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j0kers-light · 4 months

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His Lighthouse: The Verge of Ruin (LedgerJoker x f!reader)

The Verge of Ruin

series summary:

Y/n is an aspiring writer living in Gotham City and struggling to find her next muse. Her recent novel is getting all the buzz, earning her far more attention than she signed up for. But when a chance encounter results in her nursing The Joker back to health, will she find the time to write another best seller or will her own story become front page of the Gotham Gazette?

chapter summary:

Yall know I suck at these on the first go around 😂 I'll fix it later.

author's note:

Yes that is the Tiffany & Co. building! Gotham City is based to be NY so I made it work mkay? Oh my gosh I'm getting later and later with these updates…. Anyhoo! I have this wonderful chapter sitting at 9K and its setting the tone for the next event to come! Per a poll I ran in January, I did not include a cliffhanger (at least not a bad one) so I hope you enjoy the chapter and look forward to the series! 🖤✨

taglist:

@blackreaderatrisk @twinkledinkle @clemdango04 @l3ejm @tears-of-amber @what-an-angel @darthjokerisyourfather @thatsnoteii @dollster @cheetahspy @kaidennnnn @urdariingdoll @motivation-idontknowher @ins0mniac-whack @spaghettificationandpretzels @reneisance @alittlesmartcookie @ninacutebee16 @carydorse @jaysmentalspace

Let me know if you wish to be added to the official His Lighthouse taglist! Be alerted with any oneshots and the main story updates! 🖤✨

Last Chapter | Next Chapter

You could hear a pin drop inside the GCPD precinct. Not a soul inside could believe what they were hearing, especially Batman.

At first, the tale being told sounded absurd, Joker had to be lying to buy some time to escape! But as time went on… his story slowly became more believable.

More and more people stopped what they were doing to watch the interrogation being streamed throughout the precinct. Somewhere along the way, denial bled into acceptance. The impossible was happening.

This mysterious woman— either real or just a figment of The Joker’s imagination, did something not even Batman could do. She rehabilitated Joker back into society.

He was a completely different person but let it be known.

Joker was still clinically insane, a true madman with a desire for evil, but he had a sliver of compassion towards others now. A seed had been sown and with it, there was a newfound moral compass within Joker. It was most evident in his behavior. He was slower to anger and the most shocking, Joker appeared to be normal.

Just who was this woman? Everyone was on the edge of their seats wanting to find out.

“I gotta say. This lady must be superhuman to put up with Joker on top of her own problems.” One police officer said to another.

His partner agreed, “Two crazy ex boyfriends? The girl is a magnet for red flags.”

They shared a chuckle but tuned in when Joker spoke up again. His voice was heard throughout the building via the live feed. He knew that he had an audience and played his role well.

“All that pain, all the suffering my Light went through… and she still had an abundance of love for me. I’ll uh, never forget her.” Joker mumbled.

“Is she still alive?” Jim Gordon asked out the blue.

Maybe now Joker had enough time to reminisce and crack under pressure. The interrogation had been going on ever since this afternoon and it seemed like Joker was far from being done.

“Mm, if I could go back in time and do things differently, I would. I’d change sooooo much. Come to think of it, I don’t think I should. I was the only thing holding her together. There were… signs she was fixing to snap– I ignored them of course. I guess I was too blinded by her light to see the bigger picture. By then it was….”

Batman narrowed his eyes, “It was what?”

Joker blew a raspberry and leaned further back in his chair.

For a moment, he closed his eyes and tuned everything out. He wasn’t sitting in GCPD’s holding. He didn’t turn himself in. He didn’t leave you. For just a moment, Joker was back in your apartment.

He could hear the gentle tapping of your laptop keys and he could feel your presence in the air. Wait.

That familiar presence was the reason why his eyes snapped open in shock. Joker had to be hallucinating. There was no way you would be standing behind Batman so calmly wearing only Joker’s baggy sweatshirt and mixed match socks. He had to be the only one who could see you.

‘It’s okay, you can tell them.’ You urged Joker to continue but he wasn’t so sure.

He was unable to keep your identity a secret if he continued his story. He needed to be sure this was what you wanted.

“But.. I don’t want ya mad at me, doll.”

Batman bristled and locked eyes with Jim standing in the room. Joker was looking off to the side, having a side bar with thin air. Now this was the madman they were used to.

You shook your head and stepped closer, “I could never be angry with you J. Tell them. Tell them what happened to us.. to me.”

Joker watched you fade away with a heavy heart. It was like losing you all over again. Only this time, it was for good.

He sighed and returned to his conversation with Bats and Commissioner Gordon. They both eyed him warily.

“By then... it was too late to save her. I led her straight to ruin.”

It wasn’t the most professional timer in the world and if you were a vet, you might’ve spoken out against it.

Dr. Quinn’s rapid gunfire alarm always put you on edge. She obviously thought nothing of it and turned it off but not before adding a few more lines to her session notes.

You weren’t sure you wanted to know what important notes she made as you discussed your trauma with her. You didn’t hold back with the gory details this time. Someone was finally listening, and you had so much to get off your chest.

