#this is utterly gorgeous and amazing and (EXPLODES!!!!!)

[naamahdarling]

What are some of your favorite self-indulgent movies that most people don't appreciate the way you do? Tell me about them! Tell me why you appreciate them!

There's two kinds of people, sharply divided: those who watched the first ten minutes of A Knight's Tale and walked away disgusted, and those who saw it and went all-in and love it to this day. Not lying when I say Heath Ledger in that movie saved my life.

Legend is bad but also amazing. Gorgeous, stylish, amazing soundtrack, like a picture book brought to life. I cannot say much else for it, but some of the actors are really enjoying themselves, and Tim Curry's performance is simply unbelievable.

Ladyhawke is totally underappreciated as a fantasy action movie. It actually has a lot of emotional impact for what it is, largely because of Rutger Hauer and Michelle Pfeiffer. The final scene where she destroys the emotional hold the bad guy has over her without uttering a word is incredibly powerful. I like the soundtrack a LOT, but it ruined it for a lot of folks. Those folks are sad and wrong.

Sky High. I'm sick of superheroes. Just fucking done. Yes, that one. That other one too. I'm exhausted and want the genre to fuck off. I was delighted beyond belief when the genre exploded, and now it makes me want to die because it is all so exhausting. Yet one of my favorite movies is Sky High, a kids' movie, a comedy, and it remains one of the best superhero movies ever made, and fucking nobody saw it. It's hilarious, the performances are really fun, everyone is having a great time, and the story is solid. Is it cheesy? Yes. But it is also very very good.

Hard Target, so underrated as an action movie, yet utterly delightful. It was pretty to look at, the bad guys were extremely likeable and fun, and I love anything set in Louisiana, even if it's very bad.

And Roadhouse, the best shitty movie ever made. I cannot defend it in any way that matters. It's incredible. You either get it or you don't.

I'm sure there are others I'm not thinking of, but many of my favorites are cheesy but NOT underappreciated. The first two Mummy movies, Tremors, Scream, etc. We know and love them.

The rest of my faves are less self-indulgent and have a lot of redeeming value, usually because they are super good at being what they are and are acknowledged to be as much. Tombstone, The Thing, Jaws, The Ghost and the Darkness.

A few are just Good on every level. Labyrinth, The Last Unicorn. Two movies that made my soul what it is.

[saraminia]

I'm just thinking about rwrb.. I'm so lost in the sauce. Like deep. I found myself analyzing the love making scene and I am in awe of the acting and the detail in that scene. They did an amazing job with it truly. The intimacy and immediacy of it. The visceral feeling it gives the viewer. Those small details give it so much authenticity. It's just gorgeous. Like here

Look at Henry's right arm. He's reaching his hand down to guide Alex in. And then the moment Alex enters

Beautiful acting. Then the deep exhale as Henry adjusts and then look at Henry's face as Alex pushes deeper

And of course Henry's left hand holding the left knee up, opening himself for his lover. It is so intimate and vulnerable and erotic. It's raw and sexual and sensual and their emotional connection makes it so achingly beautiful and meaningful. I'm going to explode. This movie is making me insane.

Idek what I'm trying to say. Maybe just that they could have made this scene so differently, much more like a typical romcom sex scene where all we see is some lackluster innuendo or something so utterly soulless, but instead they gave us this. This stunning piece of art. They didn't need to add all that detail, but they did. They gave the gays everything. This movie and this scene is so important. Gay desire and gay sex is beautiful and they proved it.

[bluepeachstudios]

GHOST IN THE SHELL IS AMAZING. I LOVE IT SO MUCH!!!

2003 Donnie is my favourite turtle of all time, and your characterisation of him is utterly GORGEOUS. I can totally imagine cannon Donnie turning into Ghost; his little mannerisms are there, his kindness, his curiousity - just buried under so much PAIN. His interactions with the Rise kids are just *chef's kiss*.

I'm looking forwards to Ghost finding out that Splinter/Lou Jitsu is actually Hamato Yoshi. I'm kind of imagining that his brain is going to explode. The difference between THIS Hamato Yoshi and Ghost's perception of his dimension's Hamato Yoshi is even bigger than the difference between the two Splinters - and that's before you get to them BEING THE SAME PERSON.

Also, I NEED TO KNOW (please) - what was Ghost's reaction to the Lair Games when he first moved in? Did he hide? Supervise? Did the boys try to get him to join in or judge? Does he become more involved over time, or leave it as something Splinter does with them? Does he sit on the side waving four differently coloured flags at once and quietly cheering all the boys on? Does Leo become a better winner over time because Ghost is there? Do the Games themselves change?

Thank you so very much for writing and sharing such a wonderful story with all of us!!

GHOST'S FIRST REACTION TO THE LAIR GAMES OH BOY

He did not participate at all the first year, despite the boys' begging and pleading. He saw that it was something that Splinter and April did with them and felt he would only get in the way. Plus, he still wasn't eager on interacting with Splinter in any capacity.

He did get some sweet camera angles for April up in the pipes, though.

The second year was very much the same, but Ghost watched from the second floor instead of the pipes.

The third year, he sets up more camera angles for April to choose from when she edits it. He also gets(pirates) her some Good Editing Software! He sits on the sidelines, but stays out of the middle of all the chaos. He just watches.

The forth year is this coming year :D

[tommyspeakycap]

Shelby!Sister getting poisoned whilst at dinner with the whole family?

changed it up a bit; reader is roofied at one of Tommy’s fancy ball type parties and there’s one particular gentleman around to help her out.

Good Team

Tommy had, since you were merely a little girl, endeavoured to introduce you emphatically as (y/n) Shelby, with your surname stated soaked in ferocity and warning. You are a Shelby. You are his little sister. He makes sure people know this. He makes sure they’re aware. He sees it as a pre-warning, the kind that lets them know that you are very very important to him without actually saying those words. He sees it very much as a pre-warning for grievous bodily harm had any trouble befell you at another persons discretion. It was made incredibly clear from the moment you were born that you were so far from off limits to the enemies that it didn’t even need to be spoken.

However, it was a relatively occasional occurrence that this message was not accurately conveyed no matter how clear your elder brother was about the matter.

You were usually so cautious and so careful, but you were in your brothers own ballroom with his own supplied champagne and you had very few worries of such a simple business gathering for Christmas. You were adorning an extortionate dress that Tommy had made for you with a beautiful fur shoulder wrap, cheeks dusted with a champagne blush and a gorgeous smile as you mingle with rich business people and rich couples who were born into money. They were amazing at times to ogle at, coming from such a poor background. It was hard enough to adjust to your new life flaunting pretty dressed and walking around with a purpose and a job that had significant purpose.

But it would be safe to say you weren’t so worried around these people. You should’ve known better.

You keep blinking, squeezing your eyes shut to try and find vision again that wasn’t restricted by blurriness. The heels on your feet didn’t aid you much in the way of keeping your balance as you stumble into a long hall. You don’t remember where you last saw Tommy and you can’t remember where the glass you were holding had gone. You don’t know much, but you know you have to find one of your brothers.

Heavy footsteps behind you send a rush of hazed adrenaline through your veins, forcing your legs to move you faster, your arms scratching off paintings lining the walls as you attempt to use the wall as a stabiliser.

“Someone’s ‘ad a bit much, eh?”

Your eyelids flicker as you try to keep them open against the light that makes you feel like your head is exploding. “No, no I- there’s someone trying to get me!” You hiss in a slurred whisper with arms that flail somewhat aimlessly as you attempt to point out the person behind you. The man with his his on your biceps steadying you leans around to get a good look behind you. “Mhm, there me no one there love.” He says, confused. You can only vaguely make out who the person is that holds you up and it’s someone you know your brother only invited so as to attempt to talk him into taking on more Blinders for distillery protection.

Alfie Solomons wasn’t entirely the most trustworthy person that surrounded your family. Him and Tommy had a bit of a tendency to betray each other, no matter how expected it always was. The London gangster probably wasn’t the best person for you to bump into and definitely not the most reliable, but he was who you had ended up with and although it could have been him that drugged you, it didn’t seem incredibly likely. He told Tommy and Grace when greeting people at the front door; “No need for the fucking niceties eh Tommy? I’m here for the free booze mate yeah?” and walked on through with a pat on your brothers back.

Despite the fact you didn’t have much trust in him, you really holed that he wouldn’t pass you off as being overly drunk and leave you alone. You feel dreadfully unwell. Alfie looks down the hall, then back at you and with a sigh, he slips his strong arm around your waist and pulls you into his side for your stability. “I think you’re right, Shelby.” Alfie mutters under his breath, barely loud enough for even you to hear. “Something‘s just not right.” He turns to you, using his arm that wasn’t wrapped around you to lift up your eyelid. Beyond the terror in your eyes in huge pupils. “You’ve been drugged,” he states, his voice still low. “Better find those brothers of yours.”

That brings you some form of relief, but the terror still remains. It’s a scary situation, to know what you want to do with your limbs and know exactly what you want to say, but to be unable to speak or walk or even hold up your head. Your heart hadn’t stopped racing and you were drenched in sweat. It’s a shock you didn’t recognise you had been drugged before hearing Alfie say it.

His arm is tight around the waistline of your expensive ballgown, keeping you steady against him as he walked as quickly as he could manage while supporting your weight. He only vaguely knew the way around Tommy’s huge country house, but he did know where the man’s office was, and he’d likely have a maid in waiting there who Alfie could send to fetch him once he got you there. As you both rounded the corner into the corridor that would take you to Tommy’s office, there a man dressed like a waiter standing seemingly waiting for you. “Mister Shelby sent me to collect his sister when he heard she was overly inebriated.” The man spoke. Alfie furrowed his eyebrows tightly, but nodded and walked you closer to him. You want to protest, but your mind still won’t coordinate with your body and the most you can do is grumble. “She’s a bit hard to deal with,” Alfie admits, “So a tip you should really know for the future?“ He pauses, moving as though he’s going to pass you over to the arms of the other man. Alfie leans in until he’s only a few inches away and whispers a warning “I fucking hate liars,” before sharply drawing back his head only to but it forward forcefully into the man’s face.

He stumbles back and Alfie takes that opportunity to grab the front of his suit jacket and throw him behind the two of you with a kick to his ribs a few times for good measure. He wraps his arm back around your waist and continues on down the hall as if nothing had ever happened. “Could tell by his-fuck!”

A yelp leaves you as your legs tangled when you attempt to bare your own weight and instead clatter to the floor with a thud. Alfie grunts and you fight to open your heavy eyelids to see that a man had dove out at him from a doorway along the long hall and there were now two of them and two of you, except they were both conscious and had full control of their own bodies, whereas it fell upon Alfie to fight for both of you. The Londoner truly does not know why he has put himself in this situation for anyone, never mind for a Shelby he had only met a handful of times. But every time he had met you, you were incredibly sweet and kind to him. He knows that they’ll stop attacking him if he allows them to take you and do as they please with you, but something in him prevents him from doing that. There’s a part of him that encourages him to spit the blood from his mouth and stand in front of where you lay in and out of consciousness on the fell, ready to fight for you like he had something to lose if he couldn’t protect you. Tommy would never know Alfie was there with you if he walked away now, but something in him wants to be there. Wants to fight for you.

And so fight he does, throwing punch after punch, trying to take on two at once. Alfie managed to take the blonde assailant out of the game by cracking the wall with his blonde head of hair, leaving him out cold and potentially dying on the floor. When he does that though, his moment of glory is short lived before the other appears behind him with an arm tightly around his throat. Alfie squirms and grunts, kicks and scratches attempting to get him off, but the attacker holds on despite the blows. Alfie thinks he may well have to accept his fate.

Then he clocks you again on the floor, except this time your hands and trailing up your leg, hiking up your dress and he is utterly confused at your behaviour, thinking that it must be the drugs acting weird in your system. That is, until your dress reaches your upper thigh and the London gangster feels what he thinks may be butterflies when he spots the holster and gun that had been well hidden by your long ballgown. He would laugh, grin even if he wasn’t being strangled nearly to death. He watched with blurry vision as you try to steady your hands enough to point the gun at the attacker that was too bury trying to hold Alfie Solomons down to notice your movements. Alfie squeezes his eyes shut as you move your finger over the trigger and he hopes to God your heads are steady enough to shoot the right person.

The bang goes off and very suddenly he can breathe again. He notes that’s a good sign. He scrambles away quickly, turning around to press his foot onto the bullet wound in the shoulder of his attacker. “I will come back for you.” He growls in warning, pressing his foot harder to elicit a scream before he nods and turns back to where you stand. He wipes the blood off the bottom of his shoe on the carpet before he steps forward to swoop your gun off the floor to slip it back into your thigh holster, and then he helps you back up. Except this time, he opts to sweep you off your feet and into his arms bridal style.

“Good shot.” He notes. You breath a chuckle with hooded eyes in response, but can’t manage anything else. If you hadn’t been severely drugged, Alfie might’ve kissed you.

He makes it to Tommy’s office with ease, ordering the maid to get your brother immediately. Alfie lays you down on the soft couch in the office, placing you carefully on on your side for safety in case you’re sick. He uses the not blood tinted side of his handkerchief to wire some blood splatter and sweat from your face gently, and offers a gentle smile. “We make a good team, Solomons.” You hum with words slurred and jumped, but he understand what you said nonetheless. “That we do, Shelby.” He rumbles back in response.

The moment is as any moment of yours often is, interrupted by your elder brothers storming in. Immediately, Alfie is ripped from your side by Arthur slamming the him roughly against the wall with a loud clatter and bang. John goes to stand by Arthur’s side, and Tommy takes a knee beside you. The patriarch places his cool hand against your forehead before dipping down to place his ear just above your lips. “She’s breathing.” He concludes, “What the fuck did you do to her?” He sneers through gritted teeth as he takes steps towards Alfie.

“And why the fuck and you covered in blood.” Alfie sighs heavily, rolling his eyes and flaring his nostrils at the proximity of the three Shelby brothers. “Funny story, you see Tommy.” He grumbles discontentedly, “Seems as though someone tried after your sister right under your fucking nose, mate. Drugged her drink, removed her from the crowd. I found her wandering the halls all fuckin’ disoriented yeah. Now I don’t like a man who targets a woman, much less has to fuckin’ drug her to achieve it.” Alfie shrugs. Tommy narrows his eyes, but something in him believes what the Camden Town Gangster is saying. Alfie doesn’t have much in the way of necessity for taking you and it wouldn’t make sense for him to have the opportunity to but instead to bring you here. Right to them. “Doesn’t explain the fucking blood.” Arthur hisses, slamming his back against the wall again.

Alfie holds up his hands. “You’re little sister isn’t such a damsel as you make her out to be, Thomas. She has a fantastic shot. Some cunts-“ Alfie’s words drop with pure venom as the reminder of the man nearly strangling him to death reenters his mind, “Came after her. On that note, you’ll need a carpet cleaner and some body bags just along that hall. Don’t let the missus see that mess.”

Tommy paused for a moment, his eyes not leaving Alfie’s even when he speaks. “John, check that corridor.” He orders, making his younger brother grunt in annoyance but do as told nonetheless. “Arthur,” He grumbles, placing a hand on his shoulder, “Take our sister upstairs and get Polly.” Arthur is hesitant. Tommy might believe the words that Alfie speaks, but Arthur despises him and the only thing he hates more than Alfie is the thought of Alfie’s hands on you without any of them being there to help you, protect you. He knows that he and a Tommy are asking themselves the same question. How could something like this happen to you right beneath their noses. How had someone managed to get to when they were so close, literally right in the same room in an event organised by them. Arthur couldn’t answer the question, but could probably have killed Alfie in his rage at that moment. “Arthur,” Tommy repeats more firmly, “Go.”

This time, he listens. But that’s not without a warning glare at Alfie, who simply offers a smirk in response. “And you,” Tommy says finally, turning his attention to Alfie, “Fuck off.”

Alfie chuckles, but begins to walk past Tommy to leave the office when the smaller man grabs his arm in a vice like grip that makes the tips of his fingers tingle with the strength of it. Alfie feigns the urge to fight back in reaction to the pain. Tommy leans in close to his ear with a low snarl, “You don’t just help people. I don’t care what the reason was eh, but don’t you ever go near my sister again.”

Then he lets go and Alfie simply shakes off his arm and walks away. He hasn’t listened to Tommy Shelby any time in the past, and it appears as though today will be no different.

[razberryyum]

TGCF donghua Special Episode Thoughts (SPOILERS for episode & novel!)

Favorite moment:

Of COURSE that amazing ending sequence, which is the mirror of Dianxia's backstory at the end of the first episode, except this time from Hua Cheng's point of view. Speaking of, holy mother of YUM, dear gods, Hua Cheng:

Look at this "hideous" man. I am DROOLING.

Funny thing is, I didn't even know his appearance was supposed to be a secret, that we technically hadn't seen his face yet all this time. I remember we had a super quick glimpse of him in the Banyue pit and I thought that was his reveal, that that'll be all we'll get for now and I was fine with that...that is, until this ending sequence happened and we actually see him in his entirety. My eyes will forever never be the same. What was I even thinking??? The flashes in the pit were absolutely inferior to the real thing. No comparison. He is so gorgeous; I can't WAIT for Xie Lian to meet him next season.

Second favorite moment:

What I love about this scene is first of all it features some of my favorite lines from the novel, "If you don't know what to live for, then just live for me. If you don't know the meaning of life, then take me as the meaning your life." Even though Dianxia was playing it up for dramatic effect, I loved how he crawled towards San Lang and then uttered the lines with such conviction. I LOVED the way the music reached a cresendo during his words--hell, I love the music in this entire episode, this entire show, period. I also love how bittersweet this scene is: here Dianxia is so embarrassed by his own words that he even laughs about them, dismisses them, not know just how much of an effect they had on the person he said them to, how they really did serve to motivate that person to live on, to exist, utterly for him. Not knowing at all that that person he said what he now thinks were silly words to is right in front of him. The irony!

I'm still making my way through the book so I haven't gotten to the part where all is revealed to Xie Lian yet, but I can only imagine how shocking and emotional this particular revelation would be. It'll probably be ten years before we get to see all that in the donghua, if we ever do, but I'm gonna keep on crossing my fingers and hoping.

