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littlemoonglow · 10 months

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Warning: Long post?

—

Jason did not expect his ghost form to feel…like this.

(Oh, dealing with his body randomly phasing through the ground and smacking his face onto hard concrete was not fun, but Jason dealt with that just like with every other hurdle in his life. By being more stubborn than the problem itself.)

It felt like something… settled into place. That was the best way he could describe it.

He felt as if spite and anger were finally not the only things keeping him awake and running.

He felt calm, almost. Stable, at least. Whatever pent up energy that was stuck in his chest cavity now flowed freely throughout his body, redistributed, instinctually easier to manage.

It's almost like he could breathe a little bit easier.

(After much… ranting that Jason decided to ignore for his own sanity, Danny said that his case ectoplasmic corruption was probably due to the fact that Death, as a concept, doesn’t let go of things easily, time shenanigans notwithstanding.)

(Becoming a half-ghost was seemingly the only working compromise.)

—

Danny once told him that broad strokes of a ghost’s personality could be guessed by looking at their physical appearance.

Despite the cool powers, this was a slight downside. Jason dealing with the filth of the Earth meant that being to hide his emotions and who he is was kind of important. Life saving, even.

He realized later on that his ghost form was way too easy to read.

—

He looked at his arms covered in bandages, and got reminded of the amount of times he had to patch himself up in the last month.

His jacket was ripped in place he knew that would have been sewn together when he was a living breathing human (well, as much as he could be).

He always looked slightly on fire?

(Danny told him it's probably related to his... core?)

(He know he died in an explosion but really?)

And then, there was his… veil? Shroud? Cloak?

It looked really nice.

But on the other hand…

It drooped when he felt under the weather. It flicked and thrashed around when he’s either irritated or barely holding back his urge to headshot someone.

And—

(No Danny, my cloak was not fucking wagging when you brought me fresh ectoplasm last week, you’ll have to get your goddamn eyes checked—)

He'll deny it until the day he dies (a second time).

And then his cloak could sometimes just…grow bigger. He figured that it acted as an extension of his own body, and had a nice add-on of allowing him to sense things he couldn't see. Hell, he could even make a hand out of it (wacking Danny with it - gently - never gets old). Jason had to also admit it looked cool, with the wispy bits and with one of its sides becoming a bright yellow.

(It reminded him a bit of his time as Robin.)

—

Being a ghost had a lotta perks.

Dealing with targets was so much easier when no one could see you. Inflitration was so much simpler when walls became optional. Cameras will glitch out when he's around, he left no traces visible to the naked eye and, combined with his training, to say that it was useful would be an understatement.

But, sometimes, he feels like he’s changing as well the more he transforms. Not drastically, but enough for him to look back and notice.

He usually was someone who prided on being efficient and straight to the point.

But now he’s starting to… have fun.

He started using his claws whenever he could. Don't het him wrong, he still uses his guns plenty, but there was just something deeply satisfying about vaulting over things, scaling a wall or crawling on the ceiling with bare hands.

(Punching people is still the most satisfying by far, though.)

That one time hunting down the Joker wannabes was fun too.

(Danny said he’d get along great with Skulker? Did Jason want to find out? No.)

Fading in and out of invisibility, he picked them off one by one, watching as panic and dread slowly but surely creeped up on the remaining ones.

(After all, he has no respect for those trying to emulate the dead clown.)

—

(Yeah, the Joker was dead.)

(Surprisingly, that has not been a good day.)

—

One of the favorite things he liked to do was rooftop parkour. The… bendability of gravity is… fun, not gonna lie.

(Not flying though. Jason is used to having feet in regular contact with solid ground, thank you very much. No offense, Danny.)

But he gets why ghosts love to fly. When he’s jumping from rooftop to rooftop in Gotham in the at night, watching the city light fly by, cloak spread behind him, it’s as if nothing else matters.

(No Joker, no petty criminals to beat up, no avoiding the Bats so they don’t find out about his existence—)

He can just enjoy, even just for a little bit.

—

(Somehow the Demon Brat and Orphan could sense him. Will keep and eyes on those two, and also the more reasons to avoid them.)

(The real problem was the new Bat in town. Bruce, what the fuck, another one? Again?)

(The yellow one, Signal. No time to check his profile yet, but probably a meta or something.)

(First night out and the guy almost managed to actually fucking see him —looked at him straight in the eyes and all, then did a double take. Jason never phased into the pavement so fast in his entire fucking life.)

(And so far no Bats on his cloak tails yet.)

(He did help the guy incognito, just a couple of times.)

(And he also did steal his escrima sticks for fun, and once the guy went out looking for them, he’d put them right back where they were.)

(Turns out, he discovered later, that being a little shit runs in the ghost community.)

—

(Sometimes he also wonders what happened to Danny before they met.)

(He wasn't a Gothamite, that was obvious. He doesn’t pry, but it doesn’t take a lot to piece two and two together.)

(He just wonders who he has to kill this time.)

—

(Jason could not believe he forgot and underestimated just how fucking persistent every single one of the Bats could be. Of course it had to run in the family.)

He gazed down, thought the agony, at the gaping wound under his right armpit.

(The Bats have been chasing him relentlessly for a while now. He got more injuries than he can count, especially from Bruce.)

(They know. Oh, they know.)

(It didn’t go well.)

(He knows the others are there surrounding him to prevent him from escaping, he knows that Dick is right behind him, but at the moment he couldn’t care less.)

It has been a long time since the last time he got shot.

(It felt like someone set his right side on fire.)

What was flowing out in abundance was a neon, toxic green.

(The Pit Waters, ectoplasm, he didn’t even know that he could fucking bleed in ghost form—)

(Danny—)

He looked back up at Batman, holding a (frankly) ugly gun, white casing and highlights in the same shade of toxic green.

(A gun that Danny warned him about. And everything behind it.)

Jason felt something in him... snap.

(Why did it have to be you, Bruce.)

His mouth opened—

(waitsincewhenhecoulddothatthroughtthe mask—)

(Jason could see the billows of neon green smoke—)

(He couldn’t see Bruce’s expression.)

(Every. Single. Goddamn. Time.)

— and wailed.

---------------------------------------------------

I am genuinely delighted that my last post got that much attention! Thank you so much, to all who liked, rebblogged and commented, it really does mean the most. 💕

This AU may be continued? No guarantees, tho.

For those interested: Part 01

@fandomnerd103 @phoenixdemonqueen @satisfactionbroughtmeback @ascetic-orange @apointlessbox @bathildaburp @fisticuffsatapplebees @aisforanonymity @phandomhyperfixationblog @help-i-need-a-cool-username @hashtagdrivebywrites @did-i-miss-anyone-tagging-is-a-monk's-job-first-time-doing-this-aaaaaaaaaaaaaa

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minty364 · 4 months

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DPXDC Prompt #108 Part 1

He remembered going to bed in his own bed last night. His own bed in his own room. This wasn’t his room, his bed, or even his pajamas. The body he was in didn’t feel quite right either, almost like it somehow knew he wasn’t supposed to be in it. Part of him wondered if he was dreaming but he was way too self aware for this to be a dream.

This room didn’t look like any of his brother's rooms either. It had a bunch of space themed trinkets, glow in the dark stars on the ceiling, and NASA posters on the walls. None of his brothers were into space as far as he knew so this had to be a strangers room. He wondered for a moment if he was kidnapped or something, but that didn’t sound quite right either. He was in a stranger's body so he must be in this person’s room. He had to figure out exactly what was going on.

Just as he was considering his options the phone by the table side started ringing. Damian didn’t really know where the tune came from but it sounded catchy. He looked at the caller ID and while the phone didn’t recognize the number Damian did. It was his own, hopefully he’d be able to get some answers.

“Hello?” He answered.

“Yeah, I’m sorry about all of this. My parents are inventors and one of their inventions backfired big time. I’m Danny” The voice on the other line was his own, a little jarring sure but it to be expected, if he was in someone’s body there was a good chance they were in his body. “My name’s Damian, Inventions? This is quite the backfire. I hope you have a plan to switch us back.”

“Yeah, don’t worry, I’ve got a couple friends looking into it, they’ll be on their way in a bit to help with all of this.”

Damian was starting to get irritated a little at how this was going. Bringing outside ‘help’ into the situation just seemed more like a distraction from whatever ‘Danny’ had planned for Gotham.

“Right, Damian, so right now you're in my body and I’m in your’s… so, my parents' invention was only supposed to strengthen the soulmate pull, but because of my weird biology. We switched bodies instead.” Damian didn’t have word’s, the whole story sounded ludicrous. But at the same time, Damian couldn’t help but believe it was true.

The weird things about the body he was in, helped convince him and then, suddenly a thought occurred to him. Hesitantly he lifted his other hand up to his neck to check his pulse.

It was unusually slow, “Why’s your pulse so slow?” he couldn’t help but ask. He didn’t want to admit it but he was starting to freak out a little.

“Like I said, I’ve got weird biology. I’ll explain, but it isn’t a pretty story. I don’t really want to explain all of this but since you're in my body, you need to know so you can keep my parents from finding out. Deal?”

Having weird biology still didn’t quite explain things but hopefully a few things didn’t quite make sense, “You said your parent’s were researching soulmates? Why.”

“Alright, I’ll give you this one but seriously you’ve got to promise to keep my parent’s from finding out about things. They were a little upset that I haven’t found mine yet, my sister found hers so they were excited for me to find mine. Long story short, bad things tend to happen when my parents get excited.”

So from the sound of things Danny thought they were soulmates. That might have been true but there wasn’t a good way for them to prove anything at the moment. For now it would probably be better to go along with Danny’s plan. He didn’t like it but he could probably get a lot of information out of Danny’s friends if he played along. “Alright I agree to not intentionally reveal anything to your parents.”

“Work’s for me. What do you know about ghosts?”

#dp x dc prompt #dc x dp #dp x dc #danny fenton #danny phantom #Damian wakes up in Danny’s body #soulmates au #danny and Damian are soulmates #I dissociated hard writing this #Slight dissociation mention #Dissociation warning #I dissociate when I look at myself in the mirror #all my prompts are free to use #my asks are open

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suzukiblu · 6 months

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Hey kids, I've got some more "Billy adopts Conner and it actually goes pretty good!" behind this here read-more. You know, if that's a thing you're into. ��

“I don’t know what names are good,” Superboy says finally, his voice stiff. “Or sound good. I never even heard music before Kid Flash was–I just don’t know what sounds are good. Or whatever.”

“It doesn’t matter if it’s ‘good’,” Billy says, wondering why Superboy cares so much about his name “sounding” good and also why Cadmus is apparently the worst. They never even played music for him? What, at all? He makes an immediate mental note to figure out how to set up the wireless speakers Batman had delivered and, like, Spotify or something. “You just have to like it.”

“Oh,” Superboy says, just barely frowning again. “Are you . . . sure?”

“Yeah,” Billy says firmly. “I’m definitely sure.”

“Oh,” Superboy says again, then looks down at his feet. Billy feels bad for him and is going to set up like, a million different playlists the first chance he gets. Just like a lot of different stuff, so Superboy can figure out what he likes.

“Do you still want suggestions?” he asks. “I promise I won’t pick anything that sounds bad.”

“. . . fine,” Superboy says, still looking at his feet. It’s not a resounding “yes” or anything, but it’s no a “no”, Billy’s pretty sure, and he does want to help Superboy pick a good name, so . . . it’s probably okay to try again, he thinks.

“Okay,” he says, trying to think of something really good and not just random stuff this time. Like–names are important, and Superboy obviously cares about what other people are gonna think of what he picks, so . . .

Superboy keeps not looking at him. Billy tries not to worry about it. Maybe Superboy just doesn’t like looking at people at all. He didn’t make eye contact with Kid Flash’s parents while they were here either, and barely even with Kid Flash. Which makes sense, he guesses, because why would someone used to telepathic communication really feel a need to look at anyone’s face? Superboy probably doesn’t have the . . . instinct, or whatever.

Well, it’s fine if he doesn’t, Billy figures. Either he’ll learn it or he’ll just not like it either way, and neither of those options are a big deal or anything. The name thing and coming up with rules and stuff and helping Superboy feel comfortable are way more important right now.

"Um . . . actually, my mom's name was Marilyn," Billy suggests a little shyly as an old idea occurs to him. It’s been a while since he really thought about it, honestly, but . . . "So you could be 'Lynn', maybe? If that's not too weird? I used to think that if I ever had a kid I'd name them after my mom, 'cuz my dad's name was Clarence and that's pretty old-fashioned, though I guess if you were a girl you could've just been 'Claire', so . . . well, maybe Clarence could be your middle name, actually? If you like it, I mean."

Superboy . . . pauses. Frowns at the floor.

"Why would you name me that?" he asks skeptically. "You might have an actual kid someday and want to use it for them."

"I have an actual kid right now," Billy says reasonably. "Why wouldn't I use it for you?"

Superboy sits very, very still, and doesn't say anything. Billy starts worrying that maybe that was weird or too much and maybe he's already the worst dad ever and maybe now Superboy thinks he's weird and too much and the worst dad ever and is just gonna get up and go straight back to Kid Flash's house and never even talk to him again or–

"I count as an actual kid to you?" Superboy asks, his voice completely neutral.

Oh, Billy realizes.

Man, he's dumb sometimes.

"Yeah," he says firmly. "You definitely count."

". . . okay," Superboy says, looking at the wall. "'Lynn' works."

"Awesome," Billy says, smiling at him as wide as he thinks he can get away with. He doesn't want to look fake or like he's trying too hard or to be overwhelming or anything like that. He just wants to make it obvious that he's happy right now. "Nice to meet you, Lynn Clarence Batson."

"Nice to meet you too," Superboy says–Lynn says–glancing sidelong at him just a little bit hesitantly. "Um . . . Dad."

Billy grins.

Okay. Not the worst dad ever after all, then.

