#sources for everything are in the next part

[thevoidstaredback]

Part 6

Danny hates it here. There's pollution from almost everything that creates pollution blocking out the sky at all times, the buildings that aren't condemned are only feeding the rich while stealing from the poor, an entire twenty-four block are has been given up on by mostly everyone, the local vigilantes won't kill the recurring problems like the cockroaches they are, and it's so overly gloomy that you'd think no one could ever be happy here.

He's said it all before, and he will plant his unmarked grave on this hill.

The words Jason had used to describe the burger place he'd (he asked his pronouns on the way into town via car stolen from Bruce Wayne) taken him to was exactly how he described it. The building was straight outta the early 80's, heath code violations and all, the parking lot gave off Denny's vibes, and the uniforms were literally Halloween costumes.

Also, 'Bat Burger'? What a stupid name.

"Don't diss the Bat Burger," Jason scolded out of nowhere, "It's the best worst burger in the country."

"How the hell did you know what I was thinking?" Danny demanded.

"It's a Gothamite thing."

Danny looked at his food. "Uh huh." There must be something in the food.

"C'mon, kid," Jason pushed the newly arrived tray of two Bat Burgers with Jokerized fries and large drinks, "Eat up!"

Danny looked down at the food that'd been pushed to him. It didn't look like it'd been tampered with, but it rarely does. Well, other than the fries. The salt on those things were purple and green, making look like they'd covered the potato strips in ugly glitter.

Jason grabbed one of the fries from Danny's box, ripping off a piece of lettuce from his burger, too, and ate them quickly. "It's not gonna hurt you, kid. Eat up."

He was still skeptical, but he can appreciate him showing him the food's okay. He picked up the burger and took a bite.

It tasted somehow both worse and better than a McDonald's cheese burger with nothing on it.

"How the hell did they manage that?" Jason laughed at him. "I'm serious! How have they managed to make it taste like that!"

It took a few minutes before Jason's laughter died down. When he finally calmed himself, whipping a tear from his eye, he motioned to the fries. "You gotta try those next."

Danny glared at him as he picked up and ate one of the fries. After a moment he said, "That is one of the best fries I've ever had, and I've had Nasty Burger food."

Chuckling, Jason asked, "What kind of name is 'Nasty Burger'?"

"It's only the best burger place in the whole Midwest!"

"The name says otherwise,"

Danny shrugged, eating a few more fries. "It used to be called 'Tasty Burger', but someone painted over the 'T' and no one though to fix it, so,"

Jason picked up his burger. "That's fair."

They finished their lunch with sporadic conversation shared between them. Comparing burger places, joking about their lives after dying, even throwing in mentions of what powers they did or didn't gain after coming back.

"Anger issues?" Danny scoffed, "Loser."

"Watch it, ghost boy," Jason smirked, "I got some magic swords, too."

Danny raised an eyebrow. "So? I have the icy winds of the underworld at my disposal."

"That isn't just normal ice?"

"Nope. Normal ice can melt and be melted by an outside source. My ice instills the fear of death in people as it slowly creeps up on them, freezing them to death from the inside out."

The building grew cold suddenly, making both Danny's and Jason's breath visible. Ice crept up the window panes, frosting them over and blocking their sight.

"Neat trick," Jason whistled, sitting up straighter. "Please tell me this is your doing."

Danny shook his head. "My ice has green in it. Like mint."

They both tried to stand, spurred into action. However, they found themselves frozen to their seats. Everyone else in the building having been frozen completely, though Danny could tell they were all still alive. For however long, he wasn't entirely sure. Optimistically, they had ninety minutes. But something told Danny they'd have barely twenty.

"What an interesting power you have," Mr. Freeze said was he walked from behind the counter. The Riddler was with him. "Mind if I borrow it for a while?"

Danny looked at Jason, panicking a bit. How could he have let his guard down?! Then, without feeling the cold that could never compare to the temperatures of the Far Frozen at it's warmest, his world went blue.

Part 8

[woollypoison]

Pearl Necklaces

IVE wonyoung x reader (but also all of IVE is in this so...) a/n: I've had this idea of starting a fic with a terrible blowjob for a really long time already. I woke up really horny with tons of free time on my hands and with the puzzle pieces clicking in my head. Thank you, wisdom teeth removal surgery. Anyways, I KNOW I promised full focus on itzy miniseries next AND YOU'LL GET IT!!! I'm working really hard on it, just accept this little out of control dribble as a free gift. Shout out to @valentinedrifter and @kwilquib for the beta read, much love amigos <3333 Word count: 2.2k

This is, by far, the worst blowjob you’ve ever had.

Wait, does this even count as a blowjob? Wonyoung’s just sitting there, knees on the floor, legs spread apart. Her tongue’s out, sure, and the tip of it is touching the underside of your cockhead. The eye contact is making it work, and the way she’s jackhammering her own cunt is a sight to behold, but can you really call it a blowjob if the only thing rubbing your cock is your own hand?

Isn’t this more like an assisted hand job?

“Can you hurry the fuck up? I have to be out—on fucking stage—in 10 minutes in front of a crowd full of horny college students,” Wonyoung barks at you, retracting her tongue, causing you to whimper for losing the only source of contact you still had. “And you know I orgasm a lot faster with a load on my face.”

“I’m sorry Wony, but this is my fourth time already today. I’m not some endless fountain of sperm,” you say. “It would go a lot faster if you helped out some more.”

“What the fuck do you mean, fourth time today?! You should be saving up for me, you dog!”

“It’s not my fault,” is the weakest form of an excuse you could come up with. You’re IVE’s manager. It’s all your fault. “First was this morning… You know how ridiculous Gauel’s been lately.”

And of course she knows. Gaeul’s been playing the part of a bratty sleeping beauty.

“I can’t believe that bitch is still saying she refuses to wake up unless you cum on her face,” she spits back, and it really does sound ridiculous when she says it out loud.

“What about the other two?”

“Well,” you start, but you already know you’re going to get chewed out. “I was having trouble getting everything ready to wake Gaeul up—”

“Just like you are now, right.”

“Right. And I accidentally left the door open, and when Yujin saw me struggling, she came to help out.”

Wonyoung rolls her eyes with a sharp flick, finally sticks her tongue out again but still too far to touch, and twitches her eyebrows to let you know to continue.

“She helped jerk me off onto Gaeul’s face. Said it was her responsibility as a leader as well.”

“That still makes just one load blown, right?” Wonyoung intervenes.

“Yeah, I’m getting there,” you continue, seeing the way her eyes refuse to let you know she’s really enjoying your retelling of the defiling of her members, but doing a terrible job at keeping it hidden.

“After I came on Gaeul, Yujin dragged me out towards her room. Said she was expecting a ‘give and take’ for her help.”

“What kind of ‘give and take’?”

You sigh. She pretends to want to chastise you, but with the way her hand is pounding into her sloppy cunt beneath you and how she’s dripping on the floor, it’s obvious to see. She’s just getting off on this. “I ate her out until she came and then she jerked me off onto her face. Load two.”

“That slut,” Wonyoung murmurs with a smirk. “What about the last one?”

“Okay, I admit, this one might be my fault,” you meekly let out. Wonyoung raises one eyebrow, like she can’t wait to find out what kind of dumb shit you did. “I was helping Rei and Liz clean up the breakfast table, and they were talking about what kind of snack they could still have.”

“Okay?”

“So I jokingly said I had a delicious snack tucked away in my pants for them.”

Wonyoung looks at you like you’re an actual idiot. Look. You might be. “You’re serious?” she asks, almost in disbelief.

“I didn’t expect them to jump me like that. It only took a couple of seconds before they had my dick sandwiched in between their lips,” you explain, getting lost in the thought of how great they felt.

“You’re a pervert,” she snidely remarks.

“God they looked good, licking my seed off of each other’s faces. IVE really is the best…”

Your reminiscing and your pace get interrupted as the door behind you opens, and Leeseo pops her face in with a loud message. “Wonyoung-unnie, it’s 5 minutes till showtime,” she cheers gleefully before opening her eyes, and taking in the sight. You, towering over Wonyoung with your cock out, her on her knees with her mouth open.

“Get the fuck out, can’t you see we’re busy? I’ll be right there,” Wonyoung snaps at Leeseo.

Leeseo just holds her hand in front of her mouth in mock surprise. She giggles a small melody to your ears, before taking her leave, but not without a final remark. “Okay, but don’t forget I finally get manager tonight. Don’t wear him out too hard for my first time, please!”

Wonyoung rolls her eyes again, and looks towards you as you slowly start pumping your cock again. “So, where were we? You were telling me about how you already came three times today, and making excuses for why I’m still waiting for my share.”

“It’s a lot faster if you help, Wonyoung…”

She gasps in shock, looking at you like you’re not only an idiot, but actually insane now. “There’s no fucking way I’m touching your filthy cock. Not after everywhere it’s been today.”

“I don’t think I can finish in time if it’s by myself,” you plead, and it’s not even a lie. If anything, you’re more scared of how upset Wonyoung will be if she has to go on stage without relieving her usual tension.

