#trying to remember how to rig also

[9spoons9]

Doodles of Stanley from last night.

[moodycarcass]

Tomorrow I will model a chair in blender. I can do it I will persevere and learn 3d modeling 🪑< this guy will be real

[thebramblewood]

Any posers have tips for getting the mouth in a puckered position like you're saying "ooh"? I can get a sort of jaw unhinged expression, but that's not exactly what I was going for...

[petalbcrnes]

✴ MY MAN.

PAIRING: j. todd | 1.4 wc

CW: sfw, fluff.

. . . 💬: the batfamily catches jason and his partner during a date at the fair.

LINKS: masterlist.

A/N: old old vvery old work i have a deep connection to <333

♥︎ ♥︎ ♥︎

THE LIGHTS COVERING THE FAIR HANG LIKE STARS IN THE SKY ABOVE YOU. The bright colors dance across the fair as you and Jason walk hand in hand down the painted road. The different stalls and stands covered in red and white striped tents spread an infectious sweet aroma in the air, warming the atmosphere around you both.

Jason can feel your hand tighten around his as your eyes dart around the fairground, following anything that catches your eye.

The day has been spent checking out rides, such as the turning Ferris Wheel and the fair blanketing the ground with its vivid hues as you both watched from such a height. He remembers how thrilled you were looking down, grasping his hand with yours.

He also remembers only looking at you, the sea of tents, balloons flying high in the sky, and people mingling long forgotten.

You had all his attention.

The lights from below reflect in your eyes. “Isn't it beautiful?” you question.

Jason focuses his gaze on you. “It is,” without a doubt, “beautiful.”

The picture of you and him in that cramped photo booth appears in his mind over and over again. The walls were decorated with a rainbow of colors; the glitter spread through the narrow space, sticking onto your clothing and messy hair.

Surprisingly, he doesn't feel constricted and trapped in such a place. A carefree grin breaks out on his face, a matching one to your glowing smile.

You move your hand to his face, pushing the strands of hair away. You say something about him being handsome, and he feels the warmth rise to his cheeks.

He can only huff and turn to face the other way as you let out a small giggle, “You are handsome; why deny it?” The same pink hue appears on your cheeks as well. The words are engraved into his mind, not that he has the courage to say that yet.

The camera flash snaps him out of his reverie. The black-and-white strand of photos rests in his hands as a thumb caresses the surface. The picture of you two side by side, hands intertwined, is forever burned into his mind.

It’s something about your face when you're focused that enamors Jason. Maybe it’s the way your eyebrows furrowed together when you are concentrating. Maybe it’s the way you bite your lip, lost in thought. Or it’s the way you are oblivious to the world around you.

Oblivious to his stare that won’t leave your frame.

Even now, as your hands grip the water pistol, fingers tense yet precise, Jason can’t tear his gaze off of you.

You groan as you miss another shot at the moving duck. “Oh, for god's sake,” the yellow-colored cutout stares at you mockingly. “This is so rigged!” Your gaze is stuck on the Nightwing plush sitting on the stand as a prize, with its dark blue and black suit. “I need that plush.”

Jason chuckles at your predicament before being shushed by a glare from you. “You give it a try, big guy,” you say, shoving the orange-blue water pistol in his hands. It looks comically small in his hands.

“Watch and learn,” he gives you a smug smirk as he steps closer to aim at the ducks moving in rows above the light blue waves, until a familiar mess of blonde and raven-blue hair catches his attention.

Shit.

“Jay?” Your concerned voice rings through his ears. “Are you okay?”

The voices of Steph and Dick grow closer and closer as he gives you a panicked look, which you only answer with a confused, wobbly smile. They don’t know about you; you don’t know much about them! The only time you have interacted with his family was a baking competition with Alfred (in which he used salt instead of sugar, but that’s beside the point).

He didn’t want it to go like this! He wanted to invite you to dinner with his family (and pray they don’t scare you away with their antics).

He remembers when Dick caught a glimpse of your guys’ text a few weeks back, something along the lines of Get back home safe, honeybee, from you. He can still picture Dick's shocked and teasing face as the older brother held the phone high up away from Jason's grasp.

Honeybee? Isn’t that adorable?

I swear to God if you don’t give me that back.

He snaps himself out of the memory and tries to convince you to check out the funnel cake nearby. “I heard it’s delicious.” His eyes dart around as you give him an unimpressed look.

“Nearby?” you ask, “isn’t it on the opposite side of the fair? I’m not walking that far; my feet hurt!”

“I’ll carry you.”

“But, what about my Nightwing plush?” You pout as you point to the mini version of his brother; granted, you don’t know that it’s his brother. Curse that plush.

“Jaybird?!”

Well, shit.

You both turn your heads to the source of the voice: a girl with messy blonde hair and jeans (with a purple heart sewn into it, you note) and a taller man with blue eyes approach you and Jason.

Jason feels as if he’s going to break the water pistol in his hands in two.

"Didn't you think we’d see you here?” Stephanie speaks up first before turning the attention on you. The three of you break into a conversation. Jason’s the only one who sees the teasing glances his siblings send his way, while you stay oblivious to it all.

He should be happy that you are getting along with his family. Heck, this is what he was preparing for all these months. But he didn’t want it to go like this! On top of that, it feels as if he’s being left out of the conversation.

“So, are you two on a date?” Steph asks, putting the emphasis on the date part of that sentence.

“Yep, we are!” You answer with a glowing smile, “It’s so nice to finally meet you guys.”

Jason is glaring daggers at the two of them, but Dick and Steph don’t seem like they're going to let this go (their grins seem to confirm that).

They shush any attempt of his at getting in the middle of you three, their attention all on you. Questions like How’d you meet? When did you guys become official? Are you working for any villains as a henchman, by any chance?

You answer with the same elegance as Jason loves about you, holding your head high and easing into conversation.

It’s only when Dick turns to look at the water pistol in Jason's hands and the lone Nightwing plush resting on the prize shelf does he address his little brother, “Trying to win the Nightwing plush, are you Jaybird?”

Jason can feel his cheeks burn up. “Unfortunately, Yes. Don’t let it get to your head.”

Dick gives him a small, genuine smile, one that speaks of that one sentence that he always hears from his brother: I’m proud of you, Jay. Maybe this isn’t so bad. He feels all the worries slowly leave his body as the scene finally sinks into his mind. His siblings are here, and you are here, talking and having a truly good time.

Yea, this isn’t so bad.

“Oh!” Steph speaks up, “Let me try!”

“I’m warning you, those ducks are rigged so you lose,” you tell the blonde before moving closer to watch, eyes curious.

“Watch and learn!” (Just like Jason) She aims, and it hits the swimming duck, “bullseye!”

“Wow,” you exclaim, “that was perfect! Where did you learn to aim like that?” you ask, genuinely curious.

Steph's face freezes up in surprise. She fumbles with the plush being handed to her before pushing it your way. “It’s a talent, I guess? Aren’t I lucky?”

“Runs in the family?”

“..Yes?” She mumbles with a wobbly smile before throwing an arm around your shoulders. “So, you ever need to win another plush; you know who to call.”

Dick lets out a small chuckle while Jason glares at the Nightwing plush in your hands. “A fan?” Dick asks.

“Duh, but Jay over here is more of a Red Hood enthusiast.”

“Pretty—”

“What?”

The voices of his siblings and you slowly drown out the sounds of the fair. Jason watches the three of you talk and joke like you’ve been friends for ages. He might deny it, but god, he feels so happy right now. Happy that his family is getting along.

He feels at peace, and it’s all thanks to you guys.

♥︎ ♥︎ ♥︎

© petalbcrnes | all rights reserved. even when credited, these works are not allowed to be reposted, translated, or modified. viewer discretion is advised.

[frownyalfred]

Okay I was re-reading my “Hal and Bruce in the JL showers” fic and it made me remember something I forgot to add into that fic, which probably didn’t fit as well because it was mostly poking fun at Clark’s Midwestern sensibilities. But someone also mentioned it in a comment so I wanted to expand on it here:

If you’re Clark, and you’re coming into your Kryptonian powers at that awkward age somewhere between elementary and high school (incrementally, heat vision one year and super strength later, maybe) and one day you’re just crazy ripped? The Kryptonian genes decide THAT is when you get the full benefits of sun and therefore the Superman physique?

You’re not taking your shirt off around anyone who’s not your parents. Not in the communal showers, not during gym class, not at swim practice. Middle or high school kids are BRUTAL. You’d think abs aren’t things to make fun of, but it’s not about the abs, it’s the fact that they’re different. Why does Clark suddenly have abs? Does he think he’s better than us? Why is he so freakishly tall all of a sudden? Is he working out every night all night, and that’s why he’s not hanging out with us?

It prompts questions, jealousy, and — most importantly — staring. Nonstop staring, good, bad, and neutral. People are confused. The gym teacher doesn’t understand how this scrawny kid got built up virtually overnight. And why he still can’t participate in sports worth a damn. It’s like he doesn’t even try.

So yeah. Clark keeps his body covered, from that point onward. Clark Kent can’t explain those muscles, not until he’s moved and set up a new life somewhere else. He starts laying the groundwork for bumbling reporter Clark Kent — he wears big shirts, poorly fitted pants, anything that softens or hides the lines of his physique so he doesn’t get questions.

And while we do see him embrace himself and his Kryptonian heritage later on, I always wonder how much that period of potential shame and avoidance early on in life affected his confidence later — not as Superman obviously, not as the shirtless muscled guy on an oil rig saving people, but as Clark. The guy who sees Hal and Bruce showering near each other without any sense of shame, or any staring, or really any value judgements at all about appearance other than “do I have goo in my hair?”

[ghostlyfleur]

𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬.

steve harrington x shy!reader

summary: the girl steve loves finally makes a move.

contents: reader referred to as ‘sweets’. tooth-rotting fluff, mutual pining. normal font after the cut.

steve knows.

he knows that asking sweets to attend the town’s fair with him, and also the subsequent firework show, sounded a lot like asking her out on a date. in his defense, the rest of the party would be attending alongside robin, eddie, nancy, and jonathan. she had also said yes, so there’s that.

he picked her up at her cozy little cabin in his car; opened the door for her, complimented her outfit, even went as far as insisting he’d pay for the tickets. luckily, or maybe not, it seemed his angel remained oblivious to the inner turmoil that steve was facing; his longing to call this a date and the accompanying fear of her saying no.

somewhere deep down steve knew she would have said yes.

his angel looked oh so excited and happy to be amongst the laughing children, the fried oreos, the blinking neon lights, and the carnival-typical game stands that steve figured “screw it!”, and decided to pull all the stops for her.

the first stop was trying to win the girl a stuffed animal. simple, right? as it happens, steve ended up failing miserably at the target shooting stand, which then caused his girl to step up and win the game with suspicious ease.

“this is for you,” she said, smiling shyly as she handed steve the small, soft stuffed turtle she had just won.

despite his obvious blush, steve was now determined more than ever to make her smile like that for the rest of the night, however he just didn’t anticipate how dedicated the girl seemed to be on making him smile all night too.

while dustin and eddie fought for the last stick of pink cotton candy, robin tried to convince jonathan that all of the game stands were rigged, with nancy backing her up.

max stood on the side with lucas, eyes rolling exasperatedly while el listened to something will was saying instead of joining the others in trying to decide whether to go on the rollercoaster or somewhere else.

when three pairs of eyes — dustin, eddie and robin’s — turned to the two lovebirds for their opinion to settle an argument, steve and his girl saw this as the perfect moment to break from the group and run in the opposite direction, holding hands and laughing and ignoring their friends shouts behind them, to enjoy each other’s company.

steve is so happy to be spending some fun, quality time with his girl, doing all the things couples would normally do on a date, and that includes going to the nearest photobooth.

after counting down the coins in his pocket to pay for the pictures, he climbs into the booth and quickly realizes how small the little bench inside is. steve is feeling brave, maybe even a bit cheeky, so he pulls sweets by her waist to sit on his lap with the excuse of limited space on the bench. thankfully she seems more than happy, albeit shy as usual, to do so.

when the pictures are done they both step out of the booth with blushed cheeks, soft smiles, ragged breaths, and pounding hearts that are indicative of the mind blowing sequence of events that occurred inside the way-too-small, slightly dirty booth that now seems like both steve and sweets’ personal heaven.

with hands shaking, sweets takes the line of pictures from the slot on the side of the booth and starts biting her lower lip, her brain trying to catch up to what had just happened inside and how happy it made her. she feels steve’s all consuming presence appear close behind her, looking over her shoulder, hands softly placed on her hips, as the pair of them stare at the perfectly captured moment that they are sure to remember and cherish forever.

the series of pictures went as follows:

coming up blank with pose ideas, the two just looked at each other and laughed, but at the sound of steve’s carefree and loud laughter she just stares at him like he’s a dream come true-- and the first photo is taken. sweets looking at steve like he hung the moon and the stars while he’s mid-laugh, eyes squeezed close in mirth and head leaning towards her.

steve felt her staring and soon stopped laughing, a soft smile on his lips as he gazed lovingly at her, and he asks “what?” in a low voice-- the second picture is taken just as sweets impulsively presses forward and attaches her lips to his; her first ever kiss, mind you, and it’s caught on camera.

the third picture depicts sweets nervously rambling, “i was going to ask for permission to kiss you first, i promise!” with the tips of her right hand fingers pressed to her own lips that were tingling while steve has a glassy, dreamy look in his eyes, slack jawed, staring right at her pouty lips.

and for the fourth photo? well, the fourth photo shows steve pressing forward himself to shut her up with another impossibly sweet and tender kiss, both of their eyes closed and his hand holding her jaw, thumb brushing against her cheek up and down while his heart goes haywire.

as they part from the second kiss, steve remembers that that was his angel’s first kiss and asks “was that okay?” nervously, to which sweets just smiles impossibly big, a noticeable blush on her cheeks, and nods excitedly over and over again. that was the perfect first, and second, kiss and she couldn’t have asked for anything more magical.

with the physical evidence in their hands that what just transpired inside that tiny booth was real and not a perfectly lovely dream, steve feels like he won the fucking lottery. and feels even more like a winner when sweets looks just as happy and just as in love as he is, “we look great together,” he can’t help but say.

