#this story has me in a chokehold and I won't be getting it off my mind for a very long time

[krenenbaker]

Ikepri Opinions - Sariel's route (Romantic)

Well, I finished it. I'm finished with Sariel's Romantic route, so I'm finally making an individual post to SCREAM about this man.

It was INTENSE. It BROKE me, then it made me whole once more (in a very different way than the other aspects of his route, though it's also accurate to say those destroyed me as well. I'm so similar to how Belle is written in his route, too... so I felt especially connected / drawn into what happened.)

The good and the bad, the softness and the cruelty, the light and the dark... everything in Sariel's route slowly snaked its way around my very being. I do think Auburn was right... I believe I've found him, my dearest man ♥

And gosh, the language in this story?? Absolutely GORGEOUS. I've added some of my favourite lines - both the beautiful and amusing - below ^_^ (they're out of context, but still, spoiler warning if you continue). Under the cut are the most spoiler-y things and lines from the Romantic epilogue, as well as my opinions on the events of the story, so... yeah. I've italicized my absolute faves :)

SPOILER WARNING!

Once upon a time, or so the story goes...

In every story I'd ever read, taking a devil by the hand and agreeing to his terms meant losing one's soul forever. Once you'd accepted whatever the devil offered you, you were doomed.

Sariel: Goodness me, did I accidentally speak my mind? I can't imagine how that happened.

Nokto: You're getting more and more Sariel-esque by the day.

Yves: Would you two stop with the over-apologizing already! (this one I will give a little context - it was directed to Keith and Emma. I also relate to this INTENSELY.)

He hadn't just stood up to them — he'd countered them with a violence far exceeding their own, turning predators into prey.

It's a longing... a desire to be there for you, to support you and keep you grounded.

There's no point thinking about what-ifs or maybes. They don't actually help anyone. All I can do is accept the reality I'm faced with, whether it's good or bad, kind or cruel.

Sariel: Once something is lost, there is no bringing it back.

Rio: Instead she went and threw herself into her work, obsessively determined to do anything and everything. (me fr, haha...)

Jin: Your apprentice is a terrifying woman. She's terrifying and brilliant, and as her master, I bet you know what she's planning next, right?

A gloved hand reached towards the woman, and her lips parted, but her scream caught in her throat, forever unvoiced.

I wanted to know the real you. I wanted to get past everything you were using to push me away, and get close to the man you are, deep inside.

Silvio: So go vanish somewhere else.

Silvio: Let me explain this in a way even a peace freak like you can understand.

That wasn't me signing a deal with the devil - that was the devil signing a deal with me.

it looked for all the world as if he [was] about to sacrifice himself in the fires of hell.

It wasn't a deal at all — it was a gentle promise, given to a dying king, a promise so pure and noble it made me want to cry.

Yves: Even I can tell that you're planning something, even if I don't know what. And I get it, but— Why are you and Sariel both so determined to rush headlong into these things all by yourselves! (ME FR ^^;)

Sariel: In all other matters, you are a brilliant woman, but I am somewhat concerned by your choice to stay with me.

The only people who knew that for certain were the man who'd eradicated him, and the man who'd banished him, knowing it would happen.

Sariel: So tell me, do you have what it takes to go on dancing with the devil, now and forevermore?

Yves: And ever since Emma officially became Sariel's apprentice, it's almost like there's two Sariels in the palace.

Sariel: I've grown quite fond of tea since you started brewing it for me while we're working.

His hair was slightly damp, and he smelled of the same soap I'd used earlier, and suddenly I was imagining how he might have looked washing himself with it.

Okay, now for my THOUGHTS. First off... OH MY GOODNESS. The tension - intrapersonally, interpersonally, nationally, and internationally is so deliciously palpable and so strong. The fact that multiple people were so near to being executed or dying in other ways, the amount of national unrest, and the legitimate, imminent risk of Rhodolite simply no longer existing due to multiple foreign powers... that's good stuff, there! And the acknowledgement of other, distant countries??? OH HELL YEAH!!!

I also related HEAVILY with Belle/Emma in this route (and Sariel himself, in many, many ways, too). I was following a walkthrough, but every choice with the exception of maybe one or two is exactly how I would approach each situation. Even much of the phrasing is how I often speak... it was honestly a little eerie!

And I agree with the choice of king, considering how the issues surrounding the kingdom resolved. I believe that that choice will lead to prosperity for Rhodolite, and the surrounding nations. And the fact that summits are planned for the future between Rhodolite and its neighbours is a FANTASTIC thing! I also am so glad that there's now a new minister in the palace... especially one that's been trained so well! ^w^

I also appreciate how there are still things to learn about Sariel by the end of the route - he's familiar but still distant, in the same way that Emma is. It's honestly nice to know that they still have things to learn from one another, and are working together to open up to each other over time. Sariel's relaxed, and helped Emma to relax, too. They've given each other stability and comfort, a sense of belonging and home... a support so they have each other to lean on and share their burdens. They've provided exactly what the other needs, in a quiet way. And I find that extremely comforting, and beautiful in such a deep way.

And outside of the narrative, I just adore Sariel's character. He's polite and well-mannered, but an absolute tease. He's reserved, and clever, and resourceful. He's violent, but gorgeously composed and calculated in his brutality (HIS SCARS, OMGG). He's mysterious, and has grown and shifted, and bettered himself so many different times and different ways. He's strict, but he is so, so kind. Kind to the point of self-destruction. And he's just ethereally beautiful. I truly, honestly, and deeply love him.

I can not believe I've come to the end of his route... I honestly don't want to leave him :( I may just start his route over again immediately and read the Dramatic end, or I may just wait for Keith's route to release, and focus on events until then... I haven't decided yet. But there is one thing I have decided for certain: Sariel Noir is very dear to me ♥

[tachimichishrine]

I swear no one does Higuchi justice like c’mon I’m BEGGING to be her cute wife that cooks for her whenever she comes from the Mafia. The chokehold she has on me is just *mwah* she’d be so sweet

also love your tachihara fanfiction it’s my dinner everyday <3

<never been crazy abt higuchi but writing for her just,,, it did smth ok- GAH HOW IS THERE NOT A SINGLE FIC OUT THERE FOR HER?? also you're so sweet ill be sure to feed u properly huheeheheh... thank you for your service to the tachi community btw, all the best w your writing n future fics ^w^ >

"housewife"

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higuchi ichiyo x wife! reader

warnings: i attempt fluff again ; this is so short idk why, apologies my liege ; this is fiction bc there's no way i could cook smth and not poison my wife/ burn the house down in the process ,,, ; tw bath!! (/j it's all just fluff) ; l e s b i a n s ; love language is phys touch deal with it ; itty bitty cursing ; lowercase intended ; NOT proofread

you knew not to panic in such situations. waking up to disheveled sheets that had turned frigid, indicating that ichiyo had been gone too long. you allowed yourself to sleep in, given that you had the day off and decided you'd just lounge around, take a break and plan something nice for your lover in the meantime.

a stress-free period, but all you felt was anxiety when you dialed her number and got sent straight to voicemail repeatedly. this time, you decided you might as well actually leave a message when the line rang for too long.

"'chiyo, honey, call me back when you get this. just wanna make sure everything's okay, alright? I miss you already, love y-"

"who the hell is this?"

you'd been anticipating the automated voice so much that it barely registered that you didn't actually hear it this time, and a quick glance at the screen confirmed that you really were on call with someone on the other end of the line. the voice was raspy, definitely not hers, so you echoed back the question.

"um, who are you?" you challenged with a hand on your hip that they couldn't see.

except, instead of a response, you heard some distant voices on the other line, one rather hyper as it babbled something you interpreted as 'akutagawa-senpai!'. a few noises ensued along a brief chaos you couldn't see, and suddenly the phone was put back to someone's ear as they panted. you could recognize that heavy breathing anywhere.

"hey, hey, 'chiyo, what's going on?" you spoke softly, hoping she was alright and not trying to scare her.

she stuttered nervously. "sorry, I'm so sorry, I must've dropped my phone somewhere and akutagawa-senpai picked it up and-"

"woah, was that the akutagawa you're always talking about?" you couldn't believe it; after being with her for so long, you'd only ever heard stories about the people with whom she worked. you agreed that the kind of place where she operated was dangerous and it was better not to get yourself involved, so she kept you separated from everything she did. you appreciated the thought, but sometimes you felt a little frustrated that you couldn't meet the people in her life— you didn't even think they were aware ichiyo was married.

a tired sigh confirmed your theory. "look, [_____], I'll call you back when-"

"higuchi, who is that?"

akutagawa seemed to be speaking again, and quite frankly you didn't like his tone. if you were on speaker, you'd set him straight but for now you just listened to ichiyo ramble a response while not actually answering the question. he sounded tired of the bullshit and eventually the line was cut off harshly. something told you that you won't be able to call this number anymore.

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music played on the speaker as you hummed, tray of baked goods getting pulled out of the oven by your gloved mitten. the smell filled out the rather small place you shared with both your wife and sister-in-law, but the latter was out for the week on some kind of trip and left you all alone. you'd gotten used to ichiyo's erratic lifestyle, sometimes disappearing during the day and barely making it home at night. she sounded exhausted when she did arrive, so you didn't mind taking care of the little things.

proud of yourself, you put the assorted goods in various plates and left them on the table, waiting for her to come home. you couldn't call her, obviously, since it appears her boss had pulverized the device out of rage. you'd be worried if not for the fact that, based on her stories, it seemed this was a regular occurrence and she didn't mind it. you'd feel jealous of the man if it weren't for the fact that she fawned over you much harder in all the days you'd known her. she knows what she wants and does everything to get it, you'll give her that. by nature, ichiyo was incredibly caring and it was difficult to hold that against her

something was in your hands as you lounged on the couch, passing the time: a book, your phone, anything to keep your mind occupied. the sun had set and you were getting impatient, as nighttime meant she was going to be out until the early hours and might even come home with a particular scent on her clothing that resembled blood and death. how a person so sweet, so feeling could get into this kind of business was beyond you, much less how she could last thing long. she once told you that the only reason she could keep her mind this long was coming home to your soft kisses and pampering.

a clicking of the front lock and the creaking that ensued signaled that you were about to do that once more, and you strolled over to the entrance with an excited smile.

"welcome home, 'chiyo, how wa-" you caught yourself off when you saw a splatter of crimson along her cheek. your lips tugged downwards into a frown as a reflex, and you sighed gently once you saw her expression. she seemed so conflicted, not about whatever crime she'd done but about making you worry so quickly. "hey, hey, it's okay, c'mere."

with that, you pulled her into your embrace and set a kiss on her hair. it still smelled like that shampoo you'd bought her, a subtle vanilla and chamomile that reminded you of her. her entire body slumped into your strong arms, and she let you drag her across the house, shedding her shoes, meticulously pulling the elastic out of her hair to let her messy bun fall into a bob, then helping her out of her unbuttoned jacket. you pulled her body into yours as you laid down on the couch again, but this time with her head shoved into your chest, which was one of her favourite things to do.

"wanna talk about it?" you asked, dumbly, one of your regular antics. of course she wanted to talk about it; she did an awful job keeping things to herself anyways.

so, you listened carefully while she recounted stories with fake names to keep you protected and vague details in certain places, specific in others. she didn't seem hungry, so you just skipped the food for now and dragged her to your bedroom. you were about to throw her pajamas and get her to change so you could just lay down in bed for the evening, but the burgundy was darkening on patches on her arm and you couldn't help but stare at it.

"—so akutawaga-senpai showed up and I felt a little stupid but he-" you interrupted her by grabbing her shoulders and giving her a little shake.

"honey, can we clean off... that..." you danced around the topic, but she knew exactly what you meant when your eyes kept darting to certain areas of her skin. she nodded and you gave her a quick kiss on her forehead. "I'll run the bath and we can scrub it off. keep going, I'm listening."

she continued speaking as you did exactly that and eventually both of you were stripped and laying down in the tub. she was sitting in between your legs, with her back resting on your chest and head leaning back to rest on your shoulder. you traced her body, rubbing into certain patches until her skin was back to its beautiful glow. the warmth of both her and the water was too comforting, and you stayed longer than needed, your fingertips turning raisin-like in protest. despite this, you leaned down to kiss her up and down her neck while you gently massaged her flesh from her thighs to her hips, her stomach to her breasts. if she wasn't so tired that she eventually ran out of steam and stopped talking just to revel in your embrace, you might've handled her a little differently. yet, at this moment the only desire you had was to pamper her.

"ichiyo..." you breathed out slowly, lips grazing her ear while you kissed her again and spread out your fingers over her stomach. "mmmmn... 'missed you... i love you s'much..."

god, you would break her if you kept this up. so long together that you finally managed to put a ring on it yet she still fangirled over you like you were her high school crush. even as you pulled yourselves out of the sanctuary of steam and warmth in order to actually eat, she blushed every time you left a quick peck on her cheek or rubbed noses while chuckling softly.

she fell asleep in your arms, with her leg on top of you pulling you close like her very own plushie. it was hard not to smile at her once she began snoring and murmuring something about akutagawa during her slumber.

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hand in hand, you snuggled up in big jackets in the middle of the night to fend off the frigid breeze. holding onto your fingers wasn't enough, and ichiyo was fully clinging onto your bicep as you walked with her in the empty streets of yokohoma.

"this s-sounded so m-much more fun when w-we were inside... warm... by the f-fireplace.." her teeth chattered and she pulled herself closer into you.

"you were the one who suggested getting something from the café," you retorted with a chuckle, opposite hand brought up to tuck her hair behind her ear that was starting to turn pink from the cold. you rubbed your thumb along her cheek which was going through something similar, then sighed with a cloud of hot breath. "alright, honey we'll head in. i think there's another one on this street, we can just stay there and warm up before we go back, mkay?"

she would feel a bit ashamed about being so demanding if you hadn't pulled her in tighter and looked at her so lovingly. she had such an impossible time never believing she was capable enough at the mafia, and that discomfort disappeared as soon as you whispered sweet nothings into her ear and made her feel like everything was alright.

you turned your bodies together, door jingling as you stepped inside and the air blowing down from the heater hitting you. you realized that she was right, it was too damn cold outside, as soon as you felt the contrast of the inside. you turned towards your lover with a quick look to see if her body was as relieved as yours, but she was staring at something intensely on the horizon, like she'd seen a ghost.

you followed her gaze, and it fell on a man with tuffs of white in his hair standing next to a woman, slightly shorter but with noticeably long stands of black veiling the sides of her face.

"do you know them?" you whispered, and she jumped a little. part of her wanted to drag you outside, but she couldn't lie to you or keep things no matter how much her common sense told her to.

"that's... they're..." she was struggling to say something, anything, but you noticed she was letting herself get flustered. in these kinds of situations, you liked to interrupt her with a kiss to bring her back to earth from her constantly overreacting mind.

she pulled away before your lips could touch.

she'd never done that before.

you knew better, that this was probably a question of her not wanting the pda right now or maybe it had something to do with the duo standing over there waiting for their drinks, but it hurt nonetheless when you saw her squint her eyes shut and shake her head.

"that's akutagawa," she whispered as an explanation, and you felt simultaneously irritated and relieved, the former due to the fact that it confirmed that she hadn't told her boss that she was in a relationship, much less married. you understood why but it didn't sting any less.

"who's the girl?" you followed up, trying not to think about it too deeply. "is that.. uh... gin?"

she nodded meekly, and it was impossible to stay mad for long when she was so cute. you slid your hand around her waist, turning her around so that her back was to the pair and they wouldn't recognize her while she spoke to you. your voice dropped so low she could barely hear it. "should we get out of here so they don't see us? I'm not that cold, I can wait outside if it makes you more comfortable, honey."

how could she ask you to do something like that when your words were so caring, so honest? she took a deep breath and shook her head once more. in one impossibly fast motion you found yourself on the other end of the shop, standing in front of the man.

"akutagawa-senpai!" ichiyo exclaimed just a bit too loudly for this time of the day and the serenity of the empty café. she bowed her head down, speaking incredibly quickly. "I don't mean to interrupt your evening but it's come to my attention that you don't know that I'm married and this is my wife her name is [_____] and she's wonderful and-"

"'chiyo, he won't be able to understand what you're saying," you laughed softly, cutting her off as you placed your hand on her back reassuringly before addressing her boss with a respectful nod. "it's nice to finally meet you, akutagawa-san. I've heard a lot about you."

he barely bothered to acknowledge you, but the slight twitch in the spot that should've housed his eyebrows signaled that he was shocked. your smile grew wider when you looked to his sister who was sporting the same look. you pulled ichiyo against you from her hip as if to prove that she was indeed yours, and spoke slowly to explain snippets of the current situation. gin listened carefully without a word while the man tried his very best to seem completely uninterested.

as much as you wanted to learn everything there was to know about ichiyo's other side, eventually his drink was ready and he barely excused himself as he walked out. you watched him do so, and gin nodded to you and said something about how nice it was to make your acquaintance in a meek voice before quickly following him out. you waved, and noticed akutagawa watching you do so warmly before burying his face in his coat and scampering off.