"I swear, whether in Heaven or or on Earth, you cannot find someone more sincere than me". The subs left out the Heaven or Earth part but it's still such a good line. Love also how San Lang precedes that by trying to reach out to touch Dianxia but is like too afraid to. The donghua really captured his feelings of...I guess I'd call it timid inferiority...so well.

I have a strong suspicion what that ring is (irl, I've seen companies advertising turning ashes into diamonds as a keepsake of your loved ones...never tried it so I don't know if it's the real deal or some kind of scam) and I cannot wait to get to that revelation as well. Putting aside the potential significance of this momento, the fact that Hua Cheng left Dianxia a ring to wear around his neck is already a beautiful gesture on its own.

I already miss seeing how San Lang looks adoringly at Xie Lian. In fact, I think I'm going to miss San Lang for quite a while since next season I think we'll be mostly spending time with Hua Cheng. Not complaining at all since Hua Cheng will no doubt look at Dianxia just as adoringly, but I will miss this cute guy.

Also already missing the cuteness that is Dianxia. I love all his expressions...the way he said "San Lang" just made my heart explode. How can he be this adorable??? Really, bravo to Jiang Guangtao-laoshi, his voice actor, for such an endearing voice performance. I actually started listening to the Qiang Jin Jiu audio drama because I've become a fan. Imagine Xie Lian being super seductive all the time. That's the ear candy I'm enjoying now, even though I only understand like less than half of the plot due to my shoddy Chinese comprehension.

Proud of how San Lang didn't just lose it when Dianxia cradled his face like that. This man really has unbelievable self control.

I loved that they were chatting in bed like an old married couple. I'm sure this is a glimpse into their future married life. 😁

Besides SanLian, I know Banyue was in this episode as well, I still think she's adorable and love her voice, and I'm glad she gets to enjoy a torture-free life now (I am assuming she does).

I'm glad we got this special episode to really close out the season, but I'm still kinda confused as to why we didn't get it at the actual end of the season but rather as an odd stand alone episode like this. Obviously it picked up right where the 11th episode left off, so it would've slotted in perfectly well. I was hoping the reason they held on to it was because they were going to attach a teaser PV for the next season, but alas that wasn't the case. I wonder if they just needed more time to finish the episode. I still don't quite understand how the Chinese donghua industry works: for something seemingly as popular as TGCF, you would think they'd have good enough budget and resources to finish episodes in time and to make more than just 12 episodes. There are other donghua shows I've seen on Bilibili that have blown way past 12 episodes, so I don't understand why they have to stubbornly stick to a dozen only for something like TGCF. Or is it a danmei thing, I wonder. They just don't want to devote the time and resources to danmei shows beyond just 12 episodes? So weird. Again, VERY GRATEFUL we're getting a second season. SINCERELY praying that we get many more seasons after so that eventually they'll finish out the book. God I hope I finish reading before the donghua team finishes putting out the show.

And that brings me to: Current Reading Progress...chapter 160. Look, I'm gonna be honest, I'm just not a fan of the whole jinx demon concept or the Brocade Immortal. I know all mysteries of the week lead back to the gods and their backstory, but as CONCEPTS, I was just NOT into them so I constantly got distracted. I know MXTX-laoshi was under a LOT of pressure from both censorship and just ridiculous deadlines (I was told she had to produce a chapter a day, which is INSANE), so I feel like a douchebag for even thinking anything negative about the book...not to mention I'm only on Book 3 still so maybe all of this will be wrapped up nicely at the end. But for now, yeah, those two as ideas are a bit underwhelming and almost silly (especially the Brocade Immortal) and maybe I don't need the backstory of ALL the gods. Anyway, before anyone yells at me, there's always a chance I might change my mind about all this by the end...which I hope to get to soon. Didn't finish the book in time for this special episode which was my goal, so readjusting the goalpost back a little further...hopefully just a tad...like a few weeks, because I DO want to get to the unrelenting pain soon so that I can get through the suffering and finally to the HuaLian happily ever after ending.

[headcanonsandmore]

“Stress Relief” 

Summary: Ron and Hermione have some fun with each-other on Valentine’s Day.

Tagging: @princesserica84 

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Read on AO3

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Warning: The following fic contains scenes of an s*xual nature and is not ace safe.

Hermione awoke gradually, in that way she always did on mornings when she didn’t have to work. Weak February sunlight was reaching into the room.

The bushy-haired witch sat up dimly in bed, rubbing her eyes.

Rose and Hugo were both over at the Burrow for a few days, on Ron’s suggestion. The kids had been excited to spend time with their grandparents, and Hermione had certainly not objected to spending several days alone with Ron, even if she did miss her kids.

Speaking of which… where was Ron?

Sliding her legs over the side of their large king-size bed (Ron had loved the pun), Hermione could distantly hear the sounds of plates being loaded up downstairs, and then the gradual creak of the carpet on the staircase.

‘Hey, sleepy head.’

Ron looked, as ever, utterly gorgeous. His red hair was tousled from sleep and… other things they’d gotten up to last night.

Hermione smiled, both at her husband and at the memory.

‘Morning, handsome,’ she said, as Ron walked into the room, carrying a tray laden down with breakfast food. ‘Not like you to leave me alone in bed.’

‘Wanted to get breakfast sorted,’ Ron said, his ears flushing a little at her flirtatious tone. ‘If I’d woken you up, we would have never gotten out of bed.’

‘True,’ Hermione giggled, propping their pillows up against the headboard. ‘But what’s the occasion?’

‘Fourteenth of February,’ Ron said, sitting down next to her. ‘Don’t tell me you forgot it was Valentine’s Day? After everything we got up to last night?’

Hermione pressed a kiss to his cheek.

‘Forgive me, love,’ she purred. ‘I guess my brain got disengaged from getting so thoroughly ravished.’

Ron’s adams apple bobbed in his throat.

‘Hermione,’ he whispered. ‘I thought you’d be hungry for food, not for me.’

‘What can I say?’ she giggled, feeling his pyjama bottoms begin to swell. ‘I like to switch things up occasionally. How about you? Hungry for me?’

As if in response, the breakfast tray was banished to the floor nearby. Ron’s wandless magic tended to react to strong emotions.

Hermione squealed happily as Ron flipped her onto her back on the mattress, before pressing his lips to hers.

‘You know it, Mrs Granger-Weasley.’

The look in his eyes was so warm and caring that Hermione tangled her hands in his hair, pressing herself against him. With a knowing chuckle, she felt Ron throb against her.

Pulling away, Ron scrambled backwards, and grabbed the bottom of Hermione’s nightdress.

‘Now, let’s get this pesky thing out of the way…’

Hermione’s eyes fluttered shut as Ron pulled her nightdress up to her midriff, his hands sinking into the soft flush of her thighs. Ron seemed to have rather liked the changes her body had gone through after having two kids. He said she was… what was it… curvy for days?

Not that she was complaining. He certainly wasn’t. As he was making very clear with what he was currently doing. Mmmm…

‘Oh… god…’

Chuckling to himself, Ron fingers began to trace patterns along her skin, as his mouth began pressing kisses to her lower stomach. Hermione felt her chest begin to heave, the lacy pattern of her night attire clinging to the perspiration that was now covering her skin. Merlin, she loved the way Ron could send her into blissful oblivion with such expert handling. He really seemed to know her body so well. Which made sense, after almost a decade of marriage.

‘R-Ron…’ she gasped, her voice breathy. ‘Y-yes… ohhh….’

‘Hermione…’

With a husky growl, Ron pulled her knickers down her legs. She heard the sound of the material being dropped off the bed.

Hermione squealed again, as Ron’s tongue began to explore, sending delicate shivers up her spine as one of his hands drifted up her torso.

‘R-Ron… wait, let me…’

Sitting up slightly, Hermione hurriedly pulled her nightdress over her head, and threw it aside. Now completely naked, she fell back down on the mattress. Her eyes flipped over, to see Ron throwing his pyjama bottoms aside. He towered over her, his eyes glittering with passion.

‘Merlin, you drive me wild, Hermione…’

Her chest heaving, Hermione spread her legs.

‘Now, Ron… hurry!’

Ron surged forward, and Hermione gave a gasp as she felt herself be filled. Her legs curled around Ron’s back, as she pressed herself closer to him. Fuck. This was something that never got old, no matter how much time passed. He loved her, and she him. After almost ten years of being married, and over five years of dating before that, they really did know each other inside-and-out. Which made moments like this especially brilliant. Ron knew exactly which spots to hit, and she knew what got him going too.

Fuck, she loved him.

‘Oh… Ron… fuck…. god…’

‘Hermione…’ Ron moaned, one hand sinking into the flesh of her arse. ‘Yeah…. fuck….’

Their lips pressed together, as one of Hermione’s hands became entangled in his beautiful red hair, the other clawing into his back in an effort to get even closer to him physically.

Hermione felt the fire of passion burning through every molecule of her being. God, this was amazing! Fucking amazing!

‘Ron… y-yes… keep… keep going…’

‘Y-you almost there?’

‘Y-yes… almost…’

‘M-me too… oh, fuck… ‘Mione…’

Ron gave one last thrust, before he exploded inside. Hermione gave a deep moan as her own orgasm erupted through her, her legs clamping tightly around Ron as he continued to buck against her.

Slowly, their breathing eased, and Ron pressed a kiss to her forehead.

‘Damn…’ he breathed, wrapping his arms around her waist. ‘We’re getting better at this, aren’t we?’

‘Definitely,’ Hermione gasped, relaxing against him. ‘Must be not having to worry about the kids knocking on the door halfway through.’

Ron chuckled, easing himself out of her, and sitting up against the headboard. Picking up his wand from the bedside table, he summoned the breakfast tray from the floor. Hermione sat up next to him and took a plate that he passed along to her.

‘Well, I thought that was rather a nice way to wake up,’ Hermione said, snuggling into his side as she began to chew on her slice of toast. ‘Very good stress-reliever.’

‘Definitely,’ Ron said, putting an arm around her and not-so-subtly cupping one of her breasts.

‘You are a tease,’ she giggled, enjoying the feeling of his expert hand against her areola. ‘Anyone would think you were trying to keep me shagged out all day.’

‘Says the person who seduced me after I made them breakfast,’ he retorted. ‘Besides, we’ve got all day to ourselves. After we’re fed and watered, how about we enjoy some more stress relief?’

‘I’m not sure…’ Hermione said, slowly, as she chewed. ‘I mean… we did get rather sweaty…’

‘We have a magically-extended bath,’ Ron said, knowingly. ‘And we do have that sudsy stuff we got each-other for Christmas...’

Hermione giggled, as Ron warmed her coffee cup with his wand and handed it to her. Stress relief was definitely a good thing. Especially on Valentine’s Day.  

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Happy Valentines Day, everyone; thanks for reading! Hope you liked this little fic!

[popculturebuffet]

Ducktales Della Arc Reviews: The Spear of Selene or THE INCREDIBLE STORKULES, GOD OF HOMEROTIC SUBTEXT OUT OF MYTH!

Hello all you happy people and welcome back to my coverage of the Della arc! It’s our last 2017 episode before the Finale, and it’s a huge one as we delve into a fan faviorite that introduces a pair of fan faviorites, a drum of tzatkiki sauce worth of gay,  an asshole so odious getting sent to the bowls of hades and laughed at for all enternity after being cast out by eveyrone he knows really was getting off light, and at last some plot progression on this arc. At the time it aired mind you at this point Dellas been a beloved cast member for three years, and we’ve known what happened to her for longer than that. 

At the time though.. it’d been 8 MONTHS since the Great Dime Chase. Let that sink in. The Della reveal was the biggest hook of an already exceptional pilot: It not only promised to flesh out a character who’d had all of one story in the comics at this point in present day, but solve the mystery of why she was gone. Not only that but Scrooge and Donald’s feud clearly stemmed from this exact moment. And the first full episode in the arc confirmed it: Della had taken whatever “The Spear of Selene” was and apologized to Scrooge for it. So why had she taken it, why did Donald blame scrooge, why did Scrooge not blame himself, at least outwardly, where was she, what was the spear of selene...

As I pointed out last time airing order didn’t help and due to airing the arc episodes really close together, gave the impression the arc would not only move fast but take up more of the season than it did. In practice both arcs take up a fourth of the season not including the finale, which would take both up to about a third. The expectation on how much of the season would be taken up by the arc.. was on Disney for airing things badly. I will give credit where it’s do as they moved this episode up in the order to try and make up for it (and give themselves a huge mid season opener).. but then for some reason shoved the last episode before last crash, ie. the only one they coudln’t move, way back to right before that episode. “ Here’s an actual photo of the person who made this decision

As I said they did get better next season with only a few swaps and only for good reason. So props. 

HOWEVER.... this episode still has some  flaws with pacing and revealing info, with or without Disney drunk driving the schedule. The wait between episodes in this plot is an episode LONGER in production order... and dosen’t move the plot forward by much. I will get to that when the time comes.. and that DESPITE this treatment of the fans.. this episode is still one of the seasons best. How are both things true? Join me under the cut to find out. 

Thunderstormy to be precise and the Sunchaser is natrually encountering loads of turbulence with Launchpad barely holding int here while Donald’s buffeted around the back. Why Donald’s with them... 

But it’’s one of his only five starring episodes in the season, out of 9 appearances total the rest of which are cameos.  Yeah now seems as good as time as any to talk about Season 1′s Donald Duck problem. 

See Donald was promoted as a major part of the series, rightly so since he was reduced to a guest star for the 87 series due to a combination of Disney not wanting to overexpose the characters, people possibly not being able to understand his voice and thus making plots hard to understand, and Tony Anselmo being new to the roll at the time. So the reboot went all out promoting the fact Donald would be in it, front and center and gave him TWO character shorts to the rest of the casts one. Disney really went out of their way to show he’d be in there so as a certified Donald Fanatic, I was sure he’d actually be in the show a lot and on the adventures a lot. The crew were not blameless as both promotional arts featured him. Launchpad and Beakly conversely were asbent, so the impression given by all of this was that Donald would be central to the series and in a lot of episodes, given equal focus to scrooge and the kids. 

This.. didn’t happen as you all know. Instead as stated he’s up front and center for 5 episodes, and makes cameos in others, but generally is hardly around. Now there is KINDA an excuse to this as he doesn’t want to adventure, be in the mansion or any of that.. but it’s a REALLY weak one. He still at least could’ve made more cameos, the fact he was working on the boat all that time isn’t made clear till last crash, and his two spotlight episodes both have him dragged along on the adventure anyway, so it’s not like his not wanting to be there meant he woudln’t be forced to join in anyway. There were ways to include him, still have him in a supporting role instead of leaving him back at the mansion.. and even the second episode proved there was still comedy to be mliked from that.. and pathos don’t forget the pathos. So yeah this was easily the biggest mistake of the season and one season 2 largely corrected: He got four dedicated plots, and was around a decent amount in the first half of the season and while he DID get shot up to the moon... it was for valid reasons. They wanted to focus on Della and the kids, give her room to breathe as a brand new major addition to the show, and thus him being around and the elephant in the room of his and scrooge’s feud that was never dealt with on screen, would’ve distracted from that. And even with that they still gave him a focus episode that somehow added more depth and MASSIVELY advanced the main plot, and a sizeable roll in the finale. Season 3 likewise had things better: while he shows up as much as in season 1, the episode count is lower by one, and he’s a major part of the plot in every one BUT Last Christmas, with four of those having the spotlight on him in some way. They eventually did figure out how to use him far more ballanced. So yeah credit where it’s do it got MUCH better, but he still felt like a recurring character in his own series, that was still bad, and I still needed to give out about it. 

But Webby and Dewey have a mission even if Dewey dosen’t quite get what’s going on so they flip a switch to turn on a warning light of some kind forcing Launchpad to make an emergency landing on a gorgeous tropical island. To Huey’s amazement, as the place was apparenlty only a myth, though naturally the guidebook did have it’s aproximate location listed... Ithaquack, home of the gods. Naturally Scrooge and Donald want to leave as soon as possible for reasons we’ll get into but Launchpad , for once is being a responsible pilot “Better safe than.. something right? Scrooge is of course irate that Launchpad picked NOW of all times to be safe, and the Kids.. don’t listen because Huey sees a beautiful realm of myth, Louie sees a beach vacation and Dewey and Webby.. have work to do. Webby eventually fills Dewey in on why their here, having wrongly assumed he got why they were going to a mythical greek island. As Dewey delightfully puts it later “Don’t assume I know anything. “ So she pieces it together for him: Selene was the greek goddess of the moon... Della took the SPEAR of Selene. Ergo this island is the best place to find the Spear and failing that, Selene herself to get more info on it and Della. 

So we have our two plots. Scrooge and Donald dealing with their pasts and the gods, and Dewey and Webby diving into his mom’s past. And unlike the last review where a genuinely unsettling story about an abuse victim forced to manipulate her girlfriend not going into a murder vault was paired with Louie having to deal with a Sasquatch while Huey catches a case of Dewey’s stupidity somehow, these two plots are perfectly paired: Their both perfectly thematically connected, both dealing with the past, Della’s absence and Scrooge and the Twins past encounters with the gods.. but both being self contained outside of that, entirely unconnected but stilll necessary to be in the same episode. THIS is how you do two plots. But since they don’t really synch up again till the end, let’s cover each one at a time shall we?

“What if My Mom was a Bad Person?” 

The plot is pretty straight forward but expertly done: Dewey and Webby first check your standard Zelda dungeon which apparently has a cursed weapon at the end. We also get an utterly adorable and sweet shot of Webby comforting Dewey after he’s clearly shook from it. Awwww. Turns out it’s the SWORD of Selene. and quickly turns into a game of put the Cursed Sword back before we all die. 

Next up is a monster who nearly kills both protecting it’s spear.. the spear of POSIDEN. (Look at meeeeee). And since they aren’t going to be on a boat that isn’t a house boat anytime soon, they don’t need that and the monster cheerfully redirects them, with Dewey apologizing for calling it ugly. 

