#the entirety of the song just really fits :x

[extreme-neutral]

So this is wonderland Where all your dreams come true You gotta go get yours Before they come get you

So this is wonderland Where nothing's as it seems They toss you up and smash you down to smithereens

(WONDERLAND by Neoni)

[sun-snatcher]

♧ ⎯ THE DEVIL YOU KNOW

summ.  Something is wrong with Gambit. Deadpool & Wolverine are attacked— but they aren’t the target.  pairing.  Void!Gambit x f!Anomaly!reader , (established in #WELUCKYFEW) w.count.  3.6k a/n.  Kickstarting a potential storyline?! I’m gonna be so honest I don’t know either but. Maybe not. C’est la vie. Warnings for canon-violence & gore!

CURRENTLY, IN DOWNTOWN NEW YORK:

WADE HAS A BLADE EMBEDDED through his throat. 

He hadn’t expected his Friday night to go like this.

This, by way of meaning: getting glass shards straight to the eyes after some asshole decided not to use the front door, and proceeding to wreak absolute havoc throughout the entirety of Wade’s apartment in an attempt to kill him. 

Which brings us to now.

“Can we— eurgh— please ta— ack—!” Wade retches, gargling in his own blood as he slowly unsheathes the sword out his neck. 

He spits the metal-tang-curdle of saliva to the floor with a hiss. His teeth and the house carpet stains an ugly vermillion. Somewhere amidst the long fight, Dogpool has scampered for cover with the roomba.

“Canwepleasetakeatimeout?!” 

A picture frame shatters above him in reply. Wade dives to the living room, booting the coffeetable onto its side for cover. “Fuck me, this’ll all be a pain in the ass to clean up once we’re done h— ooh, what’s this?”

The tipped over IKEA table Blind Al set up two days ago reveals, stunningly: a concealed Glock 47. And knowing the old lady, these— alongside every weapon she’s likely squirrel-stashed around this house— is probably loaded.

(It’s by no means a gold-plated Desert Eagle from Nicepool— God rest his soul— but Wade makes a mental note to kiss Al on the mouth once she’s back from the laundromat.)

He unholsters the pistol; unclips the magazine; gauges— only 5 bullets. (…Does she kill people in her spare time? He’ll have to ask.) “You couldn’t’ve attacked me in my superhero suit? Would be so much more visually appealing for the audience, y’know.”

The assailant lets out an accented snarl beneath the dark of her hood. “D’ya ever shut th’ fuck up?”

“Uh, no? Wow, it’s like you don’t even know who you’re trying to kill here—” 

Wade slides across the floor and fires. With a sharp dodge, the first bullet narrowly misses, bursting brick and drywall instead; The second clips the assassin’s shoulder as she curses.

“You sure you’re not supposed to be after Elektra instead? I mean, the whole hooded ninja-assassin-lady fit is kinda giving edgy early-2000’s era.”

A scowl. Ninja-lady hurtles a dagger just as he stands, slicing a whistle into the air. Wade only just deflects it with a timed swing from the same sword he’d yanked out his neck. 

“Aw, all out of steel? This is why you shouldn’t bring a gun to a knifefight, beautiful.” He narrows his eyes. “Hold on I said that wr—”

“All this fuckin’ chatter!” she groans, brandishing another sword. Dusklight scatters through the drizzling rain and the window curtains, glimmering against her blade— and for a moment Wade catches it reflecting in her eyes: crescent-like; amused. 

She’s smiling. Purposefully. 

“Where did you even—? Did you pull that out your prison-wallet?”  

“We been fightin’ a while now, Wilson,” the assassin ignores, looming like a living shadow in the dim of the kitchen. There’s blood splattered against her plain mask and the edges of her cowl. Most of it belongs to him. “Y’know y’self that this shoulda ended, say, ten minutes ago, now?”

“Well, that’s why I politely asked for a time-out, genius.”

“Makes y’wonder if this whole fight’s really ‘bout you, non?”

Wade stutter-steps.

His gut twists. 

Logan, he thinks, instinctively. Then: Vanessa, Blind Al, Laura, Gambit, and you— Stray.

This has been… a stall. A fucking distraction.

“Hah! See, now you’ve just pissed me off,” the merc sing-songs, tone falling flat. It’s one thing to come after him; another to come after his family. 

He tamps down the worry, rolls his shoulders. “Right, well.”

Deadpool recalls his rounds. 

Three remain; one already chambered. More than enough. 

“Let’s fucking dance, shall we?”

…ALSO CURRENTLY, SOMEWHERE IN NEW YORK:

“WHO—” 

Stab. 

“THE FUCK.” 

Stab. 

“SENT—” 

Stab. 

“YOU?”

The mountain of a man— if Logan can even call him that anymore after the absolute carnage he’d dealt to him in this seedy back alleyway— cries out a desperate ‘Wait, wait, wait!’ just as he rears back for another strike.

“God, wish they never assigned me to the fuckin’ Wolverine. Goddamn suicide mission,” he coughs out. His curly beard looks near black from the fountain of blood dribbling out his lips, and pooling down his neck where it stains his torn hood with gore.

Thunder rolls in the distance. The flash in the nightsky swaths Logan into cutting edges; paints him menacingly in every sharp crease and divot of his features. Rainwater mix with the streaks of red on his arms, dripping down, down, down to the blade-edge of his claws.

“Tell me what I wanna know and I might just let your sorry ass live.”

“I wasn’t told who sent us, okay—?” The answer has Logan snarling. “—Dude, I said wait, I said wait! You pointy prick— Jesus. None of this is personal, okay?”

A grunt. It’s nigh animalistic in sound. “Holding a gun to my head when I was mindin’ my own business is pretty fuckin’ personal to me.”

And they were Adamantium bullets too. He’d come prepared.

“Chill,” he laughs. “We’re not here for you. Or Wade Wilson, for that matter.”

Logan’s hairs stand on end. “What the fuck did y’just say, bub?”

“I said,” the man heaves, head lolling under its own weight and eyes heavy from the bloodloss. “This ain’t about you, or your cancer-fucked boyfriend.”

The crunch that resounds from between his jaw and Logan’s fist is monstrous. He’s half-sure he may have unhinged something, or dislodged a row of teeth. 

He snatches the assassin by the collar and slams him against a dumpster, hard enough to leave a dent. “How many else of you are there? Who the fuck are you after?”

“Not enough to be honest,” comes his wheezing answer. It’s a laughter churned in derision and obvious resignation. He knows he won’t survive this. The corners of his vision have already begun to vignette.

“Do you really want to measure your pride against my fucking mercy, bub?”

A huff, akin to the flap of a white flag. The behemoth relents. “Four… of us. Too many… and we’d cause an incursion.”

There’s no time to question what the hell that meant. He’s slipping.

“You didn’t come here to kill me,” Logan repeats, grip loosening. “So why’d you bother trying?”

The assassin grins, teeth shining crimson with fresh blood. 

“To buy ‘im time.”

5-ISH MINUTES AGO:

If war had taught you one thing, it’d be that instinct will save your life.

And something is definitely wrong. 

It needles over your skin and nape, makes your insides pace like a caged animal— you feel it whenever you turn the cornerstone down 5th Avenue, when you pass the pour of newsstands at the end of the street; feel it at the cafe just opposite the X-Men’s Academy grounds where you go to mark papers. 

You tell yourself to shake it off. That it’s just you settling into a new Universe, but—

“Rain caught you?” you ask, between the vinyl-croon in your shared downtown apartment, “Dinner’s ready soon. Allons manger.”  *

“Ooh! Smellin’ mighty fine up in here.” The front door is closed shut. Remy slides his coat off and tosses it lazily to the sofa armrest. Your eyebrows shoot up, but you don’t comment. “And oui. Rain caught me out a bit.”

“Them brigands give y’any trouble?” he asks, taking the plates from your hand to set once he’d come up to the kitchen island.  *

You make a noise as you shut the fridge door and turn with two beers in hand. Remy laughs. “Mais, y’been dealt a bad hand today, chèr?”

“How could you tell?” you feign a gasp, sliding a bottle his way and leaning back the counter as you sigh. “Students were restless today. And, my phone’s dead too. Drenched in the rain the second I stepped out the school. Stuffed it in rice and praying it’ll live.”

Then, suddenly— your nose wrinkles. You turn sharply towards the stove to check if anything’s burning. “Smell’s like smoke.”

A pop of his beercap. It clatters as he makes a hum of assent. “Probably me. M’sorry, chèr, I’ll change—”

“You smoke—?” 

Remy colours a little. 

“—Since when?”

There’s blatant surprise in your eyes more than there is confusion. Your gaze flickers to his hand. He has a deck in his palm; Charlier cut. One-handed shuffle. 

Anxious tic. You haven’t seen him do it in a while.

“Mais…” 

Needles, you’re reminded. That reflexive needling at the back of your mind is creeping at the margins again. 

“I, I’m not stopping you,” comes your quick answer. Your hands are raised in surrender; you aren’t here to interrogate or stop him from his will. “Just— I didn’t expect it. Is, Is everything okay?”

“Mais oui,” he nods, trying to reassure you. “S’not often. S’just t’help me blow off some steam. Ain’t gotta worry that pretty lil’ head a’ yours, chèr, I promise.”

Your Remy had been a smoker. You’ve told him this before. Perhaps it’s a Multiversal thing, too. “No smoking indoors, though, deal?”

He purses his lips, looking sheepish. “Deal.”

The topic is dropped; A bated silence falls as he watches you dish dinner for the both of you. His intuition has always been precise, however, and it’d only been a matter of time before he spoke up again after he watched you sidle into your high-chair opposite his and push your food around.

“And you?” he presses, carefully, “Can hear the gears in y’head turnin’ from here, chèr. Talk t’me. Quoi ça dit?”  *

It’d be pointless to lie. You glance at the rain pelting like hellfire at the window, then back at him, shaking your head as if in dismissal. “Nothing. I just feel like there’s someone out there, lately. Like we’re being… I don’t know.”

“Watched?” he offers, gauging your reaction.

Yes, you think to say, but you didn’t want to appear paranoid. You’ve had this conversation with Logan before; the thrown looks over your shoulders, the twitchiness, the habit of sitting with your back against the wall; Unending disquiet that simmers to a slow boil in your marrows. 

(The war in your Universe may not have killed you, but it’d broken you beyond repair.)

“...I feel like something bad’s coming. Like someone’s gonna break through the window or—” You shut your mouth with a click before that thought goes off on a nervous tangent. “My, my body keeps preparing for a fight. Like there’s something out to get me all the time.”

Remy’s eyes are curious. Observing. He’s stopped fidgeting as he listens, deck resting in ready position. 

“Chèr,” he begins, gently taking your hand from across the table and—

You almost yelp.

His touch is cold.

(Needle-like.)

You very nearly pull away.

(Instinct.)

Dread crows like a song; a banshee’s cry in your mind’s eye.

“Easy, hey,” he frowns, worry painting across his face when you slide your hand from his. “Chèr.”

“I—” Panic roars in your chest. Your lungs expand. It’s the beer bottle, you reason, that’s why his touch is cold. Maybe even the rain. Hell, this could just be an anxiety attack.  

“I’m fine. I’m fine, sorry, I’m just— tired. Yeah.”

His gaze softens.

“Hey. Look at me, chèr. Y’home. Y’safe. Y’know that.” 

You nod. Press your eyes shut. Take a gulp of beer, focus on the burn; on the distant New Orleanian croons of the record player just under the window. 

“Gambit ain’t gon’ let anythin’ happen t’you, yeah?”

“Yeah,” you agree, smiling tightly. It doesn’t reach your eyes; does little to dispel your razor-edged wariness. 

He notices. He always does.

“How ‘bout a game t’clear y’mind, chèr?” he offers, nudging his plate an inch to make way for his deck of cards. “Go fish?”

You laugh. It’s fragile. “You’re gonna let me win, anyway.”

“There’s that smile,” Remy hums under his breath, just enough that you can catch it. “—An’ no, chèr. Cross my heart, Gambit ain’t gon’ let y’win. Mais, y’know how I get wit’ games.”

He does cross his heart, playful, then shuffles his cards. You try to let yourself sink back into familiarity in his flourishes and its sounds; watch his hands work deft to chase away the anxiety still clawing under your skin. 

He deals.

You adjust your cards. 

…ven of Diamonds, Queen of Hearts, Nine—

Your blood runs cold.

“Is…” 

You try to swallow back the horror as you look at the neat fan in your hand. “…Is this a new deck, Remy?”

The next bit of what he says sounded off to your ears; a record scratch, a jerk of a needle. 

“Mais non, this the same deck Gambit been usin’ since the start.” He shoots you a confused look.

(It’s like a muslin-thin veil has been lifted: 

The nerves and paralysing paranoia, his precious brown leather coat thrown carelessly over the couch instead of being hung reverently on the rack, the grotty scent of cigarette smoke beneath the rain, the anxious shuffling of his cards at the table, the uncanny observation and scrutinising— and perhaps, what should’ve been the most damning of all— his ice-cold touch. 

No warmth. To the touch. In his gaze. In his smile. In energy.)

“Chèr? Y’alright?”

No. No, you’re not fucking alright.

Because this deck has a Nine of Hearts. That card has been with you, since the Void; since the start.

This…

This man is not Remy.

“Yes,” you say, and you internally scream at your reply— too quick. Too quick to hide the obvious lie. “Sorry, I just gotta— I think I’m gonna throw up.”

“Chèr—?” he frowns, chair scraping as he stands to try reaching out and steadying you.

Your heartbeat skyrockets. Instinct howls inside you. Everything has been recontextualised, and suddenly every difference about him jumps out: the rough edges, the muss of how his hair falls, the cut at the tip of his ear you never noticed.

“No, stay. Stay, I’m fine—” You teeter your way off the stool. It’s not entirely a lie that you felt like throwing up, but the omission is: there’s a gun you keep under your pillow, and another under the bathroom sink.

Your phone is dead. This will have to be a fight. 

And against a mutant? You have nothing but a slim chance.

“Stray,” he calls. His voice would be soft to anyone else's ears, but you hear it now— the difference, the rasp, the hardness as his heavy footfalls draw close behind you in the hall. Frustration. Not concern. “Talk to me, chèr.”