“Ugh, fine! But only if you ditch Leeseo tonight for me,” she argues back, and it’s a grin that tells you everything. You have no real choice when it comes to Wonyoung’s tantrums.

“What? I can’t! She’s been looking forward to this for months,” you try to argue nevertheless.

She negotiates a better deal back, the desperation of having to go out on stage any moment getting to her. “No condom this time. So what will it be? Paint our maknae’s face, or get me to touch your dick and fill my insides up as much as you want?”

“Deal, but I’m not letting you off the hook for that,” you reply in an instant, so eager your cock twitches at the mere thought of it. The glint in her eye says enough, her two hands balling into little fists as she shakes them, heralding her victory.

She forms a circle with her left thumb and index finger, wrapping it around the base of your cock and presses tightly against you. Her other hand is still occupied with her own needs. Her mouth opens up, hot breath heralding your end. You wish it took more, but the moment she plants a kiss on your cock, you burst.

It’s a full-body, shuddering embarrassment of an orgasm, the kind that makes your knees buckle and your face hot with shameful delight. Wonyoung doesn’t break eye contact—not once.

Your cum splashes out in a blinding, white arc, catching Wonyoung square on the tongue, painting her lips, her nose, even a bit on her lashes. Wonyoung squeals at the sheer volume, and then, with a balletic flick of her wrist, jerks you out for the last spurt, milking every drop onto her own eager face. She scoops up a glob with her pinky, pops it in her mouth like it’s frosting, and lets out a theatrical moan.

“God, you’re such a fucking mess,” she says, but she drags her hand down to her slit and starts furiously rubbing, as if her own orgasm is right there, like a red button she can’t stop slamming. You’re still dizzy, your vision swimming, when she shoves her face against your softening cock and lets out a high, tight whine. She cums like a disaster: messy and loud, bucking her hips so hard she nearly topples backwards, her legs kicking out and slamming the top of her head against your thigh, making you nearly collapse on top of her. She’s painted and panting, mouth slack, chest flushed scarlet. You’ve never seen her look so proud, so utterly victorious. “I’m going to look so hot on stage,” she says, but she’s smiling now, the kind of mischievous, post-orgasmic smile that could start wars. Then, she wipes the semen off her cheek with her thumb. “Is this look too much for university boys?” She chuckles, then licks her thumb with a showy little curl of her tongue in front of you, eyes locked on yours, as if daring you to disagree. You manage a shaky breath, still not recovered, and watch her collect herself with the efficiency of an idol who’s both a world-class diva and a world-class pervert.

She’s in full glam: lashes thick enough to sweep the floor, cheeks rouged to cartoonish perfection, and now this decadent pearl necklace of your making as her accessory.

“You can’t go out there like that,” you manage, voice hoarse and a little too loud.

Wonyoung’s standing, one foot in her heel, blouse still wide open, neck and chin and cheek freckled with the evidence. She stares at herself in the mirror, cocks her head, and lifts her phone. 

Snap. Snap. Snap. 

She’s taking selfies, for fuck’s sake. Her tongue pokes out, cute and obscene above her ruined makeup. “Why not?” she purrs, not even pretending to button up. “It’s a good look. Besides, the fans would fucking die.”

The front-facing camera captures the whole tableau: your deflated cock wilting against her cheek, the ropes of cum criss-crossing her face, and her absolute, shameless delight at the mess. And just like that, you’re incriminated.

“I’ll die if you get in trouble for this,” you hiss, glancing at the door as if Leeseo might be waiting with a live feed. “Please, just clean up.”

She’s not even listening. “Oh, don’t be a prude, manager. I’m doing this for you,” She winks, then switches to video mode, recording a quick little snippet of her slurping a glob of cum off her own chin, then blowing a kiss to the camera. “If you’re a good boy, maybe I’ll let you watch it later.”

You’re about to protest, but then she’s shoving the phone in your hands, angling her face for you to get the best shot. “Take one for me. I want to remember how you love me the most.”

You do as you’re told, because you always do, and she’s right: this is her at her best, her most dangerous. The flash goes off, and she shivers at the sound. “God, you’re lucky,” she purrs and you know it.

“Here, let me—” you start, reaching for the tissues on the table.

But Wonyoung’s already got her own solution. “No, no, no. If you really want me cleaned up, you have to do it.” She tilts her chin up, eyes fluttering closed. “With your tongue. Or I’ll tell everyone in the company you’re a chronic masturbator who can’t keep his hands off his own dick around us.”

She grabs your chin and pulls you into a kiss, her tongue pushing past your lips, and you can taste yourself, bitter and astringent, and her, sweet and sharp. She bites your lip, hard enough to sting, then breaks away and wipes the rest off with a practiced hand. “You’re such a pushover,” she says, patting your cheek with the now-ruined tissue.

You just watch as she stands, legs shaky as she fixes her hair, retwists her ponytail, and tugs her miniskirt down over her thighs, still glistening from her own mess. She checks herself in the mirror, then gives you a once-over, eyes lingering on your still-exposed, still-leaking cock.

She’s devilish, a forbidden fruit, the kind of ice cold beauty typically reserved for fairy tales. “Now, here’s your job,” she says, wagging her finger at you. “Go to the green room, watch my performance, and edge yourself until I get back. I want you leaking for me all night, so when I get back, you can fill me up for real. If you cum before I’m done, I’ll make you eat it off Yujin’s shoes.”

You sputter, “What?”

She grins, all dimples and devilry. “You heard me. And don’t even think about cheating. I’ll know.”

She blows you a kiss and flounces out, heels clacking, leaving you dazed and semi-hard in the aftermath.

You could’ve been a manager in any group, for any label in Seoul, but fate delivered you into the hands of the most terminally horny, irrepressible, and power-mad girl group in the country. You can’t even process it. You just sit there, cock in hand, trying to figure out how your life turned into a kpop bukkake sitcom. You ponder briefly if this is a privilege or a curse, and then, as your thumb scrolls aimlessly through the photo log on her phone (she left it behind by “accident”), you realize you don’t even care anymore.

The latest shot is still her, tongue out, glazing herself like a goddamn donut, winking at you through the digital shrapnel of your own undoing. Your cock jumps, traitorously.

Whatever Wonyoung wants, she gets.

[housemdork]

house md rewatch: 1x18, "babies and bathwater"

everybody say THANK YOU, DR. LISA CUDDY, for saving the day!

doctor lisa cuddy is a superhero. she is the final hour "i need a hero" montage. she is the patron deity that answers a cleric's "divine intervention" feat in d&d. unlike the rest of the characters, who fall victim to 1x18's central problem, she rises above it; while everyone else makes decisions in a vacuum, despite knowing better, cuddy resists this temptation and saves 4 people's jobs in the process. she also defeats the BBEG like it's fucking nothing.

FUCKKKKK this guy.

1x18 is a strong example of house md's pervasive trend of pairing a very traumatic patient story with a highly personal main-cast story line that always ends up privileging the latter lol. so what if a husband lost his wife in a freak cancer onset on the operating table, after making hard decision after harder decision, and now he has to be a single father? we're much more interested in PPTH taking a $100 million hit to keep house, wilson, foreman, and chase on board, right?

yes lol. absolutely. but the patient plot leaves us with the question, regarding the hospital and the doctors within it: who is the baby, and what is the bathwater? i'll argue that, in our big trifecta's case (house/wilson/cuddy), the answer to this question varies based on who you asks, and it drives some of the conflict. bear with me through the silly language lol.

in being so certain that at least one person will prevent him from being fired, house considers himself to be the baby. the hospital bureaucracy just needs to clear out its dirty bathwater. it seems like, despite his guilt over cameron's decision, house is back to feeling confident that he can't/won't be taken out. people are willing to take falls for him, even when wilson firmly warns against this.

1x18 keeps wilson's answer to the baby/bathwater equation concealed for now. in the first half of the episode, he's just there to level with house and futilely try to convince him not to screw everything up, if such a thing is possible atp. in light of their later scene together, he's shockingly collected here, which begs the question of what his plan was going into the board meeting, if he had one at all.

cuddy, meanwhile, sees the forest for the trees. that is by far her greatest strength, while also the source of a lot of her pain/strife in the show. especially when working so closely to someone like house who, on the wrong day, sees himself as basically every tree in the entire forest. when she votes to keep vogler's money at the expense of house, i think season 1 has done enough work thus far to make it a believable decision on her part. and, boldly, she explains to house that he "is not worth a hundred million dollars." he really isn't.

this notably comes after she did him an important yet hilariously understated favor to keep vogler off his ass, should he find out that house was okay-ing seemingly abusive parents to take their kid home. if we're comparing wilson and cuddy here, then, wilson seems like the most neutral with the least clear intentions. but come the final board meeting scene, where she realizes just how much vogler has bought and gagged the rest of the hospital, cuddy makes the choice to discard the entire baby/bathwater problem. start fresh. without $100 million dollars. cheers!

what cuddy and wilson both agree on in 1x18 above all else is that house is the crux of the baby/bathwater problem, and it would be facetious to claim that cuddy's attachment to house didn't motivate her at all. she's just intelligent enough to, again, see the greater picture in conjunction with her feelings.

this guy can't do that, though. and he will never be able to.