So all pretty standard stuff for the show and really good stuff.. but it’s the building tension underneath that truly makes the episode and leads to one hell of a climax for this plot. All the while Dewey is DESPERATE for some explination for his mom’s disapperance that isn’t her betraying Scrooge, maybe returning the spear because it was cursed or getting eaten by a monster. Just ANYTHING but the mounting and horrifying suspicion.. that his mom was a bad person who destroyed her family and betrayed her uncle and laughed all the while. Webby.. does not help, backing that side of things and constantly voicing hte idea Della betrayed Scrooge, so obsessed with solving the mystery of her life.. but so unfamilliar with people she dosen’t see the very real toll this is taking on her best friend. To her she’s just making a logical counterpoint.. to him it’s just another idea in his head about the way his mom could’ve betrayed everyone she cared about. 

So that climax is where it explodes. Our heroes find a scale model of ithaquack (Complete with Tiny Maniticore! It’s so cute Webby just wants to slay it)  and an opening.. with an ominous message about incurring the wrath of the god seemingly conforming the worst. So Webby prepares to find out the whole story.. only for Dewey to stop her. No one’s finding this out, whatever it is, no matter how far they’ve come. And given this is the biggest mystery of her life and she simply dosen’t understand WHY Dewey dosen’t want to know.. both sides are ready to fight for this. And Webby DOES try to back him down, pointing out he really can’t beat her in a fight. But Dewey’s already grown leaps and bounds form the pilot and is working smarter not harder. Beat Webby, who spent a good chunk of her life being honed into the most badass child on the parent, one who can take on several of scrooge’s worst foes one on one? Not on his life. But hold her off long enough for the gate to close? He can do that. 

So the result? One of the best fights of the series... and given the sheer amount of great ones we’ve gottten since this one it still says something it holds up THIS well. It’s an even, furiously paced fight, with Dewey using every advantage he has including tossing said manticore to keep up, but not slowing down one bit. It’s heartbreaking to see the two come to this but it’s an delight to watch. Webby DOES win eventually, though time’s running out to get in and she finally asks WHY. And  while the stakes have been crystal clear for both this whole time.. we get them laid out in the most painful way for both. 

Webby: We're so close to the truth! Why won't you let us find it?! Dewey: Because...*his voice cracks* what if my mom was a bad person?

It hits VERY hard. For Webby this has been a puzzle something to solve the greatest achivment of her life, her chance to make her mark... and her best friend just wanted to abandon it. But in one swift response, he disarms all of that.. and makes her see how insnstivie she’s been: He may not know his mom.. but he can’t bear the thought she was a bad person. That she left or WORSE, because she didn’t care about him, or scrooge or ANYONE. Knowing nothing is better than knowing she was a monster. 

Webby realizes what she’s been doing to her friend and is horrified and offers to back out. The answers.. aren’t worth destroying her brother. But her willingness to back down.. finally gets Dewey to see the light. His fear was valid.. but at the end of the day,  it’d never go away. it’d just keep eating him for the rest of his life, every time she was mentioned or he found something else out he’d just wonder if it was a lie and wonder wht he COULD’VE learned this day. And if Webby’s willing to sacrifice THIS MUCH to give him peace of mind... then he can sacrifice that peace of mind for the truth, for her, and for himself. So he pulls them inside. 

Inside they find Selene who suprises them.. and is then confused. Their not della. Also I guarantee mentally she’s thiking “Thank me I didn’t do it naked this time. “. After some confusion as to who this is, Webby explains that IS Selene, and Dewey begs for answers about the spear... only to find out she dosen’t have one. Nope. The sword seen before and a SPHERE, yes.. but no Spear. So the poor boy breaks down, back to square one. It’s hard not to see why... all this effort, all of this sacrifice.. and he’s no closer than when they first set down. 

Selene does help though... giving him an idea of who his mom WAS: one of her closest friends (And let’s face it  Della named the ship after Selene and Selene casually uses Della’s shower. If they didn’t go out at least once, I am an outer god. And I very much am not and they very much banged hard. Goodnight. ) , a good person who brought fun to everyone, and loved her family more than anything. Wether she betrayed Scrooge or not, she wasn’t a bad person. And her own orb shows it showing Della in her prime, brightly smiling next ot her family. Selene encourages the boy not to give up, that his mom always loved a mystery.. and he can solve this one and gently hugs the sobbing child.. with Dewey quickly pulling webby in. It’s genuinely touching and a satisfying ISH ending. 

The ish... is because while this is a VERY good plot, i’ll gush more about it at the end, it does have one supreme flaw: the mystery dosen’t progress. And with the huge gaps between this episode and hte next one, in BOTH airing orders... it’s unforgivable to not have EITHER plot give us any hints about what happened. I don’t ask for much, but they could’ve found a clue in the sphere Dewey got, or saw a memory of her that brought up the next place they look, just something a little. While it’s still a very fine story, the main plot suffers a bit by having one of the ONLY three episodes delving into the della mystery before it’s fully revealed in sunchaaser have almost no progress. Della was probably a good person, which comes from her ex who clearly still loves her so that’s not really reliable, and the spear isn’t literal. While the lack of progress works for the story in the episode itself.. it comes at the cost of any actual plot progression. We end up exactly where we started and have to wait SOME TIME before we get to the next spot on the tour. Well we did, you guys will find out Monday or Tuesday depending on if the finale goes up in the morning or Disney holds it till the actual airing. Please don’t you bastards. Point is it’s  VERY good plot, but it’s hampred by not really progressing the arc. 

The arc progression for this storyline is painfully slow, and tha’ts not on disney. In either order there’s a MASSIVE gap of 15+ episodes between what we learned in the great dime chase and what we learn in castle mcduck. It’s sloppy writing and I expect better from this team, especially since the Lena plot the same season is far tighter paced: each one builds a bit, both on Lena as a character (Why she’s doing this etc), her development as a person, her relationship with webby growing and Magica and her growing more and more spiteful with one another. They could’ve had at least ONE MORE subplot to build this up, especially since we really dind’t need the sasquatch episode but just.. didn’t for whatever reason and it’s still frustrating.  But as always credit where it’s due.. the next two seasons were better about it. 

Season 2 while not perfect, and we’ll get to it’s plots someday.. and I do say plots as not alternating between the two plots for season 1 was a mistake if a well meaning one as not to drive up the price for Kev but for future refrence if any of you want me to cover an arc for something I WILL have to cover all of it or any adjacent to it that flow into it. Point is they move faster and both Glomgold and Louie’s are pretty lowkey and low stakes so while enjoyable, their not moving incredibly fast dosen’t hurt the show. And the Moon plot has the best pacing of the three and possibly of the series plots period: We get filled in on Della fairly quick, getting answers on her WAY faster, get introduced to the moon and it’s people right away, get a whole episode on them, and the most importantly in sharp contrast? She returns HOME halfway into the season. 

I will probably go into this again when I get to nothing will stop della duck but Season 1′s pacing and general wisdowm made me think she wouldn’t get home anytime soon and she’d return in the finale. Instead? We get a whole half a season fleshing her out further, seeing her connect with her kids, all that good stuff, WITH an episode advancing the moon arc, without that arc feeling unimportant, but still having the slow pacing. 

Season 3 meanwhile while again not without bugs, the last few episodes before the finale having no real build up to it really wasnt a good idea and I question why these two episodes were the ones leading into it, has two seemingly barely related plots.. that EFFORTLESLY merge into one, with one hell of a huge twist in impossibin that ratchets up the stakes. I don’t know how it’ll payoff.. but we’ll see. 

So they did get better, i’m still hard on it because it happened.. but I will never stop stressing how this crew usually corrected a mistake. If they fucked up, they LEARNED FROM IT, course corrected, and made it better and they listened to US. IN the good way, not letting fans run the series but listening to valid concerns and adapting to them. And given how fucking rare that is and how hard it must’ve been with the tight schedule, I.. I really appricate it and i’m going to miss it. And I can’t think of a segue so enjoy this picture of a turtle hitting a trapper in the face with a bat instead. 

“Someone Always Gets Hurt”

So let’s take it back a few hours. Hit it boys!

Donald tries getting the boys back on the ship, clearly fearing something coming for him.. and we soon meet that something. Yes it’s the hero of legend, the stork out of myth, the star of a LOT of Donald Duck Slash FanFiction only half of which he wrote, STORKULES!

In case I didn’t make it clear when I reviewed New Gods on the Block! I love this guy. He reminds me a LOT of the marvel version: Boisterious , horny (if in a far more pg version), Gay (Pansexual for the marvel version), flawed but still immensley likeable. Stork is a bit diffrent, a bit more naive, a bit peppier and entirely blind to the fact his father is a terrible person. But my love of the marvel herc means Stork was an easy sell for me and Chris Dimatopolis’ performance is second to none, only topped in this series by his later work as Darkwing where he got a bit more range than “Joyous ham who wants to bang”. Also I’m 100% convenced he’s made this memetic expression to donald at some point... 

If someone hasn’t redrawn that with Storkules yet, we have failed as an internet. And if someone has please show me. 

His crush on Donald is also endearing even if I don’t ship the two. And if your curious as to why it’s simple: Storkules is attracted to a version of Donald that no longer exists. Storkules craves a Donald whose a brave daring hero who loves adventure. And while still a brave hero when the situation calls for it as this episode will bare out.. he just.. dosen’t have the passion for adventure he did as a kid. While a LOT of that is loosing his sister for a decade, even once he makes peace with that and later gets her back... he just wants a normal life. His greatest wish was for one. He apparenlty “wishes for this every day”. He dosen’t hate adventuering anymore and by season 3 has come to terms with the fact he’ll never get everyone else to stop.. but I also think it’s always been obvious he clearly wants to one day. To have a normal life, settle down, find a girl, and if she wants to get married. Get old , fat and happy. I honestly think that’s the direction the finale’s heading in judging from the previews. I don’t think he’ll ever stop entirely, his family life’s too insane for that.. but he just dosen’t want to keep going forever and Stork, being an immortal hero does. They want diffrent things entirely and that just won’t work. Though that’s also JUST me and if you ship them or have a way around that, feel free. This is just my opinon. 

Anyways Donald’s not happy, the kids are confused  and Scrooge. has problesm bigger than simply not knowing how to say i’m not into you.... aka Zeus, king of the gods and of all assholes. He was originally supposed to be a swan due to a certian myth.. but they realized since that myth is both really fucked up and really not for children to not do that because why the fuck would you. Point is Zeus in myth is an asshole, a rapist, a cheating husband, and a vengeful, petty dick and that’s with barely any knowledge of Greek Myth on my part. He’s played by Micheal Chiklis whose famous for The Comissh and the Shield.. but whose famous to me for playing the ever loving Blue Eyed thing in the Tim Story Fantastic Four movies.. and honeslty, at least till marvel takes a crack at it soon, is the best screen version of the character. Look the film is flawed and I don’t remember a lot of it.. but his stuff in it just NAILS the character perfectly, at least the first one, and while the look is.. eh, he was the perfect casting. He just wasn’t in the right movie. So he’s naturally awesome here as history’s greatest douchebag. 

As for why Zeus is pissed at him unlike say Donald (The whole Spear of Selene fiasco) or Magica (Who while even worse than Zeus still lost her brother because of his callousness), or others he’s wronged.. Scrooge did absolutely nothing wrong here. During a beach party Storkules intiates, he reveals he used to be king of the beach and loved and worshipped by the people of ithaquack, which last time the adult ducks visited was a lovely hideaway for heroes. Scrooge naturally did a bunch of heroic and cool stuff, and upstaged him, and then bested him in various games and what not. Zeus claims they ran off because of this and because they didn’t want to party with a god bested by a mortal.. but scrooge reveals pottery showing it’s because Zeus threw a temper tantrum aka “a year long lightning storm”. So yeah for once all Scrooge did was just upstage someone who was already objectively horrible and who brought all of htis on himself. Scrooge even points it out perfectly “They didn’t leave because they liked me, they left because they didn’t like YOU. “ 

Pissing off the god who already didn’t like you for stupid reason goes about how you’d expect and when Storkules tries to cool things down by suggesting a game, Zeus turns it into a contest. His son against Scrooge’s nephews. Because he uh dosen’t want to lower himself. Yeah that’s it, totally not that Scrooge would kick his ass and then fucking kick his ass. Yeah that’s the ticket. 

So our boys don Toga’s, and gear up for the first challenge: grabbing the bag of winds. In case you thought Spongebob just made that up. Zeus of course opens it so Donald can’t just leave, but Huey simply thinks his way out and wins , Zeus demands best 2/3 and we soon get a montage of various events from chariot racing to sculpture where we get our title picture, lest you thought I was kidding abotu Storkules obession with donald. I mean there’s subtextually having a character have a crush on another and then ther’es making a naked muscular statue of him. I.. I don’t even have a joke here. He made a naked muscular statue of Donald. The only way they could be less obvious without just coming outright and saying it was if hte statue was of hima nd storkules making out. And i’m 100% sure Frank, Matt and Dana, yes Dana Terrace was involved in this one i’m as unsurpised as you are, only didn’t do that because Disney said no. 

Zeus declares one final round because he’s tired of this..e ven though he CLEARLY won the last one while Donald once again tries to just leave and Storkules finally calls him on it wondering why he’s given up adventuring and wondering what della would say if she could see him like this, having just given up and not caring anymore about any of ths stuff.  “Well she can’t! Someone always gets hurt....”

And that one very sharp and painful line both outlines Donald’s arc here, and for the season, and makes it VERY clear why he retired and why I felt like he was already on his way and the spear of selene was simply the final straw. He gave up.. because he was just tired of it. Tired of being the one who got hurt.. and devistated when it wasn’t him that time. When he lost his sister for what he felt was NOTHING. Sure hte stars would be great but they’d done everything and gone everywhere..w asn’t.. wasn’t that enough/ Couldn’t they just be done? Couldn’t he just stop. The spear gave him an excuse to do what he always wanted, but it also caused him to harden up and view EVERYTHING about his old days of adventuring as bad when like most things i’ts not that simple., There were good times, sunshine, giant sized gay men obessing over you.. okay maybe the last part isn’t a plus in his book, but point is there was good and his arc is seeing that and realizing he can’t just cling to his pain. He has to let go so he can move on heathliy. 

As for said final challenge Zeus tasks the boys and Storkules with stealing the golden fleece from a little girl. While this is part of a whole scheme... he undereistmaed his son’s valour and Storkules is naturally sent spinning over having to steal from a child and is sent into a crisis. Louie however has no such qualms, as he is a children.. and he’s also louie.. but as he tries to the child starts singing. As Scrooge puts it “nothing good happens when creepy children start singing. “ Very true, it’s usually a sign freddy kruger’s about to show up or your  about to be taken by a miltiary orginzation obssed with The Doctor. 

The boys plug their ears.. and Zeus’ plan becomes horrifically clear. Turns out he had no real interest in an actual contest this time, and has the child take control of Storkules to murder them. And gives the doucheist shrug imaginable when his OWN SON IS BEGGING HIM NOT TO MAKE HIM MURDER SOME CHILDREN. 

Scrooge naturally gets involved. Meanwhile Donald is trying to escape the lightning cage Zeus is using to make sure no one leaves... when he hears the boys cries of terror. He may hate this kind of thing.. but there’s one thing and only one thing that can make him snap back into who he used to be like it was yesterday. And that’s harming his boys. So Donald snaps into action and it’s a glory to see as Scrooge snaps back with him “Just like old times”. The two once again get a little closer to reconclisation by wrestling a golden pansexual to prevent him from brainwashdely murdering two children. God I love this show and this job. 

Huey however is more of the aim for the head sort and Louie simply uses his natural talent to talk the siren into working with him, with him as her agent. As he puts it Zeus just wants to use her.. he wants to use her too.. but to make them BOTH rich. She agrees, Louie wins, and Donald finally accepts storkules is his friend. Scrooge TRIES to use this to mend fences with Zeus.. but Zeus being a petulant dick wants another game and Scrooge simply throws a game of billiards or something like it to get this over with. 

So we get our wrapup. Dewey and Webby return, and Storkules and Donald say their goodbyes. Donald finally admits he’s his friend.. and in that one act finally admits he can’t just bury his past because parts of it are painful. And as Storkules puts it he may be done with adventure.. btu adventure’s not done with him. He’s got more of his old self in who he is now than he thought. Dewey also accidently wins and our family finds launchpad took the plane apart. There.. there’s no real ending. I can only assume Selene said knock this shit off when she found out or beakly later came in guns blazing. I don’t know. 

Final Thoughts: This episode is excellent. It has it’s fault: there’s no plot progression, and the ending is just stupid and is the only one of the series that feels like nothing was resolved. That being said.. the rest of the episode makes up for it. It’s filled with great gags as usual.. but the real meat is the character work. Dewey’s worries about his mom, and Donald’s attempt to literally leave his past behind, it’s really amazing stuff that elevates the episode past it’s flaws and into one fo the series best. Wheras revisting Other Bin reminded me it had a bad subplot that drug it down.. revisiting this one showed me just HOW near perfect it is with only a few things holding it back. Even with the dispaoitnment factor.. this one’s still excellent, with Ben, Kate and Tony all at the top of their games. Great stuff. 

Next Time on this Arc: Dewey has to face the future when the truth comes out. And Scrooge.. bitches with his dad for half the episode. Sure beats his dad sadly btu sweetly passing on to be with his wife huh?!

Next time on this blog: Amphibia time! Speaking of facing the consequences of lying to your family, Hop Pop’s FINALLY forced to face hiding the Box from Anne, and we also get an ivy episode. Super fuckin shooters. 

If you liked this review, consdier joining my patreon, link’s in the blog and next stretchgoal is a darkwing duck episode a month. Until the next rainbow it’s been a pleasure. 

[charmandhex]

For @halcyonhowl, because I am rather late and also finally came up with a Taakitz idea I liked for the prompt “forbidden kiss.” ~

In Taako’s defense, this is not the worst decision he’s ever made. It’s probably just a few scant steps from the top of that list, but it’s not at the very top.

Still. Taako might end up regretting this one.

Listen, it goes without saying that dating the boss’s kid is a bad idea. Everybody knows that.

Pluuuuuuuus, you don’t want to get involved with your coworkers, ‘cause that can fuck up your whole working environment. Really bad idea.

Not to mention. Making out with someone the night before you’re getting on a small boat with seven other people, of which they are one, and so you’ll be stuck in confined quarters with them… for two months. Now that’s a stupendously bad idea right there.

Kravitz, son of the head of the IPRE, junior medical officer reporting to Captain D. Davenport, and the talented bard whom Taako had been sitting directly next to for the day’s earlier press conference about the Starblaster mission to explore and research the outer reaches of the Prime Material Plane for a period of two months, meets all of the aforementioned criteria to make kissing him a spectacularly bad idea.