You slam the bathroom door shut with a resounding click of the lock. You let the sink run and drown out the noise of your hands fumbling underneath the sink, and once the weight of the 9mm pistol is in your palm, there’s faint comfort. 

The rest is muscle memory: confirming a round in the chamber, unclipping to check the remaining 15 in the magazine; recalling the distance to the front door and whether you can even get through this whole thing without firing a single bullet, much less alive.

Remy— or, no, fake Remy? Fake Gambit? —is knocking at the door. His words are muffled. You barely pay attention as you place your pistol by the faucet, and dip your head down to splash water to your face and ready yourself for a scuffle.

“Stray.”

Your head shoots up. 

The door’s unlocked and wide open. Gambit’s loom behind you through the reflection of the mirror is harrowing.

You barely have time to scream.

His hand snarls through your hair— then, like a loaded spring, Remy rams your head against the mirror.

You cry out. Glass shatters in a spray.

“Tell me.” A gruff chirp, right by your ear. “What gave me away, eh? 

“Fuck… you,” you choke out, cringing when a shard cuts into your cheek.

“Baw, why ‘de bobin, Stray?” His accent is heavier now that the guise has been dropped. “Y’know, I ain’t never understood ‘dat nickname. Where’d’ya come from, eh? Y’aint from ‘round here?”  *

“C’mon, Raven,” you rasp, head reeling as red gushes down your face. “Enough games. Drop the skin.”

He laughs. It sounds painfully like the Remy you know. “Mais la, how disappointin’. D’ya really think I’m Mystique? ‘Dat couyon bleue could never nail ‘de Cajun accent even if she trained for it.”  *

You don’t care which Remy this is. The distraction buys enough time. Your hands scramble at the faucet; grasping for your pistol until—

“S’Gambit in ‘de flesh, chèr bébé, jus’ ain’t ‘de one y’used t’cuddlin’ with at ni—”

You fire blindly. A tile bursts. The gunshot booms like a church bell. 

Gambit recoils with a sharp yell, vision searing white from the piercing ring in his ears. You take the chance to book it past him with a gasp, nearly slipping on the floor as he barely misses snagging the hem of your shirt. 

“Son of a bitch,” he grinds out, shaking his head. He springs his collapsible staff, props himself to his feet. “Gotta give it t’you, chèr, y’got bite. Shame ‘de night had t’end ‘dis way. Was hopin’ we coulda’ got on by peacefully.”

Gambit descends like a reaper down the hall. His hand draws a card and you hear the cutting whistle of it in the air.

It’s too quick for you to react. The Ace explodes, and the blast has you rocketing to the floorboards by the record player. The tracks skip from the harsh impact:

 “-- ZZzrt -- I been in the right place! But it must have been the wrong time!” 

Comically perfect. Life sure likes making a joke out of your situations, huh?

You fire two pointed shots as you turn onto your back. One hits the cornice and the other is a near-miss, dodged by Gambit ducking into your room doorway with a curse. It throws him off his rhythm. His growl turns into a sour grimace instead. “Goddammit, woman.” (You’re a sharp shooter, Gambit admits. He had felt the wind on that one.)

Dr. John still croons his ‘70’s Cajun funk in your ransacked home. “---I been in the right world! But it seems like wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong!---”

Pain lances up your leg as you stagger to your feet. You can’t pinpoint where, but nothing feels broken; a small mercy.

You make a break to the front door as you continue firing to keep him back. You’re not out of the woods yet. If you can just get out, dart for the stairs, you’d atleast get a better shot at surviving this insane manhunt—

The front door handle is busted. 

Busted, in which: Gambit must’ve charged the handle and melted the lock into nothing from the inside out when he first arrived. Sly bastard.

“---Refried confusion is making itself clear! Wonder which way do I go to get on out of here?---”

Thinking clearly is out of the question, so you think rapidly instead. Fire escape. Right outside your bedroom window. 

It’s too late, though. Gambit deals another card the moment you swivel on your feet— and the charge detonates just as you raise your gun.

The flash of purple is lightning hot against your fingers. The force sends you careening to the door and sliding down with a strangled hiss. 

Your pistol clatters. You scramble for it—

An aside on all the Gambit’s you have had the (un)fortunate opportunity to come across: all versions of him across the Multiverse are surely relentless. Be it in competition, or charm, or, in this case, pure fucking bloodlust amid combat. 

Some of his feats are impressively frightening.

Like charging his staff— and then spearing it straight from across the room and right between your pistol’s trigger guard.

Disarmed in an instant.

Deadly accuracy.

“---I took a right move! But I made it at the wrong time!---”

You really wanted to break that damn player.

“Nice try, chèr,” Gambit says, voice dark as he saunters over to you. The smile that spread across his face is like blood emerging from a quick, precise slit. (In another time, you might’ve considered it attractive.) “But Remy oughta teach you a t’ing or two ‘bout knowin’ when t’fold y’cards.”

That crisp accent of his almost makes the threat sing out sweet. He picks his coat up along the way and shrugs it back on.

“Yeah, well. Not your call,” you snap, scooting to your back with a visceral glare. “What the hell do you want?”

Another aside of Gambit: Like water in a river, Remy LeBeau always takes the path of least resistance. And yet he hadn’t killed you when he had multiple opportunities to do so, and every card he’d dealt throughout the fight was meticulously controlled, just enough to not do any real damage. 

The signs are clear— he needs you alive.

“Wanna put a damn gris-gris on you for ‘dis, first of all.” He gestures to his bleeding temple with a wince. Your first shot must have burst his right eardrum. “Mais la, I need me a cigarette.” *

A deep sigh. He fishes an odd gadget out his pocket, and you narrow your eyes. It looks familiar. 

“Listen, chèr.” Gambit rips his bō staff off with a grunt, wood splintering out the boards from the force. He lazily kicks the gun away, looming over you with a resigned look on his face. “I ain’t here to kill you, alright? ‘Dat’d make ‘dis a hit, and ‘dat ain’t in the nature of what Remy do.”

“---Head is in a good place, and I wonder what it's bad for!---”

You let out a defeated snort. “So? Is that supposed to make me feel any better?”

“So.” He exhales, triggers his device with a button. 

A TVA Time-door warbles open. 

…What the fuck?

“Don’t be harborin’ any bad feelin’s on me for what I’m gon’ do next.”

Remy re-grips his staff. You pale.

“Ah, shit.”

You’re out like a light before you register the blow.

No one’s home by the time Wade and Logan barge in, late by a matter of seconds.

*Cajun Footnotes

Allons manger — Let’s eat Brigands — Troublemakers Quoi ça dit? — What’s up? (Literally: “What that says.”) Bobin — Frown Couyon bleue — Blue fool Gris-Gris — a curse/bad luck

[piningforstan]

Too Sweet

Summary: Stan has lied and cheated and fought his whole life, and he’s not exactly sure when he had time to do whatever it took to deserve you.

Pairings: Stanley Pines x Reader

Word Count: 1.4k

Warnings: mention of an age gap, suggestive adult content but nothing graphic, fluff with some light angst

A/N: Inspired by Hozier’s song by the same name!! I seriously need an edit of Stan to it

Also, an age gap LI with Stan (like they’re in their 30s or 40s) just really does something to me. Stan mentions “women” once in the story but otherwise I wrote it with the intent of being GN.

A shift of the mattress roused him from his fitful sleep. Stan cracked open an eye. The flickering alarm clock told him that he’s only been asleep for a few hours, he vaguely remembered creeping into the bedroom sometime after three. Dreaming peacefully then, free of punishing nightmares, you now stood with your back to him, stretching your arms up over your head.

His gaze traveled appreciatively from your head to the slip of skin revealed by your t-shirt lifted ever so slightly. Pale morning light slanted into the room in thin bars thrown across your face. You hum to yourself as you pull on your bathrobe and shuffle into the bathroom, Stan watching you from heavy lidded eyes the entire time.

A groan climbed up his throat. He threw one arm over his face.

What was he doing?

He didn’t miss the time when he would wake up alone, head muddled by alcohol. He missed the time when he did not feel so goddamn guilty. Your presence reminded him constantly that you were too…good for him. He had lived a long, shitty life and it never bother him — his decisions, his lifestyle — when he was by himself. But now you were here.

Not only were you younger than him, you had never done a fucking bad thing in your life. You went to bed at a decent time and always woke up early to watch the sunrise, you faced everything with unflinching enthusiasm. You smiled and laughed and danced without inhibition or regret. And, worst of all, you looked at him and loved him in spite of his mistakes and wrongdoings.

When the bathroom door opened he quickly pretended to be asleep again, the knot in his stomach tightening as you stopped to press a kiss on his cheek on your way out.

By the time he actually woke up, he didn’t even want to acknowledge the time, Stan shuffled into the kitchen to find his family immersed in a heated debate. Mable stood on her chair with Waddles on the table, gesticulating wildly while you and Dipper argued with her.

Upon spotting Stan, Mable cried out, “Grunkle Stan! We need your help.”

Stan scratched his chin. “What is it, kid?”

“If Waddles was going to wear pants —”

“They would be like this, right?” You intervened before Mable could finish, drawing a line around the pig’s midsection then gesturing towards his back half. Dipper nodded, signaling his approval.

“No, no, no, no,” Mable said, “it would be this way. To cover all his wittle wegs.”

She indicated the imaginary pants around his entire body, covering the entirety of his lower half. Stan stared in disbelief as the debate lapsed into an argument once more.

“I need coffee,” he grunted.

Without even stopping, you pressed a steaming mug into his hand, then raised your eyebrows expectantly.

Stan sighed. “Why is the pig wearing pants? That lucky son of a gun has been naked since the day he was born.”

“Just hypothetically,” Dipper said.

Turns out, Stan’s opinion wasn’t actually needed. Rather, you and the twins set to speculating about the possibility of pig pants without including him. Eventually he just collapsed into one of the ancient chairs and sipped his coffee, willing his headache to go away. He noted affectionately how passionate you were about this topic of choice, always ready to leap into whatever strange scheme his family concocted.

After some time Mabel loudly exclaimed that she was going to knit pants for Waddles to “prove everyone wrong!” and the debate dispersed. Dipper stormed off muttering, leaving Stan alone with you.

You looked still deep in thought as you collected your own now cold coffee and sat back down. You poured in about half the container of sugary creamer.

“You should’ve been on my side,” you sniffed. Stan knew by the hint of a smile on your mouth — god, your mouth — that you were teasing.

“My policy is always no pants,” Stan said. “No doubt about it. No pants.”

You rolled your eyes. “Clearly.”

Stan shifted in his seat, grinning at you. He never bothered putting on pants in the morning, just his reliable ol’ boxers.

“Hey, you’re lucky I’ve got these on. Anyways, you weren’t complaining last night by —”

“FORD!” You quickly exclaimed.

Stan’s grin only grew more pronounced as his brother strode into the room. If Ford had heard the tail end of your conversation, he didn’t mention it. More often than not Sixer was so completely in his own world that he barely knew he had company.

Stan liked how your cheeks were still pink as you bid Ford good afternoon. Afternoon. Fuck.

Panic spiraled through him.

“I’ve got a tour to give —”

You waved your hand while sipping your coffee. “I rescheduled it for…” you consulted your phone, “thirty minutes from now. Better hurry, old man.”

“Thanks, kid. You really saved my bacon.”

“Again,” Ford muttered.

Stan shot him a glare but still hurried out of the kitchen to get changed. He glimpsed Mabel in the living room, crisscrossed on the carpet, measuring Waddles for his pants. The pig snorted pleadingly in Stan’s direction.

“Women,” Stan said, “always making guys like us put on pants.”

Stan would have to be his brother to count on his fingers how many times you anticipated something he needed. The coffee. The tour. A distraction for the tourist when the googly eye of one of the exhibits popped off. A redeeming interpretation of his reaction to Waddles’ pants after spitting out his beer. Then, to top it all off at the end of the day, encircling your arms around his middle and sagging into him. His heart surged with profound emotion.

“Ah, c’mere, kid,” he mumbled against your hair. You smelled like home.

Stan held you tight. Too many times he had let the good things in his life go, slip right through his grip. He was determined not to lose you too.

He fumbled to find the words he’s been meaning to tell you all day. “I, um…thank you. For today.”

For every day.

The words stuck in his throat.

“For what?” You blinked at him. The need to protect you, to preserve your happiness and well-being, seized him so strongly that it took him several moments to compose himself.

“Ya know.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Saving my ass. Yer, uh, too sweet for me. Ya know what I mean?”

How many more times would he say ya know? Did he know any other words?

Your face lights up anyways. “I love your ass. I will always save it. Don’t want anything happening to it.” You squeezed said ass playfully and he smirked in response. “But seriously, Stan, you don’t have to thank me. I love you. That’s what you do for someone you love.”

Stan bristled. No matter how long he had been with you, after several months of skittering around each other, he wouldn’t get used to those words leaving your mouth. His parents had never uttered them, nor his brother. Hell, he rarely said it, can only remember saying them to you.

If he ever said them to anyone else — any past lovers or ex-wives — it was in a placating nature, never like this. Never real.

“Anyway, you do lots of things for me too,” you tell him.

“Do I?”

You lay your head back on his chest. “I always fall asleep before you do and you always make sure to tuck me in and refill my water when you come in. You make me laugh and you make me feel safe.”

You kept listing examples but truthfully he had stopped listening. Stan realized he did do these things, things that he didn’t even think about doing, he just did.

“—maybe you’re just too sweet for me,” you finish, drawing him back.

“Ha!” Stan laughs. Hopefully it’s more convincing than it sounds to his own ears, self-deprecating instead of secretly pleased. “Better not let anyone else hear you say that or I’d have to give them a knuckle sandwich.”

“THEY FIT!”

You closed your mouth. Whatever you were going to say is swallowed by the sounds of Mabel’s excitement. Stan smiled at you as you grabbed his hand and tugged him towards the sound of Mabel’s demands — come here! come here! — and Waddles in his new pants.

He committed everything about you to memory as you stooped down to admire Waddle and commend Mabel for her hard work. Stan knew that you would fit in perfectly with his family. He never would’ve guessed that someday he couldn’t imagine his family without you in it, couldn’t even conjure a day without you there.

Maybe you were too sweet for him.

But he was sweet on you.

