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sinkingnotsoslowly · 2 months

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Menace

Pairing: Lee Know x Reader (pronouns not mentioned)

Non-idol au, fluff, very little angst

technically is a part 2 of this fic but could be read as a standalone

DO NOT STEAL MY WORK. REBLOGS AND FEEDBACKS ARE APPRECIATED

“Why aren’t you dating anyone Minho?”

Minho stops devouring his pudding to gawk at you. “I’m not questioning your decision to stay single but why are you really not dating?”, you ask.

“Because you haven’t said yes yet”, he goes back to eating his pudding as if he didn’t just say the most outlandish thing.

“Yes to what?”

Minho rolls his eyes in feigned annoyance, “Yes to me asking you to date me, duh”

“Ugh be serious Minho”, you huff.

“What makes you think I’m not serious (yn)?” he looks at you with something in his eyes that you can’t decipher. “I think I should head back now, my break ended ten minutes ago”, with that gets up and walks out of the café.

This was two weeks ago and it still hasn’t left your mind. It is not unlike Minho to randomly ask you out on a date but you never take him seriously. He always jokes about how you two should just marry each other if you were still single at thirty. But that day at the café he did not seem like he was joking about you dating him. Did you hit a nerve by asking him that? But if he was indeed upset, he would tell you about it, you guys always talked things out if either of you were upset. He has been behaving perfectly normally since then.

“I ate pudding today”, you waited for him to continue but only silence followed. “Minho you called me in the middle of the day to say that you ate pudding?”, you asked. “Yeah, and it was so delicious. Buy me more when you come over. Anyways I got to go, bye”, the call ended. Yep, very Minho-like.

You met Minho at a college party and then proceeded to make out with him only stopping when you accidentally moaned your best friend’s name instead. But he never held it against you. You eventually opened up to him enough to tell him that you were in love with your best friend. The said best friend was getting married in a month. And you would be there, as a guest of course. To your surprise you weren’t exactly heartbroken when Seungmin called you, gasping for breath like he had run a marathon. You could almost hear him grinning his puppy grin, “She said yes”.

Just because you were not heartbroken did not mean you were not sad. After all, there were years of pining, wishing that one day he would finally realise that the love of his life was always in front of him. That did not happen. You guys graduated, you got a job, he went for higher studies and found someone there. That night Minho came over with beer and let you ugly sob on his shoulder. Since college, he has always been there with you, your graduation, your first job, bad dates, going out for drinks on Friday nights and talking shit about your bosses. You thought he was good for you; a great friend.

“I’m going on a date tomorrow”, Minho said while setting up his laptop for the movie. It was your weekly movie night at his place, “Thought I should try getting out there”. He was still looking at the laptop avoiding your eyes. For some reason, you felt a pang in your chest. “Is this because of what I said? Minho I didn’t mean to upset you-”

“You didn’t upset me (yn). I’ve just been thinking of settling down”, he started the movie without further explanation. You wanted to press him on but you thought better of it.

You couldn’t concentrate on the movie. Throughout it, you kept thinking about what Minho said. You couldn’t blame him for wanting to settle down but you kept feeling uncomfortable with the image of Minho dating someone and then marrying her.

Minho has always been a menace but he became a little more annoying the next week. He always has this look on his face like he knows something you don’t and it has been eating at your brain. Midweek your composure breaks and you snap, “Ok what is it? Why do you look like you are up to no good?” At that Minho looks at you like you just sprouted two heads, “I don’t know what you’re talking about”

“Oh you know what I’m talking about Minho”

Minho keeps looking at you like a cat who did not just knock off the flower vase, and then he blinked like a lightbulb went off in his head, “Ah right! Come over on Saturday I need help to pick out what I’ll wear for the date.”

The date. Right. He was just excited for the date. You felt your spirits dropping. Maybe in no time, you’ll be attending Minho’s wedding too, as a guest. Wait what? Why would you think that? How else would you want to attend a friend’s wedding if not as a guest?

Oh.

OH.

Oh no.

You stood up abruptly almost knocking over your half-drunk coffee on the table, “I-I have to go, I haven’t even started the new project yet”. Without sparing Minho another glance you grabbed your bag to just get away from him as fast as possible.

“Huh? That was sudden. Well don’t forget about Saturday.”

You faked a smile towards him, “Yes, yes, Saturday, I’ll be there.”

Saturday came faster than you could blink. And it seemed like the universe had a personal vendetta against you this week. Missed deadlines, unnecessary hourlong meetings, spilt coffee, missing the bus- you name it. At this point, only a year-long vacation could give some mental peace. And on top of that, you couldn’t stop thinking about Minho. You didn’t see each other again after that one day when you barely escaped humiliating yourself.

“Should I wear the blue button-down or the black one?”

“Black”

“Hmm, ok blue it is” menace.

“Why am I here Minho? Not like you are listening to me”, you were sitting on his bed munching on the last of honey butter chips Minho had stocked up. You spent the whole day buried in the blanket, wallowing in self-pity, and almost didn’t show up today. You even contemplated going back home while standing in front of Minho’s house. God knows what you were still doing there sitting in Minho’s bedroom while he dressed up for his date.

Minho looked at you through the mirror, scoffing, “For moral support of course”. He went back to styling his hair without another word.

“Well then if am done providing moral support to your honour, I’ll be taking my leave”, it was time for you to go back to the safety of your blankets and cry yourself to sleep since you did not seem fated to have requited love in this life. The only option left was arranged marriage.

Before you could leave Minho’s room you were stopped. “W-wait, don’t you have anything to tell me?” Minho asked. You turned around, brain going into overdrive. Why would he say that? Does he know about my feelings? Is he teasing me? Oh God please no. But what if-

“Like- are you okay with this? Me going on a date?” Ah, so he was just worried. How sweet. “Of course, I’m okay Minho. Why wouldn’t I be? This is completely your decision; you deserve to be happy-”

“Oh my god, you’re so dumb (yn). Why can’t you just say it? Why can’t you just ask me not to go? Why can’t you tell me that you like me?” Minho paused, taking a breath to calm down, “I like you (yn). And I know you like me. There is no other girl. But I do have a reservation for dinner if you’re up for it”.

It would be an understatement to say that you were dumfounded. You had thought of many scenarios while laying awake in bed but not this. “Why didn’t you just confront me if you knew that I liked you?”, you asked, fiddling with the hem of your shirt which looked very interesting suddenly. Minho sighed, “I wasn’t sure at first. So I wanted to see your reaction by saying that I have a date. And it seemed like you weren’t sure about your feelings either. So are you up for it?”

“Huh?”

“The date. Do want to go on this date? Look I understand if you are pissed, and it’s fine if you say no-”

“Just drive me to my place so I can dress up atleast. You’re such a menace Lee Minho”

Minho grinned like a cat, “Yeah but now it’s too late to get rid off me. So this menace is now your responsibility”.

So you were fated to have requited love it seems.

masterlist

Autumn's sighs- little soft thoughts about our favourite boys

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copperbadge · 6 months

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When I mentioned I was feeling a bit apathetic about my usual phone games and apps, therapist (I should give her a nickname of some kind) suggested rotating in a new puzzle or game for a dopamine hit, so I thought I might go back to "Diagramless" crosswords, which is where you do a normal crossword but without any of the dark spaces or numbers. I used to do the normal crossword but when you've been doing crosswords since the age of 15 they stop being very challenging after a while.

The problem is that because diagramless or skeleton crosswords are more difficult, they're not readily available, like I couldn't just go out and buy a book of them; there was one Chicago paper that would print them but they were cribbing the clues from the LA Times and anyway that only worked when I was stealing the paper from my workplace years ago.

My workaround was to create a 15-square grid in Excel, print that out, and do them by hand (more satisfying anyway) using clues from the LA Times crossword that I copy-pasted in. I stopped doing diagramless basically because just acquiring them was slightly more work than I wanted to be doing on a regular basis. (If anyone knows of a phone app that offers them, or a book of them I could buy, sing out.)

Anyway all was going well; above you can see the first two I did, and while I'm obviously rusty it's very satisfying to just do one, let alone complete them. I didn't bring very many with me while traveling but I was doing today's and something seemed...very off. It took me about four lines in and several headscratchers to realize that the puzzle clues were randomly and unusually for a 16 square crossword and I was trying to cram them into a 15 square grid.

Insert old joke here about "You aren't allowed to do crosswords anymore when you can do them entirely wrong" etc etc

Personally I blame Dan and Doug who designed it, and Patti who let it through, but on the other hand "Dan Doug and Patti" is a great name for a folk trio so I can't be too mad.

[ID: Several images of a printed 15-square grid filled out by hand with both crossword clue answers but also the squares and numbers that give the puzzle structure; the third image is only partially filled and clearly full of errors, and the last image is of the actual LA Times puzzle pattern, showing that there are 16 squares instead of 15. This never used to happen.]

#sam has adhd #crossword #crosswords #puzzles #god dammit LA times why don't you just offer an option to remove the numbers and blanks #daniel and doug I curse you to be unable to find good coffee for two days #patti i curse you to have bad coffee spilled on you at least once by dan or doug #not yet fired from therapy

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percontaion-points · 2 years

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OVE chapters 27-29

Click to see the rest of the snark & image descriptions

Chapter 27

“They have taken Alisa,” Roma rasped aloud to Benedikt, though Benedikt already knew. “Tyler Cai has taken Alisa.”

Chapter 27 summary: The chapter opens with Tyler fuming about how nobody seems to give a shit about the vaccination being stolen. He randomly decides that Juliette is controlling the monsters. But even with his negative IQ points, even he admits that she wouldn’t need the monsters to steal the vaccination.

We jump over to Kathleen as she goes to another communist meeting. And I can’t say that I’m not sympathetic towards the plight of the workers (100 years later and things honestly haven’t changed much). But knowing how communism is going to wreck the country, I kind of want to go back and stop all of them. Like worker conditions suck, but do you want to know what sucks more? COMMUNISM.

And then, because this chapter suffers from plot ADHD, Alisa reads over a file she’d taken from her father’s office. She doesn’t know anything though, and quickly dismisses it before being distracted as the worker’s protest starts to walk past the house. She goes to get a better position, but then she’s kidnapped.

WE’RE APPARENTLY NOT DONE WITH PLOT ADHD, BECAUSE HAVE ANOTHER CHARACTER POV. Roma comes home and Ben tells him that Alisa is missing; they’ve looked everywhere for her. Roma isn’t sure about it, and doesn’t take it seriously at first. But the protest has turned into a riot, and Ben is worried about his cousin.

Roma goes into his room, where they conveniently find the ransom demand pinned to the windowsill. I know that there’s few options for who could have taken her, but Roma instantly knows that it was Tyler who did.

Chapter 28

“It was copies of your correspondences that they dug up at the post office. That’s how you were found out. Not sightings, not rumors. Simple pen to paper and your handwriting.” Juliette blew out a frustrated breath. “Was the merchant business all false, then? Is there even a lover, or did you play spy for no reason?”

Suddenly, Rosalind’s eyes swiveled to Juliette, her gaze sharpening for the first time. “You would have done the same,” Rosalind rasped.

Juliette sat up straighter. She looked to the door, to the slight gap left ajar. “What?”

“I love him,” Rosalind mumbled. A bead of sweat had broken out along her hairline. She was delirious, probably running a fever. “I love him, that is all.”

JFC how could she continue to be this fucking STUPID?

“Don’t do it,” Juliette said plainly. “It was never worth it, and it’s not worth it now.”

[...]

“I was wondering how long the news would take to reach you,” he replied, watching the glass refract light. “Longer than I thought, I must admit.”

You know it’s bad when even Tyler complains about how long it took. TYLER.

“Right outside the border of the Settlement, by the Suzhou Creek, shall we say? Don’t be late.”

Chapter 28 summary: Juliette tries to get Rose to talk, but as you can imagine, she’s in no mood. It’s only after Juliette calls Rose out for being that fucking dumb does she say that she loves him.

Juliette then gets a call from Ben to explain about how Tyler kidnapped Alisa. It’s also been several days since this happened, which is the stupidest thing ever. But hey, stupidity seems to be the name of the game, so what else is new.

Juliette naturally goes to confront her cousin about it. He continues to be an asshole and tries to call Juliette out on her bluff. She tells him that he’s going to die, but he only laughs in her face and says that now is the chance to prove her loyalty to the scarlets. Tyler continues to not give a shit about his life, and only tells her when and where.

Chapter 29

“Teach me how one should forget to think,” he remarked. “That sounds like a feat most valuable.”

I don’t know why he’d ask Rose to teach him when “not thinking” has been his sole personality trait.

Quietly, Roma climbed back in through the window.

Chapter 29 summary: Ben and Juliette meet to discuss the hopeless situation. The city is too big, and Alisa could be stashed anywhere. Neither Tyler nor Roma will back down from this, and both Juliette and Ben know that at least one of those idiots will die. Ben randomly thinks that if Juliette tells Roma about Marshall, he’ll stop. But honestly? Marshall < Alisa. It doesn’t make any sense why he’d even ask that. Juliette agrees, but decides that the city would turn on both of them if they were to love each other.

Kathleen reads the letters Rose had written, and goes to confront her sister. Only to find that Rose has run off. I continue to not give a shit.

Rose turns up at Roma’s home. It’s at this point that Roma randomly tells the readers that his dad had asked him to go try and strike up a romance with Rose at the club, but he’d switched gears when he’d heard Juliette was back in town. He fell for Juliette hard and fast, and never looked back.

Anyway, that aside now over, he tells Rose to state her business before he calls everybody out and they shoot her full of holes. She says that she could shoot him now anyway. She says some stuff about how she’d wished that it had been him, before she stumbles off. Roma doesn’t stop her, and goes back inside.

#These Violent Delights series #Our Violent Ends #chapter 27 #Chapter 28 #chapter 29 #Tyler Cai #Kathleen Cai #Holy ADHD Plot Batman!#Alisa Montagova #Roma Montagov #Ben Montagov #HEADDESKING #i'm done goodbye #Rosalind Cai #you are stupid and you deserve to get eaten by zombies #Juliette Cai

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misschifuyu · 3 years

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howdy 🥰 i reaaally like your writing style and the way you depict characters 🤌

can i request styling Baji, Chifuyu and Mitsuya's hair pleaase ? 🥺

thank you! i hope you have a GREAT day!! 💖

- hello there babes ! thank you so much omgg, really ♡ and I hope you’re having a wonderful day yourself, here’s your request bby !!

Baji, Chifuyu and Mitsuya getting their hair styled by their s/o

genre: fluff

warnings: none

Baji

as said in the shower headcanons, I believe that baji takes pretty good care of his hair. it's very soft to the touch, and the slight wave to his locks always made him look as if he spent hours styling it

realistically - and this you would find out after he spent a night over at yours - his hair will go that way with a simple brush through, nothing more, nothing less

you hadn't believed it at first, but upon watching him do so a few times, you came to the conclusion that he was gifted with perfect hair by the gods themselves

it would be a weekend that you'd ask him if you could play with his hair, seeing as he didn't have any plans until the evening

he'd comply happily, and patiently sit down in front of your bathroom mirror, waiting for you to start on whatever ideas you had stored away in that head of yours

of course, you'd start off with his signature ponytail

you had to hold back a gawk as the hair was easily collected into your hands, allowing you to slip the hair band on with ease

where had this guy even got his hair routine from ?

all this did was boost your excitement to see what other styles you could get his hair into

baji had to take a few silent seconds when you pulled his hair into two pigtails, right at the top of his head

you thought he looked splendid, but he, on the other hand, was about to regret letting you near his locks. nevertheless, he let you continue, slipping the hair out of the tight style

next were two braids. at first, you didn't think much of it: he'd look like a cute school girl, and you'd for sure had to try and sneak a picture of that if he let you

but, as you tied the second one with the little band and flipped them forwards, you could almost see the hairs on the back of his neck stand up

"I look like that haitani bastard, y/n, what the hell!"

after realising what you had done, you couldn't hold back a few laughs as he fumbled around, trying to undo the neatly folded pieces of hair

he wasn't best pleased, but was impressed by how - if a certain someone didn't sport them all the time - he'd actually pull them off

last, but certainly not least, you wanted to try a little something out with his hair that you had seen a few other guys with long-ish hair wander around with

parting the locks just above his ear, you pulled the top layer up into a bun, tying it loosely with the hair band

you made sure not to make it so tight that it would make him look almost bald on the top of his head by giving it a little volume

at this last style - the notorious man bun - baji sent a look to the mirror that made you confirm that he quite liked it

turning his head around to the sides, he looked at the bun you had pull together just a little below the top of his head

"you know...this one ain't too bad"

clasping your hands together in joy, you told him that it was a pretty easy style to do, and it would mean he could keep his hair out of his face without having to do a full-on ponytail

giving you a face of approval, he happily left your little hairdresser session, not even bothering to ask if you were actually done

you didn't mind though. in fact, you were looking forward to see what the others thought of your grand creation on your boyfriend's hair

Chifuyu

funnily enough, chifuyu does actually try and keep his hair in a good shape. he's tried silk pillowcases, deep conditioners and even treatments that he'd frequently steal from your place

he'd always bring the bottles back, though, so not to worry

it was the reason why he was happy to let you play with his hair one morning that he hadn't much else to do

he stole your hair products, so he guessed it was only fair to give his hair up for a quick experiment from your behalf

like baji, you'd sit chifuyu in his bathroom, just in case something went horribly wrong and you needed to wash out his hair in the shower

knowing you were only working with a top - although considerably thick - layer of his hair, you had taken out your smallest hairbands

you had frequently seen him with his hair pulled up by his bangs, as he'd usually pull it up into that style whenever he came over to your place

he deemed it much more comfortable than having hair on your face when trying to relax

instead, you jumped right into parting his hair into two sections, forming a straight line down the middle of his head

he looked a little strange with a prominent split like that, making him look like something out of the olden times, so you quickly went in with the bands to try and make his concerned stare go away

granted, it did, but only to be replaced by widened eyes as he stared at the two, small buns you had managed to tie up at the sides of his head

"i..."

"you look like peke j now!"

at your comment, he whipped his head around to look at you, stood behind him as you marvelled at the creation

it seemed that the black cat had heard his name being called out, appearing at the bathroom door in an instant

the two exchanged looks with each other, silently, for a good minute or so

"do i, peke?"

you had to admit that chifuyu was very close with his cat, so much so you were pretty sure they actually had conversations through brainwaves, because the small animal gave a quick meow as an answer

when you eventually got him back in front of the mirror, you started racking your brains on what else you could do with the bundle of bleached, blonde hair

an idea came up, but you weren't too sure how it would play out on his head

nevertheless, you took a risk and started parting his hair in different sections

even chifuyu was curious to see what you were doing. all he could tell was that you seemed to be having a little struggle with it

and the result wasn't much better

having attempted to tie his hair into a short braid, you ended up noticing that not all his hair strands were the same length, ending up in what looked to be more like a bundle of messy hair, single strands sticking up in all directions

"what's...that supposed to be, y/n?"

after struggling to give a straight explanation, the two of you burst out into a fit of laughter

surely enough, the style had gone a little off track, but you couldn't deny how amusing your boyfriend looked with it on top of his head

Mitsuya

now, mitsuya doesn't really have much hair on his head

this is mainly due to the fact that he used to have his sides shaved, much like draken, so it would take him a little tweaking here and there to be able to get an even haircut all around

he doesn't really mind, though. it's a simple hairstyle, and he really had enough work with his sisters' hair that he didn't need another head to style every morning

this wouldn't stop you from running your hands through it, though, and wondering what you could do with it. surely there could be at least a little style to do with it

after a good ten minutes of thinking, you jolted up from your previous position, laying on his chest as the two of you had been watching the tv

with only a minimal explanation, you dragged him to your bathroom, sitting him down on a stool before the mirror

through the reflective surface, mitsuya could see you fumbling around in the drawers just behind him, just before whipping out a box, a triumphant smile on your face

when you placed the mysterious container on the sink, he automatically knew where you were going with this, and he was curious to see how you'd do it

you know those small, colourful butterfly clips that are all the rage now?

well, you had a whole bunch of them, and you were determined to make his hair look like whole colony of little butterflies

the first bunch that you clipped on were pretty randomly placed, but as his hair started to get filled up, you brought out whatever artistic side you had in you to try and turn it into art

mitsuya watched you try and place the last few left, looking around his own head to see where the next one could be placed

"look, you can put one here"

he has a very good eye when it comes to styling pretty much anything, so, of course, he'd lend a hand when you were finishing up with your creation

gleefully, you followed his instructions, and after fifteen minutes of decorating his grey hair, you finally smiled at him through the mirror

"what do you think?"

squinting his eyes as though evaluating your work, he quickly followed with a convinced nod

"im sure to become toman's image if I start wearing these all the time, that's for sure"

you giggled at his comment, and asked if it was okay to take a picture of him to be able to show his sisters later on. he happily complied, and he actually seemed quite content with what you had done with his hair

he had never imagined to wear so many clips at once

but, be aware...as soon as they're off, he's going to want to do either the same or maybe even more to your hair

you managed to keep him sat for one more style, though; one that you were sure would give you enough time to escape before he actually fixed it up

combing his hair back, you spread a considerable amount of gel on his hair, making it stick down to his hair. unsurprisingly, mitsuya gave you questionable looks as you flattened his poor hair down

the result was a very slick looking boyfriend, and you couldn't help but jokingly telling him he should wear it like that all the time

however, he was not about to go around looking like he had just come out of grease

#tokyo revengers #tokyo revengers baji #baji keisuke #tokyo revengers chifuyu #chifuyu matsuno #tokyo revengers mitsuya #takashi mitsuya #fluff #pls this was so fun to write omg

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beoneofus · 2 years

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a lost boys story plot idea

knocking on death's door: y/n miller, daughter of famous celebrity jason patric and m/n l/n, gets caught in a sickening fire at a house party she was invited to. upon awakening, she comes to realize she was no longer in a burning house, but on the door step of a rather victorian looking home that stood in the center a ghost town looking neighborhood. she ends up knocking on the door, only for the trap door that was located under the welcome mat on the porch, to open; causing her to fall inside. said girl ends up falling into a swivel chair, that's placed at one end of a table you'd only see in police interrogation rooms, while on the other side sat a rather pale looking man that seemed to be in his early thirties, with snow while hair and ice cold, black eyes, with the hood of a cloak perched onto the crown of his head. she finds out that she is in fact in death's domain; the counter-structure universe that takes place after limbo. he gives her a choice, whether to be sent on her way as a spirit that remains stuck on earth, miserable and with unfinished business, or to be put in another universe that changes her original destiny. y/n ends up taking the latter, and after a few more exchange words, death snaps his fingers and she's placed into a deep sleep. hours later, she awakes, only for the whirring of a tired box fan to grab her attention. for a minute she's confused, especially after looking around and finding herself in a small, grunge-themed bedroom, but soon enough the memories resurface. although the pictured images are kind of cut off into smaller sections, she still puts it all together and recalls the conversation with the cloaked man. after running out of the room, she stops, only to spot pictures of a family on the upstairs wall lining the hallway; herself, quite young looking, being in the center of two adults, while a boy who looks three or four years younger than her stands on her right with a big grin complimenting his face. she was confused for the most part, but figured this was what death was referring to - a new life, new destiny, new friends, new family. later on, after ‘ meeting ’ her new family, she finds out the date, and where she's at, and completely freezes; june 10th, 1988, santa carla, california. exactly one year after the lost boys', her dad's famous film, took place. and what's even weirder, is that it's in santa carla, not santa cruz like it should have been. it turns out they all had only moved there a week prior, and since she had been busy with finishing school at home, she had no time to explore the place's infamous boardwalk. she did just that when night fell through, only to meet four guys that looked awfully familiar.

bonus details: one - death would randomly pop up throughout the story and mess with y/n, and/or guide her through difficult decisions. two - marko would pop up the next day, everyday, after the meeting her, trying to get her to hang out with him and the boys; playful acts following along. three - paul would end up being the one that gets her to open up first; his flirtatious and goofy personality pulling her in. four - dwayne and laddie would be the duo that she'd first hang out with; she'd love the little boy and his charm, and dwayne's relaxing, quiet personality would make her feel immediately comfortable. five - david would make her anxious, but her firey attitude would outweigh her nervousness and she'd snap back everytime david would make a cocky comment, or try to manipulate her.

note: I found this idea interesting as hell and kinda funny. I'd write it myself, but since I never seem to be able to stick with just one plot for an extended time period, I thought I'd post it on here. hopefully someone steals this because it literally needs to happen.