“yeah, we do.”

they hold hands for the rest of the night.

[witherby]

I think a really cool day idea for Conner and mouse would be like the circus scene from Teen Titans were Robin let Starfire try some cotton candy and it’s really cute 



I remember that scene!!! Robin's absolutely lovesick expression was so romantic to me, even back then.

I didn't replicate that one-for-one, but they're certainly at a carnival! I hope you like it!

The Littlest Wayne: Carnival

(features: established relationship, Conner Kent x gn!Reader, fluff, discussions of structures that aren't OSHA compliant, kissing)

Masterlist is Here!

"That doesn't look safe."

"None of these rides really are," you admit, queueing into the line to ride the Wave Swinger with your boyfriend. "Pop-up carnivals are designed in such a way that they can be thrown up and taken down within a day or two. You can't really afford to bolt anything down because it isn't going to be there in a week."

Conner looks at you with incredulity. He looks like he's trying not to pout, which is adorable. You barely refrain from kissing him.

"Then why are we lining up to get on one?"

"S'part of the vibe," you explain, lifting your hands for emphasis. One of them is interlaced with your boyfriend's, so his arm gets swung around, too. "You don't really go to these things to walk around and then leave again. You gotta ride a ride while wondering in the back of your mind if this is how it ends. You gotta spend way too much money playing a rigged game to win a prize that wasn't worth even a third of what you spent to earn it. You gotta eat a bunch of deep-fried foods that shouldn't be deep-fried and feel incredibly nauseated for the next two days about it. That's the real Carnival Experience™."

"This doesn't sound fun, M," Conner says. "I can take you on a flight and pretend to drop you a couple times. I can ask you for an absurd amount of money and not pay it back for like a week. I can cook you dinner and narrowly avoid giving you food poisoning. We don't have to be here."

"Trust me, it wouldn't be the same," you insist, moving up in the line. This swing ride is one of your favorites, next to The Whip, but you haven't seen one of those in a few years. "It's also the atmosphere. You're surrounded by fun, neon colors and happy strangers and screaming children — it's all part of the experience."

"Yeah..." Conner grimaces, gaze a little distant. "I could do without the screaming children."

"Oh, right," you frown, digging out a specialized pair of earbuds from your pocket and offering them to him. They help muffle out extra sensitive sounds for him, like breathing and footsteps and other people's heartbeats, so he can better control what noise he chooses to perceive. "Here."

Conner takes them, briefly letting go of your hand to put them in, then un-tenses his shoulders and offers you a thin smile.

"That's better," he admits, "but I still think getting on rides knowing they aren't bolted down properly is stupid."

"Welcome to the carnival," you grin. You both shuffle forward in the line, close enough now that you'll be able to get on next round. "You're gonna love this."

"I can fly, M. I don't think I'm gonna care."

Then it turns out he cares. He cares a lot. He actually cares so much. When you and Conner get strapped into your seats, he's white knuckling the chains keeping his chair suspended off the ground.

"You're joking. There's one little bike chain keeping me in this chair and there's a single hook on top holding me up. You're actually joking."

You start spinning and twisting around in your own chair, gleeful. "Isn't it great?"

"No??"

"Alrighty riders. Please refrain from bouncing, spinning, twisting, or yanking on the chains. When the ride is in motion do not grab onto other riders' chairs. Keep the strap secure across your waist while the ride is in motion, and do not attempt to remove it until it comes to a complete stop again. Enjoy."

Conner flinches when the chairs lift into the air. He watches the ground get pulled out from under him, shitty carnival music starting to come out of the speakers while the lights on the ride start flashing. If he weren't invulnerable, he'd be losing his mind right now. How are you able to enjoy such risky activities!? Are you insane!? Actually — you're the one civilian child to a family of crime fighting vigilantes. Of course you're insane.

He looks up to make another comment, but the words quickly die in his throat. Because you look stunning.

You look great all the time, of course. Conner loves to look at you, and you know that. But as the ride starts to spin and your chair starts swaying with the wind, you throw your head back and laugh. You spread your arms out to your sides and kick your feet, eyes closed and hair fanned out.

You're practically ethereal when you're having fun. Conner watches the colorful lights dance over your skin and feels himself falling even more in love with you than he already is. He never wants the ride to end, if it means he gets to see you like this forever.

Using the trick Clark taught him, he speeds himself up to slow the world down, giving himself more time to admire you. To you, it's just a couple minutes in the air, but to him it's hours of unbridled admiration. When you're finally lowered to the ground again, he's unlatched himself from his seat and come around to kiss you.

"Let's go find another ride," he mumbles against your lips. You smirk, victorious, and grab his hand. He's utterly helpless to do anything but trail after you.

"Knew you'd come around. It's the Carnival Experience, babe; it pulls everyone in! Never should've doubted me."

"Yeah..." He says, smiling like a lovesick idiot. It's definitely the rides and games and people making him feel this good, and not the echo of your happy heartbeat or the image of your carefree smile under the neon lights burned into his memory. "Shouldn't have doubted you."

[visenyaism]

Dany advisor tier list?

Just for you I made you a rubric. I did not include “could reasonably be called a good advisor” because I think many of them would disqualify. Poor kid.

Here is my ranking based on said points.

12. Viserys- 3. Despite my best efforts to rig this shit, Viserys ends up last. I remembered the reason why Dany is attached to Jorah at all isnt because he is reliable or a good advisor but because he is only slightly more reliable and less of an active threat than Viserys at the time.

11. Warlocks of the House of the Undying- 3.5 if you count prophetic dreams as good advice.

10. Jorah- 4. Fun fact when I was reading dance for the first time and he showed back up again and was reintroduced hiring a sex worker who looks just like Dany I had to put the book down and go for an hourlong calm down walk up a mountain before I continued because I got too mad.

9. Hizdahr- 4. He understands how Mereen works and is pretty honest about it to Daenerys at the cost of. you know. trying to use her as a pawn the whole time and not caring if she lives or dies. Also maybe tried to poison her.

8. Green Grace- 5-6, depending on if she is the harpy or not. Even if she isn’t she has a clear vendetta against her and is actively trying to manipulate her.

7. Mirri Maaz Dur- 5. She did teach Dany some lessons worth remembering but made sure that those lessons would be traumatic enough that Daenerys would do the exact opposite of it forever and maybe engineer her own downfall as a result, which I guess does accomplish Mirri’s goal. Highest ranking of the people who have actively tried to kill her.

6. Irri and Jhiqui- 6. Why are they still interchangeable after 5 books. Can they get some character arcs. Please. Rank lower because they don’t give her much advice.

5. Rahkaro and the Bloodriders- 6. They don’t seem to give her much advice, but they don’t seem to get much screen time anyway. Again can the dothraki characters not have any depth is that not allowed.

6. The Shavepate- 6.5. may have tried to poison her, jury is still out. If he was in anyone else’s arc, you would be like wow he’s a terrible advisor, but this is a competitive category for Daenerys, so middle of the pack.

5. Daario- 6.5. Daenerys has questionable taste in men because she is fifteen and been through a lot so she thinks this is all her choice and very exciting. But someday when she is older, she is going to look back on this and realize that someone should’ve intervened.

4. Quaithe-7 pending more data on who she is and what she wants. What is your deal girl.

3. Barristan- 7. Half points for “not being a pedophile” and “understands westerosi geopolitics” those are dubious. He is knightpilled and societybrained to the point of near-delusion and the fact that he ranks so high speaks less to his qualifications and more to the fact that this poor girl has had some really terrible advisors.

2. Missandei- 8. but again she is eleven.

1. Grey Worm- 9. Thanks mister worm. Unfortunately Jacob Anderson was still wasted on your role in the show.

[theriverbeyond]

Relistening to the Hadestown soundtrack a lot recently and you know what. I think one of the biggest things that ultimately doomed Orpheus is he changed the shape of his song and his resistance to please Hades. He's "working on a song" that "isn't finished yet", but when he DOES finish it, who is the audience for that song? Not the people he's trying to free, but the God he's trying to take his lover back from.

Epic I is mostly about setting the scene if like, any audience members happened to NOT know the story of Orpheus/Euridyce, but it's still directly critical of Hades. Hades saw her, he wanted her, he fell in love with her because of how she moved in the sun, and the shape of his wanting necessities someone else's deprivation. So he took her where "the sun never shone on anyone", and the world was worse off until she won her 6 months of freedom.

Epic II is the most directly critical of Hades. He is "king of silver, king of gold", king of "everything glithering under the earth", and his capitalist hunger means that will never be enough. Epic II emphasizes Hades' jealousy that someone he wants could ever want to be somewhere else, even temporarily, his exploitation of workers, how the riches that he violently guards only exist because of "a million hands that are not his own".

But Epic III? Epic III is the story defanged. Hades fell in love. It takes away his agency and his responsibility in his own cruelty. It pays deference to him as king put quickly pivots to framing him as just "a poor boy", "afraid", versus a God. but he was always a God! Orpheus tries to reach him by appealing to Hades' view of himself -- a hard worker, laboring thanklessly for the woman he adores, the woman he fights for. He tries to reach him by helping Hades remember love. And it... doesn't work. It can't work.

Hades will never let him go. He will "let them try", but he rigs the game and lays the stakes, and more importantly by capitulating to Hades' rules and agreeing to play the game on Hades' terms and reshaping his song to please the very God he is trying to outsmart, Orpheus loses himself, and he loses the strength and resiliance needed to take Euridyce (and the other Workers!) home.

Something something about how art can be people power and resistance and revolution, but it is also so easy for that resistance to be taken and twisted away from us. It's so easy for that power to be freely given, by us, in some hopeful-hopeless attempt to win over people who will never, ever simply allow us to leave. And how that process systematically removes any real power our art and voices once had because when you play by their rules, you lose. "It's an old tale, it's a tragedy".

And I say all of this knowing that Hadestown itself is has now become a comercial product. Sure we sing it again and again and again, but can we take it back? Once we give it away. Can we take it back?

[harmless-variety-of-garden-snake]

It's the last day of Fluffebruary. My heart. Today's fill is: Marriage Proposals. I do reference the fills for days one, thirteen, nineteen (sort of), twenty-three, and twenty-six in this one. MCU has nothing on me. There's also switching POV, which I note by doing two lines of dashes. Time jumps within the POV are marked by one line of dashes. You can also read this on AO3 here. Tagging @bucktommyfluffebruary

Buck ambushes Bobby when he gets out of the bathroom, because he’s been trying to get Bobby alone all day.

“I need your advice,” he begs, and Bobby turns toward him with an expectant look on his face. “Is it ethical for me to get my boyfriend really drunk so he doesn’t wake up when I try to measure his ring size?”

Bobby blinks at him and shifts his weight to put his hands on his hips, his body language radiating exasperation and paternal disappointment. “Kid, what the hell do you think my answer’s going to be?”

He winces. “That I should’ve asked Chimney if I wanted a ‘yes’?”

“Probably.” He smiles and reaches out to squeeze Buck’s shoulder, jostling him a bit. “I’m happy for you two.”

“Thanks,” Buck says, smiling and finally not feeling like he’s going to shake out of his skin for the first time since he woke up that morning. “Any ideas?”

“You guys don’t have the same size hands?”

Buck flushes. “No, ah—his are a little bigger. Broader. His fingers are—I don’t know if you’ve ever noticed how big they are.”

Bobby raises an eyebrow, his hand retreating from Buck’s shoulder. “Can’t say I have.”

“Really? It’s, like, the second thing I noticed about him,” Buck says incredulously, and Bobby’s other eyebrow goes up. “Right. Okay, yeah. Straight guys don’t usually notice other guys’ hands.”

“Not unless I need to,” Bobby confirms. “Notice anyone else’s hands that might be the same size?”

Buck thinks about it for a moment and then it hits him. “Actually, yeah. I think I have. Thanks, Bobby.”

“Anytime, kid. Good luck. Let me know if you need anything,” he says, turning and wisely exiting the situation. Buck probably shouldn’t have gotten all gooey about how big Tommy’s hands are. To be fair, they're big and his fingers are thick.

“Fuck,” he breathes, pulling out his phone.

Well, he might as well get a reference photo while he’s at it.

–

Sal slides into the booth across from him. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Buck drops the beer mat he’s been playing with and looks around to make sure no one’s listening before leaning in. “What’s your ring size?”

He smirks and lifts his beer to his lips. “Why, Buckley, you know I’m a married man. You willing to fight it out with Gina or is this a side-piece situation?”

“Shut up,” Buck groans, sitting back as Sal cackles. “Also, Gina would gut me.”

“And dump you in a river,” Sal confirms. “You trying to make an honest man of our Tommy?”

Buck flushes and shrugs, picking up the beer mat again and running his finger along the edge. “Hoping to.”

“Good for you, kid. Thirteen and a half.” Buck’s head snaps up, and Sal’s got a real, genuine smile on his face. “But you can get ‘em resized pretty easy. What's yours?”

“E-eleven, I think?” he guesses, trying to remember the last time he'd looked. “Maybe a ten and a half. I don't really wear rings.”

Sal grins and holds out his beer. “Better get used to it.”

Buck feels a smile creep across his face and sighs, lifting his own beer to tap against Sal’s. “Hopefully.”

“I think you'll be okay.”

–

–

“Ten and a half,” Sal says, dropping onto Tommy's couch.

“What?” Tommy asks from where he's trying to get a pebble out of the tread of his boots.

“His ring size. Ten and a half, maybe eleven.” He puts his socked feet up on the coffee table and shrugs. “I'd go with eleven, it's easier to size down.”

The knife he's using slips and almost slices across Tommy's hand. “What? How—how?”

