Tumgik
#ye old slash fic
Photo
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
My second and third casebound attempts! I decided to start binding with some of the older fanfic I’d saved over the years. The Northwest Passage series by torch was one of THE big Mulder/Krycek fic back in the day. It’s a canon divergent slash (m/m) casefic and romance, and spawned an entire fanworks zine project.
This was my first try at printing covers on bookcloth. My bookcloth is all DIY, and for this one, I took a piece of a 100% cotton bedsheet, ironed it onto some freezer paper, ran it through a laser printer, and then peeled off the freezer paper and backed it with iron-on fusibile interfacing and scrape paper before making the case.
The spine is acrylic paint applied over a Cricut-cut vinyl stencil, and I was extremely annoyed with myself when I smeared a bit of white on the cover of Ghosts in the last few seconds of paint application. Whatever! I’m still really happy with how it turned out. 
Some interior shots...
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
And for the nostalgia value, here’s my original “bound” version, formatted to cram as much text per page as possible, and printed and coil-bound at the campus copy shop circa 2001.
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
201 notes · View notes
lunarblue21 · 2 years
Text
I was just mulling over Manny/Diego (mango)  versus Sid/Diego (siego)  in terms of how people tend to view the pairings, and since I just love Ice Age so much my face was blushing from the intensity of my feelings (this happens A LOT WITH me when I think about Ice Age!) and I came to this realisation about the love (which, I must say, is purely platonic, but regardless... if one looks at it from a shipping viewpoint) I notice the love between Manny and Diego is a much quieter love yet it is still visible, because it originates from sacrifice, a willingness to pay anything at the cost of another, and it just sings faithfulness. 
siego, on the other hand, is more attractive to people shippers, who, in this fandom show themselves to be quite obtuse when it comes to subtext, since it toys with tropes shippers are familiar with, though I don't see it at all since I think canon - from the original movie even so far as continental drift - leans more in favour of mango. However, I personally think that for siego, the shipping is more popular because of the largely BST-y interactions between Diego and Sid, and people just loooove to jump on that when it comes to shipping. (see: makorra)  
Anyway, mango is the pairing (if I shipped slash and if there is one slash ship I love, it’s Mango though my wont is to write them bromantically) that would appeal more to me, since Manny and Diego don't even need to say anything to each other, but their bond is crystal clear. Their love for each other - since love should truly be synonymous with selflessness - is always front and centre. 
okay, leave me to die in my platonic mango feels. 
Oh, and the mentioned fic in the tags is called “A Spark” and comes highly recommended by me! :) You can find it on ff.net. 
11 notes · View notes
gemharvest · 2 years
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media
5 notes · View notes
pathologicalreid · 10 months
Text
nicknames | S.R.
Tumblr media
in which you meet the team for the first time, and receive your first nickname
who? spencer reid x fem!BAU!reader
category: fluff
content warnings: reader is referred to as a girl. i have this headcanon where when reid's IQ gets slashed to 60, he'd get so distracted that he'd run on autopilot, hence the willingness to handshake.
word count: 591
a/n: happy finals szn! this fic has been rotting in my brain for weeks and i finally decided to flesh it out. and maybe you should like and reblog this if you enjoy it (no pressure tho)
Tumblr media
You were still filtering through your entry paperwork when the rest of the team filtered into the bullpen. David Rossi, who had helped you land this job in the first place, nodded in your direction before disappearing into his office. “Hey!” Someone called from across the bullpen, “Y/N, right?” Emily asked, setting her go bag in the chair at her desk before making her way over to your desk.
Smiling in response, “It’s nice to finally meet you,” you responded, reaching your hand out for her to shake. It was nice to be in the BAU, complete with a promotion from Special Agent to Supervisory Special Agent.
JJ walked over next, waving, and introducing herself as the communications liaison. “I’ve heard a lot of great things from your old CARD team,” she said, “I’m sure your skillset will come in handy here.”
You nodded in affirmation, “That’s the hope!” You answered, smiling at the prospect of your old team singing your praises.
Next, Derek approached, reaching out his hand for you to shake. Of course, you obliged and grinned at him. Part of you felt like you were meeting celebrities, the BAU was a big deal in the bureau. “Derek Morgan,” he introduced himself, “How long were you with CARD?”
“Five years,” you responded, it was a long time for anyone to deal solely with child abduction, but your team had the best rate in the bureau. Besides, you found the work rewarding.
Morgan’s eyebrows raised in surprise, “that’s impressive.”
You nodded, “Thank you. I’m really looking forward to working with you all.”
JJ looked behind her, “Oh, have you met Garcia?” She asked, peeking around the corner to where the technical analyst's office was.
Glancing down at the cat-shaped stress toy that she had given you when you arrived this morning, you smiled, “Yes, she was the first to greet me this morning. I think I’m just missing Dr. Reid.”
As if on cue, the young doctor walked into the bullpen, he had a worn leather satchel over his shoulder and looked like he might be talking to himself, “Reid!” Emily called over, getting his attention, and causing him to change course, approaching your desk. “Come meet, Y/N.”
He adjusted the strap of his satchel over his sweater before you reached out your hand for him to shake. “Oh, he doesn’t…” JJ began, but her voice trailed off when Dr. Reid shook your hand.
“It’s very nice to meet you, Dr. Reid,” you said, smiling at him. It felt good to know you had finally met the entire team.
He gave a close-lipped smile in return, “Reid is fine, or Spencer.” He said as you each dropped your hands to your sides.
Noticing everyone looking back and forth between the two of you as if you had already managed to do something wrong, you gathered all of your paperwork in your hands, “I should get this to Hotch.”
The rest of the team got the message and started to disperse to their respective desks, Reid’s being adjacent to yours. “Welcome to the team, pretty girl,” Morgan said to you before turning to his own paperwork.
You hugged your paperwork to your chest as if you were protecting it. Quietly, you muttered, “I really hope that nickname doesn’t stick.”
Across from you, there was a short laugh, almost a scoff. “It will,” Spencer responded in the same reverent tone. For a second, you thought it might be a joke, but you could tell by his facial expression that he was serious.
4K notes · View notes
namazunomegami · 9 months
Text
Mélange
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
Pairing: Okkotsu Yuta x gn!reader
Synopsis: Sometimes humans are not above animals. Sometimes they burn to fulfill the same basic needs and not strive for more in the moment. A full belly, safety, procreation. What happens when all three of them need to be satisfied? Tinged with spice. Under the influence of an unknown substance.
CW: aphrodisiac, dubcon, slight somnophilia, feral and animalistic Yuta, he has cannibalistic thoughts, licking, lovebites, scratching, biting, slight pain, handjob, premature ejaculation, fingering, Reader can feel Yuta’s ring during fingering, slight dacryphilia if you squint, implied multiple rounds, porn with feelings, good old unprotected sex + creampie, both Reader and Yuta are ultra possessive in their own toxic way <33
WC: 3.6k
Credits: my dearest @notveryrussian for proofreading this mess and doing a bit of rework on the tenses <33 the cannibalcore pics are from pinterest
Song rec: needles and pins by deftones and gibson girl by ethel cain both give a nice vibe to the fic as we slowly transition from Yuta's POV to Reader's POV
A/N: Can't believe I'm posting my first one shot here 🥹 After so many unsuccessful attempts to wrap up multichaptered fics, at least, this one messy smut got finished. My first ever finished fic 🥹 And the first to get completed in a relatively short time. Yes, a week is a short time for me. And happy holidays to y’all, this is gonna be the last fic in this year so expect only shitposts from me from now on lmao.
Likes and reblogs are greatly appreciated <33
Minors do not interact or else I'm gonna go apeshit, also a seperate warning for heavy dark content as usual. If there's anything mentioned in the tags that you're not comfortable with, this is not your fic.
Many sorcerers envy the title of special grade. Yuta thinks these people deserve a separate Naraka in Hell. They don’t realize the immense responsibility, they can’t fathom the challenges, the danger of the missions. The threat those curses pose. They only care about the power he carries.
During today’s mission, Yuta realized he’s not entirely an unstoppable force. Even someone like him is weak to certain fighting styles, he can’t counter everything with his wide range of copied techniques. This curse’s grade was well deserved. Whenever the katana slashed deep into it’s skin, a strange kind of gas was emitted from the wounds. Though he eventually exorcised the curse, he did breathe in the weird, sweet-smelling substance. The scent was hard to resist, it felt like the perfect mixture of all his favorite smells, inviting and comforting. However, he trusted his body to withstand the temptation, reinforced to near perfection with cursed energy and the usage of reversed cursed technique.
There was no problem until he finished reporting back to the higher ups and was on the way home. Maybe it was just the fatigue, the late summer heat, the humidity of the night but something made him feel weird. Almost sick. A thin veil of sweat glistened on his skin, his cheeks, ears and upper body were flushed. His chest was heaving, a burning, aching sensation tormented him between his legs, throbbing with a synced rhythm to his heartbeat. All his thoughts narrowed down to one single, inherently primal thing. A need. A hunger.
Shame and confusion swelled inside his chest. How can he lose his composure? How can he want it so badly? If he wasn’t so wired for monogamy, he would have fucked anyone who moved. And with every passing minute the feeling was getting worse. Descending slowly to the brink of madness. Hell, he was close to wheezing and growling like a rabid dog. He already had no patience to find the right key to the door. He could break that shit, he definitely could. He had no idea why, but he could stop himself from doing that. Maybe the insane price to get it fixed.
But the comfort of his home isn’t helping him. He can’t calm down, he can’t unwind. On the contrary, everything intensifies the strange urge in him to act territorial. But it’s only natural when he grew up feeling like he didn’t have anything he could call his own, whether it’s a material possession or a person. Every comprehensible thought vanished from his head. Leaving only the instincts. The need to claim. He immediately goes to the bedroom, not even bothering to have a quick shower or a light meal.
He gazes at your sleeping form, unknowing and peaceful. Innocent and vulnerable like a newborn lamb and he’s… he wouldn’t compare himself to a wolf, he’s a more vicious predator than that, all starved and keen on capturing its prey. Your limbs are thrown in every direction on the mattress, a thin, silk blanket barely concealing your body, but you’re hugging a some of it to your chest. Like you’re missing him, finding solace in the way the material is touching you. The windows are wide open, hoping that the night air can cool you down.
Yuta caught himself almost drooling at the sight. He can’t stop himself, he can’t fight the shameless thoughts plaguing him. The need, the want is stronger than what he deems right in the moment. His steps are quiet, that part of the floor that normally creaks is now completely silent. He looms over you, like a sinful, ungodly spirit, your very own kanashibari that’s bound to you. His weight is pressing down on the mattress ever so slightly, caging your form between his arms. He breathes in the smell of your freshly showered skin. A mixture of heady vanilla, milk and honey. He mindlessly licks a stripe up your thigh, wanting to taste you, to bite you, to tear out a big chunk of your flesh with his teeth to satisfy this torturous hunger he feels for you. More than anything he wants to devour you. Completely. Have you all for himself. The thought alone makes his dick so hard it’s outright painful.
He ascends towards your hips, leaving soft yet wet kisses that make you twitch in your sleep. Yuta swears that he’s more sensitive to all stimuli, his senses are working at their maximum capacity. He’s able to feel every morsel, every particle of you. The soft peach fuzz, the bumps, the ridges of your stretch marks, their pearl-like glistening texture flowing on the surface of your skin like a river. The material of your shorts, loose and thin, he can feel the seams on the band of your underwear through the fabric. Where the bones bend, where flesh folds. Your smell. Not just from the shower gel and the laundry detergent but your natural scent, so strong he believes it’s some kind of weird pheromone that’s driving him wild. To the point he almost considers nudging his nose between your legs, just like dogs do when they smell blood there.
Maybe it’s not entirely wrong to claim you this way. He can spare you from this more primal side of him, you won’t get to see it and despise him for it. It’s enough if he deals with the shame alone, self-deprecation is his ultimate talent afterall. But that can wait until after he finished soothing this excruciating itch. Because now the last remnant of his resolve goes out the window.
He pulls up your shirt all the way up to your chest. His shirt to be exact. It makes his heart flutter, a piece of him enveloping you, makes the boundaries between your sense of selves blend and blur. The thought of you using his stuff as your own feels so right, so promising.
He practically glues his face to the expanse of your stomach. The flesh is so soft between his teeth, feels so good to bite on it, so easy to suck on it until the skin turns a deep purple.
And maybe… maybe he can lower his crotch onto your knees. Just a little. Just for a little friction…
You stir, opening your eyes slowly, tiredness and confusion are still heavy on your expression. And then you feel teeth nipping at your stomach, fingers digging into the dips of your hips firmly, some wetness here and there along your leg.
Your first response is fear.
You start to squirm and fuss, kicking your legs up in the air, not even thinking about who’s doing this to you until Yuta grips your shoulders and pushes you back into the sheets, keeping you still by the weight of his own body, shushing you. You can feel his nails penetrating the skin, branding the crescent Moon itself into your flesh.
“It’s me, don’t panic.”
You’d recognize this voice anywhere, but you blinked a few times just to clear your vision. The striking white of his coat is easy to spot, even in the dimly lit darkness of the room.
“Yuta…?”
Your voice is an ode, a blessing. Even when it’s hoarse and faint after waking up. He bends down and kisses your temple, nuzzling into your hairline, breathing in your scent. His body feels oddly warm, almost overly so, radiating through you. Through your spine, to the very center of your being and that’s when you notice that you’re a little bit… hot and bothered. What has he done to you while you were asleep?
“I’m so sorry…” he whispers an apology. But his voice is just… it’s like his mind is not entirely here. Something is hurting him and he’s trying to conceal it. Barely. You can hear his voice is hitched from the deep breath he takes, in a futile affort to calm himself. “Have you been sleeping for long?”
He asks you for the sake of it, there’s no genuine interest behind it. Even if you were sleeping for hours, it wouldn’t stop him. He couldn’t stop. He genuinely feels like he’ll die if he can’t get it out of his system. He snuggles his face into the crook of your neck, listening to the rhythm of life coursing through your veins. The thought of puncturing your jugular with his teeth is so irresistible. He must do it… It’ll drive him insane if he won’t.
“N-not really.” your answer is weak, all your strength is used to move your arm freely, trying to locate your phone on the bedside table. The light coming from the screen almost blinds you as you’re checking the time. “I went to bed about… half an hour ago.”
He dips his fingers right into the hollow dips between your ribs, he kneads the skin in a way that has his nails slightly scratching you. And then you realize that you’re almost entirely topless.
He traps your earlobe with his teeth, sucking on the soft tissue.
“Y-Yuta…” your voice is more reprimanding that you want it to be. But your patience is starting to run thin. You want to know what the fuck is wrong with him, he never did anything like this before. Even if he’s horny as hell he would ask for your permission because that’s the way he is.
Instead of giving you an answer he bites your neck. Hard. It hurts, it makes you yelp. Shit, that’s gonna leave a mark. And he growls, just like a wild animal.
You squirm, you jolt, trying to get away from the source of your pain with a prolonged hiss. Only one hand of his is enough to stop you from fussing while the other fondles your chest. Your nipple is caught between his fingers, he twists it slightly. You can’t see it getting red, hard and swollen. His moves are awkward and tactless, but somehow they help with soothing the sharp pain in your neck. Your tensed body eases up a little.
He kicks the inner side of your knee with his own, creating a little space in between them, then forces your legs apart with one smooth movement. As he tries to settle right under your core, you feel him brushing the apex of your thigh.
He’s so painfully hard.
You’re sure he can read the instinctual reactions of your body. The rush of adrenaline, your pulse, how your heart is almost breaking your ribs with every beat. You’re getting more and more aware of your surroundings because you have no idea what will happen to you. He pins your wrists down on the bed. He doesn’t want you to escape.
