#this pom pom turned out really nice too

[gentle-stitches]

Circular knitting machines are fun! I'm hoping to get through some of my ancient acrylic stash with this thing. Made a hat in two hours.

... Now I'm bored again

[5ueckers]

but i'm a cheerleader

pairing : paige bueckers x cheerleader!reader

warnings : smut. semi–public sex.

notes : this is highkey unrealistic af so don't think too hard abt it! also i got kinda lazy while proofreading and editing, so there may be some errors/might feel a bit clunky at times, sorry in advance 🫠

words : 2148

xl center erupts with screams and applause as the final buzzer rings out— the university of connecticut’s women’s basketball team, for the tenth game in a row, has come out victorious, winning with a whopping forty–seven points over their competitors.

you jump up from where you’ve been sitting cross–legged at the baseline of the court and shake your bright red pom–poms, yelling out one of your cheers. the rest of the girls follow suit after you, their captain, perfectly in sync as the pep band begins to play the uconn husky fight song.

you’re never not tired as hell at the end of a game— the exhaustion from your halftime performance starting to set in and your head dully aching from your tight half–up–half–down hairstyle— but none of that ever deters you. you’re captain for a reason, bringing sharp precision, clean lines, and high energy to every performance, whether its on a court, field, or stage.

but of course, even the best of best have their weaknesses.

yours has actually landed you in trouble before, just once— you missed a whole count because you were distracted by a pair of icy blue eyes watching you intently from uconn’s bench, her intrigued expression being replaced by a smirk once she realized she’d caused your mishap. coach really chewed you out next practice, but you got got the blue–eyed girl’s number after that game, so it was honestly kind of worth it.

your post–game cheer earns its own round of applause from the remaining fans in the stands, and you bow, shaking your poms the whole way back to the baseline, where your coach awaits you. she offers a few nice jobs and back pats, as well as a fair share of critiques, before finally telling you all you’re free to go.

while the rest of your team head for the cheer locker room, you start toward the opposite direction. “y/n?!” one of your teammates calls out after you, confused.

“go on, i’ll meet you guys later!” you reply, before running to meet paige at the other side of the court, by the stands.

there’s still a large crowd of fans waiting to take pictures and have their jerseys signed by your girlfriend, but once she notices you approaching, she yells out, “alright, y’all, that’s it for tonight! thanks for coming!”

her voice softens when she turns to you and smiles, “hey.”

“hey, you,” you say gingerly, hyper–aware of the cameras fixed on paige, and so also you, by extension.

she nods her head in the direction of the arena’s large exit doors, silently instructing you to follow her.

you keep a safe distance while you’re still in the presence of the fans and cameras and the media, but as soon as you’re both in the tunnel, so dark that no one can see you, paige is all over you. her hands fly to your waist if they’re under the control of a magnetic pull as her lips press to yours, gasping into your mouth. you shudder as you melt into the kiss, into her, throwing your arms around her neck. you part your lips, allowing her to lick into your mouth— you want her to eat you alive.

“you were so good out there,” you tell her once you part, voice breathy.

paige grins cockily, already knowing that she played well, and you can see that your red lipstick has transferred onto her mouth, making you laugh. “what? what’s funny?” she questions, confused but chuckling a bit herself.

you shake your head. “nothing, just—” you point at your own lips, which you’re sure have also gotten smudged. “you’ve got something.”

“ah,” she rolls her eyes, genuinely sounding irked, which only makes you laugh harder. “well, you’ve got something—”

she cuts herself off by simply kissing you again, a light peck, taking your hand into hers soon after she separates your bodies.

high on the rush of the win and each other, you two walk hand–in–hand to the women’s locker room— only to be met with aubrey, crouched at her locker as she finishes packing up her things. if not your lipstick literally being smeared all over paige’s lips, then the flush on both of your faces and the way you freeze and suddenly drop each other’s hands, even though both of your teams are aware of your relationship and you have nothing to hide, certainly tells the older girl everything she needs to know.

she simply stuffs a few more of her things into her bag before heading out, lightly punching paige on the shoulder and laughing as she passes by, “see y’all!”

one you hear the door close, you and paige just look at each other before bursting into giggles at the interaction. “she’s never gonna let me live that down.” the blonde groans, wrapping her arms around your waist again.

you just laugh, falling quiet as you find yourself lost in her eyes for the nth time since you first met her. those eyes will be the death of you, you’re sure of it. she gets kind of sheepish whenever you look at her for too long, avoiding your gaze and blushing— you’re not sure why, she’s the most beautiful person you’ve ever seen. “i love you.” you say, very seriously.

“i love you, too, y/n,” she responds, just as earnest, and leans in to kiss you, only to be stopped.

“wait,” you say, reaching up and finally taking that godforsaken ponytail down, feeling all the tension in your head release as soon as you do. you drop the hair tie and bow to the ground, haphazardly brushing your hair out of your face with your fingers as it falls out of the style.

“god, you’re so fucking pretty,” the blonde marvels aloud, before finally kissing you again.

your lips move together languidly as her hands move down until they’re cupping your ass, kneading the soft flesh in her palms. “paige,” you whine into her mouth, allowing your head to roll back as her lips trail wet, open–mouthed kisses from your jawline all the way down your exposed collarbones.

“yeah, baby?” she replies and then sucks harshly at a particularly sensitive spot, making you whimper.

“want you,”

“here?” she pulls back slightly to scan the locker room— everyone else’s belongings are gone, it’s just her bag and shoes left in front of her storage space. still, someone may have forgotten something and could easily walk in on you while trying to find it. “someone could see—”

you don’t care. you pull paige back in, connecting your lips again, pushing your tongue into her mouth and kissing her with the kind of fervor that makes it impossible for her to deny you. she guides you backwards until your back is pressed to the one navy blue wall that isn’t lined with lockers, her hands feeling you all over.

her fingertips find their way to the hem of your tiny skirt, pulling up until the fabric is bunched up high on your hips, revealing the even smaller red safety shorts you’re required to wear under your uniform. she steps back briefly to give you some space so you can push them and your panties down your legs, kicking them aside, before she slots her thigh between your legs. already knowing exactly what to do from experience, you grind down against her thigh, and it feels so good when you clit drags against her bare skin, you whimper and repeat the motion again and again.

paige uses one hand to hold you steady with a strong grip on your waist, while the other works at pushing up the top piece to your uniform and bra, exposing your breasts to the cool air of the locker room. she immediately leans down to suck and lick at one of your firm nipples while rolling over the other with her free thumb. the sounds are obscene— your moans, paige’s slurping, and the squelch of your wet pussy rubbing against her thigh all coming together to fill the room.

“fuck, p,” you moan, eyes squeezing shut. “so good.”

paige releases your nipple from her mouth with low groan, briefly licks at the other, before standing upright. she leans in, dangerously close and she whispers into your ear, “i can feel it, y’know. you really want my fingers that bad?”

you blush, flustered by her referring to the way your pussy keeps clenching against her thigh, showing how needy you are, but still nod. “need it, paige, please,” you whimper, hoping she’ll give in quicker if you beg for it.

you’re proven correct, because your girlfriend plants a quick kiss on your cheek, murmuring, “anything for my girl,” before removing her thigh from between your legs, dropping down to her knees and crouching in front of you. ever the tease, she starts by kissing at your thighs, whispering sweet nothings into your skin— beautiful, so pretty, good girl, all mine.

and then two of of her long, slender fingers are prodding at your entrance, easing in nice and slowly. your pussy clenches around the digits, welcoming her inside like an old friend, your walls slick and velvety.

you allow your head to tip back against the wall, eyes closing again, “oh my god.” paige knows your body so well, knows just how to angle her fingers and jab at that sweet spot inside you, the one that makes you cry every time. she adds her mouth to the mix, kitten–licking at your clit before sucking it into her mouth, sending shivers up your spine.

“i’m close,” you cry out, and paige hums against you encouragingly, sending vibrations all throughout your core.

what really has you tipping over the edge is the look in her eyes when you finally will yours open, staring up at you with such adoration as she gets you off. you always said those eyes would be the death of you; your kryptonite. you nearly fold over as your orgasm hits you, legs shaking as the pleasure ebbs throughout your whole body, sobbing out your girlfriend’s name.

“you good?” paige chuckles, amused by your struggling. her lips, covered in your cum and arousal, plus your lipstick from earlier, are glistening in the fluorescent lighting of the locker room— the sight is so hot, you almost feel ready to orgasm again. almost.

“y–yeah, i just—” you swallow thickly, heaving. “need a minute.”

paige’s hands grip your hips, holding you steady until she feels you’re able to stand on your own. only when she’s certain you won’t topple over does she let go of you, sweetly kissing you on your forehead when she stands up. “i’ll be right back, wait here,” she tells you, disappearing momentarily.

“dude! i look fucking insane!” you hear her yell out, making you laugh weakly. you figure she’s found a mirror.

she returns with a wet hand towel, having washed off her mouth, hands, and thigh. she’s gentle as she cleans you up, knowing you’re still sensitive. then, she grabs your panties and shorts from off the carpeted floor, bending over and holding them at your ankles to help you re–dress.

“wait, but i wanted to do you, too,” you whine, a genuine pout setting in on your face as you step back into the panties.

paige shakes her head. “when we get home,” she offers. “i don’t wanna… defile this place any more than we already have.”

you laugh, again, at her choice of words. paige helps you get back into your shorts, as well, and you pull your skirt, bra, and top back down to their regular positions, smoothing over your uniform with the palms of your hands, trying to look at least a little bit presentable for when you walk out of here. paige wanders off toward her locker, changing out of her uniform.

finally feeling stable enough to walk, you find your hair tie and bow on the ground, rolling the former onto your wrist. “wait, c’mere,” you wave paige over, just as she’s pulling a fresh t–shirt over her head.

“hm?” she hums as she approaches, but you just motion for her to lean down a bit. she complies, and you place your bright red bow in her hair, right at the top of her ponytail.

“awww,” you gush at the sight. paige just looks at you, trying her best to appear unimpressed, but you can see the smile playing at her lips. “so pretty! cheer captain!”

she spends all of thirty seconds pretending like she’s not enjoying this, before breaking out into a dance, very poorly imitating your cheer routine from earlier. you encourage her, nonetheless, clapping and cheering, “go paige! go paige!”

she finishes with a ridiculously complex move that you’re pretty sure belongs to some tiktok dance learned recently with kk, grinning, “how was that?”

“10/10, hands down!”

[rimunagenius]

Good Game

ʚ pairing: Kate Martin x Cheerleader!reader

ʚ word count: 1.3k words

ʚ warnings: RPF!! , otherwise none.

ʚ request: anon ask; “are you down to make a kate martin x cheerleader reader?”

ʚ rimunagenius speaks: here’s another request! i love that you guys are sending requests, and i’m glad that i’m the one you’re choosing to ask to write them! thank you so much for liking what i write, truly unbelievable. Also, I’m making my way through my inbox so from now on, my fics will most likely be request, so feel free to drop some more, but also, please be patient as i continue to do so! enjoy!

"Good job, Martin!" You yelled at you waved your pom poms infront of you, engaging in your cheer, but looking to the side as the Iowa women's basketball team ran down the tunnel for half time.

You gave her the biggest smile, getting one in return. "Thank you!" She grabbed a cup of water and ran down the tunnel following her teammates.

Usually that's how all of your interactions went. A 'good job' or 'you're doing great' here and there. Kate was your favorite on the team. She was tall, pretty, kind, and really damn good at playing ball. What's there not to like about her? You always mentioned her to your cheer friends; they evolved to trying to start up conversations with Kate and bring you into it.

It helped that one of your bestfriends was on the basketball team, too. You and Kylie met on your first day at Iowa University. You two have been inseparable since then.

So every game, you'd get to just a little bit early, hitching a ride with Kylie, and she knew full well why you did it. There was the off chance that you'd talk to Kate. They normally had shoot around, and the cheer team would get there just a half hour later to start warm ups and make sure the music was working.

You valued your time before every home game. That's why Kylie made sure to make you bump into Kate on your way into the big game tonight.

"Hey, Kate!" Kylie shouted to the blonde ahead. She turned around, her long blonde hair twisting as she turned to look at you and Kylie.

"Hey! Oh, Hi!" Kate greeted her teammate, and then greeting you, with a side hug. She was much taller this close than from the sideline to baseline view. Your knees were weak.

