you, but he probably couldn’t say it out loud. Instead, you cheekily replied to him, hoping Levi got the hint that you were aware of what he was thinking. Was I flirting with Levi earlier? Is that flirting? What’s wrong with me? You questioned yourself, your heartbeat still erratic when you saw the look in Levi’s eyes. No, no. y/n. Stop it! Stop thinking about Levi that way. You quickly washed your hands and returned to class, pushing the thought of you possibly falling in love with Levi to the back of your head. Yet, when you saw Levi staring at you when you returned to your seat, those lingering feelings and thoughts crawled back to you again.

And we're done with the second chapter! I really loved this chapter, it just reminds me of a scene from a shoujo manga so much. Also, can you all imagine Levi with a pink Kuromi bandaid on him? Please he's going to look so freaking adorable 😭

Please feel free to leave your comments and feedback!! And as usual, thank you for reading <3

Tagging: @levi-lover @ack3rlady @hashaneeee @roralore @imkumichan @kristinecharmm @notgoodforlife @jean-prettyboy-kirschtein @sweet-assh0le @hannie2kay @ack3rlevi @levislovingwife @galactict3a @hauntedhousecat @sckerman @thesimpsstuff @ackermandick @greenfurret

Levi’s Valentine master list | Frequently used terms | Part One | Part Three

Levi Master List | Main Master List | Join the taglist

[wormman]

[ rbs over likes please! ]

Band Au (with @funplecs​ ) part 3, the hashira!! himejima is under the cut for undisclosed reasons

i also have a lot of notes, and theyre a bit more important than the notes for the other ones, so i’ll be writing them down also under the cut!! (things like shinobu and giyuu’s fake marriage and shit)

ok so:

- rengoku’s brother lives with him and Kyojuro has custody of him

- shinobu is 20 in this au, in canon she’s 18 but it didn't quite fit

- mitsuri in fact acts like she doesn't know how to play any instrument at all mostly to get people to “teach” them to her and hold her hands

- Genya and sanemi live together too, their family is alive and probably?? lives with them idk this is funplecs’s part but sanemi recently moved to live closer with the rest of the hashira and brought genya with him

- yea uzui’s wives have their own band

- so does shinobu’s sisters 

- muichiro has a lot of the same classes as Nezuko, which is why tanjirou knows him (since tanjirou likes to get up into nez’s business)

- sabito and makomo and the rest of urokodaki’s kids have their own band. giyuu is not in it for undisclosed reasons

- giyuu and shinobu ARE married. they are husband and wife. yes they are both gay. they said they’d get married for tax reasons if they were still single by 19 when they were in highschool and shinobu takes taxes extremely seriously

- shinobu wont commit tax fraud but will try her hardest to get as many breaks as possible

- because theyre not really married, giyuu and shinobu r allowed to flirt and stuff  except rengoku thinks theyre GENUINELY married and he gets very serious about it. he's like “haha hey giyuu” and shinobu is like “we’re MARRIED lol” and he's like “OH MY BAD IM SO SORRY” 

- none of the hashira are comfortable with advertising muichiro or turning him into a mascot since he’s still a kid and they don't want to fuck him up, so muichiro is like a back stage boy. he steals uzui’s phone and starts an instagram live in the recording studio. fans adore him

- the hashira are a generational band, so urokodaki and old rengoku used to play in it. zen’s gramps also used to play but he WILL NOT let his boys know this

- it’s also an experimental band! each album has a different feel and genre to it, all suited towards one specific member’s tastes, and then they’ll take turns running tours and directing the band. while it can be jarring that the punk album is right after the electronica album, they make it work! 

- shinobu finds out that inosuke is essentially homeless trying to avoid his mom and step dad so she winds up trying to adopt him. the shinobu vs douma battle is now a custody battle 

here's himejima

[five-rivers]

Can I advocate for one of the BNHA fics to be written next? (especially if the second is the 'feral young Toshinori' one. What is your idea for that anyway?)

I have thus far written 1.8k of the into the mind BNHA fic and 500 words of the DP/HP twin AU fic.  What percentage of the final product each of these represent, I haven’t a clue.  

Anyway, my feral Toshinori plot bunnies have increased, as they are wont to do.  I sort of feel like I may have given some false advertising, though...  To me ‘smol’ is more of an emotion than an age, if that makes sense?  It probably doesn’t.  

BUT, incidentally, the into the mind one sort of has a young Toshinori as well.  If the teenage not-quite-technically-a-vigilante Toshinori that lives in Izuku’s subconscious rent free due to One for All quirk shenanigans can be considered ‘young.’  I haven’t gotten to the part with him in it, but I will.  And that is a threat.  

(Actually, all the One for All holders are going to be pretty feral, come to think of it.)

Anyway, the plot of the into the mind one is basically that the hero commission decided that Izuku was suspicious after Blackwhip and came up with an excuse to get him in a situation where he’d let one of their agents, you know, use their quirk to go into his mind.  Except the existence of One for All renders that a terrible idea.  Why do you think All for One never tried using mental quirks on All Might?  They don’t work right!

The other feral Toshinori that I’ve got is for an AU where Blackwhip woke up some time after Toshinori’s fight with All for One, and he decided, ‘Hey, new and completely different quirk, new and completely different appearance, you know what I can do with this?  Vigilantism.  Work as an underground hero while waiting for my muscle form to recharge!  Because I have neither a personal life nor any sense of self preservation!’  So, when he runs out of time on the roof, instead of accusing him of being an imposter, Izuku immediately switches to freaking out because his two favorite heroes are actually the same guy.  Toshinori is appropriately disturbed.  Things progress from there, with Toshinori and Izuku swapping off which one is the feral one and which one is the responsible one on any given day and Izuku convincing Toshinori to let him do increasingly questionable things.  Like vigilantism.  Interning with him underground.  

Will either of these fics ever fully materialize?  I do not know.  I fully encourage other people to snatch these ideas and run away with them while cackling madly.  

[spacemilkies]

gateau→  ; part i of iii

pairing: cal kestis x reader

word count: 2.5k+

summary: “So you had a Jedi as a roommate … that wont be a problem in the future or anything.”

a/n:  a bunch of new things to get me writing. all written at some ungoldly hour. this will probably be a three part series. something short and simple, based off the prologue with some background. hey, no song fic for once. i spent all day in this fandom. i feel ready. put me in coach.

                                                                    _______

“C’mon just this once, please.”

“Oh ho, no no. This is definitely not the first time.”

There was never a good reason for your roommate to visit you on the job. Not only were you stationed on opposite side of the station, you differing positions also lessened the opportunity for you to meet up without explicit reason. 

He was a rigger and you were a builder, simple as that. 

You refrained from lifting your mask, maintaining a sense of distance from the conversation as you continued to weld the two pieces of metal together. Maybe if you did your job hard enough he would eventually give up out of respect of your workload….

Who were you kidding.

A fiery shock of red hair crouched down next to you, apparently uncaring for the wayward sparks emitting from your torch. It was only when he dared to lean closer that you reluctantly cut the power out of concern for basic occupational safety. 

Flipping the hood of your mask, you gave him your sharpest glare to which he combatted easily with a killer smile. If only it was as effective on his conquests as he seemed to think the same applies to you. 