#billy batson #conner kent #captain marvel #shazam #superboy #young justice #wip: billy adopts conner and it actually goes pretty good!#rinfic

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straylightdream · 7 months

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collateral damage

part one: you’ll never leave me

feat: artist!hwang hyunjin x f.reader

↳ “He was left out in a sea of debit drowning. His only chance at surviving was marrying you. ”

arranged marriage au

warnings: mentions violence and death, gambling and drinking, dealing with past heartbreak and angst, unprotected sex, oral (both receiving) body worship, mentions of pregnancy. More warning to come in each chapters.

an: this is a part of my arranged marriage series I’m working on. I’m going to post this in short chapters and then when it’s finish post it all together.

series masterlist

𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰. Please fill out this form.

𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐬.

A young talented artist with the world at his fingertips, had one major flaw. He loves to gamble. That wouldn’t be an issue if he kept winning, the real problem is he kept losing. Each loss pushes him further and further underwater. He was left out in a sea of debit drowning.

A rough night at a poker game left him tied to an overpriced Italian leather chair fearing this was the end of the line for him. With a blackeye and a busted lip, he was waiting for the end to come. The door to the dark office opens and the one man he feared most walks into the room with a bodyguard on each side.

“Hwang Hyunjin, why do we keep meeting like this?” The man dressed in an extremely expensive black Dior suit walks in front of him.

Hyunjin winces looking up at him slowly. The man had a wicked grin playing across his lips. Hyunjin’s eyes travel to the gun the man holds in his hand. He doesn’t respond, he just stares at him. He knew whatever happened to him was his own fault. He was the one who couldn’t stop gambling. He would be his own undoing.

“Answer him,” one of the guards shouted, kicking Hyunjin's already broken rib. Hyunjin gasps in pain, closing his eyes trying to stay with it. The beating he took before being tied up was already taking a toll on him.

“I don’t know Sir,” he finally says, groaning in pain.

“Hyunjin, you're such a promising artist, with such a nasty habit for losing money,” the man in the suit walks towards him. “You know how much money you owe me right?” he crouches down so he’s eye level with Hyunjin.

“A lot Sir,” he groans.

The man reaches forward, grabbing Hyunjin’s jaw tightly. “You have no way to pay me back,” he growls. The look on the man’s face let Hyunjin know death was closer than he expected.

“I’ll figure it out sir,” Hyunjin had been trying to figure out for a while how to crawl his way out of debt. Every option he could think of still left him drastically short on money.

“I’m feeling overly generous today. I have a one way ticket out, you either take it or you have twenty-fours to figure out how you’re gonna pay me,” he lifts Hyunjin’s chin so he’s looking at him. “Every single god damn penny you owe me.”

“What is it sir?” No matter what it was he knew he had to take it, because there's no way he could get all the money he owed him in twenty-four hours. He’s as good as dead if he doesn’t take the offer.

“Marry my daughter, and all is forgiven,” he releases Hyunjin's jaw before gently smacking his cheek lightly.

Hyunjin’s eyes grow wide as he tries to process what he was just offered. He didn’t even know the man in front of him had a family let alone a daughter.

“How old is she?” he asks without really thinking of anything else.

“She’s your age,” he lets out a laugh.

“When will I marry her?” It didn’t matter who she was. He had no choice but to marry her. His life was hanging on the line.

“Is that a yes Hwang Hyunjin,” he walks away from him and takes a seat at his expensive oak desk. “If you’re wise you’ll marry her.”

“Yeah, I’ll marry her,” he had never even seen her, but she’s his only chance of surviving.

Laying in bed you’re awoken at four in the morning to your fathers phone call. Frantically you answer the phone worried something is wrong. Your father simply tells you to open the front door. Walking through your house in a robe wrapped tightly around your body you open the door to find your father and two of his guards standing on the other side.

For the longest time your father went out of his way to protect you from the evils of his job, but as you got older you saw what his job was truly like. You always tried to distance yourself from him, and had even tried to run away once but you were quickly found less then a week later.

“Hello darling,” your father says casually.

“Dad, what’s going on?” you say completely confused.

“I’ve brought you something,” one of his guards Minhyuk pulls a man with dark hair that reaches his shoulder in front of him. The boy immediately winces in pain, grabbing his side.

“What?”

“Darling, say hello to Hwang Hyunjin, your soon to be husband,” your father says as Minhyuk pushes the boy towards you. He can barely stand on his feet and you catch him before he falls.

“What the hell are you talking about?” you hold the boy up as you look at your father completely confused about what he is even talking about.

“He has a large debit to pay me, and that can only be paid by marrying you,” your father says too casually. As if forcing you into an arranged marriage is completely normal. “If you don’t want to marry him it’s fine. Tae will take care of him.”

Your heart sinks knowing exactly what will happen if you tell your father no. You literally hold this man’s life you’ve never met before in your hands. If you say no, Hyunjin most likely won’t even see the sun come up.

“Why?” you can’t help the tears that are threatening to fall as you stare at a man who has been clearly beaten by one of your father’s men.

“You’ll never leave me again, if you have him with you.” The older you get the tighter the grip your father fights to hold on your life. He tries to be in control in any possible way he can. You can’t do anything without him having a say. Your father made sure that when you opened your flower shop he had full control over the building, and clearly this is his way of having control of your romantic life.

“I’ll marry him,” you look at the beautiful man and see a guilt ridden expression on his face. Hyunjin is nothing more than a pawn in your father's game that is your life.

“I’ll have Yeji plan your wedding this week. Expect an extravagant wedding in two weeks. Oh and Hyunjin, and my darling daughter if you try anything funny to try to get out of this. Just know Hyunjin, I have no problem permanently removing you from this or any situation ever.”

Minhyuk pulls the door shut and you’re left standing there holding up a boy you’ve never met before. He steps away from you and stumbles over to the couch. You rush over to him, dropping to your knees trying to examine the damage your father left behind.

“I’m so sorry,” you say as you start to cry.

“Why are you sorry?” he groans, reaching up to brush away the dried blood from his lip.

“He’s just using you to make sure I can’t leave again,” reaching you to rest your hand on his cheek. You finally take a good look at him and realize how handsome he is.

“We’ll figure this out. I guess we’re a team now,” Hyunjin sighs. He reaches up resting hand on yours.

You realize your apartment isn’t really set up to have a second person living in it. You live in a one bedroom apartment with nowhere to put a second bed.

“My place only has one room,” you look into his warm eyes.

“That’s fine I can sleep on the couch,” he groans holding his side.

“I should probably clean up your cut,” you stand up holding your hand out. You don’t even know this man that is supposed to be your husband, but all you know is you want to help him.

Rushing off to your bathroom you pull out a first aid kit. You pause for a moment and look into the mirror at the site of your tear stained cheeks and puffy eyes. You knew your father went out of his way to control your life but you never thought he would arrange for you to marry a man you’ve never met. You couldn’t help but suddenly feel completely trapped by your father and he was making Hyunjin a pawn in his game.

Regarding taglist:

If you aren’t interacting with my writing outside of liking the new post I’m gonna have to remove your name from the taglist. You will also be removed if I try to tag you and your blog is listed as "invisible". If you've changed your URL and didn't let me know I will also be removing your name. I’m sorry for the inconvenience but my interactions outside or likes feels like it’s nonexistent right now. All of my taglist are still open though. If you request to be added to one via this form, I kindly ask for interactions in the form and feedback and reblogs. To be quite honest, those really encourage my writing.

#stray kids #stray kids x reader #stray kids smut #stray kids arranged marriage #skz #skz x reader #hwang hyunjin #Hyunjin #Hyunjin x reader #Hyunjin smut #Hyunjin imagine #Hyunjin arranged marriage #stray kids angst #kpop #kpop smut #kpop imagine #stray kids fanfiction

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wispythreads · 7 months

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I did catch on to that part of it with him bouncing between jobs so frequently, and some of the other things like the fridge freezer, but they were still included in the jumbled up thoughts I listed out partly because I was thinking about them before coming to an answer, and partly because I'm not fully sure if those answers are all there is to it.

Cause, yeah, there’s the newspaper clipping rebuking him for being “unprofessional and brash” (which damn that’s also just rotating in my head because Vince was clearly reading this specific clipping earlier and blatantly lied saying Rody hadn’t been mentioned at all, later scribbling out the section talking about the waiter), he’s very clearly messy and unkempt in pretty much every aspect of his life, and even if he gets the to-go question right in the tutorial, Vince appends the "Good work." with "keep tone in mind."

But, the thing is, he does know a lot of the basics. Much of the tutorial is really just for the benefit of the player to know how the mechanics of the game works, Rody meanwhile nods along and does whatever task is needed without comment, only getting tripped up when Vince mentions the way the menu for his bistro works, and when the aforementioned customer asked if he could get boxes to go or call in his order ahead of time. Which I think are reasonable things to get tripped up on! Those seem like things that would vary depending on the establishment he was working for.

I keep thinking about his reaction when Vince pivoted the conversation of "do you actually like your job" onto Rody. His awkward response that it paid him money. Vince voicing specifically “I doubt you wanted to wait tables for a living-”, and that being met with how there was “something” Rody went to school for, that he was too hesitant to tell Vince, feeling he’d get made fun of. The impression that its some passion he had that just didn't work out. The revelation later that the “something” in question was him majoring in hospitality.

He was afraid he'd be made fun of for actively going to school and choosing to study for skills that, either ironically or purposefully, would've been useful for his current job of waiting tables. A goal that he flunked out of. He has had 28 jobs in the service industry over the course of 7 years. He keeps losing his job, but he also keeps getting hired.

I keep thinking of the post-credits scene of the Best Served Hot, whisky lemon cake ending. "I can't keep watching you ruin any semblance of progress you make with yourself while trying to make me happy, it's exhausting-"

He's only 4 days into this job when he approaches Vince for a raise. He already figures he'll have enough to do something nice for Manon, his "girlfriend," by the end of the week, but he wants more to make it really special. He is very clearly told 'no.'

On the 5th day, when his shift is finally over and done, we don't next see him as we usually do, back at his apartment. He's still at the bistro, all the lights turned out. The only other person presumably being Vince hacking away at the meat in the freezer that'll be used for the meals in the morning. The first time I went through that night, I presumed Rody had just been selected to stay late and help clean up for the night, with whatever Vince was doing in the background ominous horror ambience to be unsettled by.

But we can't really do anything while there that would support this initial assumption. There are only two things you can do. Snoop around in Vince's office, and... steal from the cash register. Whether you avoid doing the latter as I did or not, it has no bearing on whatever ending you get, but just the fact that it's even an option to Rody...

How many other times did he allow his love for Manon to rule over his decisions, making choices in the pursuit of what he believed would make her happy, no matter the cost, before finally facing a price for his obsession beyond the scope of his worst nightmares?

...

And after all that I do want to defend the rollerskates a bit because

Rollerskates in restaurants are kinda a thing, in the 1960s (the year this game is set) they were a pretty popular gimmick/tool for diners in the U.S. at least, not sure about elsewhere in the world unfortunately

Yeah he canonically brought and proceeded to wear rollerskates to work at a fancy bistro. But that also means Vince watched him show up to work one day, wearing rollerskates, and just let him do it. Just watched Rody roll around his fancy bistro attending to customers that expect the highest of professionalism, and said nothing.

#dead plate #dead plate spoilers #rody #bit of play experience #sort of #hopefully this makes sense for others reading this my thoughts still feel very jumbled up

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hopepetal · 6 months

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Hi! It's been a while, hasn't it?

@applestruda, @periwinklemoonlight, and I have been working on arc three of the boatem knights au for quite a while now. We hope you enjoy it :)

At the moment, the second chapter is not ready for posting, so it won't be out for a while.

Boatem Knights AU fic masterlist

Read on AO3!

Reblogs and comments are much appreciated :)

His nightmares hadn’t gone away.

Feathers rustling in the wind, Grian gazed up toward the night sky. Sighing heavily, he glanced back toward Pearl’s tent. She had offered for him to join her many times– avians were highly sociable after all, and often slept in the same nest– but he’d refused. He wouldn’t want to wake her up as well.

It didn’t make sense.

Dreams of a desert, of cold silver skin, of red eyes and names and flowers and blood. And every day they’d gotten worse. More vivid.

Whatever it was, it wasn’t something Grian had the energy to figure out right now. He needed sleep.

He stood up and walked back to his own tent, and settled down for what would be another restless night.

And he hadn’t woken up the next day.

Or the day after that.

The first day Grian slept through, Pearl hadn’t been too worried. With how bad her brother’s insomnia could get, it wasn’t a rare occurrence for him to not get enough sleep during the night and then make up for it during the day. She’d checked in on him, of course, and smiled softly at the sight of him curled up in his blankets, wings resting on either side of him as he smushed his face into the pillow.

“He probably just had a rough night,” she mentioned to the others during lunch, “I wouldn’t bother him.”

Mumbo looked up, frowning slightly. “Hasn’t he mentioned having nightmares for a while now? Maybe that’s what’s been keeping him up.”

Pearl nodded, wings fluttering anxiously behind her. “Yeah. The last few months have been rough on him.”

“I think it’s from all the building we have to do,” Scar piped up. “Trying to finish the lodge has been a nightmare.”

“We’re almost done!” Pearl argued, optimistic as ever. “Just a little more, then we’re all set!”

Mumbo slumped back in his seat, letting out a soft huff. “Can’t we just leave it as is? I think it’s perfectly well done.”

Scar raised an eyebrow, leaning back with a smirk. “I think you just don’t like building, mister.”

Mumbo rolled his eyes, though he was unable to hold back a grin. “Well, it’s certainly not my favorite activity. I’d much rather be–”

“–working on your redstone, we know.” Impulse chuckled, shaking his head. “Unless you want to be buried in snow by the time winter comes around, we probably shouldn’t be calling the lodge ‘perfectly well done’.”

Mumbo grumbled a little at that, much to the amusement of the others. “Look, I’ll do my tasks and everything, but I’m not happy about it!”