"Hey! You excited for tonight?" You beamed, you were also excited for tonight. The big Iowa vs. UConn game for the final four spot.

"Yeah, super. Your cheering tonight?" Kate knew the answer, she just didn't know what to say because you made her nervous. You could tell by the way her cheeks reddened immediately after asking.

"Yeah, I am. That's why I came with Kylie." You turned to point to your friend, only to find she left. You look up ahead and see her walking with Sydney down the hall towards the lockerroom. "Oh, nice." You whispered as you turned back to Kate.

Your cheeks turning pink just by the sheer height difference. "Nice, you're gonna cheer for me right? Your favorite on the team obviously." She bumped your shoulder, making you laugh.

"I will cheer for you, but only out of obligation. Y'know, I didn't get a full ride for nothing." Your sarcasm eliciting a small giggle from the tall blonde.

"Haha, very funny." Kate looked ahead, catching Kylie peak her head out of the lockerroom doorway, immediately blushing harder.

"Kylie's actually my favorite, but i'll make an acception for the cute golden retriever." You smiled up at Kate, tossing a small strand of hair up playfully, her smile widening some more.

"Yay, the cute cheerleader loves me." She bumped your shoulder again, both of you walking into the lockerroom like big grinning idiots. Kylie definitely texts you after you walk out with your headphones she had in her bag, asking how it went.

You walked onto the court, a couple of your teammates here already, smiling at your phone while you told Kylie what happened. You then didn't fail to talk about it all the way until the girls started warms ups. You didn't want to get caught talking about a minor interaction between your literal crush.

"Wait, stop. I think Kate likes you, babe." Your teammate literally stopped you dead in your tracks. You didn't know if you heard that correctly. You hoped you did.

"No, stop it. No she doesn't." You looked over, and sure enough Kate had been looking at you. You both gave eachother a small smile before resuming to your respective duties.

"Girl, she's been looking over here every thirty seconds. Of course she likes you." You smiled softly, thanking the cheer gods that your uniform looked so good on you. Seriously, you were glad you were confident enough to strike up a conversation. She was so pretty you didn't think you'd be able to do it.

"Okay, stop telling me that or that's all i'll think about all night, and I don't want to forget our cheers. Especially the half time performance." You sighed as you walked off the court, to do stationary stretches, while the girls used the full court to do warm up drills.

Now it was your turn to stare. You watched her as she moved in sync with her team. Fully enamored by the way she moved, communicated, and played with her team.

During the game, was no different. You’d watch her play, literally just watched her. Something about her was just so intriguing. You couldn’t look away.

She’d look to you, smile and continue to play her game. She would try and hide the smile when she heard you scream ‘let’s go 20’ and hasn’t stopped thinking about it. She thought about it all the way through the second half, and completely into half time.

She wished she could watch the halftime performance, wanting to watch you do your thing, in that pretty uniform, the skirt that fit you perfectly. You two had seemed to be totally enamored with eachother it was driving you both nuts.

After the game, the team went into the tunnel, for the normal post game talk. You were nervous to sit in, Coach Bluder allowing you to sit and listen since Kylie was your ride and you were just minding your own business. The lockerroom was fairly big, you finding a spot infront of a locker, scrolling through tiktok with your headphones on. You hadn’t known the huddle was over until someone was approaching you.

Looking up, you met the perfect blue eyes yet again. You looked up and saw you were sitting at her locker. “Oh, I’m sorry, I’ll just—“ You started talking and got up when she had already reached for her towel on the top shelf. Your bodies were pressed against eachother, eyes looking into the others, your breath mixing together.

“Oh..uh. Sorry!” Kate said, sidestepping to let you pass. Both your cheeks were red and demeanor suddenly timid and bashful. The things you two did to eachother.

You neeed her number.

She needed your number.

You then stood by Kylie’s locker, waiting for her to finish up, her opting to shower at her home, and then before walking out, you turned around and walked up to Kate. You didn’t know if it was the confidence of Iowa winning the game, the adrenaline running super high. But either way, you were doing it.

It was now or never. You liked her, and wanted to talk to her longer than short conversations before and after games. Getting closer, you tapped her on her shoulder. Her eyes wide, a soft puppy look on her face, god your knees were weak. “Hey!” She smiled as she put her basketball shoes in her bag, sliding her feet into her slides.

“Hey! So, you can totally say no, but I wanted to know if I could get your number?” You smiled nervously at the blonde, her smile growing wider.

“Yeah, of course. Here.” She handed you her phone, letting you type in your number, sending a quick text so you could save her number in your phone. Feeling your phone vibrate, you thank her and handed her her phone back.

Her now standing infront of you, you decided to kiss her cheek. Her face immediately turning a light shade of red. She rubbed the back of her neck softly, before looking down at her feet and then back up to you.

“Good game tonight, Martin.” You turned heel, and walked out the door leaving her absolutely stunned. She could not wait to text you tonight.

[oogaboogaspookyman]

@sm-baby

I COULD BE HAPPY WITH SOMEONE NEW BUT MY HEART ACHES

[JUST FOR YOU]

It's been a while, hasn't it?

The office door creaks open

"Heya Pom! Brought back the paper i asked you yesterday?" Jax sounded so cheery. So happy while you just sat there on the chair like a drunkard... Well he's not a romance guy, of course he would be happy on his own. Damn rabbit.

"Not a word? What, still miss Sir Dentures?" He chuckles. He doesn't stop chuckling. What a clown... Thinks the jester. Ironic.

"Hm..."

His smile fades into a sincere frown.

Sigh

"Look here, Pom... It was necessary. He's free, paid for restoring us, we're all good now. No more murder and i got my nice charming scarf back and my favorite brushes, i'm the cool art teacher again!"

"So turn the dumb frown upside down aaaand please give me the paper i asked you? Please and thank you?"

"You're not a romance guy, of course you're fine. [___]hole..."

...

Oh...

"Oh for the love of- the censor is still here?! God darn it, i wanna say the f word for once! I loved doing that!"

You grip onto the table until it began to crack at the memory of him. Him, him, him. That stupid fucking human.

"Pom you may wanna lay off the grip there, i paid a lot for tha-"

A chunk is crushed. Like paper.

...

"Ah..."

Pomni lets go, revealing the chokehold put on the table left a permanent mark.

"Did ya dissociate again? I spoke well 'n clear, i paid a lot for that one!"

"Suck me, rabbit, you can get your s[__]t yourself" Pomni gets up and storms off from the office with no more words.

"Eh... Christ she's not okay..." Jax sighs

"Wonder if things coulda been better?"

Nobody helps at all.

Gangle offered to distract her, have a play, but Pomni wasn't in the mood.

Zooble offered a smoke but she didn't wanna try that kind of stuff.

Bubble is too much of an agent of chaos to give a shit, offered to commit "one (1) arson".

Kinger is just too far gone in his dementia, lucid when it was fucking funny and nothing more...

Nobody helps.

He knew how to help...

Only he knew...

Him...

The door to Ragatha's room creaks open

"Oh hey Pomni! How's your day go... Oh..." Ragatha notices Pomni is not any form of happy, if anything she looks like she's empty inside and wants to die...

"Oh you're not alright... Would you like to talk over tea..?"

"Mm... Will you let me vent properly?" Pomni groaned, still doubting that she won't pull out the whole everything is fine bullshit

"Oh- u-uhm- yes of- of course! Of course, i- i apologize for my past behavior, i really wasn't in my... B- best moments, at the time..." Ragatha stuttered. Don't stutter, you pretentious... ... Anyhow.

"Okay... Do you remember... Caine?" Ragatha already caught wind of the situation...

"The human with the dentures head? Yes, i remember him just fine, he restored us..."

"Yeah..."

"He was a good man, although didn't have the best manners he was alright nonetheless, knew how to make some laugh..." Ragatha and Pomni chuckled at the memory of Caine's wacky way with words. Jumping jellybeans? Seriously? That's a man right there!

A good dude...

"..." Pomni's pupils turned into black scribbles at the thought of him. The chuckling had faded as soon as it started, replaced by...

"I loved that human, if i'm being honest... He knew how to cheer me up, how to make the situation seem less bigger than it actually is... He knew how to kiss, god did he know..." Ragatha let out an "oh my" after hearing Caine kissed her, what else did they do..?!

"He... He was... He's amazing. Just that, amazing..." Pomni sighed, sipping on the tea she's given... "I loved him..." She began to sniff, putting down her cup.

"Oh dearie, come here-" Ragatha put down her cup and welcomed Pomni with open arms, knowing full well she needed to let it out of her system.

And that she did. Pomni got up and hugged Ragatha as tight as she could, and began to sob her lonely heart away, "He loved you too, Pomni, that cannot be denied..." Ragatha spoke as she held Pomni close. The poor jester, so alone...

How ironic.

She has friends, and yet she's lonely.

Caine had filled up a hole nobody could fill, and now that he's gotten out of the game after restoring everyone to their better conditions... That hole is empty once more, a gaping void and nothing to fill it.

How lonely this jester must be...

But it was necessary. He's free now.

[sunny-fox]

I've been wanting to write this for a while now -

God! Reader who stims + Headcanons

Idea by: @karmawonders (please check out their blog too!!)

Fandom: Genshin Impact

Reader's pronouns: -

Notes: implied neurodivergent reader & characters, self-indulgent, includes personal headcanons

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

Candace sat on your bed, legs dangling over the edge. She had turned to her left to face you - you lay on your side, huddled underneath your blanket and cuddling a pillow. The two of you chatted idly, till you blinked sleepily and yawned, rubbing at your eye.

"Are you going to sleep now, Your Grace?" Candace asked softly.

You nodded, grabbing your blanket and pulling it up to your nose. You breathed in deeply, rubbing the fabric between your fingers as you did so.

You noticed Candace looking at you curiously. "Don't mind me...I'm just stimming," you mumbled, rubbing the blanket against your nose.

The look on Candace's face turned into one of realisation. She nodded in response and ran her fingers through your hair gently. "Sweet dreams, Your Grace," she whispered.

You hummed quietly and continued to breathe in the scent of your blanket.

Candace left your room after giving you one last pat on the head.

----------

You were walking in the streets of Fontaine, with Navia keeping you company. Glancing at the various shops and wares available, you hummed any song that you could think of every time your eyes settled on something new that reminded you of them.

A few minutes later, you looked to your side and saw Navia staring at you with a soft gaze and a smile (she probably had been doing so for at least ten minutes). You froze momentarily, and your humming halted as well.

"Is everything alright, Your Grace?" Navia asked.

"Everything's okay, but why were you staring at me?" You asked. "If it's because of my humming, then... I'm sorry. I'll stop."

"That's because I love to hear you hum!" Navia replied. "It's okay, you can continue humming. It's not annoying at all. It's really nice."

You grinned at Navia gratefully before continuing to hum. You noticed that Navia bobbed her head occasionally or matched the clicks of her boots as she walked according to your hums.

----------

You were hanging out with Heizou for today, and the both of you decided to have lunch at Uyuu Restaurant.

While he was waiting for the food to be served, Heizou heard some soft clicks. He looked at you and saw you resting your hands against the edge of the table. You were picking at your fingernails and the skin of your fingers.

"Your Grace." Heizou's voice caught your attention. You looked up and saw him staring into your eyes. "Please stop doing that."

"Oh - I'm sorry!" You quickly put your hands on your knees, gripping them so that you wouldn't pick at your fingers. "Those clicks sound annoying; I know. I'm really sorry."

"No, that's not the problem," Heizou said, leaning forward slightly. "The problem is, it's bad for you. I understand that you're just stimming, but that's an unhealthy stim." He stood from his original seat and moved around the table to sit next to you, reaching out with one hand, palm facing upward. "May I please have a look at your hand?"

Reluctantly, you placed your hand in his, showing him your uneven nails. Heizou sighed and rubbed his thumb against them.

"There's nothing wrong with stimming, Your Grace, but please don't hurt yourself while you stim," he said. "Here, you can play with this." He undid the black pom-pom attached to his clothing and pressed it onto your palm.

----------

Headcanons:

Kaeya whistles to stim. Please teach him all of the songs you know; in return, he'll teach you all of the Teyvat songs he knows. He wants to whistle along with your songs while you hum.

Klee has a comfort blanket that she cuddles to sleep every night. She's so happy to know that you have the same way of stimming as her! She's heard a lot of adults saying things like "kids should outgrow their habit of having comfort blankets when they grow up", so please assure her that it's not true.