You tapered off your current sentence and watched her pink pom pom pen dance in the air as she finished up.

There was the unavoidable awkward silence every time your session ended. Quite honestly, you didn’t know what to do. Do you thank her for her time? Just get up and leave or what?

Thankfully, Dr. Quinn saved you from the awkwardness.

“So, Y/n. Today marks our third session! How ya feelin’ so far?” She stood up and rounded her desk to log onto her desktop.

You took that time to notice her attire.

Today she was rather casual (at least by her standards) in a wrap dress that showed lots of cleavage with high stiletto heels. Something about her sense of style just rubbed you the wrong way.

Here she was a professional with a Ph.D wearing flashy, provocative clothes. She could very well be a foreign model, not a psychiatrist, but that was just your honest opinion.

Sometimes being around the attractive blonde made you feel lesser than and it didn’t help that she made off hand comments whenever you body shamed yourself. Tough love seemed to be Dr. Quinn’s therapeutic style.

“Is that how you really feel? I mean, you’re decent looking… I guess.” She briefly rolled her eyes; however, you didn’t catch the motion. “You stated your current partner loves your body. Isn’t that reassuring enough?”

The way she stressed the words, current partner, instantly rubbed you the wrong way. You got the impression she didn’t like you having a partner.

Dr. Quinn wasn’t conservative, but she gave off strange vibes. She found it hard to understand how you staunchly avoided physical touch but actively had a lover.

“That’s a huge contradiction, Y/n. You're a rape victim! You fear physical contact with men. During our first visit, you expressed guilt for rejecting your father’s goodbye hug after your most recent episode. When this.. Bruce guy touches you—it “feels wrong” and yet you let your lover have his way with you. On multiple occasions might I add. What makes him different?”

She drilled your brain for the longest for an answer, but you couldn’t provide one.

As ludicrous as it sounded, Joker’s touch didn’t affect you the way Bruce’s or Ty’s did. Joker asked for permission before he touched you out of the blue. He knew your ticks and did his best not to trigger them.

Joker always checked in and he communicated with you before, during, and after sex. He made you feel safe, both in and out of the bedroom. You had nothing to fear when Joker took you and in a loose sense, you trusted him with your body. It was your heart that couldn’t fully commit.

You were so afraid that this was all an act and Joker would pull the rug out from under your feet.

If you gave him your heart and he turned around and broke it, there wouldn’t be any pieces left to mend back together. You would be utterly broken.

And Dr. Quinn saw that vulnerability.

“Protecting your heart takes courage, Y/n. You trust others so willingly and ya learned a valuable lesson because of it. But now there’s a new man in your life who sounds like he has good intentions—you have this impenetrable wall up and you won’t lower it for anyone! You’ll lose this guy if you don’t take a risk. Give him your heart so he can brea—ahem! So, he can love you wholeheartedly! If not, then you’ll never be happy.”

You didn’t catch her slip of tongue. You were too busy digesting her advice with a pensive frown. It was the truth, but you didn’t know how to open your heart to others after what your ex did to it.

“I... I-I don’t think I can.” You mumbled.

Dr. Quinn looked at you in confusion. “Why not? You f__k ya boyfriend, no?”

She waited for you to squeak out a yes, before continuing, “You already confessed that you love him to both your mom ‘n pseudo brother. What’s stopping ya from telling your lover?”

This tough love approach was irking your soul, but you refused to be bullied by your therapist. You couldn’t stop the word vomit from coming out.

“I don’t think I can love someone romantically after what Ty did!”

Harley tapped her pen, pressing you for an answer. “Annnnnnd what was that?”

You tried not to get offended by her flippant tone. All you could do was recap your two-year abusive relationship into sixty minutes.

That’s when you finally got through to Dr. Quinn. A veil was lifted, and she saw your situation with a new set of eyes. She let you vent for the next hour, not interrupting once. She almost felt bad when the timer went off.

And so, things came back full circle. “So, Y/n. Today marks our third session! How ya feelin’ so far?”

You rubbed your sweaty palms on your thighs. Retelling your story made you sweat and regret ruining Joker’s outfit choice for today. You glanced out the big window down at the busy Gotham streets for a much-needed distraction. It was almost lunch time, and you were looking forward to leaving therapy today.

You had a lot to think about.

“Y-Yeah I’m okay, I guess. I got a lot out today.” You replied.

Harley nodded as she pulled up her schedule. She had you on a strict session plan, two times a week to get to the root of your trauma as quickly as possible. She scrolled through her open slots and spoke up.

“I agree, that was.. pretty intense. How about a little break, yeah? Instead of back-to-back sessions; how does next Monday and Thursday sound?”

Your schedule was free, so it didn’t make a difference to you. Dr. Quinn penciled you in and waved goodbye as you left her office feeling numb.

Retelling such a dark period of your life on an empty stomach wasn’t the best idea you had.

The business park was still bustling with life for a Tuesday, but it was just background noise as you walked towards the curb. You took the subway here but now that your session was over, you honestly didn’t feel like going back to an empty home.