#the lost boys #the lost boys 1987 #slasher community #slashers #slasher fandom

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rocorambles · 4 years

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Shareholders

Pairing: Iwaizumi x reader mainly, with sides of Oikawa x reader, Hanamaki x reader, Matsukawa x reader

Genre/Warnings: Yandere, Toxic Relationships, Manipulation, Spanking, NSFW, Degradation, Non-Con/Dub-Con

Summary: Iwaizumi is the only one who has your heart, but you’re realizing that you should have read the fine print of the contract when you signed up to be his girlfriend. Maybe then you would have seen the names of the other three shareholders clearly written out.

Requested by Anon

If someone had asked you how you felt about love and the idea of soulmates when you first entered high school, you would have laughed in their face. You were growing up, becoming more jaded, becoming more knowledgeable about the world. You didn’t have time for silly romantic notions, not with school, extracurriculars, and cramming for the college entrance exam. But then you met a spiky haired boy with the most beautiful green eyes you’ve ever seen and suddenly, love didn’t seem so far fetched.

It wasn’t love at first sight, far from it. At most it was slight interest as the two of you sat through the same classes and walked past each other in the halls of Aoba Johsai. Neither of you yourselves really understand how it happened, but subtle nods of acknowledgement became friendly good mornings, polite small talk became playful exchanges full of inside jokes, and weekends spent separately became weekends you spent watching Iwaizumi’s volleyball games and going on dates to video arcades and movie theaters that were playing anything monster or Godzilla related. And now, as a third year, as an official adult, you think you just might have found your soulmate.

You cherish the moments you spend alone with Iwaizumi. Sometimes the moments are sweet as the two of you sit on a pair of swings and talk under the night sky full of stars twinkling, as if they’re winking at the two lovebirds encased in their soft glow. Sometimes the moments are heated as the two of you argue about which Godzilla remake is the best. Sometimes the moments are full of laughter as Iwaizumi holds you in his arms and recounts something stupid or funny that had happened at volleyball practice. And sometimes, now that both of you have passed the mark of adulthood and see each other for the man and woman you’ve both become, the moments are full of passion and desire as you lock the bedroom door and entangle limbs on a soft mattress.

Every second you have with your lover is perfect, but it’s becoming harder and harder to find time alone together. You like Iwaizumi’s friends. You really do. And you love the fact that he has such a good group of close friends, but sometimes you wonder if it’s normal for them to be so close to you as well.

Matsukawa isn’t so bad, but you can almost feel his large presence hovering around you as you walk from class to class. You’ve gotten used to the way his tall frame casually leans outside your classroom door when the bell rings and you shoot a smile at him, but you find it odd that he picks you up from classes even more often than Iwaizumi does. He’s become a second shadow by your side and at first you had found it unnerving, especially since he doesn’t speak much, but over time you’d grown to find comfort in the security he radiated and the soothing peacefulness his quiet personality offered.

On the other hand, there are definitely times when you wonder if you can muzzle Hanamaki. The chestnut haired boy has always been able to make you laugh and you genuinely enjoy talking to him, but his recent increase of pet names for you and his flirtatious remarks that borderline sexual innuendos make you tense. You had brushed off his initial usage of babe, honey, and sweetheart, but when he had called you a pillow princess in broad daylight, in front of your class, your cheeks had flamed a bright red and you had to fight the urge to slap him. But he always backed off at the perfect moment, right before you completely lost your cool, and you grudgingly continued conversing with him until the tension slackened and the two of you were back to your playful banter.

But the worst of them all is Oikawa. The first time he had planted a kiss on your cheek you had frozen stiff, but you had just chalked it up to his womanizing ways and shrugged it off. But it’s harder to ignore the way he’s constantly finding ways to hold your hand, twirl locks of your hair around his long fingers, and far too intimately rest his hands on your hips. It’s unfortunate for you since Oikawa is also the one who you always feel the need to be on your best behavior around. You know he’s Iwaizumi’s best friend, the longest friend he’s ever had, a friend he’s practically known and spent his entire life with. But that doesn’t stop the way unease churns in your gut whenever he’s around you and it feels like he’s always around. In fact, it feels like all three of them are always around you, almost even more so than your boyfriend himself.

You consider bringing it up to Iwaizumi in private multiple times, but even when the three get up to their antics right in front of your boyfriend, he never seems to be bothered. He just shrugs his shoulders and continues talking to you when Matsukawa offers to hold your bags for you. He just laughs when Hanamaki leers at you with barely concealed lust in his eyes and says he’d love to see you in the skimpiest bikini they could find for the upcoming beach trip you’re all planning. And even when you had stared at him with panic written all over your face as Oikawa forcefully pulled you until you were sitting in his lap, Iwaizumi had just nonchalantly looked up at the two of you and told you both to keep it down as he bent his head back down to continue studying. You trust Iwaizumi with your heart, your life, so if he’s fine with everything and he isn’t concerned, maybe you’re just overthinking things? Yeah, that must be it. You mentally chide yourself for being ‘that girl’ you’ve always hated and made fun of, ‘that girl’ who complains about her boyfriend’s friends for no legitimate reason. Disgusted at yourself for getting so worked up over nothing, you vow to take your boyfriend’s lead and just take it all in stride.

The rest of the school year continues until one day, your teacher decides to surprise you all with randomly assigning you partners for a project. The classroom groans. Isn’t it silly to forcefully pair up third years? It’s your last year and you all know each other enough to know exactly who you want to work with, but your teacher ignores your disgruntled muttering and that’s how you find yourself seated next to a boy you’ve seen around, but never really talked to outside of a few superficial lines of small talk. He’s nice enough and the two of you settle into a comfortable rhythm as you outline and plan out how to complete the project and you both smile as you exchange phone numbers, agreeing to text each other about when to meet up.

It’s just your luck that this project is going to take an entire month to finish and you whine to Iwaizumi about not getting more time to hang out with him, but he just chuckles and flicks your forehead, telling you to behave and get your work done. After all, what’s one month when you have an entire summer break to spend together, four years of college, and hopefully an entire rest of your lives to spend together? You blush at the implications of the last part of that sentence, but you wholeheartedly agree and you throw yourself into the project, hoping to keep your grades up even in your last year.

The work is more complex and time consuming than you had originally thought and your partner is just as studious as you, so the two of you find yourselves spending a lot of time together. You discuss what the best next step is between classes. You put your heads together at lunch as you both jot down ideas in your notebooks. You text each other about when’s a good time to meet up in person outside of school to keep on working. It’s all purely platonic, but the three sets of eyes following you, watching you, observing you narrow in displeasure.

You aren’t around Iwaizumi as much as you furiously work to complete your project and the boys use that to their advantage, crafting words, twisting tales, whispering into Iwaizumi’s ears every chance they can get. During practice, in the locker room, as they walk back home together, they constantly feed him lies, exaggerations, and condemning words. Matsukawa makes offhands comments about how friendly the two of you seem to have gotten, claiming he was surprised when he saw your partner tuck a lock of hair behind your ear as the two of you walked together in between classes. His eyes look on in amusement as they catch the brief furrow in Iwaizumi’s brows. Hanamaki teases Iwaizumi for being so oblivious. “Iwaizumi, her partner’s going to steal her from right under your nose at this rate. I mean I saw the way he looked at her when they were talking and he totally wants to fuck her. He could barely stop looking at her tits and ass, not that I can blame the guy.” He secretly smiles when he sees the ace’s fists clench at his words. But the breaking point is when Oikawa comes rushing into the volleyball gym, loudly exclaiming of your betrayal. “Iwa-chan! I accidentally read Y/N’s text when I was sitting next to her and her partner asked her to get coffee with him this weekend. They’re going on a date! You need to stop them.” The three third years share a dark amused look when Iwaizumi spikes the balls harder than usual at practice that day.

Furious is an understatement for how Iwaizumi is feeling and he knows he’s being an asshole, he knows the criticism he shouts at Kindaichi and Kunimi is more harsh than it should be, he knows he’s hitting the spikes way too hard for a normal practice when Watari flinches as he practices his receives. But he can’t bring himself to care as the image of you and that fucking bastard who’s your partner fill his mind. The first and second years steer clear of their vice captain as the team freshens up in the locker room and Iwaizumi is so caught up in his thoughts that he misses the way Oikawa ushers the juniors out as quickly as he can leaving just the four third years alone. He practically growls when a hand is gently placed on his shoulder, but he takes a deep breath to calm down when he turns and sees Hanamaki raising both of his arms in submission. His stomach knots a little at the sympathetic look in both Matsukawa’s and Hanamaki’s eyes, but he’s distracted by Oikawa shoving a phone into his hands. “Iwa-chan, you need to talk to her right now! She should be wrapping up her club activity right now too. Tell her to come.” It’s actually not a bad idea and with the encouragement of his friends he finds himself shooting a text your way and they all wait for you to arrive.

“Can you come to the locker room? We need to talk.” You worriedly bite your lip as you run as fast as you can to the boy’s locker room. The text had come out of nowhere and it sounded so serious, so...final. You shake your head rapidly dispelling your greatest fear. No, there’s no way Iwaizumi was breaking up with you, you know how much the two of you love each other, but what could possibly be wrong then? You're panting for breath by the time you reach the meeting spot and you bang on the doors, expecting your boyfriend to come out, so you yelp in shock when instead, the doors open and a strong arm hauls you inside until you’re in the middle of the lit room, held tightly against a familiar hard chest. You wince at the harsh grip Iwaizumi has on your hips as he burrows his head into the crook of your neck, but you soothingly rub his back, the only part of his body you have access to in your current position as you gently coax him into telling you what’s wrong.

A sarcastic laugh fills the room at your words and you flinch in surprise. You hadn’t realized anyone else was here and as your boyfriend’s grip loosens a bit, you squirm until you can look around and your face pales when you see the rest of the third years lounging around, staring at the both of you. “Hajime, I really shouldn’t be here, especially not if there are other guys in here. We’re going to get in so much trouble if someone finds out!” You struggle to escape his hold and rush out of the room, but his iron grip returns and holds you still.

“Is it true? Are you going on a date with your partner this weekend?”

“Wh-what?” You’re so flabbergasted by the question that your mouth flaps open and you make unintelligible sounds for a few seconds before you put yourself together. “Hajime, what are you talking about? Of course not! We’re just meeting up to work on the project.”

“I didn’t realize you get coffee at the most popular cafe in town for dates just to work on a project with someone you barely know.” You angrily whip your head around and scowl at Oikawa. You’re beginning to realize exactly what’s happening and you frantically clutch Iwaizumi’s face in your hands and plead with him to take your side, to believe you, but you know your words are falling on deaf ears as every question he asks you and every answer you respond with is spoken over by one of the other three figures predatorily staring at you. Your heart sinks as you see the fury building in his sharp eyes and tears well in your eyes as you feel his nails dig painfully into your skin as he tightens his hold on you even more with every filthy lie his friends spew. It only stops when you begin to sob and hold Iwaizumi almost as tightly as he’s holding you, blabbering on and on about how much you love him, how sorry you are for making him feel like he isn’t the only man you need in your life.

You revel in the way calloused hands loosen their grip and begin to tenderly stroke your hair and soon the only sounds in the room are your sniffles and Iwaizumi’s affirmation of his love for you, but when your cries finally subside, a hand grabs your chin and firmly forces you to look up until you lock eyes with the green you’ve come to love. “I love you and I know you love me, but you need to be punished. I can’t just let you get away with thinking that flirting, letting other men touch you, letting other men even think they have a chance to be with you is okay.” You nervously look at the other three men still silently watching the two of you and you beg Iwaizumi to save the punishment for home, for when the two of you are alone. You know what his punishments entail and there’s no way in hell you’re letting them witness it, but your resistance and struggling only serve to irritate your boyfriend even more. You flinch when loud tearing sounds fill the room before fabric flutters to the floor and you desperately try to hide your now naked body as your ruined clothing mockingly litters the ground around you.

Iwaizumi sits on the bench and pats his lap as he pointedly stares at you and you hesitantly stumble over and lay yourself across him, your ass perfectly positioned in the middle of his thighs and you shudder when you feel his hand sensually rub the plump mounds before grabbing a handful and teasingly squeezing the flesh. Humiliation lances through you when you hear Hanamaki’s wolf whistle almost right in your ear and despite everything inside of you telling you not to look, to pretend this isn’t happening, you turn your head and see the three of them far too close to Iwaizumi and you, their shadows falling across your prone figure. You quickly duck your head into the crook of your arms as you try to hide your face, but a warning smack on your ass has you lifting it again, although you keep your eyes straight ahead, refusing to look at your spectators.

“40 spanks.” “Hajime, that’s too much!” A smacking sound reverberates throughout the room and you scream at the sudden sharp pain. “I can increase it, babe. Don’t try me. I want you to count loud and clear and thank me after each hit. If any of us can’t clearly hear you, we’re starting from the beginning again.” You want to protest more, but the lingering ache from just that one hit stills your tongue and you whimper out a “yes, sir”.

Smack. “One. Thank you, sir.” Smack. “Two. Thank you, sir.” Smack. “Three. Thank you, sir.”

You try your best to keep the numbers in your head straight, to move your mouth and speak, but Iwaizumi is hitting you with the same force he uses in his spikes and pain and humiliation cloud your head and constrict your throat. When the thirteenth slap rains down all that escapes your mouth is a broken sob and you hear Oikawa’s voice mockingly sigh. “That’s no good. Iwa-chan told you what you need to say.” You clench your eyes shut in shame when Hanamaki moves to stand right in front of your face and crouches down until your eye to eye. “Did our little princess already forget how to count? Well, I hope you start counting like a big girl otherwise it’s going to be a long night.”

Smack. “One. Thank you, sir.” Smack. “Two. Thank you, sir.” Smack. “Three. Thank you, sir.”

You make it further this time, spurred on by your determination to get this over with, but it’s no use and you stumble over your words as the 24th hit comes down on your aching flesh. You quickly try to fix your mistake, but Matsukawa just smirks at you and wags his index finger at you and you recoil at being treated like a misbehaving child. Dread pools in your stomach as you wait for Iwaizumi to start from the beginning all over again, but a voice interrupts him.

“Iwa-chan, we have a game coming up. You shouldn’t overwork your arm.” Oikawa almost laughs at the confusion on Iwaizumi’s face and the hopeful glint in your eyes and he has to bite the inside of his cheek to keep the sick smile from stretching across his face when he sees your jaw drop at his next words. “Let’s take turns! We can forget about the counting rule since our silly little girl can’t seem to remember her numbers today. Iwa-chan’s already done more than his share, so how about 10 spanks each from the rest of us?” You wait for your boyfriend to stop this madness, to yell at them all in his trademark style, but panic consumes you when you feel him slide out from underneath you. “Not a bad idea, Shittykawa. Mattsun, you’re up.” Scrambling to get up, you raise yourself on all fours only to be shoved back down. “Behave,” your boyfriend grunts into your ear before affectionately kissing your temple as Matsukawa takes Iwaizumi’s seat and kneads your bruised cheeks. His hands are so big and you brokenly cry out from the pain of having the bruised flesh treated so roughly. It feels like ages before he finally stops his harsh handling of your sensitive skin, but you almost sob in relief when he begins to rain down hits. His slaps aren’t as powerful as Iwaizumi’s, but he purposefully aims for the tender spot where your thigh meets your ass and you scream as he repeatedly hits the same vulnerable spot over and over again. But despite the stinging pain, you don’t miss the way his other hand begins to slide down your back until it’s directly on your ass and you plead for him to stop as you feel long fingers spread your cheeks apart and fingertips begin to circle your tightly puckered hole, a hole even Iwaizumi hasn’t experienced yet. And for the first and only time of the night, your boyfriend’s voice sharply cuts through the air in warning and you relax as Matsukawa’s hand retreats back to your lower back.

Hanamaki’s up next and although he’s the weakest of the four, his hits are still strong enough that you whimper with every smack as your already abused bottom isn’t given any moment to rest. But what he lacks in power, he more than makes up for with his mouth and you try to cover your ears with your hands only to be stopped by Matsukawa gripping both your wrists tightly. “Damn, Iwaizumi. I’m jealous that you get to hit this whenever you want. You’re not going to be able to sit properly for days, princess. Red looks good on you. Shit, yeah, keep on squirming like that, sweetheart.” You freeze when you feel something hard nudging at your stomach. “Why’d you stop? You were making me feel so good.” You use all your willpower to stay as still as possible, but when fingers begin to dip into your pussy, your struggling renews. “Holy shit, you’re drenched, princess. Is this even a punishment if you enjoy it this much? Iwaizumi, your girl’s a slut.” Your ears burn with shame and you cry as Hanamaki rapidly thrusts his fingers in and out of you, the lewd wet sounds of your dripping cunt accompanying the loud smacks as his other hand continues your punishment. He finally finishes and you gasp when he rips his fingers out of you.

You whimper when you feel a new set of hands spread your legs apart. “Wow, you’re so pretty even down here, Y/N-chan!” A tongue flattens against your pussy and languidly takes one long swipe and despite your wailing and cries for him to stop, you feel your pussy get even wetter from Oikawa’s action. You’ve never been more thankful for your boyfriend than when he yells at Oikawa to stop fooling around and get on with the last part of your punishment and with a “Mean, Iwa-chan!” the tall brunette takes his place underneath you and almost affectionately rests his hand on your ass. But you know better. You’ve seen Oikawa’s serves up close and personal. And sure enough, when his hand comes swinging down, a loud, piercing sound fills the room and it takes you a minute to register that it’s your own voice echoing throughout the room. He pauses between each hit, waiting for you to fully come down, waiting for your senses to return to you, and when you’ve barely scraped yourself together, he whips his arm through the air again. It’s a vicious cycle and you think you might faint from the sheer overwhelmingness of it all when he’s only halfway through, but Oikawa’s always been a master of reading people and he patiently waits no matter how long it takes for you to collect yourself together, wanting you to be fully aware when his palm meets your ass. You know you should feel nothing but hate for the handsome setter, especially since he’s one of the reasons you’re in this position, but he knows just the right words, just the right tone to use as he murmurs praises and encouragements to you and with your body overwrought with exhaustion, pain, and humiliation, you melt at the sweet words that act as a pleasant temporary escape.

Iwaizumi’s quick to wrap you in his arms as soon as Oikawa’s last smack echoes throughout the room and he carefully rearranges you, making sure not to even brush against your bottom more than necessary, until you’re curled up in his lap, your hands weakly wrapping around him as your face sinks into his muscled chest. He can feel your body quivering against his and he peppers kisses all over the top of your forehead, murmuring about how well you took your punishment, what a good girl you are, how much he loves you. And he feels his heart absolutely melt when you look up at him with glassy eyes and tell him how much you love him. He’s so lovestruck that he doesn’t even question the way your eyes trail to the other three men as you continue with your barely coherent words, apologizing for everything that you did. He doesn’t notice how you completely relax in his arms only when Matsukawa nods at you, Hanamaki smiles at you, and Oikawa winks at you in approval and forgiveness.

Iwaizumi is the only one who has your heart, but you’re realizing that you should have read the fine print of the contract when you signed up to be his girlfriend. Maybe then you would have seen the names of the other three shareholders clearly written out. But as your eyelids grow heavy and you sink further into the toned body and earthy scent that have become like home to you, you vaguely think that it might all be worth it as long as Iwaizumi and you have each other.

#haikyuu smut #haikyuu yandere #yandere haikyuu #iwaizumi x reader #oikawa x reader #matsukawa x reader #hanamaki x reader #tw: noncon

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shreddedparchment · 4 years

Text

A World of Our Own Pt.06

Broken Hearts

09/20/2020

Pairing: Bucky x Reader Word Count: 6,012

Warnings: violence, blood, suggestive themes, language

A/N: I’ve been so excited for this chapter for so long. Probably just one or two more chapters after this. I hope you enjoy it! If you happen to reblog, thank you so much for helping me spread my work. xoxo

Ryan’s chuckle is infectious, and you can’t help but laugh along with him as he leans over to stoke the flames of your campfire.

It’s warm. Cozy by the roaring ocean waves that bring with it a cool briny breeze.

“Don’t laugh at me. It was very traumatizing.” Ryan demands, putting the large stick he’s been using to poke the fire aside before leaning back against new palm logs that he and Bucky had chopped for seating.

Even though you’re meant to sit on them, all of you seem to prefer to sit on blankets you’d stitched together from clothing too worn to use anymore.