Shenhe rubs her sleeves when she's stressed or nervous. You'll see her doing so when she's in a crowd, or before she wants to talk to you. Just like Klee, she needs assurance that stimming isn't bad, as some people still give her weird looks when she does so.

Beidou whistles to stim as well. Unlike Kaeya, she doesn't whistle when you hum. She likes to imitate the calls of all kinds of birds. Sometimes a bird or two will swoop down from the air to land on her shoulder or hand after hearing her whistles.

Yuegui is Yaoyao's stim toy. She always holds it in her arms so that she can give it a squeeze now and then, or breathe in the smell of osmanthus flowers on it. Yuegui makes her feel safe - it was originally made by Cloud Retainer to protect her, after all.

Sara likes to run her fingers through her feathers. She just materialises her wings and brushes them with her hand, albeit only when there's very few people around. When she's in public, she chews on the inside of her mouth.

Kirara waves her tails back and forth. Some people tell her to stop because they keep seeing something (her tails) swishing in their peripheral vision when she stims - they say that it's annoying. Please tell them off, pat Kirara on the head and tell her that it's okay to stim.

Collei fiddles with the tassels of her shawl while patrolling or learning new words. When she's at home, where she doesn't have to be cautious all the time, Cuilen-Anbar is her comfort "blanket". (Inspired by that one cutscene where Collei cuddles Cuilen-Anbar while sleeping)

Wanderer may not admit it, but he stims too! He used to fiddle with his vision only when he's 100% sure there's no one around. Similar to Sara, his stimming behaviour was very subtle in public - he rubbed his fingers against his sleeves whenever he crossed his arms over his chest. He's actually quite relieved when you tell him that stimming in front of others is totally fine.

Lynette stims by playing with her ponytail. She does it every time before a performance. Sometimes she twists her ponytail, sometimes she runs her fingers through it, sometimes she curls a strand of it around her finger. Occasionally, Lyney has to help her undo the knots in her hair 5 minutes before he has to go on stage.

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

I love my stim toys hehe

It's okay for anyone to stim as long as you don't hurt anyone, including yourself!

[hypnoneghoul]

My Medicine

WC: 1,1K

Relationship: Rain/Dewdrop

Tags: Just fluff lmao

Rain and Dew are disgustingly in love and they go for a walk. That's it.

Notes: This was supposed to be posted during fall but who cares

Read under the cut or on AO3.

Rain wasn’t the biggest fan of fall. It was just a bit too cold and too depressing, he claimed. The only reason he actually went outside during those months was Dewdrop. For Rain, Dewdrop was fall. 

Cold but bright, humid but colorful, the world was painted orange and red. Maybe it was true what Swiss once said, that the water ghoul was so stupidly in love he saw his little fiery mate everywhere. It was definitely true, but it didn’t change the fact that something about fall was so inherently Dewdrop.

The fire ghoul himself had a relatively positive opinion on the matter. It wasn’t too cold, it wasn’t too hot, there wasn’t much to do and it was pretty. There was one particular reason for why he liked the colder weather and it was certainly not the fact that it meant Rain getting cold more often and needing more warming up, preferably in the form of cuddles, from Dewdrop. Absolutely not.

That’s exactly what had happened the night before. Rain threw Dewdrop one puppy eyed look and not even five minutes later they were already wrapped up in blankets and holding each other tightly in their bed. The last few days the weather was on the uglier side, dirty clouds hiding away the sun, but when they woke up the world was bright again.

It was actually Rain who proposed going out later, feeling a nearly painful need to see his little mate against the vibrant leaves that complimented his eyes so well. They got dressed after breakfast, Dewdrop throwing on just his leather jacket and a black beanie (with little holes for his horns) that was more for looks than anything. Rain, on the other hand, bundled himself up in a warm, puffy jacket and a big scarf, obscuring half of his face. It had been knitted by Cumulus, as well as the gloves and a hat—with a fluffy pom pom on top—he was wearing, too.

They left the Abbey hand in hand, Dewdrop chuckling at Rain’s gloves, and turned in the direction of a little park area of the woods, made like that by the earth ghouls for the sole purpose of having a place reminding everyone of the outside world. It was nice and cozy, in a way, a few graveled alleys lined with lamps with wooden benches standing here and there. At some point it faded into a dark, dense forest that stretched over miles and miles of land.

They had nothing to really talk about, but the silence wasn’t uncomfortable. They didn’t need words to have a nice time, small talk, or anything of that kind, was simply unnecessary. With each other they could just… be.

The ghouls sat down on one of the benches, facing the rest of the park and the Abbey where bits of it could be seen in between the trees. Dewdrop put his arm on the back of the bench and Rain took it as an invitation to lean against his chest. He curled that arm around him and placed a warm hand on the water ghoul's cold cheek, his mate nuzzling into the touch with a purr.

They sat like that for a few minutes, now both of them purring away, all happy. They both had the same thoughts bouncing around in their minds, not aware of the other thinking the exact same thing. They thought about how fulfilled they felt in their presence, how they didn't need absolutely anything else to stay this content for the rest of eternity. All they needed was each other.

“Sit up for a moment,” Dewdrop whispered at some point and Rain, though with a grumble, obliged. The fire ghoul wiggled out from behind his mate and stood up. He snorted at Rain's hurt little pout and pushed him back gently before plopping himself down in his lap.

Dewdrop hooked his fingers under the hem of Rain's beanie and pulled it up and over his horns only to then shove it down, covering the water ghoul's face completely. He started giggling like a maniac when Rain tried to escape the woolen prison, getting a bit tangled between the hat and the scarf. At last, he re-emerged, now even more of his face exposed to the chilly air than before as the scarf ended up being shoved under his chin.

Rain chuckled, shaking his head at Dewdrop's dumb grin. He continued smiling when the water ghoul looped an arm around his waist and pulled, Dew’s body crashing into his chest as an even brighter blush crept up his cheeks, nearly as vibrant a color as the trees all around.

“Give the poor guy a warning next time,” he mumbled and tried so very hard, and failed, to pout dramatically.

“Dumbass,” Rain giggled, leaning down to knock their horns together, Dew letting out a happy chirp.

“But I’m your dumbass, aren’t I?” he sighed, smile not leaving his lips. At such a close angle he looked even more like a bug, Rain thought. Dewdrop wiggled his arms out from between him and the water ghoul and threw them around his neck. “Can I get a kiss?”

Rain felt his chest squeeze with painful affection for his little ghoul and whispering a quiet always, he pressed his lips to Dewdrop’s. He trilled into the kiss, so very happy, and now both of them couldn’t help their smiles, making the kiss just a tad bit awkward. 

Rain paused for a second when they pulled apart, just to look at Dewdrop's pure, unfiltered happiness for a bit longer. It wasn't so rare nowadays as it used to be for months after his elemental change, but the water ghoul sometimes still couldn’t believe that this precious, bright smile lightened up that pretty face just for him.

Smoothing his gloved hand up and down Dewdrop’s arm, the other one cupping his cheek, Rain stared at him, jumping between all the small features of the fire ghoul’s face that he had memorized already. He would never turn down a chance to refresh his memory.

Rain’s gaze was heavy, but not uncomfortable. Dewdrop reveled in those cerulean eyes all but drilling into him, he finally felt seen. Not stripped bare and vulnerable. Just seen.

Finally, the water ghoul leaned in, pressing his cold lips to Dewdrop’s forehead.

“You’re so, so very pretty, Droplet,” he mumbled. “Do you even realize?”

“I… uhm, not rea–” the fire ghoul didn't get a chance to voice those heresies as Rain cut him off with another kiss, on his mouth this time, before he could do so.

“So pretty… the prettiest. My pretty boy. Mine.”

[ablondehoe]

A Fight to Remember- Sampo x reader x Dan Heng

A/N: okay so this is my first smut. I got impatient waiting for someone else to write one. I’ve never written smut before so let me know how you guys like it and maybe I’ll write another in the future

Content warning: threesome, oral(fem receiving), double penetration, p in v, anal, cream pie, 

_______________________________________________________________________

You are in a position you never thought you’d be in, sandwiched between Dan Heng and Sampo, with both of their cocks in your holes. Each thrust from them left you gasping for air, each thrust hitting spots you didn’t even know you had. But let's start off at the beginning. The beginning of the night that is.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You were a well-known fighter in the Fight Club, but you don’t discuss it because of the rules. You liked to challenge yourself, fighting two or three people at a time, pushing yourself to be the strongest fighter you can be. 

You had just finished a fight against a rookie who thought you were an easy fight because as he said “girls can’t fight”. You’ve spent years honing your ability with the fire element. You rarely used your ultimate in a fight but this rookie really managed to push all your buttons. You screamed, unleashing your ultimate, and punched the rookie square in the face with your fist engulfed in a flame. The force of your punch sent the poor rookie flying, and the referee counted down from three, declaring you the winner as the rookie limped out of the ring in shame. 

Unknown to you, two men were watching you. “See that girl up there? That’s Y/N, one of the club’s best fighters,” Sampo said, nudging Dan Heng. “She’s our first opponent. Now, I’ve never fought her as she refuses to fight one-on-one. Now that I have you with me, she’ll have to fight us!”

Dan Heng rolled his eyes at the blue-haired man’s words. “I’m not going to fight a woman, Sampo. I have something called self-respect.” An exaggerated gasp left Sampo’s lips. “Don’t let her hear you say that. Or she’ll turn you into that rookie she just beat up. Besides, you have nothing better to do until your friends wake up.”

“You mean the Trailblazer and March 7th. They have names, I suggest you learn them if you are going to be hanging around with us. Let’s get this fight over with,” Dan Heng sighed, wanting to get the fight over with.

“Hey Y/N! Are you gonna let me fight you now? I’ve got a friend so now you HAVE to fight us!” Sampo yelled, acting as giddy as Hook does when she finds someone to play hide and seek with.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After a long and grueling fight, the referee called a tie, on the grounds that the fight was going on too long and because he felt the fight would only end if one of you three were in a body bag. 

You were very impressed by Dan Heng’s speed and attacks and surprised that he was able to keep up with your fighting with such a scrawny body. Though you thought he was scrawny, he did have a nice face and a voice that made you melt. And Sampo, where to start with Sampo. He tries to fight you every time he sees you but you weren’t complaining as you got to look at him and those abs that he sneakily shows off. You complimented them on their fighting skills and Sampo used that as an opportunity to flirt with you. Dan Heng ignored Sampo’s attempts to flirt with you and praised your techniques during the fight. You decided to invite Dan Heng and Sampo to get some drinks at a bar in the Underworld. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It didn’t take long for Sampo to get you and Dan Heng to match him shot for shot and play other drinking games with him. 

“And that’s how I accidentally broke March 7th’s camera. It took a lot of convincing from Pom-Pom to get her to forgive me.” Dan Heng had loosened up quite a bit after getting a few drinks in him.

As the three of you continued to drink, so did the flirting. You eventually have them come spend the night at your apartment. The walk back was short and as soon as you close the door, you’re pinned against it by Sampo’s hands. Sampo wastes no time in kissing you, you gasp as his lips are pressed to yours. Dan Heng begins to nip and suck at your neck, leaving hickeys in his wake. You moan at the feeling of Dan’s lips on your neck. Sampo briefly breaks the kiss to remove your shirt. 

“Why don’t we take this to the bedroom?” Sampo says, picking you up bridal style and carrying you to your room, Dan Heng follows closely.

As soon as you’re on the bed Sampo begins to kiss your neck and work his way down your body while Dan Heng picks up where Sampo left off, slipping his tongue in your mouth. Sampo pauses to pull your pants off. “Ooh, lace panties, someone was looking to get lucky tonight, weren’t they?” Sampo teases with a shit-eating grin on his face. Dan Heng grunts in annoyance at Sampo’s attempt at a joke. 

Sampo slides off your panties and pushes your legs apart, revealing your soaking pussy. He wastes no time and starts lapping up your juices, licking your folds. You knew he had a way with words, but didn’t know he had a way with his tongue as well. You moan into Dan Heng’s kiss. Dan begins to finger you, quickly picking the pace and bringing you to your first orgasm. Sampo sits up, your juices dripping down his chin, and pulls Dan Heng into an unexpected and heated kiss. You laugh at Dan’s surprised face.