And yet when Taako draws back from a spectacularly good first kiss, still very pleased with himself for hustling some shoes and now for another reason entirely, it’s Kravitz he sees, looking as gorgeous as ever and gratifyingly stunned.

“Uh- um-” Kravitz coughs a few times to clear his throat. “That was…”

As Kravitz is clearly collecting his thoughts after being blown away by the experience that is kissing Taako Taaco, Taako himself glances around, only half concerned that someone else on the mission might have seen.

Lup, tied for most brilliant arcanist/amazing chef aboard the ship with Taako and also Taako’s beloved twin sister, nails yet another trick shot at the pool table, causing an uproar of groans from anyone who’d dared bet against her. She looks up, eyebrow arched and mouth smirking, immediately catching her brother’s eye. She looks from Taako to Kravitz and back again, and she winks.

Yeah. Not like he’d expected to be able to keep a secret from her. He’s gonna get so much shit for this later.

Captain Davenport, the only other person actually capable of giving Taako shit for this, seems to be heavily engrossed in conversation with resident nerd Barry Bluejeans, probably going over last-minute bond engine shit for tomorrow. Neither of them has noticed shit, thank fuck.

Though Taako doubts that one of their resident arcanists/chefs kissing their junior medical officer would be the thing to get their attention, considering that their twenty-year-old security officer built like a brick shithouse has managed to start a bar fight. Magnus Burnsides looks to be having the time of his life and utterly oblivious to everything else.

Their senior medical officer, Merle Highchurch, seems to be trying to placate a few seedy-looking ruffians and on his way to unintentionally starting a second bar fight, while occasionally popping up over the bar behind him to look around is their chronicler. Eh, if Lucretia has seen anything, she might write it down, but she’s too quiet to actually say anything.

“Uh. Taako?” Right. Hot boy alert. Taako turns back to the hot boy in front of him, now looking less stunned and a bit more awkward. Kravitz has reached up to scratch at his neck and is needling at his lip, still thinking of what to say. “Uh, should we- is this-” Someone’s beer bottle soars over their heads, exploding as it crashes into the wall behind them. The place is enough of a dive that Taako doubts the stain on the wall and the layer of broken glass on the floor will even be noticeable.

“Tell ya what, bones, why don’t we get out of here?” Taako asks with a dazzling smile.

“Um. Sure, but- bones?” Kravitz looks askance at Taako as they stand.

“Yeah, you know, like Fantasy Star Trek? The medical officer?”

Taako realizes his mistake as Kravitz’s face crinkles up into a smile, and he laughs. It’s a nice sound. Taako could get used to that. “I would have thought that was too nerdy for you.”

“Yeah, uh, yeah, it is. Doesn’t mean you don’t get the whole… nerd cultural osmosis when you live on a campus with a bunch of nerds. And besides, you got that reference once I explained it!”

“Yes, but I never professed to not be a nerd,” Kravitz says smugly.

“Yeah, because anybody who spends more than eight hours a day playing violin can’t exactly deny it.”

Kravitz opens his mouth to reply, but whatever retort he was going to make is cut off as they very suddenly have to move as a large purple Dragonborn sails backward through the air, crash landing squarely into their table and collapsing it. Taako grins at Kravitz, this one no dazzle, all humor. “So, about getting out of here?”

“Couldn’t have said it better myself.”

It’s quieter, outside, far quieter than Taako would expect, with even the birds and cicadas seeming to hold their breath in anticipation of the summer storm to come. Dark, too, and darker than expected, with massive gray clouds hanging heavy in the sky, blocking out the sky and stars.

“Seems like bad luck,” Kravitz says, looking up at the sky. “Starting a voyage off with a storm.”

Taako shakes his head, the bells on his hat jingling. Even those seem muted. “Nah, bones. It’s just to make it easier to leave behind.”

“If you say so.”

Taako scoffs, throwing the hustled shoes over his shoulder. “Listen, I am an adult elf and over 100 years old.” Of course, that statement may be reliant on some considerable rounding, but no one needs to know that. “I know what I’m talking about.”

“I can’t imagine having that kind of lifetime.” Kravitz says, and Taako’s eyes are drawn to the bard’s very human-looking ears. Something twists, disquieted, in his stomach. Probably just those greasy bar snacks Lup had dared him to try.

“Yeah, well, play your cards right and not like that chucklefuck-” Taako jabs his thumb in the direction of the bar, and as if on cue, there’s a whoop from Magnus, “-and you might just see the other side of a century, my man.”

Kravitz laughs, and again, Taako is surprised by how much he likes the sound. “I guess we’ll see. Oh, and, uh, thanks, again, for…”

Taako’s mouth quirks into a grin, and he lets out a laugh of his own. “Saving your ass from getting hustled at pool? If Lup and I had known you were such an easy mark, you’d be barefoot right now, my dude.”

Kravitz feigns injury at that. “You wouldn’t.”

“Oh, I fuckin’ would. You should avoid gambling, bones.”

“But it’s fun!” Kravitz whines. “I like gambling, I like games and wits and wagers.”

“So you like losing too?”

Kravitz blows out a breath, defeated. “No.”

“Gotta say, I think I won on both counts though, what with the shoes and the boy,” Taako says, and Kravitz brightens up at that. Impulsively, Taako grabs Kravitz’s hand, ignoring the look of surprise and immediately being surprised himself. “Fuck, bones, your hands are cold.” Taako yelps.

“Ah, circulation issues,” Kravitz says, looking almost embarrassed. “Hereditary. You don’t have to… Taako, why are you holding my hand?”

Good point. Why did Taako actually grab their junior medical officer’s ice-cold hand? “Pfft, yeah, listen… listen, it’s dark as shit, and you humans can’t see in the dark. How else are you gonna get safely home if my magic eyes and I don’t escort you?” Taako pauses, doubt finally catching up to him. “But if it’s a problem…” Taako says, making to disentangle his hand from Kravitz’s.

“No!” Kravitz exclaims, just a little too loud. “No. By all means. Lead the way.”

Taako grins before raising Kravitz’s hand to kiss it. “Gladly.”

Sure, this might a bad idea, but at the end of the day, it’s two months, right? What could happen?

[quicksilversquared]

Helpfulness with a Side of Spite

Superheroes are kind. Superheroes are patient. Superheroes are helpful.

....that doesn’t mean that superheroes can’t manipulate the situation, though. And they’ll do it with a smile on their face.

links in the reblog

Superheroes were, practically by definition, meant to be helpful.

Ladybug and Chat Noir helped all of Paris by fighting supervillains and restoring the city. They helped save lives and property alike if they happened to be nearby when a bus or news helicopter went out of control. They saved cats that were stuck up in trees and helped parents with young kids evacuate when there were akuma attacks nearby. They even helped out spoiled brats and snotty liars who were getting targeted, even if they definitely didn't deserve the help.

It was one of the reasons why they were so liked, really. Paris' superheroes weren't aloof or cold or focused only on their job and their job alone. They went out of their way to reach out and make sure that people were okay.

….but even the most patient of superheroes had their limits. There were only so many times that Ladybug could put up with Chloe's clinging and endless babble when, despite Chloe's assurances, she had definitely done something to tick the unfortunate akumatized person off and therefore entirely deserved to be the target of their ire. And really, trying to help Lila at all during akuma attacks was a waste of effort, since she seemed determined to fake injuries and try to distract them. But it was still expected that they at least try to help, because- well, they were superheroes.

Still, being a superhero didn't necessarily mean having superhuman patience. And even though it was still early in the morning- they hadn't even finished homeroom yet- Lila was already wearing Marinette's patience thin.

Really, it was an impressive accomplishment, considering that Lila was "out of town" on one of her mother's "trips" and therefore not even physically in the classroom. But she had video-called in first thing after homeroom started to give an overly saccharine-sweet "recounting" of what she had been up to the previous few days. This time she was calling from "the fjords of Finland, I wish you guys could be here because it is gorgeous!" and prattling on about some princess that she had supposedly met and was discussing charity work with.

Marinette could not envision anything being a bigger waste of time. They could be catching up on curriculum that had gotten behind because of akuma attacks, but nope, no such luck. Instead, they were listening to Lila's completely made-up and not at all relevant stories and wasting their entire homeroom period. Lila had been yammering on for over forty-five minutes now, and showed no sign of stopping.

(Also, Marinette had some serious questions about how Lila was supposedly getting enough internet to support the call while on a hill overlooking one of the most spectacular of the Finnish fjords, which was decidedly not close to any sort of civilization.)

At least Marinette had started bringing projects to school to work on during their calls with Lila. If they couldn't use their time productively for schoolwork during homeroom, then she would take the chance to get some of her other work done. Maybe Ms. Bustier frowned on it, but. Well. Marinette had more or less ceased to care. She had too much to get done to be too concerned with what did or didn't bother her teacher, particularly when what she was doing wasn't hurting anyone.

"So I'll be out for the rest of this week and maybe a couple days next week," Lila chirped at long last, beaming at them. "Depending on whether I can persuade Princess Sophia to join Prince Ali and I on our global campaign to end pollution! I'll keep you all updated!"

The entire class exploded with assurances, everyone hastening to tell Lila that they were sure that she would be able to get the princess to help, and how amazing it was that she was doing such great work, and how everybody was sure to pitch in and help her get caught back up on her schoolwork once she returned to Paris. Lila basked in the attention, gushing about how kind everyone was and how lucky she was to get placed in what had to be the world's nicest class.

Which of course meant a whole new round of people telling Lila that she was nice and kind and fantastic, too.

Barf.

Finally, finally, Lila signed off after another few rounds of back-and-forth gushing. Marinette let out a sigh of relief, plenty glad that she wouldn't have to listen to Lila's humble-bragging for another couple days. The far-fetched stories that Lila had been spinning- seriously, how were people believing that Lila had somehow saved a beloved prized cow herd with only the help of their traditional decorative cowbells- had been grating on her nerves.

Cows with decorate cowbells wasn't even a Finnish thing. Somehow, Lila (and everyone else in the class, with the sole exception of Adrien) had forgotten that that was a Swiss tradition.

It was probably too much to expect that Lila would actually pay any attention to details like that. For her, differences between countries and cultures were probably annoying little details that she didn't feel like bothering with.

"Well, we won't be doing anything as exciting as discussing anti-pollution plans with a princess today, but we do have plenty of other things to cover," Ms. Bustier announced as soon as the call ended, glancing up at the clock. "We're actually running a little behind schedule in Literature, so let's use the last, ah, three minutes of homeroom to try to get a bit of a head start so we won't have to have as much make-up homework this weekend!"

Marinette could only sigh and hope that the rest of the day wouldn't be so incredibly exasperating.

Because right now? She didn't feel like being very helpful at all.

  By the time news of an akuma out and about reached the school in the early afternoon, Marinette was almost relieved at the excuse to leave for a bit. It seemed like everywhere she turned, people were talking about Lila's latest so-called adventures- so much for not having to put up with it for at least a couple more days- and speculating about what new royal support might mean for Lila's campaign. And as if that wasn't bad enough, Ms. Bustier had pulled Marinette to the side between classes to tell her off for her obvious disinterest during Lila's video call, so Marinette's mood had slid even further downhill.

And now? Well, she was in the mood to work out some of her frustrations on Hawkmoth's latest minion.

But not too obviously, of course. People would wonder if they saw her punch an akuma's face in, just because she was pretending that it was Lila's. Besides, whoever was under the akumatization was a victim, as she and Chat Noir were always reminding the press and the people that akumas had targeted. They weren't in control of what they were doing.

(Well. Mostly. There had been some exceptions, largely consisting of Lila, but proving that enough to be able to persuade anyone in power was a bit difficult. On top of that, once the first accusation of on-purpose collusion with Hawkmoth stuck, then- well, it could easily turn into a slippery slope lined with baseless accusations from people out looking for revenge.)

Though to be fair, it honestly seemed as though this particular akuma completely deserved whatever beating Ladybug gave her. Best-Laid Plans seemed entirely entitled, screaming in fury whenever her "foolproof" plots to capture Ladybug and Chat Noir were defeated and yelling about how dare they not fall fire her traps, how dare they not believe whatever she said, how dare they laugh at how (laughably) easy and transparent her so-called complex plans to catch them were.

Honestly, she and Lila would probably get along fantastically. Both of them had some serious delusions of grandeur.

"I can't figure out how she thinks these things are foolproof and complex when she can't spend more than a couple minutes seeing them up," Chat Noir said as he yanked the side off of another "hidden" cage and chucked it off to the side so that it wouldn't pose them any danger. "They're impulsive and showy but lack any real substance."

Best-Laid Plans let out another screech of fury. "Stop making fun of them, they're foolproof!"

"Right, because even fools would be safe from them!" Ladybug yelled back. "Because they fool no one!"

"How dare you, I learned how to make traps from an expert in Bolivia! You're just getting lucky!"

"She does realize that claiming that doesn't somehow make it true, right?" Ladybug sighed, utterly exasperated. They had wasted half an hour already, and she really wasn't in the mood for another half hour of this nonsense. "Lucky Charm!"

A bottle of soap dropped into her hand. Ladybug sighed, then glanced around as she and Chat Noir sprinted after Best-Laid Plans. She was heading up, up, up the Eiffel Tower, fast but not fast enough to outrun the superheroes.

"There's another trap there," Chat Noir pointed out as they leapt up another level. "I bet she's planning on pushing us in."

An idea clicked in Ladybug's mind. Of course! "She's going to stop on the next platform- hit the soap bottle right at her as we pass, hard enough for it to split! And- now!"

It was practically a work of art, really. Ladybug tossed her Lucky Charm at Chat Noir, who hit it at just the right time. Sudsy pink soap sprayed across the platform, completely coating it. The split bottle and what little soap remained in it slammed into Best-Laid Plans' face, sending her staggering right into the slippery puddle of soap.

And she slid, cursing up a storm, right off the edge of the platform and neatly into the trap she had set up below.

"Well, would you look at that," Chat Noir said cheerfully as he and Ladybug swung down to land next to the soap-covered Best-Laid Plans. "Your traps can catch one person, at least! So they're not entirely fool-proofed after all."

Ladybug nearly choked on her laughter as she snagged Best-Laid Plans' cell phone, snapping it in half and catching the butterfly that fluttered free. The akuma only glared, furious but unable to do anything with the ropes of her trap twisted around her arms and keeping them bound.

Really, it was art.

After a moment's pause to appreciate the sight a little more, Ladybug snagged the remnants of the soap bottle with her yo-yo and tossed them into the air. "Miraculous Ladybug!"

The glittering swarm rushed around the city, wiping away all of the destroyed traps and putting things back to normal. Once everything else was fixed, the light swept around Best-Laid Plans and left a sulking Lila Rossi in her place.

Somehow, Ladybug was not entirely surprised.

"Surprise," Chat Noir sighed, rolling his eyes as he stepped up to her side. "Gee, and wasn't she meant to be out of the country right now?"

Deep in Ladybug's brain, there was a distinct aha as an idea was born, and Ladybug pounced on it. Pasting on her best friendly-helpful-neighborhood-superhero look, she approached Lila, who only looked more sour.

"You must have been really upset about whatever plans didn't quite work out!" Ladybug told her, trying her best to sound sympathetic instead of smug. "It's always disappointing when things don't work out the way we want them to, but it's rarely the end of the world!"

Chat Noir nodded seriously, only the twitching corners of his lips giving away the fact that he was maybe not quite as sincere as he was pretending to be. "Exactly! If we miss a movie, there's always another viewing. If we can't go out with friends, there's always another day. It's not worth getting too upset about, because then we miss out on other stuff. I'd say just let it go and move on with the rest of your day."

Lila looked mutinous. Ladybug had to assume that whatever plans had been foiled hadn't exactly been the sort that could just be picked up and done another day. "Uh-huh."

"Chat Noir is right," Ladybug said immediately in her perkiest voice, cheerfully ignoring Lila's deepening scowl. "It's best not to linger too much over plans that didn't work out and just go back to your normal day instead. In fact, to help you get back to your normal day, I'll even give you a free ride back to school, so you don't miss even more class! You're at Collège Françoise Dupont, right?"

Without waiting for an answer, Ladybug grabbed Lila and hoisted her over her shoulder before the other girl could realize what was going on and object. She and Chat Noir were usually more careful when carrying civilians- after all, the over the shoulder carry wasn't very comfortable- but she definitely wasn't keeping Lila in any position where she could make a grab for her earrings. "See you, Chat Noir!"

Chat Noir waved back, looking suspiciously like he was struggling to not double over laughing. "See you, Ladybug!"

With that, Ladybug was off, jumping off of the Eiffel Tower and letting herself do a free-fall for perhaps a little longer than she normally would before casting out her yo-yo and swinging at top speed towards the school.

She really couldn't tell if Lila's screaming was in fear or in anger.

It took almost no time at all for the school to draw near, and Ladybug did some hasty calculations to figure out where to go- her class should still be in Literature, though they would be switching pretty soon- before aiming right at the window Ms. Bustier had opened earlier in the day and dropping neatly in.

"Ta-da, back in class!" Ladybug announced cheerfully, dumping Lila back on her feet with perhaps a little more force than necessary. Lila staggered and nearly fell before catching herself. "And it looks like they managed to start up class again after you got akumatized! That's good, I know that sometimes after people get akumatized in school, the whole day just gets entirely disrupted. And I'm sure you wouldn't want to be the cause of your class falling behind on their work!" She sent the class a smile, then jumped straight back out the window with a wave. As soon as she did, the class exploded with noise, confusion clearly reigning supreme.

Ladybug only smiled.

  By the time Marinette slipped back into the classroom, there was such mayhem going on that no one noticed her come in. Lila had clearly tried to spin a new story to cover why Ladybug had brought her to class- and how she had gotten akumatized when she was meant to be several countries away- but this time, no one was buying it.

In fact, Marinette noticed as she slipped back to her seat, Mr. Damocles had already been called in and was currently punching a number into his phone. No doubt Lila's mom was being called now that there was solid evidence that that Lila had not been where she was supposed to be. It was definitely long overdue, honestly, but better late than not at all.