“I feel bad for the shark. It has probably never seen a naked man before in its life and you’re out here dangling your bits all over its face.” You tease, shaking your head as if you really disapprove of him.

“Wha-?!” Ryan gasps, mouth wide open as he struggles to find a comeback.

“I was mindin’-” he takes a lengthy pause. “-mah own business-”

He places his hand on his chest as he pauses again, the wheels in his brain working quickly to come up with his excuse.

“-when this very large an’ scary fish comes out of the depths an’ charges me. I was the one scrambling ta get back ta shore. I was the one who was given a heart attack. Not the bloody shark!”

“Well, why were you swimming so far out?” You ask him, chuckling again and feeling your cheeks warm with embarrassment at the memory of watching him run out of the water screaming at the top of his lungs, “Shark! Shark! Shark!” completely naked.

You’re not ashamed to say that there was nothing there that wasn’t worth looking at, but it was only an afterthought that you now think of as opposed to noticing in the moment.

You’d turned around instantly and gasped, completely confused as to why he was running towards you naked until you’d heard what he was saying.

“Should I start the fish?” Ryan asks, reaching for the folded leaves beside him where you’d put the cleaned fish when the sun had still been out.

It’s very obvious that Ryan isn’t answering your question.

Both you and Bucky have been watching him closely over the past month, since he’d first shown up completely wet, wondering where it is that he goes when he swims.

It wouldn’t make you so suspicious if he weren’t randomly disappearing when he takes these swims. He waits until you and Bucky are busy, distracted, then wanders off without a word.

Bucky has made you swear not to follow him, afraid of what Ryan might be capable of if he is up to something and is suddenly caught.

Problem is Bucky also refuses to leave you alone anymore, so he doesn’t get to tail Ryan either.

Until Ryan chooses to answer your question, neither of you will ever know where he goes.

“Sure.” You nod, then reach to place the metal sheet that Bucky had made for cooking food without having to deal with embers and ash on the fish.

Ryan separates each fish into one leaf on its own then places them on the thin sheet so that they might bake.

The two of you work in silence for a bit, sitting across the fire from each other, you steal glances at him, and he returns each look. He smiles, his expression kind and so trustworthy that you think in moments like these that you and Bucky might be wrong about him.

“Ryan?” You begin, hesitant.

He smiles to encourage you.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.” He nods, smile vanishing as his face becomes a little more serious. Confused as to why you think you have to ask.

“Why don’t you talk about your son?” You wonder, now having said the words your mouth keeps going. “You drop this bomb and then never mention him again. I wasn’t sure whether you didn’t want to talk about him, so I never asked. If you’d prefer not to, I understand. There are things I’d rather not talk about to. Everyone is entitled to their secrets. I just—a kid is such a big part of who you are, right? Not the only part of you, obviously but he’s your son. You must think about him all the time.

“Who did you leave him with? He must miss you so much. I’m so sorry that you’re stuck here, with us, instead of home with your boy.” You sigh, and your breath shudders.

You smile at him awkwardly, realizing you’ve rambled on nervously.

“Sorry.” You offer, “I kinda just go off when I’m nervous.”

Ryan’s face is the picture of relaxation, however. He’s not smiling, but he doesn’t look upset that you’ve asked.

“I’m sorry.” He shakes his head and you’re certain that he’s going to tell you he doesn’t want to talk about it, but then… “To be perfectly honest, I wasn’t really sure that you or Bucky cared to know about Conor.”

“His name is Conor?” You gasp, smiling already like an idiot as you start to imagine a mini version of Ryan. Sandy blonde hair, lovely eyes, light skin.

“Aye, wee tyke is only five but when he talks to you, he sounds much older.” Finally, he smiles, the admiration of a father pouring out of him as he thinks about his little boy.

“Does he look like you or his mother?” You wonder, eager for details now that he’s talking.

“He looks like his mother. Almost my exact opposite. Dark hair and skin. Perhaps a bit lighter than his mother but he’s her spittin’ image. Dark eyes too. Just as beautiful.” Ryan says, a bit more forlorn than before.

Your own smile falters, wondering if maybe he and Conor’s mother are no longer together? Jeez, you really hope that he isn’t still married and flirting with you the way he has been. Not that you blame him being stuck on an island with no other women, but still.

Ryan seems like the type of man to devote himself completely.

“Is she-?” You offer, just to see if he’d like to open up.

He meets your gaze, holding it for a long moment before he tilts his head a little as he makes his choice quickly.

“Grace died. Just after giving birth to Conor. Conor almost went with her, but he pulled through and we have made a go of it, I think.” He gives you another smile. “I think he’s happy. Or was, before all this.”

“I’m so sorry, Ryan. I’m sure Conor loves and appreciates you very much.” His story is tragic, and your heart truly breaks for him.

“Thank you. Gettin’ back to him is the only thing that matters now.” He nods, looking more at ease. “It feels good to talk about them if I’m honest. I havin’ really spoken about it ta anyone other than mah parents. That’s who Conor is with, by the way. You were wonderin’ earlier.”

“You can always talk to me. About anything.” You assure him.

His smile grows wider and any sorrow left in his eyes vanishes as he looks down at the cooking fish before giving his head a minute shake.

“What?” You ask, your own voice shaking with the hint of laughter at the amused expression on his face.

“I was just thinkin’ about how unfortunate it is that you’re taken now. You would have made him a proper step-mom maybe.” His bold words stun you.

At a loss for what to say, you can only seem to focus on the way your neck begins to burn.

Ryan clearly enjoys watching you squirm for the two second that he has to do so before Bucky’s voice breaks the tension.

“Keep that up and you’ll lose your room.” Bucky warns, a playful note in his voice but really you can hear how serious he is.

“I just got it.” Ryan protests, looking towards the hut down the beach.

Bucky worked so hard on the build, elevated and sturdy with each brick placed with care and somewhat expert precision. The gambrel roof, which Bucky chose so that you could use the extra space to hang clothes and food away from where animals might find them, is tall and thatched with the fronds you’d worked so hard to tear and resew to keep the hut safe from the elements.

The hut is split in two down the center with two entrances. When you face the hut, the left side of it is taken by Ryan, a flight of bamboo stairs leading up to the curtained entrance. The right side belongs to you and Bucky.

“Stop flirting with my girl then, and I’ll let you keep it.” Bucky threatens, this time it’s clear he means it.

Ryan holds up his hands in defeat as you turn to devour you freshly bathed Bucky. In jeans and a t-shirt, he looks almost as if he’s ready to begin his day but instead of being productive he drops his dirty clothes into the handmade basket you’d woven with the extra strips of palm fronds then moves towards you. He takes hold of your face, tilting it back so that you might look up at him.

He leans down to look at you, smiling pleasantly.

“Hi.” He tells you, voice deep and penetrating.

“Hi.” You reply. “You smell good.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

He leans down and kisses you, lips so sweet and fresh you could really just do this all night. He holds it for a few moments before he begins pushing you to scoot forward.

You move as he wants you to, looking back at him as he sits himself behind you, legs spread wide before he pulls you back to sit between his legs which he props up on either side of you. His arms wrap around your stomach and while your happiness quadruples with this unyielding affection he seems to shower on you lately, you can’t help but notice the way Ryan looks away, a small twinge of bitterness in his expression.

It’s just the island. You tell yourself, certain that if you all weren’t stuck here, you wouldn’t be so lucky as to hold the attention of two very beautiful men.

Although you’re certain, you can’t help but wonder if Ryan really does like you. Is it possible?

~~~~~~~~~~

Time doesn’t stop. Not for you stuck on this island. Not for Bucky, torn from the promise of a new life. Not for Ryan who misses his son and is losing more and more time with him. With time is taken all hope that you’ll ever be rescued but the three of you refuse to speak the words aloud.

In silence, there is the illusion of hope and you cannot afford to let it go.

Days roll into weeks and the three of you try to keep your spirits up. It’s easier for you and Bucky, you assume. Finally, being with him has changed very little and so much all at once.

The biggest change is your sleeping arrangements. The hut has been built for a while now. Two months it feels like, going on three. Six months going on seven since you three have been trapped here.

With the hut came privacy, the adobe wall that splits it in two gives you and Bucky the luxury of cuddling as you used to in the fuselage without the worries of being accidentally disturbed.

Because of this, in the morning Bucky’s warm kisses trail along your cheeks, your neck, onto your collarbone raising tingles in all the right places before he finds his way up to your lips.

His arms wrap themselves around you as hey lays himself over you and you raise your leg to hold him close.

“Good morning.” He whispers and your eyes open, devouring the beautiful image of him. Clean and dry. Not a drop of sweat on his perfect skin whereas your own is dewy and you’re in need of a morning swim.

“Good morning.” You whisper, your body burning for him.

It doesn’t help that you can feel him pressed against your thighs, stiff and awake with the morning.

With your lips suddenly dry, you run your tongue along them, wetting them as your breath hitches when he rolls his hips from side to side as he adjusts himself over you.

You know that he doesn’t mean it to make your blood boil, but it does and you snake your hands down to his waist before your fingers worm their way underneath his t-shirt and gently tickle his smooth skin.

“What are you doing?” He asks you, a smile in his voice as he raises an eyebrow but hold you closer.

“I don’t know.” You shrug, licking your lips again.

He huffs a laugh, cool air raising goosebumps along your neck.

“I think you know.” He counters, amused by your attempt to seduce him.

“Then why ask?” You reach down, sliding your hand down underneath the waistband of his underwear, breath catching in your throat at the swell of his bum.

“Y/N,” He pleads, a small hint of a chastising tone to his words. “We can’t.”

“But I want to.” You whimper, tired of begging. It’s been so long since the two of you have been together. For what feels like forever now.

“So, do I, kitten. Trust me.” He wiggles his hips, probably just trying to get comfortable but he inadvertently eggs you on, proves his point by pressing his erection against you—accidentally of course.

“Then…” You try it even though you know he’ll say no. Even though this argument has failed so many times. “…I can just-I’ll give you something and you don’t have to give me anything back.”

“I could never do that.” He argues, his face contorting a bit more. The hints of anger rising.

“Then we can just stop there, Bucky. We’ve got control, don’t we? I wanna suck your co-”

“Jesus, Y/N.” Bucky rolls off of you, sitting at the edge of the low bed with his elbows on his knees as he looks across the hut to the opposite wall, his breathing a little heavy.

You sit up, blinking away the tears of rejection because you know he doesn’t mean it in that way. You know what his worry is because it’s you’re worry too.

“I’m sorry.” You move up behind him, hugging him around his chest and resting your cheek against his solid back.

The rapid rate of his heart tells you how much he wants you even if he can’t see to let himself show it. You take solace in that as you splay your hands on his chest, breathing in the scent of the coconut oil you’d infused into the handmade soap you’d worked on several weeks ago.

“I…you know that we can’t.” He frets, still upset.

“I do.” You shake your head. “I’m just-”

He hears the sob trapped in your throat and he turns so quickly you nearly fall over but he’s there, holding you tight against his chest, hands caressing the back of your head as the other wraps around your shoulders.

“I want you, kitten. Believe me. I do. If I could be sure that we wouldn’t mess up…You were the one that set this boundary.” He reminds you, pulling back to look at you as shame overcomes you.

He’s right of course. You’d told him that you didn’t want to sleep with him until the two of you could be sure that you wouldn’t get pregnant. Not here. Not on this island. There was too much that could go wrong. Too much danger for a baby, not to mention birthing one here with no doctors in case something went wrong.

No, you couldn’t do it and so you’d both agreed.

But…

“I didn’t think we’d still be here.” You huff, burying your face into his chest to hide your embarrassment.

Bucky breathes a little more lightly, almost laughing again at the shift. This conversation has gone from up to down and right back up.

“I know, babe.” He whispers, resting his chin on your head as he strokes your back with both hands. “To be honest, my patience is also wearing thin.”

You pull back quickly, searching to get a look at his eyes to see if he might be lying. He isn’t and it does make you feel better that you aren’t the only one struggling with this abstinence.

“I don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to wait.” He confesses.

“Me neither.” You sigh. “But you already knew that.”

His face breaks into a smile and you’re calm again, happy to see that beautiful expression on his handsome face. Silver blue eyes all crinkled at the corners.

You reach up to touch his hair, giving it a decent appraisal. “You need another cut.”

“I think we should go shorter this time.” He nods.

“Like a little higher than your chin?” You touch the spot, but Bucky shakes his head.

“No, I mean, short.”

You gasp. “Bucky, I don’t think I trust myself to do that.”

“I trust you.” He counters but you shake your head.

Nope. You’re not going to risk butchering his lovely locks.

“I won’t do it, Barnes.” You frown.

“Stubborn ass.” He glowers.

“Fuck you.” You retort.

“Not yet.” He teases.

“I hate you!” You spit at him, because you can already see the laugh coming at that unfair statement and you shove away from him, moving towards the clothes you’ve got packed in one of the salvaged suitcases to pull out your favorite pair of jean shorts and a plain red t-shirt.

He’s laughing as you dress and doesn’t stop when you’re gone.

Making your way down to the campfire, you search for Ryan, half expecting to find him cooking fish for breakfast but he’s nowhere to be found.

As Bucky joins you, dressed in the same t-shirt with his own favorite pair of jeans on, you place your hands on your hips and look towards the stretch of water where the cockpit had once been visible.

It seems to have sunk to the floor now that the tide has risen and fallen so many times, taking the plane with it.

“What’s the matter?” Bucky wonders, lifting his foot onto the trough he’s been mixing more clay in again, working on something secret that he refuses to let you in on just yet.

“I’ll tell you when it’s relevant. Right now, it’s just a precaution. Trust me, okay? If I need to bring it up, I will.” Then he’d gone back to lining the outside of the hut with metal sheets from the plane before sealing them over with clay.

He laces up his boot but watches you as he works.

“He’s gone again.” You shake your head.

“He hasn’t tried anything.” Bucky ponders. “If he was going to hurt us, he would have done it by now.”

“I know, it’s just…” You bite your lip.

“He is hiding something.” Bucky agrees, this conversation having played out so many times. “But I think he also wants some distance from us. We’re probably annoying to be around.”

“We’re not that bad anymore.” You argue.

“Oh yeah?” Bucky whispers, his lips suddenly at your ear.

He kisses it, slipping your lobe into his mouth as your eyes shut to the pleasure the gesture raises.

“You’re not making this any easier.” You sigh but turn to look at him and without hesitation pull him down to meet your lips with his own.

The kiss is a frenzy, heated and eager as your hands grope and cling as Bucky’s also press and pull against the flesh of your hips and ass leaving burning bruises behind.

Out here where you might get caught is the safest place to be this affectionate. Where you can’t take this any further than this passionate kiss.

“Do ya really have ta do that so early in the mornin’?” Ryan’s voice cuts in, interrupting just as you both intend.

Bucky pulls away first, letting the smack of your kiss echo before giving you one devilish grin then marching back to the trough.

“Sorry.” You turn to Ryan, hoping your expression is rightly chastised. “Fish?”

Ryan holds it up to indicate his catch then moves towards you to hand it over for cleaning.

You settle down beside him on your usual stump, pulling out your makeshift knives and gut the fish with the precision of someone who’s done this everyday for half a year. Ryan gets to building a new fire, gathering as much of the ash for you as he can for when you decide to make more soap.

While you work, you watch him, stealing glances at the subtle downturn to the corners of his lips.

The longer he works the more he seems to wallow.

Once the fish is settled over the fire, you turn in your spot to focus your attention on him.

“What?”

Slightly startled, he turns to you with wide eyes, all traces of the depression he’s been in gone.

“What?” He sounds confused.

“What’s the matter with you?” You clarify.

“Oh.” He sighs and shakes his head.

You know you can guess. “Conor?”

“Aye, Conor.” The sadness returns to his face and your heart gives a painful lurch for him.

He must miss his son so much.

“He’s probably startin’ school this month.” He laments, stoking the fire.

“It’s his first year?”

“Aye, I hope he isn’t scared.” Ryan hopes.

“I’m sure he’s just as brave as his dad.” You offer in comfort, giving Ryan as kind a smile as you can muster.

��We’ll get off this island, Ryan. Someone will come. Even if it’s by accident. Even if it’s years from now. You’ll be with Conor again.” You hope, because even though you want it to be a promise, you don’t know.

Ryan’s face contorts, agony ripping through him for one quick second before he meets your gaze and reaches out to take hold of your hand.

“I think…” Bucky begins from the trough, Ryan’s hand freezing mere inches from your own.

He takes it back and clears his throat, the look of pain vanishing from his handsome face before he looks to Bucky just as you do.

Bucky’s gaze is focused on the horizon, the ocean waves unnaturally gentle. It’s a beautiful day.

“What is it babe?” You call, trying to pull Bucky out of his thoughts.

He turns his furrowed brow back to the two of you, “I think we might have to move to the cave. Soon.”

“The cave?” You rise, glancing at the fish to make sure they’re not burning. “The one Ryan was in when he landed?”

Ryan sits back, a perplexed gaze fixed on Bucky.

“Yeah. Do you think you can show me where it is?”

“Why would ya need to go there?” Ryan reaches out to stoke the fire once again, pulling his gaze away from you both.

“Bucky?” You worry, moving towards him as he straightens up and wipes his hands clean to take your hand as you reach him.

“We won’t need to go there yet.” He assures you, wrapping his metal arm around your waist to pull you into his side. “It’s just a precaution.”

“A precaution against what?”

“It’s hurricane season. The hut is…I’m not exactly an architect. I’ve done what I can with what we have but that hut is not meant to withstand a hurricane. When it comes down to it, we might be able to take shelter in the fuselage if we have to but with the three of us, the cave might be a better option. How did you hold up in the caves during that first storm?” Bucky gestures to Ryan.

Ryan spares you both a glance before nodding. “There was minor flooding at the back jus’ before the exit by the jungle but otherwise it was dry and safe. It’s not a bad plan.”

“Then you’ll show me where it is?” Bucky insists.

“It’s not hard ta find, but sure. Tomorrow morning?” Ryan turns to him.

Bucky nods leaning down to press a kiss to your head.

The memory of that initial hurricane just after you’d crash landed here fills you with worry. What if you do have to go through another one and this one is worse? How likely is it that you’d die from a storm before you get rescued?

“Don’t worry, kitten. I’ll keep you safe.” Bucky whispers, reaching up to stroke your cheek with the back of his hand where there is no clay.

“I wish you didn’t have to shoulder so much.”

“Taking care of you is never too much.” Bucky smiles. “I kinda look forward to it actually.”

“Why?” You wonder, absolutely confused.

“Because I do. Don’t question it. Just accept it. You’re never getting rid of me.” He teases.

“Even when we’re rescued?” You turn to face him, wrapping your arms around his waist.

“Especially when we’re rescued.” He wiggles his eyebrows at you once, then starts to lean down towards you for a kiss.

“I’m going for a swim.” Ryan announces, breaking the little bubble you and Bucky are in.

Without ceremony, Ryan moves straight for water headed towards the crash site without even feigning a different direction.

This draws both yours and Bucky’s attention as both of you are well aware that Ryan has still been swimming out to the cabin, but he’s taken such great care to go at it in roundabout ways. While strange, you guess that he must be more upset about Conor than even you could tell.

Your mind replays the agonized look he’d given you before when you’d promised him that rescue would be coming. Maybe he could tell that it was only your hope?

“He misses Conor. He should be starting school soon.” You explain.

“Mm.” Bucky nods, accepting your explanation.

“If there were any photos, he would have found them already, wouldn’t he?” You wonder, curious to no end about your new friend.

Sure, you have suspicions, but after so much time spent with him, you’ve both accepted him as a part of your life here. Ryan has your trust. And though you know it was given reluctantly, Bucky’s too.

“Maybe he just can’t bear to give up. I know I wouldn’t.” Bucky looks down at you, giving you a squeeze.

“If you had a son?” You ask.

“I’m not opposed to the idea.” Bucky stuns you, pulling you to look at him with his words to see how serious he might be about it. “With you. When the time is right.”

Your heart is pounding. Your mind is reeling. Bucky wants to have kids with you?

“You promise?” You gasp, so shocked your voice is mostly air.

“I love you.”

You smile, loving the words that spill from his lips.

“You do?”

Bucky smiles then chuckles, reaching up to squeeze the back of your neck, and you know that he’s telling you the truth.

~~~~~~~~~~

“You smell good.” Bucky sighs, holding the blanket open for you as you take off your shoes and slip into the bed and nestle into Bucky’s arms. “Good bath?”

You can hear the exhaustion in his voice. He’s been working so hard to fortify the hut for smaller storms that might hit.

“Yes.” You hug him, cuddling in against his side as he drapes the blanket over you.

“You’re wearing your shorts?” He checks, and he’s right.

You’ve chosen to sleep in your second set of shorts, dark gray cloth instead of jeans and your tattered blue floral dress.

Because you don’t answer, Bucky adjusts to look down at you, forcing himself awake.

“Kitten?”

“I’m just…I want to be ready if we need to go short notice.” You confess, shutting your eyes and refusing to look at him. You don’t want him to see the fear.

“Ready for what?”

“Anything. Hurricanes.” You admit and wish you could throw away this fear.

You’re almost expecting Bucky to chastise you for your worrying but instead he settles into the plane cushion bed again and cuddles you closer.

“That’s smart.” He approves. “But we won’t have anywhere to run until tomorrow morning. Ryan has to show us the cave first.”

“Can I come?” You’re already drifting off, voice weak and slurring.

Bucky’s is the same, both of you exhausted from the day’s work.

“You kidding? I’m not letting you outta my sight.” He mumbles, his breathing getting heavier.