“Oh, you think that’s funny? Looks like she needs to be punished~” Your eyes widen at Dan Heng’s tone. Dan and Sampo take off their pants and your jaw drops. You didn’t expect their cocks to be so big. ‘There’s no way those are going to fit inside me,’ you thought. Dan Heng’s cock was skinny but long. Sampo’s, while slightly smaller, was thicker than Dan’s. Dan lays down on your bed and you position yourself over his dick. As soon as you feel his dick inside you, Sampo lines his cock up to your asshole and pushes himself in you. The two men start thrusting hard and fast.

After a while, you feel yourself coming to your second orgasm. Dan Heng and Sampo’s thrusts begin to get more sloppy as they reach their limits. You’re the first to cum, with Sampo then Dan Heng following after. They pull out, their semen leaking out of both your holes. 

“That was… the best sex I’ve had in a while. Sampo, if every fight with you ends like this, I’ll gladly fight you again. Will you join in again Dan Heng?” you say, pulling the two men closer to you before drifting off to sleep.

[munsonsreputation]

Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince

eddie munson x fem!reader

word count: [2.4k]

warnings: no use of y/n, pure fluff!!!!, crush confessions, pining (not too much discussed), cursing, and mentions of smoking. all credits for taylor swift for writing such an amazing song <3

summary: you and eddie are two very different people...or so it seems so for everyone else. but only you and eddie really know the love you two share, even if it's out of the ordinary. so as you look through the crowd while you're being crowded homecoming queen, it's nice to see the love of your life waiting there...after all, it's been a long time coming.

You’d rather be anywhere but here at this very moment. The distinct sound of the student body talking and cheering amongst themselves at tonight’s annual homecoming game. The marching band playing their instruments while the cheerleaders performed their halftime routine on the outer track field, red dirt flying through the air with every foot stomp. Then suddenly the whistle blew, and the speakers sounded.

They would announce homecoming court .

And here you were, heels sinking into the football turf as the floodlights beamed brightly across the field. Your arms linked with Jason Carvers’, who was crowned homecoming king this year, having won homecoming prince in his freshman year of high school.

On paper, you and Jason would’ve been the perfect couple. He was the star of the Hawkins basketball team, a part of the winning squad that took home this year’s national Indiana High School Basketball league trophy. You were the “good girl,” keeping up your grades, highly involved in extracurricular activities and even becoming vice president of your class year.

But you didn’t like perfect on paper.

You preferred surprisingly simple yet complex to the eyes.

“You look beautiful,” Jason whispered, turning his head to stare at your side profile.

You darted over at him, not bothering to hide your revulsion as you rolled your eyes begrudgingly.

“You shouldn’t be complimenting me when your girlfriend is sitting on the stands…and need I remind you I have a boyfriend?”

Nodding your chin up to the bleachers, you saw Chrissy, pom-poms resting in her lap as she wistfully watched on, the love of her life Jason cozying up in the cold summers’ breeze next to a girl who was clearly disinterested in him.

He scoffed lightly, “She’s not the one standing up here tonight, is she? And if I stand correctly, your boyfriend is nowhere to be found.”

God, he was disgusting, but right about one thing.

Eddie wasn’t here.

He hated big school events like this one. Thought they were totally useless and took away the spotlight from things that mattered like arts, which you definitely agreed with. But you’d hope that since his girlfriend won homecoming court, he’d actually show up, but he didn’t.

“Just keep your hands and comments to yourself, alright?” You snarled through your smiling teeth as you watched some people from the yearbook club approach you with cameras in hand.

A voice from the student body now echoed through the speakers, firstly introducing the underclassmen homecoming court who stepped up. Waving to the crowd of students sat on the bleaches, cheering as they whistled and blew their hand held horns in the air.

You honestly didn’t know how you even won in the first place. It all started as a joke, your friends daring you to run for queen and you’d thought that someone had rigged the voting when the results came in. You had miraculously swept the entire thing.

But you were sure your metal head and his friend Robin in student union had something to do with it. Though you weren’t complaining…school tricks were fun in this case.

“Now please welcome the senior homecoming king and queen!”

You stepped up, right hand coming to wave to the same crowd spotting a few of your friends cheering you on, but you could never miss Eddie, even if he was feet away, watching from the fences with a cigarette hanging from his lips as his hands clapped for you.

“Son of a bitch.” You muttered to yourself with a smitten smile, watching as he winked towards you, knowing he had been caught.

You paid Jason no mind, simply bowing down a bit to allow the poorly made plastic crown, bejeweled with dollar general gemstones, to be rested on your head as one of the volunteers did the same for the jock.

“Congratulations to this year's homecoming court! Please feel free to share a kiss or not with the—”

As Jason was trying to be some sort of fucking comedian, bending down to try to kiss you, you scoffed, dropping his arm and instead, picking up the length of your dress, jogging through the rough ground towards Eddie.

“Hey! Where the hell are you going!” You could hear the whiny voice of Jason’s faltering behind you as all you could do was giggle, getting closer to Eddie, where he hollered loudly.

His arms were held out, immediately hugging you despite the fence that sandwiches the bottom half of your bodies, “There’s my girl,” he whispered against your hair until he pulled away.

You smirked, lightly pushing at his shoulder with a closed fist, “I thought homecoming was for losers?”

He failed to hold back his cheeky smile. “Yeah, but you’re my favorite loser, so I just had to come.” Eddie responded shrewdly as you rolled your eyes, undoing your fists and wrapping them around his back.

“Oh, you’re so clever, aren’t you?” You imitated with an offended tone but couldn’t help the smile continually seeping into your face.

He nodded, giving you a small peck that made up for his half absence.

Neither of you could feel the eyes of everyone staring, but they were. Practically watching every movement between the odd couple, as they shared another sweet kiss and watched the freak hoist his girl up and over the fence. Giggling at how her dress caught onto one of the metal rings, causing it to rip, but paying no real concern as they left the fabric there, blowing against the breeze as they ran off hand in hand into the night sky.

All the while, the king complained in the middle of the football field.

“Where are we off to, my knight in shining leather?” You pestered, kicking your feet up on his dash as he smirked, starting up the engine, keeping his brown orbs on you.

“I was thinking I take you to my castle, we smoke a joint, and I show you how much I adore you.”

Your eyes rolled, but your cheeks couldn’t hide the heat of a red blush and your pearly whites flashing him that smile he loved to see every day.

“You know I’m crazier for you than I was at sixteen.”

He whistled lowly, sending you a wink, “Oh, how could I forget? You had a big fat crush on me back in sophomore year and I practically had to beg you to tell me—”

“Stop!” you yelped it out, trying to forget about your pathetic confession that ultimately led to the start of your and Eddie’s romance.

“Oh, don’t be like that, sweetheart. It was romantic!”

“Stupid Stacy Burke! Does she really think she’s going to win against me?!”

You had thought you were alone in the computer room, using the device to work on your campaign posters so you could hang them up around school tomorrow. You were desperate to win in order to keep your seat as Vice President. Last year it was an easy win for you, but now all of a sudden the dumb Stacy Burke wanted to take your seat just for notoriety.

It made you fume.

“If she thinks she can just buy her votes with cupcakes and muffins, she has got another thing coming!”

You were seething as you pressed print, pushing yourself out of the seat and heading over to the printers in order to get your posters and head back home for the day to prepare for your speech when

“Ohmygod!”

Your scream took Eddie aback, causing him to jump back, holding out his hands as you clasped yours over your heart and mouth.

“Jesus Christ! What the hell are you doing in here!” you ordered loudly, watching as Eddie held something up.

Posters. Specifically for Hellfire.

“I was making recruitment posters for Hellfire.” He shook them, watching as you rose your brow and tilted your head to get a better look at the words printed.

“Hellfire? Never heard of it.”

He sighed, rolling them back up. “It’s new. Finally, got enough members to have an official club.”

“Cool,” you sighed, nodding your head calmly as you attempted to push past him, yet he held his arm out, stopping you.

“Eddie, let me through.” You spoke, moving his arm.

He sighed, reaching into his pocket, pulling out a piece of crumpled paper that he held out. “Stacy really wants your spot, huh?”

Your brows creased together, deliberately taking it from him and unfolding the sheet. And that’s when your blood really started bubbling. Her senseless campaign posters were basically a jab towards you, with a photo of her smiling and a poorly drawn stick figure of you, accentuated with,

“Don’t put a nerd into council! Vote Stacy Burke for Vice President for a tubular Sophomore Year.”

Crumpling the paper once again, you forced past Eddie, going towards the door to tear down all her stupid posters before anyone else could see them, but the metal head called back out to you before you could make it out of the room.

“I already took them all down.” He declared, making you stop in your path, turning back around to see him pointing at the rubbish can right beside you.

There they were, a pile of the crumpled up posters in the bin. There had to be about fifty wads of them in there.

“T-thanks.” You peered back at him as he bowed nonchalantly, the silence being too much to bear in this small room.

You cursed to yourself, crossing your arms across your chest as you stared sharply, “Why did you do that for me?”

“Because it’s the right thing to do?” He snickered obviously, scratching the back of his neck while you didn’t look too convinced.

Eddie was…different than most.

He wasn’t necessarily a loser. Yet he wasn’t a part of the cool clique.

He was just him.

Something that intrigued you since you heard his name and memorized his face. A sort of intrigue which had slowly snowballed itself into an innocent crush. One that had you stealing glances at him in the cafeteria and peering past your lockers to see him saunter through the hallways.

“Well, I appreciate it.” You nodded, giving him a lipped smile, rocking on your soles, focusing your sights on the floor instead of him.

His chuck covered feet slowly entered your view, the heartbeat in your chest beating faster by the minute that it should’ve been a crime.

“I see the way you look at me.” He admitted, nibbling back a smirk, knowing it would only make you embarrassed, and he didn’t want to make you feel that way.

Somehow you caught Eddie’s eyes too.

You were similar in that sense that you weren’t in the cool circle, yet still not a loser that supposedly Stacy Burke thought you were. He knew that people loved to send glares and eye rolls his way, so he got used to the looks.

But yours were different.

He knew it the first time he caught you staring at him during lunch. Eyes soft like pearls with your lip caught between your teeth as you…appreciated the sight before you.

He hated the glares, but he loved the way you looked at him.

“T-the what?”

You tried to seem puzzled, to act as if you didn’t scurry your eyes back to your sad lunch tray once he caught your eyes on him on that random Friday.

“It’s cool,” Eddie assured you, with a grin on his face, like an actual sincere smile that wasn’t to be perceived as cocky. “It’s nice being looked at…by you.”

That made you blush. Immediately giving you away.

“Cool.” You muttered, gawking up at him through your lashes, pulling your hair forward to attempt to crowd your reddening cheeks.

Eddie let out a relaxed huff of breath. “You’re not going to ask if I have a crush on you too?”

“What!” You said it a little too vociferously as he chortled. “I know you like me…it isn’t a bad thing if you do.”

You folded your arms across your chest once more, a little defensive, “Well I didn’t say that…do you like me?”

He shrugged his shoulders, now a smirk plastered on his face, “You tell me if you like me first, then I’ll let you know.”

“How do I know you’re not just trying to embarrass me?” You raised your brows skeptically, and he grinned shrugging his shoulders once more as he stepped closer to you if it was even possible.

“I don’t gain anything from embarrassing you…and I wouldn’t do that, anyway.” He answered, stopping just inches away from you as you met his eyes that looked down at yours.

You took a deep breath, letting the air leave your mouth as you confessed, “I like you.”

He smiled, a blush covering his cheeks now that he didn’t care to hide as he nodded his head and looked behind him out the door, then back to you.

“I like you too…soooo what do you say we hang our posters together, then we can get some ice cream at Scoops and brainstorm how to destroy Stacy Burke’s campaign?”

You couldn’t hide the smile, nor did you try to as you nodded, dashing over to the printer to grab your freshly made posters before trading yours with Eddie’s.

He graciously took them, commending your attention to detail and the photo of your smack dab in the center of the poster. You reached for the roll of tape before jutting your chin out the door.

“C’mon dungeon master, you owe me chocolate cone with extra sprinkles.” You hailed out, already down the hallway as Eddie trailed behind you with a whistle.

“Coming right up, sweets.”

From that day forward, it was you and Eddie against the town of Hawkins, Indiana. The two of you not caring if you were scrutinized or called a crazy for dating the town freak or him being accused of corrupting the vice president of the class.

You and Eddie didn’t play their stupid games.

If anything, you two lived in your own little world. Enjoying the peace on your side while the bad guys always tried to let themselves into the gates that you and Eddie kept locked up just for the two of you to ever know.