Adrien slid into his seat a minute later with a politely puzzled look on his face, apparently having missed the commotion with a poorly-timed bathroom visit. He caught sight of Marinette, pretty much the only other student still sitting in her spot, and raised a curious eyebrow.

"Lila got akumatized and Ladybug was being helpful and brought her back to class," Marinette whispered, unable to hide her grin. "And, well…"

"Now she's in trouble because clearly she wasn't in Finland," Adrien finished. He grinned back. "Somehow I suspect that Ladybug might have known that Lila hadn't been in class in the first place."

Marinette bit back a tart I don't know what you're talking about before she could give herself away. She wasn't sure why Adrien would suspect that Ladybug would know about Lila's lie about not being in the country, but- well, maybe it was because he had seen Ladybug call Lila out before, and it wasn't exactly normal for her and Chat Noir to return civilians to wherever they had been at the start of the fight.. They only did it for young kids, really, and only if they had enough time left before they detransformed.

So maybe she hadn't been very subtle, so sue her. But at least now Lila wouldn't be able to carry out whatever no doubt nefarious plan that she had been dreaming up. It had already then thwarted once, and Ladybug hadn't been about to let Lila take another swing at it, despite what she and Chat Noir had said about trying again.

"Hopefully she won't get akumatized again," Adrien added after a minute. Up in the front, Lila was in full meltdown mode, but no one seemed particularly inclined to comfort her. Mr. Damocles had clearly gotten through to Lila's mom and had retreated to the corner to try to hold a conversation uninterrupted by the commotion. "I mean, Ladybug and Chat Noir have already fought her today, I'm sure they don't want to again." He grimaced. "I'd hope that Hawkmoth would be tired of her by now, but considering how many times Mr. Pigeon has showed up, that….might be too much to hope for."

Marinette made a face at that. True, another Lila akumatization would be less than ideal, but on the bright side, if she got akumatized at school, then hopefully classes would be canceled for the afternoon and no one would notice her missing. Besides, well… "I'm sure they'd rather just deal with her being akumatized again today than being akumatized several dozen more times in the next couple months, because she is totally on track to do that."

"Ooh, good point."

"And honestly, if anyone is going to get akumatized today, I would guess that it would be one of our classmates," Marinette added, glancing around. People were clearly ticked off about the lies Lila had told, with all of the connections that she had promised and the "industry advice" that she had given people getting their hopes up. Now those hopes were dashed, and people had to come to terms with the fact that someone who they thought was a friend- a friend that they had gone out of their way to help more than a few times- had been outright lying to them to manipulate them. That had to stink, and she was sure that some people would be particularly upset. "Oh, poor Rose. She looks like she's about to cry."

"And Alya looks like she's about to commit a murder," Adrien added. There was an edge of laughter to his voice. "But she's still filming, at least."

Marinette looked and had to try not to laugh herself. It seemed like Alya was torn between chewing Lila out and getting her scoop, so she had combined the two in what could only be described as an accusatory interview given in a yell with less-than-flattering angles.

Well. Whatever made her feel better, she supposed.

"All right class, that's enough!" Ms. Bustier finally yelled over the noise. Mr. Damocles had clearly given up on making his phone call in the room and had fled. "Everyone, to your seats, we're going to continue class as normal until further notice- yes, that includes you too, Lila. Just borrow some paper and a pencil, since you didn't come prepared. And now, back to the lesson-"

Marinette exchanged a grin with Adrien as slowly, everyone filtered back to their seats. Most people were clearly in a state of shock still, but others were whispering, comparing stories and trying to figure out where they had missed the signs where things didn't quite line up. The gossip and speculation continued even as Ms. Bustier resolutely tried to forge on with her lesson, questions about what had happened reigning supreme.

The rest of the story came out less than an hour later, during an easily-overheard shouting match between Lila and her mom inside of Mr. Damocles' office.

As it turned out, Lila hadn't intended to get akumatized at all this time around. She had gotten so upset partway through the day because she had gotten an email- an email that should have been sent to her mom, but apparently the email on file was Lila's instead- that said that, given her test scores and the absolute piles of unreturned makeup work from during her trips, the school would not be able to approve any further travels for the rest of the school year and- even worse- she was in serious danger of having to repeat the grade. She had been furious- there was no real way for her to lie her way out of that- and, well, the rest was history.

And Lila was soon to be history, if Alix was to be believed. She had managed to keep hiding nearby after the rest of the class was busted for skipping class and eavesdropping, and had caught more of the fight. Lila's mom was removing her from Paris effective immediately- apparently she had a very strict aunt and uncle back in Italy who would be willing to take her until either Mrs. Rossi could be transferred to a different embassy or Hawkmoth was no longer an issue. In fact, because of Hawkmoth, Lila was going to be sent back to Italy that evening, before she could get akumatized again.

Marinette honestly couldn't be more relieved about that. Lila's akuma forms tended towards the difficult and more indirect than a lot of other akumas, and she got akumatized often. With her gone- and with the class relieved that Lila was getting properly punished for lying to them- the chance of more Lila-related akumas was steadily dropping.

"What I think is funny is that, if Ladybug hadn't done anything, Lila still wouldn't have lasted much longer," Marinette told Tikki as she headed home after school, completely unable to hide the spring in her step. "She wouldn't have been able to go on any more 'trips' and Mr. Damocles would definitely have to reach her mom about the whole being held back thing, so all of the lies would have come out. Ladybug just sped it up." She grinned. "And maybe it was a bit fun to see everyone's reactions." She paused. "...and maybe it was a bit fun to get my revenge, too."

Tikki giggled too, clearly amused. "I bet it was pretty funny to see everyone's faces! And at least now you don't have to worry about Lila anymore. I bet that people will forget about her pretty quickly once she's gone."

"I hope so." Marinette glanced back at the school before she stepped into the bakery. More people than normal were still lingering, no doubt gossiping about everything that had happened and trying to come to terms with the betrayal. Her class was resilient, though, and they would move on. Maybe there would be some lingering disappointment about the hopes and dreams they had pinned on Lila's lies, but it would fade with time.

After all, Lila Rossi wasn't worth their time or energy.

[dramagguks]

𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 & 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒓𝒆 : taehyung x reader || fluff, tiny bit of angst

𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕 : 1.8k

𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 : taehyung has been over working himself, and you miss the feeling of being in bed with him, so in the waking of the morning, you decide to pay him a visit at his home studio.

𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 : references to sex

—

Your heart felt heavy in your chest, as you leant over in bed, and didn’t feel the presence of your lover next to you. His side was cold and bare, and his touch was nowhere to be found. Your small hands ghosted the place where he normally would be, and instead of them finding his broad chest to cuddle in to, they found the pillow, and the other half of the comforter. There was no warmth of another body to ignite you, to comfort you and keep you feeling safe and warm.

He was working, you knew he was. He worked harder than anyone and although you knew it was going to be beneficial in the end, all you wanted was for him to take a break. You knew that he needed it. Needed a good nights sleep, or even a quick nap to boost his energy back up again. Maybe even a night tangled up in the white sheets, bodies connected, skin to skin to make him forget about his work for a bit. To give his mind that freedom it needed. He couldn’t go on the way he was, walking around like a zombie and barely getting any sleep. It wasn’t a good way for him to live, especially with this demanding life.

Though sometimes, you couldn’t help but feel just a bit selfish, when you longed for him to come back to bed, or even glance at you for a moment. The two of you had an amazing relationship, one that was built around your mutual pining for each other, and feeling like if you didn’t get with each other, then you might just explode. You knew that he had the most difficult job as an idol, meaning that he was a away a lot, and you barely got to see him. So, you felt selfish when all you wanted was him, all of him. You wanted his touch and his soft kisses that made you felt like you were on cloud nine. Was it too much to ask for just a little moment with him? Even if it was only a quick kiss on the forehead, or a reassuring squeeze of the hand.

Letting the selfish part of your body take over, you slipped out from the warm duvet, feeling your bare feet hitting the floor. You grabbed the white shirt that was next to your feet, and slipped it over your head, inhaling the scent of his cologne, that you loved so much. You would often spray your own clothes with it when he went away, just so it felt like there was a tiny part of him left with you. Or sometimes, he would use a lot, then leave those clothes around for you to find, like a fun little game. He got peace of mind from knowing you were happy with the little things.

As you left your bedroom and walked through the house, you realised that the sun was starting to come up, meaning that the busy city of Seoul was now waking it up. This could only mean one thing. It meant that he had been working the whole night and now, morning had come.

But, despite the tidal wave of tiredness that would rush over his body, he’d greet the morning sun with a smile. He always had done.

You made it to his studio, and pushed the door open gently, hearing music almost instantly. He was sat at the desk, hood pulled up over his head, a few stray strands of his brown curls poking out. From where you were stood, it was evident that he was tired, the eye bags stood out, as clear as day. But, he still looked absolutely beautiful, even in the artificial light of the computer that he had been stuck in front of for hours. The only peace of mind that you got was when you looked at the empty plate on the desk next to him, that you had brought to him before you slept. It was full of fruits, so you were glad to know that he was at least eating.

“Tae,” you called out in a gentle tone, to not startle him, and you closed the studio door behind you.

His head turned almost immediately to the sound of your soft voice, that was more comforting than any song in the world. He could listen to you speak for hours on end. “Hi love,” Taehyung mumbled softly, pausing the music, and his voice tired and hoarse. Maybe it was from singing his heart out for the album he was producing, or maybe it was the lack of sleep. Whatever it was, he needed a good nights rest to calm it down.

When you had reached him, he scooted back in his desk chair a tiny bit, and pulled you down onto his lap. You arms went straight to his broad shoulders for leverage and to keep yourself steady. One of his came to rest around your waist, the other staying firmly on the mouse. From that moment onwards, you inspected him.

His skin that normally had gorgeous honey coloured tones, and glowed like the summers sun, was now pale from lack of sleep. His bright and curious eyes were now dull, like the life had been sucked out of them completely, no thanks to sitting at a computer and staring at the screen for countless hours. He felt a little different, almost trembling like a leaf under the touch of you, and that’s how you know that things were getting worse. You could only wonder when was the last time he had a good nights rest.

“You don’t look well,” Taehyung looked at you, seeing the concerned expression on your face. “I think that you’re working too hard, you should take a rest for a little while. Try and get a few more hours of sleep.”

Taehyung shook his head. “I need to get this done.”

You sighed. As brilliant as Tae was at what he does, he was one of the most stubborn people you had ever met, and coaxing him from his studio when he wants nothing more than to finish his album, was proving to be a hard task. You were proud of him for focusing so hard on what he wants - his first solo album. He wanted to pour his heart and soul in to it, to make sure that it was perfect and to standard. One ‘imperfection’, and he’d feel like he needs to start the whole process all over again.

With a small smile of adoration, you moved his hood, and slipped it down, revealing his luscious brown hair that you loved deeply. You ran a hand through it, and his body physically softened at the feeling, as it was something that brought him comfort. You loved his long hair, more than anything, and you loved how it got so curly too. As silly as it seems, you’d be utterly heartbroken if someone ever touched his hair with a pair of scissors. Though he suits short hair, the long hair was definitely your favourite on him. You carried on with the action, settling into his side, hearing the birds chirping outside, and the rush of cars. It all felt so calm and perfect for a moment, like this was all you ever needed. He was all you ever needed.

“I miss sleeping with you.”

He felt his heart break there and then, knowing that you missed him being next to you, like always. Sometimes, he did feel like a bit of a dick for always leaving you in the dark, leaving you to sleep alone while he does what he needs to do. And it’s not like you see him much anymore, as he’s always working with his best friends and planning out their future together, and although it isn’t something that he can help, he hates how it must make you feel. You knew what you signed up for when the two of you got romantically involved, but it does hurt sometimes, and Taehyung knew that. It was pretty obvious that it hurt you.

Being gentle with you, he pulled your legs up off the floor, so they were resting over his lap. “I’m sorry,” he muttered out an apology, his soft lips pressing a kiss to your cheek, which made said cheeks flare up. He’d always had a knack for making you feel shy, even when he didn’t do much. “I’m really sorry,” he apologised again, this time, his lips meeting yours. But not in a hurry. As much as you missed his touch, there was no rush in that moment.

You sighed in content, eyes fluttering shut to savour this moment. He hadn’t deprived you fully of his touch, as when you’d go to see him at the company, he’d shower you with kisses like he had been away from months. And you loved it. It made you feel special, although all of his friends mockingly gagged whenever he kissed you in front of them. They knew how much Taehyung loved you though, and you, him. His lips were soft and slow against yours, and you felt his thumb rub a soothing circle on your hipbone. “I’ll be better, I promise,” he then mumbled into the kiss.

“I don’t want you to be better, you do what you need to do for this album,” you then pulled away from the kiss to speak to him. His eyes bored into yours, and you suddenly found yourself falling in love with him all over again, like you had a couple of years ago. “I just want you to make time for things. You need to sleep, and balance out the work you do. I’m glad that you’re eating and whatnot, but please, for the love of god take a break. I don’t want you to over work yourself.”

He smiled fondly, hearing every drop of laced concern in your voice. “I know, I’m just so set on getting this album done that it’s all I’ve been able to think of lately. But you’re right. I feel like I’m about to fall asleep at this desk.”

You laughed, hand coming up to brush a curl of chocolate brown hair away from his face. “I think, that instead of falling asleep at your desk, you should come to bed.” You moved another part of his hair, away from his eyes this time. “Your schedule is done now, so you don’t need to worry about mixing work and well … work. I’ll help you work out a timetable or something so you can balance your normal life, as well as the work for this album, yeah?”

Taehyung felt relieved to have someone like you in his life, someone so helpful and loving. “I love you, thank you,” he graciously thanked you, grabbing one of your hands and pressing kisses all over it, and you giggled at the feeling of his lips against your soft skin.

“I love you more,” you grinned. “Now, come to bed before I drag you up there myself.”

[sadviper]

2020 Creator Wrap: Favorite Works

Rules: It’s time to love yourselves! Choose your 5 (or so) favorite works you created in the past year (fics, art, edits, etc.) and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you brought into the world in 2020. Tag as many writers/artists/etc. as you want (fan or original) so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome works!

Succumbing to peer pressure, haha, thank you @rain-hat, @smylealong, @ibelongtomousse, @macgyver-sheriff, @avauntus for tagging me~

It seems the common refrain is that this was the year everyone exploded into massive creative productivity after years of nothing, which is the exact same story for myself. I had read all the strategies of course: write 5 min a day, 1 sketch a day, don’t think about quality, do *something* just to keep the spark alive, etc etc, but it just got worse and worse. Honestly, I had been feeling so dire about it that I had made up my mind to stop trying anymore, because it was so depressing to try and fail so many times that it was much better to not hope at all.

Buuuuut.....then quarantine and telework happened, and woooah, guess what, all I needed was LOTS of time and space to myself where I’m not wasting it in an office checking emails and doing random training to fill all the downtime!!!

Much thanks to the serendipity that had me stumbling into @rain-hat , reading her early JY/KSR fics, and her encouraging me to go ahead and write that office yearly budget oneshot for TKEM (who writes BUDGET fics?? Who reads them???? lol). That’s not in my list here because it was very new and awkward, it was definitely the ball that got everything rolling.

Cut for super long-winded rambling:

1) Before There Was Zero (TKEM)

This was my first big fanfic in my life, and my most popular, and it absolutely gushed out of me in this massive torrent of *I MUST WRITE* where I would walk around at lunchtime giggling to myself, and type on my phone as I went, or wake up at 1am to scrawl something in a notebook in the dark because I couldn’t stop the words from coming. (How I miss that feeling now! ;__;) Actually, it also is the 2nd fully complete long-form story I had ever completed as well, so...lots of milestones here.

Looking back, it clearly was the product of my years of bottled up silence, where I stewed and dragged myself to the office every day wondering if I was going to calcify in a bureaucracy for the rest of my life (yes). But even as an office drone, I learned a lot of valuable lessons in how to manage, what leadership actually is at the worker bee level, the types of games white-collar workers play, and how to be a decent co-worker (and by extension, a decent human being--I don’t believe it’s possible to separate work life and private life. All your personas are you). It wasn’t all a waste after all!

Somehow I connected my day-to-day to the faceless, long-suffering Royal guardsmen in TKEM, headed by the utterly gorgeous, devastating, thoroughly underutilized, comedic prop military action star Jo Yeong, and thought--yeah! :D

2) Nil Desperandum (TKEM)

My biggest fic by far, full novel length at this point, massive in scope, I don’t even know how I came up with it based on the 10 collective seconds of screen time that Jeong Tae-ra and tyrant Jin got as a joke, but I was clearly still on that dam-gushing-pent-up-creative-high because this idea was fighting me when I was in the middle of writing “Before There Was Zero”.

I actually figured out the title while watching “Call the Midwives” where one of the peppy, indefatigable British nurses said to never despair, and I thought, yes, that’s it. All the horrible things I put my tyrantverse characters through, it was only so that when I save them at the end, it will be completely worth it. It’s a bit more violent (nothing beyond My Country levels tho) and quite emotionally dark, but I also tried to inject a lot of friendship, humor, and love into it as well, because there must always be hope.

For My Country fandom friends who didn’t realize, the tyrant!Yeong in this fic is essentially modernAU!Seon-ho, and I lifted Sung-rok entirely from My Country to be tyrant!Yeong’s second-in-command and loyal-superstar-extraordinaire. Writing them in this modern AU, and seeing the positive reception to Sung-rok’s grouchy, dogged devotion was the start of my love spiral for Sung-rok. <3 <3

3) The Veritable Records of King Taejo (My Country)

Going to cheat and lump 3 fics (soon to be 4) into one link. I rested a little bit after “Nil Desperandum” because I had completely emptied myself out at that point, just a husk of an author shell. Then I started poking out oneshots! Each one got progressively harder to write, lol, the creative gas tank was running out of juice, so I had to really start figuring out new strategies as a writer to keep going. One magic tool was coercing recruiting @rain-hat to beta for me, and WOW, THE BEST???? Who would’ve thought it’d be FUN to be edited!!! <3 Due to her efforts, I could avoid the “no beta we die like Liaodong” tag, hahaha.