You almost smile but sleep takes you and your mind is overcome with dreams of thunderous clouds.

~~~~~~~~~~

For a moment Bucky isn’t sure what he’s hearing. He can feel you stirring to the sound in his arms and he tries to hold you tighter.

You were so scared before, the look of terror in your eyes at the prospect of being caught in a storm worse than the one you weathered before.

He wants to make sure you feel safe and secure with him. He’ll protect you from weather and predator, whether that’s animal or stupid fucking Ryan.

You tug away from him hard though and the sound…a humming…no, a loud thumping. It’s hard to place as he tries to both understand the sound and also figure out why you’re no longer lying beside him.

“Y/N?” He searches, sleepily pushing himself onto one elbow as he hears you bolt for the door.

Suddenly he’s wide awake and he can hear you rounding the hut to the other set of stairs on the other side.

He pulls his boots on quickly, sliding his feet in and lacing them with nimble fingers loosely.

“He’s gone!” You cry out, the pure panic in your voice as the sound overhead suddenly makes sense to Bucky.

A helicopter! It thuds loudly, motor whirring and buzzing and blowing sand everywhere while whipping trees back and forth.

Bucky springs form the hut and sees you already racing towards the trees where you can see the chopper headed.

He passes you quickly, easily. But he doesn’t stop because he knows that you would never forgive him.

Bucky runs faster than he’s ever run in his life, barreling through dense jungle but never once missing a step.

The branches of certain trees scrape at his skin and slap his face, but he doesn’t relent in his pursuit.

It takes minutes for him to reach a small field of tall grass. It’s sways violently in the chopper’s wind and at the center of this field is Ryan.

Bucky stops, taking in the sight as a blinding spotlight shines on Ryan first then quickly swings towards him.

Ryan follows the beam and when he sees Bucky take a step towards him, he reaches down to his hip where a holster suddenly sits. He pulls a gun, a 9mm Beretta from what Bucky can tell, and stops his advance.

“Stop!” Ryan orders, his voice tight and commanding.

As the chopper descends a little more to hover at fifty feet, a steel wire ladder falls down towards Ryan as Bucky begins to notice the metal case in his other arm.

“What’s in there?” Bucky asks, staying as still as he can until he might have a chance to pounce.

“The other black box.” Ryan says simply, his voice softer but defiant. “Parts of it.”

Bucky’s glare is piercing and if Ryan didn’t have that gun, he would probably have already fled.

“I had to…” Ryan begins, still combative in tone but Bucky realizes that the anger in it is not directed at him. “They have me by the balls, mate. When Grace died, Conor would have followed, but they found me, and they offered to save his life. That is a debt I can never repay.”

Bucky’s fists tighten, anger bubbling up to choke him so that he cannot speak. These schemes, it has to be Hydra. No one else would want him dead.

“Who’s they?” He forces himself to ask, just to make sure.

It could be the U.S. Government too if he’s being completely honest. They could very well want him out of the way.

“I don’t know. People.” Ryan throws out, and Bucky believes that he doesn’t know. “All I know is they wanted you out of the way. If I had known that she…I didn’t know that she would be there. I didn’t know that they would die.”

Ryan’s voice grows thick and he shakes his head, ridding himself of whatever thoughts his guilt have conjured up.

“If I don’t finish the job, they’ll kill mah boy.” He holds the gun steadier, catching his breath before he makes his face as stoic as possible. “This is all I can give her. I can’t save her, but I can at least do this much. I can give her you. They’ll think you’re dead. I’ll make sure.”

Bucky sees it now. The real emotions behind his eyes. Ryan does love you. He’s certain of it now. He also understands what he’s saying and leans forward, angling himself so that when Ryan shoots, the bullet will hit his shoulder. Too high to be his chest and endanger his lungs or heart.

“Tell her I’m sorry.” Ryan pleads, and squeezes the trigger.

Bucky’s mind races with possibilities. Ryan might miss. He could hit him where he will not recover and then you’d be left here alone on this island. You’d hate him for not fighting and hate Ryan for killing him. He could bleed out and Bucky can’t imagine you here without him.

The bullet pierces him just where he’d hoped and falls to the ground with a heavy thud and goes as still as he can possibly can.

He holds his breath, pushing through the pain that burns from his right shoulder, and hoping that the chopper will leave quickly.

~~~~~~~~~~

Gasping with a stitch in your side and your legs made of jelly, you break through the trees onto a field you’ve passed a few times here on the island but avoided in case of snakes.

The sight before freezes you. Ryan shoots. Bucky falls.

Ryan turns to a wire ladder and begins to climb, and you race to Bucky, sobs already shaking your body.

“Bucky, no!” You gasp. “Please. Please, don’t be dead.”

As you reach him, you turn him over, and see that his eyes are wide open, reading your heartbroken expression as he remains unmoving while you press your hands against his wound.

You continue to sob, turning your eyes to the chopper overhead as it pulls away and takes with it all hope of your rescue.

As it fades into the distance, Bucky pulls himself up a bit, sitting up and pressing his much larger hand against the bullet hole on the front while you fuss with the exit wound in the back.

“W-We need to s-stitch you up.” You cry, voice low and controlled despite the sobs still ripping through your throat.

Without hesitation you reach down and tear away at your dress reducing its length even further, now just barely reaching your hips. You wrap it around the wound as best you can, slapping Bucky’s hand away to shove more fabric over it and then place his hand back over the spot.

“I’m alright, kitten.” Bucky tells you, voice strong and certain.

“Like fuck-all you are.” You sob, fisting the front of his shirt as you refuse to look back to where you can still hear the chopper’s sounds, fading. “H-He shot you.”

Bucky strokes the side of your face with his metal hand, directing your gaze up so that you can look at him.

As you meet his steel and ice eyes, full of warmth and reassurance, you fall to pieces as you realize that Ryan has betrayed you. All your suspicions, as unlikely as you’d thought them, were true.

Bucky metal arm pulls you closer, his lips pressed to your crown as you sob against his chest, knowing now that you will never leave this place. You and Bucky will live and die on this island and no one will ever know you were here.

#bucky x reader #bucky barnes x reader #castaway au #bucky x reader fanfiction #bucky x reader fic #winter soldier x reader #bucky barnes x reader fanfiction #marvel au #marvel fanfiction #a world of our own #awooo #a world of our own pt06 #desert island au #stranded au #bucky x reader romance

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mylifeisactuallyamess · 3 years

Text

General Hux x Female Reader/Kylo Ren x Female Reader

A/N: I’ve been so ill recently I’ve read this chapter so many times the words blur together. It’s time to let it go!

Warnings: Force use, nausea mention, Hux is livid, Kylo is annoyed. Shits about to hit the fan.

Word Count: 2677

Read Chapter 16 here on AO3 here.

Hux had showered, was dressed and downstairs flicking through his datapad before you even surfaced. He had on a clean uniform and his coat was resting on his shoulders. As he sat in the kitchen sipping some black caf.

“Meilli?”

“Yes Sir?”

“Can you go and help her get dressed? I really should be leaving soon.” She dipped her head before scurrying away to find you. Beldon, came in through the side door, shaking out the umbrella before placing it in the stand.

“Did you intercept it?” Hux asked curtly, not even looking up.

“Yes Grand Marshal, I did.” Now Hux did look up, seeing the datastick resting in his housekeeper's hand. “What shall I do with it, Sir?”

“I shall take it back with me and analyse it on the Finalizer.”

“May I speak freely?” Hux paused for a moment before nodding. “Why don’t you leave it for My Lady to find and see what she does with it? I think she is loyal, Sir.” Hux frowned. He wanted you to be loyal, he didn’t want to think you’d been here on Arkanis conversing with Resistance sympathisers, but the rumours of them infiltrating First Order occupied worlds were getting too loud to ignore.

“Alright, put it with her stuff.” He rose when he heard you coming down the stairs, his heart he noticed was steady, not racing away with itself like it usually did. You saw him, your eyes full of sadness at the idea of him leaving until you saw the crate resting on the kitchen floor.

“That’s mine,” you stated nervously.

“Yes, you’re coming with me.” He murmured before placing a kiss on your head.

“But Armitage….I can’t.” Your voice was desperate as you clutched the edge of his coat. “The Supreme Leader…”

“Leave Ren to me.” His expression softened slightly in the face of your obvious panic. “I cannot be parted from you again.”

“Ok.” It was barely a whisper and you buried your face into his chest not wanting to be parted from him either.

The ride in the shuttle was quiet, the white lights of hyperspace flickered through the ship highlighting Hux’s profile as he carried on reading his datapad, catching up and whatever he had missed by being on Arkanis.

“How is Mitaka?” You waited for a response but it was clear his mind was elsewhere. “Armitage?” You said softly, making his head snap up in irritation.

“Oh, yes he can’t wait to see you,” he murmured offhandedly and you decided to settle back and endure the rest of the ride in quiet. You just wanted some conversation to try and dull the rising panic that had begun to weave its way through you like smoke. Slow and steady with each passing parsec it grew thicker the closer you got to Kylo Ren.

You tried not to look like you were staying close to Hux but you bumped his shoulder a couple of times when you both came down the ramp, instantly you looked around for a large brooding figure coming for you and your husband but there was nothing except some stormtroopers and Mitaka. His face broke out into a smile when he saw you before turning to Hux.

“Lieutenant, please escort my wife to my chambers. I have a meeting to get to.” You watched Hux stride off without so much as a glance in your direction and you frowned. Something was wrong…or maybe he was just nervous having you back on the ship.

“Are you ready?” You smiled again.

“Yes Dopheld, I am.” You linked your arm with him letting him chat randomly as he led you to the Grand Marshal’s quarters.

Your crate was delivered and you started unpacking once the Lieutenant had excused himself. As you pulled out some clothing to hang up something fell to the floor, you frowned seeing a datastick come to a stop over by the table. At first you had assumed it belonged to Hux and you put it on the table but something was niggling at you. It had been in your crate and he had no luggage, so why would his items get mixed within yours? You tried to ignore it but then you had the thought what if it was something to do with the estate? Letting loose a sigh of resignation you plugged it into the holotable, watching as it delved into the port. A holoimage flickered to life and began to play a message, you didn’t recognise the person or their voice and you wondered if this was actually Hux’s after all.

“Thank you for plugging this stick in, you are well on your way to becoming a Resistance member! My name is Poe Dameron, make a note of that I want them to know who is stealing all the First Order codes and secrets as we speak….” The world came crashing down around you and you flew for the port, scrabbling to pull out the stick but it had fixed itself into the table, tears clouded your vision and you gasped in wild panic. Could this be traced through the ship? This was Hux’s personal holotable, everything would be on here, everything.

“No! No no no no!” You felt anger filter through your obvious panic, you had told Anika no. You had told her you wouldn’t betray Armitage no matter if you were married or not and yet here you were, betraying your husband, the First Order and everything you believed in.

“You might just want to check no ones coming for you, if they are, give this to the first trooper that asks for it and the stick of secrets will find its way to us. The Finalizer is our playground.” The man said smugly in the image. “Commander Poe Dameron over and out!” The stick jolted up, releasing its hold on the port and you grabbed it out ready to throw it away from you when there was a hurried knock at the door. You froze, only the sound of your heart reached your ears and you waited for whoever it was to go away but they tapped smartly on the door again. You put the stick behind your back and opened the door, a lone trooper stood there, his helmet tilted to the side at the sight of you.

“You’re the spy?” He hissed in disbelief.

“I’m no spy!” You demanded and he held his hands out to shush you.

“Do you have it? The stick?”

“This?” You flinched as he wrenched it from your grasp and hurried without another word down the corridor. A sense of relief washed over you, now it was gone you could feint all ignorance.

The more time marched on the more confident you became that what you’d accidentally done had gone unnoticed. You were pouring a cup of caf when Hux returned, you smiled asking if he wanted a cup stopping when you saw him looking at your almost empty crate. His expression was hard and his eyes seemed to be searching for something, your smile faltered.

“What’s wrong? Are you looking for something?” You asked a little too brightly.

“A datastick.”

“Oh! Was that yours? A trooper came by asking for it so I thought you’d sent him to come and get it. I did wonder why it was in my…”

“No it wasn’t mine.” You clamped your mouth shut, his eyes like two burning lasers on your face as he advanced towards you.

“Oh,” you swallowed nervously. “Whose was it then?” You leaned away from him slightly when he came to a stop right in front of you, he seemed to tower over you more than normal, if he was being intimidating it was working.

“Yours.” He spat it at you almost, making you flinch slightly.

“I don’t know….”

“I TOLD YOU NOT TO LIE TO ME!” You cowered, your hands clutching the chair as fear roiled inside you.

“Armitage you’re frightening me!” He grabbed your clothing at the shoulder, pulling you up and close to his furious face, the red blush that he always got when angry had already reached the tips of his ears.

“I’m not even the most terrifying one,” he snarled in your ear. “I’m so…” his voice broke and you sneaked a look at his face. His eyes were slightly pleading through the anger and you felt your heart fracture at the expression.

“Armitage, I promise….” You shut your mouth abruptly as he shook you harshly.

“You are such a disappointment to me.” You gasped when he hauled you through the door, your feet almost dragging along the floor and you struggled to keep up with him. Stormtroopers watched with interest at their Grand Marshal dragging you down the corridors, many moving sharply aside as Hux stormed past them. He stopped at a conference room, the door opened and before you could register what was happening he threw you into the room with a strength that was hidden by his slim form. Air expelled from you abruptly when you collided with the floor, you curled up against the pain that exploded through your abdomen and you saw a pair of black leather boots enter your line of sight. Slowly he crouched before you, the mask covered his face but it was different, red glowing lines marked the surface giving him a more frightful appearance.

“What do we have here, Grand Marshal?” His voice was so similar as it slithered out of the vocoder but no less dangerous, your eyes stared back into the sightless pits trying not to give away how terrified you were.

“The traitor we’ve been looking for,” your husband spat vehemently.

“No!” You cried out. “I’ve been on Arkanis, how could it be me?” Kylo tilted his mask to look up at Hux.

“You’re the one who brought her on board.” He said calmly, noticing how Hux rocked back on his heels as though Kylo had punched him. “Maybe you’re in this together.”

“Supreme Leader I can assure you….” Kylo raised a finger to point at Hux, halting his words.

“I shall interrogate her, and you’re next.” He stated. A pair of troopers grabbed your arms and dragged you upright, you shot a terrified look at Hux but he refused to even acknowledge you, his face pinched and angry that he could even be associated with this. With you.

“Armitage!” The cry fell from you in the vain hope he’d just look at you.

“While I deal with her, maybe you could oversee the capture of the rogue trooper before I strip you of everything.” Hux turned sharply and left you. He didn’t even glance in your direction, he just left you at the mercy of the most powerful man in the Galaxy.

“Now, where shall we begin?”

“No Kylo please…!” But your begging was futile. His hand outstretched towards you and you tried to recoil but the troopers held you steady. Pain blossomed behind your eyes even though you tried to block him it was no good, he had grown even more powerful and he easily broke down your meagre boundaries. Faces, so many faces all from Arkanis, the wedding, Oakley….Kylo happily replayed the moment where Hux had interrupted the almost kiss and you could feel his amusement. “Go ahead! Laugh! You made me do this!” You gasped through the searing pain as he delved deeper.

“I didn’t make you do anything,” he rumbled. The words brought up the image of the surprised trooper at your door and Kylo controlled the memory, almost rewinding it making your stomach heave with nausea. “Hold her!” He snapped at the troopers who had clearly moved away thinking you were going to be sick.

“The Finalizer is our playground…” Poe’s words lingered in your mind as Kylo withdrew and you sagged heavily. He gestured for the troopers to leave, they left you leaning against the table, the room spinning as you tried to get your bearings. Kylo paced up and down before coming to a stop and removing his mask. His hazel eyes watched you slump to the floor, he placed his mask on the table with a thump before crouching down to your level again.

“The Resistance seems to have a claim on my ship.”

“It’s Armitage’s ship,” you managed to say between breaths. He rolled his lips, his jaw flexing, the muscle under his eye twitching.

“Still so loyal, even when he is not,” he retorted softly.

“What…what do you mean?” His eyes studied your face before responding.

“Who do you think planted it in your luggage?” You shook your head and wished you hadn’t, your brain felt like it had detached and you winced.

“My luggage had passed through so many troopers before it made its way to me and then it was in the house on Arkanis.”

“You think I am willing to blame my own army…” he started but you cut across him.

“You’re willing to blame the one man who controls them.” You snapped quickly.

“You shouldn’t have come back,” he snarled.

“He came and got me, he chose me over all this.” Kylo smirked before standing to his full height.

“Yes, he really chose you over all this.” He said copying your words. “That’s why he’s here fighting your corner,” he pointed out snarkily. You felt defeated, he was right, but you refused to believe Hux would turn on you so quickly….like you had turned on him.

“Oh…” you looked imploringly at him as realisation struck you. “Oh!” The sobs smacked painfully into your chest, Kylo stood there, indifference written all over his face and watched as you cried. No emotion showed on his features as he let you wind down of your own accord before continuing.

“He has had many months to plan this, to set you up. He followed the rumours of Resistance sympathisers all the way back, to, you,” he pointed out.

“No I swear! I barely spoke to anyone on Arkanis! I dealt with the death of my father and the selling of the house before…before…”

“Attending the wedding of your good friend Anika Elloway.” He strode away from you, his cloak swaying. Your mind raced as you watched him, they had been watching you the whole time but who? Beldon. He knew your every coming and going because you’d trusted him, because he had run the house, because he was loyal to the family.

“I didn’t…” you closed your eyes and fisted your hand as you remembered Anika asking to speak with you at the wedding but there were ears. You had refused all details from her after she declared Oakley was looking to marry. Yes you had needed to find a new husband but you didn’t want to help the Resistance and you had told her as such. You’d gone in all your First Order glory but they still had tried to set you up and now you were taking the fall for a group of people who didn’t care about you at all. “I had no idea…” your gaze rose to Kylo, taking in the back of his head as he looked out of the viewport. “You have to believe me Kylo!” You pleaded.

“You will be detained in a cell until we can decide what to do with you.”

“No! Please!” You cried out as the troopers reentered to retrieve you off the floor, but your cries went unheard. Hopelessness coloured your world the further they dragging you into the ship until you were thrown unceremoniously into a dark cell. Huddling in a corner when the door slammed shut on you, echoing through the room leaving you in no doubt there was no room for escape. There was no one to save you, Hux had thrown you to the mercy of the First Order and the taped up cracks in your heart reshattered. How could you be so stupid? So naive? But still, you clutched to the small slither of hope that Hux wouldn’t let any harm come to you.

#star wars #echoes of the heart #general hux x female reader #general hux x you #general hux/reader #general hux/you #general hux x reader #general hux/female reader #armitage hux x female reader #armitage hux x reader #armitage hux x you #armitage hux/female reader #armitage hux/you #armitage hux/reader #general hux angst #kylo ren #my writing #mylifeisactuallyamess

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itsclydebitches · 3 years

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RWBY Recaps: Volume 8 “Creation”

Happy Saturday, everyone! Oh man, oh man, oh man. I think I'll need to steer clear of the general RWBY tags this week, simply because I know the sort of responses I'll see to this episode. From smug celebration at Ironwood's downfall, to bad takes about what makes us human, this episode is a petri dish of sensitive material handled insensitively.

Let’s unpack it, shall we?

We open on an action that feels like a summery of the last three volumes: a grimm attacks an airship from the front, no doubt killing its pilot, while the other grimm conveniently ignore our heroes, no masking in sight. The group looks a little sad at the destruction around them, but ultimately ignore it because they have bigger, heroic things to do. I could write a whole, additional essay on how the huntsmen code — to protect the people — has been warped and abandoned by our protagonists in their effort to do what they think is right. It's a tale that might have been compelling if only RT knew they were writing it.

We get a shot of Atlas drones unloading the bomb before one is taken out, presumably by Qrow and Robyn. Segueing to Ironwood and the Ace Ops, they're waiting for Penny to arrive, the former carrying a massive gun presumably capable of capturing her. Despite the horror we saw on their faces last episode at the realization that Ironwood would kill Marrow for speaking up, it seems that now the Ace Ops are entirely in agreement with these measures. A week ago the implication was that they fell back in line out of fear, but now Harriet talks passionately about "putting down" the group if they were stupid enough to accompany Penny. "The General gave his terms." Vine sighs at this, but doesn't actively disagree. He's just "retracing the steps that led us here."

So, congratulations on introducing four new characters, not bothering to develop any of them, killing one off while ignoring Qrow's hand in that, and having the other three become all, "Yeah! Mass murder is a perfect solution!" off screen. Marrow is the only one with something resembling development and, as covered in these recaps, that's been pretty badly executed too.

Ironwood sends them to deal with Robyn and Qrow after Winter reappears to "assist" him. That gets quotation marks because most viewers at this point have realized that she's who our two birbs spotted in the elevator. Winter isn't on Ironwood's side anymore, she's just skillfully clearing the field for the final attack. Indeed, we get a moment where she hesitantly brings up the bomb and Ironwood responds that he hopes she's not going to try and talk him out of it. No. Winter doesn't think that's possible. This was her final attempt at peace.

One of the reasons why I think I'll stick to my own blog for a while is because the fandom has a tendency to paint broad personality traits as evil when applied to some characters, yet simultaneously heroic when applied to others, when really it's about how that those traits are used. What I mean is, I've seen a lot of Ironwood critical posts that emphasize how stubborn he is. He thinks he's right and he won't back down. He wont listen to others. He's going through with this plan and if anyone tries to stop him? That's their mistake. Totally evil, right? Except, this is the exact same behavior Ruby displays, particularly in Volumes 6 and 7. She was stubborn about stealing from Argus and continuing the fight to the point where it endangered her and her teammates, to say nothing of the rest of the city. She refused to listen to Qrow, or Ironwood, or the Ace Ops, loudly announcing that she was right about, well, everything. If they didn't agree with her, the options were to leave the group entirely, or fight her. The actual difference here is that the writers have taken Ironwood to an extreme, one that's incredibly easy to understand as bad because it is bad: bombing Mantle has no defense. Ruby pulls the exact same nonsense, it's just not to that same extreme and her actions are followed by scenes that are meant to make us forgive her: a sad look because she didn't mean to get a city attacked by a leviathan grimm, a cry on the staircase because she didn't mean to risk the lives of an entire kingdom... even though she did. Ironwood is the bad guy because he's been written to take specific, OOC actions like shooting unarmed kids. He's not the bad guy because when other characters go, "Don't do this" his response is, "I have to." Because that's been Ruby's motto ever since she "had" to use the Lamp to rip Ozpin’s life story away. RWBY introduced those extreme actions of shooting the youngest in the group (for no reason) and threatening to bomb a city (for no reason) or shooting a councilman (for no reason) because when you remove those you've got a man who looks exactly like our hero. Ironwood's arc has been peppered with these confusing, unpersuasive actions because if you just keep the story as him stubbornly keeping to a plan he thinks will save the world, you're left with the reminder that all Ruby has done lately is stubbornly keep to plans she thinks will save the world. This moment with Winter just highlights how ill thought out Ironwood's descent has been because he does everything Ruby does... with a few, tacked on, “and randomly shoots people!” moments to ensure we understand that he’s definitely evil. No comparison to our heroes here, folks!