"well," you giggled, turning back towards ichiyo, "that wasn't so bad. she's cute and he's an ass, but I trust your judgement in people."

you could practically see stars in her eyes; she rambled to you the entire walk home - during which she didn't complain about the cold a single time and was nearly bouncing off the sidewalk - about how much he clearly loved you based on his expression (apparently the fact that he didn't try to kill you on the spot was a sure sign of his support). she was so excited she even suggested bringing you with her to the port mafia tomorrow, but you stopped her and told her to slow down for just one second. you loved that she was so passionate about her emotions, but you wanted to talk and think this through before you did anything.

for tonight, though, you let her radiate with happiness as she jumped on top of you, making the mattress creak while she climbed up to sit on your lap and curl her fingers around the fabric of your shirt. your hands on her hips, she sat down with her knees bent on either side of you like a frog and leaned so you were chest-to-chest. she tickled your skin to draw out soft giggles while she peppered you with kisses, littering you with her best efforts to repay just a fraction of what you did for her. you rubbed her thighs in long, loving motions and brought her up so she was sitting on your hips instead. you wanted her closer, and she was happy to oblige as she kissed your lips.

"[_____]," she said, smiling into you, "I'm so lucky..."

you cut her off with a press upwards and a firm grip. "shhh, don't say anything. I love you, you love me and that's all we need."

she murmured your name that night in her sleep instead of akutagawa's.

[littlegodzilla]

Hi I know that your requests are closed but I really had to get this request to you before my brain forgot about it 😭 pls feel free to ignore if you don't wanna write it 🤧

So like Negan has made Daryl his prisoner and the reader is Negan's wife . Also the reader is very sassy and has Negan in a chokehold and Negan basically does whatever she asks him to. So when the reader sees that Negan has bought Daryl as his prisoner she's lowkey attracted to him and suggests a threesome between them and then smut where Daryl fucks her so much better than Negan ever could 😩.

Hi Anon!!

I have to say that when I read your request I was like "threesome with Daryl and Negan? Fuck yeah!" But then thinking about I didn't image Daryl could be get hard with Negan there or being a prisoner so I stopped and thought about what could be better for the story and I was thinking about a dark Daryl full of rage and angry, accepts just to piss up Negan... I hope you don't mind if I gave to the reader my special touch.

I hope you'll like it!!

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The Prisoner.

Negan x Reader x Daryl.

Anon request.

Warnings: Smut.

Words: 2800

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"Auh..." You mutter settling back and closing your eyes again. "A...Auh! Auh! Negan!" You call out to him and smack him upside the head, he looks up from between your legs. "May I ask what's on your head? I told you to eat my pussy, but I didn't mean it literally." You grunt in annoyance and push the man away by sitting on the bed, crossing your arms.

"You've always liked it when I give you a little nibble."

"A little nibble, not you ripping my skin off, what's wrong with you?" you snap again and he averts his gaze.

"It's Rick Grimes and his group in Alexandria..." He confesses remaining seated on the bed, running a hand through his hair.

"What about them?" You say bored as this isn't the first time you've talked about it.

"Nothing, forget about it, let's go on with what we were..." He says wanting to get on top of you, but you stop him.

"No, no, I'm not in the mood anymore." You huff and get up from the bed, he looks at you in disbelief. "Don't you have one of then as a prisoner?"

"Yes, Daryl, Rick's watchdog, but they still dare to go against me, that kid, Carl, came in here and nearly killed me."

"Oh yeah, that kid has the same hair on his balls as he does on his head." You can't help but laugh at your own comment. "Daryl... uhm yeah, I've seen Dwight 'take care of him' sometime... he's pretty cute..." You bite your lip in thought and a shiver runs through you.

"What?" Negan asks as you look up at him with a mischievous grin.

"I want you to bring him to my room, I want to meet him."

"Have you lost your mind? He's a prisoner."

"You screwed up my night of sex, so this is going to be my compensation."

"Since when do you think you can make demands on me?" He faces you, angry, getting off the bed and walking towards you, but it doesn't scare you.

"Since you decided to make me your wife. You know I'm not like those little girls who are afraid of you. If you want my pussy, you'll have to earn it." You challenge him, Negan stares at you licking his lips.

"And what makes you think I won't go with one of those little girls you say?"

"Because if they gave you what I did, you wouldn't be here anymore." You smile victoriously when you see him frown. You've won.

"And what do you plan to do with him?"

"Fuck him." You say sincerely.

"No."

"Of course I do, and don't waste any more of my time. If you behave yourself, I'll let you watch." You smile and wait, you know Negan is volatile, he needs a moment to calm down and you shouldn't insist too much, you've learned to control your demands to the point that he accepts them.

"Fine." He barks getting out of bed, getting dressed. "You're a whore."

"You should have made a better choice, honey." You joke again but see a sly smile on his mouth before he walks out of the room, leaving you alone.

You sigh and put on a robe, you don't want to scare the man as soon as you enter the room, you go to the bathroom and prepare the bathtub, you might want to take advantage of him, but you're not going to let him touch you if he's full of filth. You also prepare something to eat and when Negan returns he pushes the other man into the room. Daryl stumbles and falls face first to the floor, your first reflex is to go to help him, but you stop at the last second, Negan is still there, you can't let your guard down.

"Well?" the man says impatiently.

"Not tonight, honey, leave us alone, when I want you to look, I'll tell you." Again Negan hesitates, but finally leaves, slamming the door violently. "One of these days I'll lose my head" You whisper and wait a little longer before walking over to the man still lying on the floor.

He's so weak he can't even move, as if to ask him to put you on all fours and make you moan until you're hoarse. You watch him closely, his hair matted, dirty, too long for your taste, his skin black from the dust and dirt in the cell, among other things you don't want to think about. You frown at all the scars on his back, you're sure Dwight couldn't have done all that to him, some of them look very old. Carefully you bend down and touch his shoulder slowly. Daryl tenses and in one sudden movement you're lying on the ground, the man on top of you, his hands around your neck, his fingers squeezing your skin tightly. He's really choking you.

You gasp and thrash your arms and his face several times, but he doesn't seem willing to loosen his grip.

"H...Hi...Hilltop!... "You say barely. "Jesus!" You say again and then the pressure disappears.

Daryl looks at you with wide eyes through the strands of hair, his hands release your neck as you begin to cough loudly, you feel him move cautiously to your side, but he doesn't move too far away, studying you carefully, watching your every move in case it's a trap to finish what he has started. Still coughing you sit on the floor rubbing your neck, you glance sideways at him and see him avert his gaze, your robe has opened a little exposing your body, you smile, but adjust your clothes and throat clears.

"No doubt my brother was right..." You say, but you gesture to him pointing to the door and then put a finger to your lips as a sign of silence. "Come with me, I've prepared a hot bath for you."

He doesn't trust you, however, he gets up following you to the bathroom, as you promised him there is a bathtub waiting for him, you make him get in and start rubbing his skin and hair letting all the dirt dissolve in the water. There with the noise and away from the door, you can talk freely.

"Jesus sent me a message warning me that Negan had attacked your group." You tell him as you rub his scalp. "He asked me to help you get out of here, that Rick needs you in Alexandria." You continue, telling him your plan.

"Why?"

"Jesus is my brother, I became Negan's wife to know his plans from the inside and sabotage them little by little, I'm not proud and I'm sorry for what you people have had to suffer, but it's complicated to get close to him." You confess and sigh heavily.

Two years ago you showed up at the door of the Sanctuary, pretending to be lost, scared to death, in need of food and a home, Negan believed your story and took you in as a Savior with the condition of becoming his wife, again honoring your role you accepted desperately, however you were not going to let him treat you like trash as he did with the rest, when you gained his trust you showed your feisty character, contradicting him, making him angry, attracting his attention and becoming one of his favorite girls. Sex was the hardest part at first, but eventually you realized that the man was attractive, despite his volatile and sadistic nature, and knew how to treat you in bed, so you took it as your reward for being in the lion's den.

"If he catches ya freein' me, he'll kill us both and there will be consequences for my people."

"That won't happen, I've been thinking of a plan so you can escape and he won't suspect me..."

"Sleep with me? Negan told me as we were on our way here."

"That's what I told him, yes." You laugh and rinse his hair. You help him out of the tub, hand him a towel to cover himself. "Do you think you'd get hard if he was in front?"

"Ya wanna him to be in front?"

"I want you to threaten me and he can't defend himself, you'll lead me to one of the exit doors and escape before anyone can follow you."

"Why do y'think he would defend ya, won't his men follow me?"

"Don't worry, Jesus will be waiting for you and he'll know how to get rid of them, trust me."

"And what about Negan?"

"He'll do what you ask of him, I'm his favorite, he won't let you hurt me." You assure him, Daryl seems hesitant, but finally nods his head. "Good, now eat some, I need you to get your strength back." You hand him what you have prepared for him and he eagerly devours it.

In the next few minutes that Daryl is eating you explain to him in more detail your plan, of course sex was only a possibility, you don't think you could ever touch Daryl in that sense, you don't know him, but in a stressful situation like the one he's in, you're sure sex is the last thing on his mind. When he finishes eating you smile and let him relax a little more in your room, he's going to have to go back to a rough and filthy cell, at least if he gets some sleep on a bed, his body will thank you.

"Well, I'd better call the guys to be taken back to your cell." You say and he gives you a sidelong glance. "Remember the whole plan?" You ask and he nods again.

You are about to get out of bed when you feel his hand on your knee. You look down to discover his fingers slowly creeping up your skin, hiding under the fabric of your robe, you look at him in surprise and see him staring at you. You want to stop him, tell him he doesn't need to do that, you can have fun the day Jesus responds to your message and carry out the plan, but not now... you lose the thread of your own thoughts when his fingers brush against your mons and find their way between your legs. You gasp, your gaze unfocused for a second as his fingertips touch your button and stop there. His eyes watch you, his fingers move very slowly over your clit and Daryl watches as your face transforms into a grimace of pleasure. It's been a while since he's touched a woman, but he still knows what he's doing.

**

You close your eyes when you feel Daryl's lips on your neck, his hands run over your body giving you goosebumps, you sigh and hear a growl near you, you open your eyes again discovering Negan sitting on his couch, watching you, biting his lip, moving his leg nervously. He wants to join in, he can't stand to see Daryl touching you and making you moan and him not being able to prove he does it better. But you have to admit that Daryl is a better lover than you expected, that day he proved to you that he could make you shudder and beg just by fucking you with his fingers and now he's doing exactly the same. You moan low as you spread your legs wider for Negan to get a good look at how Daryl's fingers sink inside you over and over again making a wet sound to accompany your moans.

"Oh fuck, I'm going to cum..." You say feeling the pleasure building in your stomach and your pulse quickens.

"Stop it, get her on all fours." Negan says getting up from the couch unbuttoning his pants urgently pulling out his cock, hard, head red and angry, spitting pre cum fluid.

You can't help but smile and get even more excited, Daryl grunts, not happy to see another man's cock, but he has to admit he likes your body and is enjoying you, so he does as Negan asks; he pulls his fingers out of your pussy, helps you turn around and you rest your hands and knees on the mattress, you look at Negan with a naughty smile and open your mouth, egging him on.

"Oh honey, I'm going to fuck that slutty throat of yours." He growls walking straight towards you, grabs you by the hair and shoves his cock inside your mouth. "That's it, suck it like you know how." He says giving you a tug on your hair.

You could refuse, leave him desperate and hating you, but you need him relaxed, your guard down, so you close your lips around his swollen cock and start sucking, pumping up and down, licking and sucking his tip with special interest, hearing him curse and grunt through his teeth, his fingers not loosening their grip on your hair. Daryl watches you for a few seconds, his cock needing attention too, your hips are slightly raised and your legs spread, letting him see your wet pussy ready for him. He bites his lip jerking his length a couple of times before positioning himself behind you. You moan against Negan's cock as you feel him slide his tip between your folds, touching your clit then pressing and pushing inside you slowly, his size dilating you as he goes deeper, you pause for a second, your mouth wide open for Negan, but you are unable to process the excitement that is coursing through you at that moment. Daryl stays still inside you, then slowly pulls out again, only his tip still in your pussy before he thrusts once more, hard, deep, drawing a moan from you that you yourself have never heard before. You need to pull Negan's cock out of your mouth to breathe, as Daryl holds you tighter around the waist and does the same again, your eyes roll as he finds the perfect rhythm, fast and deep. Negan pushes his cock against your lips again and you obey letting yourself be fucked by both men until you feel yourself losing consciousness.

Negan cums in your mouth, holding you by the back of the neck as he unloads completely, you swallow quickly and slap him several times on the legs to get him to release you. He loves to see you desperate, but he pulls away and you spit out his cum, however, Daryl doesn't give you time to process it, pushes you back against the mattress fucking your aching pussy with more intensity and you feel your orgasm rock you, you clench around his cock and you both moan, his seed spilling inside you with the last more erratic and uncontrolled onslaughts.

Your body falls onto the bed totally exhausted, breathing hard, feeling yourself shaking, your knees like jelly, your pussy pulsing as you feel the hunter's semen dripping out. Daryl is also trying to recover, Negan is no better, sitting on his couch. You have to stick with the plan, but all that has hit you all hard. You swallow still feeling some traces of Negan's semen in your mouth, you look sideways at Daryl and he nods slyly.

**

The plan works better than you expected, Daryl gets dressed as he holds you down, a knife against your neck, you tense, you tremble and look at Negan pleading for help, the man is angry, but he won't make a move that would put you at risk. Daryl pulls you to the door you guide him with small signals, no one is after you, Negan's men keep their distance so you don't get hurt.

"Go." You tell him by slyly pushing him away.

"Come with me." He asks you without letting go, but you shake your head.

"We'll meet again, Daryl, when the Sanctuary falls." You assure him and smile.

Daryl looks at you for a few seconds and kisses you with intensity surprising you, then you see him quickly leave and escape with Jesus who is waiting for him hidden on the other side of the fences of the abandoned factory.

**

The war ends, Negan is defeated by Alexandria and the communities that have allied with them, the soldiers who faithfully followed the man are cornered, given the choice whether they want to change or die, many try to escape, but very few manage to go far away.

Daryl lowers his gun and searches the battlefield with his eyes, he feels his chest quicken when he sees you, hugging your brother, Jesus, as he pampers you and whispers something against your ear as your embrace grows stronger. He walks towards you, not wanting to break the moment, but it's been several weeks since you last saw each other and Daryl feels a strange pressure in his chest.

He's not the only one, when you separate from Jesus and discover him next to you you can't help a nervous smile and your heart pumping hard. Jesus watches you and walks away leaving you alone. There is chaos, rage, death and despair all around you, but now you see and hear nothing but yourselves. You smile and move a little closer to him.

"Yer alive..."

"I told you we would meet again."

[rabbitprintart]

okay I need to get this outta my system because realistically I won't be able to draw this in a while but at least wanna write down my head cannons and au AND I'M DRIVING MYSELF INSANE EVERY NIGHT!!!

Anyways, I've been meaning to make/explore an au where Trigun takes place in my motherland of Tierra Caliente, yes I know it's incredibly self indulgent, but where I live, questions of climate change and agriculture are constant within the community, it's a weeeee bit lawless, and I can see so many opportunities of weaving those ideas together with those of the original Trigun series. I just think the reason Trigun speaks to so many of us Mexicans is for the same reason we have an insane clown culture, or the "laugh now, cry later" attitude. I have never seen 2 anime/characters that embody the Mexican spirit and struggle like fucking Vash the Stampede and Nicholas Wolfwood (if you ignore the DragobBall IP lol). So far the ideas that I have are:

Vash and Knives, and all the plant aliens, are representations of ancestral Mesoamerican culture of having intricate stories about twins, duality, and nature. Really wanna dig into the idea of Vash being some kind off shoot of Quetzalcoatl and Knives of Tezcatlipoca, probably even paint Knives in a more charismatic light because tbh my man has some points and I don't blame him lol. Knives does remind me a lot of the cynical Mexican who has been wronged so much in his life that he can not understand a world that isn't evil therefore sees the only solution the destruction of all, just pure nihilism. It's unfortunately more common than you think, especially in men :{

Really weave in Mesoamerican thought, art, and philosophy with Mexican Catholicism. It will be more obvious through Wolfwood, and it makes a lot of sense in my mind since a lot of Rancho people unknowingly hold onto our native thoughts and customs without realizing, even if it has been repackaged through Catholicism (ex: Dia de los Muertos)

Commentary on the insane chokehold the idea of Family as the supreme value in Mexican people through Knives

Ranchero Wolfwood, El Dark (Darks means Goth in Mexican Spanish slang lol) Vash

OKAY NOW FOR THE ONE THAT ABSOLUTELY IS KILLING ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Plants are seen as saints by the average Mexican even if the majority don't know about the plant angels inside, so much so that they are constantly offered milagros and have town celebrations for them, but they all have been slowly exploited and killed by the humans who were meant to protect them due to greed. Vash has a collection of the milagros he has salvaged from all his sister's graves and he ties them into his coat. Knives also does this, but they both do it for different motives, Knives mainly does this is as a reminder for his hatred of humanity, Vash mainly for his love for his people and endearment towards humans for thinking well of them, a reminder that he is not much of a monster as he has been made to believe. I literally made myself so emotional last night because I imagined Wolfwood making a milagro shaped in the Passionate Heart of Christ and offers it to Vash right before he dies LIKE SHUT UP! SHUT THE FUCK UP!!! SHUT UP ME!!!!!! ME VOY A MATAR !!!!! AAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

In conclusion : Nightow, you are more Mexican than you think, I'm giving you the beaner pass

*cultural context for the non-Mexicans: Milagros are these tiny, usually silver, metal charms that are sown into the velvet of Mexican Catholic statues/icons as a sign of gratitude, a commitment of lifetime devotion, and appreciation for the idol for helping the individual make their prayer come true. Basically, people go to a saint, angel, etc., pray for them to help them (Most common prayers are to physically heal wounds, help with addictions, grief, have children, etc), and if the prayer is answered (the person is healed, they get their dream partner, have kids, etc), then the figure will be offered a Milagro that takes shape of the miracle (a healed leg, breasts for breast cancer, eyes, hearts, etc) and the devotee will sow it into the idol's clothes or their altar as an affirmation of their power and existence.