Pearl laughed, leaning against the table. “You gotta weigh your options, mate. Either build the lodge now, or be wet and freezing during the winter. Which one would you prefer?”

“Well, when you put it that way…”

The knights quickly finished lunch after that, making small talk as they cleaned and put away the dishes. The leftovers from lunch were stored away for later, placed in the shed they had built a while back so that the wild animals wouldn’t be able to get into their food.

“Same duties as earlier?” Impulse asked Pearl as they all made their way to the half-finished lodge.

Pearl nodded, pulling her hair back into a ponytail. “I don’t see why we would change them. I’ll take on Grian’s duties on top of mine, though I can’t promise I’ll be as fast.”

“Good thing we’re so ahead of schedule, then!” Scar piped up. “It’s a lot easier to focus on one thing instead of a whole bunch of tiny tasks.”

Pearl laughed, her wings fluttering in amusement. “That, and we’re all insanely fast builders. Who would’ve thought?”

Impulse grinned. “Well, I’m just naturally good at everything I do, so I’m not surprised.”

Laughing and joking, the four went about completing their tasks. The sounds of construction filled the air, conversation occasionally popping up alongside it. As the day progressed, it began to get hotter and hotter, construction slowing down as it did so.

Finally, the sun began to set, and their long day of work was called to an end by Mumbo. It was just routine at this point– the knights would work until the sun began to set and then they’d all gather at the west end of camp to watch the sun go down. Mumbo was always the quickest to put away his tools, and today was no different. Impulse and Scar went to join him, while Pearl slipped off to go check on her brother. Just as she had expected, he had barely moved from his sleeping position, only shifted slightly in a likely effort to get more comfortable. She pulled up one of the ottomans, settling down next to his bed.

Reaching out, Pearl gently brushed some hair out of her brother's warm face, smiling slightly. “Heyyy, Griba,” she murmured, softly so that she wouldn't startle him if he wasn't fully asleep, “you doing alright, mate? You've been asleep all day.” No response. He must've been really out of it. “Well, I brought some food and fresh water. It’ll be on the side table for when you wake up– you must be pretty hungry.” She sighed softly, leaning back. “Well, I’m exhausted. I’ll see you tomorrow, Griba. I love you.”

Standing, Pearl quietly left the tent and joined the other knights to watch the sun finish setting. She settled down next to Scar, leaning against him with a sigh. The grass was soft against her skin as she sat and tried to relax, breathing in the fresh air and exhaling the anxiety that was building in her chest. Her whole body ached from the exertion of a day spent building, and the cool night air that brushed against her skin and wove through her hair was a welcome relief from the end of summer heat.

Scar glanced over at Pearl, giving her his signature crooked smile. “How’s our sleeping friend holding up?” he asked.

Pearl sighed softly, closing her eyes briefly. “Still sleepin’ the day away,” she answered. “I dropped off some food and water in case he wakes up and needs something. I'm glad he’s getting rest, though. I think I’m gonna keep him from helping us work on the lodge for a bit, though. It can’t be good for him to be exhausted and pushing himself like that.”

“Agreed.” Impulse stretched before running a hand through his hair, carefully avoiding his horns. “It’s hard work we’re doing here, man. Kinda wish Skizz could’ve stayed a little longer to help out, but I guess a man’s gotta do his job.”

“And Tango’s been busy,” Scar added, “apparently he's workin’ on a super secret fly-ification project, whatever that means.”

“Sounds terrifying,” Pearl laughed, Impulse nodding along in agreement. Mumbo’s attention seemed to have been caught by that, and he perked up.

“A project? Do you think he’d let me take a look? I know he had mentioned a few things about combining redstone and engineering and really, it was quite fascinating and we had a truly intriguing discussion on…” Mumbo trailed off, noticing how Pearl and Scar were just staring at him. “...well, Impulse gets me!” he flusteredly got out, and the others began to laugh.

Impulse smiled, chuckling. The light from the setting sun reflected off his piercings, causing them to shine when they caught the light. “That I do, buddy. That I do.”

Mumbo blinked. “Well. Alright, then.”

Pearl stood as the sun finally dipped below the horizon, stretching her wings as the shadows began to grow over the land. “I don’t know about you, but I am absolutely exhausted. I’m heading off to bed. Good night!” She spread her wings and took off, flying low over the ground until she reached her tent. She landed softly, ducking into her tent and changing into her night clothes– soft blue pajamas with stars and little crescent moons.

Sleep called her name, and Pearl felt the weight of exhaustion pulling her down. She climbed into bed, settling on her stomach and wrapping her arms around the soft pillow. She’d just barely closed her eyes before sleep descended like a soft blanket, and she drifted into unconsciousness.

Grian didn’t wake up the next day.

When Pearl woke, her limbs still somewhat sore from the day before, she went to check in on Grian before she started her morning chores. He wasn’t up, which meant he hadn’t woken up during the night and stayed up until dawn (again). Pearl was still a little concerned nonetheless, and rushed through her morning chores so that she could go check on Grian.

When she peeked into his tent, her worry increased at the fact that he hadn’t touched his food or water, and had barely moved from the sleeping position she’d last seen him in. “Griba?” she called softly, “Griba, hey. Are you up?” Upon receiving no answer, she carefully crept forward and placed a gentle hand against his head.

Oh, no.

Grian had a fever.

“Griba.” She gently shook him. “Griba. Grian. Grian. Wake up.” Her voice became more frantic as her brother continued to be unresponsive, anxiety spiking in her chest as she tried to wake him. “Please. Don’t do this. Don’t do this, Grian. Please.”

Still, nothing.

Pearl’s gaze went to the side table, and she stumbled over, grabbing the pen and some blank paper that had been sitting there. Quickly, she wrote down a message to Cub, trying to keep her hands from shaking as she did so.

Cub,

I’ve been sending quite a few letters lately and I hate to bother you once more, but Grian is sick. He isn’t waking up, and he slept all through yesterday as well. When I checked on him this morning, he was burning up. I’ve tried waking him up, but he hasn’t even responded.

Please come as soon as you can.

Pearl

She began folding the paper as she ducked out Grian’s tent, almost running into Scar as she did so. “Ah! Oh, mate, careful!”

Scar laughed softly, pressing his hands to his chest. “You scared me, Pearl!” he retorted, taking a moment to calm himself down. He caught sight of the paper in Pearl's hands. “Sending another letter, are we?” he asked. “More moth mail?”

Pearl, despite the anxiety she was currently feeling, had to smile. Rolling her eyes, she responded, “We’re not calling it moth mail, Scar.” She closed her eyes and breathed out, pushing her magic into the paper. It took the form of a moth, glowing with enchantments, and flew off. She was quiet for a moment with Scar as they watched it fly off, before sighing. “Grian’s sick,” she told him, “and he’s not waking up. I was just sending a letter to Cub to ask him to come up and check on him.”

Scar frowned, humming thoughtfully. “And this isn’t just Grian being Grian?” he asked, but Pearl shook her head.

“He’s not waking up, and he’s running a fever. Which, if he was even responding a tiny bit, would be fine, but he’s not even– it’s like he can’t hear me at all. Normally he’d at least have woken up a little and smacked me away or something, but…” Pearl shook her head. “Nothing. He was just… sleeping.”

“Should we let the other two know?” Scar asked, gesturing with his head over to where Impulse and Mumbo were. They were working on the lodge once more– Mumbo, struggling to walk with the heavy materials and Impulse, carrying as much as he could and encouraging Mumbo on with a smile and kind words.

Pearl nodded, already starting to walk toward them. “Absolutely. C’mon, mate!”

Scar jogged over until he was walking by Pearl's side. “Hey! Mister Mumbo Jumbo! Impulse! Hey!” he shouted, waving his arms over his head. “Over here!”

Pearl laughed, shaking her head slightly. “Scar, no need to shout. They’re right there.” Her wings fluttered anxiously behind her as they approached Mumbo and Impulse. “Hey, you two.”

Impulse set down the logs he had been carrying, and Mumbo did the same before collapsing into the grass. “Heya Pearl,” Impulse greeted, “what’s up?”

“Not good news, unfortunately.” The mood sombered up as soon as those words left Pearl's mouth. “Grian’s sick, and he’s not waking up. I sent a message to Cub, but I’m gonna run to the village real quick to grab some general medicine and such. I meant to get some on the next trip, but…” She trailed off. “Clearly, we need them now.”

“Do you want me to come with you?” Impulse offered, to which Pearl shook her head.

“I’ll be flying. It’s faster that way.” Pearl glanced over at Scar, who had joined Mumbo in the grass. “Can you three keep watch over Griba and the camp while I’m gone? Oh, and keep an eye out for a response to the letter I sent to Cub– it’ll be coming back as an enchanted moth, you know what they look like. I don’t think he’ll be sending you a response this quick, but better alert than caught sleeping.” She coughed slightly. “Uh. Excuse the irony of that wording. It’s just a phrase.”

Impulse nodded. “Don’t worry about a thing, Pearl. We’ve got things handled here. Go and get the medicine.”

Scar stood, helping Mumbo up as well. “Yeah! We’ll stop working on the lodge for a bit while this whole thing is goin’ on. Grian’s more important than a building, anyway.”

Pearl heaved a sigh of relief, smiling softly. “Oh, thank you all. This means a lot.” She stretched, spreading her wings and fluttering them slightly before relaxing. “Right. I’ll be off then. Stay out of trouble, ya hear?”

Scar saluted. “Aye aye!”

With that, Pearl took off, flying over the camp and toward the village. Worry settled uneasily in her stomach, squeezing her chest as she tried to not spiral into an anxiety attack. It would not be good to do that while flying, she figured.

Grian would be fine. Grian would be– he was fine, he was just sick and once he got rest everything would go back to normal. They’d continue building the lodge and get it done before winter and then they’d move on to their next adventure.

Yeah.

Everything was going to be fine.

In a house surrounded by much more greenery than the canyon that it sat in, Cub was working on a very dangerous project.

Well, it wasn’t dangerous– as long as he took proper care when he was around it and made sure to wear protective gear, of course. A mask fit snugly over his mouth and nose, and he wore elbow long gloves with his lab coat sleeves tucked into them to make sure there was zero possibility of the subject of his experiment touching his skin.

Holding up the blue-green mold (sculk, the book had called it) up to the light with a pair of tweezers, Cub squinted. It appeared to almost have a sort of heartbeat, he noticed, as it pulsed rhythmically. It might’ve grossed some out, but it made Cub grin. This was so exciting. He had only heard of sculk before, from ancient books and harrowed miners who had narrowly escaped death. To be able to study it like this, up close… it was a dream come true.

Cub jotted down some more notes with one hand, holding up the sculk with his other hand. His attention divided, focus solely locked in on the things he was writing, it was no wonder he got startled by the enchanted paper moth that landed on his desk. He dropped the tweezers with a loud swear, the sculk landing in his lap. No matter– he simply picked it back up with his gloved hands and put it back into its container, sealing it away. He then carefully unfolded the moth, recognizing instantly Pearl's handwriting.

He frowned as he read the letter, before sighing heavily. “I really can’t leave them alone for five minutes, can I?” Glancing back down at his desk, Cub bit his lip, weighing his options in his head. He really had to finish this current experiment in a certain time frame, and Grian was a healthy man (and a Watcher, besides!). He’d be fine if he had to wait for a little while longer.

He went and wrote a response on the back of the letter Pearl had sent, chuckling slightly at how his handwriting compared to Pearl’s.

Pearl,

I’ll be there as soon as I finish up what I was doing. I assume it’ll take me quite some time, so I’ll head out early tomorrow morning. Keep an eye on Grian, give him some medicine and try to get some fluids into him.

Don’t panic. Remember what I’ve been telling you in our letters– take a deep breath, calm yourself, and try not to let your thoughts spiral. You’re doing a great job.

Cub

He carefully folded the paper back up, watching as the magic Pearl imbued into it activated, and the moth sprang to life before fluttering off in the direction it came from. Cub’s sharp eyesight caught the moment it burst into purple sparks of magic and sped off into the distance– “moth mail” always fascinated him. It was clearly a concept Pearl had either made up or been taught, and he’d have to ask her some more questions about it later.

But for now, the sculk called his name.

It took a little longer than expected to finish up the experiment, but Cub always stayed true to his word. The next day, he woke up with the gray light of dawn and gathered his things, taking care to lock his door before leaving.

The sun began to rise as Cub started down the familiar path to the camp.

You know how this story goes, by now.

Grian didn’t wake up the next day.

Pearl did her best to follow the advice in Cub’s letter– give Grian fluids, take deep breaths, try not to spiral, try not to spiral, try not to–

She was fine. She was fine.

…which was why she ended up breaking down into tears when Scar asked her how she was feeling, and felt his arms wrap around her and pull her close. “I’m– I’m sorry, I just–” She gasped for air, squeezing her eyes shut tight as hot tears cooled on her skin. Her hands were trembling as she wrung them together, trying to lean into Scar’s calming presence.

Scar gently shushed her, carefully patting her back between her wings as he tried to soothe her. “It’s a stressful situation, Pearl,” he murmured, his voice quiet and comforting. “It’s okay to be scared. Did you wanna send a letter to Jimmy or something? I’m sure he would be more than willing to come on up for a little bit to help out.” As he spoke, he pulled away from the hug and summoned Jellie, setting the furry blue familiar on Pearl’s lap. “Pet the Jellie. You’ll feel better.”

Pearl smiled weakly through her tears, beginning to gently stroke Jellie’s fur. She felt the tension begin to leave her body as Jellie started purring, her breathing evening out as the cat curled up on her lap. “No… no, Jimmy worries more than I do, I don’t think it would be good to stress him out over this… because it’ll be fine. It’s going to be fine.”

Scar nodded. “Right you are, Pearl. It’s gonna be just fine. G’s just taking a big ol’ nap right now, sleepin’ off that nasty fever of his. Give him a little longer and he’ll be just like new. Cub will help him out and then he’ll get rid of that darn sickness in no time!”