“You’re all just going to melt it down any.”

Any metals and ores that made it up here were better than the average scraps found in the lower sectors and certainly worth a pretty sum of credits. It was your roommate's favorite way to exploit your job and threaten your only means of survival in the same breath. 

 Darting your gaze around, you found that for once your colleges were rather forgiving of personal space. Though it didn’t mean that your supervisors wouldn’t have watchful eyes on your every move. Hence why these daring favors tended to have more impact than meaningless valve. 

You weren’t agreeing. Definitely were not going to get drawn into to those pleading baby blues. You were just curious. 

“And what exactly do two upstanding individuals as yourselves need with my fine metals?”

Cal’s smirk was shallow but no where lacking in its killer properties,” I’d bend your fine metals anyway.”

With a huff, you nudged him away with your shoulder. Practice allowing you to ignore the faint flush it brought to your cheeks. 

“You’re wasting time, Cal.”

“Just something nice. I’ll pay you back.”

You were not going to fall for it Totally, explicitly would not lose resolve on your promise to not give in like last time. You were strong and resilient and Cal was a big boy with his own means of survival and-

“I swear to all above, Cal if you-”

The force of his lips against your cheek nearly knocked you over and you were left momentarily stunned as nimble fingers searched knowingly against your body. Before you knew it, he was drawing away, your access card in hand. 

You should be happy with how quickly he scrambled to his feet, prepared for a hasty departure. It wouldn’t be long before your superiors began making their rounds and the last thing they wanted to see was a scrapper hunting around their stores. 

Gesturing with two fingers against his temple, Cal waved off before he disappeared around the corner. 

“Why are you not working? Your pay is based on your progress, not your time.”

Swallowing down a retort, you merely smiled shallowly in response to the haughty order as you tugged back down your face mask, Cal’s phantom touch still lingering against your form.

“Of course, sir.”

                                                                    _______

It should be said that Cal wasn’t a terrible roommate. In fact, when he first responded to your advertisement you had a feeling that he would actually be a helpful one.

That was a lie.

You knew that he would be a cute one. Someone that you would have to try /really hard to keep your hands off of. Fortunately for you, at the beginning he felt more like a brother than a bachelor. His boyish habits cutting into some of his charm.

It didn’t take much longer than that before the two of you fell into a rhythm of sorts. 

Having another human around was kind of nice too. 

Not to say you preached xenophobia. Some of your closer friends on this desolate planet were part of varying species. But in a way it aided in building a familiar quality of home even as you reside on the opposite side of the galaxy. 

Cal was moderately fair roommate. He wasn’t spotty with rent and you split the amenities, as scarce as they were, fairly. He was a little messy but not in the obnoxious unhygienic way. 

Everything was balanced. 

And you couldn’t really complain. 

He was a great guy. His humor and antics proving to raise your mood after a long day. Just the way he spoke about his own day bringing tears to your eyes and curling your stomach with laughter. 

You were a capable engineer, even though your talents were wasted on rebuilding the same schematics over and over again. At home, you are able to hone your own skills. Working on various knick knacks and gadgets. It was nice to have a second opinion as well. 

The two of you had spent many nights huddled around the living room surrounded by scattered parts and various prototypes. Only to have to separate the more advanced ones in fear of being caught. 

It was nice. 

                                                                    _______

“Damn, I didn’t think the boss would ever let you off.”

With less finesse and not a care in the world, you dropped haggeded into the seat offered by your friends. After another long week it was nice to finally load off with a few drinks and company chatter. 

For some reason the quota skyrocketed in the past few weeks. The recycling of old metal into new vessels becoming an unrelenting force on your crew. 

It turned out to be one of the worst moments to find yourself promoted. 

To think just three weeks ago you were throwing around drinks in celebration and now you were ready to drown out the accomplishment with whatever was on tap. 

“Apparently they’re bringing in a huge freighter soon,” you called out solemnly. Your supervisor had shown you the schematics of the parts that would be salvaged and what they wanted to accomplish with its predecessor. 

After another long shift all you could really make out was work and more work. 

But at least the same would be said for the riggers. 

To your right Reif, a Rodian, spoke crudely over a mouthful of food,” Yeah, been hearing about that one for sometime now. Suppose to be a Separist ship. Going to be quite the project.”

Slouching idly in your seat, you played lazily with the handle of the mug offered to you. Just another long project to keep you stranded on this planet. Not to say you had any plans otherwise. 

If anything you should really thank them for giving you something to focus on. 

Garnering everyone’s attention with a slam of her glass against the table, Enisa a pretty pale blue Rylothian, slurs loudly,” Enough of all this work talk. Let’s focus on something else.”

Then she’s sliding sharply into you, leaving you to fumble with your own glass,” Like your roommate. Why didn’t you tell me he was available.”

Because you weren’t in the market providing companions?

Your furrowed burrow must have voiced your thoughts because she was rolling her eyes without your verbal response. 

“Oh don’t play dumb. You’re harboring one of the few attractive souls on this god forsaken planet. And you’re not even bumping uglies with him, what a shame.”

You were stuck between defending your own choices and wondering when she learned such a human phrase. It was hardly worth the effort of explaining how the two of you just weren't like that. Your inventory of excuses were running dry.

“Stop making it awkward for her, she has to live with the guy.”

Catching Reif’s gaze over the rim of your glass, you give him a thankful nod. The rest of your group takes the initiative to fill the silence and progresses the conversation further into the night. Unlike most outings, neither of you are able to keep up with one another past a few extra hours. The weight of the day taking more out of you as it came to a close. 

You’re not the only one grateful when Reif brings the outing to a close. 

There is just enough alcohol in your system to make you stumble through the threshold of your home, groaning quietly as you try to stabilize yourself. More likely than not Cal was already asleep and you didn’t want to disrupt that. 

Now with the evening settling into your bones, there wasn't a part of your body that didn't ache and the incoming headache didn't make any part of it better. 

Right now the couch was looking a lot more inviting than it should be. You’d deal with the consequences it would leave on your body in the morning. 

Rounding the edge, you collapsed back into the cushions.

“What the hell?”

“Shit, Cal! What the fuck?”

A sharp hiss escapes him when your elbow jabs unkindly into the softness of his side. Before you could try to remedy it, his hand is gripping your upper arm and settling you more safely in the available space rather than on top of him. 

For a moment it's just your mixed breaths as you come down from the unexpected surprise. With more care, you twist more comfortably mindful of your limbs this time. 

It's hardly necessary but you whisper anyway. 

“Why are you here?”

You feel his arm wiggling behind your head and you raise your neck obediently to allow it to rest beneath you. As a reward, the same hand curls inward to comb through your hair lazily. He works his fingers across your nape and back up to your scalp finding just the right spot and drew small circles. 

“Dunno, just came home and ended up here. Kind of like you but less dramatically.”

You snort, “Sorry, wasn’t expecting a party of two.”

He hums to himself, the pad of his thumb pressing inward in a way the manages to reset your whole mindframe and you nearly white out from the release. 

There is more that could be said but the words escape you both as you settle for the night. If you weren't already going to regret this before, you were definitely were going to more now for an entirely different reason. But there was no chance of you altering the flow of what it was now. 