[multifanhoe99]

Kinktober Day 1- Thigh Riding

Literally, this man has had me in a chokehold the last few months so I had to make him the focus of Day 1.

Pairing: Jungkook x afab!reader

Warnings: Mentions of masturbation, D/S dynamics (Reader calls Kook sir), Degradation, name-calling (baby, sir, slut, my love, darling), implied sex at the end.

=Please let me know if there are any warnings I may have missed.=

18+ MDNI- I really hope y'all enjoy this story because there is going to be more where this came from.

You hated him.

You hated him but also loved him, and honestly, you would not have it any other way. You have been with Jungkook for years and every day you get to see him do what he loves and he just keeps getting better at it. Nothing is better than seeing him thrive and be happy, well, almost nothing. You learned very early on that despite the shyness he had shown when you first met there was a side to Jungkook that only you got to see. That is until he recently started putting out his solo projects. It started with the promotions for Calvin Klien then more magazines then Seven and now to your present issue. His collaboration with Jack Harlow. Now, let it be known that you are not mad at the fact that he feels more comfortable now showing himself off and having fun with it. He's an adult now and that is what he wants to show ARMY that he's no longer the shy kid he was when BTS started. What you are mad at is that the whole time he is shooting for this song he keeps sending you pictures of his outfits and that pure white outfit has done something to you.

You aren't sure if it's because it's white or because Jungkook himself is wearing it but all you can think about is how much you want to ruin it. There were so many scenarios running through your head as you sat there alone in the Kentucky hotel room waiting for your boyfriend to return. He knew what he was doing to you sending those pictures accompanied by lyrics from the song. He was riling you up and you couldn't wait for him to get back. Finally, after being so fed up and horny you decide to tease him back. If he was going to torture you like this then two could play at this game. You decide to change from the clothes you were wearing into one of Jungkook's shirts. You knew how much he loved seeing you in his clothes especially if that was all you were wearing. You then head to the bathroom and take a picture of yourself one hand holding your phone in front of your face and the other on your propped thigh raising his shirt just a little so he can tell there is nothing else underneath. You send the picture to him and under it, you say, -I wanna see it in motion, in 3D.-

He almost immediately responds, -Baaaabyyyy~~ that's not fair I won't be done here for another couple hours.-

-Well, you should've thought about that before teasing me all day.-

-How can I make it up to you for having to wait for me to get back to the room?-

-If you come home wearing that white outfit I will consider forgiving you.-

-Bet-

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

It has been a few hours since you sent that picture and you knew Jungkook would be back any minute now which was good. He had not stopped sending you teasing pictures and had even gone as far as somehow finding time to slip away and send you a voice message detailing all the things he wanted to do to you when he got back. It had you so riled up that you didn't think you could wait much longer. You needed release and you needed it now. You tried touching yourself and you did cum but it was not nearly as satisfying as when Jungkook does it. He really is good at everything. His fingers, his mouth, and his cock are all mouthwatering in their own right but, what really gets you going are his thighs. Every time you see him perform or when he works out at home you can't help but stare at his thighs. They are so big and strong and muscular and you could ride them all day if he'd let you. That is all you can think about at the moment and all you want to do first. Just the thought of his thighs has your mouth watering and your pussy dripping.

Just then you hear the door to your suite opening and closing. Then a call, "Baby I am back and I have a surprise for you." You run out of the bedroom to greet him and the sight of him is even better in person. He's gorgeous with his dark hair slicked back and the white jacket and pants and especially all the gleaming silver jewelry that complements his skin tone so well. He looks like an angel and you can't wait to sin with him. You walk closer to him and run your hands up his chest to rest around his neck. "You look even better in 3D my love," you tell him moving in closer to kiss at his neck. "Well I could say the same about you baby," he says moaning when you nip at a spot you know is particularly sensitive. He moves his hands up and under his shirt that you still have on to grope at your ass. He then leans down to whisper in your ear, "I couldn't stop thinking about you all day baby. It is amazing how I was able to get anything done. Tell me what you want and it's yours."

Now it was his turn to kiss and nip at your neck. Already being so turned on from his teasing all day it was hard to speak but luckily you knew what you wanted and you were definitely going to get it. Through gasps and moans you manage to choke out, "I want....w-want to ride your.......ride your thighs please please sir I need it."

"Awe, such a whiney little slut begging me already but since you asked so nicely I will give you what you want," he replies. He lifts you up and carries you to the couch that sits in the middle of the suite. He sits down and carefully places one of your legs on either side of his right thigh. You let out a moan at the feeling of the pressure from just settling on his thigh. He smiles and says, "Damn baby how long have you been this wet for me I can already feel you soaking my pants. Go ahead start moving I can tell you really need it." At his command, you begin to rut against his thigh. The pressure he gives feels amazing and is exactly what you wanted and what you needed. While you grind against his thigh he moves his hands up the shirt you're still wearing to grope at your breasts. He pulls and pinches at your nipples while also going back to suck dark purple love bites into your neck. All the pleasure he is giving you is becoming too much. You've been wound so tight all day and you can't wait any longer for release.

"Ah, sir I-I-I......I'm soooo close please please can I cum on your thigh please," you beg. You don't think you can hold back anymore when he finally responds, "Yes baby cum all over my thigh like a good little slut, that's it." At his words, you finally get sweet release making a mess all over his thigh. You collapse onto his shoulder and he strokes your back softly giving you a little time to recover before whispering, "Don't go to sleep on me yet darling we are only getting started." After this, you couldn't wait to see what else he had in store for you.

************************************************************************

A/N: Well that's it for day 1 I hope you enjoyed it! I do still need help deciding who I am going to be writing for for the rest of the days so if you're interested in sending a request you can find the prompt list HERE. I am also taking other requests as well so send them in if you have them! See you tomorrow for the next one!

[tetitous]

I wrote a lot, and not everything at the same time, but like brain got too full of Wakfu so yeah, thoughts time. I tried organizing it chonologically.

I wonder if Ruel will end up going back to Arpagone eventually, to me it seems like he decided he was done with her for good. That seems crazy but at the same time I'm pretty sure she did the most toxic thing you can do to an Enutrof. I mean, they haven't been together for a long time, I kind of wish they did talk to each other, set the records straight and left it there, but I'm okay with what happened too. Also good for Arapgone on finding something that makes her feel worthwhile by helping others.

Ruel really said the real treasure was the son we got along the way in the end, and he was so right for that.

Yugo getting the shit kicked out of him because Iops seem to have face blindness is some real comedy, the lightness in the whole scene really helped me feel that Yugo was still very much him. And given how heavy anything about the antagonists is that felt warranted, that made me feel very good. He's very chill though. Retrospectively I think it confirms what a lot of people like me may have been thinking, that Yugo was generally very tense due to body dysmorphia on top of everything else. Good for him.

I'm going to be real, Pin calling for Flopin got me so hard. I said "oh no" out loud.

Eva went full big sister mode upon seeing Yugo ;-;. I always loved their bond, it's at the center of one of, if not the best solo episode of the whole show, s2 ep 16, so the fact that it never weakens has me in a chokehold. I see the little gestures and I think "oh, they're family", with them it's all in the little gestures.

Yugo recieveing a big iop group hug and going :> was so cute. Kind of surprised Goultard also was part of it but Yugo deserves all the hugs so I absolutely am taking it.

Yugo telling Eliatrope to do something or fuck off and being the only one to manage to get her to do something has to be one of the biggest nat 20 on persuasion of all time. She's coming back to deliver the kids once things are safe though, right? And without the eye thingies right? Right?

No more Brakmar? Damn, that feels weird.

King Osamodas can take my fists, the way he just refuses to listen to Amalia and is barely willing to do the same to Armand given the nature of the invasion is really irritating.

The joy of Ad upon seeing Yugo still alive ;v;

Little interesting parallel of Yugo and Eliatrope both using the same force field technique. Not sure if it means anything, but I know it felt relevant to me.

Amalia going "are we about to kiss rn" and Yugo going "nah babe there's a war that'll leave a bad taste. Promise I'm hyping up my game for later though" was perfect. I got scared that they would kiss at that moment because it didn't feel right, but at the same time you cannot tell me they wouldn't want to soo damn bad.

Ad and Armand's eyes turning purple upon using the Eliasphere, huh...

Oh so Dathura is still there and places herself as a last defense for the Tree of Life, interesting but like, she just disappeared in the meantime? Well it's not her story I guess we didn't need to know, but still.

Joris asking Yugo if he knows what he's doing. Joris, he knows about as much as usual, he's just doing his best but thanks for making sure.

The way Eva and Tristepin react to their family being put in danger is interesting to me. Pinpin will jump to their rescue, but he's the one moving, that makes sense to him. Eva is, and has always been, the type to stay in place at the face of danger, whether out of fear or stubborness, so she asks for Pinpin to be the one to move away from the danger, but she won't move. Their dynamic is precious.

I'm curious about Pinpin's hair... burning? What's going on there?

Armand's sacrifice was powerful, he wasn’t a great prince, but he was an amazing King.

Joris! Joris! Joris! Joris! Imma hype that little man. Him and Yugo making the Team Blue Shorties (well, not so much anymore) was great. Team Demigods was also pretty damn cool.

Aurora is building a very bad rep for the Osamodas Kingdom by flying away, but I undertand the pain she must have felt at the moment. Her father still was treating their countries' alliance as something purely strategic, but she loved him. To her that meant something, and Amalia's simple movement of rejection while under intense distress and grief was enough for her to decide to listen to her father and not to fight by everyone's side.

Actually Eva IS very much the one to get people to move. She gets Amalia back up too.

Yugo turning Oropo's words against Toross is interesting. Wonder if it has any weird implications for the future. Maybe not though, maybe Yugo has been warned enough, he's not the type to enjoy the feeling that comes with being extremely powerful too much after all. The Eliacube freaked him out, the 6 Dofus made him scared the whole time and the consequences sucked, and the Eliasphere can litteraly cause his death. I think if anyone can hold that much power, that would be him (or Joris, Joris looks like he can be trusted with pretty much anything)

Big nope on Toross for trying to make Nora his bride. Nopenopenopenopenope go away. I'm surprised Yugo managed to keep a straight face, because I think I would have just gone for the throat.

Also imagine being a walking talking pan flag and people still assume you're straight.

There are definetly implications that Toross is the one being responsible for the disappearance of the gods. If he can tell the difference between the strengh of a god and that of a demi-god, that means he fought both, and won.

Nora going from forcing herself to be distrustful of Yugo to believing him fully did warm my heart. The short time they spent together doesn't mean they aren’t family.

What do you mean Pinpin never told Eva he loved her??? What??? Really?!?!

Efrim's pain and Nora's love are such a beautiful contrast I feel so much for them I'm not sure I have the words for it.

Flopin is developing his hearing, glad that in a way he didn't miss the wedding.

Btw totally unrelated but Yugo carrying Goultard bridal style during the final fight was NOT on my bingo list.

In the end, Toross' pain and loneliness are eternal, and there litteraly no saving him from his own personal hell. In a lot of ways his story is similar to Qilby's, but the one thing that separates them is the choice: Qilby could still choose to stop hurting his own in service of himself, Toross condemned everyone, including himself, and he can do nothing about it anymore.

Are Nora and Efrim stuck wherever they are together for all of eternity or are their Wakfu going back to their Dofus?

Omg. A wedding. My dude it all happened too fast, the worldwide political chaos that's going to ensue, I'm here for it.

I feel like they did originally want to show us the transition from the Era of Wakfu to Waven but they ended up focusing more on the characters, and that's a very good thing, that allows for Yugo to have a truly, undeniable win thanks not just to being overpowered, due to the main antagonist somehow being worse, but also thanks to the power of friendship and plus if affinity.

Overall those last 3 episodes I was hyped the whole way, and it's crazy because I don't think I felt a feeling that strong so regularly for an entire hour. I write that part about an hour after having watched everything and I still haven't come down, but now I'm having a bit of a feeling like I'm about to cry in the back. That means season 4 of Wakfu was even more amazing than everything I hoped for, because when I'm hoped for something there typically always is that empty feeling. Not here. I'm very, very happy.

The ending really feels like there's more, so I'm happy to know that there will be a manga.

[eclipsebyler]

BYLER FIC RECS PT 2

Okay, so I'm here with another part! Compiling all my recent favorite reads (with commentary this time because I'm very normal about byler fics...) Anyway, sharing is caring because my bookmarks are becoming longer. So here you go.

• We Will All Go Together When We Go by perexcri

The Apocalypse, romcom Byler fic! Ongoing, chaptered, 30k words so far. I know I've rec this in a recent post but I'm including it here again because I LOVE and enjoyed everything in this fic, down to Byler's characterisation, esp Mike's, and their playful yet tensioned dynamics. It's so chefs kiss. There's enough amount of they-get-stuck-in-the-upside-down suspense, comedy, and slow burn fluff. Highlight of this fic is that Will has a gun and Mike has a flashlight. That's all you have to know to give it a read.

baby, we're perfect by bookinit

A fresh take on established byler relationship! Oneshot, 16k words. I don't know how to describe this glorious fic without it being a spoiler so you just have to read it. The Fluff and Angst are both in extremes, you've been warned. It made me cry, for real. Had to stare at a wall for a few moments because of some scenes. Like the title says, it was PERFECT. A devastatingly beautifully written work I owe this author my life for what they did in this fic.

i'd make a deal with god by smoosnoom

A fix-it fic for vol2 featuring Castle Byers and Rain kiss. Will attempting to rip the bandaid off and Mike not letting him. Oneshot, 15k words. Anything by this author has me in a chokehold and a puddle of feelings, seriously. Their fix it series is a MASTERPIECE. The way they write Will's POV here absolutely destroyed me. It encompasses his story so painfully and beautifully and just everything about him is so— I badly want it to be canon he deserves the BEST. And might I add that the way they showcased the Byers-Hopper family bond here is everything I adore. Please if you haven't read this, you should.

make me your future history by andiwriteordie

Byler through the years, childhood friends to lovers fic! Oneshot, 10.9k words. I am absolutely a sucker for childhood promises being fulfilled (and broken) till they grow up so I ADORE this fic so much. Not to mention this author is one of my favorites and they carry the byler ao3 tag on their back and always deliver the BEST fics. There's a lot of angst and also a lot of fluff and it's something I can just reread again and again and again and won't get tired of it. It deserves more reads and love!

Gotta Be A Strange Twist of Fate by PoeticPatron

The fantasy D&D Byler fic! Oneshot, 26k words. Another fic I'm rec-ing again because it deserves more recognition. I really, really enjoyed and adored reading the adventures of the party in a fantasy action setting and the way the author incorporated the D&D lore here was so good. This fic was so wonderfully written and sweet in all the right amounts for friendships and romance. The Paladin and the Cleric being soulmates against all odds and prophecies? Say no more!