in a scene immediately preceding the revelation that wilson was fired off the board and asked to resign, house makes an assertion about human's biological tendencies re: the mother's choice to die to save her child: "the needs of the next generation are more important." uh. then explain wilson's choice here!

the entire boardroom knew that wilson would vote to keep house on; vogler was so sure of this that he hoped wilson would have missed the meeting altogether. and wilson so flagrantly does just that, without a second thought, that it catches viewers off guard (at least, it did for me the first time i watched the episode). in strictly season 1 terms, we still don't know much about these guys' friendship. we know that they've known each other for a while, wilson gets how house ticks more than most, and the sense that something a bit deeper is there, but without any specifics or sincere textual evidence.

and, for all of wilson's warnings to house about vogler, he was naive enough to think he'd be spared. voting to keep house was so knee-jerk that it cost him a lot (for about 15 minutes of in-episode time). local stupid dumb naive compassionate idiot learns that sometimes caring about someone doesn't always win out in the end:

what i like about the resulting scene between house and wilson is how much it stands apart from how most conversations in house md have gone so far. mired in metaphors/similes (for comedic effect), people speaking around each other, miscommunication abound, house leaving the room at the pivotal moment - none of that is here. for example, while cameron has tried for weeks to squeeze something out of house, dress her feelings up to circumvent his walls, wilson is just angry, and says so outright:

"i got no kids. my marriage sucks. i only had 2 things that worked for me: this job and this stupid, screwed up friendship, and neither mattered enough to you to give one lousy speech."

"they matter."

house is, time and time again, wilson's entire forest, even when he tries to blame house for the fact that wilson holds him in that regard. this is just the first time we see that side of these 2. and house's expression above is the same he gives to cameron after she tries to appeal to him once more, just dialed up to 10. we get the first inkling of how they are each other's respective constants in their lives, too, which is a damning plot line, indeed.

there's even more honesty abound here, too, because wilson cuts through house's uncharacteristic attempt at an apology. house lies and says that if he could do it all over again, he'd change. uh, greg! people don't/can't change, apropos your own philosophy! wilson knows that he wouldn't do it differently, that the result would be the same. looking ahead, the foundation of their friendship being so one-sided, only for wilson to pull You Know What in season 4, blows me away.

i adore this trait of wilson's - his short-sightedness - because it is SO dangerous for house md. it's alienating, self-sabotaging, externally sabotaging, and very much full of love, all the time. wilson wasn't even considering any conditions at all when voting to keep house - their friendship, by nature of it being "screwed up," is unconditional, though it wouldn't have to be if wilson would just Get Up Off The Floor.

speaking of - he immediately flips on a dime and agrees to help house with the patient via his connections as a successful and prominent oncologist. okay. and once the crisis is over, he's drinking champagne out of house's red mug. okay!

this is a good preview into what my recaps will look like when wilson makes himself especially known. it's easy to point your moral compass at the immoveable, endlessly needy northern star that is house, but don't bitch and moan when you get burned for it.

[honeybeeznutz]

It's Better This Way: Part 2

Part one: https://www.tumblr.com/honeybeeznutz/785301063173603328/its-better-this-way?source=share

Summary:

You fall for Bob but you aren't the only one, but it gets harder to hide how you feel

Warnings:

swearing, brief use of Y/N, angst, unresolved feelings, drinking

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

I didn’t anticipate the evening going this way. I just planned on sitting around in sweatpants and an old tshirt from high school, but here we are. Now I’m dressed up in a dress that shows off everything I’d normally hide, in a dingy bar with music blasting. I take another sip of my old fashioned and observe the group. Alexei is watching over the group, a bottle of vodka in hand. Ava and John were arguing over some tv show, I have no idea. I look to the corner and Yelena is nursing a vodka cranberry with Bob by her side. I take another drink. Bucky sidles up next to me at the bar. 

“You good kid?”

He asks knowing I’m not

“Just tickled shitless.”

I respond without looking up from my drink. Bucky knew what was going on. Of course he did. I wasn’t exactly being cryptic about my swooning at the moment. 

“You’ve gotta tell him. ”

He starts. I go to argue but he cuts me off. 

“Trust me. I know what it’s like to love someone you feel like you can never have…. To love your best friend…. But learn from my mistakes. Take that chance. Talk to him…. Before it’s too late… Before he chooses her without knowing you were an option.”

With that he grabs another beer and leaves me alone. 

Before long we’re all crowded around one table and John is trying to get us to do shots. I look over and Yelena whispers something in Bob’s ear. He giggles. I take a shot. One turns to three, turns to too many to count. One minute I’ve got a light buzz, the next I’m partway through a bottle of Tito’s. We’re all laughing and carrying on when someone starts playing the run down jukebox in the corner. Your Man by Josh Turner starts blaring through the background and John looks like he’s won the lottery

“Someone dance with me!”

He begs. Everyone groans. Yelena rolls her eyes and leans more into Bob. I take John’s hand and follow him to the makeshift dance floor to the sound of whoops and hollers from our group. I turn to see Bob. He looks…. Almost upset. I shake my head and turn back to John. We start to slow dance and he holds me close. 

“So,”

He starts

“When are you gonna tell him?”

“Tell who what?”

“Bob that your madly in love with him”

I pull back and shoot him a look. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. We’re just friends. And even if we weren’t he had Yelena.”

John rolls his eyes. 

“All I’m saying is it’s a bit pitiful seeing a strong girl like you moping over a man.”

“And I think it’s a bit pitiful you won’t shut up and dance with me!”

He rolls his eyes, shaking his head. We finish dancing and I stumble back to the bar stool. I order another round and the shots start flowing again. 

A random man approaches me. 

“Hey there beautiful~”

He slurs out. I start to roll my eyes but I can see Bob out of the corner of my eye. Screw it.

“Hi there~”

He goes on to tell me he’s some business man looking for a good time. I honestly couldn’t care less, my body feels warm the way only too much liquor can make it, and I’m ready to make some bad decisions. I let him lead me to the dance floor and we start to dance. I don’t think too much of it and we’re dancing with my back to his chest. I feel him grind against me and I try to pull away but strong hands keep me there. 

I look around for someone to help but the only person I see is the exact person I don’t want to. Ava and Yelena are dancing, Alexei and Bucky are arm wrestling and John is judging. Bob just sits there and stares at me. He quickly looks away when he notices me looking though. 

“Let go of me!”

I struggle against him. The next thing I know Bob is between me and the guy. His eyes a shining gold. The Sentry is out. Shit. I pull Bob away and we head outside the bar. 

“What the hell was that?”

I ask. 

“I could have handled that myself!”

“Bullshit!”

He grabs me and starts to look me over. 

“Did he hurt you?”

“What do you care?”

I slur out

“What’s that supposed to mean? Of course I care.”

“Nuh uh, you’re too busy caring about Yelena!”

I pull away from him and start to walk. To where I don’t know, but I need to be away from him. Drunk or not I know it’s bad for me to be alone with him. Especially in an altered state. 

“Where are you going?”

He quickly follows after me

“Anywhere but here!”

He calls my name but I ignore him. I walk past an alley and he grabs me. He pushes me against the wall and holds my wrists so I can’t move. If I wasn’t so upset I’d be dead from the sheer closeness. 

“What is your problem?”

He asks. 

“What’s *my* problem? What’s your problem?”

I shoot back pointedly. 

“Why are you acting like this? Why have you been avoiding me? Why have you ghosted me? We’re supposed to be friends!”

He sounds tired, and if I wasn’t in so much pain myself I’d feel bad for him.

“I can’t tell you.”

“Bullshit”

“I can’t. It’ll ruin everything.”

“It won’t ruin anything.”

So I do it. Without a second thought I kiss him

Now True Believers it’s your turn to decide how it ends:

Happy ending:

He kisses back with ferocity. It’s like a missing piece slips into place and everything is right in the world. He pulls back for a second. 

“You’re drunk…. We shouldn’t do this”

“But I still know what I want. And it’s you.”

“Is this why you’ve been so distant?”

“I know how close you are with Yelena, and I care about both of you so deeply…. But I love you Bob… I love you and I want you. And I know I’m drunk right now but I need you.”

Bob smiles at me gently.

“Yelena and I are just close friends…. And I love you too…. We can talk about this tomorrow when you’re sobered up, okay?”

I nod and smile. I couldn’t wait for tomorrow. 

Unresolved ending:

He immediately pulls away.

“You’re drunk, we can’t do this!”

“But I want this! I may be drunk but I know what I want. I need you Bob, I love you! And it breaks my heart every time I see you with Yelena! I need you!”

“Look, let’s get you home…. We’ll talk about this in the morning….”

“Promise?”

“Promise…”

I let him walk me home. I let him carry me home. We make it to my room and he helps me into my pajamas. As soon as my head hits the pillow I’m asleep. 

When I wake up my head hurts and I crave water. I stumble into the kitchen. I see Bob making breakfast. 

“Morning sleepy head.”

He says looking absolutely exhausted.

“I drank way too much…”

“Yes you did…. Do you remember much of last night…”

“Not really, were we supposed to talk about something.”

I see the wheels turning in his head. I remembered what happened. I remember him promising.