Mumbo, who was sitting nearby, leaned forward. “Scar is right, you know. This isn’t the first time one of us has come down with a nasty illness of some sort. Grian just needs a little care and rest, I’m sure!”

Pearl nodded, taking in deep breaths as she continued to idly pet Jellie, wiping stray tears from her face. “Thanks, Scar. Mumbo. I needed that.”

Scar smiled reassuringly, giving her a thumbs up. “No problem, Pearl.”

Mumbo simply nodded, smiling. “Of course, mate.”

It wasn’t long after that Cub finally walked out of Grian’s tent, his expression kept carefully neutral. “Hey, you three. Pearl, could I speak with you?”

Pearl nodded, anxiety spiking once more as she prepared herself for whatever Cub was about to tell her. “Yeah. Of course. Scar, do you mind…?” She gestured toward Grian’s tent with a slight nod, standing up from where she had been sitting next to Scar in the grass and handing him Jellie.

Scar jumped up as well, brushing off his pants before taking Jellie and quietly dismissing his familiar. “Of course, my dear Pearl! I’ll keep a close eye on G.” Scar ducked into Grian's tent, going to take a seat on the ottoman that had remained pulled up next to Grian’s bed. He settled himself down, letting out a soft sigh and leaning forward.

There was a moment of silence.

“Y’know, G, this isn’t funny anymore.” Scar swallowed dryly, licking his cracked lips. “I’m all for pranks and stuff, but this is going too far. Pearl’s upset, Mumbo is worried, Impulse is trying to keep the other two calm, and I’m…” He shook his head. “C’mon, G. Please.” His voice cracked on the last word. “Please.”

No response. Of course. Grian was asleep, why would he respond?

“I mean, really. It's like you’ve been cursed or something,” he weakly joked, before the thought really hit him. Could Grian have been…?

Scar closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and shifted into his vex form.

The smell of magic, powerful and wrong, was so strong Scar nearly gagged. He stumbled back, eyes widening as he realized that the magic was coming from Grian, wrapping around his body and curling around his throat.

Slowly, hesitantly, Scar approached Grian and knelt by the bed. Reaching out, he carefully opened one of Grian’s eyes with his hand.

Purple.

Grian’s eyes were glowing purple.

Scar felt the magic suddenly recede, drawing into Grian like the water being pulled back into the sea. With a sharp inhale, he stumbled back, shifting out of his vex form as he burst out from the tent. “Guys!” he yelled, “guys, something's wrong with–!”

Grian’s magic exploded outwards.

Pearl screamed, lunging forward as she shifted into her Watcher form, wrapping her arms around the only person close enough for her to protect– Mumbo. The two fell to the ground, surrounded by a translucent magic shield that glowed in blue and silver hues. All around them, purple magic swirled and raged like a storm, and all they were able to do was watch as Impulse and Scar collapsed.

Cub was pushed to his knees, vex form flickering as his own shield began to crack around him. The magic howled in a screeching voice, swirling around Cub’s shield in an attempt to break through and take him as well.

“Pearl–!” Mumbo cried out, clinging to her tightly. He was pressed against the ground and could hardly see past Pearl, but what he could see terrified him. Pearl’s shield was beginning to give under the incessant pushing of Grian’s out of control magic, and there was nothing he could do but watch.

Pearl bit out a sob, holding Mumbo close. The strain of fighting against her brother’s magic had her gasping, grabbing for any and all energy she had to pour into the shield around her and Mumbo. Raising her head, guilt and fear filled her chest as she caught sight of Impulse and Scar, limp on the ground. She could only pray that they were okay. That they were alive.

The magic like raging wind reached a peak, screaming so loud Pearl’s sensitive ears ached. And just like that, it was over.

Pearl, Cub, and Mumbo were the only ones awake when their shields came down.

All across the realm, Grian’s magic reached out and pulled others into a deep sleep. A king and his hand, alongside his best soldier. A huntsman. A time wizard, armorer, and a friend of the nearby innkeep. A man who guided others through the mountains. An avian, netherborn, and a man who sold flowers.

One by one, they were surrounded by purple magic, angry and screaming and wanting. And one by one, they all fell asleep.

Grian woke up to impossibly familiar faces and one objective: survive.

He pushed himself up from the ground, shaking his head slightly to clear the fuzz as he looked around at the gathered group. “Welcome to Third Life,” he greeted in a voice that wasn’t quite his own, with words he wasn’t sure how he knew. “You all have three lives. Once you lose your last life, you are out.”

Confusion and concern echoed from those around him, and Grian raised his voice. “When you are on your last life– your red life– you will become hostile. All previous alliances will be broken.”

A deep breath.

“Good luck.”

#my writing #boatem knights au #impulsesv #pearlescentmoon #grian #goodtimeswithscar #mumbo jumbo #cubfan135 #jellie the cat #hermitcraft fanfic #third life fanfic #third life

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meownotgood · 8 months

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thinking about aki who's a bit of a pervert.

you find yourself over at aki's place to drink an awful lot these days. he's been inviting you, and it's not like you have any reason to say no. work has been stressful, you could use the break. it's more fun to drink with him anyways, with just him. aki is kind and thoughtful, he's reserved and he isn't like all the other guys in your department that turn into idiots the moment they've had a drop of alcohol.

no, aki is sweet. gentlemanly, you'd say. innocent, even. he told you one time that he's never had a girlfriend before.

aki's your best friend, the kind of guy someone might bring home to their parents — the only guy you have absolutely no problem getting shitfaced around because you know he'd stop at nothing to take care of you.

and once you've had a bit too much to drink (because you always seem to) aki will do as he always does: insist you stay the night instead of trying to go home. it'd be dangerous for you to try and travel when you're this inebriated. he's looking out for you, that's all.

although, tonight, one thing is different from before. usually, he'd give you his guest room to have all to yourself. but now that denji and power have moved in, aki supposes there's no other option than to have you sleep with him.

he's not going to allow you to sleep on the living room floor, that's just rude. you're a guest. his closest friend. it's getting cold these days, you'd be freezing if you had to do that. besides, you trust aki more than anyone, so you have no problem sleeping in his bed next to him, do you?

of course not.

aki's just being polite, like he always is, and you're none the wiser. he's polite when he offers to toss your clothes in the laundry and give you his to sleep in. he wants you to be comfortable, that's certainly true, but it definitely isn't also because he was hoping for a chance to touch your stockings and your bra. he commits the feeling of the fabric to memory, the way your stockings stretch when he pulls at them — they stretch the same way around your thighs, too. he drags his fingers across the intricate lace of your bra — lace? he didn't think you were the type to like something like that, but it makes sense. it'd look better if it was on you.

he compares the size of his hand to the size of your bra and tries not to forget that either before tossing everything in the wash. maybe he'll get lucky, and you'll forget to grab your clothes before rushing home.

he scoops you up and carries you to bed when you're too exhausted and drunk to move. he's trying not to think anything dirty as he sets you down in the center of his bed and props himself up over you; he's breathing hard, starting to sweat, the sight of you under him is the prettiest thing he's ever seen, but his breath gets caught in his lungs when you wrap your arms around him and pull his body close to yours with a drunken giggle. aki leans his head into your shoulder, and he doesn't attempt to separate the two of you.

yeah, and it's really only out of politeness that aki's offered to have you sleep in his bed. it's not because he grows warm to the ends of his ears at just the thought of someone, of you sleeping beside him. nobody's ever slept with him like this before. he can hear your breathing, he can feel it on his neck. he shifts away from you a little and he can see the bare skin of your collarbones peeking out when his shirt that's way too big for you starts slipping down your figure. god.

he won't sleep tonight, he's already sure of it. but how could he? between this and the way you were acting earlier, how is he supposed to get any sleep?

you're such a sweetheart when you're drunk, more than you are usually, you'll sway left and right and end up clinging onto aki's arm to keep yourself steady. you'll coo his name so sweetly into his ear, you'll thank him for inviting you and mumble something about how much you appreciate him, how good of a friend he is.

you're welcome, aki tells you with a completely level tone, despite the fact his heart is fucking hammering in his chest so hard it hurts because you've really just thanked him, you're happy because of him, you really are. he wants to make you even happier, he wants you to sing his praises more. he wants to hear your soft voice pant his name over and over again.

he's terrible, really. maybe it's because of his lack of intimacy. maybe the frustration of always being alone. maybe it's his fault to begin with for falling so head over heels for you. aki has no idea.

he can't help but feel guilty every time he invites you over, knowing it's because he wants to be close to you and have you all to himself. he hates how he can never seem to stop ogling you, hates how he can't even get a moment of sleep right now because you're hugging him, you're fast asleep with your arms around him and he can't think, he's so hard his poor cock is throbbing.

aki shifts off of you, tearing your arms away from him and curling up at your side. he mutters a quiet I'm sorry when you grumble with displeasure in your sleep, he tugs the blanket around you and lifts your head to tuck his pillow underneath.

turning over, he forces his eyes to close. aki ignores the ache in his gut, he resists the urge to slip his hand down his pants while you're lying right beside him. he breathes in shuddery gasps, says a silent prayer to himself that you'll stay for at least a few more hours tomorrow.

it'll be fine. he'll forget about all of this until next time. when you're gone.

because if you've slept with him, even after you've left, his sheets and his blankets will smell like you. the clothes you wore, too. then, when he's lying in bed at night, all alone, with the shirt you were wearing pressed up to his nose, and maybe the stockings you wore the day before in his fist and around his dick (if you managed to forget them), it'll be so much easier to imagine whatever the hell he wants about you. and you'll have no idea.

#this was supposed to be like two paragraphs but the aki demons got a hold of me a little #aki hayakawa x reader #aki x reader #aki <3

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rblackdeco · 28 days

Text

Sunkisses

— pairing(s): lifeguard!james potter x gn!reader

— a/n: the brainrot i am having over this you don't understand, someone said lifeguard!james and i ran with it

— summary: james can't take his eyes off you when he sees you

James Potter was many things. Unfortunately, for everybody at the beach, he was not good at keeping things exactly professional. He was a lost cause from the moment he saw you, your hair wet and blowing with the wind, the smell of the sea he knew from the first second that would stick to your skin for the next couple days.

James thinks he would've fallen even if he had other options. How could he not?

And then again, there was work. A summer gig more of kinds, but nevertheless. He was supposed to keep it professional, he was supposed to focus. Damn him, kids could drown! He wasn't supposed to fall for the first cute person who watched him help aforementioned kids, but James was not strong in that way.

A lost cause, really, would be more of the appropriate wording.

James took a couple days to approach you, and still he could feel you looking, stealing glances every time you could. He felt a little less guilty in doing the same. You had a clear drink in hand, a few strawberries drowning in ice, and he couldn't figure out what it was for the dear life of him, but he knew it was sold across the street and you bought one everyday without fail, just when his shift was about to end.

Today he sat by your side and ordered the same. It wasn't too strong, and it was really tastier that what he expected. The bartender brought both cups at the same time and James tipped him. You would always get up, enjoy your drink closer to the sea. You didn't.

"You're a lifeguard, huh?" You ask him, eyes stealing another welcome glance of him. "Should you be drinking?"

"Yeah, only for the summer. though." He nodded. "And well, my shift's over, for about five minutes now."

"God helps the tourists." You laugh, looking at him as you stir your drink, taking another sip of it as your eyes looked away to the sun setting behind you, then back at him. "How you like it?"

"It's nice. Grew up around these parts." You raise a brow, and he chuckles. "Don't say you can't see it, you'll offend me."

"Sorry." You offer, hiding your smile.

"Care to tell me what I'm drinking?" His smile is so nice you feel it radiating to you, making your cheeks as warm as the sun could. You can barely distinguish a couple freckles in his, if you look closely, and to his credit, the faded tan on his skin is distinguishable enough.

"Oh, so you're taking drink recommendations from strangers?" You raise a brow, teasingly.

"Only if the stranger is pretty." He's fast to reply, shrugging your taunting off. It makes you smile however cheap his line was, and James takes it as a compliment. You've got the prettiest smile he's ever seen.

"Calling me pretty and I don't even know your name, that's a first." You snicker, another sip on your drink now watery.

"Well, I don't know your name either, stranger." He answers, letting the silence linger for a moment. "I'm James."

"Nice to meet you, James." You say back, telling him your name in exchange. James makes a note to remember it for next time he sees you, which he's hoping it's soon. Your drink is more than halfway through and he hadn't asked you anything other than your name.

The words rush past his lips in a blur. "Am I going to see you around?" He feels stupid, but you smile despite it. His heart feels lighter.

"Sure, James. As long as no kids drown and get you fired." The joke is bad, but he smiles like you just said something very endearing. To all accounts, he wasn't letting them drown before, but now he seems determined to never let a single child step towards water again if that's what it takes to keep his job, to keep you.

"They wouldn't dare to." He smirks and you know he means it.

#marauders #marauders fic #marauders era #the marauders era #marauders fluff #james potter #james potter x reader #james potter blurb #james potter fluff #james potter x y/n #james potter x you #rblackdeco writes — ★

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joelalorian · 3 months

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Fall Into Me - Chapter Two: It All Turned Around

dbf!Joel x f!reader

Summary: Joel is hanging on by a thread as a single father to a tenacious 10-year-old Sarah. Feeling like he's drowning, like the world is about to spit him out, he needs some help before he breaks in half. At your dad's insistence, you show up in his life and change everything.

Story is inspired by the song Fall Into Me by Forest Blakk. Chapter titles will be lyrics from the song.

Word Count: 2.6k

Series Warnings: Mature to start, but will ultimately be Explicit, under 18 take a hike. No outbreak AU. There will be angst, drama, fluff, humor, romance, smut... basically, the works. Age gap of about 9 years (Reader 24/25, Joel 33/34). No use of y/n. Reader has a nickname from her dad, which is explained in this chapter.