Joker had declined in taking you to therapy, but he gave you a heads up that he’d probably be gone by the time you came back. It was still midday, and that tidbit gave you pause. J usually waited until the evening to start terrorizing the city.

Ever since the big L bomb three days ago, Joker had been acting.... normal.

Sunday morning was bliss, waking up in Joker’s arms all safe and warm—and after a few stolen kisses and hushed greetings, he crawled out of bed to make your breakfast. It was as if nothing had ever happened. You finally got to spend a relaxing weekend with your lover.

In your mind, you wished this was the alternate ending after visiting Martha’s Vineyard with J. No family dinners, no traitorous friends, and no nightmares from your horrid past. It was just you and Joker in the comfort of your apartment until you received a reminder for therapy on Monday and today.

Then you had to venture out into the cruel world of Gotham. Joker was ever the gentleman (in training) and helped you shower and dress. He even kissed you goodbye at the door.

Well, more like he devoured your soul.

He backed you into the front door and kissed your lips, as if your oxygen was the only remaining supply in the world. And just when you thought you would lose consciousness, he pulled back and whispered a, “Have fun at therapy.” before pushing you out the door.

Only when you stepped off the subway did you acknowledge the outfit Joker picked out for you. The man has a wicked sense of fashion.

Your frayed dress hugged your figure and the perfect pair of heels added height to your frame. Joker dressed down the distressed tattered look with a denim jacket and a handbag.

Never in a million years would you have put this outfit together. If your mind wasn’t so fuzzy, perhaps you would’ve seen the many looks cast your way. People obviously liked what they saw.

You were blissfully unaware as your phone buzzed in your purse. You stepped off to the side and arched an eyebrow at the incoming text.

‘I’ve been threatened to take u out to lunch or you know who will turn me into compost. Seems like an empty threat but I ain’t taking no chances where u at?’

You snorted at Morgana’s natural lax attitude and replied.

She hearted your shared location and in less than fifteen minutes, she was there to pick you up. Her set of wheels, however, earned her a bombastic eye.

The purring engine turned a few heads and you gained some envious eyes when you walked up to the passenger door and hopped in.

You knew better and waited until your seatbelt was fastened to begin questioning the driver. “Either business is booming or you selling more than flowers.”

Morgana just laughed and shifted the sports car back into drive, “Haha, I’m just test driving.”

You eyed the personal effects scattered throughout the car. Morgana wasn’t slick, this was someone’s car.

“Uh huh... who is you giving pussy to?”

She maneuvered the car back into traffic without a word. It was obvious she had been driving the car a lot to be so at ease behind the wheel.

When she did respond it was jovial and filled with mirth. “Didn’t you just leave therapy? Shouldn’t we be talking about that and not me?”

“We can. After you explain why you’re driving a Porsche.” You noted.

Morgana shifted gears, “Again.... not mine.”

You turned in your seat to look at her directly. She was every bit a successful businesswoman and today she really looked the part in her crisp power suit and stiletto heels.

Whenever Morgana dressed up, it meant it was meeting day with her partners. She wouldn’t be touching any soil today and yet you managed to spot her dirty lie.

“Morgana, I know it's not yours. I’m asking which one of your flings gave you their car.”

Her brown eyes flickered over towards you and she easily caught your knowing gaze.

She laughed as the light turned green. “Okay you got me, but I know you not judging, Miss. ‘My boo thang robs Gotham Merchant Bank for fun.’ How many cars does he gift you?”

You scrunched your nose at her choice of words, “Boo thang? Really? Joker doesn’t buy me stuff.”

“Yet.” She fired back.

“What do you mean yet? Do you know something I don’t?” Why did she sound so sure of herself? These days, it seemed like everyone else knew more about your life than you.

Morgana pulled into a parking spot at a local restaurant and removed her seatbelt. Her sunglasses quickly found a place on top of her head. That meant whatever she was about to say was going to be over the top, yet nothing but the truth.

“Girl. That man is down atrocious for you. I’ll bet a week’s earnings his love language is gift giving. I’d prepare myself if I were you.”

She turned off the car as you replied, “You do know something!”

Morgana sucked her teeth and stepped out of the car. You looked on in disbelief as she strutted into the restaurant, laughing her head off. The two of you probably made quite the scene, with you yelling at her all the way inside, demanding answers.

By the time you caught up with your botanical friend, she was already at the hostess station securing a table.

They both eyed you when you grabbed Morgana by the arm. “Spill. Thine. Tea.”

“R-Right this way.” The hostess muttered at the same time as you. You pouted, knowing you would have to wait to get some answers.

The hostess guided the two of you to a table near a window overlooking the bustling city street. Surprisingly, Morgana was able to get a table during peak lunchtime rush. You liked the place for their fusion farm to table take on classics and Morgana loved their mixologist. It was a win-win while being relatively close to your psychologist's office.

Morgana sat her dainty clutch down within arms reach whereas you hung your handbag on the provided table hook.

Menus were opened, but you wanted to get straight to the gossip. It felt like ages since you had time to goof around with a friend. Life’s struggles had been hitting you left and right, you weren’t able to get a moment’s reprieve.