I grew up watching cop shows, lawyer shows, monster-of-the-day shows, endless procedurals-- so I was super miffed that the drama would imply that Seon-ho spent YEARS just single-mindedly chasing private armies??! No! I want more family and friends development for this sad, dramatic whump child! I want him to be smarter than the show, inherently brilliant despite the stupid he descends into, and be recognized as such by the people who do recognize his value! And I want them all to be happy with no pointless death!

Also, the 4th WIP is now a Sung-rok lovefest written as an ode to his awesomeness, has stretched to 47K+ words, and is being an absolute royal pain to finish. ;__; All the ease and creative fervor from earlier? GONE. I’m a lone salmon flopping upstream on a ladder. I might get eaten before I finish laying my eggs. Any one have tips to get over this?

4) First Translation of Woo Do Hwan Japanese Interviews

More firsts! So much thanks to @ibelongtomousse to inspiring and encouraging me to do some real translating after talking to her about her sublime TKEM fics and translations thereof, and @staidwaters from emerging from the Internet depths to boost/correct my neophyte efforts! I’m now chomping at the bit to do more, even though I may ultimately discover that these interviews have absolutely nothing interesting to say, lol. But my first priority is simply to get better at the language, and 2nd priority is to soak in the words (and photos) of Woo Do Hwan, hahahah. Also, as far as I can tell, no one is filling this niche, so I guess I’ll keep going??

5) Fanart!

I started drawing again! As a procrastination tactic from writing oneshots, but it still was really nice to see that I hadn’t lost the touch entirely. I feel like I’ve mentioned this here and there, but writing wasn’t my first interest--drawing was. Animals first, then people once I discovered anime/manga. I went all into drawing comics, only to face the hard reality that I didn’t know how to tell a story end-to-end. Hence how I started trying to write. Along the way, things happened--I got RSI and had to stop drawing/writing for awhile. I discovered that pictures are NOT worth a thousand words, esp when it comes to long-form comics; my preferred tools of trade (dip pens) ended up exacerbating my RSI problems; then once I got a handle on my RSI, I found I could type faster than I can ever draw, and so here I am. I saw what @convenientalias was doing with their My Country werewolf fic though, so I am excited to try that for my Sung-rok WIP? :D

I think I’m the last hold out among artist/writer friends in answering this wrap-up, hope you enjoyed reading!

[mcheang]

How about a sequel to Volpina reverse crush AU where Lila is jealous of Mari and tries to sabotage her but fails cuz everyones on Maris side. Mari(gently) confronts her Lila snaps at her Alay records livesteam all H word breaks loose 4 lila even worse

Fighting a losing battle

Volpina reverse crush AU sequel

Lila is a class pariah at first, until she makes a heartwrenching apology that fools the soft-hearted suckers like Rose and Marinette. They do invite her to eat with them but the rest of the class is more leery of her apology, knowing that Lila only cares about herself if she just tosses others’ belongings into the trash. But out of respect to their friends, they let Lila sit with them and just ignore her.

Lila tries to cozy up to Adrien but he avoids her like the plague. The only reason she gets close enough is because he is trying to get Marinette away from her.

It is absolutely sickening to watch Adrien fawn over Marinette. He keeps close by so he can be ready to catch her should she fall. He keeps calling her by that overly sweet pet name Princess.

What makes it infuriating is that Marinette is utterly oblivious to Adrien’s flirting. Seriousy, all those offers out to restaurants and cafes, unnecessary drives to her home, and hand kisses!

A gorgeous specimen like Adrien is wasted on the imbecile that is Marinette.

Maybe if Adrien could realize that, his heart would move on. First she had to get into the Friend zone before that could happen.

Lila asks Marinette how she can befriend Adrien. Marinette suggests a video game party. Yeah, the only reason Adrien acknowledges Lila is because Marinette pleaded for him to give her a second chance. How could he say no to those baby blue eyes? Adrien doesn’t want to look bad in front of his crush. Understandable.

Once Lila is sure Adrien is alright with being friends with her (he isn’t. she makes him feel uncomfortable) she proceeds to sabotage Marinette.

1. Steal Marinette’s planner so all her fundraising and class trip plans are ruined. Fail: Alya has a back up copy

2. Humiliate Marinette by putting exploding paint in her locker. Fail: Adrien offers Marinette his outer jacket and the girls help Marinette clean up.

3. Steal Marinette’s sketchbook so she can’t complete her commissions in time. Fail: Marinette’s tears end up with Adrien asking Markov to check the security feed. Lila has to hastily plant the evidence in front of Nathaniel so he can announce he found the sketchbook before she is exposed.

4. Frame Marinette of cheating and theft (she can’t push Marinette into someone else because she is known for clumsiness and Lila can’t pretend to be pushed because of her record). Fail: The test answers were stolen after it was over and the lockers are unlocked. The stolen item was Rose’s perfume but she believes in Marinette.

Marinette is curious about why these horrible things keep happening to her. Markov hacks the security feed and exposes Lila.

Upset, Marinette confronts Lila. She denies it at first before finally showing her true colours.

“It’s about time you realized it. For the class president, you don’t really know your classmates as well as you should.”

Marinette was baffled. “But why? I’ve been nothing but nice to you.”

Lila scoffed. “Nice? What can I do with nice? The entire class looks up to you as this amazing designer. Celebrities endorse you. Paris’ cutest boy looks at you like you’re an angel descended from Heaven. Yet you do absolutely nothing to take advantage of all that. Their admiration is wasted on someone so obtuse!”

Marinette paused. “So you’re just jealous of me?”

That simple, gentle accusation got to Lila. How dare Marinette reduce her, the pretty and silver tongued Italian, to nothing more than a petty, jealous girl?

Lila lunged at Marinette and there was a brief tussle as Marinette tried to get the crazy girl off her.

“That’s enough Lila!”

The girls paused, looking up to see Alya walk around the corner, her phone recording everything.

Footsteps were heard running towards them.

“Get off Marinette. Now.” Alya commanded.

Lila slowly obeyed, her eyes trained on the phone.

Alya noticed and gave a wink. “It’s been livestreaming.”

Lila wanted to shriek with rage.

“Marinette!” The cry came from Adrien as he rushed to help Marinette up, pushing Lila away from her.

Marinette assured the model. “I’m alright.”

Adrien gently stroked the scratches on her neck. “No, you’re not,” he said softly and sadly.

The class gathered around them, some glaring at Lila, others fussing over Marinette.

“What the hell, Lila?”

“Come on, Marinette, let’s take you to the nurse.”

“I’m not even surprised. We all knew she was a lying fox.”

“Don’t drag foxes into this. Rena Rouge’s name doesn’t deserved to be besmirched by this wannabe.”

“Careful, don’t trip.”

Alya: You’re coming with me to the principal’s office now.

Lila is expelled for assaulting and bullying a classmate.

She stews over her defeat, imagining Adrien catering to Marinette’s every need. Oh come on. All she did was inflict a few scratches.

To make matters worse, Alya had been live-streaming on her blog. Mrs Rossi is struggling to find any respectable school in Paris that would take her in.

She can’t. Lila is infamous throughout Paris, especially after Nadja reported on Alya’s video, and Jagged Stone himself blacklisted Lila to his global fan club. Even Adrien’s fans have gotten in on the fun.

The only options are for Lila to either be sent to live with her strict grandparents in their obscure hometown of nowhere, or go to a correcting school for delinquents.

Does it matter what school she goes to? Thanks to Jagged, there will always be someone at whatever school who knows who she is and will have the proof to back it up. At least with her Mother, Lila has more freedom.

Lila’s Mother is fired because her parenting of Lila, and even ends up being akumatized, not that Hawkmoth hadn’t been sending akumas after the outraged classmates and Lila herself before that. It was Gabriel who sent a charge against Lila for sexual harassing his Son. He got quite a few akumas over that.

Mrs Rossi decides to move them back to her parents’ home after all. They can’t stay in Paris and there is no more reason to now that she is unemployed.

Lila’s life in Italy is miserable because now her guardians have every excuse to invade her privacy. They call her every hour, call her Teachers daily, and even check her email and internet history! Lila’s sleep is interrupted as her guardians have taken it in turns to check that Lila is asleep every hour of the early morning. Don’t they have a life of their own?

Everybody at her new school mocks her. A few kind ones offer to be her Friend but Lila’s tearful acceptance was treated with skepticism by the cruel majority. No one wants to listen to Lila. She is nobody and she is unheard. It is like she is not even there.

At home she is given attention she does not want. At school, nobody gives her the attention she needs to cause drama. What a paradox

Note: Marinette had asked Adrien if he had a crush on her. Adrien lies and says he is just in awe of her designing ability. While Marinette is not happy there are so many akumas, she is thrilled to be able to spend more time with Chat Noir.

[honeyvbarnes]

Clean Slate

*gif not mine*

Pairing: SamBucky x Enhanced!Reader

Summary:What happens after the end of the world? Start a new life, what else?

Warnings: Polyamory, little angst, little fluffy words tbh

A/N: I did it… Idk how, but I did IT. This is 100% inspired by the 0.5 seconds of tfatws content we got from the Marvel “Big Game” spot during the super bowl. This is in no way, shape, or form based on the actual plot of the show (because we don’t know that yet), so this is solely based on my hopes and dreams. ALSO since I got such amazing feedback from my first Stucky one-shot, I figured it’s the perfect time for some SAMBUCKY!! Hehehe, ENJOY!

P.S. Shout out to that anon that helped create this idea! This one’s for you!

*

The world swallowed you whole, and spit you out. That was before the “blip.” A rough life, you were different from everyone around you. As an enhanced individual you stayed in hiding most of your life. The way the world itself was changing, with alien attacks, secret nazi organizations, and almighty superheroes, you decided it’d be best to stay out of the spotlight. Never using your powers for evil, nor good, you hadn't learned how to control them, so you stay under the radar. Yet karma was never one of your close friends.

*

Sam Wilson had found you one late night, in a small alley way of your hometown. Drenched in blood, surrounded by your attacker’s corpses. Five bodies splayed out, limbs dismembered, and spines twisted in inhumane ways.

“I- I didn’t mean to.. I swear, I-“

He stands frozen as he studies you. You stand before him in a pool of crimson, doe eyes wide with uncertainty and guilt, your hair wild sticking up every which way. He can tell by the bodies that you didn’t use your bare hands to murder, and the assorted weapons on the ground indicates whatever you did was out of self defense.

“I believe you, honey.” He says as calmly as he can, hands lifted up in show of no harm.

You’ve never killed anyone before, nonetheless hurt anyone. You agree to go with him. He promises help, a new life, and you allow yourself to trust, something that doesn’t come so easily.

He takes you under his wing, or wings, and promises to keep you out of the spotlight of the government. While the Avengers are away on missions, he has time to train you, to build your confidence with your powers. He respects your decision of not wanting to join the team, he understands because he hasn’t agreed to join the team either.

“I’m more of a soldier than a spy.”

As the years go by, your love and adoration grows for Sam. He saved you, and kept word to all his promises. Sam kept you safe, you’d stay devoted to him until your last breath.

*

The word turned upside down. Thanos, the plague known to many planets and galaxies alike. Sam tried to warn you, he tried to keep you safe. A quick call to keep you updated as the earth was under attack.

“This is the big one Sweetheart, the end of the world. Stay hidden, and only use your powers as needed, just like we practiced. Everything’s going to be okay, I promise. I love you.”

His words seep out of the phone with desperation, every syllable laced with worry. He tries to assure you that they’ll win this war, but you both know the truth, there’s no denying it. His voice is the last thing you remember. You hold onto it as everything around you turns black, and your body to ash.

*

It doesn’t take Sam long to track you down. Only two weeks after “the blip”, you now know it’s been named, he finds you. You’ve been on the run, completely lost, and unsure where to go. You nearly topple over at the sight of Sam. He stands across the street, struck with amazement that he even found you in the first place. The ground shakes with the intensity of your emotions, the control of your powers go untamed as you cry out for your lost lover. He runs to you, scoops you up into his forgiving arms and holds you tight. Apologies falling from his lips as if he is the one to blame for the end of the world. You reassure him with kisses of every kind. A sweet reunion that you’ve only dreamed of for everyday since your resurrection. It’s only when he’s set you back on your feet that you realize he isn’t alone. “Sammie, who’s uh- who’s this?” You ask, anxiety peaking, but you catch the apologetic gleam in the man’s crystal blue eyes. He’s breathtakingly gorgeous, you can’t deny it, but he stands with his shoulders slumped, hands shoved deep in his pockets. You can tell he’s nervous too. There’s something utterly familiar about him.

“Y/N, this is Bucky. We’ve got a lot to discuss, baby girl.”

*

“So you’re like Captain America now?”

Sam had explained everything, from coming back from the dead to help Steve fight, to the quantum realm, which is to your knowledge just a time machine. Steve had given Sam the shield, a symbol of new hope. Not to put any pressure on the man, but to assure him of how much he deserved it.

“Well, not entirely. I’d never live up to Steve as Captain. I’m not even sure why he gave it to me, if I’m being honest.” He snorts.

“It’s because you’re a good man, Sam.” Bucky speaks from his seat at the table. A gentle smile adorns his face.

The three of you sit at the kitchen table of your new home. Sam said it was a safe house Tony Stark had built a while back, and it sits just a couple miles outside of the old compound grounds. It’s a quaint little house really, charming decor that reminds you of how a grandmother would decorate, far from anything modern. It’s secluded, not another building in site. You think you might like it here.

“So what now?”

*

The next couple of weeks fly by. Sam decides it would be a good idea to stay low for a couple of months. Give the world time to rebuild after a long five years of depression and uncertainty.

You spend your time getting to know your new roommate. Bucky is charming, and you decide immediately that you’re quite fond of him. He’s quiet and shy, but he has a side to him that just exudes charm and wit. You get along well, and you make a special place for him in your heart, right next to Sam.

You’re not quite sure when it happens but the three of you fall into an effortless love. The already existing relationship of you and Sam accepts Bucky with open arms. You watch the way Sam and Bucky talk to each other. The way that Sam encourages Bucky to be himself, and the way that Bucky explains every single reason why Sam would succeed in being Captain America. There’s a beautiful love blossoming between the two men, and you keen in watching it grow.

For a while, it was unspoken. Some nights you’d spend with Sam and the others you’d spend with Bucky. You’d tend to each of them with a full heart. It was easy, the way you’d love them both, and they never once had an ounce of jealousy in their bodies. They showered you with affection in return.

Both men know they’re in love with you. They expressed it one evening after you made them a special dinner. Sam was the first to speak it into existence.

“We’re not saying you have to choose between us baby girl, we both love you to no end.”

“Yeah Doll, we’re happy with the way things are right now, and we don’t want to pressure you into choosing.” Bucky adds.

“Can’t I have you both? Don’t you love each other as well?”

Bucky tenses up, his shoulders pulling back forcing him to sit stiffly. Sam, in contrast, lets his posture slump. They both stare at you as if you created life itself. Wide eyes, mouths agape, Sam starts to say something but it comes out in stutters, so he stops.

“What are you sayin’ Y/N? You want to be with us both? I want to be with you, just as much as I want to be with Sam.” Bucky speaks, eyes quick to filling with tears of joy. He reaches next to him and takes Sam’s hand in his.

“You- You want to be with me too, Buck?” Sam hesitantly asks. When they meet gazes, your heart nearly explodes. The adoration both men have for each other speaks volumes. They answer their questions with a passionate kiss. Years of tiptoeing around each other, the teasing and the banter, finally explodes between the two. They love each other, just as much as they love you. Suddenly you’re being pulled into their laps, huddled into one heap on the couch. They both kiss you, pouring their emotions into each kiss. You’ll never tire of the feeling of both of them on you.

“James, Sammie, I love you so much.”

*

Taglist: @pinnedandneedled​ @perpetually-tuned-out​ @stuckonjbbarnes​ @sebbbystaaan​ @the-wayward-robot​ @captnrogers​ @cosmicmints​ @valkyriesryde​ @captain-kelli​ @stateoflovinged​ @mushyjellybeans​ @bitchassbucky​ @an-adventureland​ @imma-new-soul​ @mypassionsarenysins​ @rumoured-whispers​ @mrwinterr​ @elizzysnow13​ @this-kitten-is-smitten​ 

[crash-cinematic-universe]

Peter Maximoff is completely, utterly, and undoubtedly in love

pairing: Peter Maximoff/fem!bassist!reader

Summary: Peter had no idea a simple mission would change his life forever, He also had no idea how much he liked the bass guitar.

notes: fuck it. a series because I’m in love with peter maximoff

warnings: language, peter is a cute little bitch

________________________________________________________________  

        Peter knew the song even before he stepped inside the crowded bar, the bassline immediately ringing a bell in his mind. He smirked before pushing the doors open. 

        “That song,” he said, catching the attention of Hank who was standing close beside him. “It’s one of my favorites; Money by Pink Floyd.” Peter’s attention is turned to the bassist of the band on stage. His mouth goes dry, his eyes widening once the spotlight hits her. She looks ethereal in the stage lights, her eyes closed as her hands pluck the strings of her bass. She’s gorgeous, the look of concentration on her face going straight to Peter’s heart. He’s awestruck, and Hank notices.

        “Peter,” he calls, trying to catch the young man’s eyes. He fails. “Peter,” he calls again, snapping his associate out of his trance. “We’re here to find the mutant and bring them to Charles, we shouldn’t get” he pauses to glance at the bassist, “distracted.” 

        “I’m not distracted, Hank, I’m super professional and always have my eyes on the prize.” he says, the smug sarcasm dripping from his voice. The band switched from Money to Barracuda. He fought the urge to look at the bassist again. Hank sees his restraint and smirks.

        “Peter, if we find the mutant fast enough you might have a chance to meet her.” Hank turns away from the stage to order a drink. “Ya know, Charles said the mutant would be inconspicuous and well-hidden, so keep your eyes peeled.”

        “Uh, Hank,” Peter said, his voice uncertain. “I think I found the mutant.” Hank whips around and sees the bassist floating a foot above ground, her eyes shut in concentration. Her eyes snap open, and the irises are glowing a shimmering silver, someone in the crowd shouts, ‘mutant scum!’ and she lands on the ground. The young woman shares a look with her band mates as the bartender calls the police. The bassist nods, and the guitarist gives a loud strum of her instrument. The bassist’s eyes glow again and she seems to convert the sound to energy, pushing away the few audience members that tried to charge the stage. The band makes a break for the back door, the guitarist turning continuously producing sound that the bassist uses to create a barrier between the now wild crowd. 