[magickcandie]

I Want To Break Free

Roger Taylor x Fem!Reader

You were invited to set by Roger. You had heard the song and loved everything about it; to John’s writing, Freddie’s singing, and you had heard that Roger decided on the theme of the music video. You assumed that somehow, a car would be involved. Boy were you wrong! When you were let in, you noticed John first in an old lady outfit with grey hair! Brian was seen next drinking tea in a set chair, wearing a pink nightie and rollers thrown in his curls. Of course seeing Freddie in a pink top and black leather skirt seemed so crazy, he seemed to be a natural in it. “You know, if you wanted to raid my closet, you could’ve asked!” You laughed. Doubling over, clutching your stomach as if that’s ease the pain of laughter. “Where’s Roger?” “I haven’t seen him yet. Maybe ask her.” John said, pointing to a blonde woman talking to a set director. You ignored the giggles coming off the boys and went over her. What you saw sent you into a fit again. When you tapped her shoulder, Roger turned and looked at you, smiling. A thin layer of pink lipstick on. “What’s… what’s going on!” You said in between laughs. You grabbed the counter to steady yourself but sunk to your knees anyway.

“I told you it’s make Y/N laugh!” Roger said, grabbing your hand and helping you stand again. “Roger set all of this up to try and get you to laugh. Or really seeing if you’d laugh.” Freddie leaned on John’s shoulder, throwing a leg in the air. “Don’t we all look great!” “You’re definitely something. The wigs, makeup, it’s all so great. You look beautiful,” you said to Roger, hooking his chin in your hand. “Kiss?” You leaned in to kiss him. “I’m staying for the entirety of filming. I wan to see how this plays out.” You laughed again, finding an empty chair to watch. And what a show it was. You had come to see John reading a newspaper and scowling at the others. Brian had a new costume piece; bunny slippers. Freddie danced around with a Hoover. God, this is why you loved these men. And especially Roger Taylor. Setting this up just to see you laugh and smile.

[graciegoeskrazy]

on this night, in this light

george + charli + xcx!r

warnings: nightmares, panic attacks, emotional distress, past trauma, parental absence, I think that's it? honestly not that graphic but it defiantly talks about it.

a/n: HEY FRIENDS. this idea has been in my brain for far too long. and I KNOW a lot of y'all were wanting some more George x xcx!r so here it is. I;ve been writing a lot more for charli? I swear a lot of the knew xcx!r fics are like charli AND George? I don't hate it tho. It's def still madly George dw dw. hope y'all enjoy <3

It was an abnormally normal night for George and Charli. For the first time in months—perhaps even over a year—there were no meetings, concerts, fittings, sessions, or even a peep from their email or texts that were business-related. They had shut everything off, putting aside their careers for the day, to focus solely on you.

Between more songs or DH2, and even the entirety of the Brat campaign, it had been no secret that time spent with all three of you together had been slim. Especially in the past few months with the launch of the Sweat Tour. Today, your Mom and George had vowed that since they had a day off, they would dedicate it entirely to you.

Even with a million things going on for both of them, you had been nothing but patient and kind. Sure, you missed them more than the waking world when they were away, but you understood that they were literally living their dream, and you didn’t want to get in the way of that. Not that they would say you were. In fact, they would probably say you’d been the most supportive during the process.

The day was mainly filled with watching movies, the three of you curled up in their bed, making up for the lost time. They cherished every moment, knowing how rare such days were. They laughed and talked through the films, with your mom occasionally stealing glances at George, a silent agreement passing between them. They were happy and content, basking in the simple pleasure of finally being a family.

Later, as the evening wound down, they sent you to bed. You couldn’t remember the last time you had both of them put you to bed, but Charli swore that you wouldn’t want them to do it forever, so she savored every moment.

Nightmares had been frequent when you were younger. When they were really bad, there were nights when you would wake up screaming or even in a cold sweat. George had heard of how bad they were but had never experienced them firsthand. There would be nights when he had passed by your room or when you were up in the kitchen, and he would ask what was wrong. You would say “bad dream” or something to that extent. Charli had said it was a result of your father and your fear of him coming back. From there, it would escalate into other dreams - darker ones. But as you grew, you grew out of them. That was until recently.

It was an ordinary night, and the house was wrapped in silence when George heard something that jolted him from sleep. At first, he couldn’t make out the noise. It was a distant murmur, something that didn't quite penetrate his half-asleep state. But then, the scream, clear and unmistakable. It was you. George was instantly awake, nudging Charli beside him.

“Charli,” he said, his voice a tense whisper. His hand on her shoulder was enough to make her stir but not fully awake. When the second scream broke through, he nudged her again, this time more urgently. “Charli!”

The house, which had been so still just a moment before, was now filled with a cascade of screams. The two of them sprang out of bed, their hearts racing as they raced toward your room. The darkness of the house seemed to engulf them, causing George to turn on the nightstand lamp as he entered your room, casting a warm, soothing light.

You were screaming in your bed, tears streaming down your cheeks. Your cries were raw, filled with fear and desperation. George sat down next to you, while your Mom took the other side of the bed, her face etched with concern.

“Shhh. Wake up, baby. Wake up,” George said softly, his voice trembling with worry. You wouldn’t budge, still trapped in the nightmare.

George gently held your head, afraid you would hurt yourself against the headboard if you continued to thrash. Charli grasped your hand, brushing the stray hairs from your face in a soothing gesture. “Y/n, wake up, my love.”

After a moment, your tears subsided just for a second, and you shot up in bed. Your eyes were wide, and the feeling of two people beside you, yet not knowing who they were, scared you even more. It was Charli’s calming voice that finally pierced through your fear. “Shhh, it’s okay, it’s okay. It’s just us.” Your eyes met theirs, still filled with fear. Charli continued to speak softly. “You’re okay now.”

Despite her words, you continued to cry. Your breathing was fast and uneven, and soon enough, Charli and George saw a sight they recognized all too well.

George reached out, grabbing your hands as you tried to pull away. “Breathe, Y/n.”

You shook your head vigorously. “I can’t—”

“Yes, you can. Breathe with me.” He led you through the breathing exercise you had practiced together during previous panic attacks. “In through your nose, out through your mouth.”

After a while your panic subsided, and you were left with your tears and sniffles. “A nightmare?” George asked gently.

You nodded frantically, tears still streaking down your face. “Yeah.”

“Do you want to tell us what happened?” Charli asked, her voice soothing.

You thought for a second, then continued, your voice quiet, yet loud enough for them to hear it. “It was really dark,” you said, your voice trembling. “I don’t know where I was. But I found a house, and I went inside. And he was there…”

“Who was there, baby?” Charli asked, his voice a low murmur.

“Him.” The fear in your voice was palpable. “He grabbed me. Once I started yelling, I could hear both of your voices. It was so clear! It felt so real!”

“Shh. I know, I know,” Charli said softly, rubbing your back.

“He wanted to hurt me,” you continued, your voice breaking. “I kept yelling, and your voices kept yelling for me, but you guys never came.”

“It was only a dream, my love,” George said, his voice gentle but firm. “Only a dream.”

“We’re right here with you right now,” Your mom said. “He is so far away from here, and we are so protected that he would hurt himself if he even tried to get to you.”

“You’re safe here,” George added. “You’re safe with us.”

The room was quiet for a moment as you sat back against the headboard, in between your Mom and stepfather.

A thought then crossed Charli’s mind. “How long has this been happening?”

You didn’t respond immediately. Your eyes looked anywhere but at your mom, and you bowed your head, embarrassment creeping in. “Y/n Daniel…” Charli’s voice was gentle but insistent.

“...About two months?” you mumbled, your voice barely audible.

“The whole time we’ve been gone!?” Charli’s voice was filled with concern and disbelief.

“It got better!” you insisted. “On the nights when you both were here, it wouldn’t happen! It just… did tonight, I guess.”

“You should’ve told us, baby,” Charli said, gently caressing the sides of your face, her voice softening with concern.

“I didn’t want to bother you both,” you said, your voice breaking.

“How many times do we have to tell you?” George said, his tone tender yet firm. “You’re not bothering us! It’s literally our job to be here for you.”

“Still, I didn’t want you guys to worry about me,” you said, wiping away a tear.

“Oh, my love,” Charli said, her voice breaking slightly. “That’s all we ever do. There’s not a second that goes by where you are not on my mind. Doesn’t matter where I am. I could be on the other side of the world, performing on a huge stage, and I start wondering, ‘Did Y/n do her homework tonight? Did she eat dinner? Did Mum make sure to feed her?’”

The comment brought a small smile to your face, which was a win in their book.

“If something like this happens again,” George said gently, “you tell us. If nothing like this happens, still, you tell us. If you have a mundane detail about your day, still, you tell us.”

“That’s what we’re here for,” Charli added. “Understand?”

“I’m sorry I woke you guys up,” you said, your voice filled with regret.

“There’s no need to apologize, my love,” George said, squeezing your hands. “Plus, you only woke me up, not your mother. You know how much of a heavy sleeper she is.”

“Well, maybe if you didn’t snore so loudly, I would be able to get up a little sooner to help my child, huh?” Charli said, her voice playful.

“I don’t snore,” George said.

“Yes, you do,” You said with a smirk.

“Excuse me?” George said, raising an eyebrow.

“I can hear it through the walls,” You said, your tone light.

George shook his head. “I’ll have you know that I am perfectly quiet.”

“Oh, please,” Charli said, her smile widening. “I’ve heard you through the walls. And it’s not exactly a whisper.”

You couldn’t help but chuckle at their playful banter. It was a welcome distraction from the fear that had gripped you only moments before.

As the laughter died down, Charli brushed a stray hair from your face. “We love you, Y/n. Always remember that. No matter what, we’re here for you.”

George nodded in agreement, pulling you into a comforting embrace. “We’re not going anywhere. Not tonight, not ever.”

With their reassuring presence surrounding you, the fear and anxiety of the nightmare slowly ebbed away. You snuggled closer to them, feeling safe and loved.

They stayed with you on that bed until your breathing evened out. Even then they didn’t want to leave. Especially Charli - George could see that look in her eyes.

“She’ll be alright.” he said, reassuring her.

She took a deep sigh, “Of course she will,” She grabbed his hand. “She has us.”

[that-one-english-nerd]

The Outsiders x EPIC : The Musical -

so i was listening to the new EPIC saga yesterday and naturally, because i can’t listen to music w/o relating it to my hyperfixations, i started thinking about the outsiders. specifically, i was listening to luck runs out and my friend and i were talking… and we were like “this song is so soda talking to darry about going to war,” so this sparked this post!

so i got to re-listening to the entirety of epic and was thinking how much it fits if soda were to genuinely survive the war but come back only a shell of himself… so this is what were going with.

(i will say before we even begin, i have limited knowledge on the vietnam war so if some of this is vague or inaccurate, forgive me)

i think there two ways you could picture this, a greek mythology au and realistic, vietnam war au. i was thinking, if we’re talking in reality standpoint, all the gods or even monsters are visions in soda’s mind (due to ptsd, other mental illness gained from war or physical injuries) as he’s traveling and committing more and more violence. is some of this a strench…? yes but this is js for kicks and giggles, humor me here lolol

either way, these are my assignments of characters. i need you to HEAR ME OUT (there’s explanations of songs under the list of characters) on these -

odysseus : soda

polites : steve

eurylochus : tim

zeus : dally

polyphemus : ……..bob

athena : darry

aeolus : cherry

circe : marcia

hermes : two-bit

penelope & telemachus : ponyboy & darry (these can be switched, doesn’t matter rlly)

calypso: sandy (…get it, cause calypso lives on an island)

poseidon : dally

tiersus : johnny (cause i HAD to include him somewhere)

song and character explanations under cut ~

song explanations :

the horse and the infant - i like to think that, while it was awful and so much worst than soda could of ever imagined, because of his constant optimism and general skills, he was someone many of his fellow soldiers looked up to. i’ll get into details when i get to luck runs out, but if we’re relating this specifically to epic, making him apart of the navy would work best (being all the time they spend traveling and at seas). anyways, therefore, overtime, due to his higher morale and just general skills, he gets a higher rank and a crew to care for. soda is rallying his crew for an attack, and thinking of who he was fighting for, ponyboy and darry.

now this is where it would differ from a greek mythology au, but just for the sake of making it easier on myself, this is the more realistic possibility. i like to think that being how in epic, this is the end of the trojan war, this would be a kind of flash forward, after soda had already been dealing w all this trauma. but, as i’ve mentioned, i like to envision dally‘s ghost (a vision soda has of him at least) as zeus, specifically before soda has to do something terrible to the enemy. dally is like, “you’re in a war man, just *do it*.”

for a less interesting but more realistic answer, you could say zeus was one of soda’s commanding officer or something but that’s less fun lolol

anyways, this is the beginning, as it is for odysseus, of soda completely losing his innocence.

just a man - (tw for child-related violence and war crimes) so, as it is in epic, you could picture this as an enemy leader’s son, and how this boy reminds soda of ponyboy in a way. this song is kinda self explanatory tho, soda takes this blow, and this guilt plagues his mind for the rest of the first act.

full speed ahead - so, with the vietnam war, there was an insaneeee draft process. and in relation to the story, those who were poor were more likely to be drafted than those who were going to college and able to pay tutition, being how they got an exemption from the draft. so i think the idea as tim of all people getting drafted and getting put under soda’s command (which is a shock to both of them) really interesting, being how we never really got to see their dynamic in the outsiders. so having tim, whose more on the ruthless side, as soda’s right hand and being more quick to violence makes sense to me. on the other hand, my favorite character headcanon, steve as polities. i think the idea of steve not giving a second thought to following soda into war makes a lot of sense, and being how soda had more of a responsibility on his shoulders, steve keeps more of his naiveness and “innocence” than soda does.

open arms - my stevepop heart loves this so much. over the time of war, soda became less and less like his normal self and steve knows that. he could always tell. so once they finally have time to themselves, he tries to remind soda of how life used to be, how there’s still good. the roles switch from soda normally being the optimistic one, reassuring everyone else, to steve doing the same for him. they mean sm to your honor :((

warrior of the mind - now, from a plot standpoint, i can fs see this as what soda pictures how darry would think of him now, or even how ponyboy would. soda kinda flashes back to their childhood, how both darry and soda were really close when they were kids, being how they both balanced each other out. but after their parents died, darry became a parental figure instead, athena-like you could say.