What has gotten into him? Where’s your shy and gentle man, your sweet little angel? The one who needs so much guidance, who gets so awkward about his lack of experience compared to you. The one you need to encourage to talk about what he likes since you won’t judge him for it. Well, angels shouldn’t be benevolent and sweet, right? They’re the soldiers of god after all. And the depth of his psyche is still very much a mystery to you…
“I don’t want to hurt you… I just need you.”
He has no control over his own thoughts, everything on his mind gets blabbered out. Not just that he needs you, but that he wants to fuck you (he rarely uses that word so you’re even more baffled), that he wants to eat you up, bite for bite, digest you so nobody else can have you.
It sounds devoted yet utterly terrifying.
“You’re-“
He’s scary. Well, you knew this prior to crawling into his life. What people thought about him, one rumor more unhinged than the other and you have no idea how much truth there was to them. Everyone has some sort of admiration, respect for him or repulsion of him. You just tend to forget sometimes, how malicious his cursed energy feels, how his eyes never reflect the light, looking outright dead. But it’s all so contradictory to his personality… you know that you’re dear to him, he’s willing to risk everything for his friends, he’s so starved for connection, to carve himself a place within people’s hearts. You blamed the whole phenomenon on Rika. And you took pride in yourself, for taming a monster.
“I feel so…” he suspires, trying his best to contain himself. “… weird.”
And he’s a kind monster indeed, even now, controlling his impulses as he humps your thigh like a feral dog.
“I don’t know if I’m able to hold back, so I need to know….”
His voice is desperate, almost a plea. He’s afraid of himself too. With the last bit of his sanity, he wants to make sure that it’s alright for you, whatever he has in store for you.
You don’t protest.
His lips crash into yours in a violent, hungry kiss. Your teeth clang together, he shoves his entire tongue in your mouth. He grabs the hem of your shorts, peeling off anything that covers you below the waist. You hear the fabric tear. It’s the same with his own clothes too, in a few blinks of your eyes he’s already stark naked.
He takes your hand, pulls it towards him, you can feel him in your palm. So hot, hard and swollen to the touch. He closes your fingers around him and his hips start moving back and forth, fucking himself into your grip. You smear the precum along his length with your fingertips, squeezing lightly when you feel the base. It has him moaning, breathily, more vocal than he usually is. He’s so sensitive, his pace quickens and his voice is thinner, almost like a whimper.
And he groans. Unexpectedly. It bursts deep from his throat. You feel his cum pooling in your palm. Though you may be surprised, you don’t make a big deal about it. You search for tissues on the bedside table to clean your hand like nothing happened.
“Feelin’ okay?”
Your voice is calming, tender, it warms his heart but the mere sight of his cum on your hand makes the blood rush to his dick again.
You sit up to caress his face. You open your mouth to question him, but he won’t let you start your aftercare routine.
“It’s… not enough.”
He grabs your thigh, hooking your leg over his shoulder, giving him better access to your naked core. Your back falls onto the mattress again.
“I’ll take care of you.”
It’s a promise, you’re sure of it.
His fingertips sink into your folds, relief ripples through him when he finds them already wet. He goes all out on you, his thumb circles your clit and two fingers dip in at your entrance, waiting to loosen you up so they can be pushed inside. His nails gently caress your inner thigh, it’s a tickling sensation, goosebumps dot your skin, a sigh dies on your lips. Treating it as a sign, his fingers start stretching your walls. They curl and curl inside you to the point of the cold band of his ring touching your folds, your essence soiling the stainless metal. The symbol of the haunting spirit of his first love. Childish love that it is, unserious, all just a game. The promises… the word forever holds no weight. Or maybe it does but they have no idea how hard it is to maintain those vows.
Can you ever compare to Rika in his eyes? Have the same effect over him? You don’t dare to talk about it just yet. No, the nature of your relationship is not the same. Childhood love is not like adult love, you just want some reassurance. You want to feel important.
And your reassurance is soaking that wretched finger with your juices. Make that wretched ring yours. He spreads his fingers inside you, scissoring you apart, eagerly working to prepare you. You’re holding onto the sheets and the pillows desperately, your body feels so volatile you might as well float away.
When he pulls out you feel hollow, incomplete. But he won’t keep you waiting long. The head of his cock feels like salvation. Scorching hot and wet with the mixed arousal. And he completes you with one smooth thrust. You’re whole, fulfilled, a merged existence worth suffering over. He’s throbbing deep within your walls, pulsating through your nerves. You can’t tell if the noise coming out of him is a moan, a whine, or a growl, you only know that it’s bordering on bestial. Filled with need, an ache, coupled with something beyond your comprehension.
He drills into you, there’s so much strength and resilience in him, it almost makes you scared. But something else also swells inside your chest. An unknown kind of excitement, a thrill, it makes you feverish, wired. The dissonance between his absolutely feral state and the fact that he’d never hurt you. Or maybe he would, in a way that you’d like it. Nobody could bite through your throat with such force that your windpipe breaks, only him, him and no one else.
He holds you at the back of your pelvic bone, lifts you up in an utterly perfect angle. You mewl him that it feels so good, so perfect, so raw. You love this feeling so much. You get completely lost and immersed in it.
“…it?”
His voice is faint yet his broken self-worth shines through it. Poor soul… You didn’t pay attention to his most important desire. He’s a parasite living off of your kind words, but nothing can make him as blissful as knowing you love him, despite everything he despises about himself. And you’ll feed him. Prove it to him that he matters more than the things he does to you.
“Oh Yuta, my sweet…” the rest of the sentence gets stuck in your throat as you open your arms and he crashes into your embrace like a lost, lonely puppy. You hug him tightly, brushing through his locks with a free hand. The sweat makes the strands stick together. “Of course I love you, don’t be silly.”
He might as well have been a puppy in his previous life. And now your words eased his guilt about his temporary condition. He gained your forgiveness.
What he does next is much more instinctual. He folds you in half, where your knees bend, is pressed right against his traps, your heels graze the middle of his back. Now his thrusts have weight, uncovering spots that even you had no idea that existed inside of you. Tears of joy prickle in your eyes, calling upon whatever deity’s name you can think of, off the top of your head. You can swear his pace increases at the sight. It’s so intense a broken cry erupts from your throat.
He thrusts right into a sweet spot, which has you melting and trembling. Please is the only word your lips can form. At this point, you couldn’t care less about the lewd sounds of your skin slapping together or the squelching noises that make the whole act sloppy, shameless and primal, you only want to reach  your peak, and you’re not far from it as you’re clenching around him with a rhythm that you have no control over.
It crashes, it ruptures, sudden, sharp and hot like an electric spark. A scream empties your lungs, but Yuta muffles it with sealing his mouth onto yours. You feel yourself getting filled as you’re convulsing around his length.
After he fucks you through your orgasm you feel yourself shaking, your whole body is limp, numb, drifting slowly to sleep. You’re both soaked in sweat, your bodies stick together but there’s a need to bond further in each other’s embrace. You plant a kiss between his locks, praising him, telling him you love him. Satisfaction clouds your mind, like a soft, pillowy pink mist.
However, his cock is still not soft.
“I have no idea what has gotten into you.” you tell him, marveling, as you’re still catching on your breath. “I like it though, but you owe me an explanation.”
He handles you gently, like you’re some precious thing, made from glass, fragile. Your body is like a ragdoll’s, he has you lying on your stomach, lazily, flatly, you might as well fuse together with the mattress. Calloused fingers are drawing nonfigurative shapes on your shoulder blades.
“I’ll tell you right after we finish.”
Your blood runs cold for a moment.
“Again? Yuta, for the love of god I’m exhausted.” you whine.
He apologetically kisses your spine.
“Just this one, okay? Please? I’ll do all the work, I’ll make it quick. You only need to relax, you can sleep even.”
You want to tell him that sounds a little bit creepy, but you don’t have the strength to talk. He kisses the two shallow dimples right above your tailbone. His gaze lingers on your folds, admiring how red and swollen you are.
“If you manage to make me cum again, you deserve a fucking award.” you comment, face nuzzled into the pillow, your voice is obviously snarky.
You can feel teeth sinking into the flesh of your asscheek. The mark that is burning on your neck found it’s pair. He presses down your overly sensitive clit with his thumb, balancing the pain out with pleasure. But it gets overstimulated so easily, you feel the need to bite the pillow.
You brace yourself with a deep breath through your nose. You’re going to pay him back next time, you promise yourself that you’ll make a begging, crying mess out of him, and the thought makes you chuckle.
808 notes · View notes
nanaslutt · 10 months
Note
omg i NEEDDDD you to write a fic based on that sukuna drabble u posted 🙏🙏 i know a good fight would get him oh so worked up
it’s short but i wanted to expand a little…
contains: death, blood, blood as lube (accidental), masturbation, masochism dare i say, multiple orgasms, fantasizing
°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:・°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:・°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:・°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:・°❀⋆.ೃ
Sukuna held his hand over his cheek where his opponent had landed a hit on him. One hand gripped around his cock, one hand on his face. His eyes were squeezed shut as he groaned shamelessly into the space of his innate domain. He tried to put himself back in the fight in his head, trying to recreate the feeling of how he felt when he actually felt the slash of his opponent's weapon cutting through his skin. The sheer adrenaline, the shock, it was rare that Sukuna crossed paths with a worthy opponent.
Most of the beings he fought were like squashing a bug. He could step on the rat's tail and let it try to run away under his foot, poke it with his claws, and watch it scream and whine for their life for his own enjoyment, and sure that brought him joy, but this--this was something else. This was a carnal, deep feeling of something so pure and so primal. He could recall how his heart sped up in his chest when he felt the sting, the brief moment of relaxation on his features before a grin spread across his face, his cheeks heating up at the realization that this was going to be more interesting than he initially thought.
The being had only hit him once, just once, barely hard enough to cut through the skin, but it was more than enough to set Sukuna's veins on fire. The rest of the fight had been a steady back and forth, Sukuna having to be on both the offense and defense at times with how well his partner fought. In the end though, of course, he had emerged victorious. He stood in front of the body of his deceased opponent, staring down at them with bloodshot eyes, heaving breaths wracking his chest; not from exhaustion, but from arousal.
Sukuna kept his eyes on the blood-soaked body, watching the once-living being twitch and bleed out under him, a pool of crimson liquid reaching his feet, sliding under his shoes through the cracks in the earth. He was hard, throbbing in his pants, his cock threatening to burst through the slacks at any moment.
He always got worked up like this when someone was able to match him. Sukuna hated nothing more than weak people, so when someone was able to stand toe to toe, and actually land a hit on the curse? He had to fight through his malicious laughs to keep his groans at bay.
He would stand there and stare at the body of his deceased, but worthy opponent all day if he could, but when the throbbing proved to be too much for the old sorcerer, he crawled away back inside Yuuji's head, letting the pink-haired boy deal with the aftermath of his messy fight, he had an urgent matter to attend to.
"Fuck fuck fuck- Yes-" Sukuna growled, planted on his knees on the floor of his domain as he fucked into his fist, his hand meeting his rough thrusts as he kept his eyes screwed tight, repeating the exact moment he had gotten attacked in his mind.
He kept his hand over his cheek, nails digging into the skin as he tried to mimic the sensation he felt, never quite getting there but close enough to make him spill his seed on the ground in front of him with a loud groan, his body jerking and spasming as he released a large load, some of the white liquid coating his fingers.
His hand slowed for maybe a second as he cracked his eyes open, looking down at the seed he released before his face heated up again, his cock still hard and throbbing in his large palm. Blood had begun dripping down his cheek, slowly teasing the skin of his neck as it dripped down, over the veins under the skin as he picked up his jerking again.
"Again.. again- again- again- Fuck- Hit me again- Cmon' you can do it-" He groaned under his breath, speaking to his opponent in his head as he replayed the fight for the nth time in his head. He knew they had only hit him once but the thrill of thinking he might've hit them again made his balls tighten with the need for release.
Sometimes though, the self-inflicted pain he knew was coming from his own hand digging into his cheek wouldn't be enough. He craved the adrenaline of when the unexpected impact had first happened. He would sit back on his feet, abandoning his blood-covered hand on his cheek and wrapping it around his cock, joining the other one as he used two massive hands to squeeze and jerk his length, rapidly stroking as he tried to fuck this feeling out of his body.
He felt so out of control, he felt like this was something he needed to do or he would die. Heavy breaths wracked his chest as he stared down at his hands enveloping his leaky dick, his face scrunched in pleasure with a slacked jaw to match. "nnngh-" The king groaned, clenching his teeth together when he spilled once more over the ground in front of him.
His body fell forward, his hands catching himself on the cum-stained floor, cock twitching freely in the air below him as he tried to catch his breath. He felt slightly more relaxed than he felt after the first orgasm, but he still felt like he needed to come again, and again, and again, until all the adrenaline had released through his heavy balls.
549 notes · View notes
baeshijima · 1 year
Text
— of lattes and dozing generals
Tumblr media Tumblr media
in which you're just a cafe employee, and he is the luofu's revered general — the one who can never seem to stray too far from you, no matter how much time passes.
CONTAINS : gn!reader, 10.4k wc, fluff, some angst, hurt/comfort, coffee shop!au(-but-not-really-but-yeah-but-also-not), set slightly before current timeline, (old) friends to lovers, (attempts at) humour, pining pining bc they are old..., mentions of death (reader killed a mara-struck for the first time), hints of blade x reader if you squint
A/N : after a month the fic is done... i am so unwell for this man good lord ಥ_ಥ
Tumblr media
General Jing Yuan is a cafe addict. That much is common knowledge among the citizens of the Luofu. Spanning from those who have been around for as long as he — and even older — to children and visitors alike, there’s not one person who hasn’t heard of this rumour.
When asked by a few brave (or nosy, depending on how you look at it) souls, the corners of his lips merely quirk up in a display of fond affection as he vocalises with equal sentiment, “They have my favourite there. How can I possibly resist the temptation?”
…Yeah. Whatever that meant.
Unsurprisingly, word spreads fast. News of the Cloud Knight’s general making regular trips to a meagre cafe? Just what in the world did they have to cause the great, beloved General Jing Yuan to return time and time again?
In the end, no one could actually figure out what his favourite item on the menu was. Every time he went in, it would always result in him leaving with something new! The only consistent occurrence, however, was the same employee taking his order with an expression akin to that of exasperation.
Meanwhile, to the regulars who have grown used to his profound presence within the humble cafe, they know better. This so-called ‘favourite menu item’ rumour that’s been going around? Preposterous! Having bore witness to the general breeze through the entrance in a bee-line to wherever it is you may be currently stationed (typically behind the counter) on many occasions, they’re confident the last thing in Jing Yuan’s mind when visiting is the menu.
After all, for what reason would he have to visit other than to converse with and see his favourite employee?
Tumblr media
As a Xianzhou Native, you’ve experienced many oddities and menial routines throughout your extensive life. From being a medic-slash-supporter during countless wars and purges to your current job in a humble cafe, your options are beginning to run thin. After all, life is about exploring the new and revisiting the old (in your philosophy, at least), and there’s plenty of time to do so after having lived as long as you have.
Granted, outside of your role in purging the Denizens of Abundance, it’s safe to say your current occupation in the cafe has been your longest one yet! Well, you suppose the citizens of the Luofu — and, by extension, the Xianzhou Alliance — were never really ones for drastic change. At least the outworlders who come to visit bring some semblance of entertainment in your mundane life.
Yes. Your simple, mundane life you have come to appreciate.
“I see you’re busy as ever,” comments a baritone voice — languid in intonation yet you’re no stranger to the power which belies it. Against your better judgement, your eyes lift from the marbled counter to meet the smiling face of the bane of your existence, and the general whom the masses respect and fawn over. “Mind taking another customer?”
Ah. Right. This guy.
Out of everything that has been thrown at you, you’re almost certain this man takes the cake for the strangest experience in your life. And the longest, you suppose.