Sal smirks. “I have my ways.”

Tommy drops the boot and sits back on his heels with a heavy sigh. “Okay. So—I’m doing this. Am I really doing this? It feels soon, right?”

“Couldn't tell you. But from where I'm sitting,” he says, sweeping his hand across to gesture at the living room or maybe the house or just Tommy's entire life, “you two built something together. Just keep building. We don't usually get to live too long—if it's not a fire, it's a building falling on you or a bolt of lightning or cancer. And you're already middle-aged, Maso. You got your boy, he's not going anywhere. Just put it on paper.”

“You're right.” Tommy stands and shakes out the tingling that’s settling into his hands. “Thanks.”

“‘S why I’m here,” Sal says, crossing his arms over his chest. “And the free booze.”

Tommy snorts. “You thought it was free? Buddy, your tab’s been running for years. I’ll finally be able to pay off the mortgage when you settle up.”

Sal looks offended at that. “Hey, just for that, find a new best man.”

“I didn’t ask,” Tommy points out.

“Who the hell else you gonna ask?” Sal shoots back, getting to his feet. “Your other best friend?”

Sal comes around the table and engulfs him in a tight, back-slapping hug, which just turns into a hug.

“Thanks again,” Tommy says as they pull apart.

“Love you, brother,” he says, holding his face and pressing a smacking kiss to his cheek. He reminds Tommy of his Prozio Aldo so much sometimes, especially when he does shit like that. “Let’s go cut down a tree.”

“We’re just trimming it,” Tommy reminds him.

“Uh-huh.” Sal steps around him to grab his boots and starts walking toward the back of the house. “You say that now, but wait ‘til I get a few more in me. You’ll be lucky to have a yard by the time I’m done.”

–

He’s pacing outside the station until he hears Maddie call his name, and he whirls around to see her approaching with a tray of something. They’re doing a late holiday potluck, having passed Christmas and New Year’s, and Tommy had made sure she would be coming.

“Hey!” he says, folding her into a side-hug before taking the tray from her. “Can we, uh, hang out here for a second? Just waiting for Bobby and Athena.”

Maddie’s brows pinch together for a moment. “Sure. Everything okay?”

“Yeah,” he says, realizing he probably looks like he’s going to pass out. “Yeah, I promise.”

Bobby steps around the corner, glancing over his shoulder, Athena close behind. “Hey. Sorry, kid’s trying to get my damn dry rub recipe again and keeps cornering me. What’s going on?”

Tommy looks between their expectant faces and wants to dive head-first into whatever Maddie’s brought, which smells like it could be something with apples and brown sugar. “I wanted to ask you guys something. I kind of thought maybe Howie should be here, but he can’t keep a secret at all.”

“He can’t,” the three agree in unison.

He exhales slowly, realizing he’s been barely breathing for the last few minutes. “I wanted to ask you guys something—”

“You already said that,” Bobby points out, and Athena elbows him.

“I know it’s old-fashioned,” he admits. “And kind of backwards, because it’s really his decision, not yours, but you guys are his family. But I am kind of old-fashioned, I guess.”

“Tommy,” Athena says firmly, catching his eye. “Ask us.”

He swallows and looks at the tray and then back at them. “Can I maybe have your blessing to—to ask Evan to marry me?”

Maddie’s hands go to her mouth as she lets out a gasp, and Bobby’s looking at him with a wide, knowing smile. Athena looks proud, probably having sussed him out the second he walked into the station earlier.

“Yes!” Maddie squeals, hugging him around his middle and almost upending the tray. “Yes, absolutely a yes.”

“Yeah,” Bobby agrees, and Athena nods.

“What’d you think we were gonna say?” she asks, and Tommy shrugs helplessly. “You’re lucky you’re cute.”

“Do you think he’ll say yes?” he asks, letting Maddie take the tray back from him.

“Oh, absolutely,” Bobby says, pulling him into a hug. “I think you’ll be fine.”

–

–

It’s been almost a year since they got back together. Buck doesn’t want to do anything too big, because then too many things can go wrong and there’s all the added pressure. He’s heard horror stories from people who got proposed to in big, public settings who felt obligated to say yes. He won’t do that to Tommy. Tommy melts under romantic gestures, but actually important moments tend to be smaller and quieter. They’d gotten back together in the privacy of a cockpit, they’d agreed to move in together while they were wrapped up in each other on a picnic blanket, they’d talked about marriage and kids in the privacy of their own house and cars and in corners at parties. He’s got no problem screaming how much he loves Tommy from the rooftops, but some stuff is theirs.

He asks Tommy if he wants anything particular for dinner, and Tommy surprises him by saying Miceli’s.

“You really want to risk it?” Buck teases.

“Hey, I like their food,” Tommy protests.

Buck nods. “It’s good. Good enough to risk us breaking up a third time, though?”

Tommy crowds him up against the bathroom counter and wraps an arm around his waist. “You really think I’d let you go again?”

The casual possessiveness does things to Buck, and he shakes his head, swallowing hard as his eyes flick down to Tommy’s lips. “Seven?”

“Six,” Tommy says, leaning in to press a gentle kiss to his throat. “I want to get home early.”

Buck shivers, and then he’s leaning against the bathroom counter alone.

“See you tonight, sweetheart.”

He licks his lips and nods. “See you. Love you.”

“Love you, too,” Tommy replies, swooping back in for a quick kiss that turns into a long kiss until Tommy pulls his head back with a gasp. “Eddie’s gonna kill me if I flake on him.”

Buck finally releases his boyfriend and waits for him to leave their room and then listens for the sound of the garage door opening. When he’s sure he’s alone in the house, he goes to his duffel bag and digs down until he comes up with a drawstring bag containing a ring box.

“Alright, don’t Buck this up,” he mutters, kissing the box and shoving it in his pocket.

–

–

Tommy is going to have a fucking heart attack. He feels like he needs Valium on an IV drip. He and Eddie are skipping basketball so he can pick up the ring, because Tommy had been too nervous to keep it anywhere Evan could find it.

When he finally has the small bag in his hands, he climbs into Eddie’s truck and has to do box breathing so he won’t pass out.

“Dude, you flew into a hurricane,” Eddie reminds him.

“Uh-huh.”

“People used to shoot at you.”

“Yep.”

Eddie looks at the bag and then at Tommy’s face. “I mean, I get it, but maybe you should chill for a bit before we go to the next stop.”

They’re getting Tommy a new suit, because he has two, and one of them was worn to a cowboy’s funeral and the other one was worn to Maddie and Howie’s reception/anniversary party. Evan’s seen him in both of them, he needs a new one. He’s picked that out also and had to get it altered, because he always has to get suits altered or they hang on him weird.

“No, we gotta go,” Tommy says, trying to relax. “Let’s go.”

–

–

Tommy looks good. Tommy always looks good, but Buck loves seeing him in a suit. He’d loved getting him out of the last one he saw him in, he’s definitely going to love getting him out of this one. It’s simple—black jacket, trousers, and tie with a white shirt—but it’s form-fitting and makes him look like James Bond. He’s glad they’d joked about dressing like they were going to a Michelin-star restaurant, because this is a good look for Tommy.

Buck’s skipped the tie, going for a burgundy suit with a white shirt that Hen had helped him pick out. The shirt has a high collar with no lapels that he’s never worn before and doesn’t use a tie, but it’s also a little tight. Buck hopes he doesn’t somehow stop breathing. Wouldn’t be the first time on a date, and it would suck if it happened on this particular one.

“Look at you,” Tommy murmurs, slipping his arm around Buck’s waist under his suit jacket. “Wanna stay in and fool around instead?”

“Not a chance,” Buck teases, drawing Tommy into a toe-curling kiss. “I wanna show you off.”

–

They Uber to the restaurant, since Buck is too nervous to drive and Tommy says he didn’t get enough sleep. They also want to drink a bit, though Buck’s going to take it slow until he has something to celebrate or needs to soften a rejection.

Their table is a little toward the back, and it’s quiet near them with no one immediately nearby. It’s perfect.

They make it through most of a pitcher of beer and their entrees, and Buck starts to feel like it all might come back up. He taps rhythmically against his knee to ground himself and keep himself from just bursting out everything he’s thinking.

“Hey,” he says, and Tommy looks up from the dessert menu, as though he doesn’t already have it memorized, “so I’ve been thinking about some stuff. Nothing bad, I promise. It’s, uh, good, actually? I think. I hope.”

Tommy sets the menu down and looks pleasantly confused. “Everything okay?”

“Everything’s great,” he says, grinning and leaning in a bit, drawn to Tommy always. “I’ve just—there’s so much stuff in our lives that’s unpredictable, you know? Especially with what we do. We talked about this a while ago, I don’t know if you remember? The whole ‘safe haven’ thing.”

“Of course I remember,” Tommy says, smiling and reaching across to take Buck’s hand.

“Good,” Buck says, turning his hand over and wrapping his fingers around Tommy’s. “I’ve thought about it a lot. You’re this steadying force in my life, this thing I’ve been looking for since I can remember. Most of my days are unpredictable, some of them are terrible, and I have an eye in that storm and it’s you. You give me peace and love and comfort. You’re the calm and the safety that I’ve been looking for every single day of my life.”

Tommy’s face softens. “Evan, you’re that for me, too. You’re more than I ever knew to look for. God, I couldn’t have dreamed I’d ever meet someone like you, let alone be lucky enough to love you and be loved by you.”

Buck’s heart starts racing in his chest, because it’s time, and he pushes his chair back so he can get up and come around to Tommy, who looks thrown.

–

–

Evan is standing next to him and Tommy wants to grab him and put him back on his chair, but when he starts to rise, Evan’s hand presses on his shoulder.

“Just—I don’t know what else to say here,” Evan says, reaching into his pocket and lowering himself onto one knee. “I just want to know if you’ll marry me, Tommy.”

That—that’s his line.

Tommy feels like the air’s been vacuumed out of his lungs, and he doesn’t think he has hands anymore. Or feet. The top half of his head might be gone, too.

“Oh–I—oh,” he gasps when Evan opens the ring box he’s holding. His hands are shaking when he does it. “I—Evan.”

He pushes his chair back and reaches into the pocket of his own trousers before kneeling in the cramped space between this side of the table and the wall. Evan’s eyes are teary and a little confused, and then Tommy holds up his own box, opening it to reveal the ring.

“Will you marry me?” he asks, and Evan’s face crumples before he claps his free hand over his mouth to hold back a noise Tommy’s never heard him make. It’s like a laugh, a cry, and a sob all at once. Tommy's own eyes start to flood with tears even though he's also laughing, because this is ridiculous.

They grasp each other’s faces and laugh and kiss, and then they’re hugging. There’s noise near them—clapping?—and Tommy presses his nose to Evan’s jaw.

“That was a ‘yes,’ by the way,” he whispers, and Evan laughs against his shoulder.

–

–

He didn’t know. He’d been so focused on his own anxiety that he hadn’t noticed Tommy’s. But there’s a ring on Buck’s finger, and he can’t stop staring at it or the one on Tommy’s.

“How’d you get my ring size?” Tommy asks.

“Sal,” Buck replies, and Tommy laughs. “What?”

“That’s how I got yours.”

Buck remembers Sal asking him, hadn’t thought much of it because it was relevant to the conversation, and laughs. “God, he’s going to be—”

“Insufferable.”

“—the worst,” Buck agrees.

Tommy brushes his thumb over Buck’s ring and smiles. “I hope you don’t mind, but I asked your sister, Bobby, and Athena for their blessing. I asked Howie earlier this week.”

Buck bites his lip and leans in to prop his chin on his free hand. “I asked Bobby if it was unethical to get you drunk so I could measure your finger.”

“It is,” Tommy says, rolling his eyes when Buck shrugs. “But—so everyone knew?”

“Yep.”

“And they still let us—”

“Yep.”

Tommy huffs out a laugh. “Bastards.”

Buck tugs his hand close so he can kiss his knuckles. “Let’s go home.”

Their server appears a few moments later when Tommy flags her down, and she places a bag on the table with a smile.

“Your desserts—packaged to go and on the house. There’s some extras in there, too,” she says, stepping back. “And your dinner was paid for by another patron. Have a great night, guys, and congratulations.”

Someone had already sent them a video and someone else sent photos via AirDrop, and Buck twists around to see if he can figure out who paid. The people who had sent the pictures and video were gone. No one else is paying them any particular attention.

It’s outside, they’re standing in the same spots they had almost two years before, but Buck has his arms around Tommy’s waist this time. This time, they have rings on their fingers, and they’re getting into the same car and going to their home. Where he imagines they’ll have intense celebratory sex followed by celebratory desserts eaten out of take-out containers while they drape themselves over their couch in their underwear.

“C’mere,” Tommy says, holding up his phone.

Buck smiles for the photo, holding up his left hand alongside Tommy’s.

–

–

In the Uber, Tommy sends the photo to the ‘Fire Family’ group chat with the message: We said yes!

There’s a flurry of emojis and congratulatory messages and questions about when the wedding is. He turns the screen off on his phone and links his hand with his fiancé’s on the middle seat.

“Think we can plan a wedding in under a year?” he asks.

Evan scoffs. “Give me a clipboard and a budget, we’ll be married in six months.”

Tommy smiles and leans over to kiss his cheek. “The sooner the better.”

“In a rush?” Evan teases, smiling at him in the dim light.

“To spend the rest of my life as your husband? A little. Kind of wish I could’ve done it a long time ago. Like, years ago, even though I didn’t know you then,” he admits, and Evan smiles, making a soft noise. “Hm?”

“Something Hen said,” Evan says, shaking his head. “‘You’ll go to bed and wake up every day wishing you’d found each other sooner. ‘Cause life is so damn good that everything before him felt like wasted time.’”

Tommy’s heart slams against his sternum. “Yeah.”