“Nope. Not that I know of.”

Bad ending:

He immediately pushes me away

“What the hell!”

“I- you told me to”

“Y/N….. No….. Look you’re drunk and you’re not thinking and-“

“I may be drunk but I know what I want! I know I’m not the one you want but I love you Bob! You’re my best friend and I love you! And I love Yelena but not like you. And I’m sorry if you hate me now but I need you to know how I feel!”

He takes a step back and leans against a wall. He puts his head in his hands and shakes his head.

“I’m sorry… but I’m in love with Yelena…. It’s always been her. You’re my best friend too  y/n  but I love her…. Not you…. I should…. I should go….”

“Wait, Bob- please!”

“I’m sorry…. But I just see you as a friend….”

He keeps talking. Apologizing for not choosing me, but I don’t listen. I just walk away. Back into the bar. I remember ordering another shot. I don’t remember how I got home. I don’t remember how I got back in my bed. I woke up the next morning with a note on the side of my bed.

“You’re my best friend. We can talk when you’re ready.”

I wasn’t ready though. I put on a fake smile and walk into the kitchen where the rest of the team were relaxing.

“There’s the party animal!”

John laughs. I roll my eyes and pour myself a cup of coffee. I look to Bob. He has his arm around Yelena. He looks at me as if there was anything left to say. I take a swig of my coffee and sit down next to Bucky. 

“I drank way too much last night….”

“Yes you did, but I’m very proud of you!”

Alexei beamed. Bob looks like he wants to say something when Yelena interrupts

“You kept apologizing for ruining things last night, what was up with that?”

I look at Bob. I bite my lip and then grin. 

“No clue, I was really drunk and I say dumb stuff when I’m like that.”

I don’t know what hurt more. The fact the conversation with Bob never came, or how he acted like nothing ever happened. As if I hadn’t laid my heart out on the line for him and he’d squashed it with a simple “I’m sorry”. It wasn’t his fault. Days turned to weeks, turned to months and nothing was said again about it. My feelings never went away, but I learned to deal with them. Learned to pretend to be happy for Yelena when she confessed she liked him to me. I pretended to be happy for them when they went public. They were my best friends. They were happy. I was broken and hiding behind a mask. But they were happy. It’s better this way.

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

Question about your tracking process, if you wouldn’t mind sharing?

Do you keep a list of journalists, who they’re employed by, and have them ranked in some way regarding whether they have legitimate palace sources or legitimate Sussex sources, or the like? How do you personally weigh the information? Or is it more basic: this is broadsheet vs this is tabloid? It seems that Rebecca English has legitimate sources, while working for The DM. In that example then, it seems that it could be quite a task to determine the veracity of any claims.

Not an official list. I don't think I've ever sat down and written it out, and most of it I've picked up by osmosis being around the royal-watching world long enough. Plant might've had a list, though.

All of the official rota reporters have legit sources within the monarchy and some have sources who are family members themselves. I don't believe they share sources, though. So generally you can take them/their sources at their word. But they're not infallible, and they do get things wrong so you should always take their exclusives with salt. For example, Roya Nikkhah claimed The Queen's great-grandchildren would appear in the Royal Windsor Horse Show 2022 because she was given footage of them playing on a carriage - which ultimately didn't happen but that also begs the next question: was it supposed to happen and then it got cancelled because the parents were spooked by all the attention or was it never a thing to begin with? That's when the gut check comes into play and lean back on your experience as a royal-watcher to decide if the exclusive/leak is true or not.

(For instance in this case about the kids being in the RWHS, I don't think it was ever true, for the simple reasons that 1 - that was too many kids for one carriage, 2 - George, Charlotte, and Louis only ever appear in public with their parents (or one of them) so William or Kate would've had to be in the RWHS too, which would've taken attention away from everything/everyone else, and 3 - you can't have all the great-grandchildren without Archie and this was very much the era of 'sacrifice the Cambridges to appease the Sussexes' but without the then-Cambridges involved, does anyone really care about the great-grandchildren? So either Roya's source was wrong or Roya saw 1+1 and made 5.)

Where it gets a little more dubious/questionable is with the reporters who aren't in the rota. That's when you really have to be careful, because it's not as certain or as specific what kind of sources they have - do they have legit first-hand sources (people actually in the palaces) or are their sources third- fourth- fifth-hand gossip (my roommate's cousin's neighbor's sister-type of loose connection)? Usually you can tell based on how the source is described or the kind of information they have. For instance, if the information is super generic and kind of obvious, that's more of a gossip connection and you can just enjoy it as entertainment but if the information is super detailed and slightly random, then it's probably more of a legit source/insider.

Really quick in case you're not familiar: the rota is the press pool that covers the BRF (like the royal equivalent of the White House Press Association). The rota is comprised of British print journalism, press photographers and photojournalists, and the broadcast networks. Digital media, independent journalists, and international media are not part of the rota (Omid describes this in Endgame and he does have valid points on this). How the rota works is that while anyone can be credentialed to attend an event with the royals, not everyone can go inside, or if it's a restricted event (like the investitures or something sensitive like Kate's Royal Marsden visit), not everyone can attend.

In those cases, one representative from each of the medias in the rota - one press journalist, one photographer, and one broadcast network - will go inside with the royal or attend the exclusive event and then afterwards, write up a summary and share their footage with everyone else in the rota. They don't *have* to share with non-rota but they mostly do as a professional courtesy.

Everyone else who's credentialed for the visit/event but was not given the rota assignment will attend anyway and cover the comings and goings outside or get B-roll footage/interviews with the locals to beef up their reports.

Official Rota Reporters

The print media in the rota is The Telegraph, The Times, Daily Mail, Daily Express, Evening Standard, Daily Mirror. The broadcast media in the rota is ITV, BBC, and Sky News.

Camilla Tominey writes for The Telegraph. She also was once significantly targeted by Sussex Squad back in the early days and in those days (a little less so nowadays), Sussex Squad moved at Meghan's beckoning.

Roya Nikkhah writes for The Sunday Times. She usually gets the big milestone birthday/anniversary writeups and occasionally an exclusive interview.

Rebecca English writes for the Daily Mail. She is also the head of the rota and responsible for handing out UK assignments - meaning she gets the schedules and she decides who on the press journalism rota gets to go inside. Typically she assigns the events with the Wales children to herself and it does annoy the others but that has gotten her close to/with KP.

Valentine Low writes for The Times. He is the co-head of the rota and responsible for foreign assignments - when the royals travel abroad, Low decides who goes inside or to the exclusive event. He's a bit more even handed with it than Rebecca is. A lot of his sources, to me, seem to be more staff than principals.

Edit: Apparently Low is retired now. I didn't know that! Then he's definitely not doing the foreign assignments anymore. Maybe it is Kay who does that now?

Dan Wootten used to write for The Sun. I'm not sure if he was ever actually part of the rota himself, but The Sun as a publication is part of the rota so that's why he's here on this side of the list. I don't know a whole lot about Dan, just the Megxit stuff, so I think most of his sources were from the Sussex side of Kensington Palace.

Richard Eden is a society reporter from The Daily Mail. He gets mostly gossip. Always do your homework with him.

Richard Kay also writes for the Daily Mail, still has some old-school palace sources - I believe mostly from Clarence House these days. Diana used to work with him so most of his sources (to me, I could be very wrong here) seem to be from that era. Personally I don't consider him to be someone who has a lot of sources now, he seems to mostly be in the commentary business than in reporting, but that's just me.

(Also quick sidebar here: I don't remember any more who does the foreign assignments for the rota. I think it's Valentine Low, but it could also be Richard Kay. It's one of the two.)

Rhiannon Mills is a reporter for Sky TV, previously used to write for The Sun. I only ever saw her coverage in relation to Kensington Palace, Harry specifically. Harry once blew up at her on a foreign tour and she has gotten some Sussex Squad ire, so plausibly her Sussex information was correct back in the day.

Bryony Gordon started at the Daily Express, then moved to Sunday Express, then Daily Mirror, then The Telegraph, and now she's with Daily Mail. I don't know a whole lot about her royal reporting other than I know her for her Sussex coverage, so she has good Sussex sources but no others. You can trust her writing about the Sussexes as I think she's in love with Harry and the writing I'm familiar with has been flattering about the Sussexes and negative about everyone else.

Not in the Rota Royal Correspondents

Katie Nicholls is currently a freelance reporter, mostly known for working with Vanity Fair these days. She started her career as rota, writing for the Daily Mail so she has some sources but most of her exclusives don't really pan out and/or it's more of the gossip variety. For instance, one of her sources is/was a girl that Kate went to Marlborough with, that Kate didn't keep in touch with, and Katie kept passing off the girl's info as exclusives.

The one story that Katie did exclusively break is Meghan's tantrum in front of The Queen about tasting egg in the food when she specifically said no egg during a tasting with the chef.

Omid Scobie used to write for Us Magazine, an American tabloid. He mostly worked out of Kensington Palace and a lot of KP exclusives through a very close friendship with Meghan because he supposedly used to date Markus Anderson. He was iced out by KP and the actual rota after publishing Finding Freedom and doesn't have palace sources anymore. (He writes about this in Endgame.)