You weren’t a drinker but you eyed the menu in passing. You more than deserved one.

Morgana removed her sunglasses and sat them top of her clutch. One look into your weary e/c eyes had her sighing.

“Phew child, aren’t you tired from spilling your guts at therapy? You gotta be hungry or something. Eat so your man doesn’t kill me. Like he needs a reason to, but it’ll get him off my back for the day.” Morgana shifted in her seat.

You furrowed your brows at her offhand comment.

Joker was not a people person, yet Morgana spoke as if she was on speaking terms with the dark clown.

“Is there something you’re not telling me? About J, I mean.” She tilted her head at your vague question, so you elaborated more. “I dunno, you two seem to be getting along?” Even you were confused with what you were asking.

It was still hard to grasp that someone else knew your secret.

Morgana was the most mellow individual out of your friend group but still. She became a threat the moment she learned about you and Joker. You were dying to know what sort of miracle kept her alive.

You asked Joker not to hurt any of your friends and he promised— but since when did he listen to others?

Morgana was about to reply when the waiter came to the table and took orders while dropping off drinks. You thanked him and put in your food request after Morgana. Once he was clear from the area, she focused back on you.

“Calm down Y/n/n, nothing’s going on. I am kinda friends with your man though. Hear me out!”

She laughed at your bewildered face. “It’s not my proudest moment, trust me, but we... talked while you were, you know... out of it on Friday. We came to an agreement that keeps all parties involved happy. I won’t lie, the man is emotionally draining, but he’s that not bad once you get to know him.”

She sipped on her drink as you proceeded to flip out even further. What sort of agreement could your Clown Prince of Crime agree to that didn’t involve murder?

Joker really was turning a new leaf to remain in your life. You didn’t expect him to compromise on anything. It made you question what else he would change all for the sake of your happiness.

But first you had to make sure you were hearing this correctly. “We are talking about the same J, right? Green hair? Penchant for killing people with knives? You’re friends with that J?”

Morgana made an iffy noise, “Okay, friends is quite the stretch. We’re more like coworkers who only tolerate each other on the clock. I promised your parents I would be there for you and let’s be honest, Y/n. You need all the friends you can get right now. You’re pushing everyone away to keep him in your life and that’s not fair to anybody. We have to find common ground so that everyone can support you.”

She reached across the table to grab ahold of your hands. “I'll do anything to remain your friend and he knows that. That clown takes the phrase; ‘keep your friends close, your enemies closer’ very seriously.”

You looked confused at first, which caused Morgana to roll her dark eyes. Clearly you needed some help decoding.

“He assigned Mac to follow me around. Not like I’m complaining.” She smacked her lips with a smug smile. You knew that look all too well from her.

"I thought you don’t like white chocolate, Morgana.” You mused. She stuttered and quickly backtracked.

“Listen, listen! I usually don’t, but ya girl folded and fast! One minute I’m out shopping with Dr. Sarai, the next, he’s whispering in my ear ‘n s__t all what he wants to do to me! He presented me an offer I couldn’t refuse, and you know I love a good deal.”

She fanned herself as you face palmed.

Morgana and her flirtatious, yet successful, business practices. But that wasn’t the end of things. She pushed out a fake tear all for your amusement.

“Girl, I let a white man slut me out! I know my ancestors were shaking their head as I gave head. Lawd, I swear that man got me some type of way. It’s like I’m going through dick withdraws or something!” Morgana joked.

Now that was something you could relate to. Joker had the same effect on you.... but you shook that thought from your head.

“J-Just... be careful, Gana. I don’t want the same thing that happened with Flo and Neo to happen to you.” You said.

She snapped out of her daydream, “Wait, what happened with them?”

“I honestly don’t know. Flo still has me on silent treatment but Neo on the other hand— had the audacity to text me over the weekend asking if I knew any other hair braiders. You know what that means.”

The both of you shared a look. “I feel like I’m the reason they broke up.” You sighed softly.

She sat back in her chair, arms crossed. This was new information but in her opinion their fallout had nothing to do with you. She wished you would stop taking the blame for other people’s actions.

For the time being she’d focus on on thing at a time. “They were together? I thought they were just f__king.” Morgana asked.

If only things were that simple then you wouldn’t be mourning a broken friendship.

You shook your head, “You saw how she blew up at the dinner party. If Neo was just FWB, she wouldn’t have popped off like that. I know Florence, they were serious.”

Morgana had to wait to add in her two cents since the food arrived at the table. She ordered a protein salad and you settled for your favorite dish.

For a moment, the only sound at the table was the clinking of utensils against fine china. After a few bites, Morgana resumed the conversation with you.

“I’m assuming you haven’t had time to process losing a friend on top of everything else.”

You chewed in silence. Of course you didn’t.

After Florence blew things out of proportion and ruined dinner, you were immediately coerced into a slumber party that spiraled out of control and set off an emotional episode. Then Joker came out of nowhere with his impromptu date and shocking confession.