Dividers by the wonderful @saradika-graphics

Thank you for reading this little tale! I did not expect all the love the first chapter received - my heart is fit to burst!

Chapter One | Main Masterlist

Chapter Two: It All Turned Around

You walked the few blocks over to Joel’s house on Monday morning, ready to start your new gig as Sarah’s… babysitter wasn’t the right word. Nanny? Au pair? Nah, that didn’t work either. Whatever, the wording did not matter. You were helping Joel out by taking care of his daughter when he couldn’t, that’s what mattered. Jeez, you thought as you walked along the sleepy neighborhood sidewalk, you were one step away from talking to herself aloud like a mad woman.

When you finally reached Joel’s house, already damp with sweat from the lingering heat, climbing the porch steps to the front door with your eyes glued to Joel’s truck, you realized the flaw in this arrangement.

You didn’t have a car.

How the hell were you supposed to take the kid to and from school without a car?

How did you not realize this sooner?

Knuckles rapping on the door, your teeth worried your plump bottom lip as you considered your options. Admit to the gorgeous single father relying on you to help with his precious daughter that you were a complete flake. Sneakily order an Uber with the hope that Sarah will keep her mouth shut about it. Or just buy a car off one of those online dealers and hope it gets delivered in time.

Those options weren’t great, but what the hell else did you have to work with?

The door finally opened to reveal a frazzled Joel, tee shirt inside out and dark curls mussed. A giggle bubbled out before you could stop it.

“Mornin’ darlin’,” Joel greeted, his lips tilting upwards at the sight of you while his free hand attempted to tame his wild curls. “Come on in. We’re runnin’ a little behind schedule this morning.”

“Good morning, Joel.” Your eyes drank him in. Even in his disheveled state he was gorgeous. If anything, the harried morning look made him even more endearing.

He stepped aside to let you in, glancing to the driveway then the curb. “Where’s your car? Did you walk here?” he questioned, confused.

And just like that, the pleasant feeling of seeing him again washed away in embarrassment. You almost forgot about the car situation again. “Yeah, ‘bout that. I don’t actually have a car.” You could practically see the wheels turning behind his dark chocolate eyes as he stared at you.

Finally, Joel’s head bobbed in a nod as he led you into the kitchen. “Okay, we can make it work. Tommy is on his way over and I’ll just hitch a ride to work with him. You can use my truck for running Sarah around.”

“You sure?” you questioned doubtfully. “I’m sorry, it didn’t occur to me that I don’t have wheels until I was standing on your porch.”

Waving off your apologetic concern, Joel called for Sarah to come down for breakfast. Turning back to you, he smiled, the scruff of his beard barely concealing a delightful little dimple. “Don’t worry about it. Just use my truck when you’re on duty until we figure something else out. It’s not like I need it when I’m stuck on a job site all day.”

“Well, thanks for being understanding, and so kind,” you replied, feeling a little overwhelmed by how wonderful Joel was being.

Sarah appeared at your side as Joel dug in his pocket for his keys, throwing her arms around your waist. “You’re here!”

“I am!” You hugged the little girl to your side with a laugh, surprised to see Joel’s warm gaze on you when you looked up. There was something in his expression that you couldn’t decipher.

“Here are my keys – this one is for the truck, obviously, and this one is for the front door. Don’t mind the other ones,” he said after clearing his throat, a slight flush spreading across his cheeks. “I’ll get a spare house key made this week so you can come and go as you please. You have my cell number, so call me if you run into any problems with the truck or anything else.”

Once Sarah was seated at the table with a bowl of cereal, Joel filled you in on a few other details pertaining to Sarah’s weekday routine and where anything you might need was located in the house.

“Drop off at 8:30, pick up at 3, homework before play, and don’t let her snack too much before dinner,” you summarized his instructions. “I got it. I can make dinner, too, if you’d like.”

Dark eyes flashed with a hint of something indecipherable again as Joel smiled. “You don’t have to do that unless I’m gonna be real late. I’ll call or text to let you know when I expect to get home each day.”

“Sounds good.” Your finger traced random patterns on the countertop as you watched the Millers go about their morning routine and you wondered if you should say something about his tee shirt. You didn’t want to embarrass the guy, but it would be rude not to let him know, right? What was the protocol here? If it was you, you’d want to know before leaving the house, right?

Before you could decide what to do, Tommy came bursting through the front door, boisterous voice calling out for his brother. “Come on, man. We gotta get rollin’!”

Joel rolled his eyes to you as Tommy came to a halt in the kitchen, the younger brother’s smile widening when his eyes raked over you. “Well, hello again, gorgeous.”

“Hey Tommy,” you greeted in return, glancing between the two brothers. Where Joel was broad and brooding, Tommy was lithe and energetic, and flirty to a fault. Both were handsome, but Tommy had ‘player’ written all over him. He was the exact type of guy that you avoided getting entangled with – the overconfident, love ‘em and leave ‘em type.

Growing tired of his brother gawking at you, Joel grumbled. “Alright, stop flirting, Tommy. It’s time to go.” Dropping his empty coffee cup in the sink, he turned back to you. “Call me if you need anything, darlin’.”

You nodded with a smile, watching the brothers kiss Sarah goodbye.

“Your shirt’s on inside out, asshole,” Tommy blurted out suddenly causing Joel’s cheeks to pinken. “God dammit,” he muttered, tugging the shirt over his head to set it right.

Unable to tear your gaze away from the glimpse of broad chest and slightly soft tummy, you jolted when something bumped your shoulder. Snapping your head to the side, you frowned at Tommy’s beaming grin. “Ah, I see how it is,” he said cryptically, the grin never leaving his lips.

“What?” you asked, baffled, mind still flooded with the image of a briefly shirtless Joel. The brothers were gone before you could shake your head clear.

Joel’s truck was ornery, you learned quickly. Stomp too hard on the gas pedal and it stalled. Don’t step hard enough on the pedal and it made funny noises while going nowhere fast. Brake too hard and it squealed. Don’t brake hard enough and, well, then you’d crash, obviously. It was a damn Goldilocks truck, but you adapted quickly, making sure you could get Sarah to and from school safely.

God, could you imagine if your first call ever to Joel was to tell him you crashed his truck and put his daughter in danger – or worse yet, she got hurt? That would be beyond awful!

By the afternoon, you and the truck had come to a grudging agreement. You would treat it nicely and it would do what you wanted it to. That was another sign you were losing your mind, right? Coming to agreements with inanimate objects? It was getting sad. You needed a life, some human socialization, for fucks sake.

“Hey nugget!” you called to Sarah, spotting her bouncing down the steps of the front entrance to the K-8 school. It was the very one you applied to earlier in the day, hoping to take over for a science teacher retiring at the end of the year.

“Hey! That’s what my dad calls me!” the little girl declared as she came to a halt in front of you.

“I know! It’s such a cool nickname, much better than the one my dad gave me,” you laughed and opened the passenger door, watching her scramble into the seat like a pro. Satisfied with the security of Sarah’s seatbelt, you jogged around to the driver’s side and hopped up into the truck.

“What’s your nickname?” Sarah asked as you started the truck with an encouraging pat on the dash.

“Spud,” you groaned, voice barely louder than the rumble of the truck’s engine.

Sarah’s brow furrowed and her cute little nose scrunched up. “Spud? Why does your dad call you that?”

“Ugh, the way he tells it, I was a really chunky baby. ‘Round like a potato’ he said. He didn’t like the thought of calling me ‘potato’ so, the nickname spud was born. I’ve hated it every day, but my dad loves it, so I tolerate it for his sake.”

Sarah listened to your explanation with rapt attention. “Yeah, I can see why you like mine better. I’ll make sure to never call you spud. Maybe we can come up with something better?”

“Thanks, kid! I’d like that.”

The rest of the ride back to Joel’s house was quiet as you focused on driving and Sarah bobbed her head to some tune she hummed. Once you pulled to a careful stop in the driveway, the little girl turned into a chatterbox, recounting every moment of her day as you led the way inside and prepared a small snack.

“Fourth grade is quite the adventure, I see,” you said when she finally stopped to nibble at an apple slice. “I don’t remember it being quite that much fun.”

There wasn’t any homework to assist with, but Sarah insisted on showing you all the A grades she got on her work from last week. She preened under your undivided attention, and you encouraged her to keep working hard.

The two of you were in the midst of playing some Lego video game when your phone buzzed with a text from Joel letting you know he was on his way home. The job site wasn’t far, and he walked through the door before 5 pm to find you and Sarah giggling as you bashed away at things in the video game. You were both laying on the floor, knees bent, and heads perched on throw pillows from the couch as you stared up at the TV. Neither of you even noticed him come in and he smiled at the precious moments he had to take in how genuinely happy Sarah was in your company.

Sarah caught sight of him first, pausing the game and rushing over to hug him. He eyed you as he hugged his daughter, his exhausted gaze silently thanking you for taking care of his entire world.

“Would you like to stay for dinner?” he asked, kicking off his boots before stepping farther into the house. “I was gonna order pizza.”

Tempted to say yes just to spend more time with him, you declined knowing they had limited father-daughter time. “Thank you, though. I should get back to my house to finish the paperwork for transferring my teaching certification. I’ll see you in the morning.”

Joel escorted you to the door, watching as you descended the porch steps and strolled down the sidewalk until you were out of sight.

The next few weeks followed the same pattern with you staying late a few nights a week or covering a Saturday when Joel was stuck on a job site. You started making dinner most evenings. Whether he made it home early or late, he always seemed exhausted, and you wanted to ease his burden as much as possible. You might have also wondered how many home-cooked meals the pair actually ate when Joel was left in charge of dinner.

You bought a car off another one of your dad’s buddies – a no nonsense sedan just to get you around town with Sarah safely. Some days, while Sarah was at school, you would even do Joel’s food shopping, knowing that he liked to shop at the bulk stores to save money.

Soon, you found yourself staying longer after Joel got home, eager to spend time with him and watch him be a dad. He was such a good one, much like your own, always giving Sarah his full attention and speaking to her with respect and making sure she felt heard. It left you in awe of the man he was and your burgeoning crush quickly, and quite by accident, developed into an affectionate longing for something you couldn’t have.

“How’s it going with Spud?” your dad asked, taking a swig from the bottle of beer in his hand. Seated at a table on the Miller’s back patio with Joel and Tommy, the men enjoyed a few after-work beers as you and Sarah sat together in the grass nearby.

“Why do you call her that, JB? I always wondered.” Joel questioned in return, curiosity finally getting to him.

You dad laughed, the memories of you as a baby always brought a smile to his face. “She was the chunkiest little potato as a baby, all round with the cutest chipmunk cheeks. The nickname spud just popped into my head and stuck from day one.”

Joel’s chestnut eyes flicked over to watch you during your dad’s explanation, a bubble of guilty warmth building in his gut. He found you immediately attractive when you first met, but now, nearly a month into getting to know and spend time with you, a strong affectionate attraction began to develop. It was wholly against his will, too. You were JB’s daughter – his best friend aside from his brother – and therefore off limits.

Surely him lusting after you broke some guy code, right?

Maybe he just needed to get laid. That would set him straight.

As if reading his mind, JB changed the subject. “Now that you have some help with Sarah, maybe it’s time to get back into the dating world. You need the love of a good woman, son.”

“Yeah, how long’s it been since you had a girlfriend, brother?” Tommy chimed in with a smirk. “A decade?”

The younger brother merely chuckled in response to Joel’s scowl. “I’ve dated, just none of them were good enough to bring home,” he replied, a rough edge to his deep voice. “Sarah’s always come first.”

“As she should.” JB nodded. “I know it ain’t easy being a single dad, but you have to make some room and time for yourself otherwise you’ll go crazy.”

Your dad went on to share some of his experiences with dating as a single dad and how you practically begged him to find a girlfriend when you were a teenager, just so he’d give you some space. After a short while, JB and the Miller men were laughing so hard their eyes were watering. At one point, Joel caught you watching them with a tender smile on your lips and his heart skipped a beat.

“Okay, I guess it’s time to put myself out there,” Joel admitted, forcing his gaze away from you.

“Yeah? I know someone who’d love to go on a date with you!” Tommy declared excitedly, turning to JB. “You know Annica over at the lumber yard? She’s been gagging over this one for ages. I’ll text her to set something up for Saturday night.”

“Sounds like it’s settled then. You’re going on a date, son!”

Joel’s brow furrowed, glancing between your dad and Tommy wondering if he just made a huge mistake.

tbc

Taglist: @mellymbee @untamedheart81 @anoverwhelmingdin @runningmom94 @leilanixx @pedropascalfan221 @lovelyjess69 @sarahhxx03 @sofiparallel

#joel miller #joel miller x reader #joel x female reader #the last of us #tlou #dbf!joel #Fall Into Me #pedro pascal #eventual smut #eventual romance

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brooooswriting · 1 year

Note

how would sam react to their s/o being mad at her, and her not knowing what she did. just curious lol

Whyyyy?

Sam carpenter x reader

This is pretty short but still kinda cute ig

Sam was confused, well actually that was an understatement. You hadn’t talked to her since yesterday evening, you went to your apartment with a small bye and since then you hadn’t answered her calls or texts. You disappeared as soon as she entered, breaking your conversation with Quinn and Tara. She only knew that you were fine because you didn’t answer Tara’s messages. It wasn’t hard to figure out that you were mad, she just didn’t know why. You were fine one moment and the next one you just left, it was confusing.

The whole day while Sam was at work she checked her phone and spammed yours with even more texts, hoping that you’d respond to at least one of them. But you didn’t. So she did the only thing she could think of, drive by your apartment. She used the key you gave her a couple of weeks ago to let herself in, it was already late.

But before she drove to your apartment she decided to stop at a small store where she got you some flowers, chocolate, a stuffed animal and a heating pad. There where two options:

1. She fucked up and that’s why you were mad

2. You were on your period

She decided to get you your favorite things either way, if you had your period you’d be happy about the gift and talk to her again and if she did something wrong she could use those things to bribe you into telling her what she did wrong so she could fix it. She didn’t want to apologize through material things without knowing what she did wrong.