Ironwood is a bad guy now. That’s certain, but he was made that way so the story never had to grapple with the question of what that means for Ruby if we really start condemning things like lying, secrets, stubbornness, or endangering others for the greater good. Well then damn, if we strip away the hypocrisy then she might not be a good person after all. Or the people she’s simplistically labeled as bad might not be the devils Ruby claims they are.

But that’s a level of nuance RWBY would rather pretend doesn’t exist.

All of which is highlighted by Ironwood’s reaction to "Penny." He sighs and sags over the gun, immediately putting it aside. With his hand on her shoulder, Ironwood tells her she's "done the right thing." Precisely the same way Ruby would lower Crescent Rose and give someone a smile when they decided to fall in line with her.

Which, of course, is the moment when Emerald reveals herself, dispelling the Penny illusion and revealing Team JNPR The Second behind her. She gives a quip about it feeling "weird" to do the right thing before disappearing.

From there the action picks up fast. I really enjoyed this battle simply from a choreography and energy standpoint. It gets the blood pumping, Ironwood's hand-to-hand is spectacular — especially that moment against Ren — and the group actually displays teamwork for the first time in what feels like forever, all of them needed to land a hit on Ironwood. As always, out of the context of the rest of the show it feels and looks great. My primary issue is that we get this fantastic fight against Ironwood. Not Salem, not Cinder, not Watts (like last volume when Ironwood was still a hero), not even Emerald as a means of transitioning from murderous villain to the group's best bud. No, what's arguably the best action sequence in the volume thus far goes to beating up the guy they betrayed from the start. There's no catharsis for me here, only frustration as we watch Ironwood stand in shock as Winter powers up Nora — who's fine now, I guess — and she slams her hammer into his face.

It never should have come to this and when a good character is done so dirty, their downfall doesn't evoke the emotions the writers are looking for. Watching Ironwood fall doesn't generate feelings of victory, or even tragedy at a course of events others were powerless to stop. It's just frustration at watching years worth of bad writing, sprinkled with fantastic ideas that never go anywhere.

Oscar gets a few hits in, Ironwood snatches his cane, and just as he's about to throw a punch, Winter arrives with the most dramatic sword slash I've ever seen.

Ironwood's aura breaks and he falls, unconscious. We cut to an image of a droid's head separated from its body, one of Robyn's arrows through its skull. That doesn't have meaning or anything.

I suppose I should be grateful they didn't rip Ironwood's arm away during the fight, or outright kill him, though I'm still expecting him to die before the end of the volume.

Hmm. Wouldn't that be something? If after Salem's arrival, freezing cold, a Hound attack, grimm soup, a giant whale, a massive army, and a hack ending in self-destruction, the one character who actually dies is Ironwood.

It's looking more and more likely.

Honestly, beyond all the obvious, what's so frustrating about this fight is that characters are only now using their impressive abilities to their fullest. Emerald creates an entire fantasy of what's happening and then straight up disappears, but she only does a half-assed version of that when fighting against Penny. (And really, she put more effort into helping the heroes she just joined over Cinder, the woman she's been obsessed with since the start?) Marrow refuses to use "Stay" against a group they wanted to peacefully arrest because that's just too horrible an act, I guess, but he'll do it on his own teammates the second Qrow and Robyn don’t want to fight.

This is what I mean when I say the rules of the world bend to assist the protagonists in absurd ways. It's not nearly as egregious as Amity suddenly being up and running, but the fact that characters become substantially more powerful while fighting for the protagonists than they do against them is still a significant problem.

So Ironwood is down and out. As much as I hated watching that and didn't necessarily want more, am I the only one who felt like it was... a bit lackluster? I mean, the action was great, yes, but relatively short. There was no dialogue, such as another delve into the moral questions that led to this fight in the first place. There certainly wasn’t any hesitance against fighting a former ally. (Again, we’re meant to believe that the Ace Ops won because they just couldn’t bear to fight the group seriously, but every former ally here is capable of wailing on Ironwood without a single pause or pained look?) Ironwood just skillfully blocks for a while, is blindsided by Winter's betrayal, and then falls unconscious. Given that we learn he and Jacques will be evacuated after the rest of the kingdom, it's possible he'll escape somehow and we'll get a fight 2.0, but if not that feels like a rather tame end to the guy forced into the antagonist seat. Plus, what was the point of having Qrow frothing at the mouth to kill him this whole volume? I never wanted that to happen, I'm glad it hasn't, but I'm nevertheless left to ask why we bothered with that eleven episode side plot if we were going to erase it with one sentence from Robyn about Qrow being better than this. If that's all it took, let them work through Qrow's irrational anger while sitting around in a cell.

Winter tells the group to move onto "phase two" which is when we're treated to a flashback. We return to the ending of the last episode, with Ruby realizing that opening the vault is an option. Jaune, all smiles, goes, "We never considered using what's inside!"

This is what I mean about no consequences! This is what I mean about it all being a meaningless circle that ends with undeserved praise for the group! We started this horror show with Ironwood going, "We don't have a plan to protect the people, so I'm going to take what people we do have to safety" and the group going, "We don't have a plan either, but we're going to stop you implementing your plan because it's not perfect, risking a kingdom's worth of lives in the process." Now, the group has used two plans, one of which two characters knew about at the start and another they could have devised with the information they had. Oscar and Ozpin's, "We have an all powerful magical blast in our cane" and the group's "What if we used the Staff for something other than raising Atlas?" are both things that could have come up in the office debate. These were both always on the table! Instead, Ruby grew furious over the mere thought of cutting their losses, betrayed Ironwood again, attacked his people, denounced him to the world, and then two days later goes, "Oh wait! We could do something now that we could have easily done before if we hadn't made a needless enemy!"

Everyone realizes how much worse they made things, right? Turning against Ironwood, bringing everyone left in Mantle directly under Atlas, sitting around while an army was devoured, drawing it out until Penny was hacked... all of it would have been avoided if the group had thought and discussed things for a few minutes, not jumping straight to violently resisting what Ironwood came up with first. "We never considered..." Ruby says. Yeah, you didn't, except that's not something to smile about. The group made the situation a thousand times worse with their reaction when they could have just magically evacuated the kingdom from the start. “Maybe we could use it to save Penny and get everyone in Atlas and Mantle back to safety." Nothing has changed! They had this ability the whole time! Nothing about the last twelve episodes led them here, they just randomly thought of it after RT had padded the volume with needless drama. Considering that they're heading to Vacuo now, we could have just made this the finale of Volume 7 instead: big fight with Ironwood, revelation, get everyone evacuated while Salem attacks, leave her behind, then Volume 8 begins in Vacuo with the group knowing Salem is out there looking for them. This entire volume has been pointless. What did they accomplish?

Oscar got kidnapped and beat up, Nora was scarred, Ruby and Yang realized horrible things about Summer, and the whole world is panicking about a witch. Good things are... Ren and Ruby unlocked some semblance stuff? Weiss loves her brother again after he proved himself useful to her? Great work, team.

So this one moment makes everything they've done up to this point useless and, of course, once thought up the plan goes off without a hitch. Note that the summary of this episode says, "It's risky, dangerous, and nearly impossible — but it's the only plan they've got." Nearly impossible? That's a whole lot of talk for a plan that was implemented perfectly.

There is, admittedly, one snag, but one that is likewise made meaningless just seconds later. We'll get to that.

We see Winter call Weiss who also smiles at hearing from her sister. Obviously interactions like the group's with Emerald are the bigger concern, but it's still an issue that no one reacts as they should to people reappearing in their lives. Rather, RWBY continually confuses audience knowledge with character knowledge. We know Winter is on their side now, but Weiss hasn't a clue. Last she saw, she and Winter were agreeing to head down different paths. She has no reason to think her sister isn't loyal to Ironwood, so why isn't the group treating this call with suspicion? What if it's Ironwood trying to mess with them through a presumably safe party? I swear to god, with any consistency in the story this group would be dead ten times over because their decisions are so stupid. Oscar decides to believe in the guy currently beating him to a pulp, the group decides to trust a villain over a flawed ally, and now they see Ironwood’s second calling and are like, “Great, big sister Winter is checking in!” There’s a difference between a hopeful story filled with second chances and characters whose reliance on the narrative bending to assist them makes them come across as insanely naive.

None of which even touches on characters forgetting that other characters are presumably dead. Ironwood shot Oscar off the edge of Atlas, but doesn't react to learning he was kidnapped, or when he shows up to the fight. Thanks to Marrow's comment, Winter thinks YJOR have perished in the whale, but also has no reaction to them appearing to help with this plan. Absolutely nothing is followed up on.

We then get a flashback within the flashback (fun) of Winter — shock — not arresting Marrow. It's precisely as I assumed, with Marrow angrily asking why she hit him and Winter responding with, “Because you were about to get killed if I didn’t do something!” As I said last recap, I feel like I should let the marginalized groups lead this discussion, but I do want to add that no matter how well intentioned — or strategic, as I mentioned last time — the imagery itself is still harmful. No matter the context, we were still left with white woman Winter putting her knee on black man Marrow's back to arrest him, and it’s an image that everyone in the U.S. should be familiar with the horror of. Far more of a problem than the (presumed) ignorance of this scene is, I think, the choice to make Winter entirely unrepentant. I think some of this discomfort could have been alleviated if RT had written Winter as apologetic, contrite that it came to that and asking Marrow to understand that she only did it as a means of assisting him. Asking his forgiveness. Instead, we get this

So what, the only emotion we have room for is gratitude that Winter beat him up? Yikes.

As a lighter side note, I find the animation here unintentionally hilarious. Winter's assistive device makes her shoulders look too high, making this gesture more, "Woman exaggeratedly pouts about not getting ice cream for dinner" and less, "Woman sternly closes off during a disagreement about saving lives and betraying their general." Gotta find our humor where we can, right?

What's intentional, but far less funny, is the needless animation to show us that, yes, Marrow is peering at Winter calling Weiss. Oh, the shenanigans.

The elevator opens where Qrow and Robyn spot them. "Speaking of help," Winter says, as if she has any reason to believe Qrow didn't kill Clover. He and Robyn lower their weapons a bit, as if they have any reason to believe Winter and Marrow aren't still loyal to Ironwood. Would it really be so hard to have Winter immediately throw up her hands in the face of their almost-attack, blurting that she's not their enemy and needs their help, please listen? Again, RWBY can't remember which characters know what, let alone what their motivations and reactions should be.

We then enter the third part of the flashback where everyone piles into the Schnee dining room and discusses doing the things they could have done from the start. I'm metaphorically banging my head against that table. In RWBY's favor though, we also get a long shot of Jaune continuing to boost Penny’s aura.

Though it's only one of many issues, just the other day I asked, "Hey, why has Jaune always needed to hold onto the person he's assisting, but now suddenly he can touch Penny once and the boost remains?" It still doesn't explain why he was letting go before/why him needing to boost her continuously didn't put a hard time limit on their plan — not that Mantle's hour limit meant a thing — but at least they're showing more of that here.

Oscar notes that Atlas has enough gravity dust that it won't fall immediately when they use the Relic, but they will have to move fast to ensure no one is underneath. Yeah, like all the civilians you put there. He also cautions that the Staff isn't a "magic wand" that they can just wave to make all their problems go away... even though that's precisely what they're going to do. Ozpin gets some lines that aren't apologies or followed by attacks — hallelujah! — about how the Staff's spirit is a "character" and requires that you be able to precisely explain anything you want him to make. Blueprints, examples, a firm knowledge of how this will be accomplished — all of it is required to actually get what you're after. That's a cool limitation. It's just too bad we didn't know about it episodes ago, forcing our heroes to find ways to meet those requirements. Instead, they already have everything ready to go the moment they learn about it: Penny has her own schematics and Whitley apparently has knowledge of the entire kingdom after sending some ships out. Normally I'd go, "Really?" but I'm still just struck by how much good he's done compared to everyone else in this room. Your show is seriously broken when the side character the writers didn't even want the audience to like until a few episodes ago is more active, mature, and sensible than the heroes.

From there we see the group implementing the plan. They fly up through the hole Oscar left, straight to the vault. Penny opens it without any trouble and Ruby uses her speed to grab the Relic and stop time, halting her self-termination. I do like that combination of skill and their knowledge of how this magic works. That felt like a smart move. What's interesting though is that the Relic appears to stop time in the entire kingdom. We see people in Mantle and Atlas slowing to a halt too. I assume no one remembers that happening after time restarts, otherwise people would be freaked out by suddenly being frozen in place.

Wouldn't that have been cool though? The group often takes a while to use the Relics, either deciding what they need, or watching Jinn's information, so what if you had a population that blinks and suddenly, from their perspective, half an hour has passed? How long might Ozpin have sat on his knees after Jinn told him he wasn't able to defeat Salem? How long was that space frozen? We could have had a world built around rumors and fairy tales. Not the random stories Ozpin brings up to make a point and that we never hear about again, but tiny details that foreshadow these revelations. A Beacon where the kids tell each other spooky stories of people suddenly losing time, once a whole day. The wives, sisters, daughters, and nieces who disappear, or wake up one day with horrifying, unnatural powers. We see magic influence the world around it, but we've seen very little of the world reacting to that influence. The one time I can think of is Blake reading a book about "a man with two souls," the fiction clearly inspired by knowledge of Ozpin. And indeed, it felt great to recognize that as a significant detail and then be proven right years later as the lore was revealed. We could have gotten so much more of that if RWBY was better planned out.

I'm getting off track though. As time stops we see a series of images: Ironwood being led to a cell with Jacques, Penny succumbing to her hack, Team JNPR The Second preparing to contact the kingdom about what's going on. Then everyone is distracted by the giant, blue, buff Ambrosius who comes out of the Staff.

...there's a lot of innuendo in that last statement lol. At least RWBY is committed to the crazy design they chose? I was never particularly comfortable with the image of characters gaping up at a giant, naked woman in chains, so it's nice to balance that a bit with an equally giant, naked dude in chains.

From here things get confusing. In all honesty, I'm not sure if this is another moment where RWBY is trying to pass off a retcon as the group being brilliant, or if I, as an individual, simply didn't follow the logic. I won't bother to rehash the slow, meandering way that Ruby reveals their plan — that certainly didn't help with the clarity. Not in an episode where we didn’t even know these rules ahead of time — but it boils down to this:

The moment they have Ambrosius create something new Atlas will start to fall. Two of his creations can't exist at the same time.

He needs clear instructions about what he's making in order to create it.

The group has brought him Penny's schematics so that he understands how she's built.

They want, specifically, "a new version of her... using her exact robot parts."

They can't just create an exact duplicate of Penny because that would carry the virus with it.

They can't create an exact duplicate without the virus because that Penny would cease to exist as soon as they used Ambrosius to make an evacuation plan instead.

So they essentially want Ambrosius to create a new Penny by removing all the robot parts from the Penny that currently exists, carrying the virus with them, and leaving only the human parts of Penny behind: her aura/soul. Then, the purely robot version is destroyed when Ambrosius creates something new.

Except... this new Penny, this human Penny, still needed a human body. That's what Ambrosius created and that's the snag I don't understand. They want a version of Penny that's just her aura, just her soul, but that soul still needs something to be housed in. Ambrosius himself notes that. At first I thought the group would just have some wisp-like version of Penny they'd have to find a new body for — perhaps leading to a new one for Ozpin too — but she's just... given a human body when he takes the technology away, something she absolutely didn't have before. That is Ambrosius' creation. That is what should have disappeared along with the removed parts of Penny, leaving only her soul — what Ambrosius didn't touch — behind. Instead, the plot oh so conveniently has Penny get a new body for free and it's untouched as they move onto the next task.

Ruby drops a casual line about Ambrosius not being able to kill, or destroy, or something, which I think is meant to be the justification here. The rule (which, again, we JUST learned) about not killing anyone supersedes the rule of two creations not allowed to exist, allowing Penny to stick around. But even if that’s true, it’s a load of bull. What, does the magic think no one in an entire city might die if the floating mechanism is removed and it plummets to the ground? Ambrosius didn’t say, “Sorry, can’t stop floating Atlas because thousands of people are still here and they’ll die if I create something new,” but we’re supposed to believe the group skated by on, “Sorry, can’t destroy the last creation like everything else because there’s a single person still using that body and she’ll die if I create something new”?

Seriously, did I miss something? Or is this another, "Amity is ready because the group needs it" situation? The rule of creations ceasing to exist is bent because the group needs to have their friend around. Ambrosius is certainly enthusiastically complimentary, saying how "smart" the group is and that they've "done their homework," but I'm not so sure. It feels like a moment where the show is (once again) insistent that the group is far more talented and brilliant than their actions actually imply. It's only the rules of the world twisting and turning that allows for their success. To say nothing of how the episode dropped all these rules on the viewer in a ten minute info dump, ensuring we didn’t have any time to think about them before the deed was done.

It doesn't add up for me and honestly, even putting that aside? I hate this. I absolutely despise it. Look, if it turns out this really does make sense then props to the group for coming up with that plan. Our snag aside, the rest is a legitimately well thought out wish. I don't have a problem with the execution so much as the message. I've been saying since Volume 7 that RWBY has done Penny a disservice in terms of her "real girl" narrative. Whereas before we had a firm message that you don't need "squishy guts" to be human, to be real, Volume 8 continued to carry us further and further into the idea that it is necessary. That Penny's body is entirely inhuman, something to hate, but at least her soul is human and good. That's what the virus arc taught us: your terrible, technological body might be betraying you, but hold onto the parts of you that are really human. I hated that too, but I never thought RWBY would go this far. They made Penny fully human and went, “THIS is the version that always should have existed.”

And this isn't just me reading into the implications. It's right there in the text. Blake says that they're looking for “Penny, the girl who’s always been there underneath." Meaning, underneath the metal. The girl exists trapped in the robot body. Yang holds up her arm and says that the metal is only "extra," it's not really who you are.

That gets into two perspectives on disability that RWBY just doesn't have the nuance for: what's an integral and celebratory part of one person's existence can be seen as something separate and discomforting to another. Though there are many people with disabilities who would happily cure themselves with a magic Staff if given the chance, there are just as many who say no, this is a part of my identity. I don't want to change, I just want the world to accommodate my existence. However, RWBY takes a hard stance here, saying that any metal in your body is intrinsically bad. We didn’t use to have this take, but now the show has embraced it. Blake says the real Penny is trapped in there. Yang's words implies that she'd get rid of this "extra" bit of her if possible. Mercury with his metal legs is the enemy. Ironwood with half his metal body is the enemy. Whereas once difference was truly accepted, now it's shunned and fixed whenever possible. Those who can't be fixed, like Yang, must simply deal with the lot they've been dealt, reassuring themselves that the metal isn't really them. But Penny? Penny they can fix.

So they do and the very first thing Penny does is hug Ruby, exclaiming, “Do hugs always make you feel this warm inside? Wow. More!” and proceeds to hug all the others.

What's the underlying message there? Penny didn't understand hugs before this moment. She never experienced the "warmth" of them while an android, despite the fact that here warmth is entirely metaphorical and has nothing to do with a literally cold body. RWBY really went and said that the "real girl” android was never actually real at all — not as real as she could be — because it's only when she's given "squishy guts" that she understands the true happiness of a hug.

Wow.

I mean seriously, wow.

Never-mind that, you know, we've seen that happiness and warmth since she was first introduced.

RWBY is really rewriting all the core themes introduced in Volumes 1-3 and it sucks. The show is absolutely the worse for it.

To say nothing of all the other disservices to Penny's character here. There's all this buildup about whether she'll still be the same Penny once the wish is complete, but of course she is. We wouldn't want to have Penny struggle when she becomes something other than what she's always been, would we? After all, it took Yang an entire volume to work through the shock of a metal arm, but taking away a metal body for a human one is in no way traumatic. Having a normal, human body is intrinsically a good thing! Of course Penny accepts it with nothing but smiles. Becoming human is celebratory, but becoming more machine is a horror.

She gets to watch her body self-destruct, glitching out and collapsing in front of her. But again, nothing to unpack there that can't be covered with a hand over her mouth.

There's no discussion of whether Penny still has the Maiden powers, or whether a wish like that would mess with the transfer in any way. How did the group know this action wouldn't register as a clear-cut death, forcing the power out of her and into someone new? Obviously they couldn’t know, but no one even thought to bring it up?

And the entire time they're formulating their evacuation plan, there's no talk of whether these portals will appear before everyone currently alive in the kingdom. I mean, if they do then Ironwood and Jacques can just waltz through and escape into Vacuo. If they don’t, then Maria and Pietro don't necessarily have a way out. We still don't know if they're stuck floating in Amity, or if Amity crashed, or if they made their way back to Mantle or Atlas. More importantly, the characters don't know. I have no problem with RWBY keeping that a surprise until the finale, but I absolutely take issue with Pietro's daughter walking through a portal, seemingly not to care whether her father is going to make it out too.

It's been the same with Qrow and his nieces' relationships. The show is good at insisting that these families love each other because they hug and smile while on screen together, but when shit is actually going down, none of them care about pesky things like disappearances, arrests, or “The last time I saw you, you were with an old woman on a damaged station after a villain attack, potentially stranded in deadly cold if life support failed.”

So yeah, this entire arc with Penny has been a disaster. From throwing away her framing subplot, to giving her a virus that did absolutely nothing, to giving her the Maiden powers which she's also done nothing with, to erasing her android status for a “She's really human now” message, Penny has been done dirty by the show these last two volumes. Not nearly to the extent Ironwood has, but still. At this point I wish they'd just kept her dead dead. Why do I want her back when that resurrection produces no reaction, her conflicts lead nowhere, and one of the core things that made Penny Penny has now been magically erased?

I've been saying for weeks that killing Penny off and keeping Penny around each had serious downsides attached, yet I never expected RWBY to do BOTH.

Also, I'm warding off any, "But Pinocchio was made into a real boy too" defenses. RWBY is not Pinocchio. Penny is not Pinocchio. I thought the allusion was going to be the Pinocchio inspired girl heading into the whale, not the show forcing the exact plotline — down to a blue, magical creature — onto a character whose entire journey has been about accepting herself as an android. Congratulations, RT. You just obliterated years of work.

Again, if you'd like an example of how to do this far better:

As Penny's character falls apart, Atlas shakes, alerting Jaune and the other that a new wish has been granted. Jaune pecks at the screen and realizes "That did, uh, something…?” but doesn’t realize that there's a giant, red "LIVE" up in the corner.