It was just one thing after another and you did not have any time to recharge your social battery in between events. Your once calm and uneventful life had done a complete 180 ever since running into Joker. Sometimes you found yourself missing the boring old Y/n.

You were too old for all of this drama. On that note, you sighed out a reply.

“No, I haven’t. I wish Florence was more open-minded like you. I can trust you not to run to the police and rat us out, but I can’t expect the same courtesy with Flo. Ugh, J and I just started this relationship and its already on the verge of ruin.”

“Pause! It’s official?!” Morgana didn’t think Joker would have the balls to confess, let alone for you to reciprocate his feelings with your past relationship being a conflict of interest.

She was one hundred percent invested in this tea and pushed her salad away to focus squarely on you.

“Jo—ahem, I mean…” You glanced around to ensure no one accidentally heard you almost say Joker’s name.

You totally forgot that you were in public. The place was also crowded so you lowered your voice before continuing.

“J said he loves me, but I couldn’t say it back because of… because of him. It’s a miracle that J has feelings. I can’t just ignore them! H-He needs me more than I need him. I just gotta find a way to get over these tainted emotions of mine. I heard the phrase misused so many times that I’ve desensitized myself to the meaning of it.”

You pushed some leftover trimmings of food around the plate as Morgana looked on, in confusion. “You mean I love you?”

Your neck snapped up so fast it almost gave you whiplash.

Morgana said it so casually, you envied her. It was normal for her tongue to mold the words and the meaning behind them was heard and felt; however, for you it set off alarms in your brain and she got to see the sheer horror overcome your features because of it.

For the longest, your mouth flopped open like a fish as you tried to repeat the phrase. It sounded like you were choking on air.

It physically pained you and tears of frustration dotted your lash line. Try as you might, you couldn’t say it back.

Morgana watched on in pity. “What did he do to you?” She whispered.

The he in question being your good for nothing ex.

Your parents went into heavy detail painting a picture to her, Barbara, Bruce, and Dick what all your ex did, but this went beyond physical abuse. He was clever at hiding the mental abuse as well. They never knew you were miserable for two years. No one did, not even you.

Even with all the lessons about spotting abuse and its warning signs, by the time you saw the manipulative person Ty truly was, it was too late.

You were still trying to say those three special words when Morgana wisely changed the subject.

“Anyway, why don’t we do something relaxing. You done?” She pointed at your empty plate and you blinked down at it in disbelief.

You hardly remembered eating. Was your mind still that scatterbrained? You heard your name being called and focused your attention back on your friend.

"Got any plans after this, Y/n/n?” Morgana added with a smile. She flagged the waiter down for the bill while you thought it over. You silently thanked her for giving you time. There wasn’t much that you wanted to do.

“I don’t want to go home. J said he wouldn’t be there. Um, I guess are you up for some shopping? I want to get him a phone so we can finally communicate. The radio silence gets annoying when he leaves for the night.”

You watched her frown while checking her own phone, so you quickly added, “Are you still tied up with meetings today? I-I can go home…”

Morgana waved off your concern again, “Girl, I have time to shop. I’m just letting lover boy know our next move.”

You crossed your arms with a smirk, “Yours or mine?” It wasn’t quite clear.

Morgana’s eyes flickered up from her phone towards you. There was a knowing look in her brown orbs before she resumed texting.

You wouldn’t be getting any answers out of her. The check came, no surprise Morgana snatched it away before you could even think about paying, and the two of you left the restaurant to hit the city.

As you were walking towards the car, Morgana playfully slapped your arm.

“Hey which store you want to hit up first? I’m thinking something trendy. Ooh! What about that pop up on Conway St.?” She unlocked the car and the two of you got in.

You found it funny that she refused to admit her relations with Mac when it was obvious that he was all in. The man let her drive his very expensive car after knowing her for only a few days. You hoped Morgana knew what she was doing getting involved with the blond. It only spelled trouble if she and Mac didn’t work out.

You had to stay out of people's business. Back to the matter at hand.

You remembered seeing a promo on social media about the new organic brand. There were a few interesting pieces you could picture yourself wearing.

“The one that dyes their products with all natural ingredients? Yeah sure, we can go there. You mind if we hit up [insert phone carrier] store first?”

You weren’t kidding about buying a phone for Joker. It was unacceptable to be out of contact with him given how close the two of you were. Quite honestly, you didn’t care about the risk of being caught. Waiting for Joker to get a new burner phone—only to use it once, was getting rather old real fast.

You wanted to communicate like normal people. You were getting him a permanent number, end of discussion.

Which brought up a new topic as you buckled in. “Hey, do you think Mac could teach J how to work a smartphone?”

Morgana snorted as she cranked up the car. It purred to life like a lion lying in wait.

“Y/n, I could get that man to file your taxes if you wanted me to. I got him wrapped around my finger.”

You had no doubt she did. Unfortunately, that was the problem.

Going out shopping with Morgana was quite literally a breath of fresh air. It gave you time to unwind and be normal after the emotional roller-coaster your life had turned into. You couldn’t thank her enough for the much-needed change of pace.

