#you don't get a choice you're just assigned cool

[spidrgirl]

childhood best friends to lovers

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Pairing: Miles Morales 1610 x female reader !

Synopsis: miles being in love with you since you guys were kids.

Genre: fluff

Word count: 2361

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His earliest memory consists of the taste of cherry flavored blowpops, the scent of strawberry lotion and wild mango shampoo, and the feeling of your soft, warm lips pressed against his.

He remembers it as if it were yesterday. The two of you had been playing outside for what felt like hours while "The mothers" (as you guys had playfully called your mothers) scolded you for running in and out of the house.

After another trip of doing exactly that—going into the house for a drink of water and quickly running back outside—Rio stopped you two and gave you the choice of staying outside, or coming inside.

you smiled brightly and assured her that you would stay outside and play until you were finally ready to come in for the day.

"Of course tia," you had agreed, "we'll stay outside and play until it's curfew! We won't come in anymore, I promise!"

And with that, you grabbed Miles' hand and ran outside to the farthest end of your street, where the neighborhood park was.

"Betcha can't beat me in a race there and back," he taunted, pointing at a large pin oak tree that stood near the back of the park. It's dark green leaves slightly brightened by the glistening sun shining down on them.

"Can too!" you exclaimed, eagerly accepting his challenge.

Miles gave you a sly grin and ran to the sandbox, which was then quickly assigned to be the starting line, with you quickly chasing behind him, your hair blowing against your face in the soft breeze.

You perched yourself at the sandbox with Miles right next to you, ready to take off and kick his butt in what was sure to be another easy round of you beating him in a race.

"On your mark…" Miles said slowly, glancing over at you to make sure you were ready, his eyes flickering with something you couldn't quite determine but making you smile anyway.

"get set…"

"Oh, hurry up Miles!" You playfully groaned, rolling your eyes at his obvious trolling.

"GO!" Miles exclaimed, and the two of you took off running towards the pin oak tree,taunting and mocking each other the entire time.

"You're slow!" You shouted breathlessly.

"You're one to talk; you are literally reminding me of a turtle right now!" Miles shot back with another big smile, sprinting to the tree as fast as he could.

When he neared the tree, though, Miles slowed down and let you pass him up—not too obviously, but just enough to let you think that he had gotten tired or that you were simply too fast for him to beat.

The truth was, Miles was much faster and stronger than you and could have easily run the race, but he always let you take the first place trophy. He enjoyed seeing you brag about how fast you were or how good you were, knowing it was only possible because of his own loss.

Because of this, you won the race and wasted no time bragging about your well deserved and expected win, completely oblivious to the fact that he had let you win this time, and all the other times that came before this.

"Ha! I beat you, Miles; you owe me a soda!" You smiled at him, flashing a row of white baby teeth with the one on the side missing.

"Oh, please," he rolled his eyes playfully, "you cheated. I would've beat you but you ran before I even said go."

You laughed at his comment and slid down the tree's thick trunk to cool down, grateful for the shade the large branches and leaves provided against the relentless July heat. Beads of sweat were starting to form on your face from the heat waves rising from the hot asphalt, and you were almost certain you were going to die of "hotness."

"Whatever, you still owe me a soda." you cooed, letting out a deep sigh and resting your head on his shoulder, hot and tired from all that running you just did.

"I don't have a soda..but I got this," he said breathlessly, pulling a cherry blowpop from his pocket stowed away from earlier.

You took it from his fingers without another word and popped it into your mouth, immediately feeling a rush of dopamine from the sugary taste of the candy.

Miles gazed over at you, resting on his shoulder and mindlessly sucking on the blowpop, silently taking the chance to admire your beauty. Even though you were just an eight-year-old girl, you were already so beautiful, and this was something everyone seemed to know but you.

Miles was reminded of this fact whenever he took the chance to sneakily take longing looks at your soft pink lips, long dark eyelashes, iridescent eyes, and that soft hair that always seemed to glow in the sun. He loved all these small details about you, but was too young to understand what this meant to him yet. So he kept them to himself, storing it for later.

A while later, you lifted your head from his shoulder, and although it was plenty hot outside, he immediately missed your warmth. He wanted you to rest on him again, perhaps come even closer, but he wouldn't press the issue.

He thought of you and what he wanted for a quick moment before he was snapped out of his thoughts when you looked up at him with a soft smile and asked him if he thought that you guys would be friends forever.

"Of course we will. We are best friends forever, remember?" He replied, fanning his flushed face.

"Yeah, but what if we get older and make new friends? You'll probably forget all about me and have way more fun with them." You countered, eyes wide, with the thought of growing up without your best friend.

"But I wouldn't, cause you're my number one girl for life. I would make other friends, but they would never come close to me as close as you are to me. I promise." He said.

As if to emphasize his words, he leaned forward and brushed a strand of hair away from your face. His touch was gentle, almost feather-light, and it sent a shiver down your spine. You felt a strange fluttering in your chest, like butterflies were trapped inside. You didn't understand what was happening, but it felt nice.

Just as you were about to ask him what was wrong, he leaned in even closer. His lips were just inches from yours, and you could feel the warmth of his breath on your skin. Time seemed to stand still as you waited for him to make his move, but you were unsure of what that move was yet.

And then he kissed you.

His lips were soft and warm against yours, and they sent a rush of heat through your entire body. He remembered the taste of the cherry-flavored lollipop on your lips and the softness and warmth of your skin. Time seemed to stand still as you kissed under the shade of the tree, the soft summer air caressing your skin.

He inhaled the scent of what was sure to be shampoo, its sweet, fruity smell making him only want to smell more of it. He counted to five in his head because it's what he had seen all the other kids do in the movies when they kissed, and when he finally pulled away, you were breathless, your cheeks flushed from the heat and the kiss. He smiled down at you, his amber eyes sparkling in the sunlight with something he was sure to love.

And this is when he knew that he was in love with you.

...

Now, eight years later, when he was sixteen and you were fifteen and a half --you always liked to point out whenever Miles teased you for your age difference--,Miles couldn't help but wonder if you remembered that day.

Did you remember the feeling of his lips on yours? The feeling of his skin pressing against yours? The sweet, innocent smiles that happened after that kiss?

Miles couldn't help but think of that moment as he lay on his bed, the sunlight streaming in through the window casting a warm glow across your face. Your hair was spread out around you like a halo of gold, and your eyes were closed as you lay on your stomach, lazily flipping through a fashion magazine.

He couldn't help but stare at you. Since you had gotten older, you had started to fill in nicely. Places where you weren't so curvy back then had started to fill in, and he couldn't help but take in every detail—every curve of your body, every freckle on your skin.

When he looked at you like this, he just knew he wanted to kiss you again. No, he didn't want to kiss you again, he needed to kiss you again. To feel your lips against his, to taste your sweet breath on his tongue.

"What do you think about this dress?" you asked suddenly, interrupting his thoughts. He blinked, coming back to reality, and forced a smile. "It's really pretty," he mumbled, trying to focus on what you were saying, although his mind felt scattered with thoughts he knew he shouldn't have.

You smiled back at him, and in that moment, he felt like everything was alright. He felt like he could forget about kissing you and how much it hurt to be so close to you yet so far away. He felt like he could finally breathe.

But then you leaned over to pick up your water bottle, and as you did, your shirt rose up just enough to reveal a sliver of smooth skin at your hip. It was only for a second, but it was enough to make his heart race and his palms grow sweaty. He wanted nothing more than to reach out and touch you, to feel your skin against his own.

"So, do you think I should get my nails done in that color?" You continued, gesturing to a pretty shade of pink on the page of the magazine. The pink had reminded him of that one hello kitty girl you liked, my Melanie? but he didn't have time to think about it for too long before he forced himself to look at the page and focus on your words.

But all he could think about was how much he wanted to kiss you again, to feel the softness of your lips against his. He swallowed hard, trying to clear his throat. "Um, yeah, that color would look really good on you," he managed to say. "You should totally do it."

Sensing the tension in the air, you look up at him and find him staring back at you with something that can only be described as love in his eyes. A blush crept up on your face, and you tried to clear your throat. The tension between you was growing thicker as you both struggled to maintain eye contact.

Finally, you decide to break it, glancing down at your magazine and pretending to focus on the pictures. "Well, I guess I'll have to ask Mom what she thinks."

Miles nods, pretending not to notice the awkwardness between you. "Yeah, maybe you should." He mumbles, swallowing hard, feeling the urge to reach out and touch you growing stronger by the second. He forces himself to stay still and focus on anything but these feelings, though.

The silence stretches between you, thick with unspoken words and unacknowledged feelings. You both know what happened, you both felt things that neither of you were sure were supposed to be felt, but neither of you dared to acknowledge them. It's as if you're both afraid that if you say anything, it will make it real, make it permanent.

But Miles couldn't take this anymore. He needed you, and he knew what he needed to do in this moment.

Miles clears his throat, looking away from you for a moment, focusing on a spot across the room. He takes a deep breath, steeling himself for what he was about to do. Then, without warning, he leans forward and presses his lips against yours.

It's a soft kiss at first, tentative and unsure, but as you respond, your fingers softly trailing up his shoulders and your lips meeting his exactly how they needed to, it becomes something else.

His hands find their way to your face, cradling your cheeks as he deepens the kiss. You taste like cherry lip gloss and it instantly reminds him of the cherry blowpop flavored kiss the two of you had shared years ago.

But now, the two of you were older. Kissing meant more than just some innocent, childlike crush thing. Kissing meant more, and in this moment, he knows that he's never wanted anything more than to be able to taste you, to feel your lips against his, to breathe in the scent of your mango shampoo-scented hair.

You pull away for a moment to catch your breath, but he still holds you close to him. Savoring the closeness between you two, he whispers sweet things against your lips, whispering all of the things he's been wanting to say since he was eight years old.

"I love you, like, really, love you" he whispers, his eyes closed and his fingers tracing your cheeks and sliding up into your hair, gently touching the soft strands.

I love you too, Miles. I always have" You mumble back, your hands resting on his shoulders and your lips still softly brushing against his.

You pull away for real this time, slowly opening your eyes and seeing something you've never seen before. You see a depth of an emotion that you didn't even know existed. You see love. Not the puppy-love of your childhood, but the mature, true love that only comes from years of knowing someone and realizing just how much they mean to you.

So, you kiss him again. This time, with a passion that Miles knows he'll be getting for the rest of his life.

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[divine-donna]

body talk

seeing challengers was a mistake guys because all i can think about is challengers and how much i love challengers and how cinema is back after people declared the death of cinema like three years ago and how much i wanna go see challengers again—

anyways uhhhh did challengers make me hop onto the mike faist train? yes. because i love a man that clearly worships his wife and kisses boys.

character: art donaldson

for vibes: "physical" by olivia newton-john

context: stanford university. 2007.

if you had a choice, you wouldn't be working as a receptionist in the gym. instead, you'd work in the infirmary. it was more in line with your desire to pursue sports medicine.

your father himself was an athlete who sustained a career ending injury and went into sports medicine. you wanted to follow in his footsteps.

but for now, you were working as a receptionist at the gym for your federal work study. college wasn't going to pay for itself unfortunately and your parents could only provide so much support.

art donaldson recognized you while you guys were at a party. "you're the person at the desk in the gym!" he sounded so excited. almost like a puppy.

"yeah..." you look down at your red solo cup. "you're like a regular. with tashi duncan."

"you know her?"

"well, i've talked to her a few times. she's great." who wouldn't like her honestly? you weren't the biggest fan of tennis but whenever tashi duncan played, she always managed to make it magical.

"you're also in my bio class, right?"

"you're in my bio class?"