but ignoring plot, i think song really fits darry and ponyboy, espically with the “don’t disappoint me” and “he’s a warrior of the mind” because of ponyboy’s academic achievements.

polyphemus - now do i know how this would fit into the plot to be honest.. i just think the idea of bob (bob’s ghost if you will) or some soc showing up in soda’s path makes sense.

butttt once again, if you want something more realistic, you could make it someone on the enemy side.

survive - soda just seems like he’d be hella good with battle morale and strategy, what can i say? …also, as much as it breaks my heart, steve following soda into war and dying an early death makes sense but is equally as heartbreaking ;(

remember them - i think the slow fade-in near the beginning of the song gives very big soda energy. disassociating but then switching right back into gear (masking emotions for the sake of others) is something that comes natural to him. i also commented on this earlier but for as much as soda calls himself dumb, i think his street smarts are really good and being able to talk his way out of things or tricking people into believing lies is something he’s great at (which makes sense in context of the cyclops plot). plus the stupid decision of having mercy on…bob, a soc, an enemy, idfk, and then telling them his name makes more sense in the context of just losing steve and therefore making rash decisions because of this sudden lose.

my goodbye - soda seeming to “lose” darry’s positive view of him, at least in soda’s mind, because of all he had done and lost. this, of course, is simply what soda thinks darry would say if he was there. because of this, he pushes the “what would darry do?” mindset out of his head.

storm - not much to highlight in this song except for how soda is a badass captain™️

luck runs out - now of course, i keep mentioning this song as the beginning of this war au because while s.e. hinton technically said soda was drafted, i think it’s very possible that soda and his optimism view on life would easily be more swayed to propaganda to enlist rather than be drafted. plus, with becoming a soldier, a certain amount of money is given to you monthly (at least i think-). this, i think, is another pro to the idea of enlisting in soda’s mind because he wants to help better provide for his brothers.

but generally plot wise, soda taking on this positive mindset of “i can just go and ask for help” is almost a tribute to steve and what he wanted. but on the other hand, you have tim, who knows that not everyone is as welcome to help, especially after dally died from police brutality.

keep your friends close - not much to say about this either but for the fact that aeolous being cherry is very fun to think about. while the meaning of this lyric means very different things in the context of the outsiders versus epic, the line “keep your friends close and your enemies closer,” does really fit with cherry. ponyboy being the “enemy” that she quickly befriends and keeping him close. but soon, she starts giving info to the greasers, the socs in her eyes almost becoming the real “enemy”. might be wrong though, interpret it however you like, i just think it fits cherry!

also the “everything’s changed since polities” line really fits into how i think soda would grieve for steve while still at war. he has to stay strong for his crew but they all sense, *know* something’s off with soda, and put the pieces together that this is because of steve. without steve, soda doesn’t have as high of a morale on life in general, and therefore the crew doesn’t. which fits in with them (kinda accidentally) turning on him.

ruthlessness - now HERE ME OUT HERE, if bob is the cyclops, rather than dally seeing him as a “son”, him being like “you had mercy on a SOC.” but the “you had mercy on the enemy?!” also works. just in general, i think dally’s memory coming back to haunt soda, espically paired with dally also being zeus, is fitting honestly. while dally wasn’t always ruthless, we gotta keep in mind in this au, this is in soda’s mind. these “gods” or visions of people he once knew, in my eyes, are people coming back to haunt him in his most shameful state. no matter what dally would’ve really said, i picture soda thinking how disappointed the people he loved most would be in him if they saw him in that very moment. also, “ruthlessness is mercy upon ourselves” is SO dally.

puppeteer - now again, being how circe is a witch, it’s a bit hard to fit this into a realistic setting but i js thought having marcia as her would be fun bc paired with…

wouldn’t you like - two-bit as hermes, i just think i’d be hilarious. i like to picture this as soda and two-bit on two ends of a phone, and for whatever reason, marcia is there distracting the crew from their goal. soda on one line would be like “so do you know of a soc named marcia” and two-bit on the other end like, “OMG WE WENT OUT ONE TIME, this is how to scare her off”

done for - self-explanatory, not much to say here tbh. marcia’s just iconic.

there are others ways - (with my stevepop heart) if like to think that *right after* steve’s death, it would be pretty much impossible for soda to be “seduced” as well as the idea of pony and darry waiting for him would keep him focused on the end goal in that moment.

the underworld - i kinda like the idea of the underworld not being the actual underworld but a very dark and dangerous place, with the visions of the dead and soda’s past traumas coming back to bite him in that moment. the line between reality and fiction is a hard line to draw in that very moment. ALSO STEVE AND SODA’S MOM😭😭

no longer you - you know i HAD to include him somewhere, so here’s johnny finallyyyyy. i don’t really have much of an explanation other than being johnny’s quieter personality, him seeing everything in a way, him being tierras just makes sense.

monster - soda losing his mind finally and willing to do anything to drive these ghosts of the past out of his mind and get home to his brothers. self-explanatory :)

being how all the songs aren’t out yet, i’m just gonna stop here. thanks for listening to my yapping my boredom has created :) enjoy listening!

[itsdannysworld]

One Last Kiss

Hiii! Im back with some angst with a lil bit of fluff and then more angst Pairing: Sam Kiszka x Reader Warning: angst, breakups, sad shit lmao (also I listened to xxxtentacion while writing this so I feel like the song remedy for a broken heart fits this)

enjoy-

“So this is it? Really y/n?” Sam and you had been arguing for over an hour, both of you sitting on opposite sides of the couch. “Yes Sam, it really fucking is. I’m done not feeling cared for! I know you're busy but Jesus Christ Sam! I just ask for the occasional text back and maybe for you to actually be home but no, I never get that.”  You knew his schedule was packed, leading him to spending many nights sleeping on the uncomfortable couches of the studio. But also nine times out of ten he was crashing on one of the guys couches after drinking away his liver. “Fine then, I guess this is it.” You lowkey wished he would’ve fought for y’all more.  “Sam, did you ever even love me?” You were starting to cry at this point. You hated that he was seeing you cry over y’alls breakup, but your tears were hard to contain. “Oh y/n baby, of course I loved you. It’s just, shit man.” His eyes welled with tears.

“Loved?”

“I guess, I mean I love you. I’m just no longer in love with you.” You don’t know what snapped but suddenly you were filled with an overwhelming amount of anger. “So you’ve just been leading me on Sam? Seriously? Fuck you.” Your voice broke at the end. Saying “Fuck you” to him was so foreign.  You rose to your feet and went to grab your keys and purse, barely being able to see through the tears streaming down your face. “I’m so sorry y/n.” He had stood up and started walking towards you. “This is going to sound so pathetic.” You whispered. “No love, what's up?” He replied with the same tone you had. “Can I have one last kiss before I go? Please.” He nodded before pulling you in. You ignored the mixture of snot and tears as you leaned in for a final kiss, wishing everything was normal.

Three months later, give or take

It took awhile, but you sorted life out and had adjusted to being single. You started working for a record label as an assistant, which kind of sucked, but interacting and working with music had always been your dream. That’s probably what made you and Sam connect so well, the shared love of music.

Fuck why am I still thinking about him?

You had gone a week after the fight to pick up your things, there were many more tears, and a surprising amount of kisses for two people who had just broken up. Y’all hadn’t spoken since, and as much as you hated to admit it, you missed him.

That's why it caught you seriously off guard when you walked into a meeting to find the entirety of Greta Van Fleet sitting across from you.You wanted to turn around and run to your car, and you could probably get away with it considering how much your boss loved you. You felt bad though, not wanting to ditch her and your job. 

“Hey y’all!” You plastered on a fake smile. Sam looked normal, which oddly stung. You didn’t want him to look or feel awful, but you wished maybe he would give off the appearance that the breakup hurt him as much as it hurt you. “Y/n! I didn’t know you worked here?” Josh stood up from his chair and gave you a massive hug. His bear hugs were something you had always loved, and it immediately put you at ease with the situation. “Yeah! It’s pretty new.” You smiled and took your seat.

After the longest meeting ever, you said your goodbyes and hurried out of the room. You stayed quiet for most of it, but caught Sam’s eye more than you’d like to admit. “Hey, y/n.” You heard from behind you. You spun around to meet Sam’s eye. “Hey.” You replied monotonously. “Can we uh, maybe go get coffee or something? I think we should catch up.” He offered. “Um, sure. I get off in an hour.” It took everything in you not to give him a hug or tell him you miss him. “Cool cool, well I gotta run to the smoke shop and I’ll be back to pick you up?” You nodded. “Yeah Sam, that’d be great.”

The hour passed by a lot quicker than you wanted it to. You said goodbye to your boss and headed out the door. You quickly found Sam’s car and knocked on the window before hopping in. You had always done that so you didn’t catch someone off guard before hopping into their car, and Sam always bullied you for it. “So you still do that?” He said as he backed out of the parking space. Mhm.” You absentmindedly reached into the cup holder where he always kept his vape, picking it up and taking a large hit. You exhaled and immediately realized your fuck up. “Shit, I’m so sorry I should’ve asked first.” You said. “No hun, don’t worry about it. In all honesty, I got green apple because I know it’s your favorite.” He admitted sheepishly. “You’re sweet.” You smiled. So maybe he did miss you.

After riding in silence you finally arrived at your usual coffee spot. He parked, but spoke up before you had left the car. “Look y/n, I’m so fucking sorry. Leaving you and treating you like I didn’t care was the worst decision I think I’ve ever made” “Sam, you said you didn’t love me.” You muttered. “Well I guess my dumbass does, because you are all I ever think about. I miss you more than I can even explain. I guess I was just in such a weird rut I convinced myself I didn’t  love you anymore? Fuck I don’t know how to explain it.” He looked frustrated, mainly with himself. “Sam, I miss you more than anything. And I love you beyond words, but I just can’t do us again. I was and still am so so fucking hurt. I’m sorry.” At this point you were both crying. “No, I get it. And this is going to sound so pathetic.” He mumbled the last part. “Mhm?” “Can I have one last kiss? Please.” “Of course Sam, I could never deny you that.”

[lomlhwa]

friends? lovers? (k.sw)

pairing: childhood bff!sunwoo x childhood bff!reader

preview: you lose contact with your best friend since birth. 5 years later, you're reunited. will your feelings for each other reignite at this sudden meeting?

tags/warnings: virgin fem reader, sprinkle of angst, lots and lots of praise, implied big dick!sunwoo, eye contact, lipstick stains everywhere, loss of reader's virginity, body worship, marking, hair pulling, hand holding, reader and sunwoo are IN LOVE, so many love confessions and "i love you"s, even more "i missed you"s, mutual pining, unprotected penetration (wrap it before you tap it), creampie

trigger warnings: n/a

wc: 2.5k

song recs for this fic: style by taylor swift, reveal by the boyz, god damn by i.m, libidO by onlyoneof

a/n: this was requested by @kswneoguri <3. i hope this is what you were asking for, thank you for requesting!!

from the moment the doctors handed you to your mother, she had decided that sunwoo would be your best friend for life. she was pretty desperate to make sure he was your soulmate. 

honestly, you firmly believe that she manifested it into the world. you’ve been two peas in a pod since before you could walk. you would throw fits when you weren’t in the same class, couldn’t sit next to each other, or if you had to be apart for more than a day.

is that healthy? some professionals would say no. but it elated your mother. you managed to always avoid meltdowns because you would see sunwoo so often. having mothers who are also besties really helped the strength of your bond.  

now, the real problems hit when your father decided to send you to an all-girls high school. this meant no more seeing sunwoo everyday. this meant you had a meltdown on the first day of grade 9. 

sunwoo had been your only friend for your entire life. no one ever dared get between the two of you. and now, there’s an entire school system between you. 

you walked into that school scared and alone. you sat by yourself in the back of all your classes. you scrolled on your phone, read books and just did your work as instructed.

now for the real icing on the cake, sunwoo moved cities away. 6 hours of distance and different school boards between you. you’d lost touch more than ever. honestly, you can’t even remember the last time you got to see him face-to-face.

you ended up going through the entirety of high school without seeing sunwoo once. after two years of being apart, he’d even stopped answering your phone calls. your mothers even stopped speaking to each other. 

you had lost contact with your soulmate.

now, here you are, in the middle of university getting your degree. you’ve done nothing but work, work, work since you got to uni. what else are you supposed to do when your closest friend hasn’t connected with you in almost 5 years. 

due to the fact that you’re the most antisocial person in existence, you’ve kept up good grades. great, even. you could very well make the honor roll. 

your professors love you, other students pretty much ignore you, but other than that you’re pretty happy. 

you do have one friend. one single friend. layla is the nicest person you’ve met in a long time. she’s no sunwoo, but she’s the closest you’ll probably ever get. she’s your best friend. the replacement pea in your pod. 

tonight, she’s trying to convince you to go clubbing. something you rarely do. her reasoning? “y/n, you need to get out there and get yourself some play,” layla stomps around your room for the millionth time. you don’t really need to get laid. you’re perfectly fine as you are. a virgin.

“i don’t need ‘play’, i need to study,” you shake your laptop at your best friend. she walks over and takes your computer out of your hands. she tosses it onto your bed, making sure it lands carefully on the mattress.

“just tonight. lets go get hammered and hook up with a hot guy,” she nudges your head with her elbow. she knows you’re a virgin and wants you to get over your fear. she, of all people, knows how sex works.

you know you won’t win arguing against her. “fine, only tonight,” she squeals and grabs your hand. she’s going to make you look as slutty as possible. anything to get you laid. 

she digs through your wardrobe and pulls out a silver, shiny, wrap shirt. accentuating your breasts and making them look supple. she pairs it with a tiny, tight, black skirt. your ass looks bigger and grabbable. 

she plants you down on a chair and beats your face with makeup. you look almost runway ready. you’re definitely club ready, that’s for sure.