Although, it seems the same can’t be said for your coworkers, as you practically hear their beams of excitement before they can vocalise it.
“Welcome back, General Jing Yuan!”
You sigh at the enthused greeting from one of your coworkers, the beginnings of a headache teetering along the edges of your conscience. 
Ignoring the commotion, you resume your work. What was it you were making again…? Oh, right. One milk tea and a—
“If you keep frowning like that, you’ll drive away customers.”
“Will it drive you away?” you retort, focusing on the last part of the order. After securing the small fruit tart from behind the display case, you pass the milk tea and pastry to a coworker so they can take it to the customer.
“Sorry to disappoint,” he drawls, impish smile magnified by the glimmer in his eyes when you turn to make contact, “but it’ll take much more than that to drive me away.”
You stare at him for a few seconds, unsure of what it is exactly he wants from you this time. Your eyes begin to narrow. “Are you saying a smile will drive you away?”
He feigns an exaggerated expression of hurt. “Drive me away? Oh, how your accusations wound me!” A chuckle bubbles from his throat when you glare at him for his theatrics, lifting his hands up in mock surrender. “Fine, fine. I concede. Would you believe me if I said I’m worried your attention will be stolen away from me if you smile?”
“Not at all.”
“I’m merely looking out for you, [Name],” he says with a sigh, a shake of his head and a light tutting sound. “While I am immune to your smile, the customers are not. I don’t wish for you to be bored due to the lack of customers.”
Seriously, you can’t believe this guy sometimes. If he wants a challenge, then you accept.
And so you close your eyes and present your best century-perfected customer smile (which, to your credit, has been the number one selling point for many of the regulars and returning customers), deciding to play along with his whims. “Welcome back, General Jing Yuan. Would you like your usual today?”
(Granted, he likes to vary his order every now and then but the caramel latte seems to be his most consistent choice as of late. Pretty good taste, if you do say so yourself.)
“…”
…Why is it so quiet all of a sudden? Did everyone just unanimously decide to up and leave?? Is there a minute of silence you’re unaware of???
A meek cough disrupts your thoughts. Relieved at the new sound, you open your eyes only to be stumped by the general in front of you. His prior relaxed posture is now rigid, eyes focusing everywhere but on you. Wait, upon closer inspection, is he… shaking?
“...Please excuse me.”
Huh?
You’re not given much time to process his words. With one swift turn he’s already stalking towards the door.
“Hey! What happened to not being driven away?!” He doesn’t turn back at your shout. No, it seems to only make him speed-walk faster. Barely a blink and he’s gone, the only indication of his presence being the echoing chimes of the bell.
He bigged himself up saying he wouldn’t be driven away but then he goes and leaves you in the dust the moment you smile.
What a hypocrite.
(Unbeknown to you, the regulars who happened to witness the spectacle could only chuckle in fond exasperation at their general’s splutter and flushed skin, the only time they can truly get a read on his thoughts, and your dumbfounded expression.)
Tumblr media
“One milk tea, as always.”
“No need to sound so enthusiastic,” Tingyun laughs before thanking you. A satisfied hum leaves her lips when drinking the beverage, and that’s all the indication you need to know you have, once again, aced the recipe.
Well done, me! You deserve a pat on the back and a century-long holiday away from as many people as possible!
Graceful movements snap you out of your fantasies. You blink rapidly to process the flutter of a fan, a disarmingly sweet giggle and a cold, paper-like material pressed into your palm.
“Have fun with your dream man~”
“Wait what—”
And then she’s gone, leaving you to stare blankly at the place she was standing mere moments prior. You’re starting to see a pattern here with people abruptly leaving you in a fit of confusion.
Well, nothing you can do about it now, you suppose. So instead you move your focus to the small, thin object enclosed in your hand. Its now-exposed surface gleams under the cafe lights, the reflection obscuring the details. A picture? But what can you do with a—
Wait. Is that… Jing Yuan… winking at the camera…?
Sure enough, under the pressure of your scrutiny as you hold the picture in various angles and heights, the winking face of Jing Yuan stares back at you in mockery. Somehow, this photo feels slightly more personal than the usual ones Tingyun distributes to the masses. Actually, you’re not sure how she even manages to obtain these photos in the first place and, quite frankly, you think it's best you don’t know.
…The hell am I supposed to do with this?
Just as you were wondering what to do with the polaroid, a familiar voice comes from behind — almost as if the small, glossy image clutched between your fingers had the ability to summon him. “If you wanted my photo, all you had to do was ask.”
“Please don’t misunderstand, general,” you deadpan in response, your head swerving to meet his amused gaze before placing the photocard on the counter. “I was given this against my own will.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm,” he hums, a melodic sound which serves to speed up the palpitations of your heart. It comes to an abrupt slow, however, when you spot the corners of his lips lift into a smug curve, already dreading whatever it is that may leave his lips. “I wonder why I find that hard to believe.”
“That's not my problem.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Stop looking at me like that.”
“Like what?” He laughs at your groan, eyes crinkling with joy at the dispense of your suffering. Yeah, why suffer when you can make drinks? Besides, you already know he’ll accept whatever it is you make, so there’s no reason to ask for his opinion!
He follows close behind when you venture behind the counter in search of some ingredients, uncaring for the stares he receives from the customers who aren’t regulars. 
When you crouch, you shoot one last accusatory glare at the still-smiling general before disappearing to rifle through cabinets underneath. “For someone in a position such as yours, you sure do have a lot of spare time to be spending it on a humble cafe worker such as myself.”
You’re not sure if he responds, too focused on searching for what you need. After finding the ingredients, you rock back on your heels and stand, the top of your head brushing against something smooth. When you rise, you realise it was the back of Jing Yuan’s hand which you made contact with, as he grips the edge of the counter where your head most definitely would have hit if he hadn’t cushioned the impact.
He merely grins when your eyes travel up the length of his arm to meet his gaze. “Well, what can I say other than you are worth every second of my time.”
“Don’t look at me like that, [Name].”
“Like what?” You watch as his smile strains when you repeat his words from earlier, a victorious grin creeping its way onto your lips. “Alright, alright. I’ll make your drink now. It won’t take long.”
True to your words, it doesn’t take long. Within a matter of minutes you’ve prepared a caramel latte. (It was the only thing you could find ingredients for. Perhaps it’s time to go shopping again…)
After securing the lid on the takeaway cup, you hand it over to him. He reaches out, your fingers brushing slightly and—
The silence is unnervingly loud as you both stare blankly at the spilled drink rolling across the counter.
“...I’ll be charging extra for that latte today.”
“Aha…”
Tumblr media
You’re no stranger to quiet days in the cafe, and neither are the staff and regulars. After a particular incident way back when, it’s safe to say the establishment has faced many peaceful shifts. Though that’s not to say there hasn’t been any disputes from customers, but they’re usually small, easy to resolve issues that only require a practised smile and a (sometimes threatening) deal before sending them on their merry way.
Today, however, doesn’t seem to be one of those easy days.
“Sir, I’ll have to ask you to leave,” your voice resounds in the quiet cafe, stern and unwavering. The man in question tears his attention away from his phone to glance over his shoulder, his once haughty expression now fallen into a scowl.
“And why’s that?” he asks after telling the other person on the line to wait for a moment. “I’m not being disruptive to anyone.” With the progressively hostile looks he’s been getting since earlier, you beg to differ. Well, even if he clearly is an outworlder unaware of the Xianzhou customs, that doesn’t justify his ignorance.
And you decide to tell him just that.
“Since you seem to be a visitor, let me give you a piece of advice: it would do you well to cease all mentions of seeking immortality when aboard any of the Xianzhou ships, lest you want to make an enemy of yourself to the locals.”
“Oh? And who are you to tell me that?” 
Your eye twitches at his haughty tone. Within a second your signature customer smile is plastered onto your expression, an even tone conveying your next words, “A Xianzhou Native, of course.”
And the next thing you know there’s a seething customer causing a disruption in the middle of the cafe. Though not unexpected, you still held onto a fraying hope that the issue could be resolved somewhat peacefully.
How bothersome.
A light weight plops itself atop the line of your shoulder, shifting slightly with a soft brush against your jaw before coming to a still. With a blink, you and the man share a brief moment of confusion, and you find yourself more stupefied at the finch gazing up at you with a slight tilt of its head.
It looks familiar, but that isn’t much to go off of. Besides, the first person to come to mind already said he would be busy this week, so you highly doubt he’s managed to appear at just the right time like always… right? Right—
“What seems to be the issue here?”
Your answer comes in the form of a tender warmth encasing your back, a beguiling voice resounding from behind, and a familiar scent relaxing your tensed muscles. It doesn’t take a genius to recognise who’s standing behind you, but perhaps it’s because you’re so used to his presence that you can identify him the moment he steps into a room.
“General…” you trail off at his unexpected appearance. Jing Yuan does not meet your gaze, however, instead choosing to remain upright behind you and fixate his focus onto the man who kicked up a fuss, expression hardened into that akin of a general.
The little finch is not deterred by the overwhelming presence Jing Yuan now exudes. Rather, it chirps happily and nudges its head against your jaw once more before making itself comfortable along the slope of your neck. Looking at it a little closer you realise it's the one who sometimes greets you when you and Jing Yuan meet up, finding purchase on your shoulder during a round or two of starchess. A smile makes its way onto your lips when it leans into the touch of your finger.
It would seem the small bird did a great job in distracting you, however, for the next thing you know wind sweeps past you, exclamatory apologies spewed out in haste follow and gradually fade in its wake. There’s a faint chime of the bell and a missing presence in front of you.
Oh, you blink, he ran away.
Jing Yuan turns to you then, expression much softer than it was a few moments prior. “Are you alright?” he asks, his hand gently squeezing your free shoulder.
“Yeah, thank you,” you sigh. Your fingers lift to massage away the built up tension in your temples. “I’m sorry you had to see that on your break.”
There’s a small pause. “You shouldn’t apologise for something like that.”
“Huh…?” It was a mistake to meet his gaze, you belatedly realise, for your breath is ceased by the flame which burns molten gold, your heart caught in your throat amidst a gravitas you haven’t seen for a while.
His lips part, tone gradually changing to something more light-hearted; a stark contrast to his current expression. “You were just doing your job. It was that customer who was in the wrong. Honestly, he should have known better than to talk so flippantly about that topic.”
Well, you can’t refute his words.
“What are you doing here anyway?” You cough in an attempt to divert the topic, only to raise a brow at his unreadable countenance. “I thought you said you would be busy.”
Jing Yuan pauses, as though hesitant, before responding, “I sent you a message to send notice of my visit but you didn’t even leave me on read, so I knew there was something wrong.”
“I didn’t even notice…” Without a moment’s haste, you pull out your phone. There on your home screen displays notification banners: 6 unread messages from my headache <3.
my headache <3: I have some free time, so I will be paying you a visit. Don’t mention this to Qingzu though, she doesn’t know I am taking a break. =w=
my headache <3: Are you busy? You don’t usually leave me on delivered for longer than five minutes.
my headache <3: Did I do something to make you mad?
my headache <3: [Name]?
my headache <3: …
my headache <3: I will be at the cafe soon. Wait for me.
A pang of guilt seeps into your conscience. You hadn’t realised he sent so many messages. Did that customer take up that much of your attention? Also, do you really not leave him on delivered for more than five minutes??
“Oh! You kept the heart I put there?” Your thoughts are promptly cut off by the baritone voice resounding beside your ear. His light breaths puff against your skin as he leans against you, peeking over your shoulder to read the messages he sent.
“Why wouldn’t I?” you huff, eyes trained onto the device to avoid meeting his gaze. “I said you could make any changes you wanted to your contact name and this was what you wanted.”
He stiffens at your words, breath stuttering ever so slightly against your skin but quickly catches himself. There’s no response for a while, instead a wave of calm washes over you as you scroll through your phone with Jing Yuan watching from his place over your shoulder, sometimes recalling a particular memory which comes to mind at certain photos in your camera roll.
It goes on like this for a little while until he shifts, strands of silver brushing against the shell of your ear when he releases a light sigh. You glance over your shoulder only to see him already looking at you, the lines of his features soft and gentle.
“You know,” he starts, voice soft with a twinge of nostalgia seeping through, “I’m your first and longest supporter.”
Well, that certainly came out of the blue.
But he’s not wrong, and perhaps that is why you find yourself huffing out a breathy laugh in response. “What? You want me to praise you?”
“Would you?” he asks, an instantaneous response to your lighthearted jest.
You stare at him, incredulous, but he doesn’t falter. His gaze holds weight, seizing your breath and rendering you speechless. Ah, he really isn’t good for your heart.
“Keep dreaming, general.”
Despite the scoff backing those words, you make no effort to hide your smile. And though you don’t catch it, Jing Yuan makes no effort to hide the adoration glistening in his gaze.
Tumblr media
Sidestep to the left. Duck. Step back. Parry. Clang! Step to the right. Pivot. Clack! Raise your arm—!
A sword flies up, twirling mid-air as it plummets back down and digs cleanly into the grass. It gleams under the artificial sun, becoming a focal point in the otherwise barren grounds. You straighten your posture, spear at your side and a bottle of water in hand as you approach the worn-out aspiring Sword Champion.
“You’ve improved, Yanqing.” You smile when he looks up, breathing ragged as he mumbles his thanks before guzzling down the fluids of the water bottle now in his hands. You sit beside him, and it’s not long before a refreshed sigh escapes him, setting the near-empty bottle in his lap.
A lapse of silence. A faint breeze. A wave of heat. A shift of gold.
You sigh upon noticing the boy’s gaze switching between you and your weapon. “What is it?”
“That spear,” he starts, “I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
“How so?”
“It’s different from the spears the rest of the Cloud Knight’s use and, even though it has a similar aura to the general’s Devastator Glaive, it feels like… it was almost made for you. A weapon that only you can wield.”
For a teen yet to explore the larger part of life, he is frighteningly perceptive. He’s quick to pick up subtle nuances and yet retains that innocent curiosity which enables him to ask questions most adults would not. It’s part of a child’s charm, and you can only hope he will never be robbed of that part of him.
“Made for me, you say?” You cast a glance to your side, vision tunnelling into the fine details which adorns the crafted spear. Despite the many centuries the weapon has braved through, it still appears as though it were only crafted yesterday. Its colours are still vibrant and its exterior holds minimal wear. Your breath hitches when your gaze trails down towards the hilt and hones in on the faintly carved names: yours and the one who gifted this to you.
Your mind numbs. There’s a matching bow which sits in your home, you recall, locked away in a spare room deep within the confinement of your walls. There are other accompaniments, too, surrounding it in decorated, bejewelled boxes filled with handicrafts ranging from everyday trinkets to carefully crafted ornaments carved from the purest of jades.
It sits there, collecting dust all year round. All year round except for one single day — a day when your thoughts surge to new heights and can only be tamed when in that room, cleaning off layers of dust and spiralling into seemingly endless nostalgia. It serves as both a commemoration of the past as well as a reminder for what will never again be.
Immortality truly is a wretched thing.
“[Name]?”
You blink, snapping out of your thoughts. Yanqing, who was sitting beside you mere moments prior, is in front of you with a hand on your shoulder. He probably shook you while you were lost in thought, you surmise. How mortifying…
“Your teacher seems to be slacking off,” you cough, swiftly changing the topic. He doesn’t take note of your awkward transition, but, if he did, he’s done a good job hiding it. “Is he busy?”
“The general?” he repeats in a murmur, chin held between his thumb and forefinger with a contemplative expression. He blinks. “Nope! No clue.”
“I see,” you sweatdrop. Worry begins to pool in the back of your mind, but it is quickly smothered when Yanqing jumps up, bouncing on his heels as he shows off his recovered energy and readiness to spar with you for another round.
You cast one last glance at your spear before standing, following close behind an eager Yanqing as he bounds to the middle of the field with his sword in hand.