If there was one thing that this sad town had right about you and Eddie, it was that you two would runaway together, leaving behind everyone and everything that had ever done you wrong.

So sure, maybe you were the bad bad girl and maybe he was the whispers in the hallways, but it had been a long time coming.

It was just you and him lost in the light.

Miss Americana and The Heartbreak Prince.

A/N: Finally I finished up this song fic!!! It's short and sweet and I hope you guys like it (it's not my proudest work but i did my best). I have so many more song fics in the works and i can't wait for you all to read them when they're finally ready. In the mean time, reblogs and comments would be greatly appreciated and be sure to slide into my asks with your february bash requests!!! 👑💘💫✨

[squirrellypoo]

IWTV Signature cocktails

We’ve got a home bar and enjoy developing new cocktails for our seasonal menus. Last winter's menu was based on internet sensation Jorts the Cat, for instance.

This weekend I hosted the first London meet-up for fans of the AMC Interview with the Vampire tv show so of course (of course!) we developed two signature cocktails in tribute for the event. Our fall menu is going to be Halloween-themed so we'll keep these in rotation for a while longer, too!

Un Petit Coup

This one’s a nicely balanced sweet, sour, smoky, and slightly spicy alcoholic sipping drink, with the bonus of having a pool of chocolate sauce at the bottom of the glass!

7.5ml Jalapeño syrup* 15ml Mezcal 15ml Cherry Heering 10ml Lime juice (~1/2 lime) Chocolate sauce drizzle rim Shake with ice. Hawthorn strain into a chilled Nick & Nora glass. Drizzle chocolate sauce around the inside of the rim.

* To make the Jalepeño syrup: Combine 1 chopped jalapeño, 100g sugar, 100ml water in a saucepan. Boil. Turn off heat. Once cooled, strain into jar & refrigerate. Lasts a few weeks so long as your jar or bottle is perfectly clean.

Tears of a Clown

We also wanted to offer our guests an equally fun non-alcoholic cocktail. My starting point for this one was that I wanted to hit as many tastes as possible - spicy, sour, sweet and bitter. I hate that so many non alcoholic cocktails are just sugar bombs, so I wanted something you could sip and savour. This is absolutely delicious, and well worth seeking out bottles of the Italian bitter soda Sanbitter online.

1 barspoon Siracha 75ml Cranberry juice drink 100ml Sanbitter Pomegranate seeds Build in a rocks glass. Stir siracha & cranberry together in glass to combine. Add ice. Top with Sanbitter & stir. Top with pomegranate seeds.

Please share if you'd drink these vampire cocktails! I saw that AMC had some really basic bitch Pom-sponsored mocktails at the SDCC activation, but frankly, ours are way, way better!

Feel free to ask me any questions about these and let me know what you think if you make them yourself!

[iliaclwrites]

omg hi!!! your eddie x cheerleader fic was so so good I’m actually obsessed!! can you maybe write one with cheerleader reader based off of the song favorite t-shirt by jake scott please?

jfgkjd this song is so cute omg !! as always my requests are open owo

"Your splits are looking really nice," Chrissy Cunningham said, squeezing your shoulder as you rifled through your gym bag, towel held up with one hand. "Just think! Only a couple more practices and the we'll be full-out."

You grinned at her, rolling your sore shoulders as you stepped into your denim shorts. "Let's hope the early morning practices pay off," you griped, rubbing at your eye with a closed fist before Chrissy swatted your hand away.

"Don't do that!" she complained, turning to sit on the changing bench. "You'll get wrinkles, you know!"

"Chris, the only thing giving me wrinkles is the fact I have to do weekend evening practice," you retorted, huffing as you sat down next to her. "I could barely open my eyes on the road I'm so pooped."

You had stumbled out of Eddie's bed, bleary and swearing and sore from yesterday's evening practice, tripping over his guitar and your pom poms as you tried to get ready. He knew how badly you did after naps, and had fallen unconscious at his place at twelve, full from lunch and exhausted. You were now running late for your eight pm practice on a Saturday evening, the only time the gym would be free for the girls to rehearse their stunts. He sat up slightly, watching you yank clothes from the floor and stuff them into your duffel, cursing like a sailor as you went.

He loved seeing you like this. At school, you were everyone's perfect cheerleader, with turn outs and tumbles and t-shirts from the GAP. At home, though? You slid around in mismatched tube socks and smoked cigarettes from the roof of his trailer, teaching him how to do smoke rings and eating dubiously expired foods from the back of his Uncle's fridge.

"Good luck, precious," Eddie had called from the bed, and pursed his lips for kisses as you bent to place a steaming cup of coffee down on the bedside table that he would, undoubtedly, chug cold in four hours time. "Um. Hello. Kisses, please?"

You had sighed, and he tugged you in by the pleats of your cheer skirt, making louder kissing noises in the dark. "You're so needy," you huffed, and he wrapped his hand around your thigh.

"I don't get to do this until, like, ten tonight when I pick you up," he grumbled, pressing a kiss to your knee. "Sue me."

You pressed one of his shoulders down, and kissed his mouth, still dry from sleep. He smacked his lips appreciatively when you pulled away, and threw a pillow over his head. "Don't fall! Go Tigers!"

"See ya, Eds," you said fondly, and slung your haphazardly-stuffed duffel around one shoulder. "Love you!"

"You too, sweet girl," he mumbled, and you shut the door.

Now, though?

You gaped down at your gym bag in a panic, the painted face of Eddie's Hellfire shirt staring up at you. Oh, fuck. In the hazy evening dark, you must have grabbed it, not noticing what it was. You glanced around the locker room. Chrissy was talking to some cheer leaders by the sink, and the girls' hockey team was just filing in, complaining about the rain. You chose your moment, shoving the shirt over your head and ducking out into the hallway and racing down the corridor into the open air of the carpark, where Eddie Munson was loitering.

"Ah! Princess!" he cheered, waving imaginary pom poms at you before freezing. "Hey, is that my--"

"Your shirt, yes," you hissed, storming past him and toward the van. The cool night air, fresh with rain, made your exposed legs prickle as you made you way toward the vehicle, pausing only when you realised Eddie hadn't moved. "...Eds?"

He was staring at you, cigarette halfway to his mouth, eyes sliding up and down your figure. Taking in the cheer shoes and white socks with frills on them, the bruises on your thighs that were a mix of his mouth and crash mat, the hint of denim hidden under his oversized Hellfire shirt. He dropped the cigarette and stalked over to you, crushing you against the side of the van.

"Fuck," he whispered, nosing at your ear.

"Eddie, what the hell?" you hissed, fingers automatically coming up to grip the collar of his battle vest. "What's going on?"

"Nothing, sweet girl," he murmured, toying with the hem of your (his!) shirt. "I'm just lucky to have you, yano?"

You snorted, and reached to unlock the van. He caught your wrist in his fingers and slowly drew them up to his mouth, pressing a kiss to the back of your palm. "Seriously," he insisted, ignoring your unimpressed look. "I am. You're funny. You're smart. You're fit. You're beautiful. Your taste in music could be worked on, but I'll take that, who doesn't love a project?" He smiled down at you, and you blinked up at him stupidly, lost for words in this sudden moment. "The top flyer of Hawkins High, here with me, in my t-shirt."

Your face melted, and you nudged a kiss to the underside of his jaw. "The top flyer of Hawkins High," you agreed, "never wants to wear anything else ever again."

"God," he groaned, burying his face in your neck. "You're it for me, precious. You know that?"

You giggled, and kissed his cheek. "Even if I want to listen to The Smiths all the way home?"

He tugged at the hem of your shirt. "Don't push your luck."

[brandogenius]

Hi pom! could you write a blurb or one shot of julien x reader who can’t sleep in the night? maybe it’s 3am and julien wakes up and sees reader trying to fall asleep but can’t. i think it would be cute to see how julien would help reader during those moments

hi baby! i can indeed!

i hope you don’t mind i put my own little spin on it. mega projecting here!! sorry not sorry👏👏

‼️RPF‼️

BLURB - julien x reader - sleepless nights

- reader has a thing called rls or restless leg syndrome which is a condition that makes your legs twitch and hurt extremely. it means you’re not able to get any sleep really. jb knows about this and tries to help you throughout the days

- it usually happens at night time / when you’re resting and laying down. julien is quick to rub and massage your legs “are you feeling ok baby?” maybe getting you an ice pack to help.

- she can absolutely tell when that 1% chance you have an episode in the morning. grumpy and just not with it. she’ll roll over in the bed and hug you tightly like “it’s one of those days huh?”

- usually before both you and jb go to bed, you’ll have an episode flare up. cuddling on the sofa with julien and next thing you know your legs are burning and aching. julien is like “we can pause the movie and head to bed early?” she doesn’t even care if you’re only 20 minutes into the movie. if you’re not feeling the best and in pain she will end it and help out 100%

- usually the pain could die down after a little while in bed with jb. arms wrapped tightly around you, hugging you close whispering sweet things in your ear. it may be one of those nights you’re falling in and out of sleep every 20 minutes but it’s nice to be in julien’s arms

- jb falling asleep and you’re still awake. it would be one of those nights where you try to sleep but end up getting restless, moving around left to right on the bed. it’s a sleepless night again for the third time this week.

- somehow you end up accidentally hitting julien while you turn over causing her to stir and wake up. you’re lying on your back. hesd turning left and right and jb turns on the light like “did you get any sleep at all baby?”

- clearly you say no and she’s like “that’s not on” she knows cold stuff can help with dulling the pain in your legs so she brings you to the bathroom. making you sit on the closed toilet lid as your feet are on the cold bathroom floor.

- you feeling guilty like “i’m sorry i woke you up” and jb is like “no need to apologise, princess. i just wanna make sure you’re ok” clearly both of you are tired as hell but being in the cold bathroom did help a bit even if you saw julien shivering

- feeling the pain go from agitating and hurtful to barely noticeable you deciding to go back to bed. jb who’s the type to sleep naked in nothing except underwear just putting on long pj pants and one of your oversized t-shirts and bundling you back up in the blankets again. both of you getting warm.

- you cuddled close to jbs chest like “i love you” and julien rubbing small circles on your back like “i love you too princess”

[bellaxgiornata]

Falling For the Devil [Part forty-four: "The Christmas Eve Party"]

Pairing: Matt Murdock x Fem!Reader

Summary: Matt joins you for your family's Christmas Eve Party.

Or

You're warmed by the sight of how well Matt fits into your family-–especially with your siblings and nephew.

[Series of one-shots about Reader meeting, falling for, and dating Matt Murdock.]

Warnings: 18+ for this series; contains humor, fluff, romance, angst, smut (like...a lot of it later in the series), language, some violence

Word Count: 2.9k

a/n: Some holiday fluff with Matt and Reader! You can find all of the installments for this series on tumblr here. Enjoy!

A chorus of high pitched, excited squeals erupted from across the room, the noise so loud it masked the sound of conversation and Christmas music that had been present only moments ago. Beside you, Matt winced. 

"It's Santa!" one of your cousin's little girls exclaimed, pressing her face to the window. 

You leaned over towards Matt, wrapping an arm around his back. "The shrieking will stop soon," you whispered. "Sorry. They get really excited every year when my Uncle Jeff is out front pretending to be Santa."

Another round of excited noises erupted–laughter and giggling from the handful of young girls at the window. Even Hudson, still dressed as a dinosaur, was excitedly watching your uncle outside in the foot of snow. 

"It's okay," Matt whispered back. "It's sweet, I just wasn't expecting such a…high frequency."

You laughed lightly, shaking your head. "Yes, well, that sort of comes with having a house filled with young, excited girls. Poor Hudson is outnumbered, though I think he's too young to care yet."

"He will care when he's older," your brother Nate said, appearing on the other side of Matt. "I know I wished I'd had a brother growing up. Being the middle child with two sisters sucked."

You leaned past Matt, raising a brow at him. "Really? Because you and Amber tormented me," you pointed out.

Nate laughed, nodding his head. One of his arms nudged Matt’s as he leaned in towards him. "We definitely did. You know, there was this one time," he began, shooting you a teasing smile, "where we convinced her to jump into this pile of leaves we made.”

You rolled your eyes, immediately knowing where this story was going. Matt, intrigued, turned towards your brother as he listened intently.