“oh my god, y/n. you look amazing,” she claps, patting herself on the back for her good work getting you dressed. “if you don’t leave with a hot guy, i will lose my mind.” 

as soon as you enter the club, your ears are filled with bass boosted music. layla immediately drags you to the bar. she orders a set of shots and you down 3 like water. 

she pushes you to the dance floor with mumbles of “i’m right behind you” and “i swear i won’t abandon you.” then, she abandons you for a hot guy already into her. 

you hover around by yourself, swaying to the music. you get used to being surrounded by people but having no one pay any real attention to you. a few fleeting glances and a whistle or two. but no one is fully interested in you. 

and then, you bump into someone. hard enough for you to almost topple over. but, you catch yourself.

you spin around to apologize but instead, you freeze in shock. the tall man you managed to knock into is the man you’d been longing for for half a decade. your breath gets caught in your throat and you almost feel like you might vomit. 

“sunwoo,” you finally breathe. you swear you can see that his eyes are watering despite the dim lighting. the loud boom of the music has become nothing but a faint rumble in the back of your head. 

“i can’t believe you’re here,” he wraps himself around you and takes in your scent. he basks in your long lost presence. he thinks that if he lets go of you, he’ll lose you again. but, he releases you from his arms to take in your appearance.

you definitely had not dressed for reuniting with your childhood soulmate. you were more dressed to unite with a guy who wanted nothing to do with you after the alcohol wore off.

“you wanna get out of here?” he asks and you nod. catching up with your old friend would be kind of difficult in a club. he takes you by the hand and walks out of the club. you take a deep breath of the cool midnight air. 

“how’ve you been, y/n?” he finally asks. you shrug. “fine, i guess. just, doing a lot of school,” you explain. your life had been pretty uneventful. being friendless for a handful of years meant that you had no reason for an eventful life.

“oh. well, i’m pretty much the same,” he trails off, staring off into the sky. “did you miss me?” 

did. you. miss. him? how could he ask you that? how could he not know the torment that your heart went through when he left? “of course i missed you,” you scoff. “i just about lost my mind when you stopped calling.” he shakes his head and sighs. he wants to have a good explanation as to why he stopped contacting you. but, he really didn’t have one.

“i’m sorry,” he mumbles. sorry doesn’t cut it for you. “sorry? you’re “sorry”?” you use air quotes to emphasize your sarcasm. he bites his bottom lip as it quivers. 

“sorry doesn’t cut it for being abandoned by the person who was raised to be my best friend. sorry doesn’t make up for the 5 years i spent wondering what i did to push you away,” your eyes begin to water. he hurt you more than he would ever be able to understand.

he reaches out to hold your face in his hands. he rubs your cheek with the pad of his thumb, looking at you with sad eyes. “my precious y/n,” he presses his lips together in a thin line. your heart races and blood rushes to your cheeks. 

“i stopped talking to you because i was so in love with you that the distance was starting to physically hurt me,” he sniffles and turns his head to wipe his nose on his shirt sleeve. tears finally spill out of his eyes. he missed you so much and now he’s professing his love to you. 

“i loved you too. i still do. with every beat of my fragile heart, it calls for you,” you take your own hands and wrap them around his wrists. you look up at his with glassy, tear stained eyes and he loses it.

he presses his plump lips to yours and sighs. he’d wanted to do this since before he moved. and now here he is, kissing his childhood crush outside a nightclub. the wetness of fresh tears hit your face. he’s full on crying now.

“y/n, i’m so sorry i left you. please, let me make it up to you,” he presses his forehead to yours. you nod. “make it up to me, sunwoo.” he pulls his phone out and books an uber to pick you up and take you to his apartment. 

as soon as the car pulls up to his building, he's dragging you inside and up the stairs. his hand never leaves yours. he fumbles with his keys to unlock his door, almost dropping them a few times. 

he finally manages to open his front door, scurrying into his home. as soon as the door is locked and your shoes are settled at the front mat, his lips are on yours. 

his hands travel to your back, his fingertips pressing under your shirt. he draws gentle circles along the bare strip of exposed skin. you break your kiss momentarily with a gasp. 

"jump y/n," he mumbles against your mouth. you hop and he catches you in his muscular arms. wrapping your legs around his waist, you deepen the kiss. 

he walks carefully down the dark hallway to his bedroom. you disconnect your lips and reconnect them to his neck. you leave bright red lipstick marks on his supple skin; a lustful piece of artwork.

he kicks his door open and drops you on his bed. he runs his hand through his hair and studies your disheveled figure. your shirt has begun to ride up on your torso, just past your navel. your skirt flipped up when he plopped you down on the mattress. 

lord knows that if he hadn’t been in love with you before, he would be now. 

he tugs his shirt over his head before pouncing on you, nipping and sucking on your bottom lip. when he pulls away to look into your hooded eyes, you really notice just how much of your lipstick covered his face. 

he slides his hands under your shirt and you lift up at the waist to help him remove it fully. he sets it down on the floor next to his nightstand. his hands glide over your breasts, pressing them together, admiring your cleavage in his palms. 

“s-sunwoo,” you whimper. he looks up at you and hums. “i’ve n-never done this before.” your words are barely above a whisper. your anxiety takes you over as soon as the sentence leaves your mouth.

his eyes immediately shift to worry. “do you want to do this?” his hands trail away from your chest, but you catch them and bring them back up. you trust him despite the years of distance and longing. 

“yes. please, take me,” you grab his face and kiss him again. his hands make their way to your waist, gripping you tightly as if you might run away. you momentarily worry he’ll leave bruises; but you come to the conclusion that that would be okay.

your own hands travel to his jeans, fumbling with the button and zipper. he chuckles against your lips, finding your difficulty with his clothes to be endearing. he shoos your hands away and rakes charge, taking his pants off himself. 

he looks into your eyes again for permission to remove your skirt and you nod. you lift your lower half off the bed for easy removal. “i love you so much,” he sighs, smiling like a maniac.

he kisses you up and down. the remainder of the lipstick on his face ends up on your own skin. kiss marks and love bites litter your exposed skin. he kisses up your arms, down your torso paying special attention to your stomach, and ends his kisses on the insides of your thighs.

as much as he’d like to taste you, or even do everything under the sun, he thinks he might explode if he can’t get inside of you soon. he presses your thighs apart before settling between them.

he hooks his fingers under the waistband of your underwear and tugs them down your legs. he pulls his own underwear off and hovers over you. he doesn’t give you a chance to see his size out of fear that you’ll chicken out. 

“are you ready, my precious y/n?” his voice is soft and comforting. your nerves immediately relax. you nod your head, shuffling around trying to get some sort of friction. he groans lowly, his head hanging low.

"i've never been more ready for anything," your voice is breathy and on the verge of cracking. your eyes are half closed and you’re hazily grinding on him. you almost feel barely conscious but your senses are on overdrive.

he reaches down to align his rock hard cock with your entrance, biting into his lip to suppress a moan. he slides into you slowly, inch by inch, until he’s sheathed into you completely. he traps you between his arms, his hands on either side of your head. you reach up and slide your hands under his, intertwining your fingers tightly. 

“i love you,” you whisper. your lip quivers as he begins to move, the stretch stinging just enough to bring tears to your eyes. “i love you so much, sunwoo,” you say again. you squeeze his hands, digging your fingernails into the tops of his hands. 

“i love you too, y/n. i’ve missed you so much, fuck,” he leans down to kiss you harshly. your tongues clash in a spitty, slobbery fight for dominance. you lose inevitably and he sucks on the end of your tongue. his merciless pace inside you has you inching closer and closer to your release.

“i’m gonna cum, please, sunwoo. don’t stop,” you grip his hands tighter and arch your back just a little. this slight change in your position makes him reach just that little bit further into you. you snap almost instantly, clamping down on him.

your breath gets caught in your throat, your eyes roll back and your hands go slack in sunwoo’s. he few more thrusts and his hips are stuttering. “where do you want it?” he pants into your ear as you twitch under him. “i-inside, please sunwoo,” you gasp.

two more pathetic thrusts and he’s pumping into you. he stays bottomed out in you while he shoots 3 ropes of cum into you. he rubs his thumb on one of your hands, soothing you. he licks a bead of sweat off your forehead.

“i love you and i missed you,” you say for the millionth time. he smiles and kisses your cheek. 

“i love you more.”

© kevinsluvr 2023

[ramonathinks]

5 Husbands by @kingkonoha review contains spoilers under the read more

playlist of a lot of songs that i think fit the vibe of my reading experience and what i felt matched up with the story

Playlist: crack rock by frank ocean, dreamer and valentine by laufey, when im in your arms by cleo sol, ophelia by pinkpatherress, daydream by Ariana Grande, miss romantic by cleo sol, fall in by Esperanza spalding, rain by fauna hues, slow motion by karina pasian, sunshine cleo sol, k by cigarettes after sex, used to love by chloe x Halle, sunset by the internet, pain is inevitable by daniel caesar (fawk him), cinnamon girl by lana del rey , let me know by winona oak, lost by frank ocean, butterfly by corinne bailey rae, piano song by eryn allen kane, float by fauna hues, how does it make you feel by Victoria monet, ivy by frank ocean, step on me by the cardigans, sad girl by lana del rey, wet by dazey and the scouts, frank’s ballad (wiseman) by Alex mankoo, who gets your love by margie joseph, what it is, between the cheats, will you still love me tomorrow, the girl from ipanema by amy winehouse the entirety of amy winehouse back to black album, take the box by amy winehouse

General Review:

Just wow. I did in fact spend like all day reading this and I do not regret it and even though it’s not done… this is literally a 5/5 read. Firstly the way that my baby Tay writes is so phenomenal and the depictions of the relationships and the amount of emotions and thought they she puts throughout the story makes everything so worth it. I really felt so attached to the characters and the overall story like i didn’t care how long the chapters were because i was so interested in the world she build and the CHARACTERS. Like it just keeps getting better and better; the amount of drama and messy that kept me on my toes every chapter. I cannot wait for the next chapter. The amount of stuff that went down in this fic and the route it’s going down idek how she got the life depicted in the first chapter because it’s shit happening every second like whew. I literally got so emotional reading this especially the more recent chapters because my heart hurtssss for reader so bad and it’s just so much strain on her and idgaf that’s my girl! I support women’s wrongs and she got a lot of them but that’s my baby like omg!

Now let’s delve in to my reactions ofc 🙈

CHAPTER 1: okay so obsessed with the fact that reader has a daughter firstly. The way you describe reader’s relationship and the dynamic she has with Armin and even the shift to his pov was very seamless and perfectoooo. The way you got in his head and i feel immersed inside of his thoughts about her and i just thought it was really well written and so beautifully executed. “Being with you but not truly being with you was like having an itch that begged to be scratched.” Like that line right there? It burneddd me and make me feel for him and overall i got invested. Can I add that Armin working in a bakery was very on par with his character lol? Like i love it. Your description of anything is very addicting as well let me add, im a sucker for details so i loved it. I was cheesing DOWN during their moments and when he took her to their childhood hangout place and the hold “date” bit came up and the “but even so, the implication of romance with him felt as natural as breathing.” Likeeee omg i was blushing. “I was always planning on leaving, but…not without you.” Oh that moved me like bad. I’m a sucker for childhood friends to lovers and hearing them reminiscing and just wanting to move out of where they are to make a lifeee was so good. “Since when was he ever so lucky? Since when did fate decide to show him a little bit of pity and mercy? The universe had taken everything from him before he was even old enough to know how to spell the word “universe.”” UGHH you’re killing meeee. And then armin’s backstory stop 😞😞😞. WHEN ARMIN SAID HE WANTED TK MARRY HERRRR OH MY HEART like 😭 crying omg!! Munch Armin Agenda >>>>

Mikasa Cameo yesss. Armin sending reader money 🥲🥲 even though he’s literally going through it ugh, my loveee. The proposal and reader finally getting her steak & lobster please love that for themmmm. Eren… pmo!! … “What they loved more, however, was the fact that he never took his eyes off of you the entire time.” 😄😄😁😁 oh okayyy, don’t know who im rooting for after eren two second cameo. “Nowadays, you had seen more of him than your own husband, and that broke your heart into pieces.” Naurrrrr 🥲 please… ““Is it ‘cause we’re all alone, baby?”” Eren… ERENNN R YOU KIDDING ME MOVEEE like moveee “Can’t control yourself when it’s just us, can you?” MOVEEE

“If you were with me, you’d only be making money for yourself. No one else, baby. It’ll take you wherever you wanna go, buy you whatever want, fuck you however you want. You’d like that, right?” OH FAUK YEWWW, but … omg that’s sexy like please don’t piss me off😭😭

OH FAWK HERR??? FAWK HER MY GODDESSS IS READER SERIOUS RN?? FAWK HER SO BAD FOR THIS IDC

CHAPTER 2: “It was an indisputable fact; scientists measured the elements of his face and declared the handsome man as the literal definition of physical perfection.” Oh that ate !

Eren defending reader yesss #RealMan . “Still though, it’s Eren. Same man who took you away from the person you’re writing about. There’s no way he’d be okay with this.” Jean clocked her im sorry LMAOO??

“You were more than just a pretty face. You were more than just a lovely voice. You were a distraction.” Real… so real.

“You’re such a damn jerk,” Jean snapped. “You can’t take everything you want like you rule the goddamn world, Eren. You stole her away from her ex-husband, but no one’s allowed to steal her away from you, right? Not until you get tired of her and move on to someone else?” CLOCKED LMAKDKA CAUSE WHY WAS I LITERALLY THINKING THE SAME THING LIKE PLEASE MOVE LMAOOO

“Is it true that your ex-husband pushed for your success? And you left him for Eren Yeager?” JEAN MIGHT AS WELL THAT BEEN THE ONE TO ASK THAT BECAUSE INTREEVIEWER CLOCKEDSD HER ! Marriage 😞 please move 👎🏾 why they just pissed me off. J-JEAN ! SIR!!

“Well now, Sarah, there is the possibility that she could have been having an affair! She did leave her first husband for Eren. Who’s to say that she wouldn’t leave Eren for someone else?” THEY CLOCKING HER 😭😭😭😭😭😭 back to back!

Reader locking down all the munches like that’s queen right there! “It was the first time you had ever slept next to him without his arms wrapped around you.” 😞😞 and Jean leaving the band omg… Levi so real lmaoooo

JEAN SO MESSY??? EREN COMING OMG?? EREN ACTUALLY BEING THEREEE OH MY GOSH PLEASE MOVE!!! “But, apparently, all of it was stupid. He felt stupid as he stood there, watching his best friend kiss and touch you. He felt stupid as he thought about the day he proposed to you. He felt stupid as he thought about how much he loved you.” Naur… MY GOSH READER SO ??? she done pissed me off!