A Darker Timeline by egg98

The au where everyone stopped believing Will was alive and he was stuck in the Upside Down for three years and only came back to the real world in Season 4 timeline. Ongoing, chaptered, 24k words so far. Like the title says, it's A Darker Timeline, can't emphasize that enough, so much trauma and horror is delved in this work especially for Will, but also the party. The author's writing style is so hauntingly captivating- every chapter leaves me at the edge of my seat. I am so hooked with this 'what if' scenario and this unique, creative concept because it opens a lot of possibilities and changes to the characters and the plot! Will especially with his UD abilities and his personality.. beware of a grim and more badass Will plus emotionally scarred party. It's written so WELL so you should give it a try! (It's more on the psychological horror side though, the romance aspect is very slow burn.)

the boyfriend problem by RomeoWrites

The fic where the Wheelers (especially Ted) thinks Mike and Will have been boyfriends since forever. Oneshot, 15k words. Who would've thought I'd read a fic where Ted of all people don't have a heteronormative view of romance? I very much enjoyed reading him embarrassing Mike every chance he gets, this fic gave me so much JOY it was such a funny and sweet and fluffy read! If you're looking for some lighthearted, family dynamics and eventual getting together of two oblivious gay teenagers— this is the fic!

The Dad Who Stepped Up by MagikMask

Hopper and Will bonding fic (and of course, Hopper being protective of Will especially when it comes to one Michael Wheeler). Oneshot, 7.8k words. I've been enjoying every Byers-Hopper or Wheeler family dynamics fic there is and it's even more enjoyable if Byler gets tangled up in it. This fic focuses more on Hopper trying his best to be a good dad to Will, but the Byler and Hopper parts of this fic gave me healing, so I have to rec it!

r/byler by danteapot

Mike Wheeler if he's on reddit, social media fic. Oneshot, 5k words. This fic was so fun and amusing to read and the social media aspect fitted so well, I could totally imagine Mike oversharing his problems online and asking for advices lmfao. Trust him to always talk about Will on every spaces and still not realize he's in love with him. He's just so oblivious and I love him for it.

i hate accidents (except when we went from friends to this). by blackdeathmamba

Post S4 college roommates Byler and miscommunication trope fic! The miscommunication in question is just them accidentally kissing all the time and having different thoughts on it. Three chapters, completed, 16.8k words. I've said it before and I'll say it again: it's one of the best and funniest work I've ever read. Byler are so disgustingly in love but they are also painfully oblivious about it. It's a competition on who's more of an idiot between them while you read through their POVs and it gave me immense joy and pain reading through it. I swear to God, these bitches are so gay, and this fic just showcased that. Please read it to brighten your day.

i need you more than anyone darling (you know that i have from the start) by friendstolovers

Instead of Byler getting murrayed, this is Byler getting Jonathaned fic (In a gentler and more subtle way as the tags says). Oneshot, 5.7k words. Mike finally comes to his overdue realisations (thanks to Jonathan) and attempts to climb bedroom windows to be romantic. They finally talk and confess and it's just the cutest and sweetest thing ever I swear.

without heart by aceoflanterns

Will Byers and the Upside Down (the mysteries between his connection to Vecna and his powers) fic. Completed, chaptered, 31k words. I am once again rec-ing this because I can't help go back to this fic when I need to read complex takes on Will surrounding vol2 and possible S5 plot! The author's writing style is one of the best and my personal favorites. It's art, a masterpiece, everything about it — down to the plot, the conversations, the characterisations, the family and friendship and romance dynamics. Even the Upside Down horrors with Vecna and the Mind Flayer and Will. How much Will's love for Mike and his love for everyone helped him (and their love for him, too.) Personally think this had lots of fresh creative takes, an interesting theory written in a fic. It's long and a worth it read! Totally in awe of this work.

i’d love to see me from your point of view by unidentifiedblackthorn

The fic where Byler gets high together and they let loose their disaster gay feelings. Oneshot, 8k words. Got me giggling, blushing, kicking my feet in the air, for real. The amount of cuddling, flirting and kissing this fic had made me sick (in the best way). I think Byler in Season 5 deserves a moment like this because of their decade long pent up feelings and pining, these gays deserve a break and just... be gay together. Anyways this fic was such a wonderful read! If you want to drown in fluff read this. (Also brb this author just posted a sequel to this fic, gotta read 🏃Probably gonna be a part of my next fic rec thread lol).

So that's it for now. Enjoy reading, everyone. And please if you guys have some recs feel free to drop me some, too! I need more fics to read.

[empressofthesunwriter]

Kill La Hero: 11

In the lottery of Quirk’s Michi got on really special and annoying one. A living, sarcastic ribbon named Ares, who puts her into superpowered revealing outfits. But this won't stop the girl from fulfilling her dream of being a hero! Just watch her!

(But not too closely please!)

MHA MEETS KILL LA KILL!

I should so work on Yin and Yang but this story has me in a chokehold!

I freaking love Michi and Izuku! 

I have so much fun writing for them, so please give me some sugar aka. comments show me your love too. ^-^

Chapter 11: A Declaration of War 

The day after the attack on the USJ school remained closed.

Michi's family, especially her mother, told her to rest the day, but she couldn't.

Too much was on her head.

If it hadn't been for Thirteen, Aizawa-Sensei and All Might, they all would probably have died.

Ares gave her extraordinary powers, however Michi realized how she still didn't know how to use them.

She and Ares needed to get better, they needed to go beyond what they could do and develop further their Quirk.

Plus Ultra!

So Michi transformed all day with Ares, trying to change her suit, making it more powerful.

It didn't work how she wanted.

Ares told her, he couldn't make appeare what she wanted.

She still was angry at him because he had to leave out the skin so she could transform.

She had to let go of the embarrassment and accept it.

For that Michi called him a perverted pervert, who didn't even try to see things her way.

He called her a childish child.

They squabbled so loud, that her father entered the room and stopped the fight.

"Mrs. Midoriya has called.", he told them. "Izuku seems also lost in thoughts. She has invited you for dinner. Maybe you can lift each other's spirits?"

So Michi found herself in the Midoriya household.

After hugging Inko in greetings and thanking her for the invitation, she walked to Izuku's room.

He was watching his favourite All Might video, the debut of the superhero, while he trained with a dumbbell.

It was like the adults had said, he was lost in thoughts too.

"Izu-Chan.", she called softly, walked up to him and hugged him from behind. "Yesterday was just too much, hmm?"

The boy stopped to train and put the dumbbell down.

A loud sign left him and he put his hand on Michi's arms.

"I must make this power that I inherited from All Might, One For All, more and more my own..", he told her. "Because time is of the essence because I'm the one who inherited it."

Michi let out an agreening humm and kissed his head.

"I'm with you, me and Ares tried the whole day to make our suit stronger...didn't work very well."

"It's that why, Ares is sleeping and snoring so loudly?"

Like the ribbon wanted to show how utterly tired he was he let out such a loud snore, that Michi and Izuku sweatdropped.

"Yeah and then we squabbled."

"Of course."

"Ares says I'm the one holding us back, I have to accept how I walk around in the suit or my full power will never come out...pervert bow!"

Izuku patted her arm.

"I can understand why this is so difficult."

"Thanks Izuku."

She gave him again a kiss on the head.

He blushed softly and turned around in his desk chair, so they could look each other in the eyes.

Then a little laugh escaped him as he saw what she wore.

"That's the All Might sweatshirt I left at your house in our last sleepover. Why are you wearing it?"

The girl gave him a dangerous smirk for his lower regions as she posed, it didn't get better, and proclaimed: "It smells like you and I needed comfort."

"I-I...m-my smell comforts you?", he stuuter, cheeks red like a strawberry.

Michi nodded and gave him a wink.

"It always had."

Oh dear, Izuku felt how his pants got tighter, it didn't help either seeing Michi pose in his sweatshirt and wearing shorts that showed off her long creamy legs.

Uurgh, he wanted to kiss her so much and touch these legs to see if they were as smooth as they looked!

It was then that his mother knocked on the door and told them dinner was ready.

They thanked her.

Together the three sat down at the table.

Inko had made Izuku's favourite Katsudon.

They ate together and talked about normal things.

No school or the USJ incident.

Inko knew her children well.

Yes, Michi was hers too, and one day she would be her daughter-in-law. They needed to be normal teens after the traumatic events of yesterday.

After the delicious meal, Izuku and Michi helped, Inko with washing the dishes, before she shooed them to Izuku's room with the words they should play a video game or something similar.

The teens did as they were told and vanished into Izuku's room.

When it was time for Michi to go home, her father came to pick her up.

Both adults walked up to Izuku's room, and Inko knocked and called for Michi how her father was there.

No response.

Curious the adults looked inside the room and had to aww.

Izuku and Michi had fallen asleep on the bed, cuddling each other.

"Well, I had a feeling.", whispered Mr. Massaro to Inko. "I brought Michi school clothes and all that she needs here. Is it okay if she sleeps here, Midoriya-San?"

"Of course, Massaro-San. What do you think about a spring wedding?"

This made the man laugh.

"Knowing my Michi she would want to marry Izuku on the oceanside, so maybe a summer wedding."

Quietly laughing the adults closed the door and let the teens sleep.

*/*

Michi felt warm all over.

A quiet moan left her lips, as Izuku kissed down from her chest to her most intimate place.

She felt him shake, he was nervous but tried to give her a wonderful experience.

"You are doing good, Izuku.", she gasped, as he shyl licked her pussy. "Don't be nervous, baby boy."

He raised his head, her juices were smeared on his chin, (God, that was hot!) and looked at her with such love in his eyes, that she wanted to cry.

How she had wished so long he would look like this at her!

"B-But you deserve it.", he mumbled. "You deserved only the best..."

She wrapped her arms around his neck, so she could lead him to her lips.

Softly she kissed him, tasting herself before she said against his lips: "All you do is wonderful to me because it's love we make. I love you Izuku, more than anything in the world."

Before Izuku could answer the well-known voice of All Might shouted: "Time to wake up young hero to be!"

*/*

Michi blinked her eyes open and was confused for a second as to why her room was full of All Might merch before she realized she was still in Izuku's room.

Huh, seems like they had an impro sleepover.

Not the first time that happened.

Also, not the first time that she had a sex-dream while sleeping beside him.

Being completely surrounded by Izuku's fragrance of jasmine and cedarwood had this impact on her.

Yawing and stretching she turned off the All Might Alarm Clock.

Then she turned to Izuku, who had his back to her and faced the wall.

"Izuku, time to wake up."

"I'm up...erm I mean I'm awake!", he shouted nervously and seemed to become one with the wall. "G-Good morning Michi-Kun, you can take the first shower."

How she felt herself still tripping into her panty seemed like a good idea.

She thanked Izuku and made her way to the bathroom.

Never knowing how Izuku had his own down region's problems.

Morning wood after a wet dream was the worst!

But both were clueless about the other similar problem.

Love made you blind.

Ares who had woken up noted all this and asked God to give him strength to not completely turn crazy because of these two blind idiots.

Anyway, after they got ready, had breakfast with Inko and reached their school there was only one subject their classmates talked about.

The attack on the USJ.

Well, welcome back to reality.

Deep in thought, Michi listened to what everyone had to say.

They talked about how they had appeared briefly on TV and how the media was going crazy over them because they were the hero course that had been attacked.

They also mentioned how their course had brought in the past one Pro Hero after another into the world.

Additionally, Mineta nearly wet himself as he remembered all of this.

Michi was grateful for the first time that Bakugo had yelled at him to be quiet.

Suddenly Tenya came running into the classroom and yelled: "Everyone! Morning homeroom is about to start! Stop talking and take your seats!"

"We're already in our seats.", pointed Kirishima out. "You're the only one who's not."

This upset Tenya so much that he sat down in his seat shaking from his feelings. Ochaco tried to console him, while Mina and Tsu talked about how would take over Aizawa-Sensei hour since he was supposed to be still in the hospital.

In answer, an Aizawa-Sensei, who looked like a mummy, entered the classroom and greeted them.

"Aizawa-Sensei, you're back too soon!", shouted the whole class worried for him.

"You're too much of a pro!", added Denki.

Tenya raised his arm in the air and said: "So you're all right, Aizawa-Sensei?"

Ochaco mumbled if you could call this state really alright.

"My well-being doesn't matter.", told them their teacher dry. "More importantly, the fight is not yet over."

Oh no! Were the villains back?!

"The U.A. sports festival is drawing near."

Relieved all shouted: "That's a super normal school event!"

"That's a super normal school event--", began Kirishima excited, only to get interrupted by Denki: "Wait a minute.”

“Is it okay to have a sports festival so soon after the villains snuck inside?", wondered Kyoka.

"What if they attack us again or something?", points Ojiro out.

Aizawa-Sensei explained: "Apparently, they think of it as U.A. showing that our crisis management system is solid as a rock by holding the event. Security will also be strengthened to five times that of previous years. Above all, our sports festival is a huge chance. It's not an event to be cancelled because of a few villains."

Mineta was other opionen. 

It was just a sports fest.

Surprised Izuku turned around to Mineta and asked him if he never saw the U.A. Sports Festival.

Of course, the perv had, but this was not what he meant.

Aizawa-Sensei continued his explanation: "Our sports festival is one of Japan's biggest events. In the past, the Olympics were called a festival of sports, and the whole country was crazy about them. As you know, with reductions in scale and population, they're now a shell of their former glory. And now, for Japan, what has taken the place of those Olympics is the U.A. sports festival!"

"Of course, all the top heroes around the country will be watching. For scouting purposes!", reminded Momo.

"I know that.", whined Mineta.

"Receive Certification" After we graduate, it's typical to join a pro agency as a sidekick.", said Denki with a thumbs up.

Kyoka mused aloud: “A lot of people miss their chance to become independent after that and become eternal sidekicks, though. Kaminari, I feel like you'd be one of them. Since you're dumb."

Oh, burn!

"Of course, joining a famous hero agency will get you more experience and popularity.", agreed Aizawa-Sensei. "Time is limited. If you expect to go pro, then the path to your future will open up at this event. One chance a year-- a total of just three chances. No aspiring heroes can afford to miss this event. If you understand that, then don't slack off on your preparations!"

"Yes, sir!", shouted all the teens.

"Homeroom is dismissed."

*/*

Lunchtime rolled around, but everyone stayed in class to talk about the sports festival.

Michi and Izuku walked over to Tenya, while the boy pointed out: "Everyone's so into it."

"You're not? We have enrolled here to become heroes, so of course we would get fired up!", said Tenya making weird movements with his hands.

Tsu pointied this out.

Michi snorted.

Tenya ignored her and turned to Michi and Izuku: "Izuku and Michi, you don't feel the same?"

To demonstrate how ready she was Michi hit with a fist her open palm.

"Oh, I'm so ready! Me and Ares are gonna show this Pro's why we are the best sidekicks to have and one day we will have our own hero agency!"

"That's the spirit, Michi!", applauded Tenya.

Then both looked expectantly at Izuku.

"What's with you Izu-Chan?"

"Of course I do. But something's-"

"Michi-Chan, Deku, Tenya.", called a voice from the depths of the nine circles of hell.

Surprised they turned around and it was Ochaco?!

She looked nothing like her bubbly self but more like a villain!

"Let's do our best at the sports festival!"

"Cutie, what's up with that face?!", shouted Michi worried, while Izuku and Tenya were a bit scared of her.

Mina jumped into the conversation.

"What's the matter? You don't look carefree at all, even though that's what your name means."

"Everyone, I'm gonna do my best!", Ochaco raised her arm in the air.

All others let out a Yeah and copied her.

Finally, all made their way over to the cafeteria.

As they walked, Izuku asked Ochaco why she wanted to be a superhero.

The answer surprised their friend group.

"For money?! You want to become a hero for money?", repeated Izuku.

 Embarrassed Ochaco rubbed her head.

"To boil it down simply, yes. Sorry, it's such an unwholesome reason. You three have such admirable motivations, it's embarrassing."

"Why? How is having a goal to support your livelihood not admirable?", disagreed Tenya.

"Right.", agreed Izuku and Michi.

"Besides you are being realistic.", added Michi. "Pro-<hero is now a job like any other and besides me becoming a hero because I would feel bad if I didn't use my powers for good isn't really altruist either."

This made Ochaco smile a bit.

"But it's still unexpected.", pointed Izuku out.

Ochaco then explained how her family owned a construction company, but they haven't gotten any work at all, so they are flat broke.

The three others put their hands under their chin and thought.

Of course!

It made sense!

If Ochaco got her Hero-Licensen she could help with her Gravity Quirk to lift heavy machinery and building material.

It would sink the cost for her family enormous.

Ochaco agreed that this was the thought behind it, she even told her dad, but her parents wanted her to fullfil her dreams and not work with them.

"I'll definitely become a hero and make money and let my parents take it easy.", declared Ochaco determined.

She couldn't even look as Michi ran up to her, picked her up and twirled her around.

"You are amazing, Ochaco-Chan! I believe in you!"

"Bravo! Ochaco, Bravo! Bravo!", appaulded Tenya.

Stupfied Ochaco hugged Michi back, who was still swinging her around, and couldn't help but smile.

If she had such amazing friends who believed in her, she would become a hero!

That's when suddenly All Might appeared.

He had searched for Izuku.