You would just have to lay there and try not to think too hard about the natural slot of your body to Lance’s despite the finite space. It was much easier to count the staccato of his dull thumping heartbeat as it lulled you off to sleep. 

                                                                     _______

“Goddammit, Meeka. You’re going to wake up your mom.”

Too late. 

Though in the defense of your mischievous loth-cat, the warm smell of breakfast permeating from the kitchen was just one waft away from rousing you. Stretching out your arms, you used the length of them to hook around the back of the couch to drag you up. 

Questionably burnt but you recognize the scent of some of your favorites.You has not caught a glimpse of what he was wearing last night but Cal appears to be wearing some fresh clothes. The way the collar of his shirt is damp in the back hints towards a shower. 

Part of you wonders if breakfast is a preemptive apology towards a cold shower you would be expecting later. 

“Where do you have to go so early?”

If you startle him, he doesn't show. He slides a bit of food onto a plate, giving Meeka more than gracious portion before bringing the plate to you. You take it gratefully, balancing it on the spine of the couch.

Alert to your presence and no doubt ready to beg for more scraps, you watch unimpressed as the feline-like creature slinks against you. She gets what's expected anyway as you part with a strip of meat.

Leaning against the counter within view, Cal scolds you playfully. “And you said I spoil her.”

“You start it,” you retort without any bite.

You blame the queasiness on residue alcohol when he laughs warmly. 

“Oh. “ You look up and Cal has a fork pointed at you. ‘’Your access card is on the table there.”

You’d already forgotten about that.

“Get anything good?” Safely, is weighted on your tongue but it seems like a waste to add it. Cal has always been mindful of his self, actions and footsteps in a way that makes you wonder how long he’s been watching his own back. 

In the few years you’ve known him, things like the past rarely came up. No one really came to Bracca chasing a future. It was just a means to an end until you could find something better if you could manage to get out. 

You hard already stopped trying when Cal stumbled into your life. But now it hardly seemed like a bad thing. 

The clank of dishes brings you out of your thoughts. His back is to you now as he cleans his mess.

“It will be a nice personal pay raise, that’s for sure. Prauf sends his thanks too.”

Cal surprises you again when he comes to collect your empty plate. Rather than comment it on it, you lounge comfortably in the domesticity of it all. 

“What’s your plan for the day?”

That was a good question. 

Your body had an obvious vote towards rest but responsibilities made a greater bid on your time. A bit of shopping would unfortunately be necessary but your savings would have to survive. Between the recent raise and this upcoming project, you should survive to hit. 

Replenish resources it would be then. At least if you start early enough it would allow you to relax for the remainder of the day. 

Cal’s gaze follows as you stretch and eventually slink off the couch. Meeka happy to have the entire furniture to herself doesn’t waste a moment to snuggle into your lingering warmth. 

“Down to the Bazaar first, then after that we’ll see.”

But first to see how much hot water you were going to be working with. Yawning loudly, you get to work with untangling the mess of your hair. Just before you can round the corner, Cal calls out to you.

“Want to make it a date?”

It’s an innocent play of words. One’s he’s used in the past without acting on it. 

‘And you’re not even bumping uglies with him, what a shame.’

And just when you finally stopped overthinking it.

Peeking over your shoulder, you found Cal waiting expectantly yet so unaware of the winds of the storm picking up in your mind. Was it even worth it to wonder if similar thoughts ever troubled him?

-nah, it was just easier to smile.

“Yeah, it’s a date.”

[angrylizardjacket]

the band with no name {Douglas Booth} 2

A/N: 1654 words. A bit shorter, but we’re getting into things now. idk how i feel about it, please give me feedback.

[PART 1]

Flop of The Month, your band, has an instagram account with exactly two posts on it, and Douglas feels like both and idiot, and a creepy stalker, for the amount of time he spends flicking through the two photos without actually liking them, for fear of you realising who he was.

Colson, however, seemed to have no such reservations.

“Look, I’m on their story,” Colson’s grinning from ear to ear as the cast and crew break for lunch the Monday after they’d seen your band play, showing Douglas his phone, and your band’s instagram story. It showed their notifications, highlighting how Colson had liked both photos and followed them, and had the caption ‘how’d the rap devil find us?’ and ‘not complaining tho’. 

“Bloody hell,” is all Douglas can bring himself to say, wearing a half-smile as they made their way to the costume department to get changed before lunch. It had been a low effort day, just jeans and t-shirts, but it was always safer to not eat in costume. Hair and makeup could stay and be touched up however.

Your band’s page had begun the day with 217 followers, and ended it with over a thousand. There wasn’t a link to your personal page, and so all he can do is scroll through your Facebook while waiting for Colson to be ready to go.

Y/N: weird question Y/N: also, hi Y/N: but yeh, weird question Y/N: was your friend last night mgk?

Douglas takes a moment to compose his thoughts before typing out his response.

Douglas: hi back Douglas: and yes.

There’s a few minutes of silence, and Douglas can feel his scalp itching beneath his wig, just a little, but he tries to ignore it.

Y/N: cool. Y/N: well it was nice meeting you guys!! Y/N: looking forward to seeing if ur band is real btw Douglas: probably wont be for a while Y/N: im happy to wait Y/N: if u want me there that is Douglas: if we ever actually play a gig, you’ll be the first to know

You send a blushing smiling emoji back, and Douglas finds himself strangely pleased.

“Is that her?” Colson asks, eyes shining as he pulled on his leather jacket; with his wig and makeup, he still absolutely looked the part. Douglas quickly slipped his phone in his pocket, knowing that a faint blush dusted his cheeks despite his best efforts. As he waffled his way through an affirmation, Colson’s smile just grew wider.

“I still don’t understand why you were being so vague; she probably would have jumped you there and then if she knew you were part of the Motley Crue movie, man.”

“Yeah,” Douglas said, his discomfort mounting at the insinuation, “that’s the problem, dude; first of all, I don’t know if she like the band themselves, or just the music, and if she does like the band,” he paused, shrugging a little, quietly embarrassed, “what if she likes them better than me?”

“They’re all married,” Colson says, like it immediately solves everything.

“Man, you know that’s not the issue,” Douglas sighed, but it’s clear he wasn’t done, and Colson just waited, eyebrows raised, “you know, girls who are like... like... how did you say it the other week? When that girl from Instagram was in your DMs every other minute?”

“Clout chasing,” Colson nodded sagely, suddenly understanding all too clearly his co-star’s apparent fears, “well she doesn’t know who you are yet.”

“Exactly,” Douglas exclaimed, glad the craft services tent was finally in view, feeling himself grow hungrier by the moment, “and I think I wanna keep it that way, just for now.”

“Better pray she doesn’t watch Jupiter Ascending,” Colson snorts, just as Douglas punches him in the arm. 

The next day, he messages you first, sends a photo of himself and the rest of the band out of costume, but holding their instruments, all wearing heels to help make it easier to wear them around set. 

Douglas: the band says hi Y/N: shit, you guys have instruments and everything Y/N: getting less sketchy by the minute

You follow it up with a winking emoji, and a photo of yourself, out in the sunshine, dressed impeccably, makeup dark and sharp, holding a stack of posters beside your head, advertising your band’s next gig; this Saturday.

Douglas: are you inviting me? Y/N: only if you’re saying yes

Your confident coyness amuses him, despite the way the shoes are pinching his toes, and he tells you he’ll be there.