Evan lifts their hands to kiss the back of Tommy’s, tucking it against his cheek. “She said that, and I knew I was going to marry you. I didn’t hope I’d do it or think I’d do it. I knew.”

“I was sitting in a park and had just asked you to move in with me, and I knew I’d have eloped with you that day if you asked.”

“So about three weeks after I talked to Hen.” Evan chuckles and turns his head to kiss his hand again before lowering their hands back onto the seat. “You ever think we’re meant to be sometimes?”

“Sometimes,” Tommy agrees lightly, and it’s his turn to kiss Evan’s hand, his lips landing right next to his ring.

[mellowtrashtrash]

FNaF World: Welcome to the Freakshow!

Today I challenged myself to see how many characters I could complete in one day. We've got a lot to cover, so let's get started with...

Scrap Baby!

Pizzeria Simulator's iconic wretched dumpster clown!

Some of my finest modeling and animation! Scrap baby was a doozy of a design to try to simplify. She practically has the detail of every Sister Location character combined! Naturally, this proved to be quite the challenge, but in the end it turned out great. The shapes are very smooth and the rigging is exquisite. You can hardly even tell with how swift the animations are, but I was very deliberate with how those little wire-orb things were rigged. They move with the limbs and body to skillfully avoid obvious instances of clipping!

There were lots of hooks and curves involved in the blender process, and it was a meticulous and precarious process, but I managed to pull Scrap Baby together in about three days. After finishing her today, I figured "Hey, why not do a couple more! I have it in me!" And with that, my quest began. The next character(s?) I tackled was...

The Minireena duo!

Everyone's favorite claustrophobic nightmare children!

I decided to go with two of them, in reference to Sister Location Custom Night's two different sets of Minireenas, and also because just one would be far too small!

Now these little punks were a delightfully obnoxious design process! I'd never had the (dis)pleasure of working with two separate armatures in one character before this, and it was quite the challenge. But you all know I like a good modeling/animation challenge. It gives the sometimes boring process some novelty!

Sidenote: Minireenas' eyes are kind of weird. They show up only in specific instances, but are absent the rest of the time. Obviously so, as you can see their little endoskeleton in their custom night icon. No eyes! I think Scott just needed a way to make their jumpscares a little more intense, and didn't want to worry about giving them eyes anywhere else. But hey, those beady yellow peepers definitely worked! They're quite the uncanny sight!

Next, we've got the one, the only...

Bonnet!

Sister Location Custom Night's very own adorable nuisance!

Remember earlier, when I mentioned how just one Minireena would be too small by itself? There wasn't any getting around it this time. Bonnet is, by all accounts, a palette swap of Bon Bon, but does that hold her back from having her very own identity independent of his? Absolutely not! Bonnet has set herself apart with her signature mosey, her insecurity about her (literal) button nose, and her unnerving ability to maneuver around without the aid of an uncanny, leg-bearing, scary bear companion! (Try saying that five times fast!)

It's a little tough to make a character like this work on their own, but I managed to pull it off, and have somehow produced some of my favorite animations so far. Her big leap is very rabbit-like, and it's pretty natural-looking. Her hurt animation has a little shiver to it, like she's shuddering from discomfort. Her animations managed to be very lifelike, despite the limitations of the character's design.

Next up, in a sort of redundant fashion, we've got...

Lolbit!

The oddball salesman adapted for the screen!

Kind of an odd choice of character, considering Lolbit's already been in FNaF World, but with their breakout roles in Sister Location Custom Night and Ultimate Custom Night since their initial debut, I figured it was prudent to include them. My working theory is that once the story of FNaF World had concluded, Lolbit got bored of hanging around in Animatronica, and decided to find some business elsewhere, winding up with their unforgettable inclusion as a face on a series of screens that forces you to type buttons on your keyboard. Not the most stunning appearance, but hey, it's unique! And it's funding the development of new and better Bytes! Then once their contract expired, Lolbit returned to Animatronica to continue developing Bytes, only to find that new shopkeepers had arrived to take their place. Naturally, this meant Lolbit had only one thing left to do: tag along with the adventurers to find someplace to sell without competition!

In contrast to Funtime Foxy's monstrousness, I gave Lolbit the cheeky, cheerful charisma they've been rocking in every one of their appearances across the franchise. As a result, Lolbit's animations are teeming with callous impudence!

Finally, the character you've all been waiting for, the main attraction, the star of the show... It's:

Gumball Swivelhands!

Pizzeria Simulator's shockingly stupendous sweet-supplier!

Bet you weren't expecting this one, were you? Move over Candy Cadet, Gumball Swivelhands is the new star of the candy-dispensing show!

This character was unexpectedly fun to animate, and I adored the opportunity to model its face, but I must say, that expression seems awfully familiar. I can't quite put my finger on it, but it makes me feel a profoundly frustrated sense of déjà vu...

Pizzeria Simulator is chock-full of memorable character designs, and despite its apparent genericity, there's always been something striking to me about Gumball Swivelhands. A concentrated sense of whimsy permeates this character like the suffocating aroma of six different flavors of bubble gum surrounds a gumball machine.

To me, this is what FNaF World is all about! Identifying and celebrating even the strangest corners of Five Nights at Freddy's history! There's a place for iconic, fan-favorite characters, right alongside obscure, sometimes even downright forgettable weirdos like this one! Five Nights at Freddy's is a freakshow, but not one that ridicules its freaks, one that holds them up high with a combination of joy and pride, like a father whose son has won the big sports game. "That's my son!" FNaF says, gesturing to the Eggbaby. "Hooray!" I scream from the bleachers. "Three cheers for these wonderful weirdos! Hip hip, hooray!"

I look forward to whatever I have to share next time. As always, thanks so much for tuning in! I'll catch you on the flipside!

[riddlerthethievingwarlock]

I don’t think I’ll ever get over just how little content there is on Ezekiel Jones. Like- I understand there’s just not a whole lot of Librarians content in general, but this man (mind you, he’s 24 at the oldest in the first season) is supposed to be the World’s Greatest Thief (who had a short stint at MI6 that is never expanded on), and all y’all are just brushing over that!? Oh, and he’s mysteriously immune to random magical artifacts, curses, and acts of retribution from gods when no one else is, as well as being able to handle Zeus’ lightning bolt with surprising ease. Also, his name means “strength of God.” There’s so much more proof I could list, and I know litmasonedits made a whole video essay on it (bless them) on YouTube, but what I’m trying to say is that there is a HUGE possibility Ezekiel is a demigod.

And don’t even get me started on the way this fandom dismisses his IQ level. They were all viable Librarian candidates because they were geniuses! He was first called to the Library when he was at most 14, and I doubt “being good at finding things” was the Library’s only motivation for inviting a literal child to be interviewed when most of its candidates were renowned scientists, inventors, historians, etc. He has entire museum floor plans and inventories memorized, is the resident hacker, and straight up makes his own little gadgets for fun. Remember the casino episode? Where he says, “Machines are my thing,” and then rigs all of them so that every play is a win?

The episode “And the Christmas Thief” is also a point of contention for me, but with Canon itself. What do you mean he used to be homeless???? Before he was adopted into a family of petty thieves, that is. But for how long? If he was “taken off the streets,” he was old enough to competently escape CPS for at least a short time. Australia could only provide him with so much popularity and opportunities to improve his trade, so, given what we know of just how active and passionate he was about stealing, he wasn’t exactly a legal adult when he left. Y’know, seeing as he would need time to become the world’s greatest thief and a very proficient engineer and hacker. And the bank for thieves and shit. A human being got liquidated via overpowered laser for not repaying his debts, and the other Librarians were (understandably) utterly horrified, but Ezekiel just went :|

Tell me, what does that say about him as a person?

Anywho, the events of that episode are never revisited.

[wangxianficfinder]

Fic Finder

May 20th

~*~

1. Hi! I'm looking for a fic where baby a-yuan and lan zhan travel back in time to during the sunshot campaign, and lan zhan tells everyone that a-yuan is his son, thank you! @suwuiko

FOUND? Lan Yuan’s War by BurningTea (G, 196k, WIP, WangXian, Time Travel, Dad lwj, Sunshot Campaign, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Happy Ending, Rumours, CQL Verse, Mental Health Issues, Sick LWJ)

~*~

2. hi hi, hope you're doing well~ I'm looking for this one fic where the burial mounds area is like a veil of a separate, more dangerous, realm and there are monsters that are starting to break through the realm. Since the monsters are seen more often there have also been sightings of black-robed, red ribbon wearing people who are able to fight them more efficiently. It all comes to a head when there's a discussion conference and wwx shows up after either being asked to help or eavesdropping and helping ojt anyways, but theres lots of monster fighting and its v cool. wwx, wei yuan, song lan and/or xxc (?) and all the wens live there because of this insane thing that wwx rigged up that sustains this shield within by using rhe stygian tiger seal. The fic kind of ends with the core reveal and wwx pushing himself so much that lwj does a golden core transfer and gives his own core to wwx.

FOUND! 💖 Echo, Murmur, Dream, Here by bluerainmist (M, 51k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Universe Alteration, the yiling patriarch survives, Angst with a Happy Ending, Catharsis, Slow Burn, Drama, Getting Together, Romance, Hurt/Comfort, Melancholy, Love, Mutual Pining, Reunions, Love Confessions, Eventual Smut, Blow Jobs, Anal Sex, Switching, Grief/Mourning, fucking while pining, Implied/Referenced Torture, Self-Harm, golden core transfer, Playing fast and loose with worldbuilding, Battle Scenes, Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, implied / Referenced suicide attempt, Sect Leader WWX, YLLZ WWX, Yílíng Wèi Sect)

~*~

3. thank you so much for this blog!!! you have helped me find so many great reads! for your next fic finder, can you help me find a story i’ve searched for but cant find. its modern, no cultivation. Lan Zhan is part of big publishing company. believe Wei Ying is living with Wen Ning - dont remember how LZ/WY get together but at some point LZ discovers that WY has created a beautiful gaming world and happy ending LZ’s company publishes it as hugely successful game. hope this is enough info!

FOUND! 🧡 Where’s Your Emergency? by trippednfell (M, 64k, WangXian, 911 Dispatcher WWX, Single dad LWJ, Kid fic, Modern AU, D&D Games, Angst with a happy ending)

~*~

4. FF request please!

All I remember is wangxian had confessed and WWX was texting JC who didn’t really want to know but asked anyway and WWX responded with “cri cri, kith, more cri and kith kith kith” and JC was all “why did I even ask?!”

It was cute and multi chapter, I think? I wanna read it again so bad. Plz! 🙏

~*~

5. Hi! Please help me find a fic I've been looking after for ages!

It starts with Qin Su using the body sacrifice spell to bring Jiang Yanli into her body. Later on, Jiang Yanli tricks Xue Yang into using the same spell to resurrect Wei wuxian. I also think that Wei wuxian eventually manages to change his face back into his old one but uses a fake Xue Yang face when trying to uncover the plots of the Jin sect @avendesora-sedai

FOUND? the problem with authority by isabilightwood (M, 139k, WangXian, QingLi, Canon Divergence, Sacrifice Summon, slightly dark!JYL, wq lives because i said so, Angst with a Happy Ending, Chronic Pain, Mild Sexual Content, Top/Bottom Versatile | Switch WangXian, manipulative relationship (background xiyao))

~*~

6. hii!! I just wanted to thank you for all that you do for fanfic readers, we really very appreciate you!

I have been looking for a fanfic on AO3 for months and I have a feeling it may have been deleted but on the off chance it wasn't and I'm just a terrible finder, I was hoping you can help me? it was around a 20k one shot of wei ying in a modern universe with no magic and he is dealing with guilt for having caused a car accident that injured jc and yanli. he left them to live alone recovering from a leg injury and he met wen qing who was working at a supermarket. she wanted him to care for his injury when he was not doing so. there was a scene where he was taking care of plants in his apartment and deciding to meet the jiangs again. sorry it's so long but I wanted to read it again!

FOUND? #6 is a fic by ribena called "take yourself home" , I have a pdf. DM me if you would like it! @/the-marathon-continues-nip

~*~

7. 🥺🙏 would you happen to know a wangxian fic where lwj is the moon god and wwx is the death god and they were together but 'broke up' before the start of the fic.  

the fic's main plot follows 3 mortals who are sent to the heavenly realm to somehow solve the problem of why wangxian broke up and it turned out toq be a huge misunderstanding in the end. lots of mystery and worldbuilding around thr heavenly realm, with most of thr mdzs as deities of different types. a side of mpreg in the final chapters with mo xuanyu as wangxian's spiritual energy baby.  

also: mo xuanyu was the name formed from the characters of each mortals name. @pogopogopogo

FOUND? The Gods of Love by 0_Heta_0 (M, 73k, WangXian, background XuanLi, Greek Gods, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon-Typical Homophobia, POV Outsider)

~*~

8. Hi! I'm searching for a fic I really liked but haven't marked anywhere and now I can't find it😭 I don't remember the title nor author buy it had a very unique plot I remember quite well. Here are a few key points I remember:

Wangxian are married and I'm almost sure it was Royalty AU

Wwx lost pieces of his soul and Lan Zhan is trying to find them in other people

It was mpreg and Wangxian had Sizhui and Jingyi

It was sorta morally gray lwj, since he is sacrificing people in hopes that one of them will being Wei Ying's consciousness back

Wei Ying is not dead but he is dull and I think he bearly spoke

Everyone is still alive

There was some sort of archery competition when a character (I think it was Mo Xuanyu but I'm not so sure) that lwj suspected to have a connection with Wei Ying shows up and he crashes against a tree and Wei Ying feels his pain

Then Wei Ying started appearing in this characters mirror and spoke to him angerly because to gain that characters trust lwj had to kinda flirt and show fake affection to that character and wwx sees it through the mirror and is very angry

Then after sacrificing that character Wei Ying's consciousness is back and he refuses to talk to Lan Wangji, he also isn't aware of how long he was gone for because he only remembers that Sizhui was 3 and that he had still pregnant with Jingyi but in fact 16 years has passed

This fic was not finished from what I remember and I think it was also a part of a series. Please help me find it, thank youuu! <3 @misiasb

~*~

9. Hiiii for the next find finder can you help me with this story (it was on AO3 ) I’ve been searching a couple days now and I cannot find it :c

where wwx and lwj are already in a relationship it’s posible for it to be post canon. another sect sends a group of female cultivators to train I think it was under lwj but the leader of that group is really bold and it’s trying to get lwj’s affection (obviously not working) so they finally go to hunt something and wwx has to finish the threat cause lwj gets hurt or I think he rescues one of the girls and she takes the opportunity to steal a kiss. At some point in the story it was explained that the sect the girls come from has homophonic views and didn’t help in a case because of it.