Immediately after arriving at the mall, you and Morgana locked eyes and started giggling.

FENDI, Chanel, (insert favorite store), it didn’t matter. You would shop at them all. Time was on your side, and you had the money to spend. Retail therapy was real and evident by the numerous bags you and Morgana racked up in the four hours spent together.

A weight was lifted from your shoulders and there was a carefree smile plastered on your face as you shopped around.

Morgana patted herself on the back for a job well done.

She held up a deep chocolate colored silk dress for you to see. “Y/n/n! This has your name written all over it!” She rushed over and held the garment up to your front, already planning an outfit in her head.

“Yes. A sexy pair of heels, a mini bag, with your hair... mm. Up, I think? Yeah, up with that necklace you were eyeing at Tiffany’s. That would be sickening.”

Your eyes widened remembering which necklace she was referring to. “Morgana, that thing costs way too much!” There was no way you would ever buy it for yourself!

“But do you want it?” She replied with the same frantic tone. You eyed her as if she was smoking dick.

“N-Not that much!”

She tapped her heels on the floor. Why did you have to be so stubborn? Without a word, she unlocked her phone and shot off a message faster than The Flash himself. You scoffed but grabbed the hanger from her.

You glanced at the price tag. Now that was reasonable.

“I’ll try this on but I’m not, I repeat, not getting that necklace to go with it.” You sent her one last narrowed squint before finding an employee to point you towards the fitting room.

It was now or never.

Morgana waited until you were out of earshot to dial a number. It rang for a bit until a familiar voice answered.

“Hey pretty Mama. And just what can I do for you?”

Morgana tried. Really, she did, not to blush at his suave voice caressing her ears and failed miserably. “Ahem, is you with the boss man?”

Mac sighed (no doubt while rolling his crystal blue eyes) before answering, “Yeah, what of it?” He quipped.

“Well, I ain’t no snitch but little miss, “I need to get out more” isn’t cooperating with today’s plans. Perhaps you can relay to him that his girl is reluctant to get whatever she wants?”

Now that made Mac sigh in pure frustration. The plan was to get you out of the house to get your mind off things while the second half of your surprise was being prepared.

There was no limit to what you couldn’t do, and Joker asked—more like forced, Morgana to make sure his Light was happy. He was off finalizing tonight’s plans, but everything was riding on Morgana not to screw up.

Case in question, she was supposed to make sure you wore a cute outfit for tonight.

Mac grumbled to himself, and Morgana heard a short, ‘hold on’ before he placed her on mute. Seconds turned into minutes, and she feared you would return from the fitting room before she got an answer from the clown.

Thankfully Mac came back with an ultimatum. “Where y’all at?”

“Why do you need to know? You didn’t plant a tracking chip on me yet?” She joked. All she got was a soft snort.

“Location or next time I have you on your knees, I won’t be as forgiving.”

It was official. This man had her sprung. She chuckled deviously but relinquished her current location, however the phone call wasn’t over. “I’ll hold you to that, pretty boy.”

She hung up before Mac could reply and just in time. You emerged from the fitting room with a pleased smile on your face.

“Well?” She stressed.

You fiddled with the garment in your hands. Although your answer wasn’t verbal, you did in fact nod— confirming that you were buying the dress. You watched Morgana squeal in delight and you eyed her curiously because of it.

“Oh, don’t give me that look! Now we gotta find you some heels and the perfect bag! C’mon there’s no time to waste!”

In seconds, Morgana had you by the hand— ready to dress up her play doll, poor poor you, to her bidding.

It took you a few stores and another hour, but you soon caught onto Morgana’s plan.

She was slowly crafting an outfit for you, yet since you didn’t know the end result for it, you were forced to play along and find out the hard way.

The two of you circled back to Dior and purchased the mini bag you had previously eyed in passing. You doubted it could hold anything else besides your keys and ID, but you had to admit. It did match your growing ensemble. A simple pair of heels were found elsewhere to round off the look, but Morgana had ushered you back to the store that started this whole crusade.

You rolled your eyes at the iconic Tiffany blue glow greeting you.

“I told you, Morgana. I’m not buying that necklace.” You exasperated.

It was a little after five in the afternoon and you had just enough energy left to deal with her foolishness.

“Whatever. This is our last stop, I promise.” She waited until you walked through the door to dash away. Her work here was done.

You walked into the store, quite shocked at how deserted it was. The place was notorious for being crowded— even so late in the day. You turned around to ask Morgana what was up but she was gone. In fact, from your viewpoint in the jewelry store, the surrounding area looked abandoned.

“Gana? Um.. hello?” This didn’t feel right at all. You were seconds away from booking it when you felt a dark presence behind you.

“Why aren’t ya buying the uh, pretty neck-lace, hm? Do ya prefer my hand more?”

All your fears washed down the drain at the sound of his voice and you exhaled as Joker’s hand came up to massage your throat. His chest was like a furnace against your back, but it was frigid compared to the smoldering hot kiss he planted just below your ear.

“What. Did. I. Tell. You? Say the wooo~ooord and it's yours. Do you want it?”