The next day, you send a link to a band name generator, but more interestingly, you send it right around the time he’s getting his makeup done, early in the morning.

Douglas: early start? Y/N: my shop won’t open itself Douglas: your shop? Y/N: mini mall tattoo parlor hahaha

“She owns a tattoo parlor?” Daniel asks, reading over Douglas’s shoulder between takes, “you’d better make your move or Colson’s gonna go for her.” 

“Go for who?” Colson himself calls across set where his makeup’s being touched up.

“You weren’t meant to hear that!” Daniel shouts back, though he’s grinning, and adds, “Y/N. She owns a tattoo parlor.”

“Really, shit man, Doug she’s cool as hell,” Colson muses, before snorting, addressing Daniel, “gimme some credit, I’m letting the man shoot his shot; he’s my bro, not my competition.”

“Thanks man,” with the slightest smile, Douglas puts his phone away as the scene is reset around them, and Colson joins him in the middle of the living room set.

“I expect free tattoos, however,” he says with a faux seriousness, “because if you like her, like really like her, I’m gonna wingman the shit out of you.”

“Seriously?”

“Absolutely, man,” he claps Douglas on the shoulder with a surprisingly sincere expression.

It’s Colson who suggests, the following day, sending a video of Douglas playing the bass, asking if you had any pointers. They’re at band rehearsals again, blasting through their repertoire, when they get to Take Me To The Top, and as the song dies down, Colson makes the suggestion.

“Why are you filming it?” Iwan asks, and Colson’s smile is all teeth where he’s holding Douglas’s phone, answering before Douglas has the opportunity.

“Tryna help impress that punk chick from the band last weekend.”

“You’re actually talking to her?” Iwan asks with a bright, almost incredulous smile, “after everything that happened? She must really like you.” He muses, and Douglas feels his soul leaving this mortal plane.

“Smart move; asking for advice from her, lets her know you think she’s talented, and, well, you know,” Daniel shrugs, wiggling his fingers with a casual air. Douglas frowns, but Colson’s nodding.

“Exactly what I was thinking,” he agrees, and finally Douglas clues in. Dexterous fingers.

“Don’t be gross, guys,” he sighs, already regretting letting Colson help at all, “just take the damn video.”

It only takes thirty seconds for you to respond in All Caps.

Y/N: ARE YOU IN A MOTLEY CRUE COVER BAND

“I’m fucked,” Douglas mutters under his breath, staring wide-eyed at the message.

Y/N: you play so well dude just relax your stance and shoulders Y/N: fkn love take me to the top Y/N: seriously a motley cover band??? Y/N: you just instantly got 100x cooler

“Okay, maybe I’m not fucked,” he concedes after a moment, quietly breathing a sigh of relief.

Y/N: now i have to see u guys play!! Y/N: if that’s alright of course

“Nah, you’re definitely a little bit fucked,” Daniel offers over his shoulder, and Douglas pushes his face away.

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Douglas grumbles, and Daniel shrugs bemusedly. 

“At least she thinks you play well,” but Douglas isn’t listening to him, he’s frantically tapping away on his phones, scowling, “what ‘re you doing?”

“Trying to come up with a name for our band -”

“Our fake band?” Iwan asks, arms crossed over his chest wearing an amused little smile, “do we have to play along with this too?”

“Not if you don’t want, just don’t... don’t tell her it’s fake is all.” Douglas offers, and the rest of the band nods.

“So how long are you going to play along with this bit?” Daniel ask, and Douglas heaves a sigh.

“Not sure; until I can trust that she’s not just in it to meet the actual band -”

“Which she doesn’t know you know,” Iwan interjected again, and Douglas nodded a little. After a beat, the rest of the band looked to each other, and seemed to share some sort of silent communication, before turning back to him.

“Okay,” Colson agrees easily, “if you’re serious about this chick you’ve known for five days,” he emphasizes, though Douglas doesn’t seem phased, “if we ever run into her, we’ll pretend we’re in a Motley Crue cover band.” He agrees, while Iwan and Daniel silently agree, though they look rather amused at the whole situation.

“There’s just something about her,” Douglas muses quietly.

“It’s the fact that she’s the coolest chick you’ve ever met,” Colson tells him with far too much authority, “and your little posh, school-boy brain wants to try something new.”

“Hey -” Douglas scoffed, though he was quickly talked over.

“She looks like she’d punch me in the face but I’d be okay with it,” Iwan adds, which, strangely enough, the rest of them agree to with various mischievous smiles. Douglas doesn’t exactly deny that he feels the same way.

“What’s our band name gonna be?” Daniel asks finally.

“The Fourskins,” Colson answers back immediately, grinning wide and proud of himself.

“Absolutely no-”

“That’s kind of genius,” Daniel snorts over Douglas’ protest, and so, on a three-to-one vote, their fake Motley Crue cover band is named The Fourskins, and Douglas kind of thinks he’d rather come clean there and then to you, rather than suffer through ever typing or saying that name to you. But he doesn’t. 

He really hopes you’re worth it.

[lazyyogi]

Hey Ben, I’ve been here for a handful of years now and I’ve always considered you my teacher of sorts. In your ‘How To Start’ on your path post, you recommend finding a guru or teacher. How should I go about doing that in my city, and what might I expect from a relationship with a spiritual teacher? Thank you 🙏

Hey friend! I appreciate your presence and readership. Thank you for walking your own path for the benefit all beings. 

If you are seeking enlightenment, then a guru is an immense blessing and benefit.

If you are familiar with quantum physics, you might have heard the concept of how a photon is both a particle and a wave. In one sense, the photon is a discrete physical particle. In another sense, it is an abstract probabilistic frequency. I view the idea of the guru in a similar way. 

The principle of the guru is that which dispels the darkness of ignorance. It is like the wave version of the photon. In this sense, anything that dispels our spiritual ignorance functions as a conduit for the guru. My own guru refers to this as “the Divine Guru,” which I quite like. 

Then there is the matter of the particle aspect of the photon. That is the guru who appears as an individual. An individual guru is a being who has realized enlightenment and is capable of leading others to enlightenment. This can be a human but may also be a form of the divine, such as a god or goddess. Or perhaps other forms entirely!

When it comes to human gurus, there is much confusion. Traditionally in India, a prospective disciple would spend many years around a guru before formally asking to be a disciple. This way the disciple can get a sense for the guru and if they seem genuine. At the same time, the guru can get a sense of the disciple. 

In the west, due to cult scenes and whatnot, the idea of the guru has become a very sketchy concept. At the same time, the image of the guru and guru-disciple relationship has been romanticized from books and movies such that people imagine having profound and intimate relationships with their guru--perhaps having life-changing philosophical conversations up in mountaintops. 

If you are not a monk and are instead living in society, you probably wont be hanging out with the guru often. However, it is not unusual for a spiritual practitioner living in society to have a guru. Some gurus remain in their ashrams and monasteries permanently. If you want to meet and learn from them, you must travel to them. Other gurus, like mine, travel the world to give teachings and blessings. 