"oh don't tell me you didn't notice."

you shrug. "i didn't. you're not very...noticeable, i guess."

art took personal offense to that statement.

okay not entirely. because to some extent, you were right. he wasn't as noticeable as some of the other people in class, like the lacrosse player on the guys team or the girl from the basketball team, both of whom you seem to be close with.

growing closer to art was just a matter of being in a lot of classes together, something you didn't realize during the first month of college.

to be fair, it was a lot.

but the good thing about having a lot of classes with him was that it meant you always had a go to person for group projects. and god were professors adamant about assigning group work.

at the very least, you had a workout buddy when you guys were free. sometimes, you were even joined by tashi duncan. so it was cool to be able to work out with a famous tennis player.

perhaps the gym is where you started to notice art's...physicality.

he wasn't entirely imposing, aside from being quite tall. but he had a surprising amount of muscle. perhaps the tank tops he wore didn't help much. it left little to the imagination.

because of your familiarity with the body and your desire to go into sports medicine, art called you when he was feeling a bit sore.

he opens the door with a smile, seeing you with your bag and clementines. "what's the fruit for?"

"just in case you get hungry." you step in and remove your shoes. "just lay down."

"bed or floor?"

"whichever you prefer. the bed might be more comfy. we'd have to move stuff around if you were on the floor. oh and take off your shirt."

"what?" he could feel his cheeks beginning to heat up.

"take off your shirt. a massage won't be that effective with your shirt on."

"alright. umm..." art just does what you ask of him, taking his shirt off and setting it aside on his desk chair. he gets on the bed and lays down, front side down.

you pull out a bottle of lotion and crawl onto the bed, straddling him at his waist. you are unaware of how red he is feeling you against him.

you feel around his back for bit, asking him where in particular is tight. once you got a good idea, you squirt some lotion onto your hands, rub it a bit, then begin to massage.

art would be embarrassed from the sounds that came out of him. but he was craving for the relief from his overworked and tired muscles. he could feel just how deep your hands went in, twisting and rubbing. your hands felt so good. they glided smoothly and your touch soothed him greatly.

"damn dude. when was the last time you massaged yourself?"

"don't know." he mutters, burying his lower face into his own pillow. he could feel himself growing warmer all over his body.

your palm pressing into him, dragging itself through his muscles, rubbing baby lotion into his skin so he's soft.

your hand reaches a part of his lower back, your palm rubbing through the muscle. and he moans.

you stop for a moment. "something wrong?"

"no...nothing's wrong..." he mutters.

"you sure?"

"yes. keep going."

he enjoys the way your hands move lower, and lower. he wants them to sneak to the front. massage him a different way.

your hands linger on a particular spot of his back though, feeling the defined muscle. there's something particularly...satisfying, about running your hands over his body. you were tempted to feel more. especially his arms.

art's arms were utterly gorgeous, as if sculpted out of marble by a renaissance artist themselves.

"i think you're all good."

"all done already?" he smelled like baby lotion. whatever that mean.

"unless you want me to massage elsewhere." you get off of him and he turns on his side to look at you.

the tank top you were wearing was a little bit tight.

art gently grabs your wrist. "magical hands you know."

"it's beneficial to learn how to massage. for your own betterment and health. though i will happily help you with the spots you can't reach."

he rubs circles into your wrists. "are they tired?"

"a little. it was because i took an exam yesterday. writing in those blue booklets is absolute torture."

"that's fair." his eyes flicker up to yours. the room was warm, the atmosphere right. "do you...like my body?"

"it's nice. you're very beautiful." you smile.

art pulls you forward, your legs hitting the wooden bedframe of the shitty college provided furniture.

"do you want to feel it?"

you bite your lip. "i think i do."

[deathc-re]

hi I just seen your requests are open! Could I please request something for Inosuke (demon slayer?) small fic or headcannons your choice! Just want chaotic smut Please and thank you

an: omg i love this! i think anything including inosuke would be chaotic, sex is no exception lmao

warnings: afab reader, aphrodisiac, cursing, dirty talk, breeding kink, mention of reading being pregnant & outdoor sex

inosuke was assigned a mission, and you were assigned to babysit. a demon was on a rampage, killing high up government officials under the guise of a high end prostitute.

despite his protests, this was a two person job and according to your crow, "the two of you are close so there should be no issue."

you made your way to where the hideout was suspected to be. the forest night air was warm with a cool breeze, the night sky twinkled with stars and the crickets sung their songs. it's only, you weren't able to hear them because of the non stop complaining and grumbling coming for your partner.

"inosuke, shut up! god damn! you're being such a little baby, we're almost there and you're gonna alert the thing that we're coming." you said through gritted teeth.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME?? HUH?-" he started with his screaming but you covered his mouth quickly. you felt a presence and looked around. as your eyes scanned the forest you noticed a pinkish fog creep across the floor.

you thought to jump into a tree but the sound of inosuke groaning changed your thought process. you turned to see him doubled over, face flushed and a line of sweat forming on his forehead.

"fuck-" he breathed, stumbling about.

"inosuke! are you ok? what's wrong? what are your symptoms?" you tried to keep your cool but panic was slowly clouding your mind. you've never seen him like that.

"hot," he panted, "i- i'm hot."

hot? then it hit you. an intense feeling of heat and arousal churned in your stomach. you gasped and looked down, you had been too slow. now the pink mist was swirling around your legs, taunting you for your lack of action.

your breathing picked up as you tired to gain your footing, suddenly feeling off balance. your mind felt fogged and the throbbing coming from between your legs was at the forefront. you looked up at inosuke with half-libbed eyes and another wave of arousal hit you at the sight of him. mask off, heaving and looking at you with a wild, lust filled gaze.

he always found you attractive; everything from your demeanor all the way to how your hair fell. you mesmerized him and it wasn't uncommon for your image to pop in his head when he pulled at his dick mercilessly.

there was only one thing of his mind and he was going to get it. he stalked towards you, strong hands pulled you to be flush against his chest. dropping his head into your neck he began to pepper kisses and bites. you moaned, body all the more sensitive.

"let me take you." it wasn't a question but a demand, his voice raspy, laced with desire.

"i need to feel you," he continued "every single inch."

you shuddered at the feeling of his breath against your ear. your body was screaming at you, you needed to be filled and you needed it now. with a nod, inosuke took your lips.

it was sloppy and rough, tongues clashing as moans and hums fell from the both of you. you don't remember how but your uniform was torn off, you now exposed and bare to inosuke, the cool night air only making your nipples more perky. he growled at the sight and lifted you up, placing your back against a tree while your legs wrapped around his small waist.

he had dropped his pants and was pumping at his dick, already leaking with pre cum and twitching at the thought of being buried deep in you. you whimpered, gripping his shoulder and looking into his eyes with urgency. he gave you a crooked smile and lined himself up, pushing into you slowly.

your mouth fell open at the stretch, no sound came out but your eyes screwed shut, your nails digging into inosuke's shoulder. he choked out a groan, head falling into your crook.

he's never felt anything like this before, so warm, so tight, so wet. his fist has never felt like this and he never wants to leave it. he licked and sucked at your neck, his hold on your back ever so strong while he bottomed out.

you both moaned in unison at the amazing feeling.

once he started to move, his pace went straight to bruising. quick and harsh thrusts letting only gasps leave you at the force and pleasure. his girth dragging along your walls, reaching places you never could alone. you could only manage out broken cries of his name and feeble gasps.

his balls slapped against you, the forest filling with the lewd sounds of sex and passion. inosuke was known for his stamina so it came to no surprise that it took him a while to reach his release. thankfully though, through moans and whimpers you were able to direct him to your throbbing bud and he hasn't let up since. rubbing mind numbing circles, holding you up with one arm like it was child's play.

a white ring formed at the bottom of his cock, you barely keeping the drool in your mouth from how good you felt, from how fucked out you were. you felt inosuke twitching inside you and it only made your core ache more.

"'m gonna cum inside." he said, "i'm gonna fill you so deep-" a groan cut him off as you squeezed around him tighter, another release coming quick. "i'm gonna fill you with my kids. you want that? huh? you wanna carry my kids for me?"

the thought of you walking around, pregnant and barefoot, rubbing your belly that has his kid made his mind reel. his hold on you get impossibly tighter as his thrusts lost their rhythm. you mellow out his name, legs trembling. he lets out his infamous chuckle, smiling down at you, "let's see that pretty smile of yours, huh?"

he groaned at the sight of your strained and tear stained face, twitching into a crooked smile.

he came deep, shooting ropes into your womb and coating your walls with his kids. he groaned, eyes closed tightly and face flushed red. his hold on you grew tight as his arms trembled, his fingers on your bud only now stopping.

you both came down from your intense highs panting, gripping each other for dream life. how were you gonna explain this?

[doveywovy]

desk nin sakura au in which, at like 13, she did too poorly on the physical part of the graduating exam and is given the choice to either repeat a year or to become a desk nin instead of a genin. she picks desk nin because at 13 she can imagine no greater embarrassment then being stuck in a class of 12 year olds and ino knowing she flunked an exam- at least this way she can pretend she wanted to be a desk nin. they're important! they do important work!

it actually turns out there aren't a ton of civilian kids in the desk nin business. if they don't make it as field shinobi they usually just drop out entirely, because they've got family businesses they could go back to instead, you know? most desk nin are from clan families whose family business is being a shinobi, but they weren't a big fan of murder at age 10 or are really big fans of making excel ninja spreadsheets. anyways what this means is they find sakura adorable and immediately adopt her. shes adorable! and shes got the filing system really quickly, how clever!

she gets put in charge of assigning the genin teams their low-ranking missions and gives ino-shika-cho the tora mission like 30 times in a row because she's a teensey bit mad with power. She initially gives team seven really nice missions to try and win over sasuke, but then he keeps showing up grumbling complaints because it wasn't a cool mission that would help him get revenge on his brother...eventually she snaps and starts giving them the tora mission instead. Be Humbled, You Brats!

she gets pissed with the hokage when he assigns team 7 the wave mission btw. and shes mad vindicated when they come back and they're like IT WAS A DISASTER. IT WENT TOTALLY ABOVE OUR PAYGRADE. she's like YEAH thats why PROFESSIONALS assign the missions not some old man whos trying to dote on his loser not-grandson!!!!!!

she uses her desk nin resources to find out where sasuke lives (forgive her the sins of being an unhinged 13 year old) and starts going to his house to bring him dinner half the week. shes not a great cook. at a certain point he takes over cooking duties and shes just there to hang out? and it takes him a month to be like. did i get tricked into dating sakura

kakashi talking to sasuke about how you need bonds with other people, with your team, and sasuke's like i HAVE bonds. me and naruto are rivals which is basically like being friends. and im somewhat engaged to sakura maybe

kakashi: who's sakura? is that the girl on our team bc i always forget her name

sasuke: no. she's this insane girl we went to the academy with who keeps giving us shitty missions to paint fences 'n stuff. i think she lives in my house now or something. naruto's in love with her

kakashi: and you're engaged?

sasuke: can we stop talking? if im late getting back she'll try to make dinner herself and i cannot have burnt rice with burnt fish for the third time this week

[au-roulette]

Happy June!

To celebrate the fact that we are now officially one month away from the start of AU Roulette, have a post detailing the 36 AUs included in this year's challenge -- or don't, if you'd rather be surprised.

This year's AUs have been curated to be intentionally broad, in the hopes that they will encourage unique takes on each prompt and the creativity of the authors participating. You are welcome to write anything that falls under the umbrella of your assigned AUs, whether it's an original universe, a fusion inspired by another fandom, or something else entirely.

(What's AU Roulette, some of you might be asking? An explanation can be found here, along with the link to sign-up!)

Without further ado -- the AU list, under a cut:

Roleswap - Maybe you want to switch two characters' places, do a class-swap for a D&D fandom, try your hand at an age-swap fic, or you have another idea.

Superhero -- Invent an original universe or do a fusion with one of the many popular big-screen superhero stories. Play it straight and give your favorite characters cool powers, or try a deconstruction of the genre. With great AUs comes great responsibility

Gothic Horror -- Castles. Ghosts. Vampires. Drama. Love that conquers Death. Take your inspiration from classic literature or a newer entry in the genre, like The Locked Tomb books. But be sure to make things spooky.