The Number One Hero held a Bento Box in his hand and asked if Izuku wanted to eat with him.

"He's like a maiden!", whisper-shouted Michi and Ochaco together.

Izuku looked at his friends, they gave him a nod, that it was alright with them and left with All Might.

"Okay, guys, let's go to lunch, I'm starving!"

"I agree, but Michi-Chan you can put me down."

"Nah, a queen like you deserved to be carried."

This made Ochaco blush so red, that Tenya had problems not to laugh out loud.

Michi's flirty and smug face wasn't helping either!

The girl with the ribbon really carried Ochaco till the cafeteria, before they got in line.

Ochaco was all shy, because of the looks they have got, while Michi thought about what she should eat today.

Maybe Ramen?

But which kind?

"I wonder what he wanted with Deku.", questioned Ochaco.

“I heard that when Villains attacked All Might during the USJ incident, he and Michi rushed out alone to help.”, answered Tenya. “Perhaps it's about that? Though I wonder why he doesn’t want to talk to you too, Michi.”

The salmon-haired girl got stiff.

Uh-Oh!

"Erm, maybe he will talk to me later, I mean, it's not that important. Hey, guys help me decide what Ramen I should get.", tried Michi to change the subject, however, it didn't work.

Tenya and Ochaco talked about how Tsu said on the bus to the USJ, that Izuku Quirk was similar to All Mights. Maybe that's why All Might was interested in him.

Because they had similar Quirks.

"GUYS!", shouted Michi so loud that a lot of people jumped into the air. "Should I eat Tonkotsu Ramen or Shoyu Ramen? Help me decide!"

"Jeez, Michi-Chan no reason to shout.", said Ochaco rubbing her ear.

Tenya made his hand chops.

"As students of the best superhero school in Japan, we shouldn't act this way."

"Yeah, you are right, I'm just hungry."

"And when she is hungry she doesn't think.", adds Ares.

"Hey Ares, finally woke up?", greeted Michi, as her friends said also their greetings to her ribbon.

"Yeah, this was a good nap. So what did I miss?"

Finally, Michi could turn the discussion to the Sports Festival.

Tenya and Ochaco forgot all about All Might and Izuku's similar Quirks.

The friends didn't know how one Todoroki Shoto had listened in on their conversation.

He thought about All Might and Izuku's similarities. Also how Michi tried to and managed to change the subject.

She knows something. She ran with Midoriya to help All Might. But what she knows is the question…

*/*

The school day ended and everybody got ready to leave the classroom.

Just as Ochaco opened the door, a big gathering of people greeted the class 1A.

"Wh Wh-What's going on?", yelled Ochaco confused.

Tenya was ready to handle the situation as the class rep: "What business do you have with Class 1A?"

"We can't get out!", whined Mineta. "What'd you come here for, anyway?"

Surprisingly Bakugo answered him: "Scouting out the enemy, small fry. We're the ones who made it out of the villains' attack. They probably wanna check us out before the sports festival."

Bored Bakugo stood before the gathering of people.

"There's no point in doing stuff like that. Out of my way, extras!"

Michi facepalmed, Ochaco and Izuku shook in fright while Tenya pled Bakugo to not call people extra just because he didn't know them.

"I came to see what the famous Class A was like, but you seem pretty arrogant.", stepped a guy with lilac hair to the front. "Are all the students in the hero course like this?"

All shook their heads, even Ares shook no in the best way he could, as Bakugo got angry.

What else was new?

"Seeing something like this makes me disillusioned.", continues the boy with the lilac hair. "There are quite a few people who enrolled in general studies or other courses because they didn't make it into the hero course. Did you know that?"

The blond angry dude just huffed.

"The school has left those of us a chance. Depending on the results of the sports festival, they'll consider our transfer into the hero course. And it seems they may also transfer people out."

Okay, now all got a bit nervous.

Losing their place in the class if they did badly at the Sports Festival?

Oh dear god, please not!

"Scouting out the enemy? I, at least, came to say that even if you're in the hero course if you get too carried away, I'll sweep your feet out from under you. I came with a declaration of war."

This person's bold, too! though our four friends and Ares together.

And then a guy with silver hair and weird eyelashes jumped into the conversation. 

He told them he was from Class 1B and that they shouldn't get so cocky cause they already fought villains.

Bakugo just ignored silver hair and made his way out of the classroom.

Silver Hair liked this not at all and yelled after him.

"Wait a minute, Bakugo!", called Kirishima after him. "What're you gonna do about all this? It's your fault that everyone's hating on us!"

"It doesn't matter as long as you rise to the top."

And with that, Bakugo was gone.

"That's so simple and manly!", cried Kirishima manly tears.

"The top, huh? There is truth in that.", agreed Fumikage.

"Hang on, don't be tricked! He just made more pointless enemies!", pointed Denki out and Mineta was with him. "That's right! We'll just be at a disadvantage at the sports festival!"

Michi crossed her arms and shared a look with Ares.

Whether they made more enemy or not, didn't matter, they would crush anyone!

Then they looked at their friends, who had also determined looks on.

Especially Izuku.

Even...even if it means crushing them all...even Izuku, you my love, I won't hesitate...

The girl gripped her arms tighter and felt how Ares got stiffer too.

Because this is my chance to be seen! 

Mine and Ares!

We will be the greatest Pro-Heroes ever...I can't consider any of you.

At the Sports Festival...we all will be rivals!

[alastair-1205]

*backflips into your inbox*

I HEARD THE CALL OF WIPS AND I HAVE COME A-LOOKING FOR A SIGHTING ON AN ALASTAIR ORIGINAL PIECE

Finn you are single handedly carrying my sanity right now thank you. I have like 9 different Ninjago WIPS and this (and maybe one other) is the most likely to get finished because the concept has me in an absolute chokehold so prepare for a massive rant lmao.

Ok so a couple more details about this

Basically, Jay's amnesia has been caused by Nadakahn since shortly after the Merge where he was able to get out of the teapot again (probably because it broke or someone who didn't know any better just found it). Since then he's been using magic to mess with Jay's memory to the point where he doesn't really remember much of anything about his past, specifically people, places and events (I'm still deciding if it's gonna be wish magic or not. I have explanations for both cases but idk which I like better yet and I'm not at a point in the story where I have to choose so we'll see).

So Jay, now freshly memory-less and kidnapped gets some vengestone thrown onto him and is forced to be a combination between a gladiator and an assassin. Think Scrap and Tap but bigger and more sensationalized/publicized for the gladiator part and the assassin bit is mostly just Nadakahn using his skills to maintain the kingdom he's created because he's that type of asshole. It's also worth noting here that said kingdom is comprised of a bunch of floating islands as well as the city that unfortunately was below those islands. RIP those random citizens of the Merge, they are not having fun.

A lot of the fic would just be Jay having a Bad Time while also interacting with the other people who are in the arena and city areas (cough OCs cough). That is until he starts to have some weird ass dreams that he clocks pretty quickly as memories. Because Jay is an elemental master even if he's unaware at this point and weakened Djinn magic was never going to completely stick to him, especially with how out of wack and volatile his powers are after years of repression (or that's the explanation I'm going with for now lol).

And that was basically the idea that the fic spawned off of and I would take it from there. I won't spoil much else since I do want to be able to fully post it one day

I call this brain child the Skymaster AU for Reasons(TM). those reasons being that Jay doesn't really go by his name anymore, but since he's well known as a fighter, other people give him the nickname "Master of the Skies"/"Skymaster"/"Sky" depending on who you ask, which is pretty fitting for someone who has survived fighting in a floating arena for years on end.

Also I bring back eyepatch Jay because I think my blorbo deserves to lose an eye again <3

Anyway here's some of the first few paragraphs and thank you Finn for letting me go off because I finally feel normal again :D

His headspace is sooooo fucked up right now :D

[wildheartsalwaysburn]

Tiny Dancer || J.S.

Part three

Pairing: John Shelby x fem!reader

summary: After serving in the Great War as a nurse, a young woman starts to work in a shady joint back in Birmingham. Life isn't taking it easy for a pretty girl like her, but things start to change when some handsome, gently cocky bloke cast an eye on her dancing on stage.

a/n: It's been too long, I know but university had me in a true chokehold...I'm so sorry for keeping y'all waiting. But here's the next part!

Also, please don't be put off by all the trigger warnings below. I just try my best not to hurt anyone reading my stories. It won't be as dark and sad as you may think!!

I've been struggling with anorexia and body dysmorphia and went through a post traumatic disorder due to rape, once. So everything written about these topics come from personal experience.

present writing - This style

flashbacks (war, crimes) - This style

cutbacks (childhood) - This style

trigger warnings (whole series): eating disorders (anorexia), body dysmorphia, post traumatic flashbacks, self harm, suicide mention, depression, graphic violence, sexual harrasment, mention of rape, swearing, tobacco and alcohol, drugs

words: 2.143

Behind the curtain

Silly chattering and excited sniggering roam through the backstage. Some girls are impressed by tonight's guests and hope for a night together with one of the men waiting in the boxes in front of the stage. "Don't you girls even dare to think they would be seriously interested in of you." (y/n)s voice cuts the snigger and giggles like an ice cold razor blade. "Awe com'on (y/n). Yer always so prude…just let us have some fun." The word fun just made her pant sneerily through her nose. As if that's what all of them have to expect from their newest show. "Fun", such a silly word for such a gruesome act.

She chose to ignore the other women and starts to get ready for her debut. Warming up has always been painful but in this thing it's even worse. The fabric scratches on her skin and the whole suit seems to cut into her body since it fits just too tight. Mr. Baker prohibited wearing tights this night and (y/n) was the only person knowing the exact reason for that. Without tights

she felt naked, weak, almost vulnerable. To reassure herself it wouldn't be that bad, the dancer dares to take a look at the audience. Sneakily she pushes the heavy crimson curtain aside carefully and lets her eyes wander through the rows. There he was. The young cocky man, who tried to sneak in earlier. His fellas are sitting right next to him. All of them waving with glasses filled with fine whiskey in one hand. The other one either holding a cigarette or flourishing around to emphasize whatever they're talking about.

The Main Stage

Being too excited to see all the pretty girls dancing on stage, John doesn't realise he's being watched closely. But Tommy does. For some reason the young man always notices when someone tries to spy on the family or the Blinders Gang members. He tries to make out who hides behind the curtain but he can't recognise anything.

Arthur looks at his younger brother, reads Tommys peering face and nodges John slightly on his shoulder to get his attention. "What the hell's the matter now?", he frowned. His brothers just nod towards the moving curtain. It's almost impossible to see but John was sure, that the person watching them has to be the fierce femme from before. It may sound too simple, but she was the only one not on stage. John's lips formed a wide grin, confusing his brothers for a moment.

"As I just told ya. She likes me!"

He raises his glass towards her, his blue eyes piercing through the smoke in the hall, catching her in the very act.

The Swan Queen

"For fooks sake, (y/n) (y/l/n). Get yourself together!" she reminded herself when realising that her cheeks are blushing. A gangster must not let her lose focus. He is an arse just like any other man she knows. Better, he has to be worse.

The young woman takes a deep breath to calm her down and closes her eyes to count down the seconds she'll be on stage. The curtain lifts, bright light dazzles her eyes but she acts as professional as always. The moment her music starts, a soft, even warm smile appears on her face. Her body knows exactly what it has to do and right at this moment, (y/n) feels free.

Her feet were gliding around like nothing, the heavy pointe makes her look like a porcelain fairy, dancing in circles above the water. Yet, her body is covered in an opaque black veil. With every pirouette, every arabesque it slides around her curves and muscles like smoke, leaving a lot to the imagination of the male guests.

John's eyes widen when the girl enters the stage. She seems perfect, not completely real, more like a fever dream. He doesn't want to look away since he didn't want to miss one thing about her performance. To be honest, he has never been into classical education, yet ballet. But what she makes him feel with her graceful movements, makes him overthink his opinion.

As the music goes up and faster, her dance gets faster, more fierce and wild than before. She isn't just dancing anymore. She is telling a story about lust.

Being too much into her role and losing herself into the performance, (y/n) doesn't care about the men staring at her like a piece of meat. As long as she is on stage, she is untouchable. This thought is giving her the confidence she needs to finally let go of the veil.

The satin fabric slides over her shoulders, down her slender arms and leaves at her elegant fingers. Her thighs are glistening in the stage light, covered in sweat and cheap smelling powder. Mr Baker told them it would "enhance the imagination", thinking about this her skin itches and a small cold shudder runs down her spine.

But the finale gets her back on stage, back in her role. Right now she is the Queen. She is the diamond of Birmingham. Little does she know…

The youngest Shelby literally stares at the attractive dancer swirling around in front of him. His seat gives him the opportunity to watch her carefully, admiring her graceful body and even smell her perfume since she was just an arm's length away from him. "Seems like John just found his new wife", his brothers tease him. "Shu'it'!", he hissed through the toothpick in his mouth, not breaking his stare at the dancer. But he has to admit to himself that she was bloody attractive. Exactly his type, even. Whatever it costs, John will spend this night with that woman.

The show comes to an end and all the dancers are taking a bow to show their thanks to the audience. (y/n) stands in the middle of them all, pointing out her solo role. When bowing again, alone on stage, she finally notices the stare of the young man right in front of her. His eyes wander all over her body, it feels like he is already touching her. Looking down on herself she sees the reason herself. The neckline of her suit was deep, revealing almost everything.

Even if she wasn't truly curvy, her body was slim and wiry, she still got some sexual female attributes. The lingerie she's wearing doesn't cover them, but even points them out.

She forces a grin in his direction before leaving the stage finally and getting dressed in something more comfortable.

(y/n) opens the back door to step into the night. A cold breeze rushes through her hair and makes her shiver. But she enjoyed that. Dancing like this is exhausting and standing in the warm show light would make her sweat even without moving a bit. The small flame of her lighter lit up a cigarette in her hand. The smoke runs through her lungs, burning like hell. She tries to focus on this feeling to clear her mind but a harsh voice cuts through her thoughts.

"What the bloody hell do ya think yer doing here? Outside?" Mr Baker's face is twisted in a furious grimace. "I don't wanna hear yer lame excuses!", he shouts again before the young woman could explain herself. "I pay yer lazy buttocks to entertain these gentlemen inside and ya waste my time hanging around like a fat pig!" His voice pitches in anger. (y/n) could swear she notices foam in his mouth. Though she feels rage coming up inside her, she takes another drag of her fag to calm herself down. "Do ya even listen to me girl? I don't want any fat, lazy whores loaf around my pub!" That's it. She points the cigarette right at the man's furious face.

"You know what, Baker? I give a goddamn fook about your time!", she comes a bit closer, her lips are just a thin line in anger, "I am not a whore you can just sell to anyone in there! I need a break. I danced my arse off on stage, my feed are bleeding from these bloody new shoes you forced me to wear, my thighs are sore now so I can barely stand and you really expect me to fuck any so called gentlemen of the Peaky fooking Blinders in there? Have you gone completely mental?"

The moment her rageful words just left her lips, she knew what she had done. The look on her boss's face changed into something even more bizarre. His eyes pierced right through her coat as if he wanted to rip it off right there. He raises his hand and slaps (y/n)s face with eagerness. The rings on his fingers cut her skin life knives. For a moment she lost any vision and orientation. The man took this as a possibility to violently grab her wrist: "Ye'll regret this, (y/n) (y/l/n). If you don't want to fuck any of our guests…I'll take care of you, and as you know, I am not a gentlemen." His tongue licked his lips in the worst creepy way. The girl just wants to vomit thinking about what will happen and wishes for a second her boss had hit her unconscious.

John decides to walk outside to clear his head in the fresh night air outside. His brothers stay in, already discussing who to choose out of the pretty girls walking around. The moment he steps outside he could hear voices arguing in the back corner of the building. He doesn't mind at first, lighting a fag but suddenly he hears a female voice screaming and yelling: "No! You sick bastard! Let go of me!" She screams again. A deeper male voice tries to shut her yelling, unsuccessfully.

If there is one thing John just can't stand it's men who assault women. His head heats up and he rushes to the backdoor where the trouble comes from.

Arriving there he witnesses the Red Swan's owner trying to drag one of the dancers inside. His hands are wrapped around her wrists but she keeps trying to free herself. Her whole body is tensed up, her legs pressed in the ground and she pushes and pulls away from her horrible destiny.

The Shelby can't take this any longer: "Oi! Bugger off you prick!" he shouts while coming at the disgusting creep, gobbing his toothpick before slamming his fist in Mr Baker's wild grimace. The sound of a broken nose interrupts the shouting, the pain forces the offender to let go of (y/n) wrists. The sudden loose grip causes the young dancer to fall. Her hands and knees chafe on the small pebbles on the ground. She let go of a few not understandable heavy swear words before looking up to see who saved her.

John's eyes met her watery (y/e/c) ones. To see her like this makes him feel sad and angry. No woman deserves to be treated this way.