CHAPTER 3:

Mikasa clocking her 😁😁🤷🏽‍♀️🤷🏽‍♀️ karma x3 and “i want him back” and “that’s not the same thing” LMAOO CLOCKED! LIKE GOT HER

“I didn’t even know that Eren was there! He was avoiding me for weeks a-and said he wasn’t gonna show up. I fucked up, I know that, but he stopped speaking to me. Stopped looking at me. He acted like I didn’t exist…and I was fucking lonely.” She kinda ate idk she back to winning me over. FAWK EREN 😭😭😭

Levi…is he crazy telling her to come with him?? 😭😭😭 like he finna get fucked up about her too is he MAD? “You’ve fooled around with three guys back to back. It’s a little hard to tell which one of them you like the most.” FUCK CLOCKED HER SKSJSK ?? “You’re a homeless woman who’s sleeping at her manager’s house because she cheated on a famous rockstar with his bandmate.” Levi it’s 10am in the morning 😭😭😭😭 please chill. “Last thing I need is for the public to start making rumors about us.” He so damn funny lmaoo

“Yes. Men like Eren and Jean took pure advantage of your naiveness. If you ask me, you should have been the one doing the punching. Don’t sit back and let them walk all over you.” Okayy Annie period queen.

“The singer with more failed relationships than original songs.” 😭😭😭 i be giggling down like the industry is clocking herrrrr bad

Annie and Sasha correct actually 🤷🏽‍♀️ coming from the uno champ myself. “Did I just make you laugh? And smile?” 👀 he better relaxxx he see the reader effect !

Not even divorced and literally got a meeting and kissing on Reiner like 😭 is she mad??

CONNIEEEE??? I AINT EVEN PWEP

“Gonna punch me too? Try it. Go ahead. Do it, and let’s see what fucking happens.” CLOCKED! Lmaoooo

Hickey… why i already knew something like that was gonna go down. Broke my baby heart omg 😞!

“If you loved him, you wouldn’t have cheated on him. If you loved me, you wouldn’t have left me. So you’re still fucking lying.” Armin just came back and clocking her lmaoooooo “I think it’s easier for you to act like you’ve never cared about anyone than it is to take responsibility for your actions. It’s less painful to pretend that you’re completely the victim in this situation than it is to accept that you broke my heart. Eren and Jean’s heart as well. I’m not saying that anyone is in the right or wrong, but I know you. I know you loved me, even if it was just a little bit.” Tea… like girl it’s okay.

CHAPTER 4:

Connie is crazyyy 😭😭? “You know your life is in my hands” & “don’t make me do some easy shit” OHH he crazy

Marco…. Yo?? And they wondering why Connie went mad like be serious.

Arminnn, glad to see he okayish. “You never thought he’d use it on you.” Welllll?? The love of his life fucked him over 😭😭😭 um be serious.

“I love you, and I understand what money and influence can do to a person, but I just miss you. I miss the old you, the person who made everyone laugh during card games and didn’t treat everyone like garbage.” 🙂🙂🙂 ohhh he clocked her this like one of the worst ones.

“No ordinary human being enjoyed the realization that they had changed for the worse. It felt like your insides were twisting up, as if the old version of yourself was begging to come out, buried underneath this new, shallow, perfect celebrity.” ☹️☹️☹️ nooo queenie.

“You’re so in love with Hollywood now, I didn’t think you’d come at all if I told you the truth.” 😟😟 oh um! this is crazy to say ?? why even invite her at all lmaoo??

Reiner’s place is so lived in and loved around like your description really got me cause I can feel it all around and buzzing so lively whew i felt home! Reiner is EXACTLY the type of man who would bring you to meet the family and to propose so i smiledddd because yes just yes!

Jean messy as HELL! THE BREAK IN IS CRAZY AND HER JUST ASSUMING ITS ARMIN

HER SUCKING LEVI IS CRAZY???? MARRIED FOR HALF A SECOND IS SHE MAD?? LEAKED PHOTOS AND ALL THAT IS CRAZY AFTER THE BREAK IN OMG??? 😭😭😭 she cannot catch a break, she been famous for like maybe 2 years what is her problem.

CHAPTER 5:

ARMIN AND EREN GETTING JUMOED BY CONNIE MEN IS SO INSANEEEE. Levi OKAYYY king shitttt yesss. Why is Connie so messy?? Why is he trying to ruin her like omg…

“Y/N’s the only client you give a damn about now. You don’t even give a damn about yourself. Your life is ruined, and yet, here you are, worrying about her.” CLOCKED LMAOO?? JEAN BE CLOCKING EVERYONE LIKE LMAOOO

Album called Heartbreaker, she kinda mother for that 😹😹 like literal queen shit. The story… my eyes almost popped out my head like okay.. Not jean and eren popping out yo! Um Connie and Flint is so…messy for all this. They really getting a personal fuck you.

😹😹 Eren just clocked Flint like I hope he don’t get beat up later but he ate. OH MY GOSH?? What the fuck is wrong with Connie yo?? He can’t hate eren this bad like he’s literally a monster….

NAH READER STFU?? BEFORE HE GET SOMEONE TO WHOOP YOUR ASS TOO LIKE OMG?? BUT WHY SHE VERY MUCH SO CLOCKED HIM LIKE IM GIGGLINGGG 😭😭😹😹 GET HIM AGAIN!

Someone gotta kill Connie like wtf is his problem and to even threaten Levi and the way he doing reader, not even letting her see Reiner… like i feel for her so bad omg. Why is he ruining her lifeeee omg ?? Like im finna cry ??? And then to do that to Reiner :((( omg i feel for everyone in here omg

NAH CAUSE LEVI RIGHT ACTUALLY?? LIKE CONNIE IS LITERALLY OBSESSED WITH HER!

Them being worried about who she gonna end up with is kinda crazy like she being held hostage 😭😭? Thank you Levi for getting them back in order. WHY REINER JUST CLOCKED ALL OF THEM LIKE LITERALLY ALL OF THEM LMAOOOO

CHAPTER 6:

ERWIN JUST FUCKED EVERYTHING UP ??? YO??

“She doesn’t have any loved ones, just a bunch of stupid guys hoping to crawl into bed with her. That’s all she’s good for.” Alright?? Fuck you??

CONNIE SHOOTHIM HIM IS MADDDD OMG

The car ride having me on the edge of my seat just paragraphs in. Connie trying to do small talk like please move…

“Because that would mean leaving, and you knew better.” I’m crying like idgaf she don’t deserve none of this 😭😵‍💫😵‍💫???

“Really? You’re working on your eighty-seventh marriage and you wanna lecture me about being a good person? You cheat and get remarried every season, so shut the hell up.” He tried to clock her but it’s tired at this point so 😭😭😭 please gtfo. Connie trying to be lonely too he can get out like i really dgaf.

Nah Reiner clocked it… I wasn’t even seeing Mikasa fr until he just said that because yes I can see it fr! Like wowww. This Mikasa and Reiner conversation is >>> like i love it.

Poor reader like idgaf, she did that to keep them safe obviously! Why would Jean just say that to eren tb licking connie’s boots like his mom’s life was at risk please ??😭😭😭

THE ENDINGGGG OMG??? I canttttt

[scarlettjemily]

Sedona - Chapter 3/4

Chapter one & Chapter two

Pairing: Emily Prentiss x Jennifer "JJ" Jareau (Lifeguard AU)

Summary: Inspired by the song 'Sedona' by Houndmouth.

After opening up about their traumatic childhoods, Emily and JJ notice that their feelings for each other may have changed. One of them has to make the first move.

Word Count: 2.8k

Posted on Ao3 as well

Emily and JJ finished cleaning the staff tent as their shift came to an end. The sun had dropped to a height that blanketed the beach in a warm, deep golden light. It was perfect. The day went smoothly, and as a result, both women were in good moods.

JJ threw her towel over a chair, turning to look at Emily. “Wanna go for a swim? The weather is literally perfect,” she motioned towards the still ocean that reflected the sunset.

Emily smiled, pushing the last tub of equipment under the table. She stood up, placing her hands on her hips as if she were contemplating the question. The answer was obviously going to be yes. “I’ll race you!” She yelled, sprinting off towards the water.

JJ gasped, running off in a fit of laughter, not too far behind Emily. “Cheater!” She screamed as they both hit the water, falling flat on their bellies and not being able to stop laughing when they popped up out of the water.

Both girls spat the salt water out of their mouths while wiping their eyes. “Why is the water so nice when we’re not getting paid to be in it?” Emily said, leaning back to dunk her hair in the water so it slicked down her back and out of her face.

“So true. I used to love swimming as a kid. My sister and I used to pretend to be mermaids; it was the best.” JJ smiled, thinking fondly about the memory.

"Well, come on, then, show me your best mermaid swim.”

In that moment, it felt as though both women had been transported back to simpler times. They played in the water as if they were childhood best friends. At one point, Emily was pretending to be a shark as JJ swam away, letting out exaggerated cries for help that mingled perfectly with their uncontrollable laughter.

They even took turns giving each other piggyback rides, throwing each other off into the waves. They hadn’t felt joy like this since they were children; it was so simple and easy.

“Hold on to my shoulder, and I’ll swim underwater and pull you along like a dolphin!” JJ suggested, jumping up and down excitedly.

The sun was now almost touching the horizon, lighting both of their faces perfectly with a golden sheen.

Emily laughed and agreed. “This is so not going to work,” she said, placing her hand on JJ’s shoulder. She followed JJ’s lead and dove into the water, still gripping the girl's shoulder. As they dove in together, she must’ve gone a bit too early because something smacked her hard in the nose. She was taken off guard, grabbed her face, and stood up. She let out a laugh that could’ve passed as a groan. “Oh fuck, ouch.”

“Oh my god, Emily, was that your nose that I hit?” JJ said, standing up and rushing towards Emily. She tucked her own hair behind her ears, getting it out of the way so she could see Emily better. “Let me see, is it bleeding?” She held Emily’s arms, watching as the other woman lowered her hands, no blood was visible.

“No, no blood,” she stated, thankful for that because it would’ve definitely spoilt the mood. “It just bloody hurt, my god; I told you it wouldn’t work,” she teased, scrunching her face up, trying to alleviate the pain; the movements seemed to help.

JJ let out a sigh of relief; she would’ve felt even worse if her nose was bleeding. “Guess I’m not that good at being a dolphin, then?” She giggled, lowering down into the water so the entirety of her body was submerged in the water; only her head was showing.

Emily smiled at the blush that was moving along JJ’s cheeks. “No, not really.” The volume in her voice dropped a few levels as she lowered into the water, so she was matching JJ’s height. Involuntary shivers ran up her body when her knees brushed up against JJ’s. “But it’s okay, cause I like you, so I’ll forgive you.” The beating in her chest quickened with every passing second, her eyes tracing the blonde's face to observe her features.

Everything around them seemed to slow down, as if it were just the two of them floating there as they stared at each other.

JJ could feel the temperature in her body increase, despite being engulfed in the cool ocean water. “Can I ask you a question?” She asked shyly, her nerves beginning to course through her limbs.

Emily nodded, momentarily wiping the water from her face. “Yeah, anything,” she clarified, giving JJ a small smile.

JJ let out a deep breath, trying to work up the courage to speak. “Um, would it be okay if I kissed you right now?” Her whole body felt numb, and her heart was the only thing she could feel in this moment as she waited for an answer.

Emily’s breath hitched when she heard JJ’s question. She was trying to speak but couldn’t quite find the words. She found herself staring at JJ’s lips. She let out a breathy laugh, nodding quickly.

JJ giggled at Emily and how flustered she was. She lifted her hand out of the water, resting it softly on Emily’s cheek. Her thumb ran a path over the pale skin underneath. “I like you too, a lot,” she whispered. JJ could feel the other woman let out a sigh of relief.

Finally, after what felt like minutes but truly was only a few seconds, both women leaned in, their lips pressing together in the most gentle kiss.

Emily’s hands found JJ’s waist through the water and rested there gently. She pulled her in towards her, wanting to be closer to the other girl. Every part of her body that connected with JJ’s felt as though it were on fire. Her lips, her cheeks, her hands on her waist, their knees—everything.

When they pulled away, the giddiness of both women flowed between them. Everything had changed, and they could feel it.

“Was that okay?” JJ asked, a shy smile taking over her lips. Her stomach was doing flips inside her after that kiss; she’d been wanting to kiss her since their first dinner together. Her feelings only increased dramatically the night of the bonfire; she felt so safe with Emily.

Emily’s smile mirrored JJ’s perfectly; they couldn’t be more in sync than in that moment. “It wasn’t bad,” Emily teased, finding JJ’s reaction impossibly adorable.

JJ splashed Emily with water and went to swim away, but Emily laughed loudly, quickly grabbing JJ's hands and pulling her towards her. She wrapped both arms tightly around JJ's waist. The sudden movement made JJ's breath get stuck in her throat. In a movement that felt so natural, she wrapped her arms around Emily’s neck and rested her forehead against the brunettes.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry; I was just joking. I liked it a lot, like a lot a lot,” she chuckled, her gaze flicking down to look at JJ’s lips, then back up to her blue eyes. She pressed her lips against JJ’s, pulling away just as quickly. Not being able to wipe the smile off her face. It felt so right, standing in the water with the other woman in her arms.

JJ let out a happy sigh, hugging Emily tightly and leaning the side of her head on her shoulder. Goosebumps covered her skin, an uncontrollable reaction to Emily’s hands that ran along her back.

“You cold? Did you want to hop out?” Emily asked, picking up on the goosebumps that peppered her skin.

She stood up, looking down at Emily, nodding, only now realising how much the temperature had dropped. Also noticing the sun had almost disappeared, “yeah, lets go; I’ll drive you home,” she stated, taking a hold of Emily’s hand and squeezing it tightly as they walked out of the water.

“You didn’t need to walk me to my door; I could’ve gotten here in one piece by myself.” Emily chuckled, sliding her key into the lock of her door, turning it, and opening it slightly after it clicked. She turned back to face JJ, not being able to stop her eyes from wandering up and down the woman standing in front of her.