Jaune tries to warn the entire kingdom about their plan, but what he actually says is

“Atlas is falling, but — !”

And then the communications cut out.

Watts, perhaps?

Our heroes are really good at saying things that make large populaces panic, huh? This is the one (1) snag in their "impossible" plan, but as said above, it doesn't amount to anything. We get a shot of Nora, horrified at the thought of kingdom-wide communications being down, but literally seconds later Team RWBY has made portals appear that everyone can walk through. So... why do we care about communications? More importantly, why does the show try to make us care? So much time is spent getting the viewer invested in problems that never come to mean anything.

Including the problem of Salem herself.

Because the group successfully creates that evacuation plan. This is it. Everyone is leaving while Salem still reforms.

Yang asks if they can use the vaults themselves as a single point for everyone to go to and Ambrosius agrees. So everyone is going to pile into the Vacuo vault that can only be opened by an unknown Maiden? They're going to put an entire kingdom's worth of people, including their enemies, into the vault where the Relic of Destruction is? Yeah, that's great. Prior to this — like if this had been the plan at the end of Volume 7 — I would have 100% agreed that these risks are better than death by Salem/grimm/cold. Now though, Oscar as axed Salem for an unknown length of time, the cold is having no impact on the civilians outside, and the grimm only attack background military personnel that supposedly no one cares about. They couldn't have spent another few minutes (especially with time stopped!) to figure out a means of getting to Vacuo that doesn't involve revealing and providing access to the location of a super secret vault? To say nothing of what they're going to do if Salem wakes up and snags one of those portals for herself. Two kingdoms for the price of one!

But that's what they're going with. Weiss gives Ambrosius a schematic of the kingdom, I guess, and he makes branching pathways appear with numerous portals for everyone to step through. They'll enter through one and, when they exit another, will be in Vacuo. Easy peasy, right? Especially since Ambrosius doesn't seem to have any limitations about how often his power is used. Is it three creations every 100 years like Jinn? We're not told, at least not to my recollection. However, I was expecting there to be a waiting period, that they'd fix Penny, go to evacuate the kingdom, and learn that sorry, I can't make another creation just yet. It feels like the sort of shit move these beings would pull — "Don't cry to me when it's not what you wanted" — it would have been another commentary on the group's insistence on putting friends over the people's safety (like demanding the Ace Ops not bomb the whale because of Oscar), and crucially, would have kept the action in Atlas. Isn't that what this volume is? The battle for and potential destruction of the Kingdom of Atlas? We have two episodes left and, unless something unexpected happens, we're moving that action to Vacuo. Why?

Meanwhile, Penny's corpse is just chilling in the background 😬

While all this is going on, Winter reassures Jacques that he and Ironwood will be evacuated too, though she makes it clear saving him was Weiss' idea. It checks out, considering Weiss is the one who turned her father's arrest into a joke last volume. Winter still takes his abuse seriously.

The group prepares to leave with a celebratory, "We did it!" from Weiss. I'm still banging my head against that dining room table. Before they can pass through the portal though, Ambrosius leaves them with one, dire warning: "Do not fall."

In any other story a line like that is a neon sign announcing to the audience that someone will absolutely fall, and maybe they will, but RWBY has dodged consequences so often I wouldn't be surprised if this was merely another way to string us along. Remember all the hype surrounding Salem? The cold combined with her army and magic? How she was going to decimate Atlas and leave our group broken in a Fall 2.0?

I mean, we still have two episodes left. Forty minutes of content. Salem might still decimate them, especially since something has to happen in the finale. But god, it's a problem that we've come this far without a payoff. Salem randomly decided not to attack anyone, was stopped by a weapon added in solely for this purpose, and now the whole kingdom is being evacuated with a plan the group could have used at the start. This volume really is meaningless.

“We go to vacuo and hope we’ve thought of everything” they say as the camera zooms in on Cinder's smiling face. For the second week in a row.

Bingo time!

Winter betrayed Ironwood, the group used the Staff of Creation, and I'm axing Maria on behalf of Pietro. You can't have the guy's daughter become human — after he was killing himself to give her his aura?? — and magically walk to Vacuo, not knowing if he's even survived since she last saw him, and expect me to think he hasn't been forgotten. Same with Maria. Has the group mentioned her since Amity cut out, notably for reasons they couldn’t explain? Of course not. Did they care to find out what happened? Of course not. I have no doubt they'll both re-appear in the next two episodes, Pietro crying over how perfect his girl is now and Maria congratulating the group on their actions, but we're still marking it.

This is the ugliest thing I’ve ever created, I hope you all are enjoying it :D

Another week, another couple feet added to the hole we’re digging. I know I keep saying I have no idea what's going to happen next... but I have no idea what's going to happen next. A Vacuo ending was not in the cards, not outside of them miraculously showing up in ships. Maybe they have been on their way to Atlas (somehow...) and will arrive precisely when everyone has left! Anything is possible at this point.

See you next Saturday, everyone. Hold on until then lol. 💜

#rwby #rwby spoilers #rwby volume 8 #mymetas #rwby recaps #rwby creation

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sorryimanon · 4 years

Text

A Bit Stir Crazy: Pt 2

(Note: I tried to challenge myself on writing smut. It is not my strongest field, but I had fun writing this. Enjoy.)

Warning: 18+

After the embarrassing confrontation the morning of day 16, you found yourself even more on edge. Anything relating to eating, sleeping, and hygiene wasn’t on your mental critia for the rest of the day. Your mind was set on one thing only. Katsuki.

Childish as it is, you didn’t mind lying down in bed daydreaming perfect scenarios of you and Katsuki. Sometimes you’d catch yourself clutching to the nearest pillow , pretending it’s him you’re cuddling . Pathetic. Thank god he didn’t have a telepathy quirk, or else you’d be packing your shit by now. You were in the middle of a good daydream when all of a sudden you hear the painful sound of hardwood being dragged across the floor. It was coming from Bakugous room. Blocking out the sound was impossible, it kept going on for another good 5 minutes. What the hell is the doing in there?

The temptation to yell at him to keep it down was immeasurable, but you were still skittish to show the mere sight of yourself to Katsuki again. For the next hour, you stared blankly at the chipped ceiling, listening to your roommate rearranging the entirety of his small ass room. How could you blame him though? This quarantine has made nearly go ludicrous due to boredem. Some were sadly succumb to becoming stir crazy, which you weren’t denying could possibly be you by now. You also noticed your hormones were more off the rails. Every hour you had the weird inkling to touch yourself. or just once in awhile brush up against the pillow you were holding. You couldn’t help it. No physical or social contact from the outside world for the past 16 days.

Evening struck and you haven’t eaten anything all day. The cereal from this morning made a surprise visit not long ago, causing your appetite to dissipate completely. Although, you did want to get your hands on the left over pizza Katsuki ordered last night. You were about to get up when you heard two loud knocks coming from your door.

“Hey dumbass, don’t think I didn’t notice you not eating all day. I made you some soup since you’re lazy to make something right now.” He sounded agitated, but you knew better that he meant well. “I’ll leave it by the door since I know...you...tch. Just fucking eat. If you don’t I’ll make you okay?”

And with that he left, making it clear for you to hear the door to his room close. You waddle over to the door and open it quickly, scooping up the piping hot bowl of soup. You hate to admit it, Katsuki makes a pretty damn good soup. A little spicy though.

Later that night, you laid on your back, toying with the hem of your panties. The muscles in your arms restricting you from going any further. A sick punishment really. You needed some relief, something to get this feral feeling out of your system. Touching yourself wasn’t a foreign feeling. You had a boyfriend to handle the task for you. Note, had a boyfriend. He randomly stopped texting you one day and after that you assumed he didn’t find you attractive anymore. Which sucks because he was great in bed.

Now it’s been almost a year without any form of sexual pleasure from another person. The thought alone made you groan out loud. I am such a fucking loser.

Your fingers itched closer as the minutes ticked by. Just do it, Katsuki should be asleep by now. With a quick glance at your clock, the red numbers 10:30 stared right back. You sighed in relief remembering that Katsuki has been keen on knocking out by 9:00. The sudden burst of confidence caused you to finally plunge your hand into your panties. The feeling of your index finger brushing up against your clit made your whole body shiver. Oh, it definitely has been a year. Making sure there was no evidence of anyone being awake in the next room, you rubbed the very sensitive bud with a slow and teasing motion. You wanted this session to last a while, so you stopped rubbing and dipped your middle finger into the hole. A soft moan escaped your mouth, with which you quickly slapped your mouth with your hand, trying to cover up any lewd noises you might emit.

10 minutes have past and you haven’t climaxed yet. You were starting to get tired of fingering yourself, noticing the warm sensation in your lower stomach has went away. Then, an involuntary image of Katsuki flashed behind your closed eyes. He was there, above you while looking absolutely feral. His eyes were no longer red, but somehow dilated to the point where they were just plain black. You felt the warmness coming back again as you glance down from his eyes to the placement of his hands. The mere sight made you gasp. Katsuki, with his knees proping himself, had his fingers inside of you. No longer were you covering your mouth, each and every whimper or moan left your throat. Katsuki gave you his infamous smirk and began to thrust his fingers faster within you. You couldn’t help but to clench around his fingers, wanting to get as close as possible.

“That’s it baby, come for me.” Katsuki spoke in a sultry tone.

Surprised by him speaking out, your eyes widened to the uncommon nickname.

“You look so fucking cute like this. Taking my fingers like a good girl...so fucking well baby ah fuck!” He continued with his lewd comments. He kept the usual pace while saying sweet nothings in the air.

“Katsuki...nagh...please make me come.” You pleaded softly.

With that, he curled his fingers inside you, causing a long drawn out moan from you. You felt it, then you finally released once he rubbed the tiny bud that desperately needed attention.

“Fuck, Katsuki...” you said breathlessly, eyes drawn to a close in complete euphoria.

Wanting to look back at the man who delivered you to climax, you opened your eyes to see nothing but darkness. Everything was a lucid dream. Katsuki wasn’t actually here to your beckoning call.

Embarrassed, you slipped on a fresh pair of panties and rolled onto bed, knocking out right away due to your recent endeavor.

Behind the wall next door, a lone Katsuki laid awake with his hand wrapped around his qivering member, breathing harshly after climaxing as well with you. He slapped his forehead.

“Fuck.”

The following morning, you woke up feeling much better. The constant pang in your lower region was gone, leaving you with an obvious glow. Katsuki noticed too when you strutted into the kitchen, wearing nothing but your big tshirt. His mind went ravage there, thinking about whether or not if you were wearing panties underneath. Considering what he heard last night made him think otherwise.

“Sleep well dumbass?” Katsuki asked as you made yourself a cup of coffee. You didn’t detect how smug he sounded. He was leaning against the island, wearing his usual attire of a tank top and sweat pants.

Thinking nothing of it, you answered his innocent inquiry. “Yeah actually. I haven’t slept that well in ages.” You took a sip of your coffee and leaned against the counter, your body mimicking Katsukis position.

Katsuki raised an eyebrow at that. “Oh really? Some type of remedy I don’t know of that makes you sleep well?” Again, you didn’t notice how tauting his tone was.

“O-Oh um, nothing too complex really. Just a simple uh, breathing excerise I did.” You lied through your teeth.

“Ah that makes sense. No wonder I heard you breathing so hard last night” Katsuki snapped his fingers.

You regretfully spit out your coffee, coating the tiled floor with the sugary brown liquid. Katsuki titled his head innocently at you.

“Something I said?”

“N-No I just forgot I left our clothes in the washer last night. I should probably head downstairs now before some creep steals our stuff!” You spewd a last minute excuse and ran out the door before hearing anything from Katsuki.

“Was definitely something I said.”

The laundry mat downstairs was empty. The mornings were usually packed, having either you or bakugou to stand outside the door for an open machine. This time you wish there was people occupying the space.

You had propped yourself on the washing machine, feet dangling a few feet from the floor. He knows what you did last night. He absolutely knows. How stupid of you to not realize his bed was agasint the shared wall. It was agonizingly painful to imagine how Katsuki felt during that haunting hour. He probably threw up to the thought of you touching yourself, specifically to him getting you off. Tears started to threateningly leave your eyes. No matter how many times you tried not to cry during this whole ordeal, a single tear slid down your face. Next thing you knew a whole stream was pouring out both of your eyes. If a person were to come in at this exact moment, they’d think you were a lunatic.

That’s when you heard loud footsteps coming from the entrance of the laundry matt. Deep down you knew who it might be, but you couldn’t muster up the courage to look up. You kept your head down, eyes focusing on your bare feet swaying back and forth. A pair of feet came into view, your knees slightly touching their upper thigh. You lowered your head even more, not wanting to face Katsuki and his judgmental glare.

“Y/N? Look at me,” he demanded.

You shook your head, still keeping it down.

“I said,” he places his finger beneath your chin, raising it to where you were eye level with him. “Look at me.”

You gulped, noticing how angry he looks right now. Is he angry at you touching yourself to him? Or is he mad about something else?

“Listen, I know what you did last night-“

That’s it. You cringed hard at his confession. Nothing mattered right now anymore. Katsuki was just white noise at this point. Dying sounded more appealing than listening to your roomate spiel about how they caught you masturbating. Oh the horror.

“That’s why I think we should please each other for the time while being quarantined together”, he finished.

Wait what.

The look he gave you was unlike any other look you’ve received from him. He was pleading, almost begging, with his eyes. You barely noticed his grasp on your thigh. The grasp grew tighter each second you left him unanswered.

“We both need this. I haven’t had any relief from another person in months...” he admitted while simultaneously rubbing your thigh.

You wanted this more than anything, but you didn’t openly admit that to him. Especially not in an open space like a laundry matt, where someone could walk in at any moment.

“Katsuki...I don’t think we should-“ he caught you by surprise with the sudden impact of his lips. The contact made you both moan into each other’s mouths. The hand that was grasping your thigh earlier soon trailed higher to your inner thigh. His cold hand against your already flushed body was enough to make you climax. When he got courageous enough to place his hand on your waist, you scooted closer to his body, giving him an invitation to step inbetween your legs. He obliged and closed the space between the both of you, using his other hand to cup your cheek. Katsuki grew ansty and bit your lower lip, wanting to gain more access in your mouth. You surrender and let him kiss you tongue first. You closed your eyes in ecstasy, letting him explore your mouth with his expert tongue. Katsuki grabbed your hands and placed them on his head, implying for you to grab a handful of his hair. Once you ran your hands through his blonde locks, his whole entire body tensed up. He quickly detatched his lips from your mouth, pressing his forehead against yours.

“Keep...Keep doing that please.” He whined. You smiled at his approval and continued to rake through his hair.

His whimpers were angelic as you kept tugging on his hair while he kissed you open mouthed.

You both were at it for awhile, making out and touching places that needed attention from the other. When the two of you let go for some air, a string of saliva strewn from both of your mouths. Flustered at the sight, Katsuki licked your bottom lip and gave it a quick peck before lifting your body from the washer. You squeaked loudly due to the aruptness and wrapped your legs around his waist.

The trip back to the apartment wasn’t long. Katsuki was careful not to drop you as he treaded up the stair case. Your apartment door came into view and without hesitation Katsuki kicked it open, breaking the hinges along with it.

“Katsuki! How are we going to pay for that!” You scolded him, playfully hitting his chest.

He chuckled at that and closed what was left of the door with his foot.

“I’m not worried about that right now. Too busy on taking care of you,” he mumbled the last part before attaching his lips to yours again.

Clumsily, the pair of you made it to his bedroom without breaking anything else in the process. Katsuki practically threw you on his bed, your back landing on one of his pillows. He climbed on top of you and observed your whole entire body. Internally you were shaking uncontrollably, but externally you gave the facade that you were completely calm. Katsuki took this as a sign to move his hand under your shirt, still staring at you intently. You felt his fingers inches away from your perched nipple. His hand reached your breast, giving it a good squeeze before pinching it with his fingers. You voluntarily arched your back, wanting him to explore more of your body.

“You like that?” He questioned, still pinching your sensitive nipple.

Answering him by moaning, he used his other hand to trail a line leading up to your inner thigh. He moved up and down slowly in a teasing pace, careful not to touch your heat yet. He replaced his digits with his thumb to rub your nipple in place. His smirk grew wider seeing you squirm beneath his touch. Deep down he always wanted to see you like this. Flustered to the core and whimpering to his subtle touch. He couldn’t wait to see you screaming out in pleasure. He wanted nothing more than to hear you call out his name in pure ecstasy.

As much as you wanted Katsuki to worship your body, the desire for him to fill you was more important.

“Kasu-...Katsuki, please.” You urged on, bucking your hips to meet his.

“Please what dumbass? Hm? Use your words,” he traced the outline of your lips carefully, opening your mouth wider.

“I need you inside me. I want to feel you...” you pathetically begged out him to.

Katsuki saw the desperation in your body language and voice. Swiftly, he pulled your panties down to your ankles, letting you move them aside to the floor. The wetness from your heat was slowly dripping down your thighs. Prepped and ready for whatever Katsuki has in store for you. Your cunt throbbed painfully from the anticipation of his next move.

“You want me now baby?” He seductively said, earning an earnest groan from you as a reply. He kept himself busy by pumping his member through his sweats. His eyes never left you as he thrusted aggressively, smiling during the process when you kept glancing at his actions below. “I can’t wait...to know how you feel...ngh...I bet you feel incredible wrapped around my cock”. A blush creeped its way to your cheeks. His crude comments are getting dirtier, and you low-key didn’t want him to stop speaking his mind.

Never in a million years would you have ever thought of doing something this intimate with Katsuki. If you were to tell yourself, a little first UA student, that you and Katsuki Bakugou had sex, you’d never believe it. Even at this moment, you still couldn't comprehend this was happening. You broke out of your thoughts when you felt the tip of something hovering at your entrance. During your daze, Katsuki managed to get his fully erect member from the tight hold of his boxers and lined it perfectly at your aching hole. He nudges your hole a few times before rubbing against your clit. A fulfilling moan left your throat as he kept going with the tedious motion. You elavated your hips a little in hopes for his tip to enter. Katsuki growled at your impatient state and grounded your hips with hands. You whimpered at the harshness of his grip.

“Keep doing that idiot and I just might make you fuck yourself instead,” he lowered his head to your neck and started sucking on the sensitive area. “You’re lucky I'm going to go easy on you dumbass or else you’ll be begging for me to stop. So, just let me know and I’ll stop”.

Even when he’s about to go feral in your insides, he was still considerate of your feelings, which made your heart beat go bezerk. Thankfully he stopped kissing your neck and dropped his full attention to his cock. You mentally sighed to yourself once you felt his tip circle around your lips. The swelling sensation down below was becoming unbearable to the constant teasing. You couldn’t hold it in any longer, so you wrapped your hands around his torso and purposely shoved him forward. Both of you let out a choked moan once his cock finally entered you. Your walls instinctively clamped tightly around him, feeling the warm flesh inside of you. The action you did elicited a loud whine from Katskui, who was currently shoving his face into the crevice of your neck, shaking from entering your tight walls so abruptly.

“Do I...Do I feel good Katsuki?” you asked, shifting uncomfortably to his stiffness.

He lifted his head from his previous position and grinned from ear to ear. “You feel fucking amazing baby.” He wasted no time to move his hips to sheathe his cock deeper inside you. It didn’t hurt due to you being so aroused and wet. He then started to continuously thrust at a slow pace, making sure you were adjusting to his size. Mouth wide open, you threw your head onto his pillows while clutching the bedsheets.

“Ugh, Katsuki. Please go faster,” you winced at how needy you sounded, but you wanted the relief right away.

Katsuki listened to your command and thrashed himself more into your hole. Sounds of skin slapping on skin and sporadic moans filled the small room. You felt his cock twitch inside you, indicating that he was indeed close. He continued thrusting at a fast pace, occasionally reaching down to rub your clit. Without a doubt, he was hitting your g-spot repeatedly, never once missing it. To feel even more closer to you, Katsuki pushed your legs further towards you, allowing him a better angle to thrust deeper.

“Fuck Y/N...I bet he never fucked you like this. He probably never had you making those cute faces you’re pulling right now, ngh...” he panted between thrusts. “I hated the thought of you being fucked by someone other than me. All the guys you’ve dated are nothing compared to me. I want you all to myself.”

The knot inside your cunt started pulsing by him mentioning his hatred toward your past partners. You screamed when he clamped his sharp teeth down onto your shoulder. For a spilt second, you thought you felt the trickle of your own blood. Next thing you knew, Katsuki’s thrusts became sloppier, indicating he’s on the verge of climaxing.

“God yes Katsuki, please come. Come with me baby!” you cry out.

You being so oblivious, you don’t know how much your voice turns him on. So when you egged him on to come with him, that’s exactly what he did. With one last thrust, both you and Katsuki attach your lips together, moaning out your orgasms into each others mouths. He successfully fills your heat with his seed and freezes in place. He detaches his lips from yours and stares at your dripping core. He had to restrict himself to not shove his cock into you again. After composing himself, Katsuki released himself from you and rolled over onto his side, propping his elbow to get a good view of you. You still recovering from your orgasm. You were gasping for more air, trying to compose yourself.

“Ya know...maybe you could use your energy restoration quirk on me for a round two?” he humorously suggested.

You shifted yourself into a comfortable position on his lap and jabbed a finger under his chin. “Only if this round involves me riding you.”

Katsuki then pushed you roughly on your back again. His eyes were more dilated this time than during your previous intimate moment together. He leaned down and kissed you gently on the lips.

“I like that idea better don’t cha think, idiot.”

Everything after that event changed the course for both you and Katsuki. The mood and tension from before disappeared. Now the two of you couldn't keep your hands off each other. You caught yourself sleeping more in Katsuki’s bed than your own. What was the point of being separated if you two were practically having sex every day? Every hour, minute, and second. It didn’t bother you though. You’d rather jump his bones than read another boring book again.

On day 30 of quarantine, you woke up naked in Katsuki’s arms. You stretched your arms and legs, popping them in the process. Katsuki grunted and pulled you closer to his body. You smiled into the crook of his neck and returned the favor by kissing him on the nose. He scrunched his face, obviously not favoring the random spot you pecked him at.

The night before you two were going at it till 3 am. Not taking breaks for anything whatsoever. It was evident from the display of your clothes strewn everywhere.