(You can still recall him; the young man who gave you these gifts way back when, putting on airs of nonchalance in a poor attempt at masking his bashfulness, the furtive glances, the hand raised to rub the back of his neck, the awkward cough he always did before excusing himself after gifting whatever it was he made that time — all of it is practically ingrained into your mind.
You can still recall him; how could you not when he is the same man who haunts you when in your lonesome.)
--
He’s not here. Again.
You’ve lost count of the number of times your focus darts to the door when a resounding chime of the bell is heard, only to be left with aching disappointment when it turns out to be anyone other than Jing Yuan. His radio silence is concerning, though you suppose any kind of silence from him has that effect considering he always made sure to notify you when he would be busy, therefore unable to visit you due to urgent matters.
Has he been well? Has he been eating regularly? What of his sleeping habits? He’s not overworking himself again, is he? What if he left on an expedition without saying anything?
Your answer appears in the form of Yukong.
“The general?” she repeats, blowing lightly on the freshly brewed coffee before answering you. “While I am not completely in the know, I’ve heard in passing that he has been cooped up in his office. For once.”
It’s practically common knowledge to the Luofu citizens how Jing Yuan tends to be absent from the Seat of Divine Foresight. More often than not, he will appear as a hologram, sometimes choosing to instead give advance notice of his lack of presence. Well, you suppose most have grown accustomed to finding him at the cafe. So for him to now hide away in his office without a word is of course a matter of concern. After all, the last time he did this was years ago, and that was because he didn’t want you to worry about… him.
You pause, fists clenching at your belated realisation. A tinge of frustration begins to creep up, but the concern over his condition is far more prevalent, curling around and constricting your heart as worry clouds your senses. “That guy…”
--
“I didn’t expect to see you here,” he comments, voice languid in a valiant attempt to hide the undertone of surprise at your arrival. He quickly recovers with a genial smile. “To what do I owe the pleasure of your arrival?” 
Admittedly, it would have fooled many others. Unfortunately, you have known him too long to be fooled by such tactics. You’re sure he knows, if the slight waver in his gaze has anything to say about it.
Instead of answering, you choose to remain still in front of the now-shut doors. He doesn’t seem to notice though, as he merely resumes his task in a robotic manner. Except for the two of you, the office is void of the usual stationed knights and his few assistants, making the room feel much larger. It’s daunting.
Your unease does not fade after hearing his voice. No, it only heightens, his sluggish movements and voice laden with exhaustion further spiralling you into a state of distress over his well-being. You watch his slow blinks, head dipping slightly only to snap up to prevent himself from falling into slumber before continuing to sign document after document, replacing each signed sheet with a new one in a never-ending cycle.
It would have been comical if you weren’t aware of the fact he’s been neglecting his health to finish these papers.
Typically, he wouldn’t be having this issue, always having been the type to get his work done ahead of time despite his… less than professional demeanour at times, though it seems the papers have been brought in heavy bulk this time around; that, or they contained pressing matters which couldn’t be put off.
“Take a break,” you finally say, unable to stand the sight of him pushing himself any longer. He doesn’t spare you a glance. If it weren’t for the brief pause in his writing before continuing, you would have thought he didn’t hear you. Teeth digging into your lower lip and eyes narrowing into a glare, you try once more. “I’m serious. Take a break.”
Palpable silence douses the room.
And then he lifts his head, meeting your furrowed gaze. His eyes are anything but bright, a dull glaze coupled with dark eyebags signifying his lack of sleep.
“I have to finish signing these papers,” Jing Yuan sighs out, giving what you assume to be an apologetic glance before lowering his head back down to resume the paperwork.
Unfortunately for him, you won’t allow him to succeed in his attempts.
“And I don’t want you to collapse from overwork again!” He flinches at that, and you know you have managed to convince him when he places his pen down on the table’s surface and relents with a deep sigh. When he finally nods, defeated, the building tension dissipates and you’re able to breathe without worry again.
With cautious steps, you make your way over to the large chair. Having been in this room countless times, it’s easy for you to glide to where Jing Yuan sits despite the darkness which now drapes like a veil over the interior.
When you reach his seat, your eyes harden at the scattered documents, staring at them for a few seconds in hopes it will miraculously burn them, before tearing your gaze away and focusing on your weary friend.
“Let’s get you home,” you mutter. You lean down and prepare to help him stand in case he needs the extra support after having sat for too long. It doesn’t go as planned, however, when he tugs you down beside him and plops his head onto your lap. “Hey—!”
“Just for a moment…” he intercepts, voice heavily laced with sleep. The second you lock eyes, you know it’s all over for you. “Just for a moment, stay here with me.”
And you sigh knowing ‘a moment’ will turn into hours. But you’re fine with that. As long as he gets his rest and can finally let his guard down, you would gladly lend him your lap for days on end.
“Fine.” You shift slightly to provide him more comfort. “Take as long as you need. I’ll be here when you wake up.”
He responds in the form of a grateful smile and soft squeeze to your hand. Within a matter of seconds he’s sound asleep, the steady rise and fall of his chest soothing the dull ache in your heart.
Cautiously, you raise your free hand and reach out to his peaceful expression. His hair is silkier than you last remember, easily threading your fingers through the soft strands to brush them away from obscuring his features.
‘Than I last remember’, huh…
Your eyes trail to the hand clutched in his.
Thinking back on it, it has been a while since you last relaxed like this with him. Life tends to be busy, the cafe takes up most of your time, and Jing Yuan has his official duties to take care of. No matter how lax he tries to play it off, you’re aware he has his hands full with governmental affairs and conjuring a multitude of tactics to minimise losses. That’s the kind of person he is — to badger you about the happenings in your life, yet hide away and gloss over his with a genial mask so as to not worry you.
You’ve always hated that part of him. Why can’t you worry for him? Why must it always be he who consoles you but not the other way around? Does he truly not know how his evasive tendencies pain you, intentional or not?
Questions, questions, questions; all these questions and yet there’s never a concrete answer.
Is he… really so oblivious to the way his secrecy is what spurs your distance with him?
Your hand pauses.
Perhaps steadily drawing a line between you is a pointless pursuit in clinging onto the past, a fleeting hope for everything to revert back to the way it was before; to deny the happenings of bygones which paved the way for the present.
Things will never be what they once were. You understand that. You accept that. And, perhaps, that is what makes it hurt all the more.
Four familiar faces emerge from deep within the hidden crevices of your conscience, ones you have not physically seen for a long time — too long, perhaps. And yet they appear just as vivid as before everything went up in flames, endlessly haunting you when you’re left alone with the silence of your own mind. No matter how tightly you shut your eyes in blatant refusal of their presence, nor the strength in which you cover your ears to drown out the remnants of their voices, they never leave you alone. They cling to you, desperate; the same way in which you are to be free of them.
But even so, in spite of the hostility and bitterness and hurt which remains in their wake and binds itself to their legacies, you cannot help but to wish they are doing well, wherever it is they may now be.
And maybe it’s the full moon glaring down at you which spurs this wishful thinking but, on the off-chance they return, perhaps those of you that are left can gather at the cafe after closing hours and chat about anything and everything, exciting and menial, you have come to experience in the time spent apart.
(Just like old times.)
But, of them, only Jing Yuan remains, and maybe that is why he doesn’t manifest alongside them as a result of this aching nostalgia, instead resting peacefully on your thighs with steady, even breaths; the only indication that he truly is here with you.
“We will be okay, Jing Yuan,” you find yourself whispering as you gaze down at him. “We’ve made it this far, and we’ll continue on, braving through our fate.”
The image of him blurs, his colours further contorting the more you try to blink it away. It is then you force your eyes shut, lean down towards him, lightly brush away his fringe and press two fleeting, chaste kisses: one against the skin of his forehead and the other atop the mole under his left eye. “If not for myself, then, for you, I’ll be okay.”
Whether that’s to reassure you or him… you’re not sure.
Tumblr media
For as long as you can remember, Jing Yuan has always been with you.
It wasn’t merely a matter of staying by each other’s side during the day; no, it’s more than that. Your relationship runs deep — centuries bordering a millennia worth of memories tucked away in the crevices of your mind — and it would be an understatement to say you know each other like the back of your hand.
Together, the two of you have been through it all, in practically every sense of the word.
--
Despite enlisting into the Cloud Knights, it was far from what you wanted, instead aligning with the demands of your parents. To have that expectation of continuing your family’s tradition, to have that burden of battling for the Xianzhou Luofu’s legacy, to have that constant worry of one day being mara-struck due to your race, to perhaps never be able to do what you want for yourself, shackled to generations of family service… that was the meaning of your existence. Whether you liked it or not.
You eventually gave up, simply accepting your unwanted fate and following the hollowed footsteps carved by your ancestors. That was how you ended up amongst the new recruits for the Cloud Knights and listening to the current general’s speech about glory and honour and pride — all for the Xianzhou Alliance; all for the Xianzhou Luofu; all for the Cloud Knights.
Fate is such a weird thing, you remember thinking to yourself as your gaze swept across many others in the same uniform as you. Because despite you all looking the same, despite you all holding the same make of spear, you knew their passion and dedication to serve the alliance would far outweigh your own.
He was no exception.
Contrary to you, the boy who stood a couple rows in front wanted to be there. It was obvious in the way his eyes glimmered, the way he held himself in an upright posture and focused with rapt attention on the general at the front. Perhaps that was what caught your eye back then — the pure, unadulterated desire rolling off him had rooted you in place and forced your attention to be on him.
With a sigh you averted your gaze. There was only one thought which resonated within you in that brief moment: you would never grow close to that boy.
For, unlike you, he was made to shine under the glow of the artificial sun, while you were a passionless bystander relinquished of your fate.
--
It wasn’t long before you made a name for yourself amongst the new recruits of the Cloud Knights. It stemmed from a training session-turned-competition. One which you came out on top.
A natural prodigy is what they called you.
A lucky fluke is what they whispered behind your back.
Looking back, you’re not sure why you tried so hard. Did you think you would have it easy if you won? If anything, it probably made your future that much more troublesome with weighty expectations and watchful eyes from those around you.
Well, there went your quiet life.
At least it couldn’t be as suffocating as it would be back at home. The most you would receive are jealous glances from your weaker peers, or urges from your trainers to try a bit harder. But what reason was there to try when the outcome never changed?
“Why are you here?”
“Huh?” When you looked up, hands still gripped tight around the length of your training spear, your unimpressed eyes met pools of gold. They widened upon contact.
“Wait— that’s not what I—!” he had cut himself off with a sigh, pink dusting his cheeks. He quickly regathered himself and faced you once more. “I mean, why are you here when you clearly don’t want to be? I watched your matches earlier, but there was no light in your eyes… Kind of like now.”
Was that the expression you had? You would never know. What you did know was that the boy was persistent. Evading the topic would not work on him and, quite frankly, you were tired.
“I’m only here because of my parents,” you began. Your fists clenched and your eyes hardened as you lowered your gaze to the grass. “I hate my fate. I have no say in what I can or can’t do in my own life. That’s all there is to it.”
There was a moment of silence after your sombre words. Maybe now he would leave you alone and be on his way. Just like it should be. Someone like him who shines above the rest has no business with you, whose passion was extinguished before it could manifest.
“That’s not true.” Your gaze snapped up, words of protest ready to be let loose only for that burst of anger to dissipate the second you locked eyes. “You can escape your fate.”
“Hah! What nonsense are you—”
“Because that’s what I did.” You blinked once, twice. Your disbelief must have been obvious by the way he flushed slightly, the crimson tinge spanned from the tips of his ears to the apples of his cheeks. “I mean, my ‘fate’ was originally supposed to be a scholar or some kind of official in the Realm-Keeping Commission and follow my family’s footsteps, but look where I am now. I’m nowhere near that.” 
It was strange. He was not supposed to be someone similar to you. He was supposed to be someone you could only gaze at from afar. He burned brightly; you did not.
And yet, through his next words, you discovered that you, too, were capable of dreaming and hoping, the light suddenly appearing in what you deemed to be an abyssal darkness.
“I’m now a Cloud Knight, and I believe that you can also change your fate!”
A sense of camaraderie formed between you and the golden boy that day, an odd, tingling warmth coiled around your heart. Though an unfamiliar feeling, you found you didn’t hate it.
--
“Master asked about you today.”
“Tell her my answer is still no.”
“You don’t even know what she asked about!”
“Don’t need to.”
A sigh came from your left at your instant retorts, but that didn’t bother you. The sun was still up and you were set on soaking up as much of it as you could before Jing Yuan had to leave for his training.
It had been a couple years since you first met now, and you somehow became an inseparable pair; where one of you would be spotted, the other wouldn’t be far behind if not already there.
Well, most of the time, at least.
When Jing Yuan had caught the attention of the Sword Champion, Jingliu, he was offered a place in her team. He accepted, of course, and ever since then he began training under her guidance. As a result, those were the only times you were actively separated.
But by extension, you were somehow roped into her interest.
“So this is where you were.” You grimaced at the familiar tone, turning away as Jing Yuan scrambled beside you.
“Master…!”
“You go on ahead, Jing Yuan. There’s something I need to discuss with [Name].”
Although you hadn’t raised your head, the hesitation in Jing Yuan’s movements were clear. The silence stretched on for a long few seconds before he sighed, “I’ll meet you after I finish, [Name].”
And then he was gone, only you and the Sword Champion remained under the tree’s shade. Blades of grass swayed under the faint breeze, but that, too, came to a standstill within seconds.
“I noticed you didn’t take the oath earlier,” Jingliu said, the silence broken.
A humourless laugh escaped your lips. “I didn’t realise the Sword Champion was keeping such a close eye on me.”
“You’re hiding your talent.” You fell silent at her abrupt statement. Your fingers twitched when she continued. “I know you’re capable of more than you let on.”
What do you know? You thought to yourself as your fingers dug into the grass. You know nothing about me, so stop acting like it.
You never understood why she was so persistent. Was it because of how close you and Jing Yuan were? Had your parents somehow managed to contact and persuade her? What did she even gain from chasing after you when it was clearly a waste of her time? Why…
“Why… why can’t you just leave me alone?”
“Because he worries for you.” Your body stilled at her words. You stayed silent for a moment before responding, albeit weaker than your previous tone.
“I’m fine. There’s no reason to worry about me.”
“…[Name]—”
“It’s probably best if you go. Jing Yuan’s waiting for you.” She faltered at your words, ultimately conceding.
A sigh escaped you when you noticed her fall back and prepare to head to their usual training spot. She lingered however, and cast a glance over her shoulder to regard you once more.
“You should visit our training sometime,” Jingliu uttered, her usual stern expression a touch softer than what you were used to. “It would be nice to train together, and you can spend more time with Jing Yuan. I hope you can at least consider it.” And then you could only watch as she walked away, the hues of the sunset steadily engulfing her form.
Back then you had scoffed at her words, unaware of the bond you would come to form with the members of the High-Cloud Quintet as a result of your wretched curiosity.
--
“Someone became mara-struck on the expedition.”
“What…?” A soft gasp came from your left. “Is that why only you…”
“Yeah,” you hummed. You had no courage to face your friend next to you, choosing to instead stare listlessly at your quivering hands. “It happened so quickly. One moment we were discussing tactics, the next we heard screaming. It was agonising. And then, in the blink of an eye…” you gulped, drawing in a harsh breath as your hands clenched into fists, “I killed her. I had to. I… I was the only one left from the team and she kept coming after me and I realised then I truly didn’t want to die and—!”
Your words came to an abrupt halt, smothered by an all-too familiar warmth. The beat of his heart against your ear calmed your erratic breaths, allowing you to regain some semblance of composure. Even when you could no longer hear the rapid pounding of your heart ringing through your ears you remained slumped against his chest, the fatigue weighing down your muscles.
“Jing Yuan,” you called in a hoarse tone, “am I a monster now?”