Post-Apocalypse -- Will the world end in fire or in ice? Or maybe economic collapse, war, zombies, or one of many other options? You write what happens next!

Fairy-Tale -- Pick a classic tale from the Grimms, Hans Christian Andersen, Asbjørnsen & Moe, Charles Perrault, or another favorite author to inspire your AU, try out a more modern re-telling, or use fairy-tale elements to craft your own story.

High Seas -- Including but not limited to Pirate AUs and other Age of Sail adventures. Try out something more historical, or throw in as many fantasy elements as you'd like -- or a bit of both.

Time Travel -- For fixing mistakes, making things worse, or time loops. Or maybe you want to write a fusion inspired by a piece of popular time travel media, like Doctor Who.

Western -- Another AU where writers are free to do their history research or to lean into more outlandish genre conventions. Cowboys, cowgirls, and cowpokes all welcome, of course.

Mythology -- Write a story inspired by your favorite myths and legends, from a whole host of different cultures. Or maybe you'd like to try your hand at writing some epic poetry?

Coffee Shop -- A classic everyone knows and has strong feelings about. Play it straight or add a twist, whichever suits your fancy! After all, no one said where the coffee shop has to be...

College/Academia -- Are the characters in your AU students? Professors? Weary adjuncts? Throwing hands at a conference? Some mix of the above?

Theater -- Put those characters on Broadway or cast them in a disaster of a community theater production. Or a school play! All that really matters is the show must go on.

Ghost/Cryptid Hunters -- Maybe you want to write a story starring the next Scooby-Doo crew, or maybe there really is something strange in the neighborhood. Or maybe it'll never be clear what really happened -- it's your choice!

Secret Agent -- Code words, code names, you name it. Write a story about spies, cryptographers, or any other clandestine operators. Take inspiration from history or from James Bond. Just don't spill your secrets too soon.

Detective -- Whether you're writing the world's greatest detective or someone who just can't get a clue, play up the mystery! Use a classic locale like 221B Baker Street or invent your own.

Cyberpunk -- Time to write cyborg identity crises and fight the machine (literally)! Take inspiration from classic media like Neuromancer or Blade Runner or make a totally new cyberpunk universe of your own creation.

High Fantasy -- Elves and dwarves and gnomes, oh my! This AU could encompass everything from Middle Earth to D&D AUs to your favorite high fantasy books you read over and over as a kid. Or maybe you have your own spell to weave.

Band/Musicians -- Whether you decide to make the characters in your AU famous pop stars, part of an orchestra, students at a conservatory, jamming together in their garage, or otherwise musically-inclined, have fun with it!

Reporter/Journalist -- For everything from local anchors and newspaper staff to big-league investigative reporters. Write characters who'll do anything to get a scoop or with a strong sense of justice -- it's your call!

Cosmic Horror -- You don't have to love Lovecraft to get creative with this AU. Make characters comprehend the incomprehensible, send them messages from beyond the stars, and get a little creepy.

Heist -- Will you write a story about master thieves? Vigilantes righting some wrong? What's being stolen and why? Try a Leverage AU or a caper of your own making.

Space Opera -- The genre encompassing works like The Expanse, Imperial Radch, Mass Effect, and Star Wars, brimming with galactic empires, alien species, and chivalric adventures. Write a fusion set in the universe of your favorite work in the genre, or invent a new one!

Sports/Athletics -- Pick a sport, any sport -- whether a team game like hockey, an individual one like archery, a paired one like figure skating, or something a little unconventional, like roller derby or HEMA. Then it's ready, set, write!

Historical Era -- An AU type absolutely bursting with potential, from medieval romances to 1920s Prohibition AUs, to ones inspired by historical fiction like Les Miserables. Whatever era of history strikes your fancy, you can write it.

Road Trip -- Pack your favorite characters in a car and don't forget the snacks. Or maybe the spaceship, or something else if you're feeling adventurous. Where are they headed and why? Only you know the answer!

Space Exploration -- Whether you want to write modern-day astronauts, a futuristic Star Trek AU, or something inspired by the space race, the sky isn't even the limit with this AU.

Urban Fantasy -- For all your modern-with-magic settings. Write an AU inspired by something like Teen Wolf, Artemis Fowl, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, or much of Neil Gaiman's oeuvre, or invent your own world where witches and websites coexist.

Museum/Archives -- Have the characters in your AU working in the exhibits or behind the scenes, down in the collections or even as archaeologists or paleontologists. What secrets are waiting to be unearthed there?

Hospital -- A surprisingly flexible AU option -- are the characters working there, or the victims of some unfortunate accident? Or maybe it's a bit of both. Take it wherever you feel like.

Camping/Wilderness Survival -- Could be anything from a fun summer camp or camping trip to a nightmare survival scenario. Write everyone having s'mores around the campfire or something inspired by media like Yellowjackets, where they might be having... something else.

Steampunk -- A fantastic opportunity to get creative with your worldbuilding. Try your hand at some alternate history, or invent a world of airships and other flying machines of your very own.

Shapeshifter -- Can the characters in this AU turn into anything they want? Or maybe they're more limited, like selkies -- even unable to control their shapeshifting at all (can I get an "awoo" from the werewolf fans?)

Classic Literature -- An AU somewhat more dependent on fusion ideas, but still very flexible! Pick a favorite classic book or play and let it inspire your writing!

Dystopian -- Create your own awful society or let a favorite piece of media guide you, like writing a Hunger Games AU. Will the characters break the cycle, or end up trapped in it?

Renaissance Faire -- A recipe for chaos. Write a bunch or faire-goers or have the characters in your AU working at the faire! Adventures await.

Scientist/Mad Science -- Write characters as normal biologists, physicists, and chemists, the next Frankenstein, or as hapless experiments themselves!

[violetmuses]

Strangers - A. Aretas 🖤

Title: Strangers - A. Aretas 🖤

Fandom: “Bad Boys” Film Universe 

Character: Armando Aretas 

Pairing: Armando Aretas + Female Reader 

Main Storyline: One mission lands chaos between you and Armando.  

Author's Note: Here's another request! Enjoy. 💜 @that-90s-girllll @afantoanything

======

2024

“No way!” You slam down the file near Mike Lowrey and just shake your head. 

“Please? I can't even party anymore.” Mike offered his second attempt. 

“It's not my fault. Have Kelly and Dorn make the arrests. I won't dress up.” Vaguely noting details of this plan, you gestured to Armando Aretas. 

“Why not?” Offering slightly accented English, Armando speaks for a moment. 

“Stop it.” You stepped away from this room and tried calming down. 

_____

“Listen to me: if she punches you in the face, I'm not stopping anything. Watch your mouth, arrest these dudes, and go home.” Warning Armando, Mike's voice transmitted through veiled earpieces. 

You chose this tight dress and moved like you're just out for a night at the club.

“Why the dress?” Armando questioned through whispers. 

“It's my job and I know better now. Might as well look good.” You pulled together for the assignment. 

“Don't I look good?” Aretas wore black and sported gold jewelry. 

“You're all right.” You smile through appearances when Armando loops his sleeved arm around your shoulder. 

“They're upstairs. Let's go.” Aretas whispered the goons’ location while “pretending” to flirt with you.  

In reality, you were stubborn and gorgeous all at once, always focused on work, but never giving him the time of day.

Keep dreaming. Armando thought. 

______

Red and blue flickered past the skyline to ground these well-known drug dealers. Aretas had slyly revealed his own badge with your credentials. 

“No casualties and you both acted with caution until the arrests happened. Good job.” One of the higher-ups nodded toward you and Armando. 

“Thank you.” Both of you grin at an official before this person leaves, but when cars pull up to drive everyone home, Armando stands by himself. 

“Are you all right?” No longer grouchy, you checked on him. 

“Yeah.” You know that he lied and offered the passenger seat of your own car.  

“C'mon.” You gestured, still driving in heels once you became ready to leave. “Let's go back to my place.” 

______

Your home is small but inviting while Armando glanced everywhere. 

“Do you need anything before I take a quick shower?” You offered the question and Aretas finally noticed. 

“No, thank you.” Armando cleared his throat while staying cordial. 

This man still watched you leave. 

______

When you step out from the bathroom, Armando nearly freezes. 

You're so pretty. His thoughts swooned without malice or weird behavior. 

Wearing no makeup this time, you settled with pajamas for the night. 

“Hey.” Aretas greeted you. 

“I'll set up the guest room for you.” You pointed down this hall again and tried to ignore his toned arms once Armando removed the suit jacket. 

Thanks.” Aretas repeated himself.

_______

He's restless despite taking the comfortable guest room. 

All over this quaint space, different photographs lined every wall. You've even bonded with Mike and Marcus after joining the police department. 

Armando couldn't relate to you, just called by Lowrey for skills and somehow avoiding prison. 

Damn. 

Knowing better than to disturb you, Aretas tries sleeping. There's no other choice. 

_____

You offered breakfast the next day, but Armando turned quiet during this meal. 

“Didn't sleep well last night.” He expressed the truth. 

“Sorry. Let's go. I'll get some better coffee.” You joked for a second and Armando hardly smiled, but you accepted the look anyhow. 

“Cool.” Armando nodded, helping you clean up the kitchen. 

Peace reigned at last. 

[hannyoontify]

requested by anon

[13:39] lying on your shared couch with minghao, you're reminded once again why you love him so much as the two of you lazily bask in the early afternoon sunlight that streams through the window.

your head is resting on his lap with your nose buried into a book recommended by your lovely boyfriend. minghao's leaning back against the couch as he scrolled through his phone with one hand–a rare sight to see, he always preferred books over devices–and the other hand mindlessly playing with the tresses of your hair–a much more common sight to see. you enjoyed these moments. quiet, intimate moments where all you can hear is your breath and the occasional crumpling of the pages of the book you had in hand.

minghao let out a quiet grunt, and you forced your eyes away from the pages of the book to look up at him. he had a concentrated look on his face as he stared down the screen in his hand.

'hao, what's wrong?' your soft voice broke the comfortable silence. you reached up and smoothed out his bunched up eyebrows with your thumb. 'you'll get wrinkles, love'

'nothing, i js found a headcanon on tumblr about what kind of boyfriend our team would be and seungcheol's was kinda accurate' your boyfriend mumbled and took your hand that was resting on his face in his own. his long, slender fingers felt cool against your warm palm and you felt heat rising up to your cheeks.

'y-yeah? how so?'

'like they mentioned an inside joke only the team and our staff members plus you know about... like how did they know about that?' minghao questioned as he absentmindedly pressed his lips against your fingertips. he was obviously engrossed in whatever else was on his phone, so you left it at that.

you could only pray that what he was reading was not your post that you wrote literally 2 days ago in the dead of night when minghao came home a little later than usual from practice. unbeknownst to your lovely boyfriend of almost 2 years, you were actually an avid fanfic connoisseur with quite a big fanbase on tumblr. for, you guessed it, your boyfriend's team, seventeen.

you first started writing as a way to deal with your delulu-ness when you first developed a crush on minghao. you were just an office worker at hybe who got assigned to work with seventeen for a couple months as they prepared for their next comeback, and you had fallen head over heels for their lucky number 8. and when the two of you started dating, you published recreations of dates and little scenarios as a way to remember and relive all the smaller, intimate moments that brought you so much joy.

you were now regretting that choice.

you watched in horror as minghao's concentrated eyebrows furrowed into each other even more, his eyes pointing sharply towards his phone screen. you noticed how his thumbs began to scroll faster, and you caught a glimpse of his phone screen blurring past through the reflection of his glasses, which meant that he was scrolling down to look for his specific headcanon.