"Hol'up. I'll get you.", he told her softly. Carefully he takes her hand and lifts the woman up. "Can you walk?", he looked caring at her legs, her skin was already covered in blood and heavily bruised. She doesn't know what to say, but nodded slightly, hoping she won't need any help. She went through this a few times, it will be fine this time, too.

But her body doesn't agree with that. After one small step, her legs collapse and she nearly fell on the ground again. John caught her in time, his strong arms supporting her waist and lifting her up.

He frowns when he notices how weak and small the fierce-looking woman on stage actually is. Anger swells up inside him again, his biceps twitches for a second. (y/n) notices the stern look in his face and his tensed up jaw. "I am sorry…", she whispers, barely hearable.

John sighs, trying to smile reassuringly: "You're not the one who should apologise, darling."

His voice sounds suddenly warm and caring. Carefully he fixes her coat and brushes a small strand of hair out of her face. (y/n) can feel how her cheeks warm up. She clears her throat but nodes only, accepting his help. For some reason she feels safe in his arms and her body is tired. She is tired. So the young dancer decides to agree with the Shelby Boy to get to the car and drive somewhere more quiet.

Since she can't walk properly, John lifts her easily up in his arms and starts carrying her to the car in front of the Red Swan.

None of the two wasted a look back at Mr Baker, who lays on the ground, breathing stertotously through his bloody, broken nose.

Taglist: @shinybucky

[koishua]

UNFORGIVEN ALBUM REVIEW

i have so much to say about these tracks y'all the wait was worth it it always is when it's with them!! UNFORGIVEN as a title track slaps i can't overstate how amazing this turned out thank you nile rodgers this is incredible i adore the beats though i wish that for the "unforgiven girls" part, the vocals were stronger in volume and impression bc it's SUCH a hype section i can already imagine ceremonies starting with that exact part!! the melody just evokes that feeling if you know what i mean?? and yunjin's grungy voice compliments this song and its message so so well. also kkura's deep voice?? she is an icon she has always been the moment but oml zuha's wings and her lines are SO good i won't even start talking about chaewon bc y'all know how i feel about her gosh she never ever disappoints. now for manchae oml she has come so far from fearless and she's getting better and better each comeback and she's starting to solidify her presence on stage im so excited for five years down the line how she's going to turn out!! the choreo snippet from knowing bros had already surprised me so much i love love love their choreos and this one has to be one of my top threes?? anyways not to get too deep into this so im going to just keep it like this and move on. overall 9.5/10

NO-RETURN (INTO THE UNKNOWN) — the bass!! they have a signature feel-good sound to their tracks similar to this you just want to get up and jump or dance around with a smile on your face. the saxophone is that a saxophone in the chorus that took me off guard in the best way really. the brass is so cnncncbc!! chaewon and yunjin carry the vocal heavy parts and they do it amazingly like they may not be the strongest vocalists ever but they're strong in their own ways that fit le sserafim's sound so well!! overall 9/10

EVE, PSYCHE & THE BLUEBEARD'S WIFE — i know a club song when i hear one despite not ever being in one 😔😔 the beat im salivating this is my three am hallucinating dancing in the dark in my own room type of song i swear to you the verses after the first chorus has me in a chokehold. the things i would do to get to listen to this in a concert setting and ascend with the bridge and then the drum pads that come in right after like stfu. overall 9/10

FEARNOT (BETWEEN YOU, ME, AND THE LAMPPOST) — i just started writing a small fic based on this song and its vibes!! this makes me feel all sorts of things and the lyrics are straight out of a heartwarming story. this is one of my most favourite songs from this album. it's so atmospheric with the electric guitar building up to the chorus and the drum beats that kick in and their vocals. the melody is beautiful and i just can't get over the vibes. i cried while i first listened to this half an hour ago actually ;-; i don't have any single thing to complain about in this song. "i go where you go" line being given to chaewon was an amazing decision because her voice is so pure and it felt like i was pulled into another world for the brief moment she sung with the background going silent :') i think this will be one of my most listened to songs on spotify this year. overall 10/10

FLASH FORWARD — this is exactly my vibe i listen to these kinds of songs everyday all day it's just so vibey and you can strut playfully to this song down the street and sway and jam all you want and it feels like flowers of all bright colours are blooming all around you as you go!! it's like it brightens up the world around each step you take :< it's just feel-good. overall 9/10

FIRE IN THE BELLY — when i say hot damn i want to shake my hips and call my latina friends and have them listen to this. the chorus makes something in my chest feel so full with life!! reminds me of my childhood especially the olé olé olé in the background chants ugh im a little tired from all of the jumping and screeching i did within the last hour so my brain is slowing down just know that it's overall a 9/10 for me for this too

CONCLUSION i love them they occupy a large spot in my heart i can't ever dislike any song they release and i know it seems like im giving way too many compliments but i can't help it idc if it's subjective they just make good ass music ‼️

[ashes-writing]

wild one pt twelve | stranger things ; g.emerson

taglist babes || req rules / fandoms+characters || send ?s || masterlist

CHAPTERS ; 

one two three four five six seven eight nine ten eleven can be found by clicking. the stranger things masterlist is here- minus a thing or two I haven't added yet.

AUTHORS NOTES;

Obvs, this story still has a chokehold on me. I'm not even bothering to deny it at this point anymore. I warn you all right now, this gets kind of... angsty. Well, my attempt at angst -which is not my native genre, so to speak, so it's probably not well written angst at all but I am learning and trying so that's good, Ig? The angst shouldn't last long at all. You guys are so amazing, I mean this. Every single one of you have no idea how much it means to me that you even read my shit, let alone, interact with it at all and every single interaction has been so motivating and so kind and it just warms my heart so much. Thank you.

SUMMARY;

-- there are always ups and downs.

PAIRING;

Gareth Emerson x Fem!Reader

( reader has female parts / was born with female parts. beyond personality, outfits, female reader is stripped of other physical descriptors to the best of writers ability.)

WARNINGS;

poorly written angst, bullying is mentioned / shown -the jocks and popular kids are still their own warning because they're shitty people, swearing, reader and her best friend climb the water tower again and that's it. Gareth -and other parties involved are all 18 and up for this, jsyk.

TAGLIST;

@musichealsscars @allelitesmut @hcloangcls @aries-arcade @scoobiessnacks @krys-orion @heyaitsklaudia @cole22ann @letsbedragonstogether @untitledarea @icequeen1371 @suits-and-smirks @aurumbelis @louderfortheback @secretsicanthideanymore @hoeshii @thechoiceslookgrimm @ebonybloom @hotgirlsshareaccounts @oflavenderandevie @chieflawyerpastatoad @fandomfreakforever @untoldshortsofthefandoms @thatsthewaythechrissycrumbles @Sporadiccherryblossom @sparkletash

@littlestarfighter03 @liberhoe are the only people present on my taglist for stranger things. If you want to be added, click the doc linked at the top of the post or lmk if it won't work for you to add your name.

“How is this fair? Nobody will play on our team. She’s gotten to nearly all of them and Chrissy can’t because she’s been out for two days.” Emma is pacing the floor, biting the edge of her thumb. 

You blow out a breath in exasperation and raise a hand, letting it settle in your hair. “Okay, so we know everyone else is on Caroline’s side, absolutely no exceptions. Have you even talked to Chrissy? She hardly ever misses school, don’t you think it’s a little weird?” you’re in deep thought mode. You stop the pacing to pull yourself up onto the window ledge and sit in it and you stare out the bathroom window at the overcast skies. Then an idea hits you. “Okay, hold on.”

“Please tell me you just had the same idea I had?” Emma looks up at you hopefully.

“Dunno. Was your idea to go around to the people who aren’t on the squad that we’ve seen them all messing with or bullying and ask them to play?” you gaze at Emma and raise your leg, bending it at the knee. Emma is grinning. “Bingo. We have a winner. But…”

“The guidelines, Em. They clearly state that as long as the person in question is involved in some kind of extracurricular, they are allowed to play in the stupid game. Remember that year that Veronica got some of the girls in the Math Club because Danielle and Iris were injured?” you’re laughing a little because it’s simple. Or you both think it will be.

And it should’ve been.

But, around lunchtime, you’re starting to truly see just how far-reaching the influence of Caroline Owens reaches. You’ve just finished talking to Naomi, a girl you’ve seen crying in the bathroom stalls because Caroline barked every single time she’d walk past and Naomi is telling you there’s no way she can risk playing in the game and having a target on her back. Naomi walks off and you swing at the locker near you  in frustration.

Then Max storms over.

“Give me the sign up sheet.” she demands as she nods to it.

“You’re a freshman.” you’re trying to dissuade her, but it’s only because she’s the closest thing you have to the sibling you always wanted and you know that you and Em are going out to hurt -and most likely, be hurt during the game tomorrow and you don’t want anything happening to Max.

“Give me the sheet.” Max insists firmly.

You stop and think about it, there’s absolutely nothing in the guidelines that says underclassmen can’t play. And Max is in Film Club and the AV club with Will, Mike and Dustin. And you know that as long as you and Em cover her, maybe you can keep her from getting hit too hard. Plus, there’s the fact that she’s Max and if you don’t let her sign up, she’ll sneak into your room tonight and sign herself up anyway. Once she’s made her mind up, she doesn’t change it terribly often.

You hold it out to her and she signs her name. You take the clipboard back and gaze at her for a few seconds. “Okay, you’re pissed. Start talking.”

“Caroline’s getting her stupid sister Angela to play. Angela’s been going to Lucas’ basketball games and last night, she was talking about how she was going to paint his number on her cheek. He’s uh… I think he might like her and it just frustrates me.” she goes quiet. “I know I told him I needed space because he’s acting different now, but it.. It hurts and it pisses me off, alright?”

You laugh softly and gaze down at her, a hand in your hair. “Jealousy, hm?”

“Mhm. Big time.” Max admits.

You don’t have any room to talk, you turned a corner in the hallway the day before and it was to find one of Heather’s friends trying to flirt with a totally oblivious -and annoyed, Gareth. And when he’d spotted you, he just walked away from the girl when she was in the middle of talking. Straight over to you. Where he proceeded to grumble and roll his eyes and apologize profusely. While it was cute, you weren’t mad at him and you’d made sure he knew that. So yeah, you know exactly how Max feels right now.

And then you spot Heather’s little sister Tanya trying to cozy up to a horrified Will Byers in the hallway. You nudge Max and nod in the direction. “You uh… you might want to get his step-sister and go over, that poor kid looks absolutely horrified.”

You both gape when Mike walks right up to him and clears his throat, giving the girl a dirty look as he points a finger down the hall and away. “I don’t even think so. Go stand with your friends, dirty little bimbo.” and then he’s gazing at Will in concern. Then the two boys are whispering quietly and laughing the whole thing off.

You have the passing thought that maybe the two boys are more than just friends but… you keep your mouth shut because the town you live in is definitely not open-minded. And you know a girl last year who did come out and the end result was that the bullying and religious speeches given to her got so bad that her mother and father had to transfer her out to a private school.

You’re shaken out of your daze when you spot one of Caroline’s friends staring at Jeff across the hall and then whispering back and forth with Megan. Giggling.

“Ah hell no. Nope, absolutely fucking not. His girlfriend is a sweetheart. I’m gonna go down to the art class and put a stop to this shit right now, immediately. We may be about to look pathetic in front of the entire school tomorrow when it’s just three or four of us against them on the field during the game but… I am not about to let whatever additional fuckery they’re up to happen.” you rant.

 Max nods in agreement. “I’ll come down with you. El is in that class right now too. We’ll give our strongly worded warnings and go to our classes.” Max falls into step beside you and the two of you burst into the art class in question. The teacher is your old teacher from last year, Ms. Dawson. She’s chill, probably one of the few chill teachers employed at Hawkins. She greets you and you tell her that you both need to talk to a friend.

You spot Jeff’s girlfriend in the back working on a painting and you make your way over, whispering what you’ve just seen into her ears. At first, she thinks that the girl in question was just being nice but then she remembers the same girl cornering Jeff up before school and practically begging him to tutor her in a subject or help her study for a test. 

You rub your forehead as you listen to what she’s saying. “All I’m saying is they’re up to something. We both know how they typically treat the boys. Remember last year when they got bored and one of them started writing Grant those stupid secret admirer letters, then he went to meet his secret admirer and found Andy and Chance waiting instead?With the rest of them?” you remember hearing about it when it happened last year. You remember confronting both boys about it when you found out, telling them it was a shitty thing to do, but beyond that, you didn’t do anything else. And now that you’re thinking about it, you feel like shit because you didn’t. Grant is a sweet guy, he didn’t deserve that shit.

Jeff’s girlfriend Lisa speaks up and nods. “Or Eddie, they tried the same with him and Chrissy in tenth grade. Jason forged those letters just to prove that Eddie did have a crush on her, only the joke was on them because Jason had the wrong locker because Jeff told him the wrong locker number when he asked.” she’s filling you in on this and a few of the other things they’ve done to try and humiliate your boyfriend and her boyfriend and his best friends and you’re disgusted. 

You come away with the decision made in full.

Come tomorrow, you are no longer a Hawkins High Tiger. And you are going to do whatever you can from now onward to make sure the popular kids are exposed as the assholes they’ve always been. When you and Emma first realized it was bad months ago, neither of you knew just how bad it really was.

You’d both been so busy doing your own thing and just focused on your own defiance to the popular kids that neither of you really stopped to consider the thought that it got any worse.

 You laugh to yourself as Max walks back over and she raises a brow. “What’s so funny?” she asks.

“It’s not funny haha so much as funny as in Mike Wheeler was right. We didn’t know how bad it was. But..” you pinch the bridge of your nose, “Now we do. I gotta do something, Max.”

“You and Emma are doing everything you can?” Max is giving you a confused look.

“It feels like it’s not enough like… Now that I’m hearing all the shit they do to everyone else, I feel so disgusted. Kinda selfish too.”

Max shrugs. “Yeah, here’s the thing though. You and Emma are opening your eyes. You’re aware of what’s going on. They don’t care or want to be better and you both do. You’re trying.”

You’re walking back out into the hall to head to your own classes and you happen to stop by the bathroom.

When you hear the whispering down by the stalls, something tells you to stay quiet, so you do. Max goes to step out but where you’re standing, you’re kind of hidden from view by a section of wall overhang that juts out to separate the tampon machines and a mirror so right now, they can’t see you at all and you can hear them perfectly.

He’s only with her because she’s a cheerleader. It’s a step up for him. A huge step up. I mean, she’s trash but he’s a freak. It benefits him. Nobody really wants her, I mean even Andy was just looking to be the guy who punched her V card for that bet with Patrick.. Girls have started noticing Gareth. How long do you think it’ll take til he realizes he can have better than trailer park trash? I can’t wait, oh my god. Hopefully soon. I just want to see her broken down. We know it’ll kill her when he’s finally done with her. She’s lucky she got him to notice her, I mean c’mon.. She’s crazy. Too outspoken and not nearly soft enough. The whole tomboy cheerleader thing isn’t cute or quirky, it’s just weird and it makes us all look weird right along with her. He has to be dating her because it benefits him, I mean c’mon. She’s not even that pretty when you stop to think about it.

Max rubs her hand over her face because she’s looking up at you and she knows that you’re standing there and hearing all this and she knows that it’s going to linger and eat at you. “Don’t..” she mouths, shaking her head at you. You take a deep breath while trying to shove down the way everything you’ve just heard Megan and Layla saying about you and Gareth -and why they think he’s really with you, out of your head. 

You’re telling yourself it can’t be true. You’re telling yourself that he wouldn’t lie and he loves you and that you love him. You know all of these things to be true but that nagging doubt is there and it’s just a tiny little seed that’s just been planted.

“C’mon. We need to get to class.” you mumble to your stepsister. Max nods in agreement. The walk down the hallway is quiet. When you’re at Max’s door, she looks up at you. “You can’t let what you heard in there get to you, alright? You know it’s not true. I know it’s not true. I see the way he looks at you. He’s always taking care of you. If he were just with you for a shallow reason, I don’t think he’d do that.” Max tries to reassure you and you swallow hard, forcing yourself to smile and nod.

– ( Gareth’s side of the coin, later in the day )

He’s looking for you before his Hellfire meeting starts and he happens to turn a corner and overhear the tail end of the conversation going on between a few of the girls you’re on the squad with. And when he hears what they’re saying, he really wishes he hadn’t.

- It has to be a pity thing. It has to. I mean, c’mon.. It’s either pity or she’s bored. Everyone knows they’re not compatible and sooner or later, she’ll see it. 

- She’s gotta come around. She’s making all of us look so bad. I mean I know she was trash before but it’s so much worse now, she’s dating a freak. And it’s driving the team apart.

- It’s disgusting, they’re always all over each other and he knows he’s not good enough for her, he has to. It’s pretty damn obvious. We all see it. I kind of just like.. I feel so bad for him because he’s delusional if he thinks she really loves him.