“She had no idea we’d been slowly digging a hole in the same spot for a week,” Nate continued excitedly, spurred on by the growing smile on Matt’s face. “So eventually Amber and I got it like two feet deep, right? And we raked up a pile of leaves one day to have your girl jump in–”

“Oh, Nate,” your mother said, pausing mid-stride as she overheard the story your brother was telling, “must you tell Matthew about how you tormented your sister as children?”

“Must you continue to break out that sweater for every Christmas Eve?” he countered.

Georgia glanced down at the front of her sweater, eyeing the gold tinsel and pom poms attached to it. In large, glittery print it said ‘On The Nice List’. You’d seen her wear it every Christmas Eve for the past few years. It was quite obnoxious and at least one of you managed to point it out to her every year.

“What’s wrong with my sweater?” she questioned him. “It’s festive.”

“It’s so bright and loud they can see it from the International Space Station,” Nate teased her.

Georgia narrowed her eyes at Nate, but you noticed the upward twitch of her lips. “Well it’s certainly a lot more appropriate than yours. Honestly, Nate, there’s children here.”

“I feel like I’m missing something here,” Matt murmured beside you.

You leaned in, whispering, “He's wearing a sweater with Santa on it talking about ho’s.”

Matt nodded knowingly, a smile spreading on his mouth. “Ahh, I understand. Your brother is certainly interesting.”

“That’s one way of putting it,” you agreed quietly.

Georgia rolled her eyes at your brother as she continued on her way, no doubt looking for your father. Nate turned back towards the pair of you, that mischievous glint still in his eyes.

“So, as I was saying,” he continued as if he hadn’t been interrupted, “we convinced her to jump into the pile of leaves. And so she does–” he paused, cracking up, “–and totally falls into the hole.”

“Yeah, and I sprained my ankle,” you shot back, Matt grinning as he silently listened to your sibling banter. “I had to use crutches for a week because of you two!”

Nate cupped a hand over his mouth, leaning towards Matt. “Don’t feel sorry for her. She threw our toothbrushes in the toilet,” he whispered.

Matt laughed, shooting you a smile. “Somehow I find myself wishing I could have experienced growing up with a sibling. Though I’m pretty sure I’d have been the one doing the tormenting,” he said.

“And somehow I believe that,” you teased him.

You felt something wrapping around your shoulders and your head turned, spotting your sister standing beside you with a beer in hand. Her attention was on Matt, a large smile on her face.

“You know,” Amber said, “if you play your cards right Murdock, you might gain a couple of siblings. And then you could join us in tormenting our sweet sister.”

You didn’t miss the warm smile that lit up Matt’s face at your sister’s words. There was an anxious, excited feeling that squirmed in your own stomach at the implication and the fact that her and Nate had so willingly accepted Matt into your tight-knit bond. Between Thanksgiving and their time with Matt this evening, you could see how well they all got along and it filled you with so much joy watching Matt joke back and forth with your siblings.

“I suppose only time will tell, but,” Matt told your sister, a cheeky grin on his mouth, “I’m pretty sure I’d be siding with her in the pranks, not playing them on her.”

You felt your cheeks flush at Matt’s words, Amber shooting you a curious brow. On Matt’s other side, Nate was smiling devilishly.

“That sounds like a challenge, Matt,” Nate teased. “I’m pretty sure we’re the ones you want on your team for pranks, not baby sis here. She’s not creative enough.”

“You mean I’m not as much of a dick,” you corrected, both of your siblings laughing.

“Ahh well, that may be true,” Matt acknowledged, “but I’m pretty sure I’m someone you’d want on your side when it comes to pranks.”

He shot your siblings an absolutely devastatingly handsome smile and you were instantly biting your lip, fighting back a laugh. Because what they didn’t know was that this man was a literal superhero ninja. 

Before either could respond, Hudson appeared beside Amber’s side, wrapping his arms around her leg and hugging it. His appearance caught everyone's attention almost immediately. 

“Mama, can I play with Uncle Matt?” he asked, his voice small and his eyes wide.

“Huds,” Amber said with a sigh, “we’ve been over this. You can’t keep calling him Uncle Matt, okay?”

“I don’t really mind,” Matt admitted.

You didn’t miss the way Nate’s head tilted curiously to the side at Matt’s admission, or the sly grin that swept across his mouth. Quickly you mouthed ‘shut up’ to him, hoping Matt didn’t quite notice. From beside Amber, Hudson shifted his big, pleading eyes towards Matt. Even blind you were sure Matt could feel the effect of those adorable little puppy eyes.

“Uncle Matt,” he continued, causing Amber to shake her head and roll her eyes, “can I show you my new dinosaurs?”

“Huds, I don’t think Matt wants to look at your dinosaur toys right now,” Amber tried to tell him gently. “Why don’t you show the girls your dinosaurs?”

Hudson pouted, his lower lip pushing out as his gaze dropped to the ground. You were pretty sure the dinosaur costume he was wearing was adding to the effect, and Matt was fortunate not to be able to fully witness the pouting of a three year old dinosaur.

“They said dinosaurs are dumb,” Hudson muttered.

Instantly your eyes narrowed; you were quite protective over Hudson. He was often shy and only opened up to a few people and it took him a while to open up to other kids. And while you loved the other children in your family, you quite easily favored him. And you weren’t a fan of him getting his feelings hurt. But before you could get a word out as you opened your mouth, Matt was already speaking.

“You know,” he began, “I think dinosaurs are pretty cool. My best friend actually has quite a few on his desk at work.”

“Really?” Hudson asked, a smile returning to his face.

“Really,” Matt agreed. “I’m quite jealous of his collection actually.”

“Do you want to see mine?” he asked excitedly. “I got new ones to show you!”

Matt grinned, holding out a hand in Hudson’s direction. “I’d love to see them. Why don’t you show me where they are?” he asked.

The moment Hudson’s little hand grabbed Matt’s, you were pretty sure you died inside. Even Amber was smiling as she watched Hudson drag Matt along in an excited rush. When they disappeared, both of your siblings were shooting you matching knowing looks that caused you to flush.

“I should probably make sure he doesn’t run Matt into anyone,” you mumbled, ducking away from the pair of them.

You weaved your way past family, heading towards where you'd seen Hudson playing earlier in your parents' house. You finally caught up to Matt and Hudson sitting on the floor in the front sitting room. You smiled as you passed your grandmother who was chatting with a couple of your aunts on the couches, and you swore you heard your grandma once again saying something about how charming Matt was as you passed.

As you neared where Hudson and Matt were sitting cross legged on the floor, you saw Hudson dumping dinosaurs out of his dinosaur backpack. And then you overheard what they were saying and immediately came to a stop just behind the pair of them.

“...she looks real pretty tonight,” Hudson was telling Matt.

“I bet she does,” Matt replied, a smile apparent in his voice. “Can you describe her for me, though? Since I can't quite see how she looks tonight?”

Both of their backs were to you, but you knew Matt was aware of you standing there. A blush was creeping up your cheeks, a small smile on your face.

“She’s in a red sweater,” Hudson said, organizing his pile of dinosaurs. “And her hair looks nice. Really shiny. And she put on pretty makeup. And she’s always got a pretty smile.” He leaned in towards Matt, his little dinosaur hood still pulled up over his head as he failed at attempting to whisper, “She’s my favorite aunt.”

There was a charming grin on Matt’s face as he turned, leaning in towards Hudson and whispering intentionally loud enough for you to hear, “She’s my favorite, too.”

You bit your lip, walking around the pair of them and sitting down around the pile of dinosaurs. “And what are you two up to?” you asked, cheeks still red.

“Just discussing dinosaurs,” Matt said innocently, shooting you a charming smile as he held up a stegosaurus. 

_________

Your eyes were focused on Matt chatting animatedly with your father across the room, beers in hand. There was a smile plastered on your face as you watched them laughing good-naturedly with each other, clearly cracking jokes. Matt looked like he was genuinely enjoying the conversation and it made your heart swell in your chest at the sight.

"So what exactly is going on with you and him?" Amber asked, following your gaze. 

"What do you mean?" you asked, glancing at her beside you. 

She sighed audibly, rolling her eyes. "You know damn well what I mean," she shot back. "You've brought him to the family holidays now. Everyone loves him. He's also amazing with the kids, especially Huds." She gestured her beer at your dad and Matt still talking. "Dad loves him. Mom's already married you off in her mind. So," she asked again, "what exactly is going on?"

You shrugged lightly, glancing back at Matt across the room. His dark glasses were focused on you now and you could feel your heart speeding up under his covered gaze. You knew he was listening in to this conversation when he shot you a playful smirk. And that made you nervous. 

"He asked me to move in with him," you told her, eyes darting away from Matt. 

"Wow," Amber said, her brows shooting up onto her forehead. "And what'd you say? You've never lived with a boyfriend before."

Your eyes dropped down to the wine glass in your hands, swirling the liquid. "I said yes," you told her. "We're taking it slow, though. My lease isn't up for another couple of months so it's more like I'm gradually moving in with him."

Amber shifted beside you, turning to face you more fully. "So it's serious then?" she asked. "I mean it must be if you're moving in together and having him meet the family."

You couldn't quite tell her about his late night activities and how that may or may not affect the idea of marriage and children. So instead you answered, "I think so."

For a long moment your sister was silent, her gaze focusing back on Matt and your father still talking across the room. She brought her beer to her lips, taking a drink before she finally looked back at you. 

"You love him," she said.

You nodded, smiling. "Yes," you admitted. 

Her attention returned to Matt. “And it’s obvious the man loves you,” Amber continued. “That man may be blind but it’s like he always knows exactly where you are in a room.”

You fought down a laugh, biting your lip. You couldn’t quite tell her that he actually did know where you were in a room, either. “So what’s your big sister opinion?” you asked her, changing the subject. 

“I like him,” she answered easily, bringing the beer back up to her lips for another drink. “He’s funny and he’s certainly charming–which I’d already heard plenty about the charming Matthew Murdock before I knew he was dating my little sister.” She shot you a wink and a sly smirk that soon turned into something more genuine a moment later. “But he makes you happy. I’ve never seen you be so…yourself around someone before. He’s sweet and I think he fits in well with us.” She leaned towards you with a grin as she whispered, “And if you don’t lock that down, I’m pretty sure grandma might be chasing after your man.”

A laugh flew out of you, Amber joining in a moment later. Your grandma did seem quite taken with Matt. Though he was fortunate your aunts and uncles were distracting her this evening; she’d only complimented him six times so far tonight. And Matt was still blushing when she did.

When you glanced back over to Matt, you noticed your mother had joined the conversation with the two. You groaned, pushing off the wall you’d been leaning against.

“Mom’s over there now,” you told Amber. “I should probably go rescue Matt before she starts asking if twins run in his genetics.”

“For your sake I hope it doesn’t,” Amber teased.

You rolled your eyes before making your way across the room, skirting around different groups of family gathered together chatting or kids playing. As you neared your parents talking with Matt, overhearing what they were talking about, you were glad you’d shown up when you had. 

“Let’s maybe give the man a rest from discussing babies tonight, hmm?” your father was saying to your mother.

“Yeah mom,” you said, a smile on your face as you stood beside Matt, “I think you discussed that topic plenty at Thanksgiving.”

“I was just saying,” Georgia replied, waving a hand at Matt, “that he would have some great genes to pass on.”

You cringed, looping your arm through Matt’s. “And I think we’re going to pass on that topic. Let’s go get you another beer, Matt.”

Your mother rolled her eyes at you as you dragged Matt away. He followed beside you easily as you led him towards the kitchen, but when you were far enough from your parents you felt Matt lean towards you.

“So I hear you’re serious about me,” Matt teased, whispering into your ear.

“And I see you still eavesdrop on conversations,” you teased back. “Which is not really fair, considering I can’t eavesdrop on what you and my dad seemed to be having such a good time talking about.”

Shooting Matt a look beside you, you noticed he was grinning and chuckling lightly. Your eyes narrowed suspiciously. 

"No I suppose you couldn't," he agreed. "But don't worry, sweetheart," he said, bumping your shoulder gently, "we had a good conversation. I like your dad."

"Well I'm pretty sure everyone likes you," you assured Matt as you continued to lead him to the kitchen. 

"And apparently if you don't make a move on me," Matt teased, "your grandma is going to."

You couldn't stop the snort of laughter that came out of you at his joke. Matt shot you a goofy grin at the sound, his eyes crinkling at the corners behind his glasses. 

"Keep it up and I might let her," you joked back. 