Connect yourself to the yoga, Buddhist, and spiritual communities in your city. They will advertise when gurus are coming through. Then go see them! When I was seeking a guru, I went to a bunch of different guru events in NYC. Some were free, some charged exorbitant amounts of money. One reason I was attracted to my guru’s scene was because he taught freely. It wasn’t a pyramid scheme of special initiations and extra fees. 

Don’t rush into asking anyone to be your guru. Listen to their teachings, practice them, and observe the results for yourself. Pray to the divine or whatever to inspire and lead you to your guru. If the right human guru for you is available, you will be connected. If the right human guru isn’t available, then the divine itself will manifest to you and be your guru. Just be persistent, genuine, and open. 

When it comes to having a human guru, think of this relationship sort of as a divine mentor. The guru will instruct as to the right technique for enlightenment. Each guru generally teaches what they themselves practiced to become enlightened. They will bless you and help to empower you to get started. Then it’s up to you to stand on your own two feet. The guru will continue to give blessings and answer your questions and give guidance. 

If I am lucky, I get to see my guru in person once a year. Sometimes however it will be 2-3 years before I get to do that. He answers my questions via email and has gotten to know me fairly well since I have been a disciple of his for about a decade now. Such a connection happens in time. Yet I have never felt as though my guru treats anyone differently. He listens to everyone’s questions sincerely, no matter how silly they might sound, and tries to help. He loves everyone. I think those are important indications. 

If you’re interested to learn more about my guru, check him out at www.srby.org. 

There is definitely a difference between a spiritual teacher and a guru. While a teacher is experienced and can be very helpful, the guru is the enlightenment itself. Association with enlightened humans is called satsang and has an indescribable effect on a spiritual aspirant. 

I know this is a lot! It’s a rather complex subject due to all the misconceptions, but in reality it is quite simple once you get the right feel for it. 

Feel free to reach out to me whenever :)

Namaste!

[smolbeandrabbles]

I’ll Name The Dogs - Martin x Reader (Untogether)

Gif Credit: X

Author’s Note: Scene’s We’d Like To See Part Three! 🎉 It’s been a little while since I wrote for Martin - so it’s nice to get back to him 😊 I mean, how could you not though with such a cute premise?

Thank you for requesting! 💙💜

Disclaimer: Untogether characters plot etc not mine / lyrics not mine / idea not mine - I just wrote the words! “Jake” is the name of Dierks Bentley’s dog, and all I can think of is all the songs he mentions him in, therefore - Jake. 

Premise (As Requested): After the break up Martin needs something to occupy himself when he’s not working. He can only do gigs here and there o when he’s not working, he’s just depressed. But he sees a flyer or something asking for volunteers at a local shelter and since he loves dogs (Dog Whisperer will come in handy), he thinks why not? He applies and meets you whilst working with cute animals and maybe he starts fostering but either way he’s crushing on you and always looks forward to going to the shelter to help animals and see a cute lady

Words: 2372

Warnings: 1 instance of swears & bit of a cliche ending? 😉

_______ Girl, it's high time, I tell ya No more messin' around Time to lay these cards on the table And just throw it on out It's a real thing, a how I feel thing So I'mma go on and take a swing  You find the spot and I'll find the money You be the pretty and I'll be the funny You plant the flowers, I'll plant the kisses Baby, let's get right down to business I'll hang the pictures, you hang the stars You pick the paint, I'll pick a guitar Sing you a song out there with the crickets and the frogs You name the babies and I'll name the dogs Yeah, laying next to you every night Sounds like a damn good life

---

After giving it a couple of weeks, Martin thought it was about time he actually got up off the couch and started doing something with his life. Tara had turned up on his doorstep, but luckily not at one of his weaker moments – and although she had stood there with a suitcase sobbing and begging him to take her back, Martin has refused. Though he had spent a great deal of time listening to her and fighting with himself. More time than he was prepared to admit… He still loved her, dearly, but he wasn’t sure he could deal with her breaking his heart for a third time. And there would be a third – he already knew that. Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice… Fool me thrice?! I don’t think so! Unfortunately the band’s gigs were only here and there affairs, and although he wanted to preoccupy himself with music, there was nothing pulling him to his guitar. Even with his current heartache – isn’t that what most musicians’ careers thrived on!? Apparently not his. Right now Martin also wasn’t painting much – but he wasn’t really advertising himself as available. He just needed some time. By no means was he completely out of work, he had just scheduled the jobs for a little later in the month. What Martin really needed was something steady. That would really take his mind off things. And he wasn’t sure curled up watching the Dog Whisperer – heartbreak cure all though it was – really qualified on that list. At first it was just things like tidying the house, and afterwards deciding that it did indeed need a fresh coat of paint itself. But when he stepped out of that front door for the first time in a while, he wasn’t really sure where his ambling would take him. But Martin did need groceries. This was when he passed the usual bunch of people handing out flyers for something-or-other on the corner of the street. Martin only took one to be polite – but he also knew the cost and pay of such things – he’d had the same thing done to promote his band, had done it for himself a couple of times. But when he got home and the scrunched flyer was still in his pocket, he unfolded it with a chuckle – faced with the picture of a dog. He leant on his counter staring at it for a moment, then a moment became a minute… became a few. It was for a local shelter, that wanted people to adopt, or foster – but more intriguing to Martin, was that they were looking for volunteers. Which would certainly give him something to do to fill his time. He pinned the flyer to his noticeboard and dragged his laptop towards him – time to find out a little more information about this place… *** He’d met you on his first visit. That time you were on the front counter, and Martin was immediately caught by your personality. You had a sweet gentle smile, and you were enthusiastic as you showed him around. And laughed at the way he crouched in front of every dog run to say hello and give them his full attention. ‘You could just adopt a bunch you know-!?’ ‘Oh-! No, I need the volunteering more-! And if I take ‘em all home they wont be here!’ ‘Touché!’ He liked that you asked him questions, about where he was from and what he did. And before long he found himself telling you things he didn’t even think he told Tara. Or perhaps anyone. He liked the easiness of being with you. And soon enough his couple of days a week turned to every spare moment. It wasn’t a relationship – but it was so simple. You’d walk the dogs together, and clean out their cages and eventually – yes – you even dragged him out to distribute flyers. Martin was an enigma to you. Everything that came out of his mouth made you laugh, or had you intrigued – and you hung on to every word he said. You liked the way sometimes he would check the time, shout an expletive and have to dash off to do his actual job. Which, you guessed almost immediately by the paint on his jeans, or the occasions where he’d driven right on over from one and still had overalls on. That was incredibly cute. And also useful, because the shelter could do with a good lick of paint. And Martin jumped at that chance, for more time with you. But what you loved most was whenever you caught him singing – sometimes with headphones in but more often than not to himself. And you never really let on that you heard him, because his voice was so gorgeous - and you’d stand with a mug of coffee and just listen to his melody, until you realised that this was your job and you got paid for this, and should probably do some real work. But one day you stared at him for a little too long and he must have felt it because he turned. Causing both you and he to blush immediately.