FOUND? Just As Much by Gemiblu (E, 23k, WangXian, Jealousy, Boys In Love, Homophobia, demonic cultivation bondage, Power Bottom WWX, Cockblocking, Semi-Public Sex, Crying During Sex, Intimacy, New World, Female Characters, Casual Intimacy, mentions of non-canon character death, description of violent acts, post marriage, Explicit Sexual Content, Kissing, Affection, supportive married couple, Pet Names, YLLZ WWX)

~*~

10. hi im looking for a fic i can’t seem to find, but basically it was a misunderstanding trope with wwx entering the body of a female cultivator instead of mo, and the cultivation world thinking they’re engaged and lan zhan still falling for her. if i remember right the summary had a mention of wwx wearing zidian? thank you!

FOUND? By Any Other Name by ShanaStoryteller (Not Rated, 31k, WangXian, Mix of CQL and MDZS, Identity Porn, WWX has an atypical relationship with gender)

~*~

11. Hi! I did find the post! Sorry for the trouble. I don’t use Tumblr a lot! There was a fic recommended but unfortunately that is not the one I was looking for.

I think WWX gave up the Tiger Seal and they were escorting him somewhere after that. The seal suddenly apparently and hide itself in WWX robes. LWJ saw it but didn’t say anything. Then later on the road it comes out and WWX was surprised bc he gave it up in the Jin.

The tiger seal was kinda like a cat. @saint-ly-sins

NOT FOUND? Turn a little faster by apathyinreverie (T, 42k, WIP, WangXian, Time Travel, Humor, Pining LWJ, Oblivious WWX, Cloud Recesses Study Arc, Yin Iron, POV LWJ, time travel outsider pov, WWX Leaves the Yunmeng Jiang Sect, Falling In Love, Canon Divergence, Fix-It, BAMF WWX, Crack Treated Seriously) There is the one where the Yin Iron is hiding in Wei Yings clothing while he goes around in the past thinking everything is a hallucination.

~*~

12. Hello again!! You guys are wonderful and I was hoping you could help me find a fic I lost. I checked your relevant comp post and still can’t find it.

It was emperor!lwj, and he was married off to wwx as his empress, but cared not for the marriage (not even bothering to glance under wwx’s veil), and didn’t come to him on their wedding night. Wwx is sent off to a deserted, disrepaired palace (the cold palace, maybe?) essentially to be forgotten, and to make the best of a bad situation, wwx+some of the wens (who are ostensibly his staff) begin to farm and actually become a self-sustaining household. Lwj spots wwx one day and is immediately smitten but wwx makes him GROVEL, including doing menial labor on the farm. Wwx wants to remain cold towards lwj for the rejection, but of course eventually thaws and falls for him. I think lan xichen may have been scheming with jgy in this one but I can’t remember for certain. Any other fics where wwx truly makes lwj grovel and not just forgives him for whatever slight that you know of would also be appreciated!

Thank you so much!!!!

FOUND? 我的皇后是農民 | sowing seeds in the cold palace by sweetlolixo (E, 84k, WangXian, Imperial Palace, Emperor LWJ, Imperial Consort WWX, Farmer WWX, Angst, Romance, Wingman LJY, Wife-chasing-LWJ, Arranged Marriage, Best Boy A-Yuan)

~*~

13. Hello! I am simply terrible at remembering to bookmark fics. I was trying to find the fic where lwj and wwx go back in time at the events of night less city after lwj stabs wwx with his sword by accident? I had thought it was We Can See a New Start, but that’s clearly not it. I can’t narrow down the tags enough to find it, so I’m turning to yall. Thank youu

FOUND! Regrets by antebunny (G, 38k, WangXian, JC & WWX, Canon Divergence, Miscommunication, Misunderstandings, Time Travel Fix-It, Temporary Character Death, Explicit Descriptions of Love, and other squishy feelings, Angst with a Happy Ending)

~*~

14. For days I've been trying to find this fic. I'm not sure with the details like if wei wuxian is a farmer here or older (i think he is a farmer though) but what I remember is lan wangji making advances to wei wuxian while sleeping (wei wuxian here is known as a heavy sleeper ) but at some point wei wuxian got awake during those and from then on anticipate what lan wangji gonna do, so he knows what lan wangji is doing and there's a number of that that happens. Also, lan wangji is running out of time because he was about to go to the main central or the palace to take an imperial exam (? I'm not sure if that's the term) anyway, he was going with lan sizhui to take that exam. I'm not sure if he goes on the day of the exam but I vaguely remember that he confess his feelings to wei wuxian before or on that day. Then they did the everyday. ヾ(＠゜▽゜＠）ノ

(I seen this post, can I have this? Anyone?) @lanwuxian0725

~*~

15. Hellooo, I'm looking for a modern au where wwx has amnesia and doesn't remember being in a relationship or possibly even married to lwj, so they tell him they're roommates and remove all hints from their shared appartment. I remember wwx wondering why his room seems to have no personality (because it's the guest room) and him figuring it out when he goes snooping in lwj's room (which is of course their shared bedroom). I think lxc was involved in hiding the "evidence". Please, hivemind, send help! @wingsofbadass

FOUND! Hi I'm the one who was looking for the amnesia au, #15 on the 20.05. Fic Finder. Through an incredible group effort that involved someone remembering the pfp attached to the threadfic, someone recognizing whose pfp it was, and me combing through my discord history, we have figured out that it was a thread by yeehawmeowqing who has since deactivated and has asked to remain a memory.

not super helpful, but I am almost positive that I've read 15 and now I can't find it anywhere so it's possible it's been deleted? or hidden in a collection? if anyone keeps track of those things, that might be somewhere to look.

~*~

16. Hello - I am looking for a fic where wwx was helping in a fisherman village. He ends up getting very close with a family there. Also he sent a few kids from that village to Jinlintai to learn cultivation and JL kept complaining that those hooligans were destroying koi tower. WWX end up marrying lwj at the village @hid9884

FOUND! Linger by the Door (I’ve Always Been Yours) by piecrust (T, 78k, wangxian, slow burn, canon compliant)

~*~

17. Hello, I'm looking for a fanfiction, A/B/O world, Wuxian is an omega whose Mrs. Yu arranged a marriage with the alpha, Lan Wangji. At the same time, Yangli was supposed to marry Zixuan. I remember that it was a story from Yanli's point of view, who is bitter that Zixuan doesn't love her and didn't make her equal in the relationship, while Wangji made Wuxian equal in the relationship, which was not common. The Wangxians weren't in love before the marriage, but they respected each other and eventually fell in love. I know that equality in alpha-omega relationships was important in this story. @cityofhappiness

FOUND? 🔒 Alliance AU by Ilona22 (E, 23k, WangXian, JYL/OC, Arranged Marriage, A/B/O Dynamics, PWP, WangXian Get a Happy Ending, Intersex Omegas, Not JC Friendly, Matchmaking, canon Jiang family dynamics, Family time, Night Hunts, Mention of male omega pregnancy, Intrigue at Jinlintai, Mentions of Prostitution, War, Conflict between characters) with part 5 being the one I think they're after

~*~

18. Hello! Please help me find a fic where Wei Wuxian wakes up in Mo Xuanyu's body but as time passes his looks change into his old body. I'm like 85% sure it was from a third person viewpoint and the junior ducklings reaction was also written. I read this fic about 2 years ago I think and for some reason didn't bookmark it! Please help me find it I will forever appreciate and love you if you did<333 @aryadaiki

But the one I'm searching for was shorter than this it's mostly just reactions of everyone around him

Im sorry it's neither of those (⁠╯⁠︵⁠╰⁠,⁠) it's very gradual and no one noticed until he's completely transformed in his old body

NOT FOUND! Saw My Life in a Stranger’s Face by timetoboldlygo (T, 27k, WangXian, Post-Canon, Established Relationship, Married Life, Domestic Fluff, Light Angst, wwx’s face changes post-canon to look like his original face, Slight Panic Attack, because lwj doesn’t recognize his husband, the mortifying ordeal of not knowing your own body, the terrifying inevitability of change, taller!wwx theory)

NOT FOUND! Is Your Old Body Considered a Halloween Costume? by The_peregrine_falcon (G, 3k, WangXian, WWX's original body, Fluff, Canon Compliant, Post-Canon)

NOT FOUND! Transcend by covalentbonds (Not Rated, 7k, WIP, WangXian, Post-Canon, Fluff and Humor, Smut, YLLZ WWX is prettiest fight me)

~*~

19. Hi, I’m looking for a fic where wwx has been wondering the world by himself. I believe little apple was with him, but him and lwj were sharing a bed together in an inn and wwx was anxious about it because he didn’t think lwj liked him back. I’m so sorry if this description is bad 😭

FOUND? all I find is you by daltoneering (E, 10k, WangXian, Post-Canon, Mutual Pining, Getting Together, Fluff, Confessions, There Was Only One Bed, First Time, finding home in unexpected places, Braid LWJ, Wound Tending)

~*~

20. Help me find this fanfic. When Wei Wuxian fell off the mountain (it think the one in night less city) instead of succumbing to his own death, he was saved by baoshan sanren and was it with lan yi or lan an? He suffered from amnesia and forgot his son with Lan Wangji. He lived with Baoshan Sanren, together with Song Lan, Xingchen and the blind girl. @lu-wanji

FOUND? Until The End by abCEE (M, 365k, WangXian, LSZ & LWJ & WWX, Canon Divergence, war changes people, no pinning, LWJ learns how to speak, WWX is not oblivious, Established Relationship, wangxian are married and have a son, Mpreg, Good Uncle LQR, a little grey LWJ, a bit of JC bashing from LWJ, BAMF JYL, 16 years of yearning, Canon-Typical Violence, LSZ is LWJ & WWX’s Child, WWX Has a New Golden Core, Canonical Character Death - WWX, Canon Rewrite, Happy Ending, Fix-It of Sorts)

~*~

[midnightshindig]

You write the Cecil’s kid hc’s so well! Could we see him assigning his kid who’s already friends with Mark to try and get more info on him after the events of season 3 (basically betray his trust and spy on him a little)? Bonus points if Mark didn’t know the reader was related to Cecil when they became friends :)

Idk how to title this just read the ask

This is such a cool idea!! I've been kind of frustrated with Mark this season, but he's also a teenager just trying to navigate the world in a way that makes the most sense to him.

SEASON THREE SPOILERS!!

Hcs below the cut!

After Nolan goes insane and abandons Earth, Cecil decides he needs a constant feed of information on Mark's mental state

Enter stage right: his teenage child

Who, up till now, was a secret from all but the highest ranking government officials.

but now he's transferred you to Reginald Vel Johnson High School, rigging the system just enough so that you have three classes plus lunch with Mark.

He gently suggested it might be a good idea to make friends, and send you on your way.

and much to his chagrin, you and Mark hit it off immediately!

You only find out why your dad made you change schools when Mark reveals his secret identity to you

but luckily for Cecil, you know your dad well

He has reasons for things

"Y/n... I'm... Invincible."

"oh? OH-! Cool- thats- amazing, Mark, really! I'm gonna be right back!" And you crash into the hallway, running down the stairs out to your car and calling your dad

"Y/n I told you not to call this line at wo-"

"YOU SET ME UP WITH INVINCIBLE?!"

"Woahhhh, no. No, not like that I just- I need to keep an eye on him. I'm not asking you to spy or betray anybody, just make sure he's level-headed and not an evil Viltrumite. Okay, kiddo?"

So you begrudgingly start reporting to your dad on Mark's mental state

And this goes fine, for a while

You and Mark get into college together, staying in contact even when Mark goes rogue

All until Mark threatens Cecil, and Cecil reveals he basically has an audio bomb implanted into Mark

Mark comes home to tell you and William about it, not understanding when you choked on your drink at the news

"He did WHAT?" You yelled, slamming your mug down onto William's dorm table and pulling yourself to your feet "That fucking- I can't believe-" You mumbled incoherently, trying to keep your cover

Would Mark still be your friend if he knew?

Would your dad blow this for you?

You didn't know what to expect at all

Mark's right across from you, talking about how he threatened your father, and you don't know if he would do the same to you

I mean, of course he wouldn't

You've known Mark almost two years by now, you're practically family

You go on like this, nervously keeping your fathers secret

and it's fine until he starts asking more and more of you

Ask deeper questions, get more specifics, figure out what he's planning, try and convince him Cecil is right

and how can you say no when his throat is purple and bruised

you loved your dad

and so you start digging deeper into Mark

"Say, Mark," you pop a fry into your mouth, him, you, and William at a drive through parking lot "Why don't you believe in rehabilitation? I mean, like, you were pretty anti prison in highschool, remember that whole presentation we had to do?"

Mark tenses, and he can't give you a better answer than "It's just not right. Y/n, it just.... it isn't okay."

There isn't a lot you can do with that.

Mark, in secret, is growing suspicious

He's paranoid, though, and can't take his suspicious seriously

What if though? What if you're an alien or a spy or someone who could get someone really hurt?