If what Scobie wrote/writes criticized William and Kate or was negative, it was safe to assume the Sussexes leaked to him because of how close he was with Meghan.

Tom Sykes writes for The Daily Beast. His sources lean Hollywood/Sussex so most of his exclusives are either from the Sussexes about the BRF or from Hollywood about the Sussexes. Not really one for palace sources, IMO but (edit) he does have aristo connections that anons say are pretty valid.

Jack Royston writes for Newsweek, who is not part of the rota officially but is included in the gentleman's agreement much like Scobie was. His sources lean Sussex so I don't think he has many palace sources, if any.

Piers Morgan used to be a TV broadcaster, now he freelances on social media. His sources are Camilla and the Yorkies. You can generally trust that anything he attributes to the royal family as being accurate, but he won't ever name names.

****

So that's everyone I'm familiar with who covers the BRF. I'm sure there are others I've forgotten and/or others I don't know. If anyone else wants to chime in, please feel free!

Like I said, whether you trust the reporter and/or their sources is really up to you. For me, I've been following the BRF and reading the coverage long enough that I have a general understanding of what to see as accurate and what I need to do more research on, but I really can't explain what that process is other than "it's a gut check."

And also as I said, the reporters and the sources do get things wrong. Sometimes they get it wrong on a big scale, like Roya's claim about the RWHS. Sometimes they get it wrong on a smaller scale, like Katie Nicholl's exclusives from Kate's old school "friend" that were usually incorrect. And sometimes the BRF tells different stories to the rota or the sources and play them off one another - for instance, what we saw this week with Camilla's story that Charles has met both Sussex kids and Rebecca's story that Charles has only met one of the kids, so when dueling narratives like that come up, that involves doing more research for other similar stories/reveals to try and find the continuity because usually, whichever story matches earlier versions is usually the correct one and whichever doesn't match is usually spin, backtracking, or the source doesn't know.

I know this doesn't answer all of your questions, but I hope this helps! Please, feel free to ask more questions if you've got them!

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

tuesday again 6/10/2025

banger tuesdaysong about recreational chloroform. also, science fiction, my favorite genre full of so much dreck

listening

Lança Perfume, by Rita Lee and Roberto De Carvalho. i think spotify suggested this to me bc she was part of Os Mutantes, previously featured as a tuesdaysong artist. incredibly fun portugese-language song about recreational chloroform and fucking that sounds like an eighties anime closing song. sound of the summer 2025

-

reading

a brief review of books that left my house last week. many terrible lesbian novels. if you’re wondering why i ditched a particular title u can flick back through hr past six months of tuesdayposts bc tuesdayposts are quite frankly miserable to write on a phone.

The Wastelanders by KS Merbeth (duology). did not do anything interesting with its cannibal premise. just kind of a rolling series of lackluster action scenes that didn’t go anywhere.

Sing The Four Quarters by Tanya Huff. makes me feel like a bad feminist bc it’s so much more pregnancy focused than i will ever be interested in reading. canonically bisexual protagonist!

JEM by Frederik Pohl. im sure this is a really cool look at how utopias degenerate into dystopias but an astronomer gets pity sex from a hot woman who then gets him a pity grant of several billion dollars by fucking the leadership of a senate committee, and that is so far outside my experience of how astronomers get grants i had to slam dunk this one into the donation bag.

Nocturne for a Dangerous Man by Marc Matz. protagonist too important and good at everything it was no longer fun to read.

The Cloud Warriors by Patrick Tilley. im furious about this one bc it’s book one of The Amtrak Wars and has one of the cooler post-apocalyptic premises ive come across. however. however. one of the young man protagonists juuuuust misses being valedictorian of the knockoff air force academy and the actual valedictorian (hot girl) has pity sex with him while saying “you’re number one in my book” while his DAD, dying from CANCER, is out cold in the bedroom corner bc he had to be sedated at the graduation ceremony!!! WHAT THE FUCK

The Nemesis of Evil by Lin Carter. breathtakingly racist.

had a really good time with this thirteen hour audiobook about a Ghananian trust fund con unfolding over decades! the author does a great job explaining the background of the various political regimes and juntas that influenced the con, you get thoroughly backgrounded re: British imperialism, a real heavily sourced passion project. the narrator Jude Owusu has a really great voice, i wish he performed more nonfiction.

-

watching

three episodes left of The Apothecary Diaries 😭😭😭 really hope this one gets renewed. will have more thoughts next week after i finish it bc it very effectively tricks you into thinking it’s just an episodic mystery of the week show

-

playing

apparently i have three free months of Apple Arcade from some sort of promo. now taking recs/let me know if there’s anything specific you want me to take a look at

-

making

cross stitch update. please ignore the state of my kitchen table.

banger thrifting weekend: spent more money than i was planning to but checked off a lot of things on my little mental list ive had an eye out for multiple years

beach towels

food processor

stainless steel cat water fountain

cocktail jigger with measurements marked inside

[bluewxrld07]

Boy X - INSTA AU (6)

Lando Norris X Artist!Reader

Summary: In which a famous singer has the idea to collaborate with Formula one, crossing paths with someone else in the process...

Warning(s): None :)

next part >>>>

f1updates just made a post!

liked by user7, user1, user4 and 2m others

f1updates Looks like McLaren's top racer, Lando Norris, has a new fling??? He's been seen around the Monaco area lately with said actress and model, Magui Corceiro, and the two seem to be very out in the open with seeing one another.

What does this mean for Lando and Y/N? Read more from the link in our bio!

load more comments

user4 oh nooo :(

user7 Wait was this what Y/N and her bff were hinting at??

user5 yourbff literally hinted at something on her story, this haaasss to be it 🫣

user2 Y'all he seemed so infatuated with yourusername there's no way...

user3 Y/N needs a guy who won't break her heart, this is so sad🤧🤧🤧

user1 Guys we don't even know if him and Y/N were dating, much less him and Magui. It could be PR for all we know...?

user9 Some are saying that Y/N knew about Magui and confronted him about it, which led to yourbff's Instagram story post. So there were probs signs showing that he was seeing some chick (Magui) without telling Y/N

user1 Wtf???? I never thought Lando would be that type of guy???

user9 Idk if that's even true, but sources that are talking about it are getting word from people that are close with both Y/N and Lando... 🤷

user6 I'm also seeing that it was Y/N that put a stop to it because of all the speculations going on, so who knows

user9 Either way this is so screwed up, poor Y/N first of all

New Direct Messages from Lando!

lando : I'm in Quebec for some training, I'd like to see you

lando : I know you've read my texts, but idk how else to get ahold of you, I want to explain what's going on

lando : I shouldn't have lost it on you, I'm sorry

seen

yourusername just posted on their story!

yourusername : 🧜🏼‍♀️

yourbff HOTTEST FIT THERE WAS FUCK 😛😛

findlayoconnell Drooling, absolutely drooling 🤤

lando liked your story!

lando fuck

yourusername just made a post!

liked by yourbff, maxfewtrell, findlayoconnell, lando, charlesleclerc and 9m others

yourusername Been busy lately

load more comments

yourbff I'm loving this new era 🤧

yourbff Who made you cry tho, I just wanna talk 👊🏼😡

yourusername We don't speak of it🫠

findlayoconnell These are everything

findlayoconnell Body is TEAAAA 😱😫😫

*liked by yourusername and yourbff*

charlesleclerc Monaco looks great on you 🤭

*liked by yourusername*

user4 ???!!!?!?!!?!??! UM? 😰😰😰

user5 Y'all she's in MONACOOOO??? And it's not with LANDO????

user7 WHO MADE THE QUEEN CRY 🤬

user3 probs lando lets be fr

user7 Ayo I wasn't gonna expose buuuuut

lando That's why you weren't answering

user1 Y'all chill, her and Charles are friends

user9 Yeah friends with benefitssss 🫣

yourbff how does one look so pretty crying tho is the real question

yourusername lots of heartbreak does that to you 😚😚

lando talk to me please

yourbff just made a post!

liked by yourusername, findlayoconnell, maxfewtrell and 3m others

yourbff Life has been cray cray lately, but here's a few to keep you busy hehe (Boys suck btw) 🤧

tagged yourusername

load more comments

user6 FACTS THEY DO

*liked by yourbff*

user2 LET THEM COOK 🍳🍳🍳🍳

user7 I cannot wait to see what they're conjuring up omfg

user9 Soooo does this post also mean that Y/N and Lando are actually no longer seeing each other??? Like what happened

yourusername Hottie with a body🫡🫡🤩

yourusername Ily🥹😘

yourusername Self love vibes tbh

yourbff No for real🫶🏼

user4 Some sources say that Lando has been trying to reach out to her, and some accounts caught Lando's comments on her last post before they got deleted. 🤡

user9 I don't blame her if she doesn't wanna talk to him if what everyone is saying is true tho😂😂

user4 Neither do I, but I hope it's all just rumors and they seriously talk things out

findlayoconnell My actual bestie boo's

findlayoconnell How did I get such hot friends wtf 😭

yourusername because you're hot 😛💕

yourbff hot people listen to Y/N L/N's music 😇

*liked by everyone*

yourusername just made a post!