But, that was how you found out he had a band; and before long Martin’s heart was swelling to hear you humming along to his own music. Because of course you’d gone out and downloaded everything you could immediately. That made him feel alive again – and he’d spend his evening with his guitar writing, whether for you or not he couldn’t say for sure. But because of you, he knew for certain. He knew he was harbouring a crush – how could he not? You were everything Tara wasn’t. And exactly what Martin needed. (Also, you were more impressed with what he’d picked up from the Dog Whisperer than anyone else ever had been. And you were around dogs all the time – it was entertaining to see him talk with such fervour about a programme you also enjoyed.) He knew that he would eventually have to invite you to a concert of his – but for now he was content to listen to your own voice sing his music. And he selfishly wanted to keep you all to himself here, away from that – and without introducing you to his friends. That wasn’t to say, as you continued to sing – occasionally together – through a back catalogue of your favourite music, and occasionally tried to guess what the other was singing, that he didn’t want to take you on a date to a record store and spend all afternoon listening with you. Sometimes you stuck him on the front desk – which wasn’t something he enjoyed more than greeting every dog that came in, or saying a tearful goodbye to the ones leaving. But you did notice how many young girls liked to fawn over him when he was placed there. And you were sure Martin was as responsible for the increase in female footfall. It made you roll your eyes to watch some of them try so hard when he was clearly not interested – and even a little jealous when he seemed to show any interest in what they were saying at all. That wasn’t like you. And you weren’t sure why that was until you caught him staring at you as much as you liked to stare at him. The longer this continued the more you were aware of harbouring a crush on him. And the more you supposed his crush on you became obvious. And once you noticed that, you could hardly un-notice it. He spent so much time around you, or wanting to help you out. You wondered if Martin knew you felt the same… if he had any inkling at all. Or if you were somehow good at hiding it. You usually were. Of course, you could just tell him – but it was sweet to watch this man go out of his way for you. To say too much and blush and realise it, and yet still not know how to shut up. Was there any piece of Dog Whisperer trivia he couldn’t tell you? You were surprised he hadn’t let his crush on you slip yet. But all his body language was there. Occasionally he’d help you close up – if he didn’t have anywhere to be – far after he had to be around. Or you’d be on the front desk, and in quieter moments he’d kick around with you, instead of actually volunteering. How he’d place his hand on yours and let it linger there. Sometimes you found yourself wishing he’d do such things when all those girls were still here. Sometimes you went so far as wishing he’d just lean in and kiss you. If only you knew how badly Martin wanted to do that. Today however you needed a little help from your resident Dog Whisperer with a boisterous puppy. “Hey-! You busy?” Even if Martin was having the craziest most full-on day of his life you knew when you asked he’d miraculously be free. “No, No – what’s up!?” “Well, you’re good with dogs. Like really good, extremely good-! Otherworldly good-!” He chuckled, watching that smile on your face grow as he knew the joke that was coming; “Okay. I get it…! What can I help you with?” “Puppy behaviour. Actually to be honest just walking him. But you’re stronger than me, so just in case.” And you knew that to be true; how many times had you checked out his arms and shoulders in those tight white shirts he insisted on wearing-!? “Oh!” He chuckled again, light blush crossing his cheeks, “Well – haha – I’d be happy to help you out.” “Oh! Martin! Would you-!?” You took his hands in yours, knowing exactly what you were doing “Oh! You’re a star!!” He continued to blush gently; “If you say so…!” “I do!” You affirmed with a smile, “Come with me!” He was sure that the problem was that the puppy hadn’t been trained properly, and he certainly pulled far too often at his lead. “He might just need to be around people… You know. Just someone with a firm, but gentle, hand. Puppies often get separation…” Martin moved to the side as Jake ran between both of you again, changing lead hands so as not to get ensnared by the leash “…anxiety. So some of it could be that-! Some of it could ALSO be just because he needs to let off a lot of energy-!” “Well, what’s the recommendation?” “Fostering?” Martin strained for a moment, reigning him back in with a hush. “I could do it?” “Don’t say that just for me.” “No! No! I would love to-! It’d give me something else to do.” He seemed to pull Jake to heel for a minute, and praised him softly – causing the puppy to give a happy bark. “Are you sure you aren’t the actual dog whisperer-!?” You almost marvelled him – the rest of you had been trying to do the same for a couple of days with no results. Martin chuckled again; “I think I watched far too much of it to be honest. And this is the one time it’s actually been useful.” “Aw, I wouldn’t say that. I like when you talk about it – it’s cute.” It was the first time you’d said something like that. About him. And Martin’s eyes widened and raised to you. And then he stopped walking, making you turn to him. “What?” “…You…” He looked bemused; “…It’s cute?” “Sure.” You smiled, “I mean you’re pretty cute all around but that’s certainly, cute.” “You think… I’M cute!?” He smiled – one of those sweet kinda stupid soppy smiles “Mhm…” You beamed, “You sure are!” Then he flushed again, and you knew he wanted to say it – it was all over his face – but he still didn’t know if he could… or if he should. “Y/N… I think… I mean, I think you’re…WOAH--!” With the both of you stood still, and paying much more attention to each other than Jake, he’d done the one thing Martin was trying to stop him from doing, and had weaved between your legs, and his and around the both of you, before tugging the lead; not that you’d believe for a second that the dog had any idea what was going on. But, suddenly you found yourselves in far closer proximity than you’d ever expected “Shit! Sorry! Sorry!” Martin tried to pull back and unravel the lead for himself, which made you laugh. “It’s not your fault.” “No-! True! But…!!” Then he couldn’t help but laugh “But?” You let him untangle the lead from you, noticing that now Jake was sitting by obediently, “Martin, if you want to say something you should just say it-!” He laughed again – turned to Jake “Well. He certainly seems to know what I wanna say.” “Maybe you are the dog whisperer…” You mused, “Either that or he’s trying to help you out.” Martin ran a hand through his hair, “I mean, I guess he’s not satisfied with just me.” “Oh?” You grinned teasingly, waiting for him to say it. “…I mean this is it right…” Martin laughed, “…This is where all the plans go out the window…” Then he took a deep breath, “…But I guess I still… I still get to ask you out.” Then you were blushing, “…Oh Martin. You didn’t have to plan anything!” “Well, I was thinking I’d get to ask you to a gig, maybe even just start with a niche record shop, and…” His eyes flicked to Jake still sitting looking pleased with himself, “…Obviously that wasn’t good enough!” then head snapped back to face you; “Wait-! Was that essentially a yes!?” You pushed yourself up on your toes and kisses his cheek gently, gaining that sappy little smile back “Yes.” That caused Jake to bark happily. Martin scoffed, “Alright! That’s enough from you!!” You laughed; “Oh yeah, you two are gonna be trouble for me I can tell.” Martin grinned, holding his hand out for yours, “Good trouble though! I promise-!” You smiled in agreement as you laced your fingers with his. Good Trouble. Yeah, and absolutely worth every moment of it.

---

@menndelsohn​ @3134045126​​ @happyskywhale​ @wltz-bby​ #MendoTagSquad 

[pastelpastryblog]

It was an accident pt.5 (M)

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Genre: Angst, romance, drama

Rated mature: strong language, suggestive content, violence

Main characters: Melissa (reader), One/Jae (Jaewon), Dean

(Jaewon's pov)

I woke up very early because I need to be one of the first people in class today, because on the first day of uni, I had noticed that beautiful girl was the very first person in class. I have to go early and apologise for busting her lip. I just hope that she let’s me speak to her when we see each other. I just hope that she doesn’t skip classes today, because I heard that today's classes are very important and I don’t want her to fall behind in her studies. I finish getting ready and rush out of my room for a quick breakfast so that I head out for lectures. Again, Hwimin and Gyujeong are sleeping in and will probably come to class late so I might as well just leave without them. Our lecturer also emailed us saying that he moved us in a classroom so I have to find my way there.