“You’re not,” came his immediate response. You couldn’t find it in you to believe him.
“But I killed someone, Jing Yuan! We were comrades in arms and I took her life!”
“The situation was out of your control and it was the only thing you could do. It was for your survival and to stop her from suffering any longer. You’re not a monster, [Name].” His voice was steady like a pillar of support, a calm sound that could make you believe all the prior happenings were a mere nightmare you’d just awoken from. His arms around you tightened and pushed you further into his familiarity. “You never could be. Never to me.”
That day was the first time you had ever cried so hard to the point you passed out, the exhaustion having finally caught up. That day you were left unaware of the tears Jing Yuan held back as he bore witness to your rare vulnerability, vision blurring and heart aching as he internally vowed to stay by your side — until he no longer physically could.
--
As you both grew older within this endless spiral of longevity, you could only watch as he became something more than a mere soldier of the Cloud Knights — as he began to be someone out of your reach and unfamiliar against a golden glow too radiant for you to perceive.
It wasn’t long after that you left the Cloud Knights for a placement in a newly opened cafe, having had enough of a life out of your control and dictated by others. You had stayed with the Cloud Knights long enough and you finally found the courage to leave after your numerous contributions.
And while your family may not have been pleased with your decision, Jing Yuan had been supportive, taking it upon himself to visit you when he could despite his limited free time in-between training and expeditions. The other four of the High-Cloud Quintet would tag along as well, sometimes relaying entertaining stories to embarrass the others or to simply catch up with you during your time apart as you readily prepared food and drinks for the six of you to enjoy.
It felt like a dream to still be able to laugh with them.
Unfortunately, all dreams must come to an end. It was a notion that was so glaringly obvious, and yet it never truly occurred to you; not when their visits gradually became less frequent. Not when you began to notice the tension between a couple of your friends. Not when a familiar cold lingered during the moments where all was silent and you were alone.
It was through those moments you foolishly clung to the fraying hope that everything would turn out okay — that all the budding tension would smooth itself out, allowing for you to all converse like it never happened and to move past the hurdle.
Perhaps it was because you had deluded yourself into believing everything would be okay that, the moment your fantasy shattered before your very eyes, it hit you in a way far more torturous than death could ever hope to be.
It hit you in the form of Jing Yuan returning to you on that fateful day in his lonesome, eyes hollow and empty, body battered and bruised; your heart which beat for him shattered when he slumped against you, your world crashing in pursuit. The after-effects of the sobs wracking his battle-worn being reverberated through your slack form, a seemingly endless stream of tears stung the skin along the crook of your neck as he released his unfiltered anguish within your trembling embrace.
You found there was no need to ask how the confrontation with Jingliu went, for his desperate grip and hitched breaths spoke louder than his voice ever could.
At that moment, you believed there was nothing more painful than the sound of his broken cries — your mind, body and soul yearning to take his pain and make it your own at the sheer despair in his eyes as he seeked your comfort. In that moment, you had never felt so powerless, so utterly weak and useless when all you could do in the face of his agony was lend him your familiarity in the confines of the closed cafe.
Even now, seven hundred years later, you still do not believe there to be anything more painful.
Tumblr media
During your quiet moments, you’ve always wondered what it would be like to experience some of the scenes penned in countless novels you’ve read. Would they be just as heart-throbbing as the authors depict them to be? Or would they fall flat and lacklustre when put into a real-world scenario?
What about the stories you’ve overheard during your shifts, or the tales the regulars recounted during the slow days? Would they ever happen to you as well? You’ve always wondered about these things, however…
Just what is this situation?? Isn’t it a bit too similar to that one scene in a novel you recently read? Well, it’s not as if you’re hiding away in the middle of an apocalypse, but the setting of an empty cafe after dark where it is just the two of you still remains the same.
Jing Yuan stands before you, his imposing silhouette prominent against the fragmented brushes of moonlight, pools of molten gold stark against the night’s backdrop. He remains still in the face of your racing thoughts.
The pelting rain (courtesy of the alliance’s artificial weather) drowns your thoughts. In all honesty, you can’t recall how you came to be in this situation. One moment you were closing up the cafe, the next a sudden downpour arrived alongside a drenched general. In your haste to bring him inside, you didn’t stop to think about why he was in the rain in the first place, the only objective in your mind being to dry him as soon as possible.
And so that’s what you did. Only, in your attempt to persuade the man to share an umbrella and walk back home, you were pulled back into him, the umbrella rolling helplessly across the floor as he rooted you in place by the presence of his hands on your shoulders.
Which leads you to your current predicament now.
“What is it?” you ask upon noticing his silence. There is hesitation in his silence. It prolongs in the way a void is endless, stretching on for miles upon miles with no end in sight. There’s a flicker of light in the form of his voice as he brings himself to speak, his words firm yet lacking that usual self-assured intonation he always has.
“Am I someone close to you? No, do you consider me as someone close to you?”
“What nonsense are you…” your words die out when you fail to see his usual air of playfulness, a grave countenance piercing you in its stead. “Of course I consider you as someone close to me. I wouldn’t have spent centuries upon centuries by your side otherwise.” He doesn’t seem to take your light jest well, if his darkening expression has anything to say about it.
“Then why are you still formal with me, even when in private and away from prying eyes?”
“Because you’re one of the Seven Arbiter-Generals, while I am a cafe employee. In a realistic perspective, we are not the same and I’m aware of our boundaries. In fact,” you mumble, meeting his conflicted gaze with a blank one, “I should be the one asking you if I’m someone close to you.”
It’s silent for a brief moment, up until a whispered murmur of “And just who is the one speaking nonsense now?” shatters it.
Your patience, too, shatters alongside it.
“Then what else am I supposed to think when you’re always keeping things from me? You’re always asking about what I’ve done in the day and prying into the details of my life, but what about you? Whenever I ask how things are, or if there’s anything troubling you, you just brush it off like it’s nothing and avoid answering altogether! Am I not allowed to worry about you? Am I not someone who can lend you a shoulder?
You always blabbered about sharing each other’s pain, to not keep our hardships to ourselves, but take a look at yourself first. ‘Am I someone close to you?’ ‘Do you consider me as someone close to you?’ You have no right to ask me those questions when it’s you who's been the one keeping their distance this whole time. What…” A shuddering breath escapes you, your mouth running dry amidst your high emotions. There’s a dull pain which spreads through your bottom lip, your teeth digging into the soft flesh just as your nails do in your palms. Your eyes squeeze shut, and you can only hope it's enough to prevent the well of tears building behind your lids. “What else am I supposed to do if you refuse to let me in?”
You’re tired, you come to realise. Tired of his avoidance and tired of his secrecy. Even if you don’t have the energy to voice your other built-up sentiments, you have an inkling he already knows — whether or not he wants to admit it… well, that’s a problem for him, not for you.
The sigh you release is heavy; heavy with emotion and fatigue.
Your gaze drifts to the window behind the silent man. Despite the ripples in the puddles, the previous downpour has begun to let up, now only a faint pitter patter is all that remains. Seeing how Jing Yuan has made no effort to move or speak, you decide it would be best to leave as soon as possible. After all, there is no fight left in you, only a frail shell hollowed by your insecurities.
When you try to move, however, his grip tightens. You’re pulled closer than you were just a moment ago and his fingers dig into the fabric of your clothing — as though he were desperate to keep you in his sights. Your protests die before they can even arise, for the way his eyes glimmer despite there being no light renders you immobile.
“Do you really not see?” His voice comes in the form of a broken whisper, and you try to suppress the suffocating ache in your heart when he gazes at you as though he witnessed you pluck the stars and hand it to him.
“See what?” you scoff, a weak sound that pales against the hammering of your pulse. “All I see is a coward running away from his problems.”
A cold silence. A trembling grip. A shuddering breath.
“You’re right. I am a coward.” You’re taken aback by his ready agreement, though you’re unable to dwell on it for long when his voice gradually begins to rise, his emotions spilling over in pursuit. “I run from problems I cannot handle. I avoid anything that can be deemed as troublesome. I fear that if I burden you with my pain — with my hardships — you will grow tired of me and leave. You’re already so far away, you’ve always been so far from my reach, and yet…” A strained gulp follows his dying words. “And yet if even your fading silhouette is something I can no longer see, then I don’t know what I will do with myself.”
There’s a plethora of things you want to say, but none can be articulated. No matter how much you try and force the words out, nothing is uttered. Just as you think the words will string together, he laughs, humourless and empty.
“You’re right. I have no right to ask you when I’m the one pushing you away — when I’m the one causing this rift between us. But what else must I do to stay by your side, if not this? Where else can I reach you, if not shadowed by your light? You’re the last person I want to lose, [Name], so please,” his voice trembles ever so slightly, a detail that would go unheard if it were not for the fact it is just the two of you, a desolate silence, and frail streaks of moonlight, “don’t go to some place I can’t find you.” 
His chest heaves in tandem with his shuddering breaths, the only sound which punctures the still air. You’re not sure which is louder: that, or the white noise ringing amidst your senses. There is no room for thought, however, as you barely take note of your lips parting and the words which leave them.
“You… make me feel like a fool the longer I stay with you.” Your words are not loud, nor are they particularly harsh. But with the current atmosphere being so tense, you may as well have shouted them from the bottom of your heart with the way the echo ricochets within the empty cafe.
Even if your words are not loud, the silence most definitely is; deafeningly so.
After your… confession, for a lack of better words, belatedly registers in your conscience, you have half a mind to slap yourself silly. After all, who in their right mind responds to such an emotional, heartfelt barrage with… that.
You, it would seem.
(A petty part of you deems it fine considering the inner turmoil he’s put you through for Aeons knows how long.)
“Do you want to know something?” he asks, leaving you with no time to linger on your life choices. “When I’m with you, I feel like a fool as well.” Your surprise must have been obvious as he chuckles lightly with a gaze never straying from you. There’s a subtle shift in the atmosphere, one which lightens your heart without dismissing the emotions woven into the space between you. Before you can even think up a response, he continues. “Even if I rehearse what I plan to say to you, it rarely comes out the way I want. Sometimes the words don’t even come out at all. It’s always been this way, even before we became acquainted with each other.”
You blink at his words, stupefied. “You mean back when we were first enlisted into the Cloud Knights?” His sheepish chuckle is answer enough. “Wait— you mean— since all the way back then— huh??”
“Yeah,” he responds, voice light and teeming with unbridled affection, “since the moment I saw you in the welcome ceremony.”
????? Since then?! All you can remember is not wanting anything to do with him back then! To think you never noticed anything until he said it now, though technically it’s not entirely your fault since he never explicitly said anything… right?
Yeah, no it’s both your faults.
“I’m sorry to not have noticed anything till now,” you sigh, your head drooping. “Is there anything I can do to make up for it?”
(Jing Yuan just barely manages to control himself from kissing you senseless right then and there. Who gave you the right to be so adorable?? Not him, but you won’t catch him complaining.)
“Anything, you say?” he asks after a cough or two. Your eyes narrow at his behaviour before shrugging it off.
“Well, within reason…” you trail off at his pointed look, your mouth instantly shutting at his expression akin to — dare you say — puppy-dog eyes. It’s oddly cute, though you’ve always found his sleepy, cat-like demeanour to be the most endearing and heart-melting of all. (Not that you would ever admit this to him, of course. Well, not when he’s awake, at least.) And so, unsurprisingly, you relent. “Okay. Anything.”
“Then don’t be formal and act distant in public. Just call me ‘Jing Yuan’ familiarly like you used to.”
You blink once, twice. “...That’s it?”
“Well,” he drawls, “considering how you only addressed me as ‘General’ or ‘General Jing Yuan’, which was admittedly closer to my preference, despite being one of the few who were well aware I never wanted to be a general in the first place, I believe it’s the least you can do to show your sincerity.”
You scoff. “You sure know how to hold a grudge, foolish Jing Yuan.”
And he laughs, a breathy melody which sets your heart ablaze. Then you feel his fingers thread through yours, the faint callouses brushing against the back of your hand a testament to his battle prowess.
His lashes flutter shut as your hand is brought up towards his lips. Just as the plush of his lips grazes against your palm, his head dips, instead planting a soft kiss along the pulse point of your inner wrist. There’s a huff of laughter against your warmed skin, and you’re positive it’s because he found amusement in the way your pulse surged and stuttered under his lips.
Smug bastard.
His lashes flutter once more when they open into a half-lidded gaze, your wrist growing ticklish as his lips begin to move against your skin as he murmurs out, “I suppose that makes two of us, my foolish [Name].” When he turns to stare at you completely, his expression is nothing short of soft — eyes filled to the brim and overflowing with tender adoration doused in liquid gold and a warm, gentle curve of a smile that has you clammed up and breathless.
“Yeah,” you mumble after regaining some semblance of composure, unable to stop the smile which blooms on your lips, “I suppose it does.”
Tumblr media
if you enjoyed this, then reblogs with/or comments are greatly appreciated !! <33
3K notes · View notes
selineram3421 · 7 months
Text
*holds up fic like an offering* My gift.
White Wedding
Tumblr media
Alastor X Fem Reader
Warnings ⚠
⚠ noble man's daughter reader(life), very old timey sexism, domestic abuse, all caps for shouting, arranged marriage, blood, reader snaps and it is delightful!, fluff, kiss 💋 ⚠
Tumblr media
You sat in front of your vanity, brushing your hair as you were getting ready for a dance the Princess Charlie was hosting in the hotel.
Wilted roses sat in a vase by the open window, the air blowing your curtains slightly as the welcoming scent filled the room. The light glinting off something on your vanity caused you to pause.
It was the ring your ex husband gave you when alive.
You remembered it like it was yesterday.
Back when you still lived as an object, a trading tool for your father to use in political affairs. He even went as far as using you to try and get to the crown. Yes, you hated that man with every fiber of your being.
Habitually, you reached a hand over your shoulder to feel the scars on your back.
You remember everything..
.
"WHY CAN'T YOU DO AS YOU ARE TOLD!?", your father yelled as he lashed you.
"Mn!", you held back your scream, tears running down your face as you tried to get out of the maids hold that kept you in place.
You had failed to persuade a merchant to work with your father and now he was angry with you.
"YOU FUCKING USELESS WENCH!", he yelled and gave another lash with the clawed whip.
I want this to end.. You thought as he continued. Why am I still here? I should just end all of my suffering.
Another snap of the whip, another slash on your back.
"Enough.", your father decided and tossed the whip on the stone floor. "Get her cleaned but don't feed her supper or breakfast.", he walked away. "She hasn't earned her meals."
The maids loosened their hold on you and you felt dizzy from the blood loss, feeling yourself start to lean forward, falling on the cold stone.
I miss mother.. You thought before everything went dark.
You woke up in your bed the next morning, no doubt your father feigning sadness about your current state of health, him labeling you as his "fragile princess" to get sympathy from the other nobles.
Sitting up from your bed, you hissed at the burning sensation on your back.
Having been in his care alone for six years, you would have thought it would be nothing, but the pain was still unbearable.
Like clockwork, maids entered your room and prepared you for the day. Brushing your hair, applying powder and other cosmetics to your face, tightening your corset, putting on your shoes and a horridly large dress.
It screamed gentle and girly.
Someone is coming to visit.. You thought as the maids put on flower like jewelry.
The maids rushed you over to the dining room and opened the doors.
At the end of the table you saw your father talking to two unfamiliar men. He noticed you after you got closer to the table.
"There's my beautiful daughter! Come and introduce yourself.", he wore a convincing smile.
You walked closer and gave a curtsy, bowing your head as you introduced yourself to the gentlemen. "I hope both of you have had a pleasant morning so far."
When glancing at them, you could see lust glaze over there gazes.
Disgusting.
Your chair was pulled out by one of the servants and you sat down as they brought you a bowl of soup. As you waited for a glass of juice, you noticed that one of the visitors did not stop staring at you.