He asks Rudy to run a background check on you

"I'm surprised Mark, what do you want to know?" He seems candid, like this is an unusual request but nothing he can't do

"I want to know- uhg- everything! Where they come from, are they evil? A criminal past? Wh-"

Rudy cuts off Mark, with a curious voice "Where they come from? Mark of course they're human, just as human as Cecil is, and he swears the mother was human as well"

"What does Cecil have to do with this?"

"Oh. Oh you don't know."

Mark is growing impatient "Don't know what, Rudy?"

"Y/n is Cecil's child. How else would I know them?"

"I didn't know you knew them! I- what???" Mark is furious, his chest starts heaving and he crouches down on the floor of teen teams hideout

He has to talk to you.

Tensions are high when you meet

in the woods

behind your university

alone.

He knows, he has to know, there's not way he doesn't know and he's not going to totally murder you oh noooooo

So when Mark arrives, and you're shaking like a leaf, it only reaffirms your guilt in his eyes

"Y/n- You're working for Cecil? Why?!"

"Why? Mark- he's my dad!" You're on the verge of crying, a state of hysteria Mark has never seen you reach

But he's relentless, and continues "Our whole friendship was a lie?! You've been, what? Spying on me? Poisoning me slowly in my sleep? What- are you just waiting to strike?!"

He approaches you, and you duck to the ground, covering your head with your hands

"Please don't hurt me!!"

Mark pauses, watching his friend- who never felt scared of him before- cower beneath him, flinching when he raises his voice

He felt his soles hit the ground, unaware he'd even begun flying

"Y/n.... I'm not going to hurt you."

He patted the top of your head as you looked up at him, bleary-eyed

"But... I can't let you hurt me either."

and with that, Mark was gone, the fallen leaves flying everywhere as he left

and you were left alone in the woods, still shaking like a leaf

Mark was hurt and betrayed, and he couldn't hurt you

but he could definitely hurt Cecil

and he just might.

[genericpuff]

I don't remember if you answered a similar question already, but will Apollo be as bad as he was in LO ? I feel like it was the easy way out to make the ""popular god"" the bad guy, and his character was misused (like Minthe!) just in order to make a plot line for Persephone and Hades. He's not loved by the mortals and gods for no reason (also Hermes was really reallyyyy popular as was his cult but I'm getting off rails). Wanted to tell you as well that I like the version of Apollo you did so far !

Without spoiling anything, the best way I can sum it up is:

Apollo has problems.

Hades has problems.

Minthe has problems.

Kore has problems.

This isn't a story that's gonna focus on one person as the "root of all evil". Rather, every core character within the plot has deeply-rooted issues that externalize themselves through their actions, and much of the conflicts within the story are driven by those actions.

When it comes to Apollo specifically, I feel like LO definitely dropped the ball on connecting his internalized sense of self with his external actions. By the end it was just "he was evil!" and it barely explored how someone like Apollo could exist, and justify his own actions.

While LR Apollo isn't gonna try to resurrect a primordial god just for the sake of rigging an election, he's definitely gonna have an ugly side that I'm fully planning to explore as the plot goes on, mostly entrenched in his insecurities and externalized narcissistic tendencies. He has both an extremely high opinion of himself but also a lot to prove as a godly (but bastard) creation of Zeus and it's gonna make for some pretty intense (and also fun lmao) drama in time ;0

[ccarisi]

easy to love you

summary: Sonny realizes his feelings towards you as you help him pick up the pieces after yet another fight with his wife. warnings: smut, age gap, dbf!sonny x reader, anti-rollisi/anti amanda, they're both cheating, unprotected piv, blowjob, creampie, size kink, kid/kiddo used, daddy kink, virginity loss, sonny is a sad pathetic old man and you can fix him, aged up sonny to 55 because yum, gender neutral afab adult reader 8.3k words a/n: wowww this is my longest one yet. consider this my apology gift for going on vacation next week. also i know sonny probably lives in an apartment but irdgaf!! i hope everyone enjoys bc i put a lot of work into it okay mwah 🫶 dt: all my sonny freaks but mostly @johnnydubcek

—

They were fighting again.

It was almost routine the way this happens. At least once a week you catch your next door neighbor and his wife in the middle of some elaborate argument. You’d watch through your upstairs bedroom window that peers straight across into theirs, the blinds open just enough to make out the outlines of two rather upset bodies.

Tonight was no different. You watch as the scene unfolds, Sonny throwing his hands up in frustration, his wife Amanda coldly pointing her finger in his direction. You frown as you watch through the window, nothing more than a powerless bystander to a marital dispute that wasn’t any of your business.

Seeing Sonny go through this was upsetting to say the least. He was practically family, there was a point where you swore him and your dad were attached at the hip. Sonny came on every beach trip, every weekend amusement park trip. Almost all of your fondest memories Sonny was there too. Goofy silly Uncle Sonny.

You had a favorite.

You followed Sonny around the boardwalk, eyes wide and sparkling at the different carnival games. A bright eyed kid whose only concerns were spelling tests and time tables. “Can’t I play that one?” You asked him, pointing to a tent with a ring toss game. There was no way you’d land a shot in that thing, but of course you had to pick one with a difficulty level way over your head.

“Those games are all scams, y’know.” Sonny told you as he dragged you along. He ignored your whines and protests that you knew you could win and that you really wanted a new stuffed animal for your room. “How ‘bout I jus’ buy ya one? Whole lot easier that way.” But no, you were insistent on winning one.

You inspected and scanned over every booth, evaluating which one you had the best shot at winning. It wasn’t looking great, admittedly. Most of them you were too small to have a decent shot at or were just straight up rigged. You wouldn’t win any of them.

Not until your eyes landed on one in particular, one of those strength tester games. You dragged Sonny over, determined as ever. “You think you’re strong enough for that, kid?” Sonny laughed at the thought of you trying to even pick the hammer up. “No. But you are, aren’t you?” You smiled up at him, your plan already in full force.“I’m not throwin’ my back out to win ya some stupid prize.” Sonny sighed.

“Or are you just not strong enough to win?” You challenged, you knew Sonny well enough to know he’d have no choice but to prove you wrong. “Aren’t you a cop? Or have you been eating too many donuts?” With a huff Sonny paid for a ticket for the game.

Needless to say you went home with a brand new stuffed bear that day.

You don’t remember his hair being that grey, his scowl that prominent. You know his job is demanding, but that can’t be the only reason.

What happened to him?

He wasn’t miserable all the time, though. Not when you came over. You tried to stop by as much as your own schedule allowed, offering a helping hand whenever possible. Need someone to babysit? Sure thing. You’ll make dinner too while you’re at it. It was nice to see Sonny seem so relaxed in your presence, the Sonny you knew and loved peeking out under that cold stressed exterior.

The more you helped out the longer into the night you ended up staying. Late nights after he put the kids to bed, watching a movie or staying up talking about anything and everything. He always thought you were wise beyond your years, but you really showed it now.

Sonny never felt like he had anyone to talk to about his own problems. It seems like any friend of his was closer to a colleague, not to mention friends with Amanda as well. Who did he have left to talk to, his priest? There was your dad, of course. But if Sonny was honest, your dad wasn’t the type of guy you go to problems with. It was remarkable that you ended up being as compassionate as you were, considering how closed off your own father was.

Maybe it was wrong to confide in you about his relationship problems. You were just a kid after all, at least to him. But once he started, there was no stopping. It all came spilling out of him, a flow of consciousness he didn’t feel like he had the power to stop. You sat and listened, never once interrupting him, only talking when he was all said and done.

Sonny realized in that moment that talking to you was one of the first times as of late he felt truly listened to. He realized a lot of things at that moment, actually.

How grown up you really were now. The way you so thoughtfully and carefully responded to each and every one of his complaints, but never invalidated or belittled him. He noticed how soft and full your lips looked nowadays, and that twinge of color in your cheeks when he looked at you just a little too long.

Sonny also realized that he might have a bigger problem on his hands than just problems with his wife.

You watch as Amanda storms out of the bedroom while Sonny sits down on the edge of the bed, rubbing a hand over his worn expression. The next thing you hear is a door slamming followed by a car engine. A car driving down the road and then silence, just the crickets outside and the lull of the television going in the living room downstairs.

Your eyes are glued on Sonny through the window, watching the way his shoulder sags as he lets out a deep sigh. This wasn’t the first time you’ve seen Amanda storm out after an argument, and you figure it probably won’t be the last either.

What you don’t expect is the way that Sonny lifts his head up, exhausted blue eyes staring into yours from across the way. A shaky breath escapes your lips as you hold his full attention and the look on his face sends a shiver down your spine.

His eyes are pleading with yours as he looks back at you through the window, you’ve never seen him this bad. You’ve spent countless nights at his house as you picked up the pieces after each fight, you know how things go. But something was different tonight and you can feel it in the air, even with the distance between you two.

Sonny watches as you disappear from view and he heads downstairs, he knows you’re coming. Or he hoped– prayed even, anyways. He knows it’s wrong to be dependent on you in this way. You should be out living your own life, spending time with people your own age. Not picking up the pieces of a marriage he knows is over. But that ship sailed a long time ago, and if he didn’t want you to come over then why were his feet moving to the front door so willingly?

As if on cue he hears your knock and he opens the door almost immediately, you were there just as expected. You don’t say anything and Sonny moves to the side to let you in, just like always.

Falling into routine you follow Sonny to the kitchen island and prop yourself up on one of the stools as he grabs a beer bottle from the fridge. “What was it this time?” Sonny can hear the concern laced in your voice. You watch his shoulders tense at the question, the mental burden he’s been carrying making his entire body feel tight and heavy.

“Ah, y’know. Same old, same old.” Sonny dodges your question as he finally turns to face you. The light above the kitchen island shines down on you, illuminating your features, and for a second Sonny swears you’re a real life angel sent to save him. “Are you sure…?” You ask cautiously, careful not to push him into talking if he doesn’t want to. You’d be content sitting with him in silence for hours if that’s what he wanted.

Sonny should have known you would see through his act, this facade of having it together. It worked on everyone else around him, but how many times can he say ‘We’re doing fine.’ until he believes it himself? Taking a swig from his bottle he sits down across from you, you two have been in this exact situation too many times to count. “I don’t know, I’m just exhausted.” Sonny finally admits, cold weary eyes looking down at the wedding band on his finger.

“It’s just– she’s never home now, y’know? Am I expected to raise these kids all on my own? Lord knows how I’d manage without you watchin’ ‘em.” The resentment that Sonny’s tried so hard to bury deep down inside rises to the top before he can stop it. “Seems like nothin’ I do is enough for her. Not bringin’ home enough money, not makin’ dinner how she likes it. I’m doin the damn best that I can–” Sonny cuts himself off before he can finish the thought, suddenly aware of what a bitter old man he must sound like.

“Sorry, I don’t like you seein’ me like this.” He murmurs.

Without thinking twice you reach across the cold marble and take Sonny’s hand in yours, caressing the back of his hand with your thumb. Sonny’s heart stops at the sight of your small hand wrapped around his, your warm skin working like a salve against the frustration brewing inside him.

“I’m sorry, Sonny.” Three simple words. You were sorry. Sorry that he had a wife who didn’t respect him, sorry that he had to come home to a cold empty house everyday, and you were sorry that he married a woman like that in the first place.

With a shake of his head Sonny waves you off with this other hand, “It’s not your fault, kid. I shouldn’t be puttin’ this on ya, anyways.” It was no surprise to see Sonny refuse to put himself first, it was a lot easier to bury his problems deep down and forget about them until they burst at the surface again. And you’ll be there to pick up the pieces, again.

“Thanks for comin’ over, ya didn’t have to do that.” But in a way you did, didn’t you? Who else was going to?

“It’s no problem, I like spending time with you.” You admit sheepishly, suddenly hyper aware of the feeling of his hand in yours. His skin touching yours felt like it was burning you alive and you suddenly pull away, embarrassed that you ever held it in the first place. Sonny coughs and you look anywhere but his face, unable to look him in the eyes.

“You uh…you want a drink?” Sonny ends the silence. “Wait– are you even old enough to drink?” Sonny teases you and it’s the first time his grin reaches his eyes all night.

“Oh, shut up.” You scoff and Sonny takes that as his cue to go and grab you something. You follow Sonny to the living room, drink in hand, like you have so many times before. Turning on the lamp he sits down next to you, illuminating you both in a warm hazy light in the otherwise empty dark house. Bringing the glass to your lips you take a small sip and immediately retract from the taste.

“Ew, what is this?” Your disdain from the drink is clear on your face as you try to get the taste of it out of your mouth.

“Sorry I don’t have somethin’ up to your standards, kiddo. Can’t believe the crap you kids are drinkin’ nowadays.” Sonny takes another swig from his own bottle, enjoying the way the bitter taste goes down easy. “Not all of us are drinking away our problems, some of us drink to actually enjoy it.”

You force yourself to sip the drink as you and Sonny start to catch up on life. Your classes, work, how the DA’s office is treating him. Before you know it you’ve fallen into your usual rhythm while Sonny thinks it’s nice to talk about something that isn’t his own problems for once.

“Say, you seein’ anyone lately?” Sonny asks out of the blue.

“Huh?” You find yourself caught off guard by the sudden question, not fully processing what he’s asking until seconds later. “Oh– um, no. Not really.” You take a big gulp from your glass to avoid talking about your love life any further. You can’t handle that.

“Really?” Sonny asks incredulously with a shake of his head. “You serious? Y’really don’t have a boyfriend or anythin’?”

You shrug and look down at the glass in your hands, eyes focused on a melting ice cube instead of your feelings towards him that were clearly brewing. The thoughts you have about him that you’ll never allow yourself to indulge in for more than a fleeting moment late at night. It was easy to get carried away in the dark of your bedroom, watching him get ready for bed through the window. How badly you wished that he was yours and no one else’s.

Trying your best to shut this conversation down you finally respond after a beat of silence.

“Nope. No boyfriend here.”