Your eyes flickered shut as he gave a tentative squeeze to your neck. Not enough to cause you harm yet just enough to make you pant in want. You forgot exactly what you were craving and answered purely on instincts.

“Yes, y-yes I want it.”

“Great!” Joker bellowed. The sudden shout made you jump and open your eyes, just in time for an obviously paid off employee to magically appear behind the way. She kept her gaze down even as she spoke to you.

“H-Hi! So you wish to buy the Tiffany Knot? It has a... erm.. matching bracelet i-if you want it.”

You blinked in shock yet Joker wasn’t fazed by your lack of response.

He just wrapped his arms around your waist, humming. “Do you want the match-ing bracelet, Bunny? I bet it’ll look sooooooo pretty on you.”

The both of you knew that was the last thing on your mind.

Joker nodded to the attendant who scrambled to find the matching set and get it boxed up. Besides her frantic shuffling and the sound of your erratic heart, not much else was heard. Joker smirked to himself witnessing your timid, bunny-like behavior being front and center. He always thought it was adorable.

He spun you around so that you faced him. “What’s on your mind, Bunny?” You were biting your lower lip raw. He tapped it free much to your embarrassment.

Joker knew your little quirks like the back of his hand. Nothing got past Joker.

You glanced up at him through your lashes.

Joker opted out on wearing a facial covering and stood before you as true his daunting self. His purple cloak was a stark contrast underneath the bright lights at Tiffany’s, and you noticed that his clown makeup was freshly done. You could only imagine how many strings he pulled to sneak in here. He was being reckless for absolutely no reason, purely because he could.

Then you realized you fell right into Morgana’s plan. She planned for you to end up here waiting for J. And of course, she magically disappeared. The next time you saw the florist... You shook your head but J didn’t like that.

He turned your head back with a click of his tongue. “Aww, now you don’t wanna look at me? I haven’t seen ya since this morning!” His neon green eyes were laser focused on your lips. “Would you believe me if I said I missed you?” He purred in your ear.

You could, one hundred percent, but that was beside the point. This man had no sense of secrecy! And that fact helped you get your bearings straight. You tried pushing him away but that was a pointless endeavor. Joker wasn’t budging.

“J-Joker. What are you doing here?! Someone could... omg. Do you even care about hiding anymore?!”

He didn’t say anything but dropped his gaze down to your lighthouse necklace resting proudly on your heaving chest. You had yet to take it off since he placed it on you Friday night. He almost didn’t want to buy this new necklace, for it would temporarily replace his claim on you. Decisions, decisions...

You waved your hand in J’s face to get his attention, “J.... are you listening to me?” His gaze slid up to yours in record time.

“Always. Annnnnnnd noPe.” He spotted the plethora of shopping bags near your feet and nodded at them, “I hope that’s your uh, outfit for tonight.”

Not like you needed to change; you looked stunning in the ensemble he helped you into this morning, but he had this sudden urge to buy you the world. It was all in the hopes to lift your spirits. If only you would cooperate, hence the reason why he was here in the first place. He didn’t want to coddle or force you into something you didn’t want, however you needed a gentle reminder that you were worth the fuss. .

“T-Tonight? You’re. I.. we? UGH! What part of wanted fugitive are you not grasping? You can’t be seen in public or the GCPD, or God forbid, Batman will come and take you away from me!”

Joker honed in on your words like a bloodhound. You and your separation anxiety was rearing its ugly head and that just would not do.

“Hey. Don’t you worry your pretty little head, doll. No one will take me away from my Light. If I wanna take my girl out, I will. Under-stannnd?”

You wanted to stomp your foot and protest, but Joker’s unnatural green eyes sucked you into a world where his words were absolute. The writer in you knew this was a bad idea. Nothing good ever came from the villain flaunting their freedom, but since when Joker care about anything?

He can and would do anything he pleased. You saw the crazy and impossible stunts he pulled over the years. Joker was an unstoppable force. So much to your dismay, you caved with a meek nod.

However, that wasn’t good enough in Joker’s book. He wanted to hear your beautiful voice.

“Huh? I didn’t hear you, sweethearT.” He tilted your chin up with his finger.

“I-I um.. Sure I guess, yeah. Wait, your girl!?!?!”

Joker rolled his eyes at your delayed reaction to his words. He quickly noticed the sales lady creeping back towards the counter with a signature Tiffany gift box containing his purchases. It had a crisp white bow on top. A shame it was going to be ruined very soon.

Joker waved off the petrified woman and focused his attention back on his precious goddess. You were still rebooting and didn’t quite hear Joker’s next request until he began tugging at your denim jacket.

“Well. Since we’re already to-get-her, why don’t cha get dressed so we can gooo?”

You just blinked in confusion, “Huh?”

J sighed and made a show of rubbing the bridge of his nose. Remarkably, the high-quality makeup stayed in place. It was by far an upgrade from his usual (and unreliable) greasepaint.

Joker hated repeating himself but being with you turned him into a tape recorder. Although he loved your adorable quirks, oftentimes they were misplaced in situations like this one.

“Change into your new dress, Bunny.”