The moment you heard your door open you freaked and grabbed the bat that sat next to you bed, Sam made you keep it there. You carefully walked out with the bat to see Sam, “oh you” you mumbled and sank the bat. “Yeah me, I brought you some stuff” she held the flowers tight in her hand. “Keep ‘em or put em on the counter” you mumbled walking back to the bedroom, causing Sam to groan. “Can you please talk to me? Let me know what I did wrong so I can fix it” she called out as she followed you into your bedroom. There she got here answer, there was chocolate wrappers everywhere, your bed was a mess and a pack of period articles next to your bed. Plus, you were laying in bed holding your stomach.

“Oh honey, is it your time?” She mumbled as she laid behind you in bed, her hand rubbing soothing circles on your stomach. You only grumbled in response, “does is hurt bad?” She asked again only receiving a grumble. She went and got you some pain medicine, water, chocolate and the stuffed animal she got you. “Now wanna tell me what I did wrong?” Her voice made you melt, just like the way her arms wrapped around your middle to pull you closer. “You didn’t text me” you answered in a shushed voice, after a small what it suddenly clicked. She was supposed to text or call you when she had her break at work but she didn’t. “Oh baby, I’m sorry” she started as she pulled you even closer placing a kiss on your neck. “Maggi…” as soon as you heard that name you grumbled again which made her laugh a bit, “she didn’t come to work and she didn’t tell anybody so I couldn’t take a break. Im sorry I didn’t call”

It took a second before you turned around and hugged her waist, hurrying your face in her neck which confused her. “Im sorry” you mumbled this time, confusing her for a moment, “Im just very moody and I overreacted” you continued making her coo. “It’s alright. If it hurt your feelings, it hurt your feelings and I’m sorry I caused it. Now what are we thinking about ice cream?” You immediately sat up with a grin causing her to laugh too. “Alright, I’ll be back real quick” she was about to stand up when you threw yourself at her which made her fall back on the bed again. You pressed a couple of kisses against her lips making her smile.

About 15 min late she came back with ice cream and a heating pad. “Gosh I love you” you mumbled as you devoured the ice cream. When you were done eating Sam quickly pulled you on top of her, kissing your head. “Next time, just tell me when you’re moody alright? I could have brought ice cream directly” she joked before kissing you one last time.

#reader insert #brooooswriting #sam carpenter #sam carpenter x you #sam carpenter x reader #sam carpenter x female reader #sam carpenter x y/n #melissa barrera #melissa barrera x reader

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just-jordie-things · 1 year

Text

[part two] to build a home - gojo satoru

word count: 3.8k warnings: !!manga spoilers!! swearing, jjk-verse style fighting series summary: when (y/n) (y/l/n) catches wind that the notorious sorcerer killer, toji fushiguro, has children, she makes it her personal mission to find them. the catch being she couldn't tell a soul about them- the risk of the zen'in clan learning about them was too great. keeping the secret isn't the hard part, it's lying to her friends, shoko ieiri, geto suguru, and of course gojo satoru, that she struggles with. especially when satoru has suddenly become so keen on keeping an eye on her lately.

series masterlist

[part two] : "Playing Games of Levitation"

___

PRESENT DAY [SIX MONTHS LATER]

Finding any information on Toji Fushiguro wasn’t a simple task. Not when (y/n) had to juggle her secret investigation with schoolwork, training, an assignment here and there, and her friends.

The summer was hard on her.

More often than not, she was only left with the wee hours of the late night-turning early morning to follow scraps of leads. It had taken months of overworking herself with little sleep, but after some time, she finally got somewhere.

It was just a name, which wasn’t much, but if it was who (y/n) thought it was, then it was a lead all the same. And it was more than she’d found in the last six months of researching.

The smell of old books was starting to make her head dizzy these days, anyways. So putting her energy towards following something excited her.

Sliding on her shoes and throwing her bag over her shoulder, (y/n) hurried out of her dorm and through the hallways of the school. Today was Sunday, and she wasn’t sure she’d find much time through the school week to leave campus. Which left today her only option if she wanted to get started as soon as possible.

She’s lucky enough to not pass any of her teachers or friends. No one who might think to ask her where she was going in such a hurry on her own. She doesn’t think she’d be able to come up with a good enough lie, anyways.

She’d already been lying for months on end. It started as soon as she came back from her private investigation, and ever since she’d been throwing out excuse after excuse to her friends.

“There’s bags under your eyes, are you not getting enough sleep?” Geto had taken notice of her heavy eyelids and thinning body one day a few months ago.

“Oh, just a little trouble with training, that’s all” She’d tried to assure him, and she figured it was believable enough. But it hadn’t calmed his worry.

“There’s always time to work on your technique later, don’t wear yourself out too much, okay?”

She shoved the memory down in her mind, hoping to forget the guilt she felt for troubling her friends. If she was going to continue down this road, that would only mean there were more lies to come. She’d either have to get over her guilt and get better at lying, or come clean. And at this point, coming clean wasn’t an option.

(y/n) almost made it all the way to the front gates where the barrier cut off before getting caught in the act. But just as she’s about to step through, a pair of sorcerers are entering.

Haibara Yu, and Nanami Kento. Two second-years.

“(y/n)!” Yu’s friendly voice calls as he waves to her, jogging through the gate to catch up to her. “You headed out?”

She flusters, wishing she was better at lying with ease.

“Yeah- I- I was just gonna go to some shops in town”

The lie seems good enough, because Yu smiles back at her and nods his head.

“We just got back from Kyoto,” He tells her, gesturing back to Nanami who didn’t have the same hurry to come talk to her. “I hadn’t been in forever, I forgot how beautiful it was”

If his eyes linger on her for too long, (y/n) doesn’t notice. Too wrapped up in her own agenda, she misses the softness in his gaze and the longing in his voice.

“It is a beautiful city,” She agrees, a bit absentmindedly. “Your assignment went well, I assume?”

“Could’ve been worse” The gruff voice of Yu’s partner mutters out. (y/n) gives Nanami a small smile in acknowledgement as he approaches.

“That’s the spirit,” She says, jesting just a little bit. Enough to keep the conversation light to keep them from thinking twice about her heading out on her own. “Well, I better get going. You guys rest easy”

“Bye, (y/n)!” Yu waves cheerfully as she heads off.

Nanami’s gaze follows her more curiously, but he doesn’t say anything, just follows beside his colleague as they go in the opposite direction of her.

Once she’s through the gate and past the barrier, (y/n) lets out a breath of relief.

She had to get better at lying.

___

It had been hours since she’d arrived in town, and (y/n) was starting to think her lead was a bust. Most of the records at the town hall didn’t provide much with the name she had, and the few civilians she’d asked didn’t know who she was looking for.

She’d just given up, sitting on a bench with only a box of mochi to show for her work today. She hadn’t even taken a bite out of one of the sweets yet, not feeling like she’d deserved to treat herself.

Come on Fushiguros, she thought to herself, eyes scanning over the people gathered in the streets, hoping an answer would present itself. Where are you?

“Leave us alone, Fushiguro!”

A distant shout of a child rang in her ears, and she perked up, trying to find the source of the sound.

Her eyes land on a group of kids across the street. They looked like they were gearing up to fight, a few boys pitted against one boy, and one girl, standing a bit behind him. They looked young, like they were only in grade school.

“Yeah, leave us alone!” One of the boys in the larger group shouts.

(y/n) stands, but doesn’t rush over to the scene just yet. Even if the boy and the girl were the Fushiguros she was searching for, it wouldn’t be wise to insert herself without a plan. They were children, and she was a stranger.

The boy, with messy raven hair, has the harshest scowl on his face as he glares at the boys. The girl behind him doesn’t seem interested in a fight as she’s tugging at his arm.

Curiously, (y/n) casually crosses the street, feigning interest in a shop just a little ways away from the group she was more or less spying on.

Well, it was full-on spying actually. She was straight up spying on a bunch of kids.

As she stands before a window of expensive jewelry she could never actually afford, she listens closely to their conversation.

“Megumi, let’s go!” The girl calls, pulling more harshly on the boy’s arm than she had before.

“Tch,” The boy scoffs, still glaring at the group of boys that now that (y/n) can see better, look to be a few grades older than him. “Fine” He mutters, giving into her wishes, and turning away, walking away with her, in (y/n’s) general direction.

“Stop picking fights with rude people, little brother. You’re going to get yourself in trouble” The girl scolds, but the boy, Megumi, just walks ahead of her, seemingly ignoring her.

So they were brother and sister, (y/n) noted. That increases the odds of these being the Fushiguros she was looking for.

She turns her attention back to a rather pretty rose gold plated bracelet as they pass by her, but as soon as they do, her eyes follow them.

“I’m just trying to look out for you, Megumi”

“You’re just trying to be annoying, Tsumiki”

Megumi and Tsumiki.

(y/n) smiles to herself in pride, before turning around on her heel, and walking off. With her mochi and two names with faces to match, she feels good about her work today.

Now she just had to get back home and hope no one noticed her absence today.

___

By the time Thursday rolls around, she’s anxious to go back into the town and find the two children again. Her next move was to find where they reside- she only hoped they had a roof over their heads.

She’s supposed to train when she’s done with her classes, and she knows that she should. She hadn’t attempted to push herself since the day of the incident, and if she didn’t start to grasp the extent of her technique soon, then she was going to raise suspicion with her teachers.

But maybe if she was quick enough, she could spare some time to go to town. It shouldn’t be too hard to break into the school records to find the address for the young Fushiguros. Once that’s complete, it was only a matter of time before she was certain of herself that these were Toji’s children.

Remembering the look on the young boy’s face, she’s pretty sure that they must be. He held the same intensity in his little body that Toji had carried the few days that she had followed him.

“Where’s that head at, right now?”

(y/n) jumps, not having heard Geto approach behind her until he spoke. She laughs nervously as she turns to see him smiling, apparently amused with himself for taking her by surprise.

“Don’t sneak up on a girl like that, you’ll get yourself punched” She teases.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” He replies. “You off to train?” He asks, gesturing to the path towards the field where she’d been practicing her teleporting.

“Uh, yeah, I was” She nods, rubbing the back of her neck anxiously.

He raises a brow at her nervous tic.

“Not in the mood?” He asks, tucking his hands into his pockets.

“It’s not that, I just…” She trails off, trying to come up with a lie that was good enough for him to believe. Geto Suguru had a pretty decent bullshit detector, and he wasn’t afraid to call people on it.

He steps forward, giving her a warm smile.

“Don’t be anxious to fail,” He tells her.

She blinks in surprise.

“Satoru told me that you were taking the Riko Amanai incident pretty hard,” He admitted. “Don’t let that hold you back. As long as you try, you can’t really fail, right?”

(y/n) doesn’t know what to say, so she presses her lips together and nods her head back at him.

“Would you like help? I don’t know much about teleporting, but if you need someone to cheer you on, I’d be happy to”

She chuckles at his kindness, before shaking her head.

“No, that’s alright, Suguru. I appreciate it, though”

“Anytime,” He says warmly. “Just know you can find me if you do need help. But I’m sure Satoru would be much happier to be your mentor. He’s probably a better option when it comes to teleportation, anyways”

(y/n) nods again, albeit a little shakily.

Ever since that night in the kitchen, where he told her about killing Toji, and comforted her when she nearly broke down in front of him, her relationship with the Six Eyes user had gone from odd to bizarre.

She considered herself lucky that he’d been given so many assignments in the past six months that he was gone more than around these days. Because when he was home, he was relentless with spending time with her. Whether it was helping her with her homework or crashing her alone time to make her watch a dumb movie he found, if he was around, he was always around.

It was becoming increasingly harder to be annoyed with him. For one, a part of her did miss him when he was gone, even though she would rather die than admit it to him. He was her friend, and she cared about him. They used to spend every day together, so when he was on an assignment for a whole month, she missed having him around.

But it was another thing that when he was around, she had to put a pause on her investigation. He was around too much for her to get anything done without him noticing. And now that she finally had a decent lead…

“Yeah, I might have to bother him the next time he’s free” She mumbles.

“Want me to go get him?” Suguru asks, jerking his thumb over his shoulder. “I think he was just about to pretend to annoy Shoko at the morgue out of boredom. It’d be doing both of you a favor”

“Oh- I don’t want to be a bother-”

“Nonsense, I’ll get him now” Suguru waves his hand dismissively.

Before (y/n) can protest, he turns around and is hastily making his way towards the morgue.

Well, shit. There goes my chance at getting out of training early to go into town.

___

“You came to the right guy!”

Gojo cracked the knuckles of his fingers dramatically before his chest, his arms extended in a stretch.

(y/n) stands before him on the field, trying not to show her displeasure with doing this right now. She really did need the help, but her mind wasn’t anywhere near focusing on her cursed technique right now, and the most important thing with teleportation was focus.

“We’ll start easy, a lil’ warm up to get that cursed energy awake,” Satoru’s grinning, his cockiness only seemed to grow at the idea of playing teacher.

“How about you start by going from here to the other end of the field?” He suggests, pointing to where the gates surrounded the neatly cut grass about a hundred feet away.

“Okay,” She sighs, shaking the nerves out of her hands. “I have to hex you first”

“Oh, right,” He nods, and steps forward, leaving little to no space between them.

(y/n) swallows thickly, realizing just how tall he was.

He’s always been tall, it’s not like she’s only just noticed, but for some reason, today it makes her head spin with nerves.

She raises her hand to his forehead, closing her eyes as she gently places her index and middle finger on his forehead, just above his sunglasses. Her cursed energy buzzes through her skin like a small shock of static electricity.