~10 minutes later~

I finally get to the front doors of the lecture workshop, heart beating, palms sweating and my legs a wobbling before entering the class because as much as I want to speak and apologise to the pretty girl, I don’t know what to say and how to start the conversation. What if she’s not even in class today? What if she’s holding a grudge for busting her lip? Anyways, let me not think of the negatives and let’s just enter class. As soon as I opened the door, I started scanning for that pretty girl, a d before I could even see her, I could smell her lovely scented perfume from the front of the class.

“YES! She’s in class today" I exclaimed in my head. Her hair beautifully done and face so angelic made my heart go crazy again. Everything about her is on point.

I made my way to the back of the classroom where she is seated, so that I can start a conversation with her.

“ Hey, is this seat taken?”

“ Umm, hi. No, you can sit here if you want" she says as she lifts up her head from the magazines with a surprised smile as I caught her off guard.

After I sat down, it was really silent and awkward again. She continued to read her magazines while I was thinking of how to start the conversation.

“ So -" we both expressed unexpectedly

“No, you go first” I said.

“ Okay, so I was wondering if you’re feeling better now. You know....your head.” She says, as she motions her head.

“ Oh yeah, it got better thank you for asking.... but what about you? Are you okay now? Because you know...your lip" I motioned her lip as I said that.

“ Yeah” *giggles* “its fine now, thanks for asking" she says with a warm smile.

“ Hey, I’ve been thinking about this for a long time.”

“ Thinking about what?” she says with raised eyebrows, confused.

“ Thinking about apologising to you for hurting you. I made your lips bleed” I said apologetically.

“ Hey, it’s fine. It was an accident. Accidents happen all the time, it’s not like you did it on purpose” she says as she giggles. “I forgive you" she smiles.

She’s so cute

“Thank you for forgiving me. Sorry for not introducing myself. My name is Jaewon, but people call me ONE. What about you? What’s your name?

“ My name is Melissa, nice to meet you again Jaewon" she says with a wide smile while giving her hand to me for me to shake.

“Nice to see you again too, Melissa.” I say while taking her soft hands to shake.

As soon as we both shook hands, we were no longer alone. Our class mates had entered class and began to sit down.

“Welcome back to Advertising class, ladies and gents. Right, so today’s lesson is very important yet very short so listen up carefully because I won’t repeat it again. So assignment 1, there are 8 non profit charities and they all need help with their social media accounts. I want you guys to be their social media consultants. I want you guys to build a relationship with your clients, research popular social media sites, what they should post and when they should post. Is this assignment okay with everyone?”

“YES" the whole class expressed.

“ Good. Now I want you all in 8 groups of 4. So please get yourselves in groups of 4. I’ll give you guys 20 minutes.” Jonathan rushed.

“Hey Melissa, do you want to be in a group with me?” I ask her.

“Yeah sure, I’d love to. But please, I want no slackers in our group. I don’t want bad grades fro any of my classes.” She says with a serious expression.

“ Yeah sure, let’s look for serious candidates” I giggle to make the atmosphere a bit more friendly.

~10 minutes later~

“ 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Everyone stop!” Jonathan shouts. “ is anyone missing any group members? I noticed there’s not a lot of people in class today"

“Me and Jaewon are missing 2 more people in our group" Melissa says.

“Yeah us too" two more groups explain.

“Hmm, okay. You guys can be a duos for now, I will email everyone that is missing from class to tell them that there are 3 incomplete groups left. But for now, please choose the charity of your choice and get to work and email me what 2 charities you want and why you want to consult them. Out of the two charities you choose, I will then pick one from your selection that suits you better. Okay? Okay, you are all dismissed" Jonathan says as he walks out of the class leaving us all discombobulated.

Everyone else from class decided to leave for their next lectures or to enjoy the start of their weekend but me and Melissa stayed in class so that we could research about all the non profit charities and then choose two out of the 8.

(Melissa's pov)

“ Jaewon, since Jonathan said that we can pick two charities, why don’t you pick one and I pick one too?” I offered.

“ Yeah, that’s what I was thinking too" he says with a smile.

“ Okay, so I wont pick the fashion and clothing charity because you might not be into fashion as much as I am. So my pick will be the Art museum. What about you Jaewon?” I ask.

“ Ah, thanks for being considerate but you can still choose the clothing one as one of our choices because I was actually thinking of having the art museum as one of my choices too.” He says with a smile on his face.

“ oh okay, I guess we can choose both the clothing charity and the art museum then!”

“Alright then, let’s research about the two charities and do a write up since Dumb- I mean Jonathan wants us to do that and then when we finish, we will finally send it off" He says with a serious face.

“ Yeah sure, let’s do it"

We finally finished doing our work and we began to pack up and put our coats and jackets on.

“ Well, we have finally finished our first portion of our first assignment. We just have to wait and see which of the two charities will be working with us. I honestly don’t mind what we end up with" Jaewon says.

“ Yeah me too" I say as I finish packing my bag.

“ So what are you doing now? Jason asks.

“ Oh me?, I’m heading home and just chilling. So basically I’m not really going to do anything, why what’s up?

“ Oh no, I was just wondering whether you were going home or not so we can both walk home together. You know, since I live in the United block.” He says.

“ Oh yeah, sure. We can walk home together" I say with a smile.

~ A few moments later~

“Ah, so you live in Trinity block? No wonder I haven’t seen you in United block" Jaewon says.

“ Yeah * I giggle* thank you for walking me home Jaewon. It was nice of you"

“ No worries. It was nice talking to you too. Well, I’ll see you next week?” Jaewon asks.

“ Yeah, I’ll see you next week for Marketing”

“ Right, I’ll head to my accommodation then, bye" he says as he waves at me.

“ Bye" I say as I wave back at him.

This Jaewon guy isn’t as bad as I thought he would be. He’s really cool and very thoughtful, I always thought that he would be the cocky type,rude, considering that he is a rapper and stuff. But so far, so good. Everyone from our class even went home as soon as we got given our assignments but we stayed to get our work done, that shows that he is very serious about his degree. He even walked me home, which was a really nice gesture. 

To be continued……

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[sunnyvaiprion]

Hi! I have a question (two actually) So how do you use Mr Dark Prince in battle? And is there a 4th mysterious member along your Julius/Reinhardt/Child!Azura team? (I love these interactions of them you draw btw~)

Oh, thanks!! 

About the team: yes! Since it’s a primarily AR team, there are two more! One of them is basically defaulted to Eir, but more often than not she stays as far away as she possibly can from any action (she has a nice heal though. Also she can throw Julius into enemies if he cant walk there fast himself). And second is a wildcard that varies from team to team (it was supposed to be a bonus unit, but it seems like Eir will stay for quite a long time), but my “main” now uses Bride Ninian for… no apparent reson besides being a dancer and me liking her. I will most likely change her for someone else/heavily alter her build because it’s actually pretty wacky with this team, but for now she stays (because she can fulfill her main purpose which is assisting trap removal in tight spaces). 