Matt barked out a laugh as you both entered the kitchen, the sound bright and vibrant. You chanced a look at Matt beside you, your heart warming at the sight. He looked happy tonight, genuinely happy, and that filled you with so much happiness yourself that your heart felt like it could burst out of your chest.

[lykegenia]

Unicorns And Mistletoe

The Wayhaven Chronicles Nate Sewell x Leah Kingston No warnings except, as always, Rebecca being parent of the year

Read it on AO3!

She’s three, and old enough to know it’s part of the punishment. She still has yet to understand what the punishment is for, but she knows that if she can just work it out then her mummy will come back and everything will be alright again. The people she left her with – kind, smiling, smelling of gingerbread – are nice, and their warm house is nice, and all the Christmas lights twinkle together in a confusion of reds and greens and golds, and they told her the guest of honour gets to add a bobble – no, bauble – to the Christmas tree. They clapped and smiled when she picked the sparkly plastic reindeer from the box and hung it on the highest branch she could reach, and told her that was the surest way to summon Christmas magic.

They’ve left her alone now, though, because she said that she wanted to look out of the window, and they’re kind people so they set her up with a cushion and a cookie and milk in a plastic glass with a fairy on it. There’s a creeping feeling in her chest that it was the wrong choice, that she’s not doing what she’s supposed to, because every so often she hears footsteps and then a pause, and then they shuffle away again and murmur between themselves in way she’s come to learn signifies pity. But nobody stops her, so she doesn’t turn around. She sits by the window and stares out and eats the cookie slowly and puzzles over how to make the Christmas magic work so that everything stops being her fault.

--

She’s seven, watching the rush of her classmates burst out into the playground like a torrent of water from a leaky dam, straight for the line of parents waiting just beyond the gates. She herself goes at a steadier pace, the better to observe the crush of adults huddled under scarves and thick winter coats just in case there’s one she recognises. She’s a clever child, however – all her teachers say so – and she learnt quickly not to expect too much. The others are shouting and laughing, and holding up the Christmas decorations they made for proud inspection. Her own pinecone, dangling from one gloved hand like a talisman, has silver glitter and blue sequins to represent snow – like a glass one she saw on the TV – and has a length of silver ribbon that she tied around the top of it herself so it can hang on the tree. The other children needed the teacher to do it for them.

As she tears her gaze away, she notices an older couple all smiles as they wave at her, and suddenly it feels like she’s walking in treacle. The Wrights are nice. She has to repeat it to herself. Mrs Wright wears a woolly hat shaped like a Christmas pudding, complete with knitted holly leaves and two red pom-poms for the berries, and Mr Wright’s puffer jacket is unzipped over a green jumper decorated with snowflakes and reindeer.

“Where’s Mum?” she asks when she reaches them, although the answer doesn’t really matter beyond the obvious.

“We’re sorry, Leah.” Mrs Wright shakes her head. “Your mum tried to get back in time, but you know work keeps her very busy. She should be here tomorrow, and in the meantime, we can have a sleepover! I need your big strong arms to help me stir the Christmas cake.”

“Did you enjoy your last day at school?” Mr Wright asks.

She shrugs one shoulder, her eyes on a robin foraging for worms under the nearby hedge. There’s one in her garden that will come so close that she can sit next to it while it gobbles up the bacon fat she cuts into tiny pieces and sets on the wall, but she hasn’t yet persuaded it to eat out of her palm.

Mr Wright tries again and points to her hand. “What’s that you’ve got there?”

She stuffs the pinecone into her pocket. “Nothing.”

“Ah, well. Let’s get you home to pick up your night bag, and then we’ll get the magic started.”

“We haven’t put up our decorations yet, you know,” Mrs Wright adds. “Would you like to help?”

She shrugs again. “S’pose.”

When they get to her house, she sneaks away and puts the pinecone on the kitchen counter, balanced on its end with the glitteriest side towards the door so her mother will see it when she comes in.

--

She’s thirteen. Dusty, cold, but pleased with herself. She’s spent the day scouring the house, teetering on the ladder up to the loft and digging through the junk in the garage, and now there are three boxes lumped on the living room carpet. They read ‘XDecs’ in unfamiliar handwriting, and they’re so old that the tape on the edges is starting to disintegrate, but she found them.

She unboxes the tree first, brushes the dust off the plastic branches and works out how the pieces fit together, then fishes about for lights and tinsel. The longest garland she takes to wrap around the stair banister, the second longest drapes over the mantle, and then – through trial and error and a lot of sideways squinting to make sure it looks right – she daubs the tree with ornaments in what she hopes is a tasteful array of festive cheer. The pinecone she made when she was little isn’t among the baubles, but it doesn’t matter. It probably would have spoiled the aesthetic anyway.

There’s just enough time to clear away the empty boxes and vacuum stray bits of tinsel of the floor before an engine growls to a stop on the slushy driveway.

“Leah?” her mother’s voice calls from the back of the house.

“In here!”

She stands in the middle of the room with fists bunched, waiting for the big reveal. The crisp click of her mother’s high heels slow as they reach the hall. When she appears in the doorway, her face is drawn into a frown as she watches her daughter sidestep awkwardly to one side with a vague gesture to the lit-up Christmas tree.

“Surprise!”

A pause.

“Where did you get all this?” her mother asks.

She shifts under the scrutiny. “… Found it.”

“Where?” When there’s no answer, her mother sighs. “From the loft? Leah, you know you’re not allowed up there. It’s dangerous. What if something had happened?”

“Well it didn’t,” she counters. “And I knew you wouldn’t have time to decorate, so I thought…”

She scuttles backwards as her mother strides into the room, glancing to the tree and back again as if it’s an unruly pet one accident away from being sent to the rescue shelter. The critical eye her mother casts over the decorations makes her sullen, but there’s something else there as well, a wistfulness as a slow hand reaches up to cup a sphere of clouded blue glass etched with the words Baby’s First Christmas in elegant gold cursive.

“It’s very… thoughtful.” Her mother sighs again and drops the memory. “It’s been a long day, and there’s shopping in the car. I need a shower – can you fetch it in?”

“I guess.”

Her mother gives a prim nod of acknowledgement and slides from the room like snow off an overladen branch, only to pause in the doorway. “Don’t forget, you’re going to the Wrights tomorrow, so make sure you have everything ready – and make sure all of this is unplugged so there’s not an accident. Those lights are far too old to be safe.”

She deflates, and doesn’t bother to answer, and after a moment lunges for the socket to cut off the lurid glitter of the Christmas lights.

--

She’s nineteen, and ignoring half-drunk texts from her friends asking why she isn’t at the campus party. She’d turn her phone off completely if not for the unlikely case of an emergency, but she’s not even bothering to open the messages anymore. Instead, she hunkers down in the armchair, annoyed to find that the hot chocolate at her elbow hasn’t magically refilled itself. She’ll have to buy another one soon or the café owner might throw her out. She decides it can wait until the end of the chapter she’s reading.

“No way – Leah?”

She looks up. The boy smiling at her is in her class. He’s handsome in a roguish sort of way, but they’ve never really talked.

“Couldn’t be bothered with the party?” he asks. “Shame. I hear WelSoc managed to get a boost for the budget.”

“Why aren’t you there, then?” she retorts, confused. She doesn’t hear about the antics of the Welfare Society – the university’s main student organisation – all that often, and she would have thought Bobby would have been there to report on it for the student newspaper if nothing else.

He shrugs and flops down in the armchair on the opposite side of the table. “I might go later. It’s always more fun to be fashionably late. Besides, by that point people will be nice and drunk and happy to spill all their secrets.”

“What secrets?”

“Oh, you know, gossip and stuff. Why aren’t you there?”

“I’m not really a Christmas person,” she answers, turning back to her book.

“Oh?”

“It feels like wasted effort most of the time.”

To her surprise, he smiles. “I’ve never looked at it that way, but you have a point. All that excess just to roll around with indigestion for a week.”

“Putting up decorations just to take them down again,” she agrees, wrinkling her nose. “And most of them are tacky anyway.”

“Ah, you’re a woman of taste, then.”

She doesn’t quite know how to respond to that, but he waves her away with a private laugh and jumps to his feet.

“I’ll not inflict my presence on you any longer, in that case, but if you do decide to go to the party I hope you’ll say hello.” He winks. “Merry Christmas.”

“Oh, yeah – Merry Christmas.”

Still confused, she watches him saunter back outside, only pausing briefly to pick up something from the barista before the clipped view from the café window cuts off the sight of him. A little while later, when she gets up for another hot chocolate to go with her book, the woman smiles and waves away her bank card.

“That guy you were talking to already paid,” she explains.

“What do you mean?”

“He paid for your drink – it’s on the house.”

She snaps her gaze to the window, as if Bobby might be standing there staring in, with a big sign informing her that it’s an elaborate prank. But all she can see are the indifferent shadows of passing shoppers hurrying about in the last of the daylight, wrapped up in their own concerns.

“Oh,” she says, and smiles at the barista because it’s polite, and takes the hot chocolate back to the rest of her things.

--

She’s twenty-six and alone in her apartment. Tina thinks she’s with the Wrights, and she told them she’s celebrating with Tina. She hasn’t even needed to invent an excuse to fob off Rebecca. In front of her is a spread of ingredients for homemade tacos, and a stack of DVDs that are old favourites. There’s not a bough of holly or the twinkle of a fairy light in sight.

She decides that she’s content.

--

She’s thirty-one. Staring at the monstrous fir Felix has somehow managed to sneak into the warehouse.

“How did you even get it in here?” she blurts. She has to crane her neck upwards to take in the full might of the thing.

“I didn’t,” Felix replies, proud. “I got some delivery people to do it while we were out – for the extra surprise factor.”

The rest of Unit Bravo sidle forward, as awed by the presence of the tree as she is, though the levels of enthusiasm vary.

“I thought we could decorate it together,” he continues, flinging open the first of several boxes that have been left at the foot of the tree, “you know, since we get so little time to do things as a family.”

That appears to be the magic word. Adam answers Mason’s pleading look with a minute shake of his head, and Nate is already striding forward to help unpack the ornaments. It leaves her with an uncomfortable itch between her shoulder blades, as if she’s suddenly wearing clothes that belong to someone else. Years of memories come bubbling up like rising damp under paint, phantom emotions she’s tried for so many years to bury and which now burrow so easily through her flesh.

“Leah?” Nate asks, with his hands curled around a string of coloured glass beads.

She smiles. It feels wooden. “Are you sure we can reach the whole way up?”

“I’m sure we’ll manage with us all working together,” he says, and beckons her to his side with a chaste kiss to her cheek.

Felix has already draped a length of tinsel around his neck like it’s a feather boa, and grins wide as he turns to her. “Where do we start? I bet you’ve had loads of practice.”

It stings.

“Put the lights up the centre of the tree,” she suggests, grateful for Nate’s touch. “That way they’ll reflect off the baubles.”

“Great!”

The vampires take to their task rather well. The military precision with which Adam lays the lights is matched by the haphazard way that Mason – obviously unhappy with the glow – drapes the outer branches in tinsel to hide as much of it as possible. Nate, meanwhile, is trying to bring a bit of coordination to the chaos that is Felix’s method of flinging baubles on the tree with no care for size or colour.

“But it’s festive,” the younger vampire protests, as a shiny green chilli pepper is swapped with a more tasteful globe of frosted golden glass.

“I just think it will look better up here, because it’s smaller.”

“You mean because it’s somewhere I can’t reach to move it somewhere more fun. I can get a stepladder, you know.”

She smiles at that, content to watch the banter. The variety of ornaments that have been procured cover a dizzying array of styles, from traditional to psychedelic to things like the chilli pepper that she knows Felix bought because he found them amusing. It’s not quite the same as the Wrights’ collection, which they’d once told her had been built up over years gathering trinkets on holiday or been gifted from friends and family, but the effect is similar.

“Leah, you agree with me, don’t you?” Nate pleads, his eyes wide and helpless.

She smiles. “A little disorder gives it personality, don’t you think?”

“But…”

“Ooooh I think that counts as a top ten anime betrayal,” Felix cackles.

“What’s anime?”

“Never you mind,” comes the haughty reply as the younger vampire holds out his hand. “I’ll be taking my pepper back now, thank you.”

There’s a groan as Nate passes it over, and she gets the feeling his defeat is not as final as he’s pretending, but before she can voice the suspicion, he comes to fold his long legs down next to her on the carpet.

“You haven’t put anything on the tree yet,” he notes, brushing a loose strand of hair back from her face.