'hey, hao, isn't today laundry day-' you sat up briskly, trying to distract your boyfriend from his phone, but he gently pressed your head back down into his lap while quietly shushing you.

your book was now long forgotten and you ran your hands against your face, mentally preparing yourself for the worst. you covered your eyes with your hands and waited for minghao to say something. you don't know how much time passed but you were sure at this point, he had finished reading your entire masterlist.

he even chuckled under his breath at some point, and you could feel the vibrations of his low laughs throughout his body.

'[name], love, have you been writing about me?' your sweet boyfriend asked you in a soft voice as he gently removed your hands from your eyes.

you groaned in embarrassment and rolled to your side, hiding your face in his abdomen. 'i swear it's not what it looks like' you mumbled into the fabric of his soft shirt. you could still smell a trace of the fabric softener, and that helped you calm your heart rate a bit.

'yes, i started writing because i had a crush on you but then after we started dating, i thought this could be a cute way of keeping record of all of our dates and our more smaller, intimate moments that we might forget in a couple months, i swear i wasn't being creepy' you whined. 'please don't hate me... i can take down the account if you're uncomfortable'

minghao helped you sit up and held your burning face in his hands. 'my [name], my sweet, sweet [name]. why would i hate you? first and foremost, you can never do anything to make me hate you, and second of all, i think it's cute. do you have a lot of followers?'

your lips jutted out into a pout and brought up hand dejectedly, showing him how many followers you had with your fingers.

'4 followers? wow i'm so proud of you [name]- ow!' that earned him a smack on his arm.

'for your information, xu minghao, i have over 4k followers so don't even' you wagged a sassy finger in his face and he broke out into a boyish grin.

'ooo someone's famous'

'shut up you literally have 8 million followers on instagram'

minghao laughed and pulled you in for a tight hug. you wrapped your arms around his torso and leaned into his touch, feeling welcomed by the familiar scent of his fabric softener and his own scent you could never put your finger on.

'i love you, [name]. i can't wait for your collection to grow so we can read through them together once we grow gray and old'

you hummed into his shirt. 'i love you too. i hope the collection never stops growing'

minghao pulled away from the hug to look into your eyes, your chin resting between his thumb and index finger. he dropped down and pressed a quick kiss to your lips before pulling away and you immediately noticed the left corner of his lip tugging into a small, teasing smirk.

'me too'

a/n: a special thank you to @etherealyoungk for beta reading(?) some parts thank you skye 😭

[cripplecharacters]

Hi! I won't be put out if you don't answer this question, but I figured I may as well ask. For context, I am a disabled fanfic writer who's irritated by the casual ableism in my fandoms, and this blog is a big inspiration and help to me in doing my little part to represent accurately.

The fandom I'm talking about here is Hermitcraft, if that helps anyone get the jist of this. The vast majority of the characters are seen/shown as some kind of non-human or animal person, and that's how I like to show them too. There's one character, named Cleo, who's some kind of zombie-type creature in canon. She's loud, competent, snarky but still a great friend, and a talented designer.

Is it ever ableist to give Cleo a facial difference, as opposed to a different disability or condition? (It is normal in this fandom to assign characters disabilities in fics if you want, except for a few cases where the creators say they don't want specific characters given some category of condition.) I am concerned about her specifically because of her zombie-ness in canon, which is always treated as a cool and fun design feature by the fandom but still could be/look like equating a facial difference with something bad. Obviously I intend to write her having a FD in a canon setting, if I do it, as unrelated to her zombie-ness and a neutral/positive aspect of her. Is this specific issue (potential ableism) improved if she's one of a handful of characters with FDs or disabilities, or does that not help here? If it's an AU setting where all the characters are human and Cleo has an FD, is that better or worse than being in canon? (I am not at all interested in writing about discrimination, so assume there's no real-world-typical disfiguremisia at play.)

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this!

Hi,

while I appreciate wanting to include facial differences in all kinds of characters, zombies are... not great. Casting the rather uncastable fact of them being monsters aside, the popular depiction of zombies is full of connections to real life disabilities and facial differences. Think of the average zombie in Any Movie Ever; drooling, limping, eyes unaligned, missing noses, lacking teeth. These are all features that disabled people have, but in the zombie context they're used as a shock, grossness, or humor factor; sometimes they're literally based on real disabled people because why not I guess... I don't want to be like "don't ever write a zombie with a disability/FD" but on its own it leaves a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. I know people with facial differences that have been called a "zombie" because of their facial difference. TLDR; it's just the 1 billion years of ableist connotations, not something about this character specifically or the way you are portraying her - the monstrous association is beyond any single person's control, the point is to just not propagate it further - I just don't think it's a good idea, regardless of your clearly good intentions (which I do appreciate).

(The above applies to visible physical disabilities - I don't think there would be a problem having a zombie character who is autistic or has chronic pain?)

As much as I enjoy facially different fantasy creatures, zombies (or mutants, stuff like that) just aren't ideal choices in my opinion. There are some exceptions, so to illustrate;

if you were writing a fanfic for Zombie Land Saga, where all the main characters are zombies, and you gave Lily Waardenburg syndrome, then that's not a problem - everyone's a zombie and one of them happens to have an FD, just like it happens to humans. That's cool.

if you're writing a fanfic where there's one character with a facial difference, and they're a monster, that's a problem. We aren't a different species, certainly not a monster one - I don't want to ramble on the whole "real life minority being a separate fantasy race" thing, but that's another potential problem that'd be hard to ignore.

From my understanding, she isn't the only character with a facial difference, which is good. If you do decide to have Cleo be a zombie with an FD, I would just try to be aware of what kinds of characters end up having them - are they all monster, or monster-adjacent? Or some other scary creatures? Do any of the traditionally cute characters have facial differences? etc. Look out for patterns.

If she was a human with an FD, I don't see any issue here - and if she was the only zombie with an FD surrounded by humans without FDs, that's... not great. It's a weird association, even if you're not trying to make it. Other species that aren't zombies or humans could also be cool. A character with FD who's a catgirl or some sort of aquatic creature would be fun! Even a skeleton would be better than a zombie (they're not associated with the above stereotypes at all in my experience, plus skeletons are more funny than scary lol. I've never seen a disabled skeleton, I think, IDK).

I hope this helps! Feel free to send another ask if you have another question

mod Sasza

edit after the replies: I'm not familiar with the source material quite literally at all, but if this is a real life thing then please don't give actual people facial differences in fanfiction (opinions on RPF aside.)

[andhumanslovedstories]

I’m looking for a second career after working corporate. I’d like something away from a computer, workin with people, in demand, and more flexible. I do have some autistic traits though (one therapist floated it but never officially diagnosed). Do you think nursing would be a bad choice?

Here's a useless answer: it depends! I'll also give my usual caveat that nursing is a very broad field and a school nurse versus a dialysis nurse versus an ICU nurse versus a home health nurse vs a community health nurse are all going to have different experiences. You'll probably spend more time at a computer than you might like (documenting......), but if you get efficient at it, you can blast through it alright. Except when you can't.

And you will work with people! In any part of nursing, you'll be working with people, often in intimate and vulnerable ways. You meet a lot of cool people and get to be there for a lot of cool moments, cool and funny and profound moments. Working with people when they aren't at their best can be exhausting. Working with people when they aren't at their best and also you're understaffed and also someone is complaining of new onset chest pain at the same time someone else is calling to be cleaned up because they've been incontinent--it's really easy to exhaust yourself out of compassion. You have to care and actively engage with people's often tragic situations, but you also have to protect yourself from secondhand trauma. It's okay if this is not something you're comfortable or good with, but if so, you should probably think critically about whether nursing is for you.

And flexible--maybe??? Again, different jobs will have different perks. A lot of nurses work prn which means they have to pick up a certain number of shifts a month, but they aren't on the schedule normally. You just pick up as you want. Very flexible! But also a lot of these nurses are getting their healthcare elsewhere, usually a partner. Like any shift work, you can always swap shifts with a coworker if you can find one who'll do it. When I worked in home health, it was very hard to adjust my schedule because there wasn't necessarily another nurse that could fill in. And often units in the hospital will have various schedule stipulations--work every other weekend, work a certain amount of holidays, work night shift until you get the seniority to go to days or become a nocturnal little freak (me). I currently work in float pool, which makes it way easier to call out and adjust schedules because I'm not assigned anywhere specific until like ten minutes before the shift starts.

And with regards to the last bit, the autistic traits, I don't know exactly which ones you mean, but none of them are an inherent obstacle to being a nurse. We need neurodiversity in nursing. Some patients might find you cold or awkward or weird or whatever way you worry you might come across. Other patients will resonate with those exact same traits. No one's the perfect nurse for all people. Some people want to that extra care, some people want competent work and then to have space for themselves, some patients want to learn everything about their situation, some patients don't even want to know what pills they're taking. Think of yourself as a specialty nurse. An oncology nurse can take care of a variety of patients, but they're most well suited and situated to take care of cancer patients. There's a patient type that is a perfect fit for you. And the same way cardiac nurses deal with strokes, and orthopedic nurses deal with respiratory infections, you work competently outside your specialty because you have a good base for your practice, but you also know that you have specialties that you are uniquely equipped to handle. Specialties like cheerleading through physical therapy, calming down dementia patients, knowing the shit out of telemetry, making sure patients get a bed bath and clean sheets, using a machine to pump a patient's blood outside your body--whatever you most like, you're most good at, what gives you energy to work. I think mine are working well with "difficult" patients, managing pain, and stealing cranberry juice from the patient fridge. for me.

I'll say too if you're worried like a lack of empathy or easy understanding of other people will be an impediment to care--I'm not saying I'm autistic, but I don't think I'm particularly empathetic. I NEVER know what people are thinking or feeling. I struggle to tell when patients are like "talk to me more!" versus "I am being polite to you, but please leave." I have never once been comforting a crying person and thought, "I am NAILING this. I am making them feel better." But I don't think I'm a bad nurse. I reverse engineer empathy by finding a situation that I was in that's similar to the situation a patient is in, and I think about what I would have wanted and appreciated in that situation. I think about what evidence says is a good thing to do in this situation. I think about what experience tells me has worked in this situation in the pas. I also just ask patients what they're feeling and what they want and why they do what they do instead of assuming I know. (That last one is so choice, we should all do it more.)

The job puts you in a lot of Situations that are hard for anyone to manage. So you can study up for a lot of Situations. I read conflict resolution books and writing by sick people, I think about how adherent I am to my own treatment plan when I get judgy, I ask patients a lot of questions in part so I can understand them but also so I can understand the next patient like them, I practice difficult conversations I can predict before I go into rooms, and I make sure I have certain phrases and reactions in my back pocket in case I'm caught by surprise. I've figured out my safe topics of conversations that I can chat about with patients that are personable but not intimate (cats, how long you've been in the area, how hard it is to sleep in the hospital at night). I periodically try out new conversation styles and topics to see how those work. I find people I admire and I try consciously to emulate them.

I make a shitload of rules too that help me structure my behavior so I can act like a person I'm proud of. If I can't get something for a patient, I have to go back and tell them that instead of just never returning to the room. Whenever I leave a room, before I go, I make sure the call light is within reach and I ask if there's anything I can do before I go. If someone is sad, ask if they want hot chocolate, and if they say yes, ask if they want it with hot water or milk. If I have a patient that is very chatty and always on the call light, allot conversation time with them like I'm scheduling wound care in case they're lonely. Whenever I tell a patient that they can't do something, I explain the clinical reasoning for that. If the only reason I can think of to tell a patient why they can't do something except "it's against hospital rules", I reconsider the refusal. I've got so many rules and guidelines I've developed for myself so I can best act in a way that I think a good nurse should act.

(usual disclaimer that this does not mean I always accomplish this or that I always behave in a way I'm proud of. but I do think developing these rules and following them makes behaving like I want to more habitual.)