Since mastering the ability to keep his Infinity up automatically, (y/n) had noticed he left it up more often than not. It had been odd, the few times he’s handed her a pencil or she almost bumped into him, only to not actually touch him at all. At first it unsettled her, knowing that he’d probably kept at this ever since his encounter with Toji Fushiguro, but she learned to bite her tongue and not draw attention to it.

But now, it almost felt more strange to actually touch him. She wondered if skin to skin contact made him uncomfortable now. If it did, he didn’t show it.

Satoru had seen her use her cursed technique before, on other sorcerers or her teachers when training, but he’d never seen it so up close, and he’s definitely never experienced it first hand.

The feeling of her cursed energy lingers on his skin, and if he concentrates, he can almost feel it flowing with his. As though it were settling itself deep in his bones. He supposes that’s the effect of the technique, it must have to attach itself to him pretty securely for her to blink herself back to it.

“Okay” She sighs, pulling her fingers away and stepping back once she’s certain her cursed energy had imbued itself in him.

“That’s it?” Satoru asks, curiously. “Feels weird”

“Yeah, I’ve been told that if you focus on it, you can feel it there for a few days,” She says. “Shoko said it was like getting a shot, you still feel the needle even while your body’s healing itself”

“If I cry are you gonna kiss it?” He teases.

(y/n) rolls her eyes.

“Just go over there already so I can get to teleporting” She says.

He lowers his sunglasses just so that he can wink at her, and in a flash he disappeared, now standing across the whole field.

“You got this!” He cheers, jumping up and down with a thumbs up in the air to show his full support.

(y/n) takes in a deep breath, holding it while she shakes the nerves out of her hands.

Breathe out.

Breathe in,

She closes her eyes, letting her mind focus on her own cursed energy. It’s like a spark in darkness, just as far as Gojo stood.

Breathe out.

When she opens her eyes, she’s standing before him.

Gojo grins at her.

“That was great!” He compliments. “How do you feel?”

“Fine,” She shrugs. “But I marked you, so that makes it easy. The trouble is trying to mark someone from afar. That’s what Yaga wants me to focus on”

“Hm,” He thinks to himself, trying to think of the best way to get her used to it. “Let’s try something crazy then”

Her brows furrow as she shakes her head.

“No, I don’t think we should-”

“What, scared I’m gonna make you do something stupid?” He asks.

She raises a brow, silently asking him if he even had to ask that question. Satoru barks out a laugh.

“Have some faith in your teacher, (y/n/n)!” He tells her. “Come on, let’s go back to where we were so we have plenty of space”

Just like that, he’s disappeared again. (y/n) groans as she spins around to see him in the middle of the field, where they just were.

She’s in front of him again in a second, barely having to focus to bring herself there. He grins again at her ability to do so with ease.

“Okay, now take your mark off” He tells her.

“But I-”

“Come on, no buts, just do it” He pushes her.

If he tires her out too much, then she definitely won’t be able to sneak into town this afternoon.

“Satoru,” (y/n) sighs. “I’ve never been able to do this without passing out” She admits.

“Well then today will be a breakthrough!” He tells her.

She’s frowning, not sure where he got such an unprecedented amount of belief in her. But judging from the advice Suguru had given her earlier, she fears that they may have noticed her abandoning her training.

So as badly as she wanted to do some light B&E this afternoon, she decides that she’ll have to worry about Megumi and Tsumiki later. If she walked away from Satoru now, it would only pose more of a problem in the future.

“Fine” She mutters, and reaches her hand back up to his forehead.

This time, as she takes her cursed energy back, Satoru frowns, a weird feeling replacing what once was her mark on him.

“That’s odd” He mutters when she’s finished.

“So I’ve been told,” (y/n) replies. “What does it feel like?”

Emptiness, Satoru thinks. It’s a distinct, hollow feeling left in his chest, similar to negative feelings such as sadness, loneliness, regret.

He looks at her, seeing her genuine curiosity, and realizes that she doesn’t know removing her marks have this effect. So he shrugs his shoulders.

“Don’t know,” He lies. “It’s just weird”

“Oh,” (y/n) hums. “I’ve never really done that before. Most people let the hex just fade away on it’s own, it only takes a day or two before I have to hex them again”

So that’s why she didn’t know, Satoru thinks. The cold feeling has already washed away, so it’s effect wasn’t drastic, but it was distinct.

“Alright, back to class,” He claps his hands, his wide grin returning to his face. “You ready?”

“As I’ll ever be” (y/n) breathes out.

He’s above her so quickly she does a double take at him practically floating in the air, just a few feet off the ground.

“Alright, come on up,” Satoru beckons her with his hand. “The air is fine!”

Normally she would spit something sarcastic back at him, but all she could feel now was anxiety.

“You want me to not only teleport in a way that I’ve never been capable of,” She deadpans. “But you want me to suspend myself in the air- something I’ve never even attempted?”

“Aren’t I the best teacher ever?” Satoru grins down at her.

(y/n) balls her clammy hands into tight fists at her sides.

With a huff, she closes her eyes, and refocuses herself.

Breathe in,

Breathe out.

She focused her mind on where she wanted her body to go, and surprisingly, she felt her fingers vibrate with her cursed energy.

Maybe she could actually pull this off.

When she opened her eyes again, his were right there before hers.

Her jaw dropped open as she looked down, her feet dangling in the air, the ground a few feet below her.

She looks back up at Satoru’s face, with his madman grin and eyes lighting up behind his sunglasses. Her expression mimics his own, as disbelief and excitement hitting her all at once.

And in her moment of joy, she felt her body drop.

She yelps, the short plummet taking her by surprise. Before she can brace herself for the ground, Satoru is standing there again, and her body hits his arms instead.

“You okay?” He asks her right away.

She nods shakily, even though fatigue washes over her head.

“Yeah,” She sighs, and he carefully sets her down, his hands hovering around her shoulders just to be sure she could stand. “Yeah… yeah I’m okay”

He’s not so sure, as her eyelashes hang heavily over her eyes, and she’s swaying just a little bit, as if she were a child willing herself to stay up later in the night.

“Maybe that’s enough for today,” Satoru decides, knowing she probably won’t put an end to her training, even if she was barely standing. “But that was really great”

“Yeah?” She looks up at him, a tired smile on her face.

“Yeah,” He confirms with a nod of his head. “That was amazing. I’m really proud of you”

Her cheeks flush with pink at the compliment. She’s never gone looking for Satoru’s pride before, but having it makes her feel a little fuzzy.

In her tired state, she lets out a little giggle.

“Thanks, Satoru,” She mumbles. “Means a lot”

He really is impressed, he didn’t give her the compliment out of kindness, he truly meant it. In the past he’s known that when she’d attempted teleporting herself without hexing someone first, the moment she appeared at the second location, she’d dropped to the ground in unconsciousness. So for her to not only be stabilized when she teleported up to him, but she even hung in the air in the same way he did- Satoru knew that was an impressive feat.

“Come on, let's get you some rest now, hm?” He prompts, wrapping an arm around her shoulder before blinking them both into the school.

She remains semi- awake until he gets her to her dorm, but once she hits her bed, she’s knocked clean out. Satoru smiles as he realizes this, and carefully drapes her blanket over her so she wouldn’t wake up from her nap cold.

He turns off her light and shuts her door quietly behind him, but not before quietly bidding her a “sleep well”.

___

taglist: @whats-humanity-lol@malinq-ashida@mor-pheus@bekahtaylorgriggs@pookiea@megumimind @thealchemical @pearlstiare @niallerhere (if you want to be tagged the quickest way for me to see would be messaging me!! dm or inbox)

xoxo - jordie

#gojo satoru #gojo satoru x reader #gojo satoru imagine #gojo satoru fanfiction #satoru gojo x reader #satoru gojo imagine #satoru gojo fanfiction #satoru gojo #jjk #jujutsu kaisen #jjk x reader #jjk fanfiction #jujutsu kaisen x reader #jujutsu kaisen imagine #jujutsu kaisen fanfiction

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drysdaleknieslee · 2 months

Note

Would you possibly write some smut of fluff for Matthew Knies?

I love me some Kniesy. I wanna make this a little light hearted with some spice to it so I hope you enjoy! I'm also writing this while drinking wine to get the juices flowing.

WARNINGS: swearing, p in v, hickies, Knies being a little shit

"MAT! Come on we're already as late as it is!"

The Leafs were having a little celebration dinner for them clinching a playoff spot and the team, the wags, and some suits from the organization would be there so you obviously wanted to look your best.

"I'm coming, I'm-" his words cut off shortly after taking in your appearance finally. You had on a dark blue satin dress, thin spaghetti straps over your shoulders, and lacing neatly on the back of the dress, with some light makeup to match. You managed to get your auburn curls to manage into a neat ponytail.

"Matt, the longer you stare the more late we'll be."

"We got," he glances at his watch before drinking in your figure again, "15 minutes. We have time."

"Time for - PUT ME DOWN!"

He scoops you up onto his shoulder and leads you back to your shared bedroom.

"Matt if you wrinkle my dress I swear- OOH - Matthew!" he smacked your butt playfully before laying you on the bed gently to not mess uo your dress more.

"What's the quickest thing we could do? And the lease messy?"

"Matty since there's no use in changing your mind, either use your mouth or the other thing."

His eyes darkened for a hot moment and the tint in his dress pants didn't hide what he really wanted at that moment and the option he chose.

"Turn around for me babe" he rasped.

You turn swiftly and lift the back of your dress to expose your thong. You can hear Matt's labored breathing behind you as he begins to knead your waist to your waist, hips, and your ass. "We gotta make this quick." You shudder as he runs the length of his penis through your folds before entering you with no warning. Your back arching immediately and he places his hand on the middle of your back to keep that same posture as he kept up speed.

"I wish I could take my time with you pretty girl but I can't." he manages to grunt the words out. He moves your hair neatly to the side and begins to kiss and suck from your neck to the tip of your shoulder.

"You better not give me a hickey Matt" you sigh. The air gets knocked out of your lungs as Matty used his left hand to start rubbing your clit to speed up your orgasm and it was working. As a result you started to clinch from overstimulation.

Matt's pace started to stutter and with one last strong thrust you hit your climax. He followed suit, muffling his moan in your neck. He braces himself with his arms on either side of you, careful not to put his full weight on you.

"Let's freshen up really quickly," you pant, "and then we'll leave." Matt just nods with his eyes closed in agreement.

----------------

"Ummm, y/n?"

"Yeah Steph?"

"Did a giant mosquito bite you or what?" she whispered across the table.

Your eyes grow wide momentarily and excuse yourself to the bathroom. Sure enough, there with what was the start of a hickey and a bite mark from you earlier escapade.

When you were walking back to the party, you see your boyfriend covering up a sly grin with his win glass.

"I'm gonna kill you when we get home." you whisper.

"Looking forward to it."

#matthew knies #matthew knies x reader #matthew knies imagines

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emeritus-fuckers · 5 months

Note

Papas - A sibling joins and is the reserved, silent type

Papas with a quiet and reserved s/o

Primo

He understands. Since retiring from Papa, he doesn't talk much either anymore. He mostly stays in the garden and the hatchery.

Is happy to just exist with you in silence.

Does like your voice, and will speak gently to you when he has too.

Makes sure that you don't have to extensively be around people.

Communicates with soft touches and notes.

Secondo

This man does not know what the word silence means.

He doesn't why you're quiet, he's never been a silent man himself. He's always been loud and quite likes being around people.

He will try to not be as loud around you, to the best of his ability. He can only be so quiet and still before needing to do something.

Tries his best.

Terzo

He also is not a quiet man.

He is constantly aching for attention and the company of other people.

But in the rare moments he is completely calm, he is actually pretty damn quiet.

He is happy to exist with you. Read a book or silently finish his paint, or maybe do some paperwork.

For once.

Copia

You wouldn't think it with how he acts on stage, but he is actually a very quiet man off stage.

He is happy to just be silent with you and work on his paperwork, or even his video games and paperwork. Only speaking up when he has too.

He would offer you foods and drinks when he has them, just to make sure that you have something in your system.

Is also quiet.

Old Nihil

Honestly he's kinda lucky when it comes to that...

Nihil is a fucking simp. He loves staring at you.

Even if you talked a lot, he'd still mostly stare... and then use his age as an excuse for having no idea what you said to him.

But if you're not very talkative and just do your own thing?

Yeah, he loves it, because he just gets to keep watching you adoringly and not get scolded for not listening.

So you two just exist in silence. You doing your thing and him just... watching you.

Young Nihil

He likes you, but wishes you were a bit more outgoing.

Tries taking you out, thinking you just need a different setting to get more rowdy.

You don't. And while he's oblivious and insistent for a while at first, he does eventually give up and tries to figure out a better, more private date ideas.

Movie nights are his automatic go-to. A nice, safe option.

Maybe a small coffee date with his paints off, not as Papa Emeritus Zero, but as just Nihil.

He comes to realize he actually does like quiet dates and while he still offers to take you to a party every once in a while, he doesn't insist on going if you say no.

Papas I-IV written by Zenith/Japser.

Papa Nihil written by Nosferatu.

Taglist: @charlie-is-a-menace @copias-fluffy-asscheeks @randodummy @tuttifuckinfruttifriday @calliedion-dungeon @randominstake @callmeicaro @nuntia @dio-niisio @mamacarlyle @firefirevampire @mybotanicaldemise @emo-mess @natoncesaid @sirlsplayland @thatoddboy @ouijaboardemo @lightbluuestars @strawberriiblossoms @dark-angel-is-back @igodownjustlikeholymary @choco-meow69

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decolonize-the-left · 2 months

Note

If Americans shouldn't vote for Biden what should they do instead? Vote for trump? Vote third party? Not vote?

(I know most people would probably ask you this in bad faith but I'm just really distraught at the state of politics and keep hearing people say "don't say he's the only option and don't support him" but there's never alternatives given and I don't know what an effective alternative could even be)

I think a good place to start that a lot of people are comfortable with is probably volunteering and petitioning for 3rd parties to make sure they Do have ballot access next year. So that ppl Can vote for someone else next year.