She shrugs. The ornament turning in her hands is a tiny wooden reindeer with a bell around its neck. It’s not sparkly like the one when she was three, but it’s similar enough for a wave of guilt to wash over her for all the years she turned down the invitation from the Wrights because she didn’t want to be reminded of that pitied, unwanted little kid who was once dropped on their doorstep.

“Hey…”

“I’m not a big Christmas person,” she murmurs, though she knows the other vampires could easily listen in if they choose to. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I have horrible memories, but part of me always felt left out of that holiday magic, you know?”

With the Christmas tree lights reflecting off the sympathy in his brown eyes, he curls a gentle hand around hers and lifts her knuckles to his lips. “I’m sorry your past experiences weren’t what they should have been… though I hope you don’t feel left out now?”

It’s impossible to feel anything but dizzy with him so close, and yet as her gaze falls to his lips she wants nothing more than to be closer still.

“I’ve never felt more at home,” she tells him, smiling at the way confession makes his breath stutter.

The pad of his thumb brushes her cheek.

“You have no idea how much it delights me to – what are you doing?”

He pulls away to frown at Felix, who snuck up from behind to stretch out a bunch of mistletoe above their heads, the white berries and green foliage made richer by a ribbon of deep maroon.

“It’s Christmas,” the younger vampire explains. “Kissing under mistletoe is tradition.”

“You really think they need mistletoe to be going at it?” Mason calls from the other side of the room.

“Is that sort of language really necessary?” Nate demands.

“Not denying it though, are you?”

Mortified, he rubs a hand across his brow, and though her own cheeks are surely crimson by now, she keeps her fingers tangled into his to make sure he won’t pull away for good.

“You were so close you were practically on top of each other,” Felix offers, though whether he’s trying to be helpful or embarrass them both further is difficult to say.

“I was merely…” Nate clears his throat, tries again. “Why don’t you finish decorating the tree?”

Felix rolls his eyes, discarding the mistletoe on the sofa as he goes. The moment of heat has passed, but with attention gradually sliding off them, Nate inches close enough to wrap an arm around her waist. She snuggles into his side, ear over his heart, content to soak in the atmosphere of the room. Crackling fire, twinkling lights, and the good-natured bickering between Mason and Felix. She can feel Nate wince with every tacky bauble added to the tree, but torn as he is between protecting his décor and keeping her company, not even the glittery unicorn with the neon-pink mane and glowing horn stirs him to fully intervene, and she presses a kiss to the back of his hand to show her sympathy.

It's later, when the fire has burned down to embers and even the wind outside has fallen quiet, that she approaches the tree with the little wooden reindeer. There’s no ribbon loop to hang it on a branch, but she finds a bare spot in between a garish purple raspberry and an intricate crystal snowflake, and jams its legs on either side of the stem, like it’s leaping through a forest.

“It looks good there,” Nate murmurs, coming to stand at her back. He presses a kiss to the top of her head as his arms wind around her waist. “Are you sure I can’t just –”

“I’ll tell Adam it was you,” she warns. “Is it worth it for the wounded, puppy-dog look Felix will give you when he notices you’ve moved them?”

A sigh heaves through him that ruffles her hair. “For you, I suppose I can live with it, but I may have to stage a disappearing act in time for next year.”

“Even for the unicorn?”

“Especially for the unicorn.”

Chuckling, she turns in his arms. “It sounds like you could use a distraction.”

“What did you have in mind?” he asks, though with the way his voice lowers and his fingertips toy with the hem of her shirt, he already has some ideas of his own.

She licks her lips. His own part in response.

Instead of indulging him, however, she dodges the kiss and steps around him to where the mistletoe lies in a crumpled heap on the sofa. The room is warm, the lights in the Christmas tree like the glitter of a galaxy in the void of space, the weight of his gaze heavy enough to send a shiver across her shoulders as she plucks up the greenery with nimble fingers.

[cxncrie]

Anonymous asked: Hey, are there any HH roleplayers you recommend to check out?

Unprompted Asks || Always Accepting

God a LOT actually. I'll only name a few though so this post doesn't become super long.

@leftrib/@perditicn - Always gonna recommend this person, this is my buddy Hound, and while they're a slow writer their stuff is ALWAYS worth waiting for. They also like to plot and discuss things extensively which is a VERY big bonus for people who like to talk things out on how muses would respond to things / each other and see where things can lead, especially when it comes to plotting, etc etc. They put a lot of thought and love into their characters and writing and it certainly shows.

@shadowzgather - Another instant recommend. I've been writing w/ Tera since joining the ducktales / dwd fandom. Their main two is Pentious and Valentino but they've also recently added a few ocs, Abel, and Alastor. They're a good writer with interesting takes on their characters. 10/10 would recommend. { They also just reminded me that they recently added Stolas, mb }

@xluciifer - goofy fella, does a REALLY good job with Lucifer and puts so much thought into him. They're always a joy to read with their threads, don't let the fact they're mobile bound turn you away ! They put a lot of effort into their blog and the character and it certainly shows.

@demondads - SAM. 10/10 WOULD RECOMMEND SAM. They have another blog too i'm pretty sure its @thestupidmeanone which is Church w/ a HH AU on it. Sam's a JOY to talk to and a joy to watch on the dash and write with. 

@plxgue4two - I haven't seen MUCH thread wise but what I have seen i've enjoyed a LOT. Bug has SO much passion for this OC and she's SO well written and thought out. Just { chefs kiss }

@hellshoard - I've been following them for awhile but I gotta say I'm glad I FINALLY got to start writing with them and I would 100% recommend them as well. The mun's a sweetheart { and chaotic } and the muses are great. 

@fearedelight - Sal is another one I recently followed but they also have some REALLY neat ocs + i love their takes on their canons, especially Mammon. { sorry Sal i've been snooping in your HC's } They're also super nice and easy to talk to.

@vietat0 - I see a lot of eve's around but I think this is probably the first one I've gotten to write with and they've def got an interesting take on her imo. Worth checking out + mun is really nice.

@arachnaemboss - and last but not least, this Zestial, I haven't gotten to write with them but I very much do enjoy the portrayal. I'd recommend checking them out if you haven't yet.

@pompedia - I lied I have one more, pom I have followed for a long time and while she only has charlie and emily she writes them SO well. 10/10 give love

@waywardsculs - ALSO BECAUSE THEY POPPED UP THREATENING TO LOVE BOMB ME I'M GONNA THROW THIS MF ON HERE TOO BC I ACTUALLY AM VERY INTERESTED IN THEIR MUSES AND THEY ALL LOOK VERY NEAT GO GO GO GO GO

[hellaverse-critical-confessions]

So I promised a background/minor character design appreciation post...

(Part one because this will likely get long)

Starting with the imps, due to the order in which characters of different species are presented on the wiki

Ah, Pringles. Of course. What a guy. He is very shaped. (Especially the hair and collar. I happen to be a sucker for male characters with that kinda "cat fluff" hairstyle.) Love the weird little cuff on his tail, it's so unnecessary but it fits. Dapper boy. Gotta love him

(As far as I can recall he gets bitches in Ozzie's, which, like, good for him!)

There's this kiddo from Loo Loo Land. I like her shapes as well, very exaggerated. As depicted here she kind of reminds me of some concept art girlies from the Art of Encanto book.

Actually, I think I have an image...

...I'm not the only one who sees it, right?

(Anyway, it's still available for free to view online. Very interesting stuff.)

Ahh... this guy. Or gal, actually. Turns out this is Skye Henwood's impsona, as well as my favorite character in Western Energy. Me and my friend were deadass ready to adopt her on sight. So tiny!! So shaped!! Look at that ridiculously huge bowtie. The littol suit. I want a pocket-sized imp now. Would carry them everywhere in my purse. Speaking of...

That's exactly what she did! Another crewsona (Sam Miller), and this design is incredibly slay. The feathers. The tail. Big, flowy, swooping shapes. (Not a big fan of the hands, though.) Very majestic creature overall.

Moving on to a few background Wrathians from Harvest Moon. She's a cutie. Not much else to be said. I like her outfit with the little boots and gloves as well as her pigtails.

I think these two could be related.

She looks so silly, I love her. Her hat and horns are disproportionately huge and it's precious.

Her name is Square, and she has major resting bitch face energy. I appreciate her instantly. (Long sleeved shirt + short shorts is a good combo.)

This guy from the Ozzie's elevator scene (Aspen) looks like he'd have quite the story to tell over a couple drinks of hard liquor. Slutty, but in a tired way. (A certain saxophonist cat from another piece of online media also fits that description.)

HER!! I love her so much. Everything about her honestly. The colors!! The legs!! The underbite!! She has no official name, but I call her Pomegranate. Or Pom for short. Got some of my own lore for her and everything.

Haven't watched Queen Bee, so I didn't get to see Dennis in action, but from this still alone I conclude that he's pretty cute. (However dude could use to pull up his pants.) Didn't really deserve to get yelled at, anyhow. Justice for Dennis!

Though I do have an old Dennis character, and he's a dick, so maybe Blitzo was on to something.

I like the girlie on the right too. Women with :3 smiles automatically win me over. The ripped pants and loose tank top go well together, and the splotch of magenta on the waist isn't obnoxious.

Mamma Mia, an imp with not purely and overwhelmingly red skin? What a spectacle. She looks way more like a black character than Velvette. And due to her subdued skin tone, the pink looks nice on her. (Which can't be said for Millie in one of the pieces of summer merch. Who thought pink on her was a good idea?!) Cool hair texture as well, feels very poofy.

Some bite-sized imp clowns from The Circus; their names are Eenie, Meenie, and Miney. How charming! Though, as I recall, doesn't that old children's rhyme go on to have four-

...Oh.

I think this might be Barbie Wire. We were never told explicitly, and she isn't even mentioned in the episode itself, but she looks closest to that design.

(Though I just noticed her horn stripes are too thick. Nevermind, then. Seems like she didn't even get that brief cameo in Blitzo's nearly episode-long childhood flashback despite being his twin sister, which should suggest that they were pretty close.)

I like this chick, though.

And that's it for now! Let me know if you'd like to see a part two though I might just go ahead and make it anyway

[pom-seedss]

So, I promised a nice update too right?

As some of you may remember last year we adopted Artemis to try to help give Lilith someone to socialize with.... but it didn't quite work out. (Pictured below: Lilith being liquid and squirrely)

Lilith is an active player still at age 3, and since Art wasn't that old we thought she would get along. But turns out Artemis is a much more laid back low-activity kind of cat, not that she won't play, but she never liked the chase-me or wrestle games that Lilith preferred. So, as many of you know from previous posts, we had to make the decision to surrender Artemis back to the shelter because after a year of trying to get them to get along Lil and Art's relationship was breaking down.

This was.... tragic and I still don't feel good about it. Y'all know I loved Art, but she was making Lilith bleed so... something had to give.

We were obviously hesitant to get another cat right away. Even though, Lilith definitely needs a play and cuddle mate as Bean and I proved to be insufficient for her. We didn't have the time or energy to become that playmate which is why we decided to get Artemis in the first place.

But Pom! I hear you cry. This was supposed to be a happy update! Friends, have patience, it is! I give you this information so that you can be as elated as I am at how things worked out in the end....

Everyone, meet Goose.

At a local adoption event run by the shelter near us I met this handsome little black kitty. He was outgoing and I was told does really well with other cats. I met him and a few others a couple times and then had the Serious Talk with Bean. Then, we had Bean come in and meet a couple of candidates I'd thought would fit, but he just kept hovering and returning to Goose's cage. And I knew, I knew, when Bean looks at an animal like that.... he has this warm glow with a deep gleeful shine in his eyes and I knew Goose was ours.

I wasn't going to post about him right away because of how things turned out with Artemis, but friends... it's been ten days and he feels like he's been here forever.

He fits *right* in to our home. Him and Lilith are already comfortable playing and they are even starting to cuddle together sometimes. I didn't have that kind of progress between Art and Lil for *months* and even then they were never this comfortable with one another.

Goose purrs like a monster truck, plays like a champ, is extremely polite and courteous when the other animals give him signals to back off, I just.... he is the perfect little man for us.

This was only a few days into integration.

And this was yesterday. We've had him for a week and a half and he is already fully integrated into the house.

You cannot believe how happy I am with this little man. So yeah! Goose has come into our lives and has already made it tenfold better. I am so grateful to have been able to meet him and add him to the family.