So did your father.
A few months later, you are notified of a wedding taking place in just a few days.
Your wedding.
"What?", you said in shock.
"You are going to marry soon, so finish up your lessons and take extra care of your skin. We don't want your value to lessen.", your father waved his hand to shoo you out of his office. "You will look best in a soft pearl white."
"No."
He looked up at you with annoyance.
"This isn't your choice, now go.", he said in an authoritative tone.
"I don't want to marry a man I don't know.", you pushed. "I want to fall in love and be happy! I want-!"
"WHAT YOU WANT DOESN'T MATTER!", he snapped. "YOU ARE MY DAUGHTER. MY PROPERTY. AND I WILL GET WHAT I AM OWED FOR YOUR HAND IN MARRIAGE!"
"NO!", you raised your voice. "I AM NOT AN OBJECT! I AM A PERSON AND I WILL BE TREATED AS SUCH!", you stomped your foot.
In a second he got up and was in front of you, giving you a slap across the face that made your head turn.
"YOU WILL LISTEN AND OBEY!", he shouted close your face.
Just like him, it only took you a second to strike back. You punched him in the nose, making him stagger back.
"NO! YOU WILL HEAR ME YOU BRUTE!", you growled. "I AM NOT A TOOL!"
That night you got the worst beating of your life that left you in bed for days.
In a flash, it was your wedding day.
You were being dressed up by bridesmaids your father picked out, bruises being covered with body paint and powder, lips being painted with a soft pink color. What you saw in the mirror was a portrait perfect bride, dressed in an elegant gown that any woman with a normal life would be happy to wear.
You hated it.
One of the girls sat you down on the chair in front of the vanity and started brushing your hair.
Then there was a knock on your door.
Turning to look you saw it was your older brother.
He traveled a lot and was oblivious to what your father had done to you over the years.
"Hey little sister.", your brother greeted.
"You're back..", was all you said before facing the vanity mirror.
"I've been away for so long and this is my greeting? You wound me.", he laughs as he enters the room.
"You cannot enter without the bride's permission!", one of your bridesmaids said.
"He is an acception. The rest of you leave us until I ask for you again.", you added and glared at the bridesmaid who spoke through the mirror.
The ladies nodded and left the room, the last one closing the door behind them. No doubt leaning against the door to eavesdrop on your conversation.
"You look wonderful.", he said and picked up the brush the bridesmaid left on the vanity table. "I bet your husband will be happy."
"I'm not happy..", you whispered.
"What?", he said and looked at your eyes in the reflection of the mirror. "What do you mean? It's your wedding day, you should be beaming with joy!"
"I'm being sold off like cattle, why should I be happy about that.", you said, tired.
"What is your wish?", he asks you, parting your hair and taking the upper half to brush.
"To start again but in a different way.", you said, placing a hand to feel the middle part of your corset, just above your stomach to make sure there was enough space.
The both of you stayed quiet and he finished doing your hair, fastening your mother's hairpin into your bun, the bottom half of your hair cascading down into wavy curls.
"It's a nice day for a white wedding..", is all he said.
He walked out of the room and in that second you took out a hidden dagger from the back of the mirror, carefully sliding it between your corset and chemise.
The bridesmaids entered the room after you called them back in, and you acted like nothing happened, wearing the same blank stare.
After the vows, writing down your names, and the carriage ride, you arrived at the hall where all the dancing and cake serving would be held at. Your husband took your hand and guided you to the dance floor, both of you taking the time to greet the guest and thanking them for attending.
Then it was your brother's turn.
"I'm thankful to get to see you in a wedding dress.", he hugged you.
You hugged him back, but not with much care and gave him a pat on the back.
"I'm going to be right back, but just know things will get better.", your brother whispered to you before letting go and leaving the hall.
You just smiled and waited.
Finally it was time for the father daughter dance.
Your father was happy, no doubt excited to count his money and other offerings.
During the dance your father spoke to you.
"I have so much more gold thanks to you.", he smiled with a proud look. "Getting married isn't so bad. You'll learn to be a good wife and mother.", he said as you both spun. "Just like your mother, you will obey every word your husband says."
The orchestra finished and both of you bowed to each other.
It was then that you took out the dagger and stabbed your father in the stomach. He gave a shout in surprise, gabbing your shoulder to hold onto.
"I'm so happy.", you whispered in his ear and shoved him back, watching as he landed on his back with a thud in the middle of the dance floor.
One of the guests screamed.
A few people started rushing over, some going to your father and the others trying to grab the dagger from your hands.
It was like dancing to your own music as you sliced and stabbed through the crowd. Screams and blood everywhere. The other guests, spectators until you turned to face them. Running out of the hall in fear of you going after them. The giant hall now empty and void of any life but you.
A laugh escaped from your lips as you stared down at your hands.
Your beautifully blood covered hands.
The blood shining off of the blade that made your heart race in excitement.
You laughed as you danced on top of the bloody corpses, wedding dress utterly drenched in your victims blood, now completely red.
White was for innocence.
But red, red, red, red, red, red, red, red, red, red, red, red, red, red, red, red, red. You thought and closed your eyes in bliss as you twirled. Oh red.
Red was your favorite.
There was a gasp.
Twirling to face the person, you saw that it was your dear older brother in the doorway of the dance hall.
"What have you done?", he said in horror.
You smiled.
"I've started my life again."
.
"Darling?"
You jumped in surprise, dropping your brush as you looked behind you to see your demonic love, the Radio Demon.
"Alastor.", you smiled. "I did not hear you enter."
"Forgive me dearest.", he walked over and picked up your hairbrush. "I used my shadows to enter your chambers, I forgot to knock."
"It is alright.", you replied and faced the mirror again.
The demon in red began to brush your hair, which made you hum in content.
"What had you in such a daze? Usually you are quite alert and aware of your surroundings.", Alastor asked as he started to put your hair up.
"I remembered one of the happiest days of my life.", you answered. "My lovely red wedding, just seconds before my death."
"Ah, yes.", he hummed. "I quite like that tale of yours. How I wish I could have seen you dance, covered in blood..", he trailed off and finished your hair, placing a red hair jeweled pin in your hair, making sure it matched your red dress perfectly. "We should have our own red wedding."
"Are you purposing?", you asked, glancing back at him.
"Would you like to get married to me?", he asked, placing his hands on your upper arms as he leaned down to place a kiss on the side of your neck.
Glancing at the old ring, you picked it up and tossed it out the open window.
"I would very much like to marry the sinister man I fell in love with."
Helping you stand, Alastor spun you into a dip before giving you a long kiss on the lips.
You felt a weight on your finger and peeked to see a beautifully crafted ring with a blood red gem. Alastor wearing a matching ring, but more his style.
Parting, both of you smiled at each other.
"Let's join the others! I heard that Charlie had invited Rosie as well, we can tell her the news together. She will be thrilled!", he began to ramble as he pulled you back up.
Linking arms, you both made your way to the dance hall.
Tumblr media
This was my late night draft, my creation of insanity.
~Seline, the person.
Taglist@
@c4rved-pumpk1n @scary-noodlesblog @stolas-thebirb @naelys-the-aster @biromanticboba @lbcreations-blog @ducky-died-inside @kiraisastay @pooplyface1423 @line-viper @117s-girl @spiderlegsling @alastorsgoldie @repentant-repeller @kcsketches @lofasofabread @kotaleee @im-coolrat @superzombiewho @speckle-meow-meow @jammcookie @dilucragnvindr-my-beloved @trashbin-nie @koioli @fatherlesschild2 @mmik3yy @just-here-reading @nealeart @hudiexiaoying @crystal-multiplefandomlover @+?
ML I🎙 | ML II🎙
308 notes · View notes
olderthannetfic · 11 days
Note
I’l throw my two cents into the f/f vs m/m wank fire.
I wonder if part of more m/m being written in general isn’t that certain character dynamics are more likely to remind people of mysogynistic tropes if it involves women.
I’m not sure if these are the best examples— but if the woman is the one getting dominated and the one that gets "babyfever" that seems like it invites harrasment and accusations about misoginy because authors of ye olde times reduced women to only that, and you are decidedly not safe even when all the characters are women because "how dare you write a woman uphold patriarchial standards" or something. Talking about wanting to get a cis man pregnant comes off less creepy than saying the same thing about any woman, doesn’t it?
Maybe these tropes are too niche to actually have any considerable bearing on the shipping scene at large, but it does seem to me like men just become the safer bet to explore sex with and don’t carry the fear to need to write a PhD dissertations about misoginy and sexism as a preface before writing dynamics or kinks that you like, or an explanation to why you are allowed to like that kink or dynamic.
It feels like this might extend to other marginalized or uncommon identities where certain things come with unfortunate sociohistorical (is that a word?) implications, and thus becomes much more restricted in what becomes socially acceptable to depict.
And people don’t want to risk or worry about depicting something "wrong" when they are in a space to relax, and in many cases to avoid thinking too hard about things.
More sensitive topics seem to open up more bad faith readings, which is counter productive for more text to be created about it.
Which now typing out a long explanation for seems stupid- I guess it’s a stupidly obvious conclusion to draw now that if there is a selective pressure of any kind on what gets submitted in a specific category, there will be overall less of it.
If people did feel less concious over what the worst possible reading could be of their f/f and m/f fic there’d certainly be more of it, but I don’t know if people complaining about the lack of f/f want to sacrifice the proportions of "quality" over higher statistics.
I think this might have been touched upon in some ways by other anons under "then we should encourage more het men to write f/f", just not with the exact framework I’m coming from I think.
I don’t have a good way to end this and I’m not sure if it’s worth anything (as far as these types of discourse go anyways), but this is way longer than originally intended already
--
This is a pretty standard point in "Why do women like m/m?" discussions going back decades, yeah. I'm sure this is a reason for many women just as some guys write female characters to explore things they find uncomfortable to explore via male ones.
The thing about the cyclical wank is that it boils down to m/m fans listing a bunch of reasons that make a lot of sense... at extreme length.
And then a bunch of f/f fans feeling rather attacked because nobody really wants to read a thousand pages about why their thing is unpopular.
And then someone goes "Okay, but it's weird/bad that women like slash!" and we're back to the tl;dr explanations.
66 notes · View notes
unknownperson246 · 2 months
Note
Hello^^ could I request a 80s slash x reader fic?
It’s 1986, the night was still young and everyone was having good time at one of Motley Crue’s coolest parties yet. Slash sitting on the sofa in the living room while people roamed and danced onto each other. When the reader who was trying to be a groupie for the first time tries to shoot her shot with slash?
With smut and a bit of fluff also?
Thank youu^^
Hiii sorry its a bit late but here it is
First Time
Tumblr media
Words: 886
Warnings: *smut* *fluff* *mentions of alcohol* *cussing* *first time* *blood* *slight praise kink* *unprotected p in v* *inexperienced groupie*
☆ ★ ✮ ★ ☆☆ ★ ✮ ★ ☆☆ ★ ✮ ★ ☆☆ ★ ✮ ★ ☆
It is the year 1986 and Slash was invited to one of Motley Crue's parties. The party was at Vince Neil’s house. You were around 20 years old. It was the best one this year and every rockstar was coming. It was your first time being a groupie because you just started and you were hanging out with other groupies until Slash caught your eye. He was lying on the couch with his hat and sunglasses he had a lot of curly hair you have never seen him ever. He was in the living room while a lot of people were dancing and making out all over the place. People were even dancing with each other and drinking their beers having a good time.  A groupie saw you staring at Slash with starry eyes. She walks past you and you stop her. “Hey, who is that?” You ask her.
“You seriously don't know?” She looks at you in shock.
“No that's why im asking. It's my first time being a groupie” You say to a fellow groupie.
“That’s Slash from the band Guns n Roses. They're very popular.” The groupie tells you.
“Well, he is pipping hot” You smirk as you tell the groupie.
“Yeah, he is very popular with the groupies so be careful they come to him like a school of birds. They will eat you alive so you better be careful. Also, get to him before any of the other girls get to him.” The groupie warns you so you don't get physically attacked by some dick-hungry chicks.
You muster up some courage and push the other groupies out of the way so you can talk to Slash. You were trying to shoot your shot with him.
“Hi. I’m Y/N” You say confidently as you stand in front of him with just your bra and panties. 
“Hi Y/N You are one sexy woman. Sit here.” He says as he points to his lap. 
He takes his sunglasses off and he rarely does that. The other women were watching in jealousy as he called you sexy and how he was looking at you when he took his sunglasses off. The other women were shocked that he chose a newby. His hands grab your hips and he does not let go of them. His fingers dig into your hips softly.
“Im a virgin” You whisper in his ear.
“Well, this should be fun then” Slash purrs in your ear.
“You're going to let a rockstar take it?” Slash asks you.
“Yeah, and I want it to be you.” You whisper to Slash.
Slash was trying not to be judgmental towards you. He takes you to Vince’s master bedroom. He asks Vince if he is okay with fucking chicks in there first. Vince is okay with it. “Do you know how to do it?” Slash asks you gently. 
“I mean yes but it's my first time,” You tell Slash in the bedroom. 
“It might hurt at first and it will bleed but if you want me to stop I will,”  Slash tells you.
Slash gets up on you and slowly removes your underwear. He prepares his cock for you and he slides it in you nice and easy.
“Does it hurt?” Slash asks you if you're okay.
“No it just feels weird,” you tell Slash.
Slash picks up the pace and starts to go quicker but he is very gentle with you knowing that it’s sensitive because it’s your first time
Slash keeps grunting as he slides in and out of you. He notices the blood.
“Should I stop?” Slash asks you.
“No keep going” you let out a moan. 
You make small noises and you softly whimper as you feel yourself coming close to your orgasm.
“How does it feel?” Slash asks you.
“It feels good” you Moan as your nails touch Slash’s back.
“I feel like I have to pee,” you shriek.
“That’s a good thing it means you're about to orgasm,” Slash explained.
You were happy that you were about to come on Slash’s thick cock. Your legs start to shake and your head goes back.
“Is it supposed to feel this good?” you moan as his hips grind your hips. 
“Yeah,” Slash says breathlessly.
“You’re such a good girl.” Slash moans as his hands go through your hair.
 You feel your hole clenching Slash’s cock. Your sight is blurry and you come over Slash’s cock. Slash keeps going. His legs start to shake and his head goes back. He groans and you feel a liquid shoot inside of you. Slash pulls out of you and lays down next to you on Vince’s bed.
“Is it supposed to come out? I don’t want to get pregnant” you ask Slash.
“Fuck are you on birth control?” Slash asks panicked  
“Yeah, I’m just playing with you” you chuckle.
You feel something run down your legs and you thought it was your period but remember it was blood from how you did it with Slash.
“Slash, I'm still bleeding.” You look down at your legs.
“Do you use pads or tampons?” Slash asks you.
“Tampons,” you tell Slash. 
After about 2 minutes Slash comes back with a tampon and you put it in. You both go out of the room and go back to partying.