All this to say--I care tremendously about my patients when they're my patients, but I don't take most of them home with me. I feel often feel very distant from the emotions of the situation. I used to feel like I was watching the world through glass. Now I still feel like that, but not in a bad way. I don't get mad when patients yell at me. I can view their problems as quests to solve. I'm engaged but I'm not flustered by distress.

look alllllllllllllllllll that to say is have you considered making nursing a special interest? works for me. oh and YEAH. The job security is AMAZING. It's such a weight off my mind to know that if I don't like my current job, it's so easy to get another somewhere else.

[jebewonmorelike]

One Man's Loss Is Another Man's Gain

wc: 4k warnings: none; a little angsty, very fluffy ending; some swears; the other guy in this is a bit of a meanie bo beanie and won't leave you alone pronouns: none used; n/a summary: when a popular boy keeps begging reader for a second chance, bestfriend!taerae pretends to be their boyfriend to finally get rid of him; university au ~masterlist~ ♡ ~kofi (no pressure at all)~ Guys. Tae Rae and I have the same birthday (but a different year). I think I also have a very bright smile that is endearingly too large for my face. Must be a 7/14 birthday thing :) Kim Taerae I adore u, u perfect angel u

“Oh my god, ew!” You squeal. “Absolutely not.”

Noah rolls her eyes. “Really? He’s standing right there.”

You look to your left at your best friend Taerae, who is biting his lip quietly. “Sorry, Tae. Obviously I don’t mean that you’re gross. But you are gross to me.”

He nods. “No, yeah. I get it.”

Noah smacks your shoulder. “Come on, (Y/N). This is brilliant. You fake-date Taerae for a couple weeks and everyone stops bothering you. And then you can ‘break up’ and go right back to normal,” she urges. “Simple.”

“Taerae does not want to do that,” you reply, waiting for him to agree. The silence you’re met with is concerning. “Right, Taerae?”

Your friend is still chewing on his lip in contemplation when your eyes meet his again. “I don’t want people bothering you anymore. Especially that asshole…”

Brandon. President of the university honor society. Captain of the basketball team. Your assigned desk partner in Latin American History.

You'd sat next to him all semester, starry-eyed as you silently willed him to talk to you before finally being assigned to a project together on La Nueva Canción-- Chilean revolutionary music. Taerae had pouted for days when you were assigned the only topic relating to music.

The truth was, you didn't really care what topic you were assigned. The only thing that mattered to you was that after your topic had been assigned by your professor, Brandon turned to you for the first time all year and said, "Sounds kind of cool."

You nodded far too enthusiastically.

For a week, you met with Brandon in the library after his basketball practice to research La Nueva Canción and construct a compelling slideshow presentation for class. As far as you were concerned, spending your nights in the library was absolute bliss. Brandon smiled at you (sometimes), joked with you (twice), and even complimented you on your font choice for the presentation...

Then one night, a group of guys approached your table in the library. Brandon audibly sighed before putting on a smile to greet them. You recognized some of them as other guys on the basketball and football teams.

"You going out tonight?" One of them asked, resting his hand on Brandon's shoulder.

Brandon shook his head. "I'm tired."

Another guy rolled his eyes. "No, you're not. You just don't want to go out without Melanie."

Brandon shrugged. "I didn't say that."

"Yeah, but we all know it. Come on, man. Go ahead and get back out there. You can pull anyone you want!" The first guy insisted.

"I--..." Brandon stuttered before his head turned quickly to look at you, eyes lighting up. "I already did."

You blinked back at him wordlessly, unsure of what was going on. Brandon reached across the table, resting his large hand on top of yours.

"We're going out," Brandon announced. "Tonight."

The group of boys looked at you, seemingly having not even noticed you before Brandon's acknowledgement. Their brows furrowed confusedly, looking back and forth between each other to see if their eyes deceived them.

"But that's--," one of the guys started to say, but Brandon cut them off.

"Awesome, right? I thank you for being so supportive of me. We need to wrap up this project fast though if we want to make it to our dinner reservation on time! See you guys tomorrow," Brandon said quickly, waving at the guys until they gave up and left.

When it was just the two of you again, Brandon's head fell to his hands as he laughed in relief. He looked back up at you after a moment. "Sorry about that."

You were sure your eyes were absolutely bugging out of their sockets.

"Can I make it up to you by... buying you dinner or something?" Brandon offered with a lop-sided smile.

Your ability to suppress the scream that had built in your throat was an impressive display of restraint. "Really?"

Brandon shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. Why not?"

You nodded. "Okay."

"Wanna meet at the cafe down the street in an hour? I just want to drop my stuff off in my room and change," he suggested, picking up his bag and throwing his laptop and loose papers in.

You nodded again. "Okay."

Brandon exhaled a laugh, before making his way to the doors. "Okay."

You spent the next forty-five minutes racing back to your dorm and getting ready for your date with Brandon. Changing into something presentable, applying an ample amount of moisturizer to your face, and fixing your hair before rushing back out the door and strolling happily down the street to the cafe across from campus.

It was about 10:30 P.M. when you arrived and, once inside, you sat down at a table with cushioned chairs by the window. A waitress came to grab your order and, after a few minutes, brought you your drink.

"You look so lovely," she complimented, placing the drink down on your table. "Are you waiting for someone?"

You smiled shyly and nodded.

"Whoever it is is very lucky!" She remarked sweetly and returned to her post.

You took out your phone, scrolling mindlessly through Instagram while you waited for Brandon to arrive. You kept one eye glued to the door as the minutes passed, your heart beating so fast you considered the possibility of needing an ambulance.

But after ten minutes, twenty minutes, thirty minutes...

An hour later, you finally texted Noah.

Noah, you will NOT guess what happened... :)) Okay, I'll tell you! Brandon asked me out and now I'm waiting for him at the cafe across from campus!!

She responded quickly.

(Y/N)... Is that true? I don't know how to tell you this, but Brandon's at this party I'm at. And... I'm so sorry. I'll just show you.

You clicked on the video that Noah sent you, a bit blurry at first before zooming in on two people intensely making out. Your previously rapidly beating heart ceased all of its thumping as it sunk to the bottom of your stomach.

As they pulled apart, people around them cheered and shouted. Looking around the room with the biggest grin on his face was Brandon, his ex-girlfriend Melanie clinging to his chest.

Your eyes began to water involuntarily, wondering how you could've been so stupid. Wiping them quickly, you placed some cash on your table for the nice waitress and exited the cafe. You had been so distracted by the upsetting news that you hadn't even noticed it had started to downpour.

Mud and giant puddles lining the street, there was no chance you were making it safely back to your dorm by walking. Standing under the awning, heavy rain hitting the pavement and bouncing up to soak your clothes, you weren't sure if the water under your eyes was tears from the sky or tears from you.

Headlights bathing you in sickeningly bright light caused you to break momentarily from your crying spell. A car door opened and closed as a figure holding an umbrella made their way up to you.

"You look like a wet rat," the familiar, honey-like voice joked as he stepped under the awning with you.

"Taerae?" You wondered if your teary eyes deceived you. "How did you know I was here?"

He laughed that gorgeous baritone laugh. "You know Noah can't keep her mouth shut for anything."

You wanted to laugh, but you just couldn't. Instead, you wrapped your arms around Taerae and clung on for dear life. He was a bit surprised at first, seeing as your physical affection towards him usually manifested in the form of a punch or smack. But after a moment, his arms tightened around you, one hand gently caressing the back of your head.

"It's okay," he soothed. "It's gonna be okay. You deserve so much better than him."

You just squeezed him tighter.

"He's gonna regret treating you like this."

~

Brandon and Melanie broke up again before the clock had struck midnight.

And the next day, rumors started swirling that Brandon had stood up the Chancellor's kid at the cafe across from campus.

That was apparently when Brandon first learned that the University Chancellor was your dad.

He had shown up at your dorm, knocking on the door frantically. You opened it, shocked to see the boy you had such a devastatingly huge crush on in front of you.

"(Y/N), I'm so sorry," he said, his tone a bit frantic. "I'm so sorry that I stood you up Friday night. That was absolutely horrible of me. I was so tired, I just knocked out and--."

"And sleepwalked into a party and down Melanie's throat?"

His face fell as he realized he was caught in a lie. He sighed in defeat. "I'm sorry. I wish I could go back and change it, but I can't."

You nodded. "Okay."

"If you give me one more chance, I swear I'll make it up to you," he said, hopefully.

You couldn't lie-- your heart fluttered at his words. But after that night, crying as Taerae drove you back to your dorm, you knew you couldn't agree right away. "I'll think about it."

"Awesome!" Brandon says with a grin before lowering his voice and scratching his arm awkwardly. "I, uh... I didn't know the Chancellor was your dad."

"Oh. Yeah," you replied, brow furrowing a bit suspiciously. Why did that matter to him? Why was he bringing that up now?

"You're not gonna, like... say anything to him right? About me?"

"Why would I say something to him about you?" You asked, genuinely confused as to what his thought process was.

Brandon sighed with relief. "Oh, that's so good to hear. I want to keep playing basketball, you know?"

He laughed as you stared at him disappointedly, finally understanding why he was really here. Brandon was on a sports scholarship... and he was trying to make sure you wouldn't cause him to lose it.

"I'm not gonna snitch on you," you said, nodding as the truth sunk in. "So you didn't need to come here and pretend you were sorry."

His eyes widen, panic re-setting in. "No! Oh god, no, that's not what I was doing. I really am--."

You shut the door in his face.

And you've shut the door in his face for five days now. Every day, he'd knock on your door and beg you to go out with him and, when you refused, begged you to not tell your dad what an asshole he was.

Not to mention, you couldn't enter the student union or the dining hall without hearing people whisper around you. What had become apparent to you quickly was that Brandon wasn't going to stop any time soon and neither were the rumors flying around you.

So standing outside in the courtyard with Noah and Taerae now, you consider your best friend's sentiment.

"If it'll make him stop bothering you, I'll do it," Taerae says decisively, picking at a leaf on the tree he's leaning on.

You swallow hard. "Okay."

Noah screeches. "OH MY GOD! WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU? YOU'RE REALLY GONNA DATE TAERAE!?"

You stare at her incredulously. "You literally told me to!"

She huffs. "I didn't think you'd actually do it."

"Well," you say, looking at Taerae who is still doing everything he possibly can not to meet your gaze. "I think it's probably the best plan we've got."

Taerae hums. "So, when do we start?"

"Huh?" You ask, tilting your head to the side.

"When do we start dating?" He asks, finally looking at you with an awkward, dimpled smile. "Now?"

"Oh shit," Noah says, biting her lip to keep from smiling. "I think he's asking you out."

You smack her quickly, shooting her a look before turning back to Taerae. "Yeah. I guess... now."

He nods, the brightest grin spreading across his face. "Okay, let's go!"

Grabbing your hand in his, he begins dragging you across the courtyard. "Go where!?"

"On a date," he says, looking back at you. "Duh."

"Oh," you manage to reply, trying your best to keep up with his incredibly fast pace. Taerae was normally a pretty leisurely walker and you would often have to yell at him to keep up.

"People need to see us, right? Let's go to the cafe," he suggests, slowing down a bit when you both reach the sidewalk. He squeezes your hand as you make your way to the cafe across from campus-- the cafe where you were stood up only a week ago.

You stop in your tracks, a flood of worry crashing over you. Is this a good idea? What if people know we're just pretending? What if Brandon is there?

Taerae turns around when he realizes he can't pull you forward anymore. He sees it immediately-- the look in your eyes as you ponder every possible negative outcome. Placing his hands on your shoulders, he smiles at you reassuringly.

"We've got this, right? We just have to sell it," he encourages, squeezing your shoulders a couple of times to pump you up. "You think you can pretend I'm not gross for an hour?"

You laugh, shaking your head. "You're not gross, Tae. I just..."

You look at the cafe sadly, remembering how hard you had sobbed into Taerae's chest as the rain poured down around you.