liked by lando, yourbff, charlesleclerc, lewishamilton, jackhughes and 13m others

yourusername eyes on me

load more comments

user9 Y'ALL THIS EAATSSSSS

yourbff 4+4= WHAT?????! 🍽️🍽️🍽️🍽️🍽️🍽️🍽️🍽️

findlayoconnell ATEEEEEE ABOSLUTELY ATEEE 😫😫🤩😛❤️💕🫶🏼😘

yourbff truly a gift staring at you wtf

yourbff my eyes are on YOU 😳😳

findlayconnell Eyes on you always YES MA'AM 🫡

user1 I just love how most of the comments are findlayoconnell and yourbff hyping Y/N up, I'm living for this 💀💀

user8 SHOW HIM WHO DOES IT BETTER QUEEN 💅💅

user5 I can basically taste the new music coming pls drop it omfg

user4 I just KNOW lando is punching a wall somewhere rn 👊👊👊

maxfewtrell Why you avoiding me bestie I done nothing wronggggg 🥺🥺

yourusername Boy you know damn well I'm not avoiding you lmfao 🤡

maxfewtrell You are tho, answer meeeee

yourusername I literally declined your phone call ONCE today, don’t make the people think I dropped you now

maxfewtrell ok but one time is basically all the time sooooo

maxfewtrell ANSWER THE PHONE YOU MUPPET 🤬

yourusername 🙂🖕🏼

user7 The fact she had to clarify because we'd all think it's because of Lando 😭🤣

user2 they literally were streaming together two days ago, so we know she's not avoiding Max

charlesleclerc Just keep watching?? 🫡

yourusername shhhhh

user6 OH???? CHARLES WHAT'RE YOU DOING HEREEEE

[apomaro-mellow]

King and Prince 51

Part 50

There was the start of a whimper and then a sharp cry into the night. Steve groaned and rolled over, rubbing his eye when he felt Eddie’s hand on his hip.

“Let me tend to little Tristan, love”, he whispered.

“You did it last time”, Steve protested lightly. “We agreed we’d take turns.”

“We can do it on the next one”, Eddie said, patting Steve’s belly as he spoke before getting out of bed.

Eddie had been raised in a small cottage by his mother and uncle. He knew nothing of wet nurses and nannies or even governesses. Having the crib in the king’s quarters, keeping their child close, it was natural to him. He loved that Steve thought the same. Before it was mostly a matter of precaution. If someone stole Tristan away, they’d use him to usurp the throne. Not that there was anything to usurp but some believed otherwise.

Now though, in their true home, surrounded by family with their enemies miles away, they still kept him in their room. As stated before, it was natural to Eddie. For Steve, it was about being something his parents couldn’t. A place of comfort and love. And yes, that meant waking up in the darkest hour at the beck and call of an infant. It was tiresome work but they had both known they’d do it eventually with their own bundle. Taking on Tristan just meant they’d be doing everything sooner.

Steve knew Eddie didn’t mind taking his turn too much. Not when he could hear him humming away to soothe Tristan as he took care of his needs.

When Steve woke up again on his own, it was officially morning and Tristan was fast asleep. Eddie was too. At least he thought so until he saw the way Eddie was smiling. Steve leaned in to give his lips a peck. 

Eddie’s eyes remained closed but his ears listened for Steve’s every move. He heard him brushing his hair and primping in front of the vanity. He heard him move over to the wardrobe and the sound of his robe dropping. He heard the little noises of frustration. It was the sniffles that got Eddie up and at his side and hugging him from behind. 

“What ails you, sweet?”, he asked, although he already had his suspicions.

Because as much as Steve rubbed his belly lovingly, it was starting to… let’s say get in the way. Steve kept his head down, sniffling a little more before responding.

“These pants don’t fit.”

Eddie had been around his fair share of hormonal folks, going through a change. He knew that while the pants might be the trigger, it wasn’t always the source.

“You’d look much better without them anyway.”

“If these don’t fit, none of my pants will. What am I supposed to wear? And what happens when I get bigger?!”

Eddie’s hands were resting on Steve’s belly. He was definitely going to get bigger. And something about that seemed to frighten him.

“What do you think will happen as your belly grows?” Eddie could only see his profile from this angle but that was enough to see the way his lip trembled. “Stevie?”

“You’ll think I’m silly and vain for saying so.”

“I love the silly voices you do for Tristan that make him laugh. And you know how much I love indulging your vanity. When I have the most handsome man on my arm, how could I not?”

“And what about when I’m not handsome anymore?”, Steve asked, wiping a stray tear from his eye.

Eddie turned him around. “What do you mean?”

“My stomach won’t be the only thing that grows. Everything about me will get bigger and-and doughier and I won’t be-”, he choked on a sob and his face was starting to turn red. “I won’t have the body you fell in love with…”

Steve was fully crying now and Eddie just couldn’t have that. He kissed his forehead and wrapped his arms around his shoulders, rocking them from side to side gently. Steve didn’t fully believe Eddie would stop loving him when his body changed. But he’d seen it happen. The most waifish and slender women who became mothers and their bodies turned soft and heavy. Would Eddie still want him around after that? Would he still look at him the same way?

He loved how Eddie could barely keep his hands off him and would be consumed with lust at the smallest look and touch. Steve didn’t want to lose that and especially not so soon.

“Wah!”, he yelped when Eddie scooped him up. “What’re you-”

“If you think having more of you to touch will make me fall out of love, you are sorely mistaken”, Eddie said as he carried Steve out of the closet and towards the bed. He had been quick to pick him up but then laid him down gently, then carefully peeled off the half-done pants that had caused him such strife. Eddie might actually have them burned for daring to make his prince cry.

“You say that now…”

Eddie moved to hover on top of Steve, grinning down at him. “You doubt your elders? My wisdom spans generations. It might be safe to say I know more than you in this situation.”

Steve gazed up into his eyes. The fondness in Eddie’s turned to something heavier as he looked at him from top to bottom. Steve was still uncertain about the future, but as Eddie kissed down his body, he knew he could be sure about the present. And perhaps that was all he needed.

“What am…what am I supposed to wear?”, he posed the question as Eddie’s lips busied themselves with his thighs.

“I will make a royal decree that you may walk these halls bare and bless all with your perfection”, Eddie said before taking his lover into his mouth.

It was over the top, unnecessary, and absolutely impractical. And yet Steve didn’t doubt for a second that if he wanted it, Eddie would make it law.

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

“You really are a natural, you know that?”, Robin commented as she watched Steve burp Tristan. 

He was still wearing trousers, albeit a looser fit than before he set out to carry a child. He smiled as he slowly paced and patted Tristan’s back. He heard the soft release of air and knew he was finished.

“It’s easier than I thought it would be. I mean, not the whole thing just the…”, he paused to adjust the babe in his arms and look into his eyes. “It’s easy…being his and him being mine.”

Had things been different, Steve might have barely had a chance to hold his brother. He was the crown prince and child rearing was someone else’s job. Not even their own parents would have held Tristan this much. They wouldn’t have changed his diapers or fed him on schedule or anything else that wasn’t absolutely required of them to do. Steve would have been the same. He wouldn’t have done much with his brother until he could properly walk and talk enough to demand games and entertainment.

He wouldn’t have been able to experience this. Holding him close and seeing him experience everything for the first time. Steve sat down across from Robin. They were in the library. There were of course people in the castle who had experience and knowledge on infant care, but it wouldn’t hurt to do more reading on his own.

“Have you thought of names for your next baby?”, she asked.

“Everyday Eddie and I toss names at each other. Nothing feels right yet.”

Of course, the kids all pitched names as well. More than one of them suggested that the baby be named after themselves. Neither Steve nor Eddie were enthused to inflate their egos that much.

“Well here’s a record of common names”, Robin slid a book across the table. “You hand me your little chubby dumpling while you flip through it.”

“You’re not helping the people that suspect we cannibalize babies in this castle”, Steve said, doing it anyway.

“Only fools think we eat children”, Robin scoffed. “But if we did, I bet you’d be the most swumptious~ Yes you wouuu~ld~”

Steve wondered if he looked and sounded as ridiculous as she did when he talked to Tristan and the answer was probably yes and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

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

Eddie took a walk around the table that had a map showing their kingdoms. Certain locations were defined as troubled areas as that was where sentiments against Eddie were highest. Nancy had reported that no riots had broken out but people were not shy about expressing their discontent in other ways. Steve sat at the table, rubbing his stomach. The other seats were filled with council members. The two vacancies left by the traitors had been filled. Steve didn’t know either of them well. But it wasn’t easy taking a position knowing your predecessor had been publicly executed.

“Speak plainly, what’s the best way to keep an insurrection from happening?”, Eddie asked.

Nancy spoke up first. “I know how you feel about showing your power, but using force may be our only option.”

“Executing the king and queen was a show of force”, Eddie said, avoiding Steve’s gaze as he said it. 

“They’re only going to get more agitated as time goes on”, she pressed.

“I agree with Eddie”, Steve said. “More violence will only make things work and they already fear him. That’s the problem.”

“So how do we make them less afraid of him?”, Jeff asked.