JJ shrugged. “I know, I just wanted an excuse to spend more time with you.”

Emily shook her head, smiling. “Okay, well, how about tomorrow? Will you let me take you out?” Her eyebrow raised as she waited for JJ to answer, her mind beginning to race with all the possible date ideas. She wanted it to be perfect.

JJ let out an excited giggle, nodding quickly. “Ooo, like a date?” she asked, despite knowing that it obviously was.

Emily playfully rolled her eyes. “Obviously, but it’s gonna be a surprise, so before you ask, no, I’m not telling you,” she said, raising her hands and looking away from JJ's pouting lips. Knowing she wouldn’t be able to say no to that.

JJ huffed, pretending to be upset. “Fine, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then.” She crossed her arms and went to walk away, hoping to get a reaction from Emily.

"Nah, uh, hey! Where’s my goodnight kiss?” She caught JJ's arm, spinning her around, pulling her body against hers, hands resting on JJ's hips. Her heart fluttering hearing JJ's playful laugh fill up the doorway, she brought her hand up to the girl's jaw, her eyes never leaving JJ's lips.

JJ closed the gap, pressing her lips against Emily’s. Her lips were warm against her own, and the taste of salt from the ocean was still lingering behind. She couldn’t get enough of her. Her hand landed on the back of Emily’s neck, deepening the kiss. She almost melted when a quiet moan left Emily’s throat, vibrating between both their lips.

They pulled away from the kiss, both slightly breathless and still holding each other close.

JJ let out a breathy laugh, her fingers subconsciously coming up to touch her own lips. “Okay, well, goodnight, Em.” She was struggling to process how good it felt to kiss the woman in front of her.

Emily chuckled at seeing JJ flustered, her cheeks almost as red as the bathing suit they were both wearing. “Goodnight, Sedona,” she teased, before they both went their separate ways, not being able to forget the feeling of kissing one another.

“Nope, hop out; I’m driving,” Emily said, throwing her bag in the back of JJ’s car and coming around to the driver's side of the car. “You look beautiful, by the way,” she added, admiring JJ, who was in a baby blue sundress, just a few shades lighter than her eyes.

JJ put the car in park and climbed over the centre console, dropping into the passenger seat. She faced Emily, who was now sitting on the driver's side, fastening her seat belt. She looked her up and down, noticing she was also wearing a sundress, but in red. “You look so good, Em; red really is your colour,” she said, her voice low, leaning over to place a chaste kiss on the girl's cheek.

Emily just smiled, a light blush appearing on her cheeks as she began to drive.

“No, shut up! A carnival? I didn’t even know they were doing one!” JJ jumped out of the car, excitement rushing through her. The sounds of people’s laughter mixing with the sounds of the music made her eyes shine, and memories of her childhood flashed through her mind. Without skipping a beat, she grabbed Emily’s hand and practically dragged her through the entryway of the carnival.

Emily swore her heart tripled in size watching JJ the entire night. Seeing how happy she was made Emily melt. The way she squealed when she won a prize and sulked when she lost. Emily knew she’d made the right decision for their first date. Emily couldn’t quite grasp how she’d gotten to this point; it’d been so long since she’d felt this comfortable around somebody. JJ made her feel safe. Safe enough to open up and let her walls down. The night on the beach changed everything; that’s when she knew there was something else between them.

"Hey, let’s go on the Ferris wheel; one last ride before we go,” Emily said, leading the way, holding on tightly to JJ's hand.

The two of them hopped into a carriage, scooting closer together so their bodies were flush against one another. Emily wrapped her arm around JJ's shoulder, pulling her in closer. JJ naturally leant against Emily, leaning her head on the girl's shoulder; the movement not even a second thought.

“Have you enjoyed yourself?” JJ questioned, resting her arm loosely along the front of Emily’s legs, trying to get closer to her, not wanting to lose the feeling of the brunette against her.

“I have, actually; it’s been a lot of fun. Who knew you were so competitive?” Emily smirked, moving so she could look at JJ's face.

JJ pulled back slightly, so she was looking up at Emily. “Yeah, look, it’s not my best quality,” she said, smiling up at her.

Emily tucked a loose strand of hair behind JJ's ear; the wind picked up speed the higher their carriage got. It was useless because the wind kept blowing her hair everywhere. Emily laughed, eventually cupping her face with both her hands, holding her hair completely off her face. “I tried,” she whispered lowly through a giggle.

JJ let out a sigh that was filled with content. The feeling of Emily’s hands on her face gave her a sense of comfort she’d never felt before. She leant forward, capturing Emily’s lips in hers, her body automatically leaning forward, a natural pull between them.

Emily’s hands moved from JJ's face and into her hair, pulling it ever so lightly as she deepened the kiss. She groaned against JJ's lips when the girl's hand rested on her thigh, playing with the hem of her dress.

The kiss was slowly getting more heated between the two women, neither of them realising that they’d reached the top of the Ferris wheel and were already coming back down.

“Fuck, we totally missed the view,” Emily chuckled, pulling away from JJ. She let out a deep breath, attempting to calm her insides. She was feeling quite overwhelmed; they’d never kissed like that before. Not overwhelmed in a bad way, though. Never in a bad way. Not when she was with JJ. JJ giggled, wiping the corner of her own mouth with her thumb. Emily had to close her eyes to stop them from rolling to the back of her head at the sight of the simple, innocent act.

A smirk flashed across JJ’s mouth as she watched Emily try to compose herself. “I think I prefer what we were doing,” she said, as she laced her fingers with Emily’s so that when their carriage stopped, she could lead them both out without losing contact with each other.

JJ pulled up in front of Emily’s building, parking her car. “I’m walking you to your door before you try to tell me you don’t need me to,” JJ stated, undoing her seat belt. Her eyebrows knitted together when she noticed Emily wasn’t listening to her; her mind was elsewhere. “Hey, what’s up?” She worried, placing her hand on Emily’s leg.

Emily shook her head, regaining her focus. “Oh, sorry, no, I was just thinking,” she said, trying to move past her thoughts.

“What were you thinking about?”

Her face screwed up slightly, letting out an awkward laugh. She was hesitant to say what she was thinking, but JJ's comforting smile eased her fears of rejection. “I was just thinking, I don’t want the night to end. I was going to invite you inside, but I didn’t want you to think I was like, trying anything.” She was doing her usual nervous rambling, not being able to look at JJ directly.

“I don’t think that at all, Emily. I mean, I wouldn’t be opposed if you did try, but I never get that impression from you. I feel safe with you.” JJ held her laugh in when Emily's eyes widened at JJ’s comment. “Want me to come inside?” JJ asked again, wanting confirmation from the nervous brunette.

Emily didn’t have any words; she just nodded. Her stomach tightened, processing what JJ meant: ‘I wouldn’t be opposed if you did try,’ she almost fell to the ground as they walked hand in hand to her apartment. Her hands shook as she fumbled with her key in the lock. She huffed out a shaky breath, turning to look back at JJ, holding the door slightly ajar. “I just- I, I wouldn’t be opposed either.”

[jammofsammichflip]

`~•°×|JJK x Cowboys! Hamilton! Au|×°•~`

OKAYYY so imagine Jjk but it's actually Hamilton on crack and cowboys-

Where Gojo (Hamilton) and Geto (Aaron Burr) are cowboys and they have a duel at High Noon™

[because this is the 1600's so there's cowboys now fight me]

BUT OH WAIT-

they forgot to recite~

~~ The Ten Duel Commandments ~~

And then Geto/✨my baby boo Leslie Odon✨ sings 'Wait For It'

*I'm having a stroke someone help me /j

Anyways it's SatoSugu but actually Hamilton x Burr

((I can't do Hamilton x Lawrence because unfortunately it doesn't work IM SORRY))

Geto Burr because he's basically always second place to Hami-jo

Lmao imagine all of the SatoSugu + Mr. Loverman in the bg but everyone is also snorting a bunch of crack and it's all set in a time period where the entirety of Hamilton is actually cowboys

Hami-jo is still Hoejo™ confirmed and Geto Burr just really needs a win

Lafayette and Mulligan are Shoko (former) and Haibara(?)(latter)

Nanami is George Washington because literally who can't trust him

I have no idea where to fit the jujutsu students in here lol

Naoya is that whoever idiot who was Hamilton's enemy for the song Ten Duel Commandments (but he actually does this time cuz I think he lived in Hamilton canon)

All of this just came to me like 15 minutes ago because I was laughing at these comments on the following Instagram reel.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C9snl_1tGv3/?igsh=Zzl0OWZlYmt5ZG03

[the-desilittle-bird]

Author's Note- This was better in my mind... 🥲

Requests are always open and well appreciated.

Thank you and Enjoy your reading!

Peculiar Things

Loki Laufeyson x Desi!Reader

Summary- Loki notices weird things about (Y/N)...

Tag List- @savagemickey03, @kenzi-woycehoski, @ultrav0lence, @bbgmonsay, @girlnred, @chevelledahuman, @minaxcarter, @hc-geralt-23, @newt-scamander-is-hot-af, @chaotic-fangirl-blog, @lady-athanasia, @hyacinthus007, @lana, @saraelizabeth26, @killing-gremlin, @thatgirlthatreadswattpad, @strangesthirdeye, @omgsuperstarg, @all-things-fandomstuck, @nyx2021, @shine101, @bi2simps, @themaze13

Warnings- None

GIF Credits to @tomhiddleston-gifs

The moon shone brightly in the starry night as the light breeze tickled the green mountains. The lake water stood still with a few swans swimming peacefully, completely unaware of the two laying on the luscious grass.

Loki's emerald like eyes watched (Y/N) with love and adoration, his fingers caressing her hand as her breathing slowed down. The God of Mischief found himself at awe as he watched her sleeping form before looking back at the moon.

He smiled to himself as he remembered (Y/N) watching the moon every night, always humming some song from her native language. Chand. She called it while smiling.

It was later that Loki realized that it was not only her who was awestruck by the moon. It was the entirety of population of India and those with Indian descent; or at least mostly.

Loki turned to face her, smiling widely, as his fingers interlaced with hers. Another peculiar thing about her was the distance she maintained with Loki even after they started courting.

"We don't show off the relationships until... never in public."

She had told Loki, making him frown. Even in Asgard, publicly displayed affections before marriage was frowned upon but after that? Loki would never understand that.

Then there was her unhealthy relation with fried food and sweets. It made him wonder how she remained so fit after having so much amount of oil and sweets. Probably her workout sessions helped.

And oh! The amount of confusing things she would do sometimes. Loki remembered how she had made Steve wait for 3 minutes before getting off the quinjet for a mission just because he had sneezed loudly.

"It's a bad omen."

She had explained later, making everyone raise their eyebrows. The Avengers loved (Y/N) a lot, Loki understood that fact early on when he had attacked New York.

He also loved how she would use her fingers to eat her food. Rice or whatever she has. All of them cooked by herself specially for herself. She never let anyone taste it.

Once Tony had stolen a bit of her rice and fish curry and had ate it without sharing. The spice was enough to make the Stark man run to the nearest tap and drink two gallons of water. It was a funny scene and had entertained everyone while (Y/N) sat in the corner, giving him a I-told-you look.

Another thing was her unholy obsession with those stupid Indian serials and series. Loki unfortunately found the web series originating from India stupid, no offense to them truly. But perhaps it was because of the amount of western series he had seen.

But yet, he loved (Y/N) with all he was. Even if he found her peculiar things comical, it didn't really matter, for his love for (Y/N) was way more than anything.

[alpydk]

"Fanfic Writer Ask Game"

Oh you want it, you got it! We're into deep, we're into deep❗ 👏😆I want to know it all

❤️💥👻👓🦈🌻💛💭🧪

Oh damn! You got it, you precious demon of chaos! Love it!

❤️ What is your favorite line that you’ve written in a fic?

I have too many that come to mind, The eclipse moment is the obvious one, but that's technically 2 lines so going to with this from Disgusting, tainted, used - "You’d made your bed, and now you had lain in its ethereal sheets." - Such a simple and common phrase but altered slightly and the guilt/self blame behind it sticks with me bad.

💥 What is one canon thing that you wish you could change?

I'm honestly stumped. Like I know, I want more of the Gale/Durge confrontation after the coronation, especially if you're romancing him, but that's not so much a change. I think I'd want the Mystra stuff changed, if anything. I'm not getting on either side of the discussion and what needs changing, only that it needs some proper planning, so there isn't a discussion. Maybe just a better timeline, who this Mystra really is in the scheme of things rather than just metadata and speculation. (Yes, I've seen the many posts.)

👻 What is your wildest headcanon?

That Aradin is a lawyer. He's given it up thinking that being an adventurer would be easier, and this is why he has a (probably very detailed) contract with Lorroakan. He wasn't a talented lawyer, instead one of those intro to the Ace Attorney type prosecution lawyers that you'd get for free. It also explains why he's not that good in a fistfight.

👓 What helps you focus when you write?

Music, particularly if it's not in a language I speak, so Kpop, Breed 77 (Spanish), Rammstein (German). Things like that.

🦈 Which character is the toughest to write?

Elminster by far. Take a normal sentence, flower it up, flower it up some more. Is it understandable? No, then you've not gone far enough. For someone like me who's very straight to the point, writing him hurttttt....

🌻 How often do you read your own fics?

Quite a lot, actually. I'm a huge fan of my own work. I've got everything I like, excess angst, likeable characters, and I update my fics often. Why wouldn't I read it all the time?

💛 What is the most impactful lesson you’ve learned about writing?

That I'm writing for me and me alone and fuck the haters. Like really, as someone who is extremely sensitive to the reactions of others, learning this (and still learning it) has been the most important thing. I still have days where I don't see the notes tick up and I think why do I bother, but then as I'm writing it, sitting in that imaginary world of my creation, I realise that I'm happy anyway, and I don't need other people's validation to have that.

💭 What inspires you and your writing?

Music is a big inspiration for me. I might hear a song or see a lyric and think that suits X character. How can I get that to fit in a narrative sense? And from there it just builds up. The entirety of Eclipse was based on one song alone.

🧪 Do you research for your fics?