And now, About Julius: Ranged units can be a major pain. Sometimes (more like nearly always) you cant initiate on one and run without the rest of them scattering like dust particles if you blow on them all across the map with their dancers (especially now with Lazura), and to bait them you need someone who can take entire triangle and probably physical damage too, all at once. Use a dragon? Yes… a dragon.

Due to it being a somewhat lenghty text, I am putting it under the cut. 

If someone else thought about using him but was afraid that he isnt “a good unit” or “not favoured by meta” - I’d recommend you read into this too!

I have my Julius with Loptous, Reposition, Iceberg, Distant Defence, Guard, Attack Ploy, and another Distant Defence. which is - a wall. I place him in a space where he can be targeted by units I want (nearly any ranged, tbh. IF there’s a melee frontiline unit - Reinhardt has a message for them.) so he can kill them or hold them in place, and make sure my team can give him maximum amount of drives without putting anyone in danger. (oftenmost it’s just Azura and that’s it but still). 

Pros:

It’s VERY hard to kill him during EP. Even blue mages and bows/daggers with high attack struggle to deal non-zero damage to him, especially pre-dance. TA blue mage dancers included, as they usually dont break 50 attack mark by much.

No specials. Unless a special is pre-charged on turn 1 (or 2CD with Heavy/Flashing blade after dance), no luck trying to damage him with one either while guard is up and have fun offing it. Glimmer still deals a 0. Moonbow most likely a single digit.

He has high attack but without QR he will unlikely kill a unit coming at him on their first initiation (unless its low res green OR Reinhardt)…. which will waste a dancer’s turn to dance them instead of dancing some out-of-range thing you DONT want to attack, like a melee fast sword in that far-off corner.

On second initiation (if danced, alternatively someone else if the first unit died or didnt get a dance) that unit is guaranteed dead, though, because Iceberg hits like a truck especially with his already nice attack and STUPIDLY HIGH RES especially on EP. If they somehow survive this (Aversa with res wave on comes to mind) - its not a crazy PP unit so their damage is definitely a hard 0, so no biggie. Also works with a fast dazzle staff or if first enemy fails to double, since CD is 3.

With his res he can atk ploy virtually any unit of his choice, making the most dangerous unit to him (usually a physical or Ophelia) less dangerous at least pre-dance (when they have a chance to land more attacks).

His speed is actually not THAT bad. He usually doesnt mind getting doubled, but still. If you throw some speed buffs on him he can deny even some fast units their doubles. This might come in handy when fighting aforementioned units.

He is a lot easier to actually obtain and merge than similar units (Micaiah, Deirdre, Kliff maybe?) due to not being a 5-star locked or even limited unit. Unless you are a whale, and I dont judge, but for me it’s a big plus right there. Skills I have on him are also all widely available (I got DD off Garon).

Ranged anti-dragon weapons are all green (= normal blue for Julius, multiplier-wise). After Nagas got refines I actually started seeing them on defence maps. Guess what, still 0 damage. Daggers are trickier but a lot rarer and still manageable. They added an inheritable one just now but… why would anyone actually use it on heroes except it’s native user (who is also green) ?? Either way you wont see much of that.

See that Surtr? Julius will take care of him for you, too, with his high attack. In a single hit, if you pre-charge his Iceberg on something else. I know that almost any red mage can do it, but I heared some people still struggle. He can take a DC-hit from him too, if he runs one.

He can tank Ophelia, but be careful. For her he needs res buffs, especially the visible one, because of her initial AoE. Atk ploy her. If she can get an attack buff, It’d be great for you to have panic ploy too (right now there’s a lot of options, including Panic Manor). On a positive note, there should be plenty of mages on the same team as her, probably red and green, which wont really bother him afterwards.  

That’s Julius. We love our possessed lord.

Cons:    

While he takes little to no damage from any ranged source, Poison Strike-esque damage will get him good. Pain+ healers arent particulary dangerous because they cant deal any more damage to him no matter what, but units like firesweep bow double poison lyn are not very nice for him to face head-on (yes, I hate her in particular with burning passion), especially if she gets danced, receive a buff and attacks again, while there are other non-zero damage units in the back. But unlike a melee unit in the front line, it’s not always an option to snipe her (or any other unit like her) prior to Julius getting in range. This is, honestly, your worst nightmare. Be very careful with things like that and calculate damage dealt to make sure he wont die. … even though I think it’s not just his problem. But he doesnt easily solve it.  

He is reliant on team support to fight ranged physicals. Not going to lie about it. Def Tactic (or a wave if you’re into them) and 1-2 drive defs (ideally distant guard) should do, which is by no means too much investment, but it should be done.

His player phase leaves a lot to be desired. But like… what’s new? He’s enemy phase per advertisement. He still can Iceberg someone to the ground should he have it ready, or finish off someone previously mangled in EP, though.

He’s likely to deal more than 50% HP in one hit to PP heroes, especially ones that dump res or run LnD, which will activate wings of mercy, and a WoM melee unit can warp to his face and smack him. BUT usually dancers run WoM, and those have lower-end stats, so he should be okay at the very least. The only lancer dancer in the game is OG Azura, but …when was the last time I’ve seen her…  anyway, be careful with WoM.

He’s going to get Chill Res’d. He will get Chill Res’d every time every day of the week cause you wont find any ally with more res than him to “bait” chill res. It’s not like he will die from it though.

He’s infantry, so unfortunately, no easy fortify/wards for him. But if he was any other movtype - it’d bring it’s own problems, so… maybe it’s for the best. Also distant guard is a thing now.

He wants to stay above 80% hp and it’s very easy until he starts taking 5+ damage per hit. If it’s the case - you need to start paying attention to enemy specials again, especially longer CD ones.

Alternatives: While I am happy with how he does his job for now, I am planning make one adjustment, which is - give him Steady Stance 4. (once I get the fodder Surtr, which is not so soon). It will allow him to use his entire HP pool more effectively, and will give him extra survivability against physical threats, even if by a little bit. Additionally, it will protect him againt melee units too (like a WoM dancer teleporting to him) for safety measures and it will open up B slot! Losing 6 res (and 3 Iceberg damage) is not a big deal compared to all those benifits, ESPECIALLY since staying above 80% would be no longer needed.    

I .. dont really have a plan what to put in B slot then, because I intentionally want to avoid QR for a reason I explained above. But hey, I’ll figure something out when the time comes. However QR is also a viable option if you want him to kill everything in one go.

Iceberg is also, in theory, could be replaced by Glacies, if you want more damage. But I personally decided against it, because Iceberg’s cooldown is easier to manage and it’s damage is already enough in most cases. Also Iceberg is a lot better with QR should you want to use him for insta-kills.

And for the love of Loptyr himself, dont try to build him player phase or give him Fury. There are heroes with a lot better stat spreads for PP (yes, I’ve seen a PP Julius), and Fury is a fastest way to turn off Guard/QR and ruin his excellent ability to take zeros from most things. I tried it while I didnt have DD to fodder, and I didnt get much out of it. 

Now, he fits on virtually any map, but here are some examples of AR maps which he absolutely murdered.

I rely on my dragon! I’m very glad I decided to pick him up, even if he’s not that popular of a unit.