“Not just him. The people of my homeland are raised on horrific stories of this entire kingdom. I believed them once too”, Steve said. “It was only once I came here, when I met all of you, that I learned how foolish those stories were.”

Eddie strolled around until he was behind Steve’s chair and rested his chin on the top of his head. “What do you suggest, my prince?”

“It may sound far-fetched…”, Steve began. “But it could be something that allows both sides to get to know one another.”

“You have the ears of the kingdom, sweetling~”

Steve’s idea was met with positive reviews and Eddie set out to form a council to begin putting it in motion immediately. But there was something even more pressing to take care of first as the first buds of spring began to bloom. Because it was time. In two weeks, King Edward and Prince Steven would be officially wed.

Part 52

Taglist CLOSED

@thesuninyaface @only-evanescent  @snakeorsquid  @ignoremyworld  @theclichefortunecookie 

@goodolefashionedloverboi  @just-a-tiny-void  @0body0disphoria0  @cinnamon-mushroomabomination  @samsoble 

@jamieweasley13  @y4r3luv  @xtkxkrzrizir  @un-knownperson  @greekgeek24 

@justdrugsformethanks  @potato-of-the-lord  @notaqueenakhaleesi  @swimmingbirdrunningrock  @queenie-ofthe-void 

@nebulainajar  @lil-gremlin-things  @nicememerino  @robininblue  @hornedqueenofhell 

@anne-bennett-cosplayer  @moomkin77  @here4thetrama  @bookworm0690  @autumncrocusandladybug

@lil-gremlin-things @littlebluejane @puppy-stevee

[ollieoliveoboelo22]

Mary Floyd, Part 1

I've kept y'all waiting long enough for this post, happy Valentine's Day

Born March 6, 1764 in Mastic, Suffolk, New York

Mary with Henry and Maria circa 1790. Note the little toy carriage on the ground. That's a whole ‘nother discussion on changes on views of children and their development, but I wanted to point out how adorable it is.

Here, you can see Setauket and the dropped pin is the Floyd estate.

Looking at one of the very few (if not only) identified letters written by Mary, she signed them Maria, and had the nickname Polly as well. (As noted in Jefferson’s letters to his daughter and to Madison where he says Polly Floyd.) For the purposes of this post, I will refer to her as Mary, to distinguish from Maria Hallett and Maria Tallmadge Cushman.

Mary was born to Hannah Jones Floyd (1740-1781) and to Major General William Floyd (1734-1821) who were married in 1760. She grew up with her older brother Nicoll (1762-1852) and her younger sister Catherine ‘Kitty’ (1767 - 1832).

After Hannah died, William remarried Joanna Strong (1742-1826) of Setauket in 1784. Yes, those Strongs. William and Joanna had two children Ann (1785-1809) and Elizabeth (1789-1820). Mary had already married to Ben and was living Connecticut when Ann was born, so she likely did not have much interaction with her two younger half sisters. 

Not much is known about Mary's early life. Her mother and father were prominent patriots. William was elected to the provincial assembly in 1769 and was selected as a delegate for the first Continental Congress. He became a colonel (through nomination) of the Western Regiment of Suffolk County and eventually rose to the rank of Major General. He split his duties between the military and Congress while also trying to find time to be with his family.

While he was away, Hannah took over running of the estate. It should be said that there were enslaved people at the Mastic estate. In a 1790 census there were 14 enslaved people and 5 free people of color working at the mastic estate. Before the war, sources are not clear, but it is likely that any enslaved persons at the estate either came to Connecticut with the refugees or joined the British with the promise of freedom.

When Mary was 12, the Floyd family fled with other refugees to Connecticut after the British took Long Island. Family history says that Hannah buried the family silver before fleeing with her children and neighbors across the sound. For the next seven years the family lived in Middleton, Connecticut while the British used the Mastic house for their cavalry units for the rest of the war.

This may have been one of the pieces of family silver buried. It belonged to Mary’s paternal grandparents

Hannah enrolled all three children in school while in Middleton, and William would visit his family often when he could be excused from his duties in Congress. However, the family were refugees, and only very little pay was provided by Congress for William’s duties. I could not find much more information about this, but it wouldn't be far fetched to infer that there was financial insecurity.

Tragedy struck the Floyd family again. Hannah, unfortunately would never see their home again. Her health had declined and she died May 16, 1781 at the age of 41. She was buried in Connecticut. Mary was 17.

It is not known who took care of the Floyd children while their father served in congress, but by the winter of ‘82-83 they were living at Mary House’s boarding house with their father in Philadelphia.

Benjamin Tallmadge, being of the second continental dragoons, had visited Middleton several times during the war. He set up winter quarters in Wethersfield, Connecticut, just by Middleton in the Winter of 76-77, he also tells of visiting Wethersfield in the winter of 79-80. Additionally there was a winter camp in Durham and he passed through Middleton several times while serving in the dragoons. It is extremely likely if not certain that he met Mary and the rest of the Floyd family during this time.

As soon as word of peace came, William returned to his home in Mastic to find the estate completely ransacked. He rebuilt the house and on April 29, 1783, he and his children left Philadelphia for Long Island. 

It was during the winter and spring of 1783 that James Madison fell in love with Catherine while in Philadelphia. You can read the letters between Thomas Jefferson and Madison where they mention Kitty. Portrait miniatures were shared, very common among engagements. Sadly for Madison, by late July, Kitty had fallen in love with William Clarkson (later on Dr. Clarkson) and broke off the engagement, leaving Madison heartbroken. According to one source, he never got over Kitty. He found old letters that he had written to Jefferson about her and was so upset he inked out the references to his love for her. 

Speaking of Thomas Jefferson. Mary and Martha ‘Patsy’ Jefferson (daughter of Jefferson, not wife) were penpals. Only one letter can be found in the Library of Congress but based on the letters Jefferson and Madison sent each other, and the letters between Jefferson and his daughter, there were far more between the girls.

But Jefferson’s letter to Madison mentions a bundle of enclosed letters from Patsy to Mary.

The letter Mary wrote that was mentioned above was dated January 11, 1784. It includes references to Patsy enjoying the song she sent and her desire to see Patsy again… but not in Virginia. It’s likely these two met in Philadelphia

It’s strange that she never mentioned a certain Colonel Tallmadge. Maybe he hadn’t gotten to Mastic yet or the courtship was not yet as serious to lead to an engagement. Or perhaps she mentioned it in a previous letter. We may never know.

It was over autumn and winter of 1783-84, according to Ben’s memoirs, that he visited areas of Long Island, including Mastic. Not much about their courtship, but it is clear that they absolutely loved each other. 

I will cover the rest of her life in the next part.

[fionnaskyborn]

People like this have made me terrified that I am mischaracterizing my favorite character by playing into his strengths and emphasizing them so much... That I'm making things "too anime", "too over-the-top", and by doing that straying away from the groundedness that made the character compelling in the first place... But I think it's better to be a fan who loves someone so much they're willing to step into goofy over-the-top showcases of strength and morals out of love than being a fake fan who only ever rags on what they proclaim is so dear to them. I dunno. I don't think I'm wrong in saying that. I'm hella insecure when it comes to my own writing, especially with this guy because I want to do him as much justice as I possibly can as a writer. But I have to convince myself that it's not too much.

[hundredowls]

silly oc doodle..... ballroom yuri

[marrow-bone]

Except now we also have to contend with 'AI' (Machine learning) aggregates that make it even harder to find the Thing you need, because most the search results now are cloaked info-barfers that are just ouroboros-ing information tidbits that have a 50/50 or so chance of being even kinda right, so who knows if the Thing that you've been presented with even is the Thing.

This is especially frustrating when dealing with incredibly niche medical/surgical/biological information for what should be obvious reasons. You'll get a result, sure, but you'll need to spend an extra hour or so to make sure you don't end up in the hospital just because a formerly useful resource is now run by bots.

People are definitely going to die because of this.

"every possible kind of content can be found on the internet" yeah sure except for the One fucking thing I'm looking for. why does no one want to talk about the One Singular thing I'm looking for. but yeah other than that everything is on here.

[rosiereveries]

professor!John who teaches history at university. You finally have classes with him and since the beginning of the year, all the girls in your year talk about how hot he is. He is something over 40 and he won the secret dilf competition that you made with your friends.

You take extra good time preparing for his classes, not just you learn the materials for the lesson, you also make sure that your outfit looks nice, that your hair is perfectly styled, and your makeup looks flawless. You always wear short skirts and cute tops to his classes, and you are 100% sure that when you wear knee high socks, he looks at you more that on the other girls.

John noticed you the very first time you came to his class. You sat in the first row like the good girl you are, and you raised your hand every time he asked questions. There were so many girls in his classes who tried to seduce him, but none of them were as smart as you were. You always had perfect score on your test, and he knew that you wanted to make him proud. It was just a bonus that when you crossed your legs on the chair you were sitting, he could sometimes see your panties.

He tried to wait until the end of the year, to approach you, so he wouldn’t be your professor anymore when he would fuck you. But you gave him no choice with your flirty remarks and your outfits.

That’s why he called you into his office after your lesson ended. He wanted to speak with you about the paper you were working on, and he wanted you to tell him how it was going.