You relaxed more into his arms, but your heart stopped once you heard the front door opening. Katsuki was still passed out, oblivious to the disturbance inside your apartment. Your ears picked up footsteps padding their way towards Katsuki’s door. The door knob twisted ominously. Whoever was behind the door was surely taking their sweet time. Before you knew it, the door swung open revealing the last person you wanted see. There stood Kirishima, mouth agape seeing you in the same bed as Katsuki. He blinked a couple of times before raising a weak finger in your direction.

“I guess I wasn’t the only one who got laid during this pandemic!” Kirishima bursted into laughter.

Katsuki unwrapped his arms around you and grabbed the nearest pillow, using his quirk to explode it right at Kiri’s face. The impact ricchoeted him out the threshold of the door, a loud crash coming along with him.

“EVER HEARD OF KNOCKING FIRST SHITTY HAIR!” he yelled, small sparks ejecting from his hands.

You contently sigh. Maybe this whole quarantine thing wasn’t so bad after all.

#bakugo imagine #bakugou katsuki #bnha fic #mha #boku no hero academia #katsuki bakugou x you #katsuki smut #katsuki bakugo x reader #bnha bakugo katsuki #bakugou x reader #bakugou smut #bakugou imagine

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imo-chan-imagines · 4 years

Text

『 Haikyuu!! Week 2020 | Day 5 』

· Sept. 29th → Habit is Second Nature ·

Characters: female!reader, Kageyama Tobio, Hinata Shouyou, Tsukishima Kei, Yamaguchi Tadashi (+ bonus characters: Bokuto Koutarou, Kuroo Testurou)

Prompts: A. best character development + B. patterns and habits

Tags/warnings: Haikyuu!! (anime), PG, fluff, headcanons, patterns and habits, best character development

A/N: I haven't done any character x reader stuff for this challenge yet because I tend to do NSFW stuff. But I thought I'd do some fluffy stuff about the characters with the best development and their habits as your boyfriend! (Plus a couple of bonus boys, because I couldn't help myself!! 🥰)

All my Haikyuu Week 2020 posts will be SFW, but I have NSFW stuff on my blog too. Feel free to take a gander. Thanks for reading! Please enjoy ♡ Imo~

Haikyuu × reader / patterns and habits

☆ Kageyama Tobio ☆

Gets up at 5:30am to go for a run every morning but forgets to send you a 'good morning' text don't be upset, it just doesn't really occur to him

Gets all giddy when he receives one from you, though literally cannot stop smiling. Doesn't know what to do with himself

Often forgets his pencil case and comes by your class to borrow stuff

When he buys milk from the vending machine, he will start buying some for you as well without you asking he's trying to show he cares

Milk makes him happy, so it should make you happy too, right? 😭

Frowns and blushes when you start hugging and nuzzling him in public he'll start stammering, too, if you took him by surprise

But then he pouts when you stop 🤭

Is embarrassed about asking you to touch him my poor touch-starved baby 😭

Blushes and looks at the floor whenever he talks about something romantic or intimate

Leans his forehead against yours when he wants to express how he feels but doesn't know how I might be crying...

He loves hearing the sound of your voice, so he often falls asleep while in the middle of a late-night phone call with you you can hear the soft sound of his breathing through the receiver 😭😭

Writes down important dates you tell him because he just knows he's going to forget them

Discretely interlaces his fingers with yours when he feels vulnerable prOTECT HIM

Lots and lots of hugs from behind because eye contact can be a bit much for him, and he's sometimes nervous about you seeing his face

Can get angry and shout at you without warning when he's stressed or upset, and he feels terrible after

Writes out his apologies on reams and reams of paper and rehearses them a million times in front of the mirror but somehow still forgets most of it?

Smiles like a literal angel when he does something to make you happy that's all he wants, y'all 😭

Will try his best at everything, whether it's trying new things with you or doing the same old stuff he's always done

Nuzzles the back of your neck when you're spooning, and kisses his way across your shoulders and down your back as a way of saying, 'I love you and you're mine'

☆ Hinata Shouyou ☆

Says the cheesiest, most romantic things to you with a straight face, but blushes and hides his face when you return the favour

Bounces around the room when he's excited

Always asks you how your day was and is genuinely interested

Rests his head on your shoulder when you're sitting together

Shouts really loudly at random moments because of surprise/frustration/excitement/any sudden emotion, really 😅 gives you mini heart attacks

Always sneezes really fucking loudly??

Sends you adorable cat videos when he knows you've had a bad day

Subtly presses his leg against yours whenever you're sat together, especially when you're both supposed to be studying 👀

Wipes your cheeks and kisses the end of your nose whenever you've been crying

Sings in the shower because he thinks you can't hear him

Will give his gym towel to you with a smile whenever you get soaked in the rain rather than dry himself off

Treasures every little gift you get him

Is fine becoming a human hot water bottle by little-spooning every month when your period comes around he runs at a really high temperature, and actually really enjoys it. So cute 😍

Runs down the halls to your class every break to bring you your favourite drink from the vending machine

Loves sharing cakes with you and feeding each other it sounds cringy, but he makes it so cute and natural

Always pulls goofy faces when he Snapchats you

Leaves you cute voicemails when he wanted to talk to you but you're busy

Shows up unannounced at your house when he's troubled because he just really needs to see you

If he just sees your face, then he knows that it's somehow going to be alright

Y'all, I can't 😭😭🤧

☆ Tsukishima Kei ☆

Teases the crap out of you on a regular basis just to see you all pouty and frustrated

Pretends not to remember your birthday/anniversary/etc. every year so he can drop by your house later that day and surprise you with a gift

Pulls your cheeks when he thinks you're being too cute

Kisses the ends of your fingers when he wants to show affection but doesn't know how

Flicks your forehead whenever he thinks you're being stupid or irritating 🙄

Lowkey blushes every time he sees you cheering for him in the stands I SEE THAT LITTLE SMILE, TSUKKI

Makes you sit on his lap all the time for no good reason other than to tease you bruh

Often ends up taking the teasing too far and winds up feeling rotten because you're now genuinely upset

Sucks at applogies, but will always try to set it right if he's at fault, even if it's awkward

Gives the biggest, warmest hugs when he wants to which isn't much, but hey. Take what you can get

Always sends you a text to make sure you've got home safe, but it's never in those words. It's always under the guise of something else Tsukki, pLEaSE

Grumbles to himself out of jealousy whenever you show attention to other guys, especially his brother

Deliberately gives you his sweaters and hoodies to wear after a shower because he thinks it's super cute, but acts like it's nothing you ain't slick, Tsukki 🤣

☆ Yamaguchi Tadashi ☆

Reaches for your hand first whenever you're together

Nose and forehead kisses when he sees you in the morning

Hand-picks a bunch of flowers for you every Monday because he knows you hate Mondays 🥺🤧

Waits for you at the gate after school every day

Always stands up for you, no matter what he may be soft, but he's not a WUSS 😠

Asks to borrow your other earphone whenever you're listening to something

Wants to spoon with you whenever he's feeling down and you'll never refuse

Always arrives 15 minutes early for every date despite changing his outfit several times out of nervousness

Blushes in pride whenever he lends you his jacket because you're cold adorbs

Sends you little pick-me-up messages when you're busy so you can read them when you're free

Helps you tie up your hair for gym class, and is surprisingly good at making pretty hairstyles

Traces his fingers over your palms and other body parts whenever you're curled up together

Has your name saved on every social media and contact list as something cute like 'My Sunshine 💛' or 'My Honeybee 🐝'

Twiddles his hair around his finger a lot, especially when he's daydreaming about you let's hope he doesn't start balding 😭

Will rush to your class with an umbrella on rainy days in case you forgot one

Loves sitting on the swings with you whenever you pass them on the way home, and making you giggle by pushing you higher and higher

(Bonus boys)

☆ Bokuto Koutarou ☆

Sends a stream of soppy hype-texts every morning for you to wake up to

Will stop by your house and pick you up for school, even if you live literal miles away from him he just wants to see you

Grabs you by the waist and picks you up at least once a day, often in front of a crowd of people he's a fan of PDA

Peppers you with kisses when he sees you for the first time each day

Hypes you up to no end. Literally cannot sing your praises enough

Is constantly looking for compliments, and is not-so subtle about it

Gets easily depressed when you don't notice he did something differently etc.

Will kiss you in front of everyone when he wins a game and you come down to congratulate him literally doesn't care. He's too proud of you

Is constantly asking for massages, whether or not he needs them, because he enjoys the contact

Sometimes you want to staple his mouth shut because he has a habit of getting too excited and talking with his mouth full 🙃

Doesn't stop texting you and sending you Snapchats

Is kind of oblivious if he's done something that upset you, and starts freaking out when someone Akaashi finally tells him

Doesn't plan or rehearse his apologies, because he literally just says exactly what he means 100% of the time

May start choking up and crying if what he did was bad enough, because he just feels so, so guilty

Constantly reminds you when you said you would make him a lunchbox because he loves it so much and wants to boast to his friends

Likes you sitting on his lap while you do stuff together I mean...👀

Calls you 'puppy' and 'kitten' etc. unabashedly in public boi, pLEASE

Insists on giving you piggyback rides whenever your feet hurt 🐷

Saves every single selfie you send him. He treasures every single one, and tears sometimes come to his eyes when he scrolls through them he's so whipped for you, my gal

☆ Kuroo Testurou ☆

Stays up all night texting you he might be getting bags

But it's fine. It just adds to the emo look

Takes your bag and carries it for you without you asking him to

Facetimes you randomly

When you ask what it's about, he says he just missed you/wanted to see your face smooth mf

His hand always finds its way around your waist whenever you're walking together

He scrolls through your old conversations when he misses you

Will ruffle your hair to tease you just so he can spend the next 20 minutes brushing it for you

Steals food from your lunch every day he's lucky he's pretty

Stands outside your house with a boombox blasting love ballads like a giant nerd when he wants to surprise you just imagine it for a second. Let the image sink in

Ends up stroking your hair when you're cuddling together

And subconsciously cradles your stomach a lot because he really wants to start a family with you Testu!!! 🥺😭🤧

Always sends you 'Send This To Your Crush Without Context' videos, despite the fact that you guys have literally been dating for years no caption or anything, either. Just the video

Will probably continue to do it even once you're married, tbh

Always, always, always walks you home

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ixellent · 3 years

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So in case you’re not on twitter a bunch of artists recently announced they were working with an “eco friendly” NFT company and the reactions were mixed but I wanted to put a few simple notes without even talking about the environmental impact of NFTs as a whole, like let’s just skip the whole discussion of that part for a second. It’s not that I don’t think it’s important, but it’s a little bit of a distraction on this issue because people can split hairs and pull statistics over the cost of NFT vs carbon offsetting vs how much electricity we waste vs big corporations all day. This is probably not going to be how we finally pass legislation to stop pollution and save the planet, so let’s just put a pin in that aspect and talk about ethically what’s going on.

1) Money Laundering A lot of artists were interested in NFT because they saw how much money people were allegedly making, right? We want that money, we feel that art is underpriced, undercut, underappreciated, it sucks out there! But! Why does NFT go for so much? Because it’s certified authentic ownership of digital art or whatever? We have been able to do this with digital files for a long time, quickly and easily, it’s called DRM. "Authenticity” and “owning an original” was never the reason. This has been happening in the fine art community for decades. (Rich) People use art to launder money because they can buy it for some amount of money*, insure it for even more money, have it valued at more money, and sell it to other people for obscene money and that’s a lot easier to explain than randomly paying someone thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing you a favor. It also effectively “hides” money the same way real estate can. It doesn’t mean it’s easy but it’s a loophole to avoid taxes and the IRS and makes your money look more “legitimate” on paper because less of your assets are liquid, they can still “appreciate” because the object of value the money is tied to can be subjectively desirable as to make it “worth” whatever you want. * Art CAN be somewhat objectively valued by experts and historians, kind of like how comics or Magic cards can be valued, but it is a unique good in that people can decide its value based on literally whatever they want, which is to say, nothing at all. And you can be like “Well what about LEGITIMATE art sales!” I don’t know how to explain to you that most art isn’t going to suddenly be worth thousands of more dollars overnight legitimately. Like aren’t people suspicious of the fact that people would suddenly be paying a lot of money for wafer-thin ownership of an image they made? You can be like “idc where the money comes from” I guess, but then you’re probably not concerned about the issue of unregulated markets in the first place lol. Here’s some articles: https://www.natlawreview.com/article/art-and-money-laundering - This one does a great job explaining how private art sales and real estate manage this and what they’ve been trying to do to stymie it, as well as making it obvious how NFT sales are exactly the same as the warehouses people keep art in lol https://www.artandobject.com/news/how-money-laundering-works-art-world - this talks a bit about the big famous warehouse https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/29/business/art-money-laundering-sanctions-senate/index.html - I know it’s CNN but it talks a little about the red tape that allegedly exists and where it doesn’t https://news.artnet.com/market/think-artists-are-getting-rich-off-nfts-think-again-1962752 - your art isn’t worth thousands overnight lol

2) Artificial Scarcity So this is one of those things that people can come down a few different ways on. In the last few decades of The Internet, you’ll have some people who believe in a free and open internet and exchange of ideas and media, while other people want to keep ownership of the things they create and protect that ownership, and if you ask me, neither of them are wrong exactly! But that doesn’t matter because when we “mint NFTs” for art, it is artificial scarcity, because with a digital copy of work, you can redistribute, copy, paste, screenshot it as much as you want for personal use. It’s not illegal until you try to sell copies of things you DIDN’T create (and as we’ve seen with some vehement NFT benefiters, the lines for fair use, parody, and ownership are being ground into dust in order to make a buck), and it’s certainly frowned upon to repost or share it without permission. But NFTs create limited “certified original copies” or “ownership” of an image for no reason other than to give people a reason to inflate its value (see money laundering above). As a digital artist, I’m not saying I think my art is less valuable because it’s digital, but I can create infinite copies of it - the file itself is worth virtually nothing but the demand for the labor it took to create it. A limited physical run of prints of digital art has ACTUAL scarcity because it may not be printed again, or might not be printed in that way, so the price can be set by demand/by the market! There are physical costs of materials, shipping etc. The physical cost of digital goods is measurable but not as easily because of the myriad of ways it is produced. My digital commissioners actually pay for the service of art rather than a physical good, and my freelance clients pay for the RIGHT to use an image as well as my labor, because there is no scarcity of digital materials themselves. This is not to say digital art does not need preservation at some point, or that it is a zero-cost-to-produce situation, but I hope you can see why limiting certificates of ownership of a digital file in this way to do art sales is suspicious and kind of weird. We have had secure methods of demonstrating creation and ownership of a digital file for a long time if we really wanted it to be about “ownership” but it wouldn’t stop people just screenshotting all the same. That’s why so many artists will offer the option to pay for ACCESS to the files and we still depend largely on the honor system! As they’ve been saying with piracy all these years, anyone who was going to pay for it would have, and all we can do is give people convenient, accessible ways to get the content they want to try and prevent them from stealing it, and some people always will because they think it should all be free. (And I’m not here to pass judgement on that! I’ve been on the internet a long time lol.) I just wanted to get this out because people got so up in arms about the ecological impact of NFTs (and rightly in a lot of ways! Sure!) and missed the part where the fine art business is MONEY LAUNDERING. Also idk but the fact that all the NFT stuff can literally just shut down and be gone forever isn’t really secure finances. You can tell me that it’s spread out on a bunch of computers so it doesn’t just disappear when one goes down, but it doesn’t appear to be so seamless in practice, and like all currency, we have to agree collectively that it’s worth something for it to be worth anything. https://www.businessinsider.com/what-happens-to-digital-art-nft-servers-shut-down-2021-3

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emerald-echeveria-plant · 3 years

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[[Part 6 of ???]]

Conversation in the cave

//The group came across two paths. One led into a dark, creepy cave with monsterous sounds echoing. While the other led to a sunny, field of flowers. Baozhai walks towards the entrance of the cave.//

Islay: Baozhai, why are you going that way?

Baozhai: This was is a short cut, we'll get there waaaaay faster if we go through here!

Billy: um, you sure about this..?

Baozhai: of course I am! If we took the other path, we'd get there slower duh! Sure it looks more safe but it ain't worth it! *Walks into the cave*

Billy, looks over to Islay: she's not serious is she..?

Islay: She knows where the treasure is so we gotta follow her. *follows Baozhai into the cave*

//Billy and Flint looked at each other, exchanging worried looks. They has a feeling this wasn't going to end well. Regardless, they followed them in. Islay pulled out a match a lit it. She saw a few large sticks on the ground and picked them up. She lit them and handed them out for each person.//

Islay: Be careful where you step. You might end up trigging a trap or fall through something.

//The group walked together through the cave. They made sure to stick close together. No one could risk getting lost in here.

Baozhai stayed close to Flint. A bit giddy she was close to her love interest.//

Baozhai: sooo, Flinty, you got some special in your life?? You know, like a boyfriend or girlfriend??

Flint: No.

Baozhai: Oh, that's great! Wait, I mean- oh nooooooo...

Flint, rolls his eyes: why do you care?

Baozhai: oh no reason, just trying to get to know each other.

Flint: why you you want to get to know me?

Baozhai: Because IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII... Think I'd be good to pass the time!

Flint: Okay..

Baozhai: So tell me, what type of things are you into?

Flint: um-

Baozhai, cutting him off: You like thrilling adventures? Swords? Rum? Treasure? Glory???

Flint: yeah, I like all those things-

Baozhai, cutting him off again: -killing rich people? Blowing up banks they own?? TORTURING THEM IN FRONT OF THEIR SPOUSES???

Flint: ಠ_ಠ

Flint: no...

Baozhai, nervously laughs: haha, I took it too far didn't I..?

Flint: Yeah, you did.

Baozhai: Sorry, it's just, I really don't like the nobility or monarchy. I get a "little" carried away when thinking about them.

Flint: They're not too pleasant.

Baozhai: haha, yeah, definitely! The total WORST! The only good thing about them is their riches and valuables. Makes me so happy seeing them miserable when I steal their things!

Flint, uncomfortable: uh huh..

Baozhai: but enough about my hatred of the one percent, tell me about yourself.

Flint: Well, I'm a bit new to this whole pirating thing.

Baozhai: oh really?? No way, me too! Please tell me more.. 💕

Flint: I and my friend Bones were kidnapped by Haggis. We were forced to join his crew and became his cabin boys. Captain works us till we drop. I think the only thing I enjoyed about being apart of his crew is the access to treasure and rum.

Baozhai: Wow, I'm sorry that happened to you.. I mean at least it's not all bad for you. Treasure and rum is great!

Flint: Well, I only get a small cut of the treasure. Haggis says I haven't proven myself to get more of it.

Baozhai: What an asshole! He shouldn't do that. You should take all the treasure because.. because.. you're a amazing! And do as much work as everyone in your crew! Dang it I should've said that first...

Flint, sighs: He won't listen to me but I have to deal with that. Everyday.

Baozhai: you've never thought about escaping..?

Flint: Nah, I'm pretty sure the captain would just track me down and beat me to a pulp.

Baozhai: Well, if he ever does, I'll teach him a lesson or two with my dagger!

Flint: heh, you can try but you're the size of a mouse in comparison to him.

Baozhai: oh please I still can take him on! You know what they say, size doesn't matter.

Flint: I don't think that applies to that situation.

Baozhai: it can work in any situation. If a mouse can scare an elephant than so can I! He won't even see it coming! I'll be all like "what's up Haggis I'm gonna kick your butt!" And then he'll be all like "please don't hurt me! I'll do anything!" And then I'll say "oh I'll let you walk free IF you stop treating Flint awful!"

//Flint chuckled softly finding her tangent very amusing.//

Flint: You're a brave little thing aren't you? Not even afraid of what'll happen to you?

Baozhai: Nope! He may have messed up my nose but he's gonna regret that! I'm about to unleash a world of pain on him!

Flint: I wouldn't do that if I were you. You'll get really hurt, Haggis is more capable of causing damage to more than just your face.

Baozhai: It's fine, I'll be fine! You don't need to worry for me. Aw you're such a cutie for caring 💕

Flint: I'm just making sure you won't do anything you'll regret..

Baozhai: I swear I won't regret it. Besides someone needs to stand up to that jerk.

Flint: I've already tried that. It ain't as easy as it looks.

Baozhai, sympathetically: Hey, I won't do it if you're that concerned. Besides we can always talk how horrible he is behind his back. If that makes you feel any better.

Flint: I'm not sure if I should.

Baozhai: No, no, no. You sir need to get out all that pent up rage you have with your boss! Here I'll say something awful about bonnet and then you say something awful about Haggis!

Flint: I-

Baozhai, cutting him off: Okay it's agreed! Now where should I start... *Snaps fingers* Oh yeah. Bonnet is a weak man that's too much of an idiot to be captain! Whew, been meaning to get that one outta me... Now you try :)

Flint: Um. Let's see, Haggis is a jerk.

Baozhai, groans: Come on, I know you can do better than that!

Flint: That's all I have.

Baozhai: Seriously? Coming from the man who gets treated awfully by him everyday of his life? I know there's something you want to say, you just won't let it out.

Flint:

Flint: He's an asshole that I want to throw overboard...

Baozhai: What was that? I couldn't hear you.

Flint: I said he's an asshole that I want to throw overboard.

Baozhai: What??? I still can't hear you! Why are you talking so low? Afraid that he'll hear you??

Flint, getting pissed off at this point: FOR FUCK SAKE I SAID THAT HE'S A FUCKING ASSHOLE THAT I WANT TO THROW OVERBOARD! THERE! DID YOU HEAR THAT??

Baozhai: Yes. Now, did that make you feel better? Getting all that anger out..?

Flint:

Flint: it kinda did...

Baozhai: You don't have to feel ashamed. It's a good thing to get it all out! Bubbling up anger isn't healthy.. ain't that right Islay?

Islay: Go fuck yourself.

Baozhai: Seeee?

Flint: ... You're a strange person you know that.

Baozhai: I'm strange in the way I try to help people :)

Flint: heh, I guess so.. hey, I haven't asked you, how did you join pirating?

Baozhai: Huh? Oh, I joined after leaving my home for becoming a wanted fugitive. I thought to myself that joining a pirate crew was the best thing. I mean I was already a criminal so why not embrace it? Haha!

Flint: How did you become a fugitive?

//Baozhai got flashbacks of a burning house, hearing sirens, and the screams of bloody murder. She couldn't make out the images because they were so blurry. Baozhai couldn't help but smile at the flashbacks. She found it almost nostalgic. It was a moment in her life that caused a massive change. In her path and in her mind. Flint noticed this her expression. He felt a bit alarmed seeing her smile so randomly. All he did was ask a question.//

Baozhai: Well, let's just say, I shouldn't have my back turned near high places. 🙂

Flint, creeped out: Okay..