I might check up on something if I'm unsure, colours for example or what the name of a specific thing is. I know for Ink Stains I had to look quite a bit into codependent relationships to make sure I was hitting the topic correctly, like I had my own experiences to go on, but it didn't feel enough.

Right anyway - Rugan isn't going to save himself at this rate but thank you for the ask. I really don't get enough (shameless hint to those reading this :p)

[iguana-eyanna]

do i hate you or do i just need to kiss you

Pairing: Lewis Capaldi x Singer! Reader

Summary: For some reason, both you and Lewis hate each other. But that changes after one night being forced to be with each other in an enclosed space

"Hold the elevator please!" You yell out loud.

You were muttering under your breath, as your heels were killing you at one of the award shows you were nominated for. You were really looking forward for tonight. This was your second time being nominated and you hoped to bring your first award home.

But, a certain scottish songwriter had to steal your spotlight once again.

Yes, you had quiet feud with the famous singer, Lewis Capaldi. You two were often stuck with one another at award shows or events. People thought you two would be a good fit with each other, but each interaction was filled with wallowing and grumbling under breaths.

You were about to thank the person who waited for you to get in the elevator and you see Lewis again, who didn't look too happy as he just saw you fighting with your poofy dress.

"Oh, just my luck," you muttered under her breath.

Lewis rolled his eyes, crossing his arms. "Can't escape me, can you?"

You resumed silence as you pulled in the entirety of your dress inside and pressed the floor that you wanted to go up to, as most of the singers booked rooms above the banquet hall at the venue.

Lewis just stared at you as you were clearly not wanting to be here and in his rare moment, decided not to say anything that can turn into a fight.

Could this night get any worse?

The rest of the ride was silent until the elevator jolted to a stop, plunging them into sudden darkness. You let out an exasperated sigh, while Lewis groaned.

"Great, just what I needed," you grumbled, trying to press the emergency button but no one replied right away.

Lewis pulled out his phone, seeing that he had no reception, and just decided to turn on his flashlight.

"I think the elevator thinks your dress is too much." Lewis chimed in, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Like your personality?" You snapped back at him, clearly upset.

As minutes turned to what felt like infinity, the two musicians exchanged impatient glances. The tension was palpable, and the silence became unbearable.

Each of you chose a corner to sit down. You chose to take off your pinchy shoes and you looked at Lewis who was mildly bored.

"You know," you finally broke the silence, "it's not like I planned for this to happen."

Lewis raised an eyebrow. "What, getting stuck in an elevator with you?"

You smirked. "Oh, please. As if I'd choose this."

"Well, it's not on my list of preferred evening activities either," Lewis retorted.

"Since we're talking about that, why don't you entertain me on what you'd rather be doing now?" You ask, crossing your arms.

"Psh, like you want to know." He says, shaking his head. He looks over to your shoulder as you await his answer.

"Wait, you're serious?" He asks.

"I got nowhere to be." You said, leaning your back against the cool metal.

Lewis looks down at his lap and thinks a bit.

"I'd be watching Love Island."

"Wait, wasn't your ex on the show?" You ask.

"Yeah, but I skipped the season she was in, she kept on mentioning that I wrote a song about her."

You couldn't help but stifle a chuckle until you started to laugh hysterically.

"I am so glad I'm not you!" You said, also making Lewis join in your laughter.

As the two of you were still confined in your small space, something shifted. You two spoke more compared to any of the small encounters you had in public. You and Lewis started sharing about early struggles in the industry, the sleepless nights spent perfecting lyrics, and the moments when you both doubted your own talents.

You began to shift closer to Lew, your past frustration giving way to a faint smile. "You know, for someone who's my 'rival,' you're surprisingly... human."

Lewis chuckled. "You're not the ice queen everyone thinks you are either."

You share a fake gasp as you hit Lewis playfully in the shoulder.

"Hey um... I wanted to say that I really thought you were going to win tonight. Your album really blew me away."

"Wait, the Lewis Capaldi listened to my music?" You fake gasp.

"I'm trying to compliment you and you're making fun of me?" He asks, crossing his arms at you.

"I'm sorry, not used to you sharing something nice about me." You explained.

"I kinda deserve that. But truly, I hope you get the next nomination. You really deserve it."

You give him a small smile, feeling a sort of flutter in your chest.

"Thank you." You said, slightly blushing.

Lewis comes closer to you, staring at your beautiful eyes in the dim lights gave from your phones.

"Have you ever listened to my stuff?" He asks, amusingly.

"Occasionally." You whisper.

His eyes glint at how you're slightly teasing him.

"I feel like you're holding back with me, love."

You slightly scoff when he calls you that.

"What?" Lewis said.

"I didn't say anything." You replied, trying not to be obvious.

"That lil' scoff you did when I called you love. You're flustered, aren't ya?"

You stare at him with disbelief.

"You know what? I remember why I didn't like you in the first place." You said.

"Oh, so we're being like that again. For a minute I thought you were pretty cool but you're still childish." He bit back.

You got up from where you sat and placed your hands on your hips.

"You're incomparable, Capaldi."

He got up and crossed his arms.

"You're a menace."

Both of you began to burn up with tension, and for some reason, you attacked his lips with a kiss.

Lewis held you tightly on your waist as your hands went through his hair, making him slightly whimper. The kiss began to grow deeper and deeper until a groan was made by the elevator and the harsh fluorescent light turned back on.

You and Lewis broke out of your embrace in a flash, too stunned to realize what each person had done. The elevator opened and you two stared at a few hotel staff and the maintenance who quickly apologized for what happened.

"It's uh - it's alright." Lewis said in a whisper, quickly brushing his light brown hair away from his face.

You nodded in agreement, already grapping your clutch purse and shoes.

"I'm just going to take the stairs." You said in a hurry, quickly running away from the scene.

Lewis was about to run after you, but his manager stopped him in his tracks, trying to see if he was alright.

He just looked at you slightly jogging away, out of his grasp.

+

You were in your bed, sipping on some wine as you indulged watching the bachelor to forget what happened in the past several hours.

You didn't just kiss your archnemesis, no. You kissed someone that you couldn't STAND. How is this possible? You two were bickering in that enclosed room, and then it led to a courteous conversation, then back to fighting, then you combing through his soft locks as your mouth discovered his -

"Stop it." You mumbled to yourself, gulping down your wine to momentarily forget what happened tonight.

Suddenly, you heard a soft knock on your door. You wanted to ignore it, but something told you to at least check who it was. You got up from your bed and put on your slippers, looking through the little peephole in your door.

There stood a slightly anxious Lewis who had his hands in his pockets.

You opened your door and he was slightly bewildered, not thinking you'd opened your door for him.

"He-Hey. I um, I asked your manager where you stayed. I wanted to check if you were alright."

"Yeah, I'm... I'm alright. Just trying to forget I guess." You said, motioning how you were watching reality TV with some wine.

"Well, the thing is that I - I really don't - want to forget, if that makes sense." Lewis said, trying to choose his words carefully.

"Look Lewis. I don't know what came over me. Maybe I just wanted to shut up that cute face of yours -"

"You think I'm cute?" He asks, smirking.

You scoff playfully, rolling your eyes.

"You just love choosing what you want to hear, don't you?"

He shrugs casually as you see how he started to relax a bit.

"I'm sorry. But on a serious note, I feel like I haven't given the best impression of myself to you. I want you to know the real me, someone who doesn't make very obnoxious jokes when he's nervous around pretty girls."

Now it was your turn to smirk as you cross your arms across your chest.

"So, you admit I'm pretty." You said, smiling.

"Okay, okay. I get it, it's annoying." He said.

You unroll your hands and you smile at him, leaning closer to your door.

"I'd love for us to get to know each other. There's this breakfast place I saw nearby the hotel, want to go tomorrow around 10 AM?"

"You're making plans so quickly?" He asks, impressed.

"Well yeah, I need to act fast before I remember why i hate your guts."

"Hate's a strong word." He said, making the two of you laugh.

"But yeah, tomorrow morning sounds good. I'll meet you here."

"Yeah, let's not take the elevator though. I don't like kissing before the first date." You joked.

He smiled before he slowly walked away.

"Agreed, night!" He said, waving to you as you did the same.

You close your door and lean on it for a second, exhaling as you smile to yourself.

This was definitely going to be a night to remember.

[vykodlak]

do you have more music like star rider? you posted that one a couple weeks ago or so and i really ended up liking excerpts from a future past in its entirety. thank you for having great taste & introducing me to something cool & new

I'm glad you liked it!! Love Hallas but this is another tough one because they're just a bit too unique in the current landscape of retro rock. To me. Star Rider especially is such a mellow and kinda dreamy song, it's epic but also foreboding and I haven't found anything that sounds quite like it.

They pull influence from all over the place, mainly 70s prog and hard rock/early so-called proto metal.. lots of hammond and twin lead guitar harmonies. For bands in the past you can look to (for at least certain elements of their sound, if not the complete package), most common comparison would be Wishbone Ash. There's also Uriah Heep, definitely some Eloy (x), Nektar, Camel, and I feel like they've got a lot of italian prog influence, like Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso. Think I hear some Jethro Tull-isms in there as well. Pretty sure at least some of the band members are big fans of Rush and Genesis. There's something like deep purple and maiden in their sound as well, though mostly you'll pick up certain riffs and such.

Other bands that just kinda fit that heavy prog or throwback rock.metal, synthy, retro kitsch vibe that Hallas goes for imo:

Night - Hight Tides - Distant Skies

Flight - A Leap Through Matter & Echoes of Journey's Past

Astra - The Black Chord

Ashbury - Endless Skies (this band is what I think of first when I think of that sort of epic fantasy sound in retro rock)

I did not like the vocals on this much but you might have better luck with it, Phantom Spell - Immortal's Requiem.

Hopefully some of these recs hit as well, or at least point you in the right direction :-)

[these-detestable-hands]

TIME TO DO MY DUTY.

I'm gonna be really galaxy brain and include even OCs in this ask game, because WHY THE HELL NOT?! Are they "not characters?!"

Gangrel (of Fire Emblem Awakening, because I married him at least once on my playthrough. It was not an impulsive choice. It was calculated. That's what made That Me terrifying.) - 1, 9, 13, 25

Dagny (of your unknown project name?) - 2, 5, 11, 23 (if you have any! I'm just curious about how she looks).

Odeda (Dear Emperor) - 2, 3, 5, 20, 24 (for this, just choose like an existing fandom characters she can be compared to!)

FALIN (Duh.) - 4, 6, 7, 8, 23, 25

GET BOMBARDED! I'll check in during breaks in my work crunch!

Yippee let's go!!!

Gangrel!

1. What do you like or dislike about this character?

Ok I'm gonna be honest. He is not the awakening villain I think about the most and he's just kinda. there. to me. He's silly, I'll give him that, but he doesn't stick out as much as Validar, Aversa, Walhart or even Yen'Fey

9. Could you be roommates with this character?

I don't even think I'd feel safe sitting in a waiting room with him.

13. What's an emoji or symbol that reminds you of this character or that you think they'd use a lot?

Cool S. You bit your ass he draws it on his soldiers' armor out of boredom.

25. First impression of this character? How about now?

First impression was in 2020 and I thought he looked like Ganondorf's gay cousin. Now, I still think that except that I also know he's a pretty alright villain.

Dagny, from 'A pox upon your city' (working title)

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

Everything she does is for a selfish reason until Filpa gets dangerously sick and she finally admits to herself that she cares about him deeply and would do anything to save him. It's a turning point in her character arc because it allows her to have humility and accept help from Regnar whom she hates.

5. What's the first song that comes to mind when you think of them?

Honestly the entirety of the album queen of the night by dirt poor robins, but if I had to single out a song it'd be enchanté

11. Would you date this character?

No absolutely not. As much as I am a fan of physically strong women with big mischievous grins, (see: Ædith and Helena) Dagny is insufferable. After her character arc, she's hardly even human anymore!!

23. Favorite picture of this character?

Ancient drawing from when her story was a lot more shallow and completely different.

Odeda, the sword!!

2. Favorite thing about her?

My brother and I are figuring out how to include Christian themes in her character

3. Least favorite thing about this character?

I don't dislike anything about her, I'm being very careful to make sure she feels divine while not being quite perfect either

5. What's the first song that comes to mind when you think about them?

Probably the trees have eyes from octopath 1

20. Which other character would be the best friend for them?

ÆDITH. LITERALLY ÆDITH!!!!! Ædith gets a lot of things about the pantheon that other people don't because of her unique experience of growing up in Odeda with beliefs that directly go against the country. Also Rurik and Yagaan but not to the same degree as Ædith.

24. What other characters from another fandom of yours reminds you of them?

Um. I don't know!!!

THE FALIN TOUDEN!!!!! YAAYAYAYYAYA!!!!!

4. If you could put this character in another piece of media, what would it be?

Octopath 1, she'd fit right in with characters like Lucia and Kit

6. What's something you have in common with this character?

ASD and abusive fathers

7. What is something the fandom does with this character that you like?

THEY MAKE HER CHUBBY!!!! FANARTISTS DRAW HER AS CHUBBY, IT'S SO AWESOME!!!!!!!!

8. What is something the fandom does with this character that you despise?

People treat Falin x Marcille as canon which I hate cause it's not canon and the ship just isn't that good. Marcille is a fine character but she's not the right gf for Falin

23. Favorite picture of this character?

This!!!

25. What was your first impression of this character? Hos about now?

Okay so a trope I really love is when a character goes MIA before the story starts. For example, in the Martian, Whatney's crew mates leave before he wakes up so he's all alone. We hear about them almost constantly but it isn't until like 40% in that we meet them for the first time. We have a good idea of them so we're somewhat prepared when we do actually meet them. It's the same with Will in stranger things, he's missing for all of season 1 but we hear about him so we already have opinions and thoughts when we properly meet him in s2.

Falin is like this. She's not there, but she haunts the narrative because everything they do is for her. She's brought up in almost every single episode and the story doesn't end until she's okay because we see it from Laios' perspective. To him, Falin is the most important thing in the world. It doesn't matter that he just saved the world from an apocalypse, he just wants to see his sister.

When we do finally meet her in episode 13 (I think it was 13), we're excited and it's so much fun to finally see her after hearing so much of her!!!

I love girls who haunt the narrative :]

Anyway now that I've read the manga, I love her even more.