91 notes · View notes
huiyi07 · 1 month
Text
some of my top haikyuu fanfictions (ranked accordingly)
Come Morning Light (354k) by SharkbaitSekki is the saddest, most devastating fic i have ever read. If you like gen fics, karasuno family, and angst, this genuinely hit all those boxes and more for me and changed my life because I read those sexy 350k words in less than 24 hours when i was 13 yrs old and i haven't ever forgotten this fic. I promise the premise is kinda intimidating and all but i swear to GOD this is my atyd. this is my in another life. this is my roman empire
the future is female (85k) by earlgray_milktea is the cutest, but at the same time one of the most satisfying fics i've ever read. just a completely enjoyable and investing fic all the way, and again the premise does sound kinda trope-y and all but this fic is so fun! and smart and clever and important! yes it is basically hinata as a girl posing as a boy just to be taken seriously in the volleyball scene, but it goes about it in such a smart way and! it stretches all the way from the start to the post-timeskip of haikyuu (but it's not a super long read).
national hot dad alliance is now calling... (58k) by dicaeopolis, owlinaminor is probably a fic you've seen before, and if you haven't read it it probably means you hate chatfics and think they're dumb but i PROMISE this fic is singlehandedly the most hilarious thing i have ever read. 58k doesn't sound extremely long, but this dumb silly thing lasted me so long because i would just read a bit whenever i needed a laugh, more than that it was also lowkey so sad towards the end and it didn't need to be, but it really adds to the completeness of this fic and i love it
chasing gold (45k) by skiecas is gonna be, like, the only fic here with hardcore romance and some sus bits that you can honestly just skip. Premise is basically Iwaoi throughout the years since highschool with a focus on the olympics, specifically; and i'm currently posting this at the time of the paris olympics szn, so if you're feeling festive, this is the fic! i also love when romance fics expand on the world around them, and this fic does exactly that with other characters' involvement and the overall amazingly fun, dramatic and grand backdrop of the olympics. such a good fic!
Come Back (25k) by Soralith deserves to be a STAPLE of haikyuu fanfiction, right up there with those mofos in another life and the galaxy is endless. why? well, it hits all the boxes - slash (kagehina), angst, DEATH, made me sob uncontrollably. read this guys its sad lol
68 notes · View notes
shopcat · 1 year
Text
otay here is every single outfit item steve harrington wears in all four seasons of stranger things including specific brands
8 months combined work an autism diagnosis and 16 hours straight of finishing touches and formatting this post let's go babycakes
billy, edd*ssy, rpf fans dni, pr0ship/fic dni
Tumblr media
– NOTES 📌 ★ human error cannot be overcame by one autism boy's realness but i tried my best and everything listed is either 100% accurate and confirmed or is as best as i can do. if it's not listed i just don't know! ★ so while i would say i tried VERY hard for a long time, there is a disclaimer that i just cannot know bc i'm not a professional lol </3 ★ therefore: this is not in any way "complete" or fully sourced, mostly due to the nature of vintage clothing being hard to source even if it's in your hands and i just had pictures, but that's okay because this is mainly a visual reference resource i made for art and not pedantism 😭 ★ feel free to message me if you have any (100% sourced please...) corrections or additional finds!! ★ EVERY item is vintage and dated give or take, '80 - '95 with a few things sitting even older. if you use this post to try and source any of the items for personal/cosplay use this is important to remember for screen accuracy's sake (but not entirely necessary either lol. for example you could definitely just cop any old similar cut of his plain sweaters, etc. but things like the leather jacket or vest would be more accurate as genuine vintage! whereas i recommend getting new shoes just for them being in good condition if anything... go with ur gut!!) ★ heavy on formatting for clarity and organisation, if you need a plain text version contact me! ★ in appearance order: 23 complete outfits, minus what he wore to barb's funeral because...? well duh ★ YES I'M CRAZY!!!!!
– WATCH ⌚
Tumblr media Tumblr media
he wears a watch on his left wrist with every single outfit (including in the upside down)
season 1 ➜ season 2: Russian Soviet military style wristband, 16-18mm chestnut brown leather with light stitching, sterling silver detailing and white clock-face season 3 ➜ season 4: a Hamilton CLD (most likely) dress watch, 16-18mm walnut brown leather wristband, gold detailing and white clock-face
Tumblr media
1. BLUE LONG-SLEEVED BLUE STRIPED POLO [season 1, episode 1] ★ light blue H R Robinson's long-sleeved polo with blue stripes, tucked ★ khaki trousers ★ navy canvas and brown leather Tommy Hilfiger belt with brass buckle ★ black socks ★ mahogany brown leather loafers with suede laces ★ yellow canvas duffle bag with white straps
2. GREEN SWEATSHIRT [season 1, episode 2] ★ green raglan mixed fabric sweatshirt ★ Levi's dark wash jeans ★ no belt ★ black Adidas Original Superstar's
3. YELLOW POLO [season 1, episode 3] ★ yellow and grey striped Le Tigre polo ★ Levi's grey jeans ★ no belt ★ black Harrington jacket with silver detailing ☆ slash pockets with silver buttons ★ black Nike Classic Cortez's
Tumblr media
4. BLUE LONG-SLEEVED MAROON STRIPED POLO [season 1, episode 4] ★ light blue H R Robinson's long-sleeved polo with maroon rugby stripes ★ Levi's black jeans ★ no belt ★ red Nike Bruin's
5. GREEN LONG-SLEEVED POLO [season 1, episode 5] ★ forest green long-sleeved polo with dark green rugby stripes ★ Levi's 501 light wash jeans ★ black Harrington jacket with silver detailing ☆ slash pockets with silver buttons ★ red Nike Bruin's
6. GREEN SWEATSHIRT 2.0 [season 1, episodes 6 ➜ 8] ★ green raglan mixed fabric sweatshirt ★ Levi's 501 light wash jeans ★ black Harrington jacket with silver detailing ☆ slash pockets with silver buttons ★ red Nike Bruin's ★ Louisville Slugger driven with industrial nails
Tumblr media
7. CHRISTMAS SWEATER [season 1, episode 8] ★ green Eddie Bauer Christmas sweater ★ maroon polo collar only ★ khaki trousers
8. MAROON LONG-SLEEVED POLO [season 2, episode 1] ★ maroon Brook's Brothers long-sleeved polo with blue rugby stripes ★ Levi's 501 light wash jeans ★ Ray-Ban 1983 Wayfarer sunglasses ★ blue Harrington jacket ★ original design Nike Classic Cortez's
9. PUFFER VEST AND POLO [season 2, episode 2] ★ dark blue long-sleeved rugby striped polo ★ Levi's 501 light wash jeans ★ navy puffer vest with matte plastic shank buttons
Tumblr media
10. RISKY BUSINESS HALLOWEEN COSTUME [season 2, episode 2] ★ black tweed suit jacket ★ black fitted cotton tee-shirt ★ Levi's 501 light wash jeans ★ Ray-Ban 1983 Wayfarer sunglasses ★ original design Nike Classic Cortez's
11. GYM UNIFORM [season 2, episodes 3 ➜ 4] ★ cotton tee-shirt, printed with "Hawkin's Phys Ed" green gym shorts with triangular seam cutouts ★ green and orange hem-striped tube socks ★ solid blue Nike Classic Cortez's
12. MEMBER'S ONLY JACKET [season 2, episodes 5 ➜ 6, 8 ➜ 9] ★ navy blue long sleeved cotton tee-shirt with white varsity sleeve stripes, tucked [1] ★ Levi's 501 light wash jeans ★ silver-grey Member's Only racer jacket [2] ★ brown leather belt with rounded end brass buckle ★ Ray-Ban 1983 Wayfarer sunglasses tucked in jacket breast pocket when not in use ★ grey backpack with black straps ★ original design Nike Classic Cortez's ★ Louisville Slugger driven with industrial nails ★ yellow rubber dishwashing gloves ★ a solid yellow, striped rainbow and red and white comic book speech bubble band-aid post-fight ★ grey gardening gloves in tunnels ★ yellow swim goggles in tunnels ★ red paisley bandana in tunnels
Tumblr media
1: definitely was a practical, keeping-warm choice and i'm sure the intention was to have the ensemble pass as a plain, short sleeved tee but a fun little thing anyway:
Tumblr media Tumblr media
2: steve wears a technically-modern version of the classic Member's Only but the differences are entirely cosmetic and superficial, like zipper lengths and metal colouring. the fit is the same! notably, he wears the silver-grey model and not the standard grey.
Tumblr media
13. RED SWEATER [season two, episode 9] ★ red woollen, knit crewneck sweater
14. SCOOPS AHOY UNIFORM [season 3, episodes 1 ➜ 8] ★ royal blue uniform shirt with sailor's flap collar and attached red neckerchief ☆ white double striped hemming ☆ semi-cropped, box cut with a slightly fitted waistline inset for shape ☆ red and white striped tee-style dickey piece [3] ☆ embroidery patch of an ice cream cone on the right sleeve ★ royal blue uniform shorts ☆ white double striped hemming ☆ white pocket detailing and innards ★ red Scoops Ahoy nametag ★ dixie cup style costume sailor's hat ★ white nylon belt with a chrome box buckle, detachable red tool pocket ★ white apron ★ white tube socks ★ silver Style Auto Carrera design jacket [4] ★ navy blue Adidas Gazelle's with aftermarket blue laces [5] ★ red and white striped undershirt ★ blood splattering on collar post-fight
Tumblr media
3: assumedly the red striped dickey piece and undershirt are one in the same. behind the scenes footage shows both, and occasionally joe seems to not be wearing the undershirt... ? 😭 usually sailor style shirts and costumes use a dickey piece for convenience as it ties in more uniformly than just a tee-shirt sitting underneath it's like schrodinger's striped shirt here
4: the same jacket he wears in season 4! notably, the tag is left blank, most likely because it isn't a statement piece unlike in season 4. note the ring pull collar, black pocket button detailing and the visible black zipper that points towards the Carrera design:
Tumblr media
5: missing the Gazelle gold lettering, either faded due to them being vintage or purposefully removed for screen
15. COCA-COLA COMMERCIAL [season 3, set post-episode 2, pre-episode 3] ★ white windbreaker with red elastic cuffs and accent detailing ★ white cotton fitted tee-shirt, tucked ★ Levi's 501 light wash jeans ★ brown leather belt with rounded end brass buckle ★ black Nike Bruin's
Tumblr media
16. MARTY MCFLY VEST [season 3, episode 8] ★ dark wash and red denim two-tone Guess Jeans sleeveless vest ★ fitted white cotton tee-shirt with blue and yellow varsity striped sleeves, tucked ★ Levi's 501 dark wash jeans ★ brown leather belt with rounded end brass buckle ★ black Nike Bruin's
17. WHITE HENLEY [season 4, episode 1] ★ white long sleeved cotton henley ☆ silver pop buttons ☆ two matching decorative zips on the sleeves ☆ fitted hem ★ Levi's 501 light wash jeans ★ brown leather belt with rounded end brass buckle ★ Family Video name tag [6] ★ green Family Video vest
6: to me the sticker he put on it looks like a simple gold star, but it could also be the "Be Kind, Rewind" slogan with a smiley face design, or some sort of assistant manager/ask me anything-type sticker!
18. PURPLE POLO [season 4, episode 2] ★ purple criquet Arthur Stripe polo, tucked ★ Levi's 501 dark wash jeans ★ brown leather belt with rounded end brass buckle ★ Family Video name tag ★ green Family Video vest ★ silver Style Auto Carrera design jacket ★ red Nike Bruin's
Tumblr media
19. STYLE AUTO JACKET AND POLO [season 4, episodes 3 ➜ 4] ★ navy polo with a white horizontal band stripe and white sleeve hemming, tucked ☆ fitted, or potentially a size too small ☆ yellow shadow striping ★ white cotton tee-shirt ★ Levi's 501 light wash jeans ★ brown leather belt with rounded end brass buckle ★ silver Style Auto Carrera design jacket [7] ★ red Nike Bruin's
7: the original Style Auto patch has been removed for licensing/circulation issues, or, the jacket is just potentially not the actual name brand version and instead an adopted design therefore brandless. or it fell off i don't know. the plastic insert on his breast (haha) now reads a custom generic 80's label:
Tumblr media
20. YELLOW SWEATER [season 4, episode 5] ★ yellow crewneck raglan cotton sweater ☆ fitted cuffs and hem ★ grey cotton chinos [8] ☆ elastic waistband with drawstring ☆ printed blue patterned cuff hem ★ white socks ★ red Nike Bruin's
8: for some reason the Quiksilver x Stranger Thing's "The Steve" pants are actually an almost… 95%? exact recreation of the pants he wears in-show. and like, despite being listed as a collab with the wardrobe dep this is the first time i've seen any sort of replica clothing for something like a random character's pants but it's cool! there may be a little variation in the exact patterning but even to my super perfectionist eye they do seem identical/highly similar :). i belieeeeve what would have happened is the wardrobe made the pants, and Quiksilver received the design to then streamline for their own version. the Quiksilver version has printed pocket linings including the welt of the back pocket, whilst the on screen version are unprinted except for the hem.
Tumblr media
21. EDDIE'S BATTLE JACKET [season 4, episodes 7 ➜ 8] ★ Levi's light wash trucker blanket-lined jacket ☆ sleeveless, distressed ☆ hand stitched Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Motörhead and Leviathan Cross patches ☆ hand stitched Dio, The Last in Line's album cover tee-shirt on back panel ☆ Judas Priest, W.A.S.P., Accept and Mercyful Fate pins personally i would omit wasp/mötorhead in recreations/art/etc but that's just me... ★ grey cotton chinos ☆ elastic waistband with drawstring ☆ printed blue patterned cuff hem ★ barefoot (lol) ★ torn cotton cloth wrap field bandage
22. WAR ZONE OUTFIT [season 4, episodes 8 ➜ 9] ★ type A-2 brown leather flight jacket ☆ custom patches ☆ second-hand in-show ★ camo print cotton tee-shirt ★ long cargo pants ★ M-1955 marine's flak jacket ★ vintage Vietnam jungle boots ★ wooden axe, Molotov cocktails
23. BLUE HENLEY [season 4, episode 9] ★ blue cotton henley ★ white cotton tee-shirt ★ Levi's 501 jeans ★ brown leather belt with rounded end brass buckle ★ blue Nike All Court's
that's all folks!!!
for any shoes or jeans that are off screen/unseen, i would make a safe bet for them being whatever he seems to be wearing the most that season. like he wears the cortez's for the entirety of season 2 even at the halloween party (he is insane) except for in gym so it'd be safe to assume every other shoe would be that one, for example.
★ bonus eddie section: Shot brand black leather jacket with DIY silver chain on the broken sleeve zipper, screenprinted Hellfire Club baseball pattern tee-shirt with the Daydream fontface, texturised. he wears a Casio F-91W digital watch (which he wears... upside down...) and, of course, white Reebok EX-O Fit Hi sneakers
please don't leave inappropriate, weird or sexual comments on this post! they're just jeans 😭
438 notes · View notes
pillowspace · 1 year
Note
Do you have any tma fic recs?
I am kissing your hand, thank you so much for asking. Let me go take a look through my AO3 bookmarks and see what I still remember reading
Here's some The Magnus Archives fics I like! Some Jonmartin fics, regular fics, and a little Gerrymichael section because I like that
Okay, so first of all, this is my favourite The Magnus Archives fic of all time. I cannot recommend it enough. It has entirely rewired my brain, I have not been the same since I read this. I cried multiple times:
Resigned, Though Not to Fate by inkfingers_mcgee
Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Martin Blackwood/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist
“You’re really suggesting this,” Martin says, voice pulled thin.
“Yes.” No hesitation.
“You would- actually do it?”
“I would.”
“With me.”
“Yes, Martin.”
“Why?” Because love is blind, says something cliché and cruel in the pit of his gut. Christ, he never was much of a poet, was he?
Or,
When Jon asks Martin to Quit the Archives with him, Martin says yes. Things don't go as planned. In the Scottish Highlands, they hurt, and they heal.
(Re-written as of 22-12-27; see chapter 9 for more info.)
T | Words: 145,746 | Chapters: 9/9
∘₊✧────────────────────✧₊∘
And there's also these good ones I've enjoyed:
∘₊✧────────────────────✧₊∘
a deeply annoying child by ajkal2
No Archive Warnings Apply, Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist & Tim Stoker, blink-and-you-miss-it Martin Blackwood/Jonathan Sims, BUT NO SLASH WHILE ANYONE IS A CHILD
Jon is hiding under the desk.
----
There's a child in the Archives, who shouldn't be there.