"Hey," your best friend says, taking a finger and placing it below your chin; tipping it up to keep your head held high. "There's no need to be sad. I'd never stand you up."

With that, you let Taerae drag you through the doors of the cafe and into a seat at one of the tables. Right away, you can hear the whispers begin to rumble throughout the cafe. Taerae sits down across from you comfortably, just smiling back at you as if he doesn't hear a sound. You can't help but notice he hasn't really stopped smiling ever since you agreed to this silly plan.

"Oh, hi!" The waitress that had been working Friday night greets, rushing over to you. When she stops in front of your table, she stares directly at Taerae and frowns. "Don't tell me this is the guy who stood you up."

Looking around anxiously and realizing all eyes in the restaurant are on you and Taerae, you both shake your heads furiously. "No, no," you correct. "This is... This is my--."

"Boyfriend," Taerae finishes.

Both yours and the waitress's eyes widen in surprise-- the other students in the cafe now dead silent as they strain to overhear your conversation.

"You were... going on a date with someone that wasn't your boyfriend?" She asks, suspiciously.

"I wasn't at the time," Taerae clarifies quickly, before smiling at you quite cutely. "But one man's loss is another man's gain."

The sun is shining directly on Taerae through the window of the cafe, his dark eyes sparkling as they lock on yours. His brown hair appears almost golden from the warm light as it rests across his forehead-- deep smile lines in his cheeks even more charming than usual.

You shake your head quickly to clear these thoughts from your mind, looking back up at the waitress sheepishly.

"Wow," she says, nodding. "I like him. I mean, just look at the way he's looking you."

Taerae's lips part slightly as she states her observation and he looks down for a moment at his lap, his cheeks sporting a tint of crimson. He had been putting on a pretty convincing performance so far and you wonder if it's starting to get embarrassing for him...

If he's starting to regret saying yes to this.

"It's hard not to admire someone so beautiful," Taerae says softly, looking back up at you; his bottom lip tucked between his teeth.

"Okay, you have to keep him," the waitress decides with a laugh. "Now, what are you both having?"

~

The next day, Taerae took you to dinner at the Mexican restaurant near campus that you loved. The day after that, you got ice cream and sat on the swings at the public park. And the next day, you both went to the art museum with Noah to look at the new interactive Monet exhibit (Noah was pretending to try not to gag the whole time).

Each day that week, Taerae had brought you on some little adventure with him and you weren't really complaining. You adored your best friend; spending time with him was already one of your favorite things. Actually, since the start of this semester, you hadn't seen Taerae as often as you normally would after he was elected secretary of the honor society. It made you happy to have an excuse to see him so much.

Tonight, Taerae had convinced you to see a movie with him. Some action extravaganza with no plot, but he bought you a big popcorn with extra butter and a cherry icee so you didn't mind.

"Why are we seeing this movie, though?" You asked, plopping down in the theatre seat. "There's a 45th anniversary showing of Grease literally playing in the next theatre."

"Because," Taerae starts, before shoveling a handful of popcorn into his mouth, swallowing it down with his Sprite. "Brandon and his stupid friends would never go see an anniversary showing of Grease."

"Yeah, but we would," you reply, before realizing what he had just said. "Wait, what!?"

He shrugs. "If he doesn't want people to know where he's going, he shouldn't talk about it so loudly at honor society meetings."

Just then, you hear familiar, unsettlingly male laughter sounding from the entrance of the theatre. Brandon turns the corner with his friends, eyes widening in surprise when he sees you staring back at him.

Your eye contact is broken, however, when Taerae reaches over and turns your face towards him. "Open up," he says, popping a piece of popcorn in your mouth in the most sickeningly adorable way possible. "Is it good?"

You chew, completely stunned by the affectionate action, eventually swallowing and nodding back at him slowly.

"So cute," he coos, loud enough for Brandon to hear. You watch as Brandon and his friends study you curiously-- the captain himself appearing quite angry. They soon take their seats as the trailers start, but throughout the movie you notice Brandon glaring up at you and Taerae every so often.

As the credits roll, you and Taerae grab your garbage and make your way out of the theatre. Still finishing your cherry icee, Taerae takes your free hand in his and you head off together towards the doors.

"(Y/N)!" You hear someone call behind you, turning around to see Brandon running to catch up with you.

"Oh," you say as the tall boy stops in front of you. "Hey, Brandon."

"Hey, uh..." Brandon looks at Taerae, then back at you. "I keep hearing something about you dating some guy."

Suddenly, Taerae leans in and kisses you. You momentarily forget how to breathe before he pulls back and turns to Brandon. "Huh. That's so weird."

"You--," Brandon strokes his chin, smiling and shaking his head like he's in disbelief of something. "You must think you're pretty clever, huh?"

You look at Taerae confusedly, wondering what Brandon was insinuating of your friend.

Taerae just shakes his head. "No. I think that I'm not going to let anyone treat my best friend so rudely ever again."

Brandon nods, huffing a sarcastic laugh. "Yeah. I'm sure you'd never lie about anything to get your way. Right, Kim?"

"Can you please leave me alone now?" You ask finally. "Taerae's my... boyfriend now. I'm not going to tell my dad about what happened. You're not going to lose your scholarship. Let's just present our project together tomorrow and never speak to each other again."

Brandon chews his cheek, replying annoyedly, "Fine."

With that, Taerae drags you out the door and into the open air.

~

It's the fourteenth and last day of your fake relationship with Taerae. He'd set up a picnic in the courtyard with your favorite sandwiches from the deli down the street and a bunch of different snacks and salads. He held out a strawberry for you, smiling as you bit into it happily.

No one is looking at you anymore. They hadn't been for some time now. You could've called this off a few days ago, but Noah had insisted with a smirk that you "play it safe".

"This hasn't been half-bad," you say, grinning at Taerae. "I got to spend two whole weeks with my very busy best friend. Everyone stopped gossiping about me. My former crush stopped... stalking me, I guess?"

Taerae laughs. "Yeah, he was definitely stalking you," he agrees before a frown forms on his face. "I'm really sorry that happened."

You shrug. "Thanks for helping to stop it."

He sighs and you're surprised by how sad it sounds. "Well, it's--... It's the least I could do... When I'm the one who started it."

Your eyebrows furrow in confusion. "What? What do you mean you started it?"

"I--... I might've been the one that let it slip to Brandon that the Chancellor was your dad," Taerae admits, hanging his head in shame. "I'm so sorry that I didn't tell you sooner. And I'm so sorry that it created such a nuisance for you-- that Brandon would bother you like that. That you'd have to pretend to date me. But he needed to feel bad for what he did... and we both know he wasn't going to unless it could mean trouble for him."

You just smile. "A bunch of people knew about my dad, Taerae. He would've found out eventually, anyway. You just... sped up the process, I guess," you forgive with a laugh. "So that's what you meant, huh? When you said he'd regret it?"

"Wow, not to sound like a vigilante or anything," Taerae snorts, shaking his head hearing his own words recounted to him. "But seriously, who could be so stupid as to get the chance to go out with you and completely waste it? I would never--."

He cuts himself off, seemingly considering whether or not he should continue.

"You would never what?" You prompt curiously.

Taerae swallows. "I would never stop going out with you," he says softly. "If I could."

You're frozen as he speaks, only waiting for him to say more.

"If you didn't think I was gross and if this wasn't just some plan to shut up the actual guy you liked..." He nods, meeting your gaze. "I would want to keep going out with you."

Your stomach flips as your best friend since childhood says these words to you. It's not a joke. It's not part of this plan you'd concocted. It's not even a dream.

"I like you," Taerae says earnestly, hugging his knees closer to his chest as the sun starts to set. "And I'm sorry if that ruins everything."

You're not immediately sure what the right thing to say is. You lean back on your hands, fingers gripping the grass as you stare up at the sky turning pink. If you thought about it, you'd spent more time with Taerae throughout your life than almost anybody else. Your introverted, intelligent, annoying-as-all-hell best friend; one of the greatest loves of your life, alongside all of your pets and your mom. A bit of an awkward kid, he had grown up quite handsomely. Was that wrong to say? How could you think that about Taerae?

But why was your heart still racing? Surely the actual anxiety of the confession had warn off by now. But the booming thud in your chest betrays you. You had dated Taerae this whole week and not even once had you actually wished it would stop. He was cute with you, always paid for your food; he never once stood you up-- he even kissed you that one time, even if it was to show off in front of Brandon. And you never hated any of it.

Moreover, you liked it.

Had you been dating Taerae for real this whole time?

Suddenly, your phone buzzes in your pocket. You pull it out, seeing a message from your dad lighting up the screen:

What is this I hear about you and Kim Taerae dating? The kid that used to run around our house with snot hanging out his nose? Is this true?

You look over at Taerae who is now mirroring you, leaning back with his hands in the grass and gazing up at the sunset beside you. When he notices you staring, he turns to you with a shy smile that causes your heart to gently flutter.

You can't help but smile back at him, bottom lip tucked between your teeth before quickly typing a reply to your dad:

Yeah. It is. :)

[wh0refornikolailantsov]

“You have to tell me why were committing a felony before we do it. Not that that’s going to stop us, but at least I’ll have all the facts.” For Jesper x Reader??

For you my beloved anything, but especially Jesper content are YOU KIDDING ME this man understands the assignment.

It's All Bad Choices From Here On Up Baby - Jesper Fahey

Content Warnings: Gambling. Guns. Canon Compliant Threat And Violence. Jesper Being So Unbelievably Sexy All The Time. No Beta/Proof Reading.

You pull the card up from the flat of the table and it looks easy, it looks effortless, it looks entirely like you're playing the game as you should be. But Jesper spots you, from the bar, and that coy smile of his almost makes you lose your concentration. You're not cheating, at least that's what you tell yourself, it's not cheating if everyone else at the table is cheating too, it's levelling the playing field.

"Gorgeous you want to let me in on this?" Jesper whispers close to your ear as he takes a seat next to you. His words warm against your neck send a chill through you, and you know he did it on purpose, trying to throw your attention, trying to bring it back to him.

"Not a chance, I am winning," you say, giving him a playful grin.

"I am your good luck charm," Jesper argues. You look him up and down, he is wearing that purple waistcoat with the metal buttons and his smirk is all too enticing, it's that look in his eyes that gets you though, today, not unlike most days, Jesper is looking for trouble. You will not let the tables be the place he finds it though.

"Tapping out," you say, collecting your winnings. Jesper lets his smile slip for a moment, clearly disappointed you won't let him play, but he quickly perks back up again once you cash your bets.

"Couldn't let me have one game?" Jesper asks.

"No," you say, "house always wins Jes," you remind him, "besides the way you're tapping those feet, you have a reason for saddling up next to me, besides my charm."

"Do I need a reason gorgeous?" he asks, stepping closer to you as you both walk. His flirting is normal, it comes as naturally to him as breathing, and you don't hate it.

"What's the job Jes?" you ask, eager to pull the answer from him. He slips his hand down, wrapping his fingers around your wrist, his skin is cool against yours, even in the night air. He pulls you to the side and you stare up at him, not understanding his motives at all.

"You're going the wrong way," he tells you.

"I don't even know where we are going," you remind him, shaking free of his grip and giving the mans jacket a playful tug. "You still haven't told me."

"Well, it's just a usual evening," Jesper says, his smile bright even in the dingy light of the Barrel, "Kaz wants us to do a small job, you know, some bribery, a little breaking and entering."

"No breaking, just entering," Wylan says joining the fray.

"Merchling," Jesper says, not sparing the boy a glance, "didn't know you were here for this."

"I am here to prevent the breaking part," Wylan explains, fumbling with something in his bag.

“You have to tell me why were committing a felony before we do it. Not that that’s going to stop us, but at least I’ll have all the facts.”

"Someone has been causing trouble for Nina-,"

"No need to finish," you wave a hand at Wylan, no one messes with Nina Zenik.