Jeff catches up to him just in time to see the damage done and start trying to bring his best friend back to reality. “Don’t listen, man. C’mon.” Jeff pulls at his arm and when he sees Gareth really taking in what he’s heard and possibly absorbing it, he groans to himself and shakes his head. “She didn’t date at all before you, idiot. If you let a single word of that get in your head, I swear to Ozzy.”

Gareth takes a deep breath. He’s trying to tell himself that he knows how you feel. That he knows that he loves you and honestly, you’re it for him, sappy and over dramatic and unrealistic as it may seem to anybody else if he were to tell anyone this. He’s telling himself that he can’t let it get to him but on the other hand, all the old lingering doubts and one or more of the things he’s always thought about himself not being good enough, those are at war with what he knows is true right now and it’s too much. Way too much, he can’t take it.

He spots you and Emma wandering over, talking back and forth with each other, Max and her friend El in tow. And he’s still dealing with the internal conflict but he can feel the tension when you walk up to him and lean against him. It’s awkward, almost like back during the summer, the first few times you were hanging out. Before you got together.

Before he can ask if everything is okay, Eddie and Grant wander over with Dustin Henderson and Erica Sinclair, her brother Lucas, the two of them arguing vehemently about something that at one point has Erica smacking her brother in the back of his head and rolling her eyes. When Lucas is spotted by some of the boys from the basketball team and they tell him to hurry up because there’s a special team meeting, Mike, Will and Dustin share an annoyed look. Max rolls her eyes, disgusted. 

“I’ll be in as soon as..” Lucas starts, feeling torn, glancing from his teammates to his best friends and back again. Everything in him is telling him to stay, to spend more time with his friends, but he feels like he has a responsibility towards his team too and they’re having a meeting. It could be huge, Patrick has even hinted that he might be getting pushed up to Varsity… as a Freshman. He’d be the first person since Steve Harrington to have that happen.

Will waves his hands. “Just go.” as Mike speaks up quietly, “You’re the one who said it’s too time consuming and you can’t do both. If you want to do basketball, do it, man. It’s okay.” as Dustin nods and shrugs. “It’s not a big deal.” and Max watches him walk away, gaping. Turning to the three boys with an annoyed look. “You guys are really just going to let him go? With those assholes?”

“Wake up, Max. He’s slowly becoming one of them. He blew us off for our campaign in the basement again this weekend, remember what he told us last night when we were planning it? Not to mention, he rode home with that prick Carver after practice Wednesday and that’s when Chance and Patrick were shouting out the window at me, Will, El and Dustin when we went up to try and adjust Cerebro better.” Mike is annoyed but more to the point, Mike is hurt. And he’s not the only one. So are the rest of Lucas’ friends. And Erica is annoyed because her brother is changing and she doesn’t like it. She’s overheard him talking to Patrick on the phone and she’s heard him going along with what Patrick said about DnD… And Hellfire.

Everyone files into the drama classroom to start the next round of the campaign. You drag a chair over beside Gareth and Emma drags a chair over to sit it between Eddie and Will, who is sitting beside him this time. Emma shoots you a look across the table because she can tell something is bothering you, but you shake your head, plaster on this little smile.

Max leans in and whispers what happened and what you overheard to Emma and Emma grumbles, giving you an irritated eye roll because she can’t believe you’d be stupid enough to let it get in your head for even a second.

Jeff nudges Gareth and nods at you as he leans in and whispers, “Just talk to her. Don’t do anything stupid, buddy. It looks like she’s upset..” and Gareth steals a look at you as you sit in the chair beside him, shuffling a deck of playing cards you kept in your locker. You look up at him and you try to give him one of your usual big and bright smiles but you just… You can’t. You’re still hearing it on repeat in your head and the more you try to stop it, the harder it is to stop.

Eddie calls for his usual ‘intermission’ so a trip can be made down the hall to the vending machines and Gareth slips an arm around you, pulling you into his side. He’s tense and so are you. You want to just say it, just tell him what’s going on with you right now, but you feel like you can’t and that it’s stupid to let it get to you in the first place. You can feel him tense beside you and you finally can’t take it anymore.

You stop your walk and gaze up at him. “Something is bothering you.”

“I’m fine.” Gareth tries to lie, but you shake your head. “You’re not fine. Just tell me, please? Like.. Did I do something?”

“No! I’m fine. It’s just been a long day. I mean it, sugar.” he tries to sound more convincing but at this point, he’s spent most of the afternoon dealing with these damned nagging doubts and he just can’t take it anymore. When he tries to tell you what’s going on, the words hang and they won’t come.

And you can feel your stomach churning. But you can’t bring yourself to say anything, especially not if something is already bothering him, you don’t want to add to it. So you keep your mouth shut and you lean against him a little, forcing yourself to give what’s hopefully a more convincing smile. “Love you, baby.” you mumble quietly.

“Love you too.” he answers, nodding to the vending machines nearby. “C’mon.”

But that churning feeling in the pit of your stomach is settled in now and it won’t go away. It gets to be so bad that you tell yourself that maybe you’re too clingy. So you spend the rest of the meeting trying to give both of you a little space, even moving your chair to the side of the table Max is on at one point, under the guise of wanting to help her.

When you do it, Gareth feels like his stomach has dropped. And he’s watching you from across the table intently, completely unable to focus. Those nagging doubts are back again and now that you’ve moved across the table, they’re somehow even louder. 

By the time the meeting is over, you’re both so lost in your own worries, doubts and fears that neither of you really say anything to each other for the whole ride back to your parents trailer so Gareth can pick up his truck where he parked it.

You’re desperate when he goes to kiss you, so you try to work through the nagging feeling that maybe you’re just too clingy and it’s finally pushing him away or something to kiss him back like usual but you just can’t. The kiss breaks and you lingering out beside his truck for a few minutes, neither of you saying anything.

But both of you want to.

The words just won’t come.

“Night, baby.”

“Night, sugar. I’ll uh..” Gareth drags his hand through his hair. He almost says he’ll see you tomorrow like usual, but he’s at least ninety five percent sure that maybe you’re distancing. Maybe he’s crowding you and you’re just too polite to say it. Or maybe you really do think he’s clingy and pathetic and this thought really hurts. It bothers him because he knows how he feels and he’s pretty sure that you feel the same way, but the girls he overheard earlier weren’t wrong. You’re always with him. And maybe, you’re just too polite to tell him to leave you alone.

Kinda funny, the tricks your own mind will play on you.

He turns to walk to his truck and you linger at the front door, taking several deep but shaky breaths as you work on pulling yourself together. You need to focus, Emma and some other girls are coming over soon to practice tackling each other so that it’s done properly and nobody gets too injured in the game tomorrow. You need your head in what you’re doing but you know already that it’s not going to be because you can’t stop thinking about it..

What if you are losing him? What if he’s realizing he has other options and he’s bored or something? What if you really aren’t good enough after all?

– ( later that night gareth + his friends )

“Okay, what was all that during the campaign, man? Level with me. What’s going on? Because I’m not the only one who noticed.” Eddie is blunt and direct when he says it. He reaches for the joint Jeff is holding out to him and inhales, breathing in the smoke deep.

Gareth shrugs. “Nothing.”

“That’s bullshit!” Jeff exclaims, throwing up his hands. “Since he won’t talk about it, I will. Because if he buys it, he’s an idiot.” Jeff rants after telling them what Gareth overhead in the hallway, going quiet when he’s done. Grant takes the joint from Eddie to take a hit. “Seriously, Emerson?” he laughs when he says it. “You’re going to let that go to your head? That’s what is going to stop you from actually getting the girl, idiot?”

From beside Jeff, Lisa speaks up. “You’re being stupid, Gare.”

“It’s not.” Gareth insists. “Maybe they had a point, man. I mean, c’mon.” he takes the joint and takes a bigger hit than he means to, coughing. When he’s done coughing, he shrugs. “Maybe she can do better.”

“Okay, now I’m gonna punch you in the fuckin throat, Emerson. Stop and think about what you’re saying a little, idiot. Do you really believe that?” Eddie questions. Shaking his head and laughing when Gareth doesn’t answer right away as he rubs the bridge of his nose, frustrated. Plain annoyed with Gareth and his inner turmoil because from where he sits, Gareth is every bit as good -no, better, than any guy you could have chosen. But you didn’t choose any of them. You chose him. And now a few stupid little words that they probably only said because they knew he was standing there and knew it’d get to him in the first place.. That’s going to get to him?

It baffles Eddie.

“So what, you’re just gonna let go without a fight? That’s not very great of you, Gareth the Great…” Grant muses as he reaches out to take another hit.

It sounds lame but he says it anyway. “She was acting weird this afternoon.”

Eddie grumbles. “Because you were? Could the fact that she might have picked up on your shift in mood have even a little to do with it, man? Because you were kind of cold, buddy. I’m with Grant.. This isn’t very great of you, Gareth the Great.” 

Gareth shrugs, staring down at the writing on the bottom of his Converse. “I know. I just don’t like.. I don’t want to trap her or anything. And what if I did?”

“Dude, you’re the only boy she’s actually shown any sort of interest in dating. I’m being serious man, ask around if you don’t believe me.” Jeff insists. 

“Yeah, yeah..” Grant is thinking, trying to remember an instance he could use to demonstrate that the three of them are right and Gareth is wrong this time. It comes to him.. “Okay, remember 9th grade? When we had that foreign exchange student for a semester? He followed her around like a lost puppy but she pretty much ignored him.”

Jeff chuckles. “And there was the time Danny tried to kiss her after a football game and she shoved him off, rolled her eyes in disgust before walking away?” and beside him, Lisa laughs. “I have one that goes back further, actually. We had a class together in seventh grade. You do realize the only reason she wore that dress she wore so much at the time was because of the one time you blurted out that she looked pretty in it, right? She had a huge crush on you at the time…”

Gareth is thinking it all over. Trying to convince himself that he knows the truth and everything his friends are telling him is proof positive and only confirming what he already knows, but then he’ll stop and think about it. And his mind does the thing it likes to, pointing out every single one of the things he hates about himself or uses to compare himself to others.

“Stop doing whatever it is you’re doing right now. I mean it, you fucking idiot. I can see it in your eyes, alright? And I’m not dealing with it.” Eddie speaks up, exhaling a plume of smoke into the air. 

“Just leave it alone, Munson.” Gareth grumbles, taking another long hit. “I mean it, man. Just leave it alone. I’ll.. Figure something out I guess.” he mutters to himself, shaking his head. But he can’t because every time he thinks he’s got himself talked into going with what his heart and his gut are both heavily suggesting, those old doubts creep right back in and they’re so damn loud.

He can’t get rid of them and he hates it. What he hates more than anything right now is the fact that he might have hurt you acting distant earlier and this is killing him. But he can’t fix it because every time he even thinks he can, it all starts again and he loses the nerve.

– ( later that night, you + your friends )

“Why the hell did you take off like that earlier?” Emma’s voice cuts through your thoughts as she flops down next to you and reaches down, taking a soda from the pack. She twists the top off and shotguns half of the soda, wiping her hand across the back of her lips. You thump your unopened pack of cigarettes against your palm and shrug. “I just needed to clear my head.”

“I call bullshit. You wanted to come up here and dwell on it. You’re not clearing your head right now, you’re letting all the crap inside of it get to you and we both know it.” Emma takes one of your cigarettes after reaching for the pack. She takes your lighter next to light her cigarette and then she laughs. “Y’know nothing they said is true… Right?”

“Yeah, well.. He was acting weird at the Hellfire meeting earlier. And we didn’t really talk much on the way home.” you sigh. “Maybe he is starting to realize he can do better, I mean Beth Archer’s pretty hot and she was all over him Wednesday.” you blow out a plume of smoke.

Emma gapes and shakes her head. “He walked away from her when he saw you. If he were even partially entertaining it… Nevermind, you’re a fucking brick wall.” she stares down at the ground. “Maybe he was acting weird because you were? Maybe he picked up on it.”

It’s not entirely illogical and you know it.

“Just talk to him. Do something, damn it.” Emma insists. After a minute or two of silence, she takes another drag. “Look, I might know why he was acting weird.. According to Eddie, anyway.” she trails off again, laughing softly. “He overheard some of the girls talking too and it got to him.”

You nearly choke on the drag you’ve just taken, flicking your ashes into an empty bottle nearby. Given that you’ve been up on the tower at least an hour by now, you’ve got yourself a neat little line and you have so much sugar and caffeine coursing your veins right now, you know you’re not sleeping tonight.

“Wait..” you ask quietly. “What now?”

Emma tells you everything Eddie told her, ending with, “And he seriously thinks that you can do better. Like, it really rattled the poor guy, trouble.”

You’re sitting there and thinking about it and you palm your face when you realize what has to have happened. Emma’s brow raises. “What?” she flicks her ashes into her empty soda bottle and reaches for another, waiting for you to answer her.

“I know they didn’t exactly plan to do this, but like… The timing.” you laugh a little, taking a few shaky breaths. “He seriously fucking believed them?”

Emma narrows her eyes. “You did too, idiot.”

“Touche.” you mutter, flipping her off. Shaking your head. “Okay, I really, really, really have to fix this. Like.. I have to. But how?”

“Does he know about the flannel thing?”

“Nope. I uh… never really got around to telling him, remember? Honestly, I don’t even think he knows it’s his. He never asked?” you cringe sheepishly when you look at her and Emma laughs. “Maybe it’s a good thing that he didn’t and that you haven’t told him, hm? Because if you tell him what you told me about why you even have it in the first place, I mean..” Emma takes a sip, “His own head can’t be that far up his own ass that he won’t believe it. But you have to tell him everything. I mean it.”

You sigh and nod. “That’s not all I can do..”

“Hm?” Emma questions. 

“Well… you said that since everyone is painting their face tomorrow, you were too, right? To clue in a certain big idiot that you kind of like him?”

“Yeah, if I can figure out how to make something similar to the bats on his arm.. Go on?”

“Well, I’ll just brand myself with face paint then. One of us has to fight..” you rub your forehead, “I care too much. I’m in love with him. It’s not ending like this.”

“It’s about time you found that stubborn side again, trouble.” Emma high fives you.

Headlights are blinding you and you throw up your hands to shield your eyes. Emma is standing, gathering the leopard print cardigan she shed when she got to the top of the tower to sit with you. 

“Okay, Hop, alright. We’re comin down, sir.” you scramble to your feet and you lean out over the rail a little to call out to what you think is Chief Hopper.

“Do I fucking look like a cop?” Eddie Munson calls up to you. “What the fuck are you two doing up there anyway? A guy fell off this shit in 79.”

Emma’s brow raises and you stand. “I’m gonna uh.. Let you and your loverboy have some space. I’m going home.”

But Eddie is up the tower now and he’s flopped himself down right between you both, a lazy grin on his face. “So this is what you two actual hellions do for fun, hm?” he chuckles quietly. 

“I told her what you told me.” Emma is hugging against Eddie just a little bit as she holds up her soda to him. “Your drink, ringmaster.”

“It’s Dungeon Master, heathen.”

“I still say you run the games like a ringmaster runs a circus, so.. Ringmaster.”

“Damn it, woman. I am a dungeon master.”

You laugh to yourself listening to the two of them.

Eddie clears his throat. “You do realize that Emerson’s so buried in his own bullshit you need to do something, right?” he questions as he gazes over at you. You nod. “Yeah. I’m going to.” you glance over Eddie at Emma. “He doesn’t know who said it, right? Because if he does, all I can say is I’m tackling to injure tomorrow.”

Eddie chuckles. 

Emma gazes up at him. “Did he namedrop, lug?”

“He didn’t but.. Jeff did.” Eddie exhales a plume of cigarette smoke into the night air. “Jeff said he knows Megan was standing there and he thinks he saw Heather, maybe that one airheaded chick, Tiffany.”

“I fucking knew Megan would be part of it. I heard her in the bathroom this morning with Caroline..” you grumble, rubbing your temples. Making a mental note of the girls Eddie just named off. “Just a warning. We were told today that it’s flag football and we’re not allowed to tackle. But we all know they’re not going to follow the rules and somehow, they will get away with it.” you go quiet.

 Emma continues, “We’re probably getting at least two weeks of Saturday detention. But it’ll be so worth it.”

“Did you two ever get any other girls to sign on?” Eddie asks after a few seconds of looking up at the moon. “It’s kinda nice up here, actually. I mean aside from some guy falling off of this.” he shrugs it off and goes quiet so both of you can answer.

“Max signed up. I’m gonna try to keep them off her so she can still make her AV meeting and the Hellfire campaign you guys were all playing Saturday at Will’s.” you glance up at Eddie. Eddie nods. “Yeah, she’s gotten to be a pretty decent player.”

Emma laughs and speaks up, “I got a few girls to sign up. Ivy, Pamela and Violet, they’re in Theater with you, I think.” she smirks up at Eddie, “That’s why I rushed in earlier today.”