G | Words: 9,631 | Chapters: 1/1
∘₊✧────────────────────✧₊∘
rituals by doomcountry
No Archive Warnings Apply, Martin Blackwood/The Archivist, Martin Blackwood/Jonathan Sims
Martin is the first person to knock on the Archivist's door since it arrived, fully, into its little waiting temple. The Archivist saw him coming from down the hall, but decides to feign interest when the knob turns, and Martin—still a little bit smaller, a little more translucent than before—stands uncertainly just outside the room.
T | Words: 8,492 | Chapters: 1/1
∘₊✧────────────────────✧₊∘
Head in the Lion's Mouth by renwhit
Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Danny Stoker & Tim Stoker, Danny Stoker & Jonathan Sims, Basira Hussain & Alice "Daisy" Tonner, Martin Blackwood & Tim Stoker, Martin Blackwood & Danny Stoker, Jonathan Sims & Tim Stoker, Past Tim Stoker/Sasha James, Danny Stoker & Helen Richardson, Danny Stoker & Alice "Daisy" Tonner, Danny Stoker & Melanie King, Basira Hussain & Tim Stoker, Basira Hussain & Danny Stoker
He fell into a deep bow, smiling the whole while. “I’m the ringmaster, of course.”
“Is that skin— Is it yours?” Old wood groaned as the Archivist shifted his weight. “Originally.”
“It is!” the ringmaster said as he swooped back upright. “Nikola decided I wore it well, so she let me keep it. Why do you ask?”
The Archivist gave him another once-over. “You just… you look familiar. Like someone I know.”
On relearning, reconnecting, and redefining.
M | Words: 157,240 | Chapters: 17/17
∘₊✧────────────────────✧₊∘
Reflection by LazuliQuetzal
No Archive Warnings Apply, Martin Blackwood/Jonathan Sims, Sasha James/Emma (The Magnus Archives)
Jonathan Sims, researcher at the Magnus Institute, is seeing a ghost. Of himself.
Of course, it’s not really him, no matter what secrets it knows, or how many arguments it brings up. So if it tells him to do something?
Obviously, he’ll be doing the exact opposite.
(AKA: Jon is an idiot, past and future, but somewhere along the way it all cancels out.)
(Expect general spoilers for S4 and specifically, MAG 158.)
T | Words: 51,527 | Chapters: 10/10
∘₊✧────────────────────✧₊∘
Out There, Somewhere by Artyphex
No Archive Warnings Apply, Martin Blackwood/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist
"I'm sorry, you were found alone."
Jon survived the apocalypse and now will go to the end of this new, unfamiliar world to find Martin again.
T | Words: 54,080 | Chapters: 8/8
∘₊✧────────────────────✧₊∘
Clutching Daffodils by Gemi
Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Martin Blackwood/Jonathan Sims
Martin has always liked the idea of love at first sight.
It’s such a romantic idea, the whole thing of it. Seeing someone and instantly feeling that strange, twisting feeling deep inside that every single media likes to obsess over. Of knowing you are in love within the day, petals falling from your mouth and warmth filling your chest as love burrows deep, vines twisting through your lungs.
He always liked the idea of it.
And then Jonathan Sims starts working at the Magnus Institute.
NR | Words: 7,624 | Chapters: 1/1
∘₊✧────────────────────✧₊∘
Beastly Behaviour by Prim_the_Amazing
Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Martin Blackwood/Jonathan Sims
“You need to learn a lesson,” she says, and there’s blood speckling her lips now. She’s overstraining herself. He needs to stop her, calm her down. “And until you learn it you will suffer, just like you’ve made me suffer.”
“Mum, I think you need to--”
It turns out that when his father had called his mother a witch, he had meant more than Martin realized.
NR | Words: 73,226 | Chapters: 28/28
∘₊✧────────────────────✧₊∘
dustsceawung by callmearcturus
No Archive Warnings Apply, Martin Blackwood/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist
Martin had always been favored by the summer courts, and moving up north to the little village of Lacuna is a difficult adjustment. It's rainy and lonely and everyone seems to have a strange, distant relationship with the local faerie court.
However: there is a strange man in a cloak who walks past Martin's remote little cottage every few days.
However: there is a moth that keeps getting stuck in Martin's house during the rain.
These events are not as disconnected as they first appear.
M | Words: 38,269 | Chapters: 8/8
∘₊✧────────────────────✧₊∘
Gerrymichael fics I like:
∘₊✧────────────────────✧₊∘
Break Me Like A Pattern by TheLibraryBat
Graphic Depictions Of Violence,,Gerard Keay & Michael Shelley, Gerard Keay/Michael Shelley, Gerard Keay & Gertrude Robinson, Gertrude Robinson & Michael Shelley
The year is 2011. Michael Shelley is living his life in circles, blissfully unaware of the betrayal that awaits him in the summer. Gertrude Robinson has plans to enact and plans to destroy. Emma Harvey is hiding a book in the dark place at the back of a cupboard.
When Gerard Keay walks into the Magnus Institute - two years sooner than he was meant to - everything changes.
This is an (eventual) Archivist Michael AU, exploring how certain events might have played out, had one key player been in the wrong place at the wrong time.
M | Words: 215,291 | Chapters: 40/40
∘₊✧────────────────────✧₊∘
This entire series is so good, all 4 works in it:
As One Door Closes by dramatispersonae
Words: 64,859 | Works: 4
∘₊✧────────────────────✧₊∘
Choke Chain by dramatispersonae
Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Gerard Keay/Michael, Gerard Keay/The Distortion
Things Gertrude Robinson possesses: decades of experience killing, containing, and otherwise thwarting supernatural beings, an uncompromising drive to destroy the Rituals and the people who would see them completed, Gerry's loyalty. Things Gertrude Robinson apparently also possesses: a monster on a magic leash.
NR | Words: 14,814 | Chapters: 1/1
∘₊✧────────────────────✧₊∘
Echo Chamber by orphan_account
Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Gerard Keay/Michael, Gerard Keay/Michael Shelley
“Look, if you’re another, uh, avatar of a horrible eldritch demon god come to assassinate me in a spooky manner, could you get it over with quickly? I haven’t eaten all morning and I’m starving.”
The thing that calls itself Michael stares.
“And this sandwich cost most of my weekly salary,” Gerry adds after a belated moment.
T | Words: 21,439 | Chapters: 1/1
∘₊✧────────────────────✧₊∘
Please Don’t Eat the Flowers by Sloane
Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Gerard Keay/Michael Shelley, Gerard Keay/Michael | The Distortion, Razor/Wendy, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Instead of retiring to open a book shop, Gerry ends up working at a flower shop run by American lesbians in London. This leads to a brush with the Distortion, who just wants to buy some lilies, the Magnus Institute finding out he’s still alive, and... well, a normal life was never really in the cards for the likes of Gerard Keay, was it?
Oh, and those lesbians who run the flower shop? There’s more to them than meets the eye—bad Beholding pun intended.
(No knowledge of Maniac Mansion required; I take lots of liberties to slot it into TMA’s universe. UNDER MAJOR REVISIONS. Please see last chapter if you’re a new/returning reader for details..)
M | Words: 77,314 | Chapters: 33/?
194 notes · View notes
Note
I'm here to bonce back on the "non tagging x reader content" when... Shippers do the EXACT same thing and get no flacks in returns?
ESPECIALLY mlm ones?
I mean why even bother? You either drool over those two men kissing or you're just a raging homophobe! Simple as that ! 😌 😇
You have no idea of the numbers of shipper accounts i had to block because they posted content for that ship that i hate without tagging it as shipping. And nobody bats an eye, everyone is cool with that because everyone ASSUMES you're into this.
And then they say shits like "Wow x reader is such a HATE CRIME am I right?" And everyone's agreed with them and you can't say shit in response because all the fandom back them up. (True story, i wish i made that one up)
And as a sex/romance repulsed aroace woman who's only comfortable with x reader fanfics to safely explore those complicated feeling the fuck am I supposed to do? I would get gutted on the street by the entire fandom.
And before everyone slash my throat : everyone should tag their content. No matter what it is. Shipping, x reader, whatever...
But why everyone is so comfortable shitting on the x reader community while the shippers get to do everything they want without any pushback????
Like idk how to say it, all the goods the x reader community gave me. Its the only community who accepted me in ANY fandoms i have been as an aroace woman, all the rest of the fandoms bullied me and tried to chase me away because i """"shipped myself""""" with male characters i saw as aroace coded too. The x reader community welcomed me and helped me carve my own space while the rest gave me fucking slack because I saw those characters as aroace instead of gay. (Because it is apparently the only valid queer interprétation ever)
Like fuck man...
This community is the only one who accepted to listen to me rambling about how those character were aroace coded and cheered for me writing about them while i was bullied off my first account because i did not agree with the popular ship.
I met more aroace people writing nsfw/romantic fics (YES I TAG THEM ALL) about those characters than i ever met in my entire life. HELL, each and every single Friend I made on this site came to me to thank me for my writing and they ALL turned out to be sex/romance repulsed aroace people.
TLDR : why is it always the x reader community that get flacked for doing something the shippers do since the very begining of fandoms without any repercussion?
Its getting old.
Sincerely an aroace sex/romance woman that will never let go of her x reader fanfics.
...OK ima be honest on that one
Personally I don't dig shipping OR xreader, I kinda put them in a "nope don't wanna read it" same bag
So yeah I don't get why people wouldn't see them on a same scale of value.
Literally people like different things and some would rather read different things and some wouldn't and everything's fine let's seriously just tag stuff to make our life easier and stop judging each other.
The absolute state of all of this. Jeeeeesus. That's part of why I don't even bother in fanfiction spaces anymore. That and the fac there's hardly ever anything that'd interest me anyway, I guess.
24 notes · View notes
spirkme915 · 1 year
Text
more spirk fics i've read recently and loved
The Promised Land by gunstreet @gunstreet (TOS) - buckle in and get ready for chapters and chapters of p-a-i-n. it's divorce era spirk (pre-TMP) and it hurts oh so good. have a desperate need to find out what spock was thinking when he chose kolinahr? you will wonder no more. also, there's sex. a lot of it and beautifully done. all around perfection
The Accidental Matchmaker by notboldly (AOS) - it's valentine's day on the enterprise and spock receives an unexpected note. this had me muttering "oh spock" (affectionate) under my breath as i read
emotionally compromised by thesorrowoflizards (AOS) - an extremely thoughtful and poignant rewrite of the bridge scene in the 2009 movie. gen not slash, but who needs sex when you get the vulnerability of tos spock in aos spock?
Between Me and You by Solid_Medical_Advice (TOS) - ONE BED! need i say more? well, i will anyway. this fic has a touch of angst but it's mostly fluff and feelings and is terribly soothing
home by Sir_Bedevere (TOS) - am i sucker for everything OMS? yes, yes i am. have another entry into the old married space husbands being adorably old and married (with a cat!)
Injury by iyokou (AOS) - F1 AND STAR TREK??? i love it when my fandoms collide. AND IT'S EXPLICIT HURT COMFORT??? *eternal sigh of happiness*
The Other Uniform by Bibarian (AOS) - jim wears an alternate uniform, spock loses his shit. spock & uhura bffs. then sex. how can you go wrong?
The way that we love at night (gave me life) by phlebotinxm (AOS) - obligatory PWP entry for this list and this one is established relationship so it's a completely different kind of good
(This and Every) Morning After by Solid_Medical_Advice (TOS/AOS) - are they friends with benefits? is it unrequited love? you probably already know those answers but this fic is still fun as hell to read. also, CONFIDENT SPOCK. i am here for all confident spock
Sweet dreams (of course I love you) by decidedlynotheterosexual @decidedly-not-heterosexual (TOS) - fluff, ALL fluff. need a happy read? this is it
and, for once, i don't have any non-spirk fics to rec, but there are two entries in the "aliens made them do it" trope for this list:
Lead Us to Our Own Bliss by gunstreet (TOS) - i'm hesitant to read this trope because it often involves non-con, but @gunstreet handled it perfectly. this fic definitely has voyeurism, but it's more about their awakening of their feelings for each other
Red Matter: Scents, Starfleet, and Kurage Sushi by CampySpaceSlime (TOS) - this was so. damn. creative. omg. unlike anything i could've expected and just as weird and alien as space should be
(you can find previous recs under fic rec and/or spirk fic recs)
reminder - please do send me recs and feel free to self-promo!
244 notes · View notes
fkinkindagauche · 3 days
Text
The Most Gourd-geous Pumpkin in the Patch
Tumblr media
I did, in fact, start a fic based on this Wiggly Wednesday. The first chapter is up on AO3 - read it here, tags/content warnings over there. Brief description - No Upside Down Omegaverse AU, explicit, Steve and Eddie meet in their mid-to-late thirties over some pumpkins.
Here's a little excerpt.
Tumblr media
“Hello?” a man’s voice said. Steve could hear loud music playing in the background. 
“Um, hi,” Steve said. He hadn’t prepared a spiel like he usually did when calling someone, and he froze. Amos meowed loudly.
“Are you a cat?” the man asked, laughter in his voice. “Is a cat calling me? This is wild.”
“N-no,” Steve stammered. “I mean, yes, there is a cat here, but there’s also a person. Me. Steve.”
“Ooooh,” the man said. “The plot thickens. A Steve and a cat. What’s the cat’s name?”
“Amos,” Steve replied automatically. How had this conversation gone off the rails so quickly? Amos lifted up his head at the sound of his name and meowed again.
“Anus? You named your cat anus?” the man asked, incredulous.
Steve rolled his eyes. He hadn’t anticipated how common this response would be when he chose Amos’s name, but a surprising number of people did mishear it as “anus”. “No, no. Amos. With an M as in major. Amos, like the Famous Amos cookies. Or the minor prophet in the Old Testament.”
“That makes a lot more sense,” the man said. “So, Steve and minor prophet slash cookie cat, to what do I owe the pleasure of your call?” 
“Um. I got a card. In my door today. From Munson’s Curiosities. About selling pumpkins.”
“You’re the pumpkin magician!” 
“Well, I don’t know about that. It’s my first time growing them.”
“Even more magical. Those have got to be the most perfect pumpkins I’ve ever seen.”
Steve felt himself blushing. Over praise of his pumpkins. What was going on? “Um, thanks?” he said. “Anyway, I wasn’t sure what you meant, by your message. Did you want to buy my pumpkins, or did you want to sell me some pumpkins?”
“Why would I need to sell you pumpkins when you’re a pumpkin magician?” the man asked. 
“The lack of punctuation on the note made the situation unclear,” Steve explained. 
“Well I feel like the context clues made it very clear,” the man interjected, though he just sounded amused, not annoyed.
“What do you want the pumpkins for?” Steve asked. 
“Need to make sure they’re going to a good home? I get it. I’m doing this Halloween-themed event in a few weeks, and I just thought they would be perfect for decorating.” 
“Hmm. Alright. You can have six,” Steve said. 
“Awesome!” the man replied, seeming genuinely enthused. “How much do you want for them?” 
“Oh, you don’t need to pay me,” Steve said awkwardly. “I just grew them for fun, and wasn’t expecting them to all survive. I don’t actually need eight pumpkins.”
“Let me at least buy you a drink or something, man.” 
Steve thought about it for a second. Did he really want to agree to getting a drink with this rather unconventional stranger? He had grown more introverted in recent years, and generally avoided potentially awkward social situations, preferring to stick with people he knew well. But he had actually been enjoying this odd conversation. “Alright, fine. I can bring the pumpkins with me, and we can meet somewhere for a drink.”
“Fantastic! You doing anything Friday night?” 
“No,” Steve was slightly embarrassed to admit. “I’m free.”
“Great. Meet me at Bobby’s at 8? I have a lot of hair, I’m hard to miss.”
Steve laughed. “Alright. Wait, what’s your name? I never asked.”
“Eddie,” the man said. “Eddie Munson.” Again, Steve felt a vague sense of recognition, like he’d heard the name before, but he couldn’t quite place where.
22 notes · View notes