“I find it hard to believe a pretty little thing like you doesn’t have guys linin’ up down the block. Guess your Pa wouldn’t be too happy about that, though.” Sonny grins as he looks over at you while he slings his arm across the back of the couch. The way your brows are scrunched together as he teases you mixed with the way your cheeks flush.

“Why do you care? Are you jealous or something, old man?” You hope you sound convincing enough and that your stupid little crush on him wasn’t obvious.

Sonny snorts as he takes another swig from his bottle, and the honest to god truth was that there was a part of him that was. He knows that on almost every level it’s wrong to harbor feelings towards you. Obviously, he was married. That was a given. But to have feelings for you of all people?

He watched you grow up for Christ’s sake. Watched as you went from an innocent sweet heartened kid to an independent adult right in front of his eyes. An adult with wants and needs. He couldn’t help but wonder, were your needs being met?

God, what the fuck was he thinking?

“What I wouldn’t give to be your age again,” Sonny tells you as he puts his empty bottle down.

“It’s not that great being my age nowadays, I would count your blessings.” You murmur. Running a hand through his tousled hair Sonny lets out a heavy sigh, the reality of his current circumstances settling in. “I don’t know, kid. I’ve waited my whole life t’get married and look where it got me. Even if I get divorced, who's gonna want a sad old man like me? I’m already in my fifties for cryin’ out loud.”

It kills you to hear him talk about himself like that. If only he knew just how bad you wanted him, how strong and deep your feelings ran. The way you’d give up anything just for that stupid ring to be on your hand instead.

You’d take care of him more than Amanda’s ever have, that’s for sure. You don’t know if it's the liquid courage or the inability to keep it a secret any longer, but the words come spilling out before you can stop them.

“I would.”

The look on his face makes you wish you could take it back immediately. Of course he wasn’t taking you seriously. “That’s sweet of ya, kiddo.” Sonny brushes you off, despite the growing urge to find out if you’re serious. Against your better judgement you swallow your fears and keep going.

“No, I— I’m serious.” You clarify quickly. Sonny looks at you in disbelief, confusion etched to his face. You weren’t saying what he thought you were, were you? You couldn’t be.

“I mean…it’s just,” you let out a heavy sigh, the alcohol making it hard to think clearly. His face was only inches away from yours and you feel like he’s staring right through. “You’re really good to me and I like spending time with you so much. You two fight all the time and I just wanna help you—”

Sonny shuts you up the only way he knows how.

Suddenly you feel his soft warm lips press against yours and your eyes flutter shut instantly as your body melts into his. Before you can even try to kiss back Sonny is quickly pulling away from you in remorse. “Oh my god— I shouldn’t have done that. “M sorry, sweetheart, I don’t know what I was thinkin’. Please, y’gotta forgive me—“

You struggle to get a word in as he continues profusely apologizing, clearly unaware that you’ve been dreaming of this moment of months.

“Sonny, stop.” You finally manage to squeeze in, putting an end to his spiralling. “It’s okay I…I wanted you to.” You tell him gently and Sonny swears he mishead you.

You wanted him to kiss you? “No, y’didn’t.” Sonny corrects you and he doesn’t know if he’s saying it more for himself or for you.

“I did. I…I do. I want you.” You cringe from how embarrassing you must sound, confessing your feelings for him like some sort of lovesick teenager.

“Say it again.”

Sonny’s voice comes out hoarse, desperate to know that you need him just as badly.

“I want—” He doesn’t let you finish the sentence before his lips are crashing back down on yours, kissing you with a fever he hasn’t felt in years.

His large hand moves to cup the back of your head to hold you in place against him, your hand gripping his tightly. You feel him lick into your mouth, memorizing the taste and feel of you. Sonny’s wet and warm tongue rolls over yours and he doesn’t miss the small breathy moan that escapes you. He wants to learn everything that you like, the only thing that matters to him now is making you feel good.

Sensing the growing hard on in his pants Sonny breaks the kiss, stopping himself before he gets any further. Your lips are swollen and wet as you catch your breath, eyes already glazed over just from making out with him.

“Was that okay?” He whispers, his hot breath ghosting over your lips.

“Y—yeah,” you exhale and Sonny smiles at you while brushing the hair out of your face. You try to lean back in, already missing the feeling of his lips on yours but Sonny stops you, his hands pressing against your shoulders. “Easy, kiddo. It’s late, y’should probably be gettin’ home.”

It pains him to try and turn you away like this, but he’s still not convinced he’s not dreaming this scenario all together. “It’s fine, Mom’s asleep and Dad’s just up watching the game, he doesn’t care when I get back in.” Oh god, your Dad. How could he ever forgive Sonny for this?

“Besides, I said I wanted to help.”

Slipping off the couch you sink down to your knees and Sonny swears his heart has stopped beating all together. “Hold on, what do ya think you’re doin’?” His voice comes out strained, just the view of you on your knees for him has him balling his fists.

“Helping.” Your explanation is simple as your hands rest on the top of his thighs. Throughout your whole life Sonny’s always helped you. Homework, school projects, learning to drive. Wasn’t it time you helped him, too?

“No, we shouldn’t be doin’ this. It’s wrong and— fuck,” Sonny sighs as your hand brushes over his crotch. “When’s the last time she did this for you?” You murmur innocently as you rub him through his sweatpants. You didn’t entirely know what you were doing, faking your confidence and basing your knowledge purely off videos. You’re sure you’ll figure it out as you go along.

“Y’don’t know what you’re sayin’, sweetheart.”

You really were grown up now, weren’t you?

Seeing you like this was wrong but Sonny makes no move to stop you, knowing that this was something you both needed. His fingers move on their own as he goes to slide his sweatpants down and they pool around his ankles.

“Do you want me to…?” You ask. He could say no, put an end to this before he does something he can’t take back. But he couldn’t do that, he was too weak. Lonely.

“Y’have no idea how bad I want ya to, sweetheart.”

Emboldened by Sonny’s response you take a deep breath and slowly peel his boxers down to reveal his hardening cock. He kicks them off to the side as he takes his heavy cock in his hand, lazily pumping his shaft a few times. Your eyes widen as you take him in, the length of his cock was intimidating at the very least and you feel your confidence quickly crumbling around you. Sensing your insecurity, Sonny gently reaches for your hand and guides you to wrap it around his length.

“There ya go, jus’ like that, honey.” Sonny sighs as your warm hand strokes him from top to bottom. “You ever done this before?” He asks as he looks down at your wide eyes focused on his hardening cock as it grows to its full length.

“No…” you murmur and Sonny mentally curses. Could he do this? Be your very first time? There was that part of him that relishes in that very fact, that out of everyone he gets to be your first. Show you the ropes, help you discover what you like and don’t like. He was already imagining what it’ll be like to shove his face in your pussy until you’re a sobbing dripping mess.

“It’s alright, I’ll show ya.” Sonny covers your hand with his larger one and helps you stroke him firmer and quicker and you squeeze his cock all on your own. “Quick learner, huh?” You shrug coyly as he lets out a breathless laugh.

“You wanna try somethin’ else, now? Y’know, to help me out?” He throws your words back at you and you nod up at him from your spot on your knees. “Open your mouth, sweetie.” Sonny tells you and you comply. “Ah, little bit more. Nice n’ wide, okay?”

Sonny slides just the tip of his cock into your mouth and your lips instinctively close around it. Seeing his cock in your mouth was surreal, it feels like just yesterday he was picking you up from school in the squad car. “Fuck, kiddo—“

His hand moves to tangle in your hair, guiding you ever so gently to take more of him into your mouth. Bobbing your head you try to get used to the salty and musky taste of Sonny’s cock.

“There ya go, you’re gettin’ it now, baby.” Sonny praises and it only encourages you to take more of him in your mouth. A little overzealous, you sink your mouth further down on his length as he unexpectedly hits the back of your throat. Sonny’s dick throbs at the sound of you choking on him as you pull yourself off, a long trail of spit connecting your lips to the tip of his cock.

You take a shaky deep breath as Sonny wipes a stray tear from your face with his thumb. “Jus’ relax ya throat, sweetheart. You’re makin’ me feel so fuckin’ good.” That’s all you wanted to do, to make him feel good.

Sonny brings his cock back to your mouth and you learn to relax the best you can. Your tongue drags along the ridges of his cock as you pull a deep groan from him that leaves you dripping. “That’s it baby, use ya tongue. Real fuckin’ natural huh?” His head tilts back against the couch as he watches your head bob eagerly.

The voice in the back of his head that gnaws at him that this is wrong seemingly vanishes the more you work him over. “Shoulda given ya my cock a long time ago, huh?” Whatever the consequences of this are, he’ll deal with them. Just as long as you keep sucking him off like that.

Unable to stop himself, Sonny thrusts up into your warm wet mouth causing you to gag and drool around him. You try your hardest to keep up with him, breathing through your nose as you attempt to stay relaxed while Sonny uses your mouth. Your knees burn from the carpet underneath you as you struggle to stay up right.

You find yourself not minding that though, in fact you’re liking it. Knowing that you can give Sonny this kind of relief whenever he needs it, you’ll sit there and let him take what he needs from you. “Fuck, look at you. You look so fuckin’ pretty.” Sonny groans as he watches you slobber around him, your saliva coating his cock.

Seeing you like this shouldn’t turn him on as much as it does, but the more he ruins you the more his release creeps up on him, that warm tight feeling in his stomach growing with each thrust into your willing mouth. “Oh god, you’re so doin so good f’me, sweetheart. Fuck, jus’ lemme–”

Sonny frantically thrusts into your mouth just a few more times and before you know it he’s filling your mouth with ropes of his hot sticky spend. His hands hold your head in place as he shoots his cum down your throat with a guttural groan that rumbles deep from his chest.

You have no choice but to swallow his cum despite the unsavory taste as Sonny comes down from his orgasm, finally slowly pulling you off of his spent cock. “Jesus christ, kid–” he pants as he looks down at you. Your glassy wet eyes look up at him and there’s a bit of cum on your lips from when he pulled out. He watches as your tongue darts out to lick it off. Good fucking lord.

“Was I okay?” You ask in a small voice as you try to regulate your breathing, skin hot and flushed from what just happened between you two. “Okay? Ya practically sucked me dry, sweetheart.”

“C’mere,” Sonny pulls you up off your knees and places you in his lap. Cupping your cheek he softly presses his lips against yours in a sweet gentle kiss as he pets your hair. “Y’won’t tell your parents about this will ya?” Sonny asks quietly and you quickly shake your head.

“No. Just between us.”

–

Life seemingly continued as normal, minus the fact that more often than not you’re at Sonny’s place and your “catching up” is a whole lot more physical now than it used to be. Sonny was addicted to the feeling of you and he didn’t think he could keep himself away even if he tried.

Things with Amanda weren’t getting any better. The same fights, the same routines. He was pretty sure she was going out of her way to travel for work as often as possible so they didn’t have to be in the same room, not that he was complaining. None of that seems to matter anymore now that he has you. He makes you dinner whenever he can, loving the way your eyes light up from the first bite. Getting you to prefer his cooking over takeout was his biggest achievement yet.

For what feels like the first time in forever, Sonny looks forward to coming home.

“Been meaning to ask you, how’s Sonny doing these days?” Your dad asks one day over breakfast. You almost choke on your cereal while you try to cover it with a cough, like that’ll help. “Why are you asking?” You reply. Smooth.

“No reason, just haven’t talked shop with him in a while. Swear you’ve been spending more time with him than I have lately.” He’s joking, of course. Why would he ever suspect something between you two? That fact doesn’t stop you from staring into your bowl and wishing you were talking about quite literally anything other than Sonny.

“U–Uh…. He’s good, I guess. Just working a lot.” You murmur and swirl the now soggy cereal around in your bowl.

“I heard him and Amanda are having problems.” Your mom says lowly, faux concern lacing her voice. It wasn’t a surprise to you that she knew about it, she was in everyone’s business.

“Really?” Your dad looks at you for confirmation, like you’re the sole source of information on Sonny. “I don’t know, we don’t talk about that kinda stuff…” You lie. Well, it wasn’t entirely a lie. It’s true that you don’t do too much talking nowadays, both of your mouths occupied with other activities.

“Hm, well I’ve heard they’re on the rocks.” Your mom says matter of factly as you pray for this conversation to be over already. “That’s too bad, I always thought they were a nice couple. Got those kids, too.”

You chew on your lip to stop yourself from scoffing as your mom continues. “Yeah, it’s a real shame. I bet a date night would do them some good, don’t you think?” You have a feeling that she’s been planning this all along, just an excuse to snoop and pry.

You’re quiet as you stare into the cereal, your appetite now long gone. A date night?

You don’t know if what’s going on between you and Sonny justifies you being jealous or not. It’s not like you’ve put a label on it, and you’re sure as hell not about to have the ‘what are we?’ talk with a grown man. You clean your bowl in the sink without a word as you disappear from the scene all together, leaving your mom to iron out the details of this elusive double date.

—

“So…” Sonny starts while his fingertips gently trail up and down your arm as you tuck yourself against his chest, the two of you watching one of his ‘old man movies’ as you call them. “Got a call from ya ma’ today,” he finishes casually, making you sit up and face him fully in intrigue. Damn that woman made plans fast.

“‘Manda’s comin’ back tomorrow n’ your Ma thought it might be nice for the four of us t’go out for dinner…” The four of them. “Sounds awful,” you grumble as you lean back down against his chest, no longer interested in hearing about his plans not involving you.

Sonny’s chest vibrates against your cheek, easily amused by how grumpy you’re acting over this whole thing. You never were good at hiding your emotions. “You’re not jealous, are ya?” He teases you while you bury your face further into his chest. A mix of something woodsy and uniquely Sonny fills your senses as you nuzzle yourself into him to avoid answering the question.

“I’m not,” you grumble and Sonny’s hand moves to soothingly rub your back. “Right, ‘course not. Guess it won’t matter to ya then that I managed to get your ma’ on board with you comin’, too.” It’s almost pathetic how fast you sit up again to look at him.