"You know that's not why Kaz asked us to do this, right?" Jesper asks Wylan, "it's more about the giant sum of Kruge that he owes Kaz."

"Sure," you say, "it's about that."

Kaz was as unwilling to admit to his attachments as you were willing to admit you liked Jesper more than the playful flirting you both had going on. So needless to say, very much.

Jesper stops in his tracks and you're delayed in stopping, eyes not on the path but on Jesper, and Wylan catches the look. Wylan was not blind, he was one of the most observant people you knew and knowing Inej and Kaz Brekker, that said a lot. But there were things certain people are more inclined to notice than others. Wylan, who for all his doubts still believes in love, he sees it where it's hiding, even if it's hiding well, and you aren't sure it's hiding well.

You look at the house and you wait for Jesper to tell you that you're taking the sewer route from here, or anything more plausible or appealing than this being your destination. "That's a... that is owned by a member of the Merchant Counsel Jesper," you say staring at the harsh metal gates in front of you.

"Yes it is," he confirms.

"Tell me this isn't where we are breaking into," you say.

"This isn't where we are breaking into," Jesper says.

"You're lying," you state, the annoyance in your voice clear.

"You told me to tell you, so I did," Jesper says, "I'd do anything you asked of me when you ask like that."

You want to quip back with something equally flirty, but the looming threat of the nights plan is overriding even your fluttering feeling in your chest when he flirts with you like that. "We will not be given another job if we mess this up," you say confidently.

"We don't need to worry," Jesper says finally.

"We don't?" Wylan asks confused.

"No because if we fail this, Kaz is going to kill us, and dead people don't need jobs," Jesper says, "you ready for this?"

"Am I ready for this?" you ask yourself. "Not really, but no one messes with our Nina."

Wylan pulls a strange grey compound from a folded piece of cloth out of his satchel and starts tearing off sections to hand to each of them. "This should be able to get you through the locked doors without breaking any of the mechanisms, it'll leave a trace obviously, but it won't cause damage so that's one less thing to worry about," Wylan explains.

Jesper frowns looking at the strange grey putty in his hand. "I still hate this plan," Jesper says, but you can see it again, that thrill in his eyes he gets when he is excited. He spins his guns over, one, twice, and a third time before re-holstering them, a little way to release some of that eager, nervous energy before we have to be more tactical. "So gorgeous," he smirks at you, "what are you doing after this?"

"Well, assuming we don't die and we don't get caught by the Stadwatch," you grab a hold of one of the metal spikes on the gates side, pulling yourself up and over in one swift movement, so you stand on the other side of the gate, smirking through at Jesper as you finish, "I think you'll be buying me a drink."

Jesper chuckles. "Trying to get me drunk?" he asks.

You laugh. "Why would I need to do that when you'd do anything I asked of you dead sober," you say, turning away from him and heading up the garden.

"Does Kaz really hate me this much?" Wylan asks, opening the gate with one hand.

"Probably, but why?" Jesper asks, watching you as you walk ahead, a million thoughts he think he should keep to himself swimming in his mind.

"Because this whole third wheeling thing, it feels like a punishment."

[aimfor-theheart]

wolfwood office au but hes a new employee (and ex felon) and youre assigned to help the new hire

anon i love you this is so specific. have you been thinking about this for awhile or something.

office au

wolfwood x reader

cw: maybe like. potential workplace flirting. reader flusters easily and has glasses. reader referred to as "miss"

∘₊✧───────────────────✧₊∘

you adjust the glasses slipping down your nose, flicking through the paperwork on your desk. it's already a little rumpled somehow and you smooth it out carefully. your neat, french manicure gleams in the stark light from the window beside you. your cup of tea sits cooling beside your cup of adorably colored pens.

you read the filled in answers, written in messy scrawl, the ink bleeding across the page. there's a coffee stain in the corner. and—tobacco stains, maybe? a burnt orange dash of color near the bottom.

your eyes flit across the page.

you catch the checked box next to have you been convicted of a felony in the last five years? the little dash beside the yes stands out sharply for a moment.

carefully, you keep a neutral face and keep reading. there's no space to see what crime he may have committed and you certainly won't ask. it doesn't matter, anyways. he got the job, didn't he? and besides, before the felony, his resume is rather impressive. seems like he made some incredible deals—damn near a con man—

you shuffle through more of the papers. you'll have to file all of them.

a knock on the wall beside your desk.

you pick your head up to take in an unfamiliar man. tall and broad shouldered, all shaggy raven hair and olive brown skin. he's handsome in that roguish, wild way. he's in a suit, at least, sharp looking. his ears are pierced. some rings on the fingers that rapped against the wall to get your attention.

"i heard you're my new assistant."

your brows raise. he doesn't exactly look like what you imagined the new vice president of sales to look like, but here he is nonetheless. he's younger than you'd thought he'd be. but when he smiles, you could see how it might be smarmy enough for sales.

"nicholas?" you ask in response, rising from your desk to greet him with a handshake.

"nick's fine. i heard you could show me the ropes around here a little." and this time when he smiles, he really takes you in.

your hand is so small in his.

you don't know why but heat touches your face. you pull your hand away from his quickly and adjust your glasses again to look up at him. "alright, nick. it's—um, nice to meet you."

"nice to meet my next partner in crime, too."

you swallow. funny choice of words that—

"and—yes. i can do that—show you around, i mean. i'll help finish getting you onboarded."

he glances around at your desk area; the flourishing plants and the color-coded pens and cute mouse pad. everything is in its place. even the papers of his you'd been reading are laying neatly on your desk.

"you seem...organized." he says, shoving his hands in his pockets, wandering a little closer to your desk. "which is good—i'm no good at that shit."

you clear your throat, "that's what i'm here for." your eyes flick over him; the lopsided smile and the cursing and the faint smell of tobacco clinging to him. and a cologne—something muskier. amber. and tonka. it's not that he looks like an ex felon or doesn't—just that, he isn't exactly what you were expecting either way. "shall we?" you ask.

he inclines his head, gesturing for you to go first like some kind of faux-gentleman. "after you, miss."

you smile nervously and turn, "um—i guess i can start with the tour?"

"that the fastest way to get coffee around here?" he asks, trailing behind you, your massive shadow.

you peak over your shoulder at him, glasses slipping down your nose again, "um—you can just ask me too, if you want—the old vice president of sales asked all the time—"

"not gonna make you get my coffee. you'll be doing more important shit for me than that." he says casually, and his eyes lock with yours again.

you quickly duck away from his gaze, focusing ahead. you shove your glasses back up your nose.

"i like your glasses, by the way. cute frame. they fit you." he says easily.

heat smarts your face. you blink rapidly.

"uh—thank you, nicholas."

"nick's fine, miss."

"nick. right." you say, swallowing around the name, "thank you."

"i'm real excited to work with you—i think this is gonna be a great pairing."

and you don't turn around to see it, but you can practically imagine the smile in his voice. just on the wrong side of wolfish.

in another universe writing game!

[superxstarzz]

I love the ideas you have! <3 <3 <3 Are there any keywords or a way to explain how some of your classes and aspects work?

I understand that it must be difficult to invent all these conventions but I had to ask out of curiosity

thank u sm!!! and thank you for giving me the PERFECT opportunity to talk about these!!! Hope ur ready for a yapfest, because that's what you're getting!!! I'm gonna break this down into two parts to make it a bit more coherent: How they would work in a session, and how I go about naming and combining them

First: How do they work in a sburb/sbgrub session???

While my original intention was for these to be classpects for sprites, I could see them being assigned to regular players too! Sburb works in funny ways, after all.

With powers, combined god tiers would have the abilities of both their classpects. For example, a Parasite (prince/thief) of Unity (blood/light) could steal and destroy both light and blood. They'd have the powers of a thief of light, prince of blood, thief of blood, and prince of light all at once!

Same goes for personality. Of course, personality mostly depends on the specific player, so this is harder to explain. To put it simply, someone with a combined classpect would have traits from both their classpects. That same Parasite of Unity from the previous explanation would act like a thief of light, prince of blood, thief of blood, and prince of light all at once.

Second: Behind the scenes on creation!!

So for the naming, I actually had some help from my bffsie @diehardpaleontologist !! Because of this, I don't have an explanation for every single name, since half of them weren't done by me :P And as much as I'd love to post the explanations behind every single combo name I did on this post, that would make it 3029204820 years long :,) So I'll settle for a more general explanation about them.

For the classes, a lot of them are just titles that we thought sounded cool or funny. Some of them were actually thought out, though!! Like the Supernova, the Gatekeeper, the Hoarder, etc.

For the aspects, we actually did think most of them through!! Some of them are guilty of being less creative... but they sound cool, soooo!!!

My main goal for creating these was making titles that sound interesting. Ones that are either really cool (The Puppeteer of Dreams) or ones that are funny. (The Beholder of Birth)

Now, the design process!!! For each class, I have a specific aesthetic I look to for inspiration. While actually designing them, I try to not only include elements from both classes but also some unique elements as well! I dont want them to just feel like combinations, I want them to feel like actual classes. That's where those inspiration aesthetics come in :3

The same goes for creating the aspects. I do mix the two color palettes as a base, but I typically change around the colors a bit to make a nicer palette (especially in cases where the mix just ends up... blegh (looking at u psyche pallete.)) When I make the aspects themselves, I try to keep them simple while ensuring they have elements of both symbols. The biggest thing I keep in mind with them is, "Would it cause me mental pain to draw this 3028392 times on an outfit?" If the answer is yes, I change the symbol.

While I would love to yap up a storm on every single design choice I made, this post is already getting long, so I'll spare yall.

If you have questions about any specific class or aspect, I will GLADLY answer them!!! A lot of thought goes behind each one of these, and I'd love to share it if yall r curious :) Thanks for reading this far, and I hope u enjoyed my thought dump!!

[geosabor]

which undertale soul colors would you assign to the LAL protagonists

akira and oersted share red to me

Im gonna assume this chart being accurate. It's been a while since UT was big but I remember this one getting shared around the fandom alot. (Also bare with me, this gonna be a biggun)

POGO - Bravery (Orange) Bro's got easily the biggest brass balls to fight a fire breathing mammoth and a T-Rex in the same day with nothing but a bone and his pet gorilla. He's also a total goblin who'd run into a wall to break it if it means saving Beru.

LEI - Determination (Red) Girl loses a fight and is immediately plotting your downfall. Both in Dominion of Hate and Imperial China.

YUN - Perseverance (Purple) He starts as the weakest character in the game and frankly he's really pathetic. But over the course of Imp. China his drive to improve makes him grow stronger (in my case the strongest member of the team. Seriously, 3 Tempest Torments and Odio died)

HONG - Integrity? (Blue) Gonna be totally honest. I have the least amount of data on Hong. I picked him last during my playthroughs of the game, I see the least amount of fanart of him, I see him the least in other's playthroughs, I dont really get his deal. I wanna say Integrity cuz that'd be cool since he started off as a dine-n-dasher and he grows to be better, but I'm not totally sure

OERSTED - Justice (Yellow) Now I know what you're thinking, but think about how he talks about his place in all of this. He rightly feels cheated, time and time again he was cheated cuz his best friend was just a massive simp. So he sees his current situation as a massive wrong to be righted. And listen to how he describes the other bosses. Also sees them as tragedies, wrongs to be righted and all that. It might be a warped sense of justice but it is *A* form of justice.

OBOROMARU - Determination (Red) You can take Oboro's chapter in a myriad of ways. You don't have to save Ryoma right away, you don't have to interact with most of the enemies, heck there are only 5 mandatory fights in the whole chapter (2 being Ode Iou). He doesn't even bring any equipment with him. The path doesnt matter because Oboro's one goal here is to kill Ode Iou.

SUNDOWN - Patience (Cyan) Dude prolly had to deal with Mad Dog and a buncha other hunters chasing him down for years. We know he spares Mad Dog so its safe to assume he spared the others. Also think back to how he dealt with Pike. I bet most of the other heroes woulda spoken up during that whole thing.