“And I got two or three girls from Band. Max knows one of them, Robin, I think? And one of her friends is playing. So we might be uneven, but it isn’t just me, Em and Max anymore.” you’re laughing and you shrug. “This might not fix the fact that they’re inherently shitty people, but just laying hands on them after wanting to for so long, that feels satisfying.”

Eddie snickers as you say it. “Hey, both of you, be careful. Henderson said he overheard Andy and Patrick saying he was going to corner you both for some reason.” he gazes at Emma. “Stick close to me, heathen. I mean it. There’s just somethin off about it, alright?”

“Oh, I’ll handle him.” Emma mumbles, laughing. “I can’t believe I was dumb enough to think he actually liked me in the first place, honestly?”

“Em..” you speak up, giving her a warning look. “If I can’t talk shit about myself, you’re not gonna sit here and talk shit about my best friend. Got it?”

“You’re not handling anything. Look, we’ve been dealing with those pricks longer than you two. I know what they’re capable of. If anybody’s going to do anything, you actual demon, it’s going to be me. Are we clear, Em?” Eddie’s gazing down at her and giving her a firm look. 

Emma fidgets and shoots you a look that has both of you laughing as you ask aloud, “See now? See what I mean about when Gareth pulls this on me?”

“Hafuckingha.” Emma flips you off. “Okay, alright. Fine. But I’m getting involved if they drag you too far into the shit, big guy. You’re graduating this year if I have to drag you by the hair down the damn field to your diploma. I mean it, okay?” Emma gives Eddie a firm look of her own as she sticks out her tongue and folds her arms over her chest.

Emma nods to the ground a few seconds later. “We better get down. Ms. Rosen has called it in… Again.”

“Does Ms. Rosen ever do anything but stare out her window and find things to bother Hopper with?” you muse, shaking your head as you work your way to your feet.

“Christ alive, there are three of you up there now? All of you come down, right this second. Get your asses home, ladies, it’s almost midnight.” Chief Hopper calls up from the ground, suppressing a laugh as he attempts to sound firm. He can’t say a whole lot to any of you because the water tower has always been a popular hangout for as long as he’s been alive. And there were quite a few nights that he found himself sitting on the walkway with Joyce when they were teenagers.

The three of you scramble down the ladder and Chief Hopper gives Eddie a puzzled look. “You too, Munson?”

Eddie shrugs and nods his head at Emma. “I saw her mother’s Blazer, sir.”

“So you thought if these two were up there, you should be too, hm? You better get home before Wayne gets in, kid.”

“Yes sir.” Eddie mutters.

“All three of you, go on now. Get home. And stop climbing this damn tower, alright?” 

“Yes sir.” you and Emma say it in unison.

As you walk over to your car, Emma jogs over. “So.. you’re going to do something about the situation with your drummer, right?”

You nod and sigh. “I have to, Em. I’m not losing him like this.” you fidget with the sleeves of the flannel, “Like.. If it’s up to me, I wouldn’t lose him at all. But I refuse to just sit back and let this shit happen to us.” you laugh and give a soft and dopey grin, “He’s stuck with me until he decides differently, alright?”

“You two and your dating for life bullshit. It’s so sappy, oh my god.” Emma is only half teasing. She smiles and jingles her keys, turning to Eddie. “Don’t drive that van like you’re a getaway driver at a heist, alright?” she’s got her hand on her hip as she stares up at him, tapping her foot against gravel. “I’m being serious, Munson. Put on your seatbelt too.”

“Okay, alright, shit.” Eddie chuckles, waving off her words. “Fine.” he grumbles when she lightly smacks his chest. “It’s not a suggestion, Munson.” she pouts up at him.

“I’m going now before you two rot my teeth out. Night, Em.”

“Night, trouble.” Emma smiles at you and you get into your own car, heading back to your house.

[sapphire-weapon]

I remember you saying you disliked ID and particularly how Leon was written. While I'm far less familiar with RE compared to you, I thought I'd ask for you to elaborate and go more in depth as to why you thought Leon specifically was poorly portrayed. I actually enjoyed ID and him. Was it a masterpiece? Well, no. It's a video game CGI film. I first came away thinking it was pretty bad, but I learned to enjoy it for what it was.

I found most characters pretty straight forward about who they are what they wanted to do. Claire needed a LOT more screentime, they fucked her up via laziness imo. Leon was fine. He was very cringe inducing (shudders on behalf of Shen May), but I thought it was a good insight to the chokehold that his duty has on him. How he struggles with making the most ethical choices, guilt and how it impacts his relationships with other people. Did ID do this particularly well? Not exactly, but I looked for it and found it.

I HARD agree that Death Island tops it all though. It had a solid story, a great villain, gave Jill a phenomenal comeback (cough, minus the sexist anti-aging bullshit that all RE women are forced to face), we saw Leon getting his shit wrecked (which I personally found funny as hell) and it was actually FUN to watch. It stuck out to me as a film that anybody, particularly those unfamiliar with the franchise, could easily follow and piece together, which other adaptations didn't do. To me, they only felt like "hey, fans who like these characters will GET it, others won't understand the appeal", but maybe I'm wrong.

Anyways, apologies for the novel length ask, I hope you're kind enough to indulge me, lol. Wishing you a wonderful weekend. (Apologies for grammar mistakes, girl I'm high as shit and just really, really enjoy talking bs with other fans, lmfao! I'm the Mr. X anon.)

I didn't say he was poorly portrayed in Infinite Darkness. I said his voice seemed inconsistent and, as a result, gave me the impression that he was going through wild mood swings at varying points of the show.

One scene that particularly comes to mind is towards the very beginning when Jason is trauma dumping on him, like... Leon is the one who initiates that conversation seemingly out of concern/empathy/genuine curiosity, and his tone starting out is one of like "hey lil buddy what's on ur mind we need to be able to work together on shit if we're gonna survive" and then like

out of nowhere, after Jason's story is over, Leon just like

snaps

for no reason? And starts shouting about how no one gives a shit about Raccoon City?

like

where the fuck did that come from and are you off your meds because you seem a little unbalanced like you might be off your meds

shit literally just comes out of nowhere, almost completely unprovoked, and I have no idea why.

So that's why my takeaway was: I don't feel like ID knew what they wanted Leon to actually be in terms of his placement in his character arc. Is he Mr. Supportive Man of Experience Who's Seen Some Shit? Or is he just full "fuck the police" angry mode? Because putting both not just in the same scene, but in the very same conversation, is just bad dialogue writing.

Like, Leon's character wasn't the problem. There was never a point where I was like "wow, that doesn't sound like him." It all sounded like him, but it sounded like him if you took his lines from the entirety of his character arc and just picked and chose at random which ones he was going to say.

It wasn't the character writing. It was the dialogue writing. Those are two different things. The character was fine. The dialogue was shit.

Infinite Darkness really could've used a first draft.

[gamerbearmira]

Mario or protective. Those would be fun

I!!!! HAVE SOMETHING...mario related because it has me in a chokehold.

@a-bored-multifandomer how dare you do this to me.

take a picture, cause I don't write often ☠️☠️ SPEAKING OF I NEED TO GET THE NEXT CHAPTERS OF MY 2 STORIES OUT BEFORE THE END OF JULY 😦

In the meantime, take this <3

----

Alma walked through the snow as she watched her five grandchildren run around ahead of her, little Antonio settled in her arms. She was on her way to her good friends house; Captain Shy Guzmán; though most of the time when she was off the field, it was simply Señora Guzmán.

Originally, Alma was set to go alone. But her nietos had begged her to come, wanting to go see their friend, Mariano. The boy was about Isabela and Dolores age, maybe a year older.

"Abuela, mira mira!" Mirabel (and her hermanas, prima and primo) came running up to the woman was she came to a stop to look down at them, a warm smile gracing her face.

"Si? What is it nieta?" Abuela bent down slightly, Antonio giggling as he reached for his siblings.

"Look, I have ice on my hands!" She held up her hands, as did her sisters.

"And my hat turned blue and its really cold!" Dolores beamed, pointing to her hat (Was it even a hat? Alma didn't know, it was an enigma to her; the children slept with them on, and they never seemed to come off of their heads...)

Upon closer inspection, she realized that Mirabel wasn't holding ice; her hands had literally turned to ice; it was the same with her sisters. Dolores and her brothers (somehow Antonio had been affected as well, despite him being in her arms the entire time.), had ice coating their hats, like how Dolores described.

"¡Oh, dios mio!" Alma immediately grabbed them all, scooping them up and holding them tightly as she picked up the pace. "How come you didn't tell me before? I would have warmed you up a while ago!" Alma worriedly asked. She began to up her body temperature; something she usually didn't do unless she was about to use her fire, but this was an exception.

Her daughters and son had bundled the kids up, basically wrapping them entirely in extra clothing, so they wouldn't get cold. They had insisted they wear it, so they wouldn't get sick. Yet somehow, they had been affected anyway?!

"But we're not cold Abuela," Isabela said in a confused tone.

Alma slowed down slightly, look down at her grandchildren who were still smiling, not even seeming to notice how cold they were.

"Are you sure? You feel mighty cold," Alma asked.

"Yeah, we feel fine! It doesn't hurt anywhere or anything, and we're not super cold," Mirabel explained.

Alma's face contorted to one of confusion. They say they aren't cold, and yet they still feel cold? She thought hard for a moment, trying figure out if they maybe were so cold they went numb or had what humans called 'frostbite'---and then it hit her.

They weren't sick and they didn't have frostbite. This was just their ice form.

She had one too, as did her children---even Pepa (who was never quite fully human; she was part Koopa and Boo, so it only made sense). The only one who didn't have one was Pedro, but that's because, one, hes a ghost and therefore can't feel temperatures, and two, he's the one that makes things cold when he enters a room.

Alma didn't use her ice form often, its not like she needed it. She only ever used it if she was staying in a cold area for long periods of time. But seeing as she was only traveling through Cool Cool Mountain, it never occured to her to use it.

Sighing, she set them down again, letting Dolores hold Antonio.

"I had completely forgotten," Alma said relieved.

"Forgotten what?" Camilo asked.

"About the ice forms we have. You all haven't ever travelled through snow like this for a long amount of time, so they never manifested until now." She patted each of their heads, chuckling. "But I guess that's a good thing, huh? You won't be as cold."

"That's so cool!" Camilo's eyes lit up as he and his siblings ran foward to play in the snow again, Mirabel and her sisters close behind.

Alma laughed as she followed behind them, making sure they stayed nearby. She doesn't even know why she was ever worried; they're her grandchild after all, they take too much after their parents for her to be so worried for them.

-----

Moar???? Maybe later...

[mika-writes-fanfics]

Hello fren! Sorry if this seems out of the blue, but Healing Touch has a ✨chokehold✨ on me and I keep thinking about writing a longer piece as well

BUT

I fucking suck at long narratives. I was wondering if you have any tips for planning stuff out. I've basically started outlining each chapter to see how long it would take me to do and to get the major plot points out, but I'm scared I won't be able to follow through.

I have like a thousand questions about your process but I don't wanna overwhelm you with them, so I'll take any crumbs of wisdom 🙏

Hi there! First off, I’m so happy you enjoy my writing. Don’t worry about it “seeming out of the blue”, I’m down to talk or receive asks. But onto how I write long chapters. This might seem odd but I actually don’t always write chronologically. I sorta write in chunks. What I do is figure out what major events I want to happen first and write them all down. Then, I start to bridge the gaps and connect all the pieces until the flow makes sense. For instance, I had the Muscular scene already written, while chronologically, I was still writing the almost kiss scene. If I get stuck, I skip around to another chunk until I figure out what I want to do. I think this helps me keep my motivation up, as it gives me something to look forward to. I don’t have to hold out on writing juicy ideas. It’s all already there in my doc. I just have to brainstorm ways to get there. Plus, I think this helps me with foreshadowing. If I have an event planned far into the future, I’ll make sure to incorporate that in the earlier chapters to make sure I start building the momentum now.

As for my writing style, I think I can attribute a lot of that to some tips I got from my creative writing teacher who actually managed to publish a few of his own books. I try to avoid is/are/was as much as possible and replace it with a more descriptive verb. I also try to vary my sentence structure and the beginning word of a sentence. For example, having five sentences in a row all starting with the word ‘You’ can get kind of repetitive, so I’ll play with the sentences until they all start with different words. Placing these constraints on myself is a bit of a challenge sometimes, but I think it forces me to be creative instead of choosing the easy way to state things. Another thing I do is if I can’t find the word I want to use, or if I feel I’ve used it too much in sentences prior, I’ll look in an online thesaurus until something clicks with me.

I hope this helps at all. I kind of have weird methods and I understand it’s not for everyone, but changing the way I thought about writing and moving away from chronological timelines helped me. Good luck on your story! I’m interested and can’t wait to read it!

[lorahgames]

Let's talk about: Pokemon Day 2024

First off, I went into this direct with high expectations. My predictions (for games) were:

A Pokemon Legends Game

A Remake/Ported version of a mainline series game (specifically, B&W or Johto)

The livestream addressed a few things that I am not too familiar with/don't use, so I won't be going into that. This includes Pokemon Horizons: the series, Pokemon Masters EX, and Pokemon Cafe Remix. I can't provide any opinions on if these announcements were exciting or not, so not bothering trying!

Let's begin with the announcement of the Gen 1 Tera Raid Mightiest Mark Battles for Pokemon Scarlet/Violet. I will be playing these! I got the mightiest mark charizard when that raid first dropped, so would love to get the other mighty Kanto starters, especially my long-time favourite, Blastoise. Long live the water starters!!!

Next up, Pokemon Trading Card Pocket. I didn't think much when I first saw it, but the game premise is really growing on me. After all, I am such a sucker for gacha games. Yeah. Anyone remember Quidd, the sticker trading game? Had me in an absolute chokehold, so I feel like this is right up my alley. I'm not sure if I'll actually battle people besides friends, but I'll be all over opening the packs up. I'll definitely be giving this a try.

Fun Side Story Time! I used to be obsessed with the trading cards. I had a collection of hundreds of cards from the early 2000s, with a lot of rare ones thrown in there. Always took them to school to play around with the other pokemon kids. I WAS ROBBED. One of those playground losers stole my entire collection, plus a Webkinz from me. I have been too sad to get involved with the cards since then.

Then we got the new playable pokemon added to Pokemon Unite that include Miraidon, Falinks, and Ceruledge. I have actually revisited Pokemon Unite in the last week. It's still kicking, with enough players to fill matches, and still pretty fun. Forever a Mew main. My only thoughts on this announcement though, is why Falinks? I never played Sword/Shield, so maybe Falinks has some secret hidden fanbase I just never heard of? Also, way to leave Pokemon Scarlet in the dust, Nintendo. You couldn't of added one exclusive from each of the Gen 9 games instead of pulling both from Violet? Oh well.

Surprisingly, I've been using Pokemon Sleep for the past two months, so I'm actually kind of excited about the game receiving legendaries! I think I'm too new to the game to actually come across one in a reasonable amount of time, but it's nice to know it's a possibility.

Now we have Nintendo's grand finale: Pokemon Z-A.

My first thought was, the hell is this?

So I have never actually played Kalos. I was a broke kid whose mom did not think they needed a 3DS, as I already had a DS at home (DS lite WAS NOT the same, Mom!). There was no way 12 year old me was going to scrape up enough pocket money to buy it, so just never bothered. So I have absolutely no emotional connection to Kalos whatsoever. I was jealous of the people who got to play, though. They got Sylveon, an adorable new addition to the Eevee line, and a complete powerhouse! It's one of my favourites.

Honestly, all expectations aside, this game looks good. Legends Arceus was an absolute game-changer in the pokemon series, With a complete new storyline and game mechanics, and I have in fact been waiting for another instalment in the Legends series. Although I had (severely) high hopes for Unova, I'm excited to visit Kalos for my very first time! I can't tell at all if this game is set in past or future. I initially thought past, but not as far back as Legends Arceus. More like, right before major city development takes place. But everyone else seems to think it's super futuristic! I don't really see that working though, if it follows a similar plot to Legends Arceus, since the pokedex would already be completed, as well as most major pokemon research developments. It's all speculation, I'm no expert at all, but that's what I got from the trailer.

I will admit, I am terribly disappointed by the lack of Unova :( If you know me, then you know I am a hardcore Gen-5 stan, so I was praying to the pokemon gods to PLEASE GIVE ME THIS. I'm honestly surprised they avoided remakes completely. Could it be because of the backlash from BDSP? People hated the chibis (personally, I didn't love them but it wasn't awful) so maybe they thought to hold off on remaking more. I just thought with the amount of pointers from the Scarlet/Violet DLC, we would've gotten SOMETHING. A girl can only hope.

Anyway, those are my thoughts on Pokemon Day 2024. Lemme know what you guys think!

LORAH