When you get into his office you start to talk about your paper. You hoped that he called you there for other reasons, but he is patiently listening while you ramble about the sources and literature you found. After a while he asks you if you would mind if he smoke, he tells you that he needs a little bit of relaxation before his next class.

You watched him as he lights up a cigarette and offers you one. You decline and watch him blow out the smoke. “You sure you don’t want one?” he asks and when you tell him that you never really smoked, he pats his thigh and tells you to come closer.

“You know, this time of the year everything is so hectic” he says, “maybe you could help me with some pent-up stress, you know. What you think?”

That’s how you end up on the floor on your knees under his desk. You kneel between his thighs unzipping his trousers and taking out his thick cock. He is bigger that you imagined, and you know that there’s no way you can take him whole into your mouth. He gathers your hair in his hand, and he makes you look up at him. “You always look so pretty for me, but I think you will look even better with these lips around my dick” he says, and he gently guides your head to his crotch.

You choke on him quite a lot. You can take half of his length without a problem but after that, your gag reflex makes you stop. You hear him mumble something about training your mouth. When John finishes his cigarette, he makes you stand up, your lipstick ruined, most of it is on his cock like a pretty mark you left.

He bends you over his desk, pulling your skirt up. You can feel his cock teasing you through your underwear. When he pulls your panties down and starts to push inside you can feel him stretching you. “Just like that, you’re taking me so well, you’re so wet for me” he says. John pushes one hand under your t-shirt, pulling it up so he can see your tits. He tells you to take it off, so you just stand there in your skirt and knee-high socks.

He fucks you rough, quick thrust that makes your eyes roll. He plays with your nipples, twisting and pulling them until your breast are sensitive. You know that you don’t have a lot of time, anytime now his colleague could come back from their lunch break and find you like this.

When John starts to rub circles on your clit you can feel your orgasm approaching. With one hand he rubs your most sensitive part, and the other one is around your throat. “I need you to cum on my cock, I need you to milk me dry with your sweet wet pussy” he tells you and you can feel that he is also close. You cum like the good girl you are right as he tells you. A few moments later he is cuming inside you, his hot seed spilling in your pussy.

He helps you to put your clothes on. He pulls up your panties, and when he sees that his cum is spilling from your pussy, he quickly pushes two fingers inside you, saying that it needs to stay where it belongs. You’re still there, in his office with your thighs still trembling when his colleague comes back. John walks you out on the hallway, saying that you should come to see him again tomorrow at noon, that you still have a lot of work to do. You just hope that his colleague can’t hear when he whispers that you should come without panties this time.

Masterlist You can support my work here : ko-fi

[beloveds-embrace]

Chubby reader x monster!141…. Chubby reader where you are at all-time-low after your ex cheated on you with the woman you had always been insecure of (she was everything you were not), so now you are just done. Done with him, with her, with your terrible work that forced you to come in even while sick, done with life.

So you go to a bar, and intend to fully drink yourself and all your sorrows away. You don’t even care enough to ask any friends to accompany you- they knew. They fucking knew. Calling them friends anymore is just stupid- and you don’t care enough to look around at anyone; you know you aren’t anyone’s preference either.

When a man, big and burly, curling horns and two big ass wings (maybe one of those dragon shifters? You know harpies have feathers, but the rest of your brain is too muddled) sits down next to you, you just ignore him and continue nursing your drink, trying your best to bite back the tears in your eyes.

“That’s enough now, love,” he croons, and much to your confusion, he takes the glass away from you. His voice is rough and rumbling, like thunder. Too hazy, too drunk, you don’t even care enough to get angry at him. No, your eyes fill with tears instead. “No, no, calm down. Let’s get you out of here, alright, little love?”

Another man joins your other side, just as big and burly but shorter than the dragon man who is making you tear up by holding your drink, your source of solace tonight, hostage in his hand. This one is a werewolf, his ears flicking in your direction much like his grin and his tail eagerly thumping to and fro against your chair.

“Sweet lass,” he croons, your teary eyes flicking towards him. You can see his hands clench in the air. Why, why, why- you just wanted to drink away. They are both so handsome, such a shame they clearly don’t like you and are just bothering you for the sake of bothering you, a fat woman in a miserable corner. “Enough tears and enough alcohol, aye, hen? Yer aff yer heid!”

His words are so strange, your tears momentarily pause. “What…?” You wonder outloud, shivering when you feel a warm breath across your neck, warming your skin. The dragon. His hand settles on your lower back, nudging you to get off the chair with them, and you feel like crying again. He probably can feel all the fat there, how horrible-

“Careful there, little love.” Dragon steadies you with two hands when you get dizzy, and with weak hands you try to swat at him, try to move away, but the werewolf is at your other side and keeping you pressed between them.

“S’op… stop callin’ me that,” you mumble. The tears roll down then. “Not- not funny, not at all-“

Two other hands on your back, a tail thumping against the back of your thighs, you are still led outside even as you babble about everything. Your size, your ex, the one your ex cheated, your work, your ex-

You want your damn drink back.

For their part, Price and Johnny didn’t think coming out for a drink tonight would lead to finding their last soulmate. The second they had entered the dinky bar, John had expected to need to puff out a deep, smoky breath to keep his nose clean from all the overwhelming smells and Johnny had prepared to to keep his nose happily pressed into John’s skin.

They hadn’t expected to smell you, something like the smell of stepping into a warm home after spending time out in winter, something like watching soft, golden sunlight stream into the nest room on a morning they spend sleeping in with Kyle and Simon. Like soulmate, like the last link of John’s hoarde and Johnny’s pack, and he has no doubt that you are Kyle’s nest and Simon’s. Simply his. A part of him just as you are a part of them.

Driven so wholly by instincts, seeing you drunk and crying pushing them even more into said instincts, they easily you herd along with them, back to their home. All explanations, everything else can wait until tomorrow. You are so soft to the touch, all tender and squishy, they already think you so perfect. In the back of the car, it doesn’t take seconds before you are dozing off and dead to the world, already so trusting.

By tomorrow morning, Simon would be easily able to track down where you live and get all your items. And also find that shitty ex of yours. John hasn’t yet decided if he wants to thank or beat him.

Watching the way Johnny holds you in his lap from the rearview mirror while he drives, hands squeezing your lovehandles with a low groan, mumbling about how much he already adores you, soft bonnie hen, all theirs- John decides he doesn’t give a single fuck about your ex at the moment. He needs to hold you between his arms and wings, in the comfort of his nest.

Fuck, he might end up breaking more than just a few speed limits.

Part two

[lizardsfromspace]

I can't keep quiet any longer: JK Rowling was not turned transphobic by the mold. I know this because I spent a month this year infected with mold, and it did not make me transphobic. It merely granted me many omens and portents. I can confirm that mold does, in fact, make you a better poster. The mold makes you crave naught but posts. But it does not make you hate anyone. Besides the Shadow Man, who does linger

I hate the "haha, did OP have a CO2 leak XD?" thing. First of all, it's so profoundly anti-creativity, and anti-intellectual, the idea that anything that's slightly out of the ordinary must be the protect of an altered mind; it's "haha were you on DRUGS when you wrote that?" given a new veneer of millennial internet humor. Second of all, I didn't have a CO2 leak, I was infected with mold

[sirfrogsworth]

If you have seen Ted Lasso you may have noticed these unusual microphones used by the football commentators.

Despite being a microphone nerd, I had never seen anything like them before. So I decided to go into research mode and discovered these microphones are quite fascinating.

They are called "Lip-Ribbon" or "Commentator's" microphones.

They were specially designed by the BBC in the 1950s for extremely noisy environments. Soccer Football stadiums have peaked at 130 decibels so they needed something that would not get overwhelmed in that circumstance.

They use several very clever techniques to make sure only the voice is picked up and everything else is rejected.

First, they use a bidirectional polar pattern.

That means it will accept sound from two directions, but reject any sound coming in from the sides. And since the diaphragm is only exposed on one side, that helps reject sound coming from the other direction.

Next, the microphone is not very sensitive so you literally have to hold it up to your lips (hence "lip-ribbon") in order for your voice to have enough sound energy to vibrate the diaphragm.

That top part rests directly on your lip and there is a little pop filter to keep your plosives in check.

There is a built-in high pass filter so it rejects any sound below the frequencies typically used by the human voice.

But my favorite trick... a labyrinthian internal baffle system.

(I found a diagram of this when researching but then I lost the tab and I cannot find it again. So you'll just have to accept this crude photoshop I did in 30 seconds to help you understand.)

Sound is energy. And that energy is diminished the farther it travels. The inverse square law for sound states that the intensity of sound decreases by approximately 6 dB for each doubling of distance from the sound source. Sound also diminishes when it reflects off a surface.

That is a very sciency way of saying... make sounds go through a tiny maze and only sounds with the most energy will prevail.

So if you have your lip pressed up against the front of the mic, your voice's energy will make it through the labyrinth of baffles without issue. But every other sound in the stadium will have a much harder time getting through.

These mics may even be vuvuzela-proof.

And even more amazing... this microphone was designed in the 1950s and they have yet to create anything better for incredibly noisy environments.

Isn't that neat?

I think it is neat.