On one hand, you’re pretty elated at the thought of getting to have dinner with Sonny. The downside however, is having to share the same space as Amanda. You haven’t seen her in person in what’s felt like weeks and you like it that way. You don’t know if you’ll be able to stomach looking at them together, but if you’re not there your imagination will go wild. Catch twenty two.

“I mean, it won’t be the same as takin’ ya out to dinner myself but hey, dinner’s dinner ain’t it?” You hum as you pretend to think about whether or not you want to come,

“Fine, but this doesn’t count as a first date.”

–

You push your food around on your plate, having lost your appetite a long time ago. You were sandwiched in between your dad and Sonny at dinner, Amanda on the other side of him. Every time you watched them fake affection towards each other for your parent’s sake your stomach churned. Amanda putting her hand over Sonny’s on the table mixed with the fake tight lipped smile plastered to his face.

Anyone with a brain could tell that was all bullshit. You, especially. Sonny was so stiff around her, like he was constantly on edge. You know better than anyone how Sonny acts when he’s affectionate. The soft warmth behind his eyes, the way he isn’t able to keep his hands off of you just to know that you’re there. Not the way he’s so obviously been putting distance between him and Amanda.

The fact that Amanda was also blatantly flirting with your waiter only made it worse. You watched as she smiled and touched his arm the first time he came to your table, how quickly she dropped her act with Sonny and set her sights on this man instead. Apparently he was an old friend of hers, she claims. You had a feeling an old flame was probably more likely.

It’s not like Sonny really has the right to be upset about this considering what he’s been up to with you lately. But at least he has the decency to keep it a secret, not flaunt it in her fucking face. Sonny’s hand drops down to your thigh and gives it a gentle squeeze to ground himself in the moment. His hand serves to remind you that he’s yours. Amanda can pretend to play happy family when it conveniences her the most but it’s you who’s been by his side bringing him back to life.

Your mom starts up her thinly veiled small talk as she so obviously pries for details from either of them. You stay quiet and keep your head down while you listen to Amanda so obviously lie through her teeth. Sonny’s hand never leaves your thigh and you start to think this is to ground you just as much as it does him.

“This one’s over at your place more than I’ve ever been,” Your dad recycles his joke from breakfast and your head snaps up. What the fuck would he say that for? Unable to bring yourself to look at Amanda’s face you find yourself imaging it instead, you can practically feel the daggers she’s pointing at you. There was no way she knew, right? How could she, she was never there. Maybe she doesn’t like the thought of Sonny spending time with anyone else.

“Yeah, the two of you do spend a lot of time together, don’t you?” Amanda says directly to you and your hand goes to cover Sonny’s on your thigh as an anchor. You shrug and hope it’s not obvious how nervous she’s making you.

“I guess so, I try to help out around the house when…you’re at work…” you murmur the last part, was that appropriate of you to say? You realize you struck a nerve when you see Amanada’s tight lipped expression as she glares at you, as if it's your fault that she’s never home. “Y’know, Sonny and I can take care of our family just fine.”

“Hey, c’mon,” Sonny speaks up in your defense, “I mean, I asked ‘em to help out. It’s nice to have an extra set of hands with the kids n’ everythin’.” Sonny clarifies in hopes that it’ll get her to back off of you.

“Oh, so you asked them. What, you can’t take care of a couple kids on your own?” Amanda chastises him, no longer concerned with keeping up the happy family persona in front of your parents.

“All I’m sayin’ is– they’re a big help around the house, that’s all.” Amanda rolls her eyes as she finishes off her drink.

“I’m sure they are.”

Her voice is laced with venom as the waiter comes back with the bill. You can see the gears turning in her head as she looks at the waiter, her hand resting on his arm as she smiles and laughs at him, very clearly putting together a way to get back at Sonny.

It’s that moment that has Sonny realizing not only is his marriage beyond repair, but that he doesn’t want to fix it. The way she was so willing to tear you down in front of your own parents because she was what, jealous? Trying to prove a point? He may never know her true intentions but the one thing he does know is he would choose you over her in every lifetime.

Amanda excuses herself from the dinner with a see through apology that ‘work’ is calling her with an emergency, telling Sonny she’s not sure when she’ll be back. It doesn’t take a genius to know what she was off to do.

You notice your parents whispering to each other as your dad looks down at something on his phone and a part of you thinks they’re gossiping about Amanda right in front of Sonny. You wouldn’t put it past them. “What?” You question them a little more forcefully than you intended, this whole situation’s left you in a sour mood. Maybe you shouldn’t have come after all.

“Well, when I planned this as a double date I bought movie tickets for your father and I…y’know, for date night.” Your mom admits as your dad looks over at you sympathetically. “We don’t mean to ditch you…We don’t have to go.” You shake your head, no need for them to cancel their plans out of disingenuous pity for you. “Just go, I’ll be fine on my own.” You quickly collect your things, ready to call a cab and get the hell out of there.

“Don’t worry about it, I can give ‘em a ride home.” Sonny tells your parents as they continue to pretend like they’d rather stay home with you than go to the movie. You stop in your tracks, you don’t know why but a part of you thought he’d be upset with you. Like it was your fault that Amanda reacted how she did. You let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding, relieved that hopefully that wasn’t the case.

The car ride back was quiet minus the sound of the radio softly playing in the background. You peer at Sonny through the corner of your eye, unsure of what to say to him. What was there to say, really?

“I’m sorry for how she acted in there.” Sonny sighs, unable to deal with the silence between you a second longer.

“Why are you apologizing for her?” You ask bluntly.

“You shouldn’t let her treat you like that, that wasn’t okay.” Sonny’s tired of hearing this, he’s heard it all before.

“You deserve better, Sonny.” You tell him sadly as he takes his eyes off the road for a moment to look over at you. You looked so vulnerable, so small. He should have done more to protect you from her, he could’ve put an end to things right then and there.

He hopes you aren’t having second thoughts about your… was it a relationship? In most ways, it was. It wasn’t just a physical need Sonny had for you, it was emotional as well. You were the only one who saw him for what he was worth and he can’t stand to risk that over someone who can’t even bother to give him the time of day anymore. He’ll do whatever it takes to show you that.

Sonny’s all over you the second you get back to his place, gently pushing you up against the wall as soon as you make it through the front door. Thank god the kids were at his mom’s. His hands are hot on your skin as they desperately wander your body, kissing you in a way that leaves you dizzy. “I do, don’t I?” Sonny murmurs against your lips and you have no idea what the hell he’s talking about.

“Huh?” Your brows furrow as you pull away to look at his face.

“Deserve someone better.” Sonny answers seriously, calling back to your conversation in the car. “Maybe someone like you, huh?” His breath is hot against your face as your heart races, all you’ve ever wanted was to be his completely. You’d throw everything away for him in a heartbeat. You swallow as you look up at him with wide doe-like eyes, this was a side of Sonny you haven’t seen before. The Sonny who didn’t get pushed around, the Sonny that took what he wanted. And right now, what he wanted was you.

“You gonna show me how good you’d treat me?”

Without a second thought Sonny picks you up in his arms and brings you straight to the bedroom, laying you down on the bed on your back. You realize you’ve never been in his room, only ever looking in from the outside. The bed dips as Sonny joins you on the bed, slowly crawling on top of you. His wandering hands make their way back up to your face as he cups your cheeks. “You’re somethin’ special, y’know that?” Sonny murmurs before leaning in to press his soft lips against yours again.

He wastes little time getting you out of your clothes as he moves your arms up above your head to pull your shirt off. Each piece of clothing that he pulls off of you he mirrors himself until the only things separating either of you is your underwear and his boxers. Sonny leaves hot open mouthed kisses down your body starting at your neck, each wet kiss leaving a trail of goosebumps in their wake. He doesn’t know how long he’s waited for you, maybe he’s been waiting his whole life for someone like you.

Sonny slowly pulls down your underwear as if you were so delicate he could just shatter you. He spreads you open and whistles at the sight of you naked and dripping for him.

“There’s that sweet little pussy,” Sonny sighs as he leans in closer to give you a whiff as a low growl escapes him. The sound leaves you throbbing and with an ache you’ve never had before.

“All this for me, huh?” Sonny says in amusement as a finger slides up your seam as he coats it in your slick arousal. “Y’know how long I’ve been waitin’ to get ya in this bed?” Your pulse quickens as a thick finger circles your hole teasingly and you can feel the cold metal of his wedding ring.

It’s then you realize that this is their bed. The bed that she gets to lay next to him in, the bed that she gets to wake up in with his warm sleeping body next to hers.

Not tonight. No, tonight this bed was yours.

“Never thought I’d be seein’ you like this…You’ve always been mine, haven’t ya? Should’a made a move on you ages ago.” Sonny sighs as his fingers lightly rub at your aching clit as you take in a sharp intake of breath.

You don’t realize he’s shed his boxers until you feel his hard cock brush against your thigh as Sonny messily kisses against your jaw, fingers lazily rubbing your clit. He coats his cock in your juices, looking down at where his tip was just inches away from slipping inside your wet hole. Sonny draws his hips back and bites his lip as he watches the way your slick clings to his shaft.

“I’m gonna put it inside ya, okay sweetheart?” Sonny says gently and you nod, trying to fight off your growing nerves. The blunt head of his cock notches inside your hole and your breath hitches at the thought of what’s to come. “Deep breath,” Sonny tells you gently as he slowly starts sliding his thick cock inside of you. “Ohh fuck, that’s good.” He grunts as he feels your tight wet warmth engulf his cock.

You forget how to breathe as you feel every inch of Sonny’s cock stretch your little hole as he buries himself inside you. He feels your hand push against his stomach and he forces himself to stop, giving you a moment to adjust. “You okay, kid?” He asks softly as he leans in to kiss your forehead.

“T—think so… you’re just— it’s big.” You admit.

“I know, baby, jus’ relax…” It practically pains Sonny to stop his hips from thrusting into you, wanting nothing more than to watch your eyes glaze over as he pounds into your little pussy over and over again. “You can take it, you’re all grown up now aren’t ya?” Sonny challenges and you nod, wanting to prove yourself to him.

“‘Course ya are, you’re all I need now. All I fuckin’ need—“ Sonny repeats himself with a light roll of hips and you whine, feeling so impossibly full of him.

Your body goes limp as Sonny settles into a steady rhythm fucking in and out of you. Your head rolls to the side and you see a light on across the way through the window. You left your bedroom light on.

You can make out a few details of the room as you feel the fat head of his cock hit your cervix repeatedly, each thrust earning a deep groan from Sonny. You wonder if he’s watched you through the window as much as you did him.

You’re pulled out of your thoughts as Sonny turns your face back towards him before shoving his tongue in your mouth. His large body crushes yours as he fucks you into his wife’s mattress, the room filling with the obscene sound of his thighs slapping against yours as you gush around him.

You’re making a mess as your juices drip down his cock and onto her sheets below you. Sonny remembers when she picked them out. He never cared for them much, but he’s starting to like them more when he sees how nice you look you on top of them as he drives his cock into you.

“Takin’ my cock so fuckin’ good, angel.” Sonny keeps himself as close to you as he can as his hips quicken, spurred on by the pathetic moans and whines you’ve been letting out. He pulls back to look at your face, eyes glazed over and pleasure drunk as your walls pulse around him. “Is Daddy makin’ you feel good?”

You cling on to Sonny for dear life, the only thing you can do is lay there as he makes you take every inch of his thick length. His sweaty body pushes down against yours and you don’t think you’ve ever been happier. This was what you wanted all along, wasn’t it?

Your cries are muffled into his shoulder as you feel yourself hurtling towards a peak. “F—feels…” you stammer and Sonny only ups the ante, hand trailing down to quickly rub your clit. “Feels like you’re gonna cum?” Sonny finishes for you.

“Uh huh…” you cry as Sonny’s fingers rub firm and quick circles, his hips never faltering in rhythm as he slams his cock into you. Your breathing and moans turn erratic before letting out a final strangled sob as it hits you like a freight train.

Your back arches off the bed while your chest presses against his as you gush around his cock, your pussy spasming around him. “Fuck— there ya go. Cum all over Daddy’s cock, honey.” Sonny works you through the most intense orgasm you’ve had in your life, all thanks to him.

Sonny knows he won’t last much longer, not with the way your walls are clamping down on him as he fucks you through it, heavy balls slapping against you with every thrust. His thrusts are sloppy and messy as he chases his own release, earning a squeal from you every time he fucks into the very end of you.

“Fuck baby, gonna make me fuckin’ cum. Want me to cum inside ya? Fill you up real good?” He didn’t need Amanda, not if he had you. His perfect fucking angel, it’s always been you. “Love ya so damn much, sweetheart. Gonna put my fuckin’ babies inside ya—“

Without a second thought Sonny pumps his cock as deep inside you as he can manage, ropes and ropes of cum spurting against your walls.

“Goddamn—“ Sonny sighs in your ear as his thrusts slow while he fucks his cum deep inside of you. “Tell ya what, I haven’t came like that in a long time.” Sonny jokes and you hiccup, completely spent. “Oh, I did a number on ya didn’t I, sweet thing?” Sonny coos as he brushes some hair out of your face, cock softening inside of you.

You whine as he slowly pulls out, cum spilling out of you and onto the sheets. He hasn’t decided if he cares enough to change them before Amanda gets back.

Collapsing on his back next to you Sonny pulls you tight against his flushed sweaty chest as you both come down. “You okay, sweetie?” Sonny murmurs as his fingers lightly trail up and down your back, unable to not be touching you in some way. “Mhm, just tired. Kinda sore…” you mumble against his chest.

“Looks like I did a good job, then.” Sonny lets out a slow chuckle as he looks down on his hand on your back. He can feel his wedding band burn on his finger, hating everything it symbolizes.

Shoving those thoughts out of his mind he slips the ring off and slides it on your finger instead, admiring the way it shines on your finger.

He’ll get you your own one day soon.