        Peter quickly grabs Hank and runs out back, watching as the group jumps into an old van. They’re laughing, like this was a fun endeavor for them. Peter speeds into the back silently, trying desperately to duck behind the seats. Their instruments provide good cover-- at least good enough for now.

       “Holy shit, Y/n, that was insane!” the guitarist laughs. The bassist smiles. 

        “I didn’t even realize I was doing it, but hey, that's a helluva way to end our last performance.” the bassist speaks. Her name is Y/n. A pretty name for a pretty girl. The van is quiet for a minute before someone speaks up.  

        “So, Y/n, a couple cute faces in the crowd, huh?” the drummer teases. 

        “Oh, shut it, Danny, just because you can read minds doesn’t mean you know anything about me.” Y/n snaps playfully, a bashful blush on her face. It’s cute.

        “I might not know much, but you were thinkin’ pretty loud back there. Hey, I’m not judging, he was pretty cute. His hair was weird, but he was cute.” Danny smirks. 

        “Looks like you got some competition, Y/n” the guitarist retorts jokingly.

        “I’d never make a move, Cassie,” Danny says cooly, “He’s not my type, and Y/n called mental dibs on the silver cutie. Plus, he was totally into you too, his jaw practically dropped when he saw you.”

        “He was probably looking at Cassie,” Y/n defends, the blush lingering on her face.

        “I hope not,” Cassie sighs, “I’m tired of explaining my sexuality to people; asexual and aromantic, it’s not hard to understand.”

        “His thoughts were deafening, he was definitely checking out Y/n, but don’t worry. He wasn’t being creepy like the other guys usually are.” Danny smiles. “The guy with the weird hair was completely smitten, I think.”

        ‘Are they talking about me?’ Peter thinks. ‘My hair isn’t weird.’

        “It is,” Danny says suddenly. “It’s also weird that you’ve been hiding this whole time. C’mon out man, we won’t bite.” Peter slowly sits up, his head peeking out from behind the seats. No one seems shocked, besides the singer, who’s driving.

        “You’re like us, right?” Cassie asks. “A mutant?” 

        “Yeah,” Peter says hesitantly. “I, uh, came with a friend. We were looking for her,” he points at Y/n, “we didn’t know you were all mutants.” 

        “Charlie isn’t,” Y/n says, gesturing to the driver. “They’re just a killer vocalist.” Her voice is like music to Peter’s ears, her movements fluid and graceful and wonderful and Peter realizes that Danny was right. He was completely smitten with a beautiful stranger. Peter glances up and realizes that Danny was smirking at him before looking at Y/n once again.

        “Where’s your hot friend?” Danny asks, and Peter realizes he left Hank at the bar. Alone. 

        “Oh god,” Peter laughs slightly, “I left him at the bar. He’s… not very conspicuous.” 

        “You’re telling me,” Danny guffaws, “I almost lost control of my sticks once I saw him.” 

        “That’s not the only stick you lost control of,” Y/n mumbles and the van bursts out in thunderous laughter; including Peter. Y/n is oddly proud; she thinks his laugh is cute. Once the laughter died down, the bassist spoke again. “Why were you looking for me? I didn’t break any laws, did I?” Danny scoffs. “I didn’t break any more laws, did I?” 

        “No,” Peter says. He can’t believe he’s actually talking to her. And she’s talking back to him. And he feels like he’s going to pass out. “There’s a school in New York full of mutants. The headmaster got some info on you; he thought you’d be a valuable student to have. We came to ask if you’d be interested, but since all of you are mutants, all of you can come.” 

        Y/n glances at Danny. 

        “He’s telling the truth,” the drummer says. 

        “I’m in.” Y/n agrees without so much as a question. The band looks shocked. “Oh come on, where else would I go? We can’t live in this shithole forever, and just knowing that there’s a place where we’d be safe and accepted is enough for me.” Peter’s heart basically fucking explodes in his chest and he silently thanks the cosmic forces that she agreed. Danny hesitates before speaking. 

        “I’m in too. Y/n and I have been best friends since 4th grade, I’m not ditching you now. Plus, I have a bet to win” Danny smirks at Y/n before turning to Cassie. 

       “I don’t know…” she trails off, and Y/n silently begs her. Her eyes plead silently and Peter has a moment to study her features closely. She has a nose piercing and a plethora of ear piercings, her hair had streaks of wild colors in it and her eyeliner was smudged. One thought ran through his head constantly: she’s amazing. “Alright, let's do it!” Cassie agrees. Before anyone has a chance to ask Charlie, they speak up.

        “I can’t.” The van is silent. “You all know it. I just… won’t belong. Even if I wanted to go, I wouldn’t be able to.” Danny nods knowingly. 

        “You have a family to tend to, it wouldn’t be fair to steal you away--” Y/n shoots him a look. “-- again” The group laughs again, and the mood lightens. Suddenly, Y/n speaks up.

        “Hey Silver, what’s the school’s policy on small animals?” Danny and Cassie’s faces flash with realization, and the three of them shout in unison, “SEYMOUR THE SECOND!” 

        “Who?” Peter asks, completely confused. 

        “The light of my life, my pride and joy, my soulmate, my one true love...” Y/n rambles, and Peter’s heart drops with every word. She’s not single. “... my pet ferret.” oh. 

        “I’m sure Charles would make an exception for… Seymour.” Peter says hesitantly. “If not, I can always hide him for you”

        “Really? You’re the best, silver!” Y/n playfully punches him on the shoulder and Peter practically dies on the spot. 

        “Uh, what’s your name?” Cassie asks suddenly, and the gang realizes they’d been addressing him as ‘silver’ the entire time. “I’m assuming your name isn’t your hair color.”

        Peter chuckles, “No, my name is Peter, Peter Maximoff. My friend back at the bar is named Hank. Hank McCoy.”

        “Hank McCoy, hot damn, isn’t that a name.” Danny jokes. Y/n giggles at his antics, and the sound alone makes his heart skip.

        “So, you’re a telepath, you can manipulate sound, what about you?” Peter inquires, looking towards Cassie.

        “I can see the future.” Cassie says nonchalantly.

        “And you, Silver? What can you do?” Y/n asks, scooting a little closer to him.

        “Uh, I’m, uh, fast.” Peter smiles at the young woman's face lights up.

        “Oh god, here we go,” Danny groans despite the smile on his face.

        “You have super speed?” Y/n exclaims, her eyes scanning him up and down. “Do you have heat resistance? You probably also have some form of super strength, right? Depending on what you can do you could also have the ability to manipulate gravity and inertia, oh my god you’re so cool!” 

        At this point, everyone noticed the way Peter’s face flushed and the way his pupils dilated and the way his cheeky grin only grew when Y/n would gush over his mutation. Danny couldn’t help but smile at Y/n’s thoughts, her mind buzzing with admiration for the silver boy who snuck onto their van.

        The vehicle rolls to a stop and Charlie barely has enough time to unlock the van before Hank bursts in, grabbing Peter by the collar and pulling him out. Hank was blue again, and completely enraged. 

        “Are you insane!?” Hank shouts at the boy, now on the ground. “She could have killed you! Charles said the mutant was unpredictable and dangerous, you can’t just--” Peter cuts him off.

        “She’s not dangerous. She’s strong, sure, but not dangerous. If she wanted to kill me she would have, and so would Danny and Cassie and, hell, even Charlie.” Y/n climbed out the van and walked over to Hank, sticking out her hand.

        “Y/n L/n,” she grins, “that’s Danny Rodriguez and Cassie Mann, behind them is Charlie S’venstob.” Hank hesitates before shaking her hand, glancing over at the van full of young adults. Danny winks at him.

        “I’m not gonna kill Silver, or you, or anyone else, I can assure you that. He was telling us about a school, a place where mutants are welcome and accepted and embraced. We want in.” Hank turns to Peter, who is once again gazing at Y/n with a love struck film over his eyes. 

        “Well, uh, we were only looking for one mutant, but I’m sure Charles can accommodate three more.” Hank says, his voice unsure.

        “Two more,” Charlie says. “I’m not a mutant, and even if I was, I got a wife and a kid.”

        “Well, then, two more. We should go now, we’re already incredibly off schedule.” Hank says, flustered and confused and tired. The group returns to Charlie, wishing them a teary goodbye. Hank walks over to Peter as they all say farewell.

        “Peter, you just met her, you can’t go too deep too fast.” Hank warns. Peter just smiles a far away smile, his eyes trained on the mutant as she hugs Charlie.

        “Too late.”

[spaceskam]

the word of your body

draft 35 for @winged-fool, @callieramics, and @hmd023! same universe as this 

warning: insecurity and slightly uncomfortable sexual situation (it’s resolved and nothing goes far at all, swearsies)

ao3

It was weird knowing that the only person you could ever actually be with didn't have the same regulations.

Alex watched with unmatched jealousy as Michael mindlessly followed a girl that walked past with his eyes. He knew he couldn't actually be jealous. They weren't together. They held hands and hugged, but nothing more and even that was only in small doses. Even so, that was only because Alex couldn't touch anyone else. Alex knew that was why.

He also knew Michael did actually like him–he'd made that clear–but he never pushed for anything more. But Alex knew this was his only shot at not being alone forever. What were the chances he'd find another age-appropriate, attractive, invincible guy? Unlikely.

"Hey," Alex urged, reaching out to grab his hand. Michael snapped his gaze back toward him, smile intact. "You wanna come over?"

"Come over? Like, to your house?" Michael clarified. Alex nodded. He wasn't entirely sure this was a good idea, to just be so forward, but Michael was always forward so it felt like his turn. He wanted him. He had to make that clear.

"Yeah," Alex said. Michael squeezed his hand.

"Do I get to check out your room?" he asked, smirking all confidently. Alex couldn't help notice another pretty girl walk by them. Michael didn't even look her way. He smiled and nodded.

“Yeah,” Alex said, slowly dragging his thumb over the sensitive skin on Michael’s palm. He delighted in the way his shoulders shook just a little in response, his cheeks flushing as he continued to smile. 

“What are we waiting for?”

The entire walk to Alex’s house consisted of him doing his best to hype himself up. He didn’t know why he was even nervous. It didn’t feel like how everyone else who got touched casually by people every day. They had all the time in the world to pick and choose and build themselves up to whatever they wanted. Alex, on the other hand, had only been touched by one person in years. He was eager for more. He wanted it. Why wait?

Alex was more than a little thankful when he saw that his mother wasn't home. He hadn't actually told her about Michael's existence yet considering he himself had only two weeks to process it. Alex had touched him and no one had died. That was something he wanted to keep to himself for just a little while.

He led Michael down to the basement that was his bedroom and tried to get rid of her nerves as he watched Michael acclimate to the space with ease. He fit there, maybe even a little too well. Alex smiled and tilted his head, twisting the tension out of his neck. He was going to do this. It was going to be amazing.

“So, what do you wanna do? Watch a movie?” Michael suggested. He wiggled his eyebrows a little and added, “We could cuddle?”

Alex took a deep, controlled breath and decided he wasn’t going to be embarrassed. This wasn’t something to be embarrassed by. This was normal. He could finally be normal.

“Touch me,” Alex requested. Michael blinked a few times, his smile falling as he took in Alex’s words. He tried not to squirm under his gaze and kept his head held high.

“For real?” Michael asked softly. Alex nodded. Michael didn’t move any closer. “Where?”

“Uh,” he breathed, “Anywhere?”

Michael lightened the mood by letting out a soft little laugh and nodded, taking a step closer. He grabbed Alex’s hands again which wasn’t anything new at this point, but still made him feel like he was going to explode with joy. Someone else’s skin was just... so much.

He watched in fascination as Michael moved his hands up to Alex’s jacket, gently pushing it off his shoulders. His heart was slamming in his chest all while Michael just ran his hands over his bare arms. Then he took a step closer and pressed a kiss into the inside of Alex’s wrist. 

“You okay?” Michael asked, eyeing him probably because he’d stopped breathing.

“Yeah,” Alex all but squeaked out. Why was he so nervous? Michael raised an eyebrow and laughed, pressing another kiss to the inside of his elbow. 

“You wanna just cuddle? That involves touching. We could watch a movie,” Michael said again, Alex shook his head as he tried to think of a way to make it clear what he actually wanted. He wanted Michael to be his. 

“Kiss me,” Alex said. Micahel again eyed him like he was unsure.

“Really?” Michael asked, “Because I don’t want you forcing yourself to do stuff just because I’m the only one you’ve met so far that didn’t die.” Alex had to give him that, he did manage to make it sound less depressing.

He stepped a bit closer, raising his hand to touch Michael’s cheek. He hadn’t actually touched him anywhere other than his hands. It was soft and a little stubbly in some places, but it was warm and Alex gravitated closer. He moved his hand a little and slid it into his hair. They moved closer until their foreheads met in the middle, Alex’s hands on his face and Michael’s on his waist.

“I like you. Not because you can touch me, but because I like you,” Alex told him, “But the fact that you can’t doesn’t hurt your case.”

Michael smiled and pulled him a little closer, their noses bumping and their chests pressing flush together. It was a little like a hug, just closer, and Alex was feeling a little overwhelmed in the best way. He wanted to kiss him.

“I just... I want you,” Alex added, a little softer this time. 

Michael’s thumbs slipped beneath his shirt, pressing into the skin of his hips. It was so small, so subtle, but Alex couldn’t help the gasp that fell from his mouth. It was like his entire body was on high alert. Which, it probably was. Michael grinned and rubbed his nose against Alex’s.

“How does it feel?” Alex asked quietly after adjusting to the feeling of his thumbs on his hips.

“Hmm?”

“How does it feel when I touch you?” he wondered, “When I touch people, their heart stops. Even though you’re invincible, it’s still happening to you, right? Like you can still feel it, can’t you?”

“Oh, yeah,” Michael agreed, a small, shy smile overcoming his face like it was something he was embarrassed about despite it being Alex’s fault. “It’s sort of, um, feels like static electricity. Like a little jolt and my heart beats a little faster to overcompensate.”

Alex froze. “Does it hurt?”

“No,” he whispered, “I kinda like it.”

“Oh,” Alex hummed, tilting his head just a little. He wasn’t sure if he should be the one to kiss him or not. He’d never done it before. The closest he got to it was books and movies and shows, watching other people and hoping that if the time came for him he wouldn’t fuck it up. “Kiss me?”

Michael looked at him in that way that he wasn’t really used to being looked at. In fact, he had never been looked at like that. Like he mattered and was special and was chosen. Alex gently traced his jaw with his thumb.

Slowly, slowly, Michael moved forward and pressed a kiss to his lips. It was soft and short, but it still had Alex’s head spinning. His whole body felt hot by that one little kiss. It had him smiling so wide his cheeks hurt.

“You are my new favorite person to kiss,” Michael said. Alex’s eyebrows shot up and he laughed.

“What? How? I didn’t do anything.”

“Yeah, but you’re so cute and reactive,” he teased, giving him a little squeeze that made Alex’s chest feel like it was going to burst.

“That’s because I have no idea what I’m doing,” Alex said. Michael grinned all proudly and slowly started walking them back towards his bed. Alex felt his nerves flare up again.

“I guess I’ll just have to teach you,” he said. 

In a pretty swift moment that felt way too rehearsed, Michael had him on his back on the bed with Michael partially on top of him. About a second later, he was kissing him. Alex followed his lead as best he could despite the fact that he wanted to scream from excitement. It was a type of sensory overload he didn’t know was a thing, every inch of his skin just being totally and utterly aware of him. 

Michael kissed him with a closed mouth at first and then he parted his lips with a hand staying put on Alex’s chin which just felt like a lot more than it was. He was on his side beside Alex who was on his back, leaning over him just a bit. Then his tongue slipped into Alex’s mouth and the entire mood was shattered by Alex laughing.

“Oh, that’s funny?” Michael asked, smiling down at him as he tried his best to contain himself. But that was a really fucking weird feeling. Not a bad one, just weird.

“Sorry!” Alex laughed, “It’s just, it’s like—Have you ever had oysters?” Michael’s eyes went wide and he erupted into laughter as well.

“Oh my God, I kiss like eating oysters?” 

“It’s slimy!”

Michael fell onto his back, body shaking with laughter as he covered his face with his hands. Alex rolled closer to reconnect. He didn’t want the touching to end.

“Sorry,” he said again, trying to be serious as he petted Michael’s chest.

“No, no, it’s fine, I get it,” Michael laughed, moving his hands away, “Do you want me to not do that again?” 

“No, do it, I just need to get used to it,” Alex said. Michael licked his lips and shook his head. 

“C’mere then.”

Alex pressed himself into Michael’s side, those knots in his stomach tightening and loosening with each random kiss and touch he gave him. He adjusted to the feeling of those kisses and they very quickly stopped being funny. In fact, he couldn’t get enough.

He pressed himself into him, body aching for more. He wanted to be overwhelmed with his skin. Was that so hard to ask?

Michael pushed his hand into Alex’s back before moving it under his shirt. Nerves shot through him and he pulled away for a second, looking at him for a moment. He was gorgeous. He wanted him to be his.

So he sat up and took off his shirt.

“Okay,” Michael breathed, pushing himself up on his elbows. His eyes dragged over Alex’s chest and, as scared as he was, that felt good. 

“Touch me,” Alex said again. Michael huffed a laugh, smirking slightly as sat up completely. He reached out and Alex’s mind short-circuited.

Alex knew that he probably looked like an idiot, lips parted and eyes zoned out as he solely focused on the feeling of his hands on his chest. He gulped softly as his callused hand slowly dragged down his side and landed on his hip. The other hand slid over his chest, his thumb grazing over his nipple way too deliberately before moving to his neck and into his hair. Michael leaned closer and kissed his lips and then his cheek, his jaw, his neck.

“You okay?” Michael asked, voice soft and breath hot against Alex’s skin. His eyes were closed, continuously repeating to himself to calm down in his mind. There was no reason to be nervous.

“Yeah, why?” Alex asked.

“Your heart is beating really hard,” he said, head still bowed to kiss on Alex’s shoulder. “Yeah, harder.”

“Sorry,” Alex said, leaning away from just a little. Not too much. He didn’t want to stop being touched.