MASARU - Perseverance (Purple) Takes alotta the stuff to willingly get punched in the face over and over so you can learn some cool wrestling moves. Especially when sometimes the masters just flat out won't use em. Maybe also a little dumb but hey, I'm not the champ so who can say.

AKIRA - ??? Akira is complicated. He has a strong sense of justice, his integrity is really solid, he's SUPER determined, he's really kind to those he cares about, and he's willing to persevere through A LOT of bullshit to help people. Honestly at a loss here. I guess if I had to pick one it'd be Determination but an argument can be made for any of em. Except Patience. He defo doesn't have patience that's for sure.

CUBE - Kindness (Green) Easy choice, he was literally made to help people

[basedkikuenjoyer]

"If he's gone, who am I to live for?"

Seeing Stussy say it packed such a punch. I could say I get it because I've seen enough Japanese media to casually pick up the "Woman's happiness" thing but honestly seeing one of my first peers pick up that sad label of widow last year did the same. Yeah yeah, neither of these two were married to Oden/Stella but the point stands. It actually enhances the callback to some of like, those old samurai movie callbacks for the guy to be not quite a husband. There are bridal themes hanging around both and losing a father figure can and has set up a lot of the same stories for this silk hiding steel archetype.

Which gets us to today. We did it with Vivi, we did it with Bonney, now that we're getting into a sidestory with more focus on Stussy let's do a proper compare/contrast:

We've done this with Vivi, we've done it with Bonney. Stussy I think is actually a lot simpler. Part of that is that we're not really straddling lines like Bonney and unlike her and Vivi, while Stussy has an earlier introduction you have the least build of the four. But it is interesting we make the deliberate choice to introduce you over letting Kalifa join the callback. Even her big sis Alpha could have kept the connection. Either way, in both cases we have a kind woman who fate assigned a very violent role. In both cases they rose to the occasion and were even quite good at it, but there's a forlorn element under it.

They play with time a bit; Stussy's much older than she looks and Kiku's from the past on top of being a weird blend of mature personality behind childish affectations. Though the Raid showed you're still just a kid in some ways. Stussy's the more mature one this time. There's also that Tamataebako thread and each one having a demonic facade. But the most important is both lived for a great but imperfect man who died. And that gets to the big difference for me:

Stussy is at the start of a story we met Kiku a month into and saw resolve over the next. Two months isn't always enough time to find out what comes next but it is certainly enough of a window that grief can be overcome enough to take advantage of new opportunities. But specifically I think this fallen village element is a really cool one to have hanging around. Especially knowing it's a trope that runs at least as deep as some of these old samurai movies.

In a nutshell, the crack I see for Stussy is that the way this all shakes out doesn't really leave time to make a specific bond with the Straw Hats. You're established enough you don't really need them and honestly grabbing Kaku and starting over isn't a bad ending. It's not like we spent an entire arc with you humming along quietly building a huge one only to still play coy at the end of the arc or never really resolved a dead brother with ties to Luffy's story or anything. But Stussy finding her way into some kind of role like say...being what Mother Caramel presented herself as? Finding herself in a little town that she could be the backbone of?

That's the way I see it for now at least. And it could change over time depending on what we see. But as-is, that's my read of Stussy. She needs to have her month in "Okobore" or wherever which makes you a really solid vehicle for someone else.

[jasper-the-menace]

Hey, since you're interested in scorpion biology, I thought you'd be interested in the idea of... intersex Chima scorpions! Well, sort of.

There's a specific character that's been bugging me a bit. Scutter is kind of the scorpion equivalent of a centaur; he has two torsos, one anthropomorphic, and another of the scorpion body. With scorpion anatomy in mind, it's easy to reach the conclusion that Scutter's reproductive organ would be heavily altered because of his body, making him intersex to a certain extent.

I hope this makes sense. I'm trying to look for possible trans rep in Chima characters (like in this example). What do you think of this idea?

Oh friend, you don't know the essay you just inspired.

You Opened This Can Of Worms, Now Lie In It

Some important bulletpoints before I get going, just to get all of my followers on the same page:

Disclaimer: I am a transgender nonbinary perisex individual. This means I am not intersexed (to my knowledge), I don't identify with the gender I was assigned at birth, and I don't identify as male or female. The closest thing to describing my gender is literally "no".

I am a strong advocate for making as many characters transgender as possible, regardless of "realism". That's why, in my own writing, half of the Scorpions are retroactively transgender (though they don't understand gender on the whole and most of them would probably be nonbinary if someone took fifteen minutes to explain gender, variable social constructs, and the concept of genitalia tying to gender roles) and also Razar is too on account of I said so.

Being intersexed does not inherently mean being transgender. There is a lot of discussion and individual choice between intersexed people about whether or not they're part of the queer community. It's a very individual thing, and I am not part of those discussions on account of not being intersex myself.

When it comes to humans and other beings with a level of sentience and sapience, the term "hermaphrodite" and its derivates are considered slurs. When talking about animals, hermaphrodite and its derivates are scientific terms. So in something like the Legends of Chima series and other humanoid-animal media, the proper term is "intersexed". (I noticed you used the term "intersex" in your ask, and I appreciate it!)

I know too much about scorpion mating and birth.

We're talking way too much about genitalia and gender tonight in regards to fictional characters.

I am genuinely delighted that you decided to drop in here to discuss this, because boy howdy do I have a lot of thoughts about transgender headcanons/representation and scorpions specifically! Scorpions are just. So damn cool.

Note for my fellow arachnophobes: There are no images attached to this post, but it's really easy to find videos of scorpions doing various things on YouTube, which is actually how I've been studying them.

Scorpion Sex, Mating, and Genitalia

Scorpions of both "genders" have genital opercula (singular: genital operculum), and their asses run up into their tails. In order to mate, they don't just do like horses. No no, buddy, they have a really weird, specific method!

In order to start wooing his potential mate, the male scorpion will lock chelae (pincers) with the female scorpion, and they will start to "dance". The male scorpion will drop a sperm packet onto the ground and lead the female scorpion over it. If the female scorpion is down, she'll basically squat and absorb the sperm packet into her body, which is then followed by a "mating plug" to keep it in while it does the fertilization thing.

(It's important to note that the courting process also contains "juddering", aka the male scorpion doing the dance that the stickbug meme did, and may also contain clerchical "kisses". Honestly, pretty romantic for an arachnid. And possibly tail-rubbing and sexual stinging. Scorpions are very kinky!)

(It's also important to note that some species of scorpions have been reported, though not reliably, to reproduce through parthogenesis.)

Post-coitus cannibalism has not been scientifically seen in scorpions, so the male scorpion is generally safe as long as he scadoodles.

Gestation in some scorpion species can last over a year, and different species can have anywhere from 2 to 100 little scorplings - the physical size of the scorpion is not necessarily tied to how many babies they'll have.

Also, scorpions give live birth!

The baby scorpion is essentially folded like a Fedex package and launched out of the womb. It will then unfold and climb on top of the mother to make way for its next sibling. These will hang onto the mother until their first molt, which happens as a group and launches them into the juvenile stage. After this, they will still stay with their mothers until their carapace finishes hardening and gaining color, at which point they hunt prey on their own and will wander off on their own terms.

Hey, Jasper, That's Pretty Fucked Up, But How Does This Tie Into Chima?

I'm getting there, hold your centaur scorpions!

This is where we get into the worldbuilding of the Legends of Chima series, the Character Encyclopedia, and our poor boy Scutter.

See, the Legends of Chima as a series is very much a product of its time. There is some rife ableism and questionable word choices in regards to the Crawlers (and Sir Fangar, but this isn't about him). According to the Character Encyclopedia, Scutter is "less evolved". There's a looong history of racism in using phrases like "evolution" in regards to other humans, so taking that and applying it to an animal world leaves us with some very strange dissonance, because it's used in Chima to mean animals turned into a more humanoid form by the Chi.

Because really, what is the Chi? It's a magical substance that, depending on how you read it, could be the animist spirit of the land (I say, as an animist myself), or it could be drugs. Or it could be any number of other things! I know one person who writes Chi as the blood of dead gods, which is metal as fuck!

Ultimately, it depends on how one is writing the Chi that makes the usage of phrases like "less evolved" more or less questionable than it was intended. We're all dragging around the corpse of a Lego theme across our writing desks anyway. And the way I go about answering the question of "what is Chi" is definitely different from others. (Again, see the dead god blood part.)

The question of whether or not the Scorpion Tribe, namely Scutter, would count as intersexed relies on 1) defining intersexuality in regards to genitalia arrangement (scorpions don't have penises and vaginas by default; and the Wikipedia article on scorpions just uses "genital orfice" or "genital opercula"); 2) determining if the Chi has magically changed how genitalia works for Scorpions (admittedly, I do this because I didn't want to have to use the term "genital opercula" over and over); 3) determining the humanization extent of the Scorpion Tribe as you write them (I lean more towards human than you do, just from what I've seen of your work); and 4) deciding if such terminology even exists in Chima.

But looking at Scutter and going with the assumption that the back end is fully scorpion... No, I wouldn't count him as intersex by default. Intersex implies landing between the two human biological extremes (which, as we all know, is not as cut-and-dry as high school biology taught us), when really he's kind of a secret third thing (a Scorpion who probably doesn't have either a penis or a vagina).

(Of course, there's also what you said, paraphrased to my own wording: the Chi may have just decided to fuck up this poor man's genital situation and do a half-ass job.)

That's not to say he can't be trans. I mean, I made Scorm and about half of the Scorpion Tribe trans already. That's also not to say they're not all trans by default, considering scorpions without the ability to think wouldn't have the concepts of genders anyway.

Okay Jasper, So How Do You Write Him?

So, here's the thing. I'm aromantic-asexual, and I also write smut and, to a lesser extent, romance, which means I think about fictional character genitalia too much. But thinking about Scutter has left me utterly baffled.

On one hand, I usually write the Chi as a magical animist force of the land of Chima on the whole, and part of that is that the Chi tries to get everyone on the same playing field, physically speaking, which is how we get retroactive transgender man Scorm in my Tales of Chima series.

On the other hand, look at him. Look at him. He's a centaur arachnid. I know he can pass the Harkness Test, but I still feel weird thinking about his genitalia. If I go with my theory of the Chi giving everyone penises and vaginas at random, then I don't want to think about how much that would get in the way for the poor boy! On the other hand, his lower body is still mostly scorpion instead of, well, Scorpion, so who's to say he doesn't have a genital operculum?

Too Long, Don't Want Details About Scorpion Sex

Alright, spoilsport. Here's your TLDR:

It genuinely depends on what the Chi does in your version of the story and how bad it fucks up. It depends on how dedicated you are to scientific accuracy. It depends on how much you want to think about scorpion genitals.

And being intersex is not necessarily trans rep, unless it is, unless it isn't. I'm not intersexed, so I'm not going to say what that falls on myself. There is an intersex pride flag that was created by Morgan Carpenter in 2013.

Trans characters can exist outside of being intersexed, you don't have to conflate the two in order to have transgender representation. Just hit the characters with the Transgenderinator 5000 Beam. Fuck realism, this is a series about walking talking animal people. Who's going to stop you? The fun police? Transphobes? Eat them.

Further Reading

Start at Wikipedia and go from there through its sources for anything of particular interest:

Intersex flag (in case you're curious about it and its history, which can also launch you into further reading about humans being intersex)

Scorpion (morphology section)

Scorpion (mating subsection)

Scorpion (birth and development subsection)

So, uh, yeah! Thanks for coming to me with these questions, it's really touching that you value my thoughts this much, and I love talking about my boys and scorpions and the complicated web! I apologize for any errors or too-crass sections, because I wrote most of this in one sitting after playing wayyy too much Skyrim today.

~Jasper