And yes, vote 3rd party this election. Or don't vote at all.

Besides that? Learn some basic defense and join protests. Support encampments and do things leftists say like join a union and organize your own community whether it be your schoolmates, coworkers, or all your friends and their friends.

Y'all see the news right?

Censorship and propaganda are rampant right now, along with transphobia and racism and even Nazis are back. Tensions are high to say the least and everyone is worked up about the election and Israel.

Figure out what you wish someone else would do and then do it. Is that de-arresting protesters? Organizing a bail fund, fighting cops and throwing tear gas back at them when they make things violent?

There's a lot to fight against and even more to fight for. Find what's worth fighting for (to you) and actually start fighting for it. Don't let cops or your principal or boss or anyone else stop you.

I think one of the most important things we can do right now is remind the government and those that serve the government that they won't take our rights so easily. That if they want to silence us then we're gonna make sure it'll hurt more than it'll help. That we can and will fight back.

And that's why it's so vital that we show them we won't settle either. We won't vote for Biden.

We settled for Clinton and look where that got us.

Does it feel like voting for more and more conservative blue candidates actually helped prevent harm? Or does it feel like you were manipulated and lied to?

Gonna be real, it feels like the government is a manipulative abuser and we're all it's gaslit victims who don't want to believe things are that bad just cuz he killed someone else instead of us.

Which is like...it doesn't mean good things for us that our government could do that and we'd rationalize it, you know?

How we want to get out of this fucked up dynamic is up to us. We work, we pay taxes, we listen to the governments rule of law, and still our government won't codify rights, our trans friends are being abused by the government, or it's banning apps with censorship. And the whole time it's telling us to shut up and be grateful it isn't worse.

Abusers never ever tell you that it could be better too. And they don't want you to know that. Cuz then you leave. And if you leave then they can't manipulate and abuse you.

So yeah. They'll shit on us for doing Anything that doesn't result in us staying, for doing anything that results in us choosing our own well being instead of theirs.

But that's what we need to do.

And you need support before you do that. That's what organizing is. It's like calling the besties who hype you up to leave your shitty ex. Except it's a bunch of people agreeing to support each other when they choose to stand up for something. Organizing is making sure there are people watching back and making sure if one of you is harmed or arrested that there'll be someone there to help bail you out.

The more people you have to bail you out, the less you have to worry about being outnumbered, spoken over, or physically stopped with force.

So yeah. Do that.

Organize. I hope I stressed that enough. The people on our front lines need us to be there for them as much we need Them to keep fighting for us.

Also since I'm here: make sure you and your friends don't talk shit about protesters even when they get violent and break shit. It's not abuse when the victim finally hits back at their abuser, it's self defense.

#asked #answered #idk #kinda just want politicians to start dying tbh

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thezombieprostitute · 3 months

Text

Changing Minds - Part 4

Summary: Your long time work acquaintance Nick Fowler offers to take you to a fancy fundraiser as a way of cheering you up. He insists it's only as friends but when he sees you falling into the grasp of someone he knows is no good, he might change his mind on that.

Word Count: ~2.4k (definitely a big'un for my standards!)

Warnings: Implied violence and attempted murder. Please let me know if I missed any.

A/N: Reader is an older female (late 30's +). This is part of the Garbage Men AU.

Part 3 -- Part 5

Series Masterlist

Nick’s been making sure to keep texting you. Nothing too romantic, too revealing, but still keeping in touch, keeping up the appearance of interest. He’s gotten his hands on a tennis bracelet with your favorite color gemstones. Jake was able to find a small enough tracker that could be hidden behind one of the stones. He figured it should be easy enough to offer it to you while you were at work.

But as he pulls into the parking lot he’s thrown into a mild panic at the sight of so many police vehicles and ambulances. He gets out of the car and walks as close as he can before he’s stopped by an officer.

“What’s going on,” he asks, worry etched into his face.

“There’s a bomb,” the officer responds. “We’ve got almost everyone safely out. Bomb squad is in there now.”

“What about Y/N? She’s a friend of mine who works here.”

The officer shrugs, “everyone who’s gotten out of the building is over in that section.” He points to a small group near the ambulances. Nick immediately walks over but he doesn’t see you. He recognizes one of the people who works for you, Nikki? Nicole? He can’t remember but he gets their attention.

“Where is Y/N? Why isn’t she with you?”

“The bomb was at her desk,” the young lady whispers. “It…it was activated when she sat down on her chair or something.”

For a moment, Nick can’t think. Any second now you could be dead, likely all because of him. He sees the police lights flashing and pulls out his phone, dialing Sheriff Bodecker.

He answers after three rings, “this had better be damn important, Fowler.”

“The City Clerk office–”

“Yeah, we got our best people helpin’ out that little lady. What about it?”

“I need access.”

“No can do, Fowler. That’s a city-owned building with city employees at risk. Can’t be havin’ a civilian helpin’ on the investigation. This stays in house.”

“Bullshit,” Nick growls into the phone. “She’s my friend! She’s in danger and I need to know who the hell placed that damn thing!”

“You’ll get access to the reports the same time as every other citizen,” Lee states. “You know where my loyalties lie, Nick, but when it comes to city stuff, I got alotta protocol to follow if I want to keep my job.”

Nick angrily hangs up the phone. He knows Bodecker is right but he’s still pissed off about it. He calls up Jake to ask him to hack the security cameras but Jensen says it’s a no-go. The security cameras are all self-contained. He’d have to be in the building itself to mess with them. Nick hangs up, frustrated.

He’s trying to think of other options when his eyes spot Clark Kent near the building, talking to the police. Confused and enraged Nick stalks over to him, trying to pick up as much of the conversation as he can. He hears snippets of “oh that poor lady,” and “any resources I can offer” before Kent spots him.

“Mr. Fowler,” he greets. “I’m not surprised to see you here. Your poor friend must be a mess!”

“What are you doing here,” Nick seethed.

“I was hoping to pay the lovely Lady a visit,” he calmly answers. “I had such a lovely time talking with her and I was hoping to talk to her some more. But then this!” Kent gestures at the building, “who would do such a thing? Why would they do such a thing?”

Nick sees through the mask of concern Kent has set up. They both know the value of the records in that building and several reasons why someone would want them destroyed. But if either of them admits to it, it would only be used against them. As much as Nick wants to punch him, he knows it would only make everything worse.

Fortunately the tension is cut with a small cheer from your coworkers. Both men look and see you being walked outside. Nick’s never seen you so scared and he tries to run to you but is stopped by the officer.

“Please,” Nick insists, “she’s my friend. Please let me go help her.”

“It’s okay, Officer,” Kent adds. “I can confirm their friendship. Please let him go to her?” The officer looks at both men and lets Nick pass, letting the officer escorting you know what’s going on. When you see Nick you reach out to him and take his hand.

“W’ere taking her to the ambulance,” the officer tells him. “Gonna get her vitals checked. Likely in a state of shock.” Nick nods and walks with you, his hand never leaving yours.

You find yourself leaning into him as you get to the ambulance. Your coworkers try to get closer but Nick gestures at them to stay back saying, correctly, you need air. The EMT gets to work checking everything she can. She confirms that you’re suffering from shock and either need a hospital stay overnight or to have a friend keep an eye on you at your home. You don’t argue when Nick says he’ll take care of you. You just nod.

Your coworkers give you space as Nick walks you to his car, all of them giving you well wishes. You nod and quietly thank each of them as you walk. You definitely didn’t expect to see Mr. Kent walking up to you, steel blue eyes full of concern.

“My dear Lady,” he starts, taking your free hand in both of his, “I do hope you will recover quickly.” You can’t bring yourself to say anything so you just nod and keep walking.

Nick helps you into your apartment and let yourself slump into your favorite chair. Every time Nick has tried to speak you put up a hand to stop him. You need this. The familiarity of home and comfort before you can bring yourself to have the conversation you know you need to have with him.

Nick has respected your request for silence but, in his need to do something, he asks, “can I get you some tea or something? If I can find the stuff.” You take a deep breath to steady yourself. Nick notices your nostrils flaring in agitation and wishes he’d kept his mouth shut.

“What I need,” you huff, “is for you to tell me what the hell is going on?” You glare at Nick and he’s taken aback at the ferocity in your eyes.

“I don’t know anything about the bomb, I swear to you.”

“Of course it isn’t you, Nick,” you scold, your voice getting louder with each word. “We’ve been acquaintances for years with no problem. Then I’m introduced to Mr. Kent, hear your background with him, and suddenly I’m given police reports meant to make you look dangerous and have a bomb placed at my desk! He even showed up to the scene of the damn crime! It doesn’t take a genius to figure this shit out!”

Nick finds himself stumbling over his words. He’s never seen you like this before and he’s not sure what he can do or say to help.

“Don’t you dare tell me you don’t know anything,” you scold him. “You got me into this damn mess, you’re going to either get me out of it or keep me safe!”

“Yes, ma’am,” Nick whispers in awe of your anger. He’s very glad he didn’t get you that cup of tea as he’s pretty sure he’d be covered in burn marks from you throwing it in his face.

“And you’re going to call whatever people you’re associated with and get me some more secure locks on my door and maybe even a fucking panic button I can press if I need help. Hell, maybe even a tracker in case I get kidnapped!” Nick ducks his head in shame at that one. “You actually have something already, don’t you,” you chide. “Well, let’s see it!”

Nick pulls out the jewelry box with the tennis bracelet and hands it to you. Your eyes widen in surprise at how pretty it is. “So this is why you wanted to know things like my favorite color?” He nods. “Alright, show me where the tracker is so that I can make sure it doesn’t get damaged or something.” He quietly shows you everything and you put on the necklace. He shows you the locator app on his phone and you feel a little relief. At least now there’s a chance someone would find your body.

While his phone is out he calls someone named “Barnes”. He tries to walk to another room to have a quiet conversation but you refuse to let him leave you alone. If he says anything that downplays his role in your current situation you will make sure this Barnes fellow hears your counter argument.

The entire conversation he feels the burn of your glare on him. He had no idea you could possess such rage. He wonders if this is how people feel when he’s angry at them. He feels like he needs to confess every bad thing he’s ever done just to get you to stop looking at him like that.

He hangs up the phone and tells you a couple of people will be there to beef up your security around the apartment and talk to you about other security options.

After a couple of hours Nick tells you the “guests” are here and there’s a knock at the door right after. He checks the peephole and opens the door. Inside walks a tall, broad man with a dark beard, blue eyes, wearing a beanie and carrying a toolbag. With him is a curvy woman who approaches you with a gentle smile and says, “you can call me Teach. This is Curtis, he’s going to make sure your apartment door and windows are all reinforced with stronger locks.” Curtis grunts acknowledgement as the door closes and he immediately gets to work.

Nick tries to approach and stand next to you as you start talking with Teach but you give him a glare and he ends up sitting at the far end of your couch. You’d laugh at how much he looks like a petulant child if you weren’t still angry at him. Teach definitely picks up on your animosity and asks “would you like someone else on your security detail?”

“I’m not sure,” you quietly admit.

“If it helps at all he is one of the best three in terms of personal security.”

You nod, “but will having him around just make it worse for me?”

“Quite possibly,” Teach admits. “It feels like the closer you and Nick appear to be, the worse it’ll be for you. On the other hand, if he’s not around, it leaves you open and vulnerable. We just don’t know enough to know if Kent’s people will leave you alone if the two of you have a falling out or if he’ll try something anyways just to further hurt Nick. Considering the options, it’s likely safer for you to keep him around.”

Sighing, you concede to her logic, “I suppose we can keep up the friendship and fake dating thing until we know how Kent will react to a breakup.”

“Oh good,” Teach says. “Nick did tell you it was a platonic date.”

“No he didn’t,” you shake your head and her eyes widen. “He didn’t need to,” you scoff. “Nick isn’t as good at hiding his feelings as he likes to think.”

Teach seems to consider your words, “or you’re just that good at reading him. He’s a regular winner at the monthly poker games.” She shakes her head, “but that’s neither here nor there. He’ll be assigned to your security under the premise of dating. We’ll make sure to get you some additional coverage in the form of surveillance. We’ve got eyes on nearby security cameras for your apartment and your office. I’ll give you my contact information so that, if you think of other security measures you’d like, you can ask me.”

“Thank you, Teach, sincerely. How can I repay you?”

She gets a sly smile, “make sure Nick doesn’t get off easy? He fucked up big time and you’re paying the price.”

“He only took me to that event to try to cheer me up.”

“And yet,” she whispers, “from what I’ve heard, he didn’t even try to play it cool in separating you from Kent. If he’d been more casual, let you spend the evening with Kent, maybe there wouldn’t be such a big target on your back. Seriously, for as good as Nick can be about hiding his feelings, he seems to be unable to mask up around you.”

You ponder on that while Curtis finishes up the reinforcement measures for your apartment. He and Teach head out and move to stand in front of Nick, who hasn’t moved from his spot on the couch.

Clearing your throat to get his attention your heart softens when you see the pain in his eyes. “We need to discuss the rules and get our story straight,” you tell him. He nods and you continue, “we can actually use the emotional trauma of the bomb and say that was the catalyst that moved us from friends to dating.” Again, a silent nod from him. “Every time you’re at my apartment you will sleep on the couch. Every time you see me you will bring me a flower or some other small gift. Every time we go out, we will keep PDA to a minimum.” For each requirement you bring up he silently nods.

“Do you have anything to say,” you chide.

“I’m…I’m sorry,” he starts. “I…I shouldn’t have…I’m just...so sorry.” Your feel deflated as the last of your anger dissipates at his sincere apology.

Sighing, you tell him, “I need to get some sleep. Feel free to familiarize yourself with the kitchen. You are allowed to roam my apartment but not my bedroom.” You start walking towards your bed and mutter under your breath, “that’s reserved for people actually interested in me.”

Part 3 -- Part 5

Series Masterlist

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