“No, it’s okay,” Michael said, moving away. Alex made an involuntary noise of protest which just made Michael smile. “Let’s even the score.” Alex watched with attentive eyes as he shed his own shirt. That was way better than movies. “Touch me.”

Alex smiled and shook his head. With shaky hands, he reached out and pressed his palms against his pecs. Michael placed his hands over Alex’s and then surged forward, kissing him senseless. He found himself laid on his back again with Michael fully on top him, bare chest to chest.

It was amazing and terrifying all rolled into one. He kissed him and he kissed him and he kissed him. Alex waited to get used to it, waited to get used to being touched like this, but it didn’t happen. He didn’t know what to make of that. It just kept feeling like his stomach was tying in knots or dropping or being fucking chucked across the room.

And then Michael went for his waistband.

Without even thinking, Alex’s hand snapped to his wrist and mentally cursed himself for it. He waited to be questioned and immediately started preparing his speech to say he wanted it, but it never came. Michael just moved his hands back to the previously defined Okay Zone without question.

“Sorry,” Alex said anyway. That was what got him to pull away.

“Sorry for what?” Michael asked. Alex swallowed hard.

“You can touch me there, didn’t mean to stop you,” he insisted. Michael stared at him for a moment.

“Alex, we don’t have—“

“No, I want to,” Alex clarified, giving a nod. Michael continued to stare at him while Alex gave the most encouraging smile he could muster. Yeah, he was nervous, but that was okay. Everyone was nervous.

“Are you sure?” Michael asked. Alex nodded. “Okay.”

Cautiously, he leaned back in to kiss him. Alex focused on that, focused on the fact that this was the only person he could ever be with. What was the point of being nervous when he was the only one?

They kissed for a few more seconds and Michael’s hand slowly started edging towards his pants again. However, before Alex could even have any type of reaction, he rolled off him and straight off the bed. Alex watched with confused eyes as he stood to his feet.

“You want to because you want to now or you want to because you want to eventually so why not now?” Michael asked. Alex blinked a few times.

“What’s the difference?”

“There’s a big one,” Michael said with a small laugh that had nothing to do with anything being funny. Alex sat up, cold and sort of self-conscious. He’d gotten so used to wearing long sleeves, jackets, gloves, that being shirtless while just simply talking made his nervousness skyrocket. “I don’t want you forcing yourself to do anything, Alex.”

“I want you to like me,” he said honestly. Michael’s shoulders dropped and he smiled.

“I do like you. A lot.”

“Yeah, but do you like me because you have to? Because I know you could have anyone and I can only have you, so—“

“Alex,” Michael said, coming closer again and peeling his hands off his chest, “You’re beautiful and funny and special. Sure, you can be a little prickly and a little stand-offish, but I like you because I like you, not because I feel required to.”

“You stare at girls still,” Alex pointed out. He grimaced a little.

“Yeah, my bad,” he said, squeezing his hands, “Doesn’t mean I don’t like you. We don’t have to rush. We have all the time in the world. It’s not like I’m gonna wake up tomorrow suddenly not invincible.”

Alex’s eyes widened. What if he did wake up the next day suddenly not invincible? Had that ever happened before? Would he accidentally kill him one day thinking it was alright when it wasn’t?

“Hey, no, stop, I see those gears turning,” Michael said, moving to grab his cheeks and force him to make eye contact, “That’s not gonna happen. I will literally stab myself every morning if I have to.”

“You’re my only shot,” Alex admitted, “I don’t wanna mess it up.” Michael smiled sweetly.

“Which is exactly why I don’t wanna fuck it up by moving too fast. We have all the time in the world,” Michael promised, “I want you, Alex.”

Alex stared at him for a moment. He didn’t know how to tell if he was serious or not. He guessed that the only way to actually tell was to wait and see. So, he nodded.

“Now let’s just watch a movie or something, okay?” Michael said. Alex breathed heavily.

“Okay.”

Michael moved to give him a hug, holding him tight. Somehow that was better than half of the stuff that happened that day. He breathed him in and closed his eyes.

“I still wanna kiss you,” he whispered after a moment of hugging. Michael let out a sweet laugh, pressing a kiss to his cheek before basically picking him up and placing them both on the bed.

“We can still do that,” he said, “But we can stop at that too.”

Alex cuddled up to his side after they grabbed his laptop and found something to watch. And they just laid there together for a few hours, laughing and talking and kissing. Nothing more, and yet it was so much more.

Yeah. Maybe Michael did like him.

[ahgaseforeternity]

Dangerous Woman -Lucas edition

Lucas Wong || Part 3

Enjoy!

It had only been a few days since you saw Lucas again, and if felt like you were going through withdrawals. It was getting frustrating. You hardly knew him and he didn’t know anything about you either. You kept telling yourself that, but everyday it didn’t stop you from driving past his venue. 

The club opened right when you got off work, around six a clock. People were already lining up, ready to dance their lives away. Even on weekdays, Danger seemed to be just as busy. 

It was Thursday when you couldn’t take it anymore.

You had to see him again.

You were wearing jeans and a plain t-shirt. You didn’t look like someone who’d be coming out for a night at an elite club. Everyone else was wearing fancy clothes. You just sighed, taking your hair out from the high ponytail you had it in all day, shaking it out.

Welp, this was as good as it you were going to get.

You parked your car and waited in the short line outside and before you knew it you were stepping inside the devils lair. The music was lighter today, not as heavy against your skin as you drew closer to the railing of the balcony. There was something about this place. The dark lighting, the smell of citrus in the air, along with the seductive music playing. 

The name of the venue really was perfect. Everything about this place reeked of danger, and you couldn’t help but be drawn to it. Because it all resembled Lucas. He was dangerous, but so were you. At least what you felt for him was. You let your eyes travel up the glass staircase that stopped at the darkened room you were drawn to last time. It looked empty. 

You let your feet carry you up the flight of stairs, trying to damper the nerves that were building in your veins. Last time you were here, you had been so curious about the dimly lit room, but it just looked like a smaller dance floor, with a more intimate bar. There wasn’t anyone here it seemed, until a security guard stood at the doorway. 

“Hey, do you have a pass to be here?” 

You bit your lip. You obviously didn’t have a pass, and the guard could see that. He was just about to reach out for you, when a hand stopped him. 

“It’s alright, Stephen. She’s with me.” Lucas’s voice filled your stomach with butterflies. He was wearing all black this time, and he looked devastating. His blazer shimmered slightly in the low light, along with the silver necklace that dangled against his exposed skin. How was it possible he got more beautiful each time you saw him? And here you stood in just jeans and a white shirt. 

Your cheeks reddened.

You watched the guard walk away, still a little timid of you. You tried not to meet Lucas’s eyes that happened to be glued to you. “You seem to have an uncanny ability to appear and then vanish, don’t you?” You met his eyes then, and they looked to be filled with amusement, yet annoyance flashed there if only for a moment. 

“Yeah—I’m sorry about that. You had been busy, and I didn’t want to bother you anymore,” you tried to sound sincere. It was all a lie though, because you did want to bother him. You wanted to bother him so much that he couldn’t help but want to touch you again. 

You couldn’t seem to stay away.

Lucas kept his eyes on you, traveling over your clothes, while he stepped behind the bar. “What would you like to drink? It’s on me.”

 “Oh, no. Thank you, but I probably shouldn’t drink, since I drove here.” You let out a nervous laugh. Gosh, this was ridiculous. Why had you shown up here? He obviously was busy, and having to deal with you all these times, you were probably a nuisance to him. 

“I should probably get going though. Thanks for, uh, helping me out, with the guard.” Goll, you sounded absurd. You wanted to kick yourself. Instead, you stepped towards the door to leave but Lucas’s warm hand gripped your wrist, turning you around to face him. 

“Don’t tell me were going to leave without tasting something sweet,” his eyes were boring into yours again, shimmering with mischief. Gosh, they were so warm and endless. Your stomach tightened at his words. Something sweet?

He watched you swallow the lump in your throat. Lucas motioned to the bar. “I’m sure I can whip something up to your liking.” Your brain wasn’t fully there as Lucas managed to pull you back to the bar, setting you down on one of the high leather chairs. 

You bit your inner cheek. Lucas looked absolutely beautiful standing behind the bar, combining different liquids to make a special drink just for you. The thought alone made you shiver with delight. 

“This must be what you wear on a daily bases,” Lucas nodded to your clothes. You wanted to fold into yourself with shame. He looked like a full blown dream boy, while you—well, you looked a mess. 

“Ah, it’s just my work clothes,” you had to say. There wasn’t any good lying to him, besides, you hated lying. You were never really good at it anyway. 

Lucas came to stand before you, with a martini glass in his long fingers. Gosh they looked amazing, those hands. They looked like they were made to hold things, and by things you obviously meant a glass or bottle of wine. Obviously. He lifted his lips into one of his dazzling smiles and you all but forgot about the drink that he placed in front of you. 

“I rather like them actually. You look far better in jeans than I do.” You strongly doubted that. Lucas looked good in everything. “Oh, uhm, thank you,” you hurried to lift the drink to you lips before your mouth could say anything else. 

Your tongue exploded with a delicious taste of something dark and fruity. It was the best drink you had ever tasted before. “Mmm, what is this?” You asked in utter pleasure. Lucas smiled at your approval. “It’s mostly blackberries, but there’s a bit of champagne in there as well.” You’ve only had champagne a few times, but whatever kind Lucas put in this wonderful concoction was not like any you had before. 

You watched as Lucas poured himself some gin on ice, bringing the glass to dink yours. You both stared at each other while the other took sips of their drink. You wanted to ask him something, anything, but you didn’t know what. Lucas seemed like the guy who lived a luxurious life. One you obviously did not mirror. 

“What do you do for work?” Lucas asked, breaking the silence. Ugh. You didn’t want to answer. He would think you entirely lame and boring if he knew where you worked, but again, you didn’t want to lie to him. 

“I work at uh—a bookstore actually.” It was where you have always wanted to work. Being surrounding by books had always been your dream growing up, and to hopefully own your own library one day. It was just a dream though, one you didn’t see happening anytime in the near future. 

“Oh, so you’re a reader? Who do you like?”

Was he asking authors? He must be. You tried thinking about who were some of your favorites, but Lucas’s brilliant smile was making it hard to do anything. 

“Could you stop doing that?” It faltered, if only for a moment. “Doing what?” You sighed heavily. “That. Your smiling.” Lucas slowly raised one of his brows in utter delight. “My smiling? What’s wrong with my smile?” Nothing. Which was entirely the problem. Lucas had no clue what power he wielded with that stunning mouth of his, in more ways than one. You decided to just completely ignore his question and answer his first one. 

“I have many favorite authors, Jane Austen being one.” People tend to judge you whenever you mentioned you liked Jane Austen, as if liking her books made you illiterate. It, of course, didn’t. Most people who said that to you hardly read at all. How were they to know what authors were good or not?

“Oh, classics. You know, I’ve read a few of her books as well.” 

Lucas did not just say what you think he said.

 “You’ve read Jane Austen?”

You couldn’t believe it honestly. This gorgeous man in front of you had also read your favorite author of all time? There was no way. Could he get any better? You tried not to think too much on that, keeping your eyes from traveling to his very full, very luscious lips.

Goll, they were lovely though. 

 Lucas simply nodded. “Of course. Now, did I like them?” He shrugged his broad shoulders.

Your mind completely halted at his words. Wait, what? “You didn’t like her?” Well, it looked like your perfect dream guy wasn’t as perfect as you thought. 

“It wasn’t the author I disliked, it was some of her characters. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been compared to that Mr. Darcy guy.” 

You could see it, if only in the fact that Lucas was wealthy and dangerously handsome.

“Oh, so you’re prideful?” Somehow you found yourself leaning closer to where Lucas still stood on the other side of the bar. His eyes hadn’t been on your face, but they were now. His eyes went from lit annoyance to amusement within seconds. He placed his elbows on the counter, bringing himself closer to you. Goll, his skin was so smooth and clear. How was it possibly for someone to be so utterly perfect? It was starting to bother you. 

Sort of. 

“When it comes to some things, yes.” He admitted, letting his eyes travel over your face. You were hardly wearing any makeup at all. He was seeing you in full glory. You were ready for him to recoil in disgust, but he never did. Instead, his eyes grew dark. “Like my business or my family,” So he was a family guy. He just got major points on your scoreboard. 

Not like you were keeping score or anything. 

“And my taste in women.” His lips lifted into a sly smirk that all but melted your insides. Mother of things holy, this man was going to be the death of you. You didn’t even know how to respond. All you could do was stare at him and his beautiful face.

 “Do you want another drink?” His question stunned you from your hypnotize. 

“Oh—uhm, no. I probably shouldn’t since I drove here.” Lucas furrowed his gorgeous brows. Stop trying to seduce me, you though. Because it was definitely working. He didn’t even know how much power he had over people by just being him. It was quite frustrating. “You’re right. I can have one of my drivers take you home.” 

His drivers? You almost laughed, but stopped yourself. “You have drivers?” Lucas just shrugged his shoulders again.

Who was this guy?

 “It’s no big deal.”

You actually laughed out loud this time. “And you wondered why people would compare you to Mr. Darcy,” Lucas’s warm eyes honed in on you in a consuming sort of way. Well, in all seriousness that’s how they always looked.

Lucas was just consuming in general. 

“Why are you here, Y/N? If you’re not here with your friends, then why are you here?” Your heart stopped beating. You couldn’t tell him why. He would think your some creep who just wanted to make out with him. 

But didn’t you? Gosh, you didn’t know what to say. It all sounded crazy. 

You could try to lie, but you knew it would just fail miserably. But maybe you could try. “I wanted a drink,” the last word came out a little too high and Lucas noticed. He started walking around the counter. He was making his way to you, and you found yourself itching to flee towards the exit, but something inside you kept you tithered to the seat you were in. 

“You could’ve gotten a drink downstairs. Why did you come up here then?” 

You could feel a knot forming in your stomach as Lucas drew closer to you. He looked so devilishly wicked in his black suit and glittering jewelry. You were forgetting how to breathe as he came even closer, his height overpowering you. 

“Less people,” You squeaked. Lucas had your back pressed against the bar, while he placed his hands on either side of you. It was like a replay of the night before, where you were caged in by his long arms. You could almost feel your heart beating out of your chest. It was so loud, you wouldn’t be surprised if Lucas could hear it too.

He lowered himself so his eyes were level with yours, even though they weren’t looking into them. They were staring at your lips. 

Oh gosh.

“You came up here to look for me,” Lucas’s voice was deep and husky as he glanced from your lips to your eyes. His own were swirling with a blatant hunger. “Didn’t you?” 

You swallowed again, letting your tongue slip through your mouth to wet your dry lips. Lucas watched in complete wonder. “What do you want me to say, Lucas?” Your voice was filled with yearning, and he could hear it too. “The truth, Y/N, from your sweet lips.” 

You gave a breathy gasp. “Fine. I came to see you okay. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you. Ever since that first night, my mind hasn’t stopped. Is that better?” 

Lucas’s face broke into a glistening smile. “Much better,” His mouth instantly collided with yours. You hadn’t come for this. You had come here to just be with him. To just see him again, but now that his lips were on yours, you couldn’t think of anything else.

Only that you wanted more. 

He parted your lips, seeking your tongue, which you gave willingly. Once they touched, you felt the moan escape the back of your throat without your permission. You felt Lucas’s lips smile against yours.

Gosh, it felt amazing. 

He let a growl of his own escape and it was a sound that shattered everything you thought you knew about kissing. You had never heard such a lovely sound before in your life, and you wanted to hear it again. It broke the leash you had been keeping on your hands. You had wanted to touch him even before he kissed you, but he wasn’t yours to touch, but now—to hell with that.

You let your arms snake around his broad shoulders, just as Lucas lifted you closer. He was holding you against him and it was the sexiest thing that has ever happened to you. You could feel how fast his heart was bounding, along with your own. He wanted you just as much as you wanted him. He set you on the counter of the bar, while your fingers twined in his silky hair. 

Gosh, it was perfect.

He wrapped your legs around his body, making your lower belly warm. His fingers trailed over your clothed thighs, stopping at your hips. You could feel his thumbs just gently caress the exposed skin there. The light touch made your body want to burst into flames. His tongue danced with yours, the top of his teeth gently grazing your bottom lip, and then tugged. 

Another slow moan tumbled from your throat. You let your hands trail down his toned chest and back again, feeling his warm skin beneath his dark clothes. You wanted to take them off. You wanted to see what he looked like.

There must’ve been something in the way you were touching him, because Lucas somehow released your mouth. You could feel how swollen it was, but you didn’t care. All you wanted was for his mouth to be on yours again. You went to pull him close, but Lucas stopped you before you could. 

You were both breathing heavily. “Lucas, what’s wrong?”

 “Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Other than the fact that I’m at work.”

Oh, right. Lucas untwined your legs from around his slender torso. You could feel the adrenaline you had been feeling start to fade. You felt almost empty.

“I need to go check on somethings downstairs.” He started to say. All you could do was nod your head. 

For some reason you had this strong urge to cry. You hated crying. There was no way you were going to, especially in front of Lucas. You tried to breathe it away and it helped, barely.

You jumped down from the bar, straightening your shirt that looked a little wrinkled. You tried to tamper your hair as well, not wanting to look completely conspicuous. 

“Yeah. I should probably leave anyways.” You gripped your purse that you draped over the chair, not wanting to met Lucas’s eyes as you started making your way towards the door. 

Your fingers were on the handle when Lucas touched your shoulder. You glanced around to see he looked just as wistful as you. “Come back tomorrow. I don’t have to work, and it can just be you and me.” Your heart perked up immediately. Lucas was asking you out and it thrilled you. 

“Okay.” It was all you could say through your smile. Lucas was giving you one as well. It obviously outshined your own. You felt as if your smile was something awkward and lopsided, unlike his that was heartbreakingly warm and lovely.

“Does 7 work?” You nodded your head, twiddling your fingers on your purse. “Great, I’ll see you then.” Before you could do anything, Lucas leaned in and gave you a light kiss on the cheek. 

You don’t know how, but you managed to open the door and glide yourself down the stairs. You were still stunned silly when you climbed into the back of a black car Lucas had hauled for you. You thought about his brilliant smile, his dangerous touch and lips all the way back to your apartment.

For once, you couldn’t wait for tomorrow.