Baozhai: Sorry if I'm making you uncomfortable. I'm a little cuckoo in the head but don't worry, I won't hurt you, promise.

Flint, scoots a little bit away from Baozhai: Sure, I can trust you on that.

Baozhai: You definitely can! I'll have your back if anyone tries to mess with you!

Flint: Nice to know I have a possible crazy woman to protect me.

Baozhai: I know right?? Isn't that such a good deal? No one will try to mess with you then!

Flint: I can't guarantee that but you can try to.

Baozhai: haha, I love you..

Flint: what-

Baozhai: I said I shove you.. In a playful way! See? *Playfully shoves Flint*

//Flint bumps into a wall. A button was trigged causing multiple torches to light up. It revealed a mural before them. Islay took a closer look at the murals. They showed depections of outsiders with armies attacking and killing the villagers.//

Islay: Looks like the paititi people didn't just disappear.

Baozhai: so you're saying they were attacked?

Islay: Pillaged seems more like it. Just like how most civilizations of today were born.

Bones: You think there's any treasure left?

Islay: By the looks of it, looks like they managed to hide most of it to where we're heading. It's a good thing too or our adventure here would've been a waste of time.

Flint: We should keep moving. I think I see the exit up ahead.

Baozhai: Lead the way Flinty!

Flint: don't call me Flinty.

Baozhai: oh okay. Flinty..

//The squad walked together, exiting the cave.//

Flint: Huh, to be honest I kinda expected to get attacked by a monster or something.

Baozhai: I know right? I really wanted to beat up a big scary monster..! *Pouts*

Flint: Maybe next time Baozhai.

Baozhai: I mean dang I choose that one on purpose to fight something but guess I choose wrong.

Flint: Yeah well- wait you CHOOSE THAT ONE ON PURPOSE?? I THOUGHT YOU SAID IT WAS A SHORTCUT?!?

Baozhai: Something you should know about me is that I'm a liar.

Flint, pins her up against a tree: YOU FUCKING IDIOT YOU COULD'VE GOTTEN US KILLED!

Baozhai: HEY HEY! I mean at least we didn't die right???

Bones: she does have a point.

Flint, slowly unpins himself: I've got my eye on you from now on..

Baozhai: okay, okay, you don't have to worry from now on... But having your eye on me won't be so bad..~

Flint, rolls his eyes: whatever..

Bones: if that one was safe then wouldn't the other one be..?

Islay: Dangerous? Possible but I don't wanna find out. *Puts out her torch*

Bones, shrugs: I guess you're right. No point in doing so now. *Puts out his own torch*

Baozhai: Alright then ladies, enough chit chat. Treasure awaits us!

//Baozhai ran forward through some bushes. The others quickly tailed behind her, not wanting to lose the only person who knows where the treasure is. As soon as they ran away, from the different path emerged Sao, Haggis, and Erik. They looked pretty distressed after having witnessing something terrible.//

Sao: Why would you think that was a good way to go??

Erik: I DON'T KNOW! It looked safer???!

Sao, grabs him by his collar: We almost got killed! Those creatures were going to mual us to death!!

Erik: Oh please next time you chose where we go! Let's see how well that works out for you!

//Suddenly a dagger was thrown in between the two. It caused them to separate. Haggis had another dagger in hand, in case one wasn't enough to quick the twos fighting.//

Captain Haggis: Would you two shut up!? We don't have time to argue! We have to keep moving..

Erik & Sao: Yes captain!

Captain Haggis, pulls out the map from an inner pocket of his coat: we move north. Don't make yourselves noticable.. I have feeling one of Bonnet's leeches are around here.. closer than we know it.

Erik: you think that echo that called you an asshole and wanted to throw you overboard was one of them?

Captain Haggis, punches him in the face: DON'T SAY THAT AGAIN!

Erik, falls over: I'm sorry captain! I was just.. retelling what they said..!

Captain Haggis: Doesn't matter, you don't disrespect me regardless.. Let's go. *Walks forward*

Sao: get up off the ground you Sissy.

Erik: I can't.. I'm.. too weak to go on... Carry me?

Sao: no.

Erik: okay fine.. at least kiss it to make it all better??

Sao: I'm gonna kick you where the sun don't shine if you don't get up.

Erik, quickly getting up: ALRIGHT THEN! Let's not leave the captain behind now..

//Sao rolls her eyes at him and shaked her head. The two quickly followed behind their captain.//

Erik: you sure know how to swing a right hook captain..

Captain Haggis: I know. Not even Bonnet, who's twice my size couldn't even beat me. If I see him again, I'll make sure he won't even get out alive.

To be continued..

((Islay and Baozhai belong to me

Haggis, Sao, and Erik belong to @chaossmith2))

#treasure planet au #oc insert

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percontaion-points · 2 years

Text

OVE chapters 23 & 24

Click to see the rest of the snark & image descriptions

Chapter 23

So how long had Benedikt been lingering outside the alley, listening to their conversation?

Chapter 23 summary: Juliette’s grand plan is to use his sister as bait. Once Roma comes looking for Alisa, Juliette tries to tell him that there’s a mole in the whites, and she thinks that it’s the blackmailer. And then they delve into their shitty personal feelings, which it’s already been determined that I don’t give a hoot about. This quickly leads to them getting into a physical altercation, with Roma being the shittiest person that you can even imagine. Which… hey. If I didn’t care about their feelings, I can’t even begin to tell you how little I care about this.

But then Juliette gets badly hurt. Roma orders Alisa to go to xyz safehouse to get medical supplies. Alisa insists that Juliette needs to go to the hospital, but as Roma points out, it wouldn’t look good for either of them, no matter which hospital they end up at. He tends to her, proving that he doesn’t hate her as much as he keeps insisting.

As he does this, Juliette tells him that the whites have been infested with communists. Except Roma doesn’t believe her, since the whites are as anti-commie as anybody. Which is kind of besides the point right now… IT’S WHY THEY’RE A FUCKING SECRET SECT. She goes on to say that she’ll hand over the Scarlet notes and everything, even though she doesn’t have permission to do so. You’d think he’d jump at the chance, but whatever. She insists that this is helping everybody, and that the cure shouldn’t simply be for the scarlets, and stopped by greed. He finally agrees after he finishes patching her up.

Alisa then says that Juliette needs to go, since there’s some Russians coming over. Before she leaves, she makes plans to meet up with him later to get him the stuff.

After she leaves, Roma gets angry, but it’s more of a frustration than anything. He says that they should have stayed in the other city, because it was so quiet there. He misses that quiet. He muses for a while that he wishes that he’d been born to anybody else.

As they leave, they realize Ben had been standing there, listening to their conversation.

Chapter 24

She wanted to guess that Rosalind was just being spiteful, that Rosalind thought it unfair Juliette could collaborate with Roma without consequence while she had to sneak around with her lover.

Exactly what part of this doesn’t look like Juliette is sneaking around with Roma? Because Juliette had to stage a kidnapping in order to talk to Roma. JFC I’m done with the shitty drama for the sake of drama in this book.

“Do you not remember Lourens’s serum? In all this time, I have half expected one of you to realize the truth. Marshall Seo is alive.”

Chapter 24 summary: The chapter starts by reminding the readers that work conditions sucked for the common folk in the 1920’s. I don’t fucking care.

Marshal watches as Ben runs around the city, doing errands for the gang. This serves literally no point whatsoever.

Juliette meanwhile goes to her clandestine meeting with Roma to help him “steal” the scarlet’s research. She says that they have to wait for Kathleen to show up and distract Tyler. That he’s been living in the apartments there, paranoid that the whites would try to steal their research. Which is fair, considering what’s about to happen. Juliette explains that they intend to put it into the local water supply so that everybody can get it at once. But only into the water around the scarlet territory, and nothing more As I keep saying, because they’re shitty people who don’t care about the suffering of others. She goes on to say that those who seek immunity must pledge their loyalty to the scarlets; this was all Tyler’s idea. (Although, what’s to stop them from simply drinking from the well in scarlet territory? Literally nothing.)

Rose randomly shows up, and is angry at Juliette working with Roma. Despite the fact that she herself admitted not even two days earlier that she had a boyfriend in the whites. Juliette tries to tell herself that Rose is simply jealous, but I’m not buying it. Rose quickly leaves after that, proving that the author only introduced her in the scene simply for the sake of padding and causing unnecessary drama.

After that, Juliette leaves to distract Tyler, and Kathleen and Roma start talking about the feud. She talks about stopping it, but like… she does realize that she’s talking to the guy whose first response was “Oh no, despite the fact that I was with Juliette for the past two days, I’m going to blame her for the death of this child!”? The entire thing is so stupid and unnecessary. Juliette then starts to yell at Tyler upstairs, so the two of them break into the lab and take the papers.

They run out of there, but Kathleen stays behind to distract Tyler, whom Juliette had tied up. Why is she so fucking STUPID?! WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU DO THAT?!

But as Juliette and Roma run, they’re set upon by Ben, who is bitter and angry, and another part of the feud problem. After knocking Roma out, Ben then points a gun at Juliette. She blurts out that Marshall is still alive.

#These Violent Delights series #Our Violent Ends #Chapter 23 #chapter 24 #Juliette Cai #Roma Montagov #Alisa Montagova #Ben Montagov #Tyler Cai #Rosalind Cai #shitty people are shitty #i'm done goodbye #double standards #not everything is about you #priorities: get some #Marshal Seo

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clumsyclifford · 3 years

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i typed out a Whole thing and then changed my mind but how about like lazy sunday in before the work week w t-shirt verse jalex? ily bye x

omg hello this got (1) away from me and (2) so ridiculously romantic i have no excuse. there’s just something about t-shirt jalex. also i am currently taking suggestions for what color alex’s hair should be in this ‘verse bc as of now it is unspecified. okay hope you like it x

read here on ao3

Alex is at the stove. Jack’s barely awake and this is the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen.

“Morning,” he croaks, slumping forward to affix himself to Alex’s back. Alex staggers, laughing quietly.

“Good morning, my love,” he says. The kitchen always feels somehow both bigger and cozier with Alex in it, spacious but flooded with love. Love, Jack finds, smells like pancakes and tastes like Alex’s toothpaste and feels like sunlight and the cotton of Alex’s shirt under his fingers. It fits nicely into Jack’s kitchen. Their kitchen.

Their kitchen. Jack is still having a hard time getting used to that.

“You didn’t have to get up,” he mumbles against Alex’s shoulders. “Coulda slept in.”

Alex shrugs. “Was up anyway. Thought it’d be nice to make breakfast.”

“But it’s nice to cuddle,” Jack points out, eyes still closed. He presses his nose into Alex’s neck, inhaling deeply. “Mm, you’re warm.”

Alex’s deep, gentle laugh fills the air. “You’re clingy.”

“It’s cold,” Jack slurs. Slowly but surely, the atmosphere is seeping into his senses, pleasantly waking him up. “I love you for making pancakes.”

“I know you do.”

“Gonna make tea.”

“I prepared your mug and boiled the water already. You just need to pour it.”

“Have I mentioned lately that you’re the love of my life?” Jack presses his lips to the tattoo behind Alex’s ear, lingering a moment.

“Doesn’t hurt to hear,” Alex says happily. Jack reluctantly detaches himself from his boyfriend’s body to go and make himself some tea.

Tea is a weekend drink. Jack drinks coffee to get through the mind-numbing work days, but tea is for Sundays like this one. It’s nine in the morning and Jack can already feel the laziness of the day settling over their shoulders; they’re going nowhere today, doing nothing. It’s not often a perfect Sunday comes along, but Jack clings to the opportunity whenever it does. Like today.

Dust hovers in the beams of light stretching through the room and the apartment feels alight with a glittering January. Unlikely warmth starts in Jack’s chest and spreads outwards, something he can’t even attribute to the tea since he hasn’t begun to drink it yet.

Glancing over at Alex, humming to himself as he flips the pancakes, the warmth intensifies. Oh, Jack thinks, not particularly surprised.

It stands to reason that the love filling the kitchen would saturate his body as well.

Light spills over Alex, highlighting strands of hair and shining on his skin, brown eyes glowing almost as golden as the sunlight. It makes Jack wonder why he’s not a poet or something, except there aren’t words for this image, and Jack would be hard-pressed to come up with an original way to phrase what thousands of artists have already expressed.

He takes a picture. They’re worth a thousand words, if what they say is true, and that’s close enough.

Alex looks up at the movement. Jack just smiles and shamelessly takes another, catching the fond look on Alex’s face before setting his phone face-down on the table again.

“Stop it, you creep,” he says. “Help me with this.”

“Alex, I’m so fucking bad at crosswords,” Jack says, shifting his chair around the table anyway. “You know this.”

“But you know things that I don’t! Together we can solve it.”

“You could also solve it on your own.”

Alex shakes his head. “You’re overestimating my skills. I don’t think I’ve completed a Sunday puzzle in, uh, my entire life.”

“Well, I hate to break it to you,” Jack says wryly, “but I am not your secret weapon.”

Alex reaches for Jack’s hand and brings it to his lips, brushing a kiss over Jack’s knuckles. “Yes you are.”

Jack sighs. He’s a sucker for Alex and he doesn’t see that trend slowing anytime soon. “Fine. Give me one.”

“Here, I bet you know this one.” A tap of the pen against the newspaper next to the clue for 6-Down. “‘For You’ co-singer Rita.”

“Ora,” Jack says immediately. “Everyone knows that song.”

“Ora,” Alex repeats to himself, like something he should have known to know. “Actually, I didn’t. See? Already fulfilling your secret weapon duties.”

The puzzle is sparsely and randomly filled out. “Why don’t you go in order?”

“Because I don’t know 1-Across,” Alex says. “And if I stopped there it’d be a very short puzzle.”

Jack hums, skimming the list of clues for any other answers he might have. Most of the clues he thinks he could get are ones Alex has already filled in. Some are ones Jack would never have known. “What the fuck is a superlative prefix? ‘Most’?”

“Yeah, like…high school superlatives,” Alex says. “Most likely to make it big. Most likely to, uh, go to jail after graduation.”

“What the fuck were your high school superlatives?” Jack says, amused. “I didn’t know that’s what they were called.”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure this is wrong, though,” Alex says, face drawn in thought. He’s doing the hair-twirling thing again so Jack interrupts the motion, linking their fingers together and scratching gently at the nape of Alex’s neck. Alex hardly seems to notice. “Because I’m pretty sure 4-Down is ‘prince’.”

“‘Hamlet, for one,’” Jack reads from the clues list. He shakes his head. “I’m starting to think you’re smarter than me, Al.”

“Starting to?”

Jack scoffs and stabs at the remaining pancake on Alex’s plate, mostly because he knows Alex isn’t going to finish it. “Hey.”

“I’m teasing, completely joking,” Alex says, leaning into Jack and briefly resting his cheek against Jack’s shoulder. “I’m definitely not smarter than you. I teach middle school. If anything, that automatically makes me more of a dumbass.”

“You love doing that, though.”

Alex sighs. “Yeah. You can love something and still be an idiot for doing it, though.”

“Like being in a relationship with you.” Jack giggles. “Joking. Just kidding. I’m just kidding.”

“You better be,” Alex says lightly. “I know a lot of your deepest darkest secrets, Jack Barakat, and I am not afraid to unleash a pack of twelve-year-olds on you.”

Jack would like to argue that a horde of twelve-year-olds doesn’t scare him, but it does. It very much does.

“Fine,” he says. “You win this round.”

Alex kisses his cheek. As he moves away, Jack turns his head and kisses him on the lips. “You taste like pancakes.”

“You taste like you,” Alex replies, and it doesn’t sound sweet, but it really, really is. Jack licks his lips. He’s not sure what exactly he tastes like, but it charms him to think that it’s always more or less the same, or at least that Alex finds something familiar in every kiss he steals off Jack’s lips.

“Okay,” he says, leaning over the newspaper spread out before them. “We can do this. Who was in The Irishman?”

Whoever said that thing about how it’s better to have tried and failed than to never have tried at all might have been onto something.

They concede to the crossword puzzle after almost an hour of staring at it. To Jack it seems pathetic, until Alex grins at him and promises that this is rather impressive considering when he tries to do it alone he only ever gets, like, ten answers, and they’re often wrong.

Half-finished really isn’t so bad.

The rest of the afternoon and evening stretches out before them, in all its unscheduled glory, and Jack, like the mature adult he is, pulls Alex to the couch and insists they spend at least three hours of the day watching TV.

His second mug of tea is sitting, partially drunk, on the coffee table, Alex’s empty mug beside it. Jack’s is going cold but he’s warm with Alex’s head in his lap, eyes closed as Jack pushes a hand through his hair, and he can’t find it in himself to care. As a compromise, they’ve put on Project Runway, something Alex loves Jack enough to sit through but doesn’t care enough about to pay attention to. If Jack were a more petty person, he would be annoyed by this, but he’s not. Having Alex like this is arguably better, essential in the task of keeping Jack’s thighs warm and also giving Jack something to look at when the urge strikes him.

The angles of Alex’s face and the way his hair flops over his forehead are enough to keep Jack mesmerized for hours.

It’s in one of these moments of weakness, Jack gazing down at the boy in his lap instead of watching the high-stakes but decidedly less enchanting events unfold on the TV, that Alex opens his eyes. His gaze catches Jack unawares, but Jack doesn’t flinch.

“You’re not even watching,” Alex huffs, smirking. “It was your idea to watch something and you aren’t even watching it.”

“I’ve got a better view right here,” Jack says.

Alex just rolls his eyes. “C’mere,” he says, grabbing clumsily at the front of Jack’s shirt.

“I don’t think I am physically capable of kissing you from this angle.”

“Oh, is that a challenge?” Alex picks his head up and pulls Jack down, and it’s not ideal or particularly attractive, but Jack has to admit that they do, technically, kiss, thus proving Jack wrong, which is probably in Alex’s top ten favorite things to do. Only for a second, though, before Jack pulls away.

“I stand corrected, but I also kind of hated that,” he says.

Alex laughs, musical and bright. “Sorry. Let me try again.” He shifts around, straightening up until his feet are on the floor and his body is upright, and this time Jack has no complaints when Alex curls his fingers around the collar of Jack’s t-shirt and drags him in.

Project Runway isn’t exactly the ideal soundtrack to making out on the couch, but Jack’s not picky.

A fluttering touch lands on Jack’s hip, sneaking just under the hem of his shirt to rest against his skin. Alex releases Jack’s shirt, sliding his other hand up and around to cradle Jack’s face, thumb brushing his jaw. The show in the background fades to nothing, as so often the world does when Alex’s lips are on his. Everything is Alex and Alex is everything — and maybe that’s always true, but it’s easier to sink into when they’re attached in so many places, lips under teeth and noses brushing cheeks and hands forever tracing skin, clothes, hair, whatever ends up beneath Jack’s fingertips.

It’s looking more and more like the love in the kitchen hadn’t been confined to the kitchen. Or maybe it had never been about the kitchen, but the company. And maybe Jack has known this all along, and the love he feels for Alex follows him around like a stray dog, like a best friend, like a promise. It bleeds from him, infusing itself into the air without ever lessening in himself. Sometimes it trips off his tongue.

Often it does.

“I love you,” Jack murmurs, like he’s just a ragdoll stuffed with love who’s coming apart at the seams, another stitch undone whenever Alex touches him. He’ll keep spilling this love over them and somehow he’ll never run out, and if that makes him weak then Jack is content to be weak.

Alex only laughs a little, but it’s not mean-spirited, just sweet. “Would it surprise you to know that I love you, too?”

It wouldn’t. This is the secret to Jack’s never-ending supply: the love he gives is the love he receives.

“I love you for making me breakfast,” Jack whispers, pressing his lips to Alex’s cheek, just outside the corner of his eye. “And for the tea. And for making me do the crossword puzzle with you. And for watching shitty reality TV with me.” With each proclamation he brushes a kiss to Alex’s forehead, his other cheek, the corner of his mouth. Alex’s smile stretches across his face, crinkling his eyes by the time Jack kisses him again, for real, though he still returns it to the best of his ability.

It doesn’t last long. “You don’t play fair, JB,” Alex breathes, then laughs again like he can’t help it. “What am I supposed to say to that?”

“You could start with ‘I love you too,’” Jack suggests, slanting a breezy smile at Alex. “That usually works.”

Alex gathers Jack’s wrists in his hands and kisses his palms, one after the other, before lifting his gaze back to Jack. In the light of the apartment, Jack has never seen anyone more beautiful. The truth of his own earlier words washes over him like a sedative, a comforting tranquilizer.

“Doesn’t feel like enough,” Alex admits, “but I’m not sure this love can be put into words, you know?”

Jack does know.

“Though it’s worth saying,” Alex continues, sliding his hands into Jack’s until their fingers are interlaced, “that I love you for doing the impossible crossword with me, and I love your half-drunk cups of tea, and I loved you in the morning and I love you right now and when we go to sleep tonight, I’ll love you then, and every night after that for the rest of my life, you know what? I’ll love you for those too.”

Jack understands that these are big, big words, promises that are much easier to make than keep. But with Alex holding his gaze and his hands right now, sheltered from the real world or maybe creating it, he knows that Alex means every word, and Jack does too.

#jack barakat #alex gaskarth #jalex #jalex fic #all time low #atl fic #fic #my fic #holy FUCK this is fluffy and romantic and ???????#one of the lines in this makes me lose it #i know i wrote it but it makes me LOSE it #ok i am gonna draft this until it's a good time to post it #aka probably in a day or two #bc the malum thing just posted tonight #by the way it is fully 7am #i wrote this in the last two hours #the sun has risen and the sky is a beautiful pastel rn #in case anyone was wondering #boy. my sleep schedule. it sure is. uh. a thing that does not exist #(insert calum yikes emoji)#man.........the words in this fic. the sentences #every single thing i write is like literally one word away from making absolutely no fuckin sense #arguably it already does not #i had to stop listening to my love songs playlist and put on this playlist of instrumental romantic music #cos i was trying to be poetic and shit but there were all these fuckin LYRICS going on and it was Not Happening #ANYWAY into the drafts this goes see yall in a little bit #tirednotflirting #ask #answered #ok im posting this now at half 1pm but . dont get me wrong. i wrote and drafted it at 7am

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