Oh so you did hear him correctly. It was still a bizarre request the second time you heard it. You were not stripping in the middle of a jewelry store!

“J.... we are in public. I don’t care how you mysteriously evacuated all the people that were shopping here, you must be out of your mind if you think I’m going to—”

You stopped mid-sentence to watch Joker bend down and riffle through your bags.

“What are you doing?”

He opened the Nordstrom bag first and whistled at the dark silk that flowed through his fingers. He then bit his lip while eyeing you up and down, and he didn’t stop there. One after another, Joker opened all of your bags until he got to the cellular store one. Then all was silence in the store.

You tried to snatch it out of Joker’s hands but he was much taller than you and simply held it out of your reach. “Why did you buy a phone?” He asked.

It was supposed to be a surprise, so you told him exactly that.

“For me?” He lowered the product box so you could grab it from him.

“Y-Yeah. I got you a phone– under a false name of course– so we can communicate better. I can call, video chat, and text you now. All unlimited!” You popped the box open and fished out the device for Joker to take. “You do know how to use a smartphone right?”

You distinctly remembered his wonder at shower gel and their various scent options long ago. What if he didn’t know about smartphones?

Much to your relief, Joker rolled his eyes and held down the power button until it lit up with the phone carrier logo. “I”m not thaT old, Bunny.” He joked.

You knew it was all in jest, but it made you wonder. It was just you and Joker around, at least for the most part. Would he even indulge your curiosity? It wouldn’t hurt to try.

In the past, Joker always got defense whenever you asked him personal questions, so your voice wavered asking him now. “Um.. then h-how old are you?”

His immediate response spooked you. “Uhhh. I dunno. I ah don’t keep tracK.. of that stuff anymore.”

Here was a literal man child standing before you in the iconic Tiffany & Co. store confessing that he didn’t know how old he was. It was such a bizarre notion that your brain couldn’t wrap itself around it.

Just how desensitized was Joker to life? This revelation became another mark on the ‘J might not be human’ tally board. You feared things would never make sense with him.

Apparently, Joker was great with smartphones if his paint-stained fingers dancing across the interface was any indication. In record time, Joker had finished the initial setup and caught you by surprised when he pocketed his new phone as if nothing was wrong.

“Joker.. have you forgotten how old you are?” You asked.

He didn’t see the point in this and snatched the Tiffany box off the counter to rip it open. With all the elements of your outfit out to go, he was ready for you to stop stalling and get dressed. Why couldn’t you follow instructions? That had to be your biggest flaw.

He decided to entertain you as a distraction instead. “Nope.” J popped the letter P and dropped to knees to start untying your heel straps. “Does it matter?” He added.

You let him do whatever as you argued back. “Uh yeah! It’s a part of your identity, Joker!” You hobbled a bit as Joker removed your heels and replaced them with your new ones. “It’s what makes us human.”

“Hehe, I lost both a loooooong time ago, sweetheart. It’s ahh.. no big deal.”

You refused to believe that. A person couldn’t lose their age. Deep down, no matter how hard a person tried to forget, their core principles remained. Joker might have forsaken whomever he was before all of this joker stuff, but he was still the same person. You wanted to know more about him in his past life.

“Do you remember anything about yourself? Before… um.”

You heard Joker sigh. He glanced up at you with his eyebrows arched. You thought you went too far and an apology was on the tip of your tongue, but Joker startled you by hiking up your dress, all the way up to your hips.

“ACK! Joker! I said, we’re in public!!” You seized his hands near your waist and sent him a frenzied look before scoping out your surroundings.

The place was still eerily empty.

“There’s no one here, Bunny. I’m the only one allowed to see you.” He watched you scoff and so with nothing to lose; he gave you a bargaining chip. “Wanna know some uh s-some more? About me I mean?”

Your head whipped around to witness Joker stutter and bashfully looking away. It was a rare sight to see The Joker nervous. It meant he was dead serious. You would not allow this miracle to slip you by.

“Yeah.” Your voice cracked so you tried again. “Yes, I wanna know more about you, J. About who you are, w-what made you the man you are today. Any hardships you want to share or none at all. I don’t care, I just want to know you.”

Joker’s hands fell from your hips as he stepped back. You noticed the pensive look on his face so you wisely gave him time to think.

You were asking a lot from him and sharing anything about himself was a huge step into the no no territory that he set up for safety. Of course, he remembered how old he was. He remembered small details from his childhood like the phantom dreams they were. That was an old version of himself that he killed a long time ago. Digging those memories back up would take a lot.

He destroyed that person to become The Joker. Somethings were best left in the past and yet his Light was asking for a glimpse into his. As much as it would pain him, you were worth the hassle, but he would do things on his terms.

“Fine. I’ll share only if you get dressed for my lit-tle surprise. Dealll?”

You walked right into that loophole. It was evident that Joker wasn’t comfortable in sharing but (once again) he was meeting you in the middle in order to make you happy. Compromising with the clown turned out to be very easy and you looked forward to other future instances.

You could agree to his terms, so you raised your arms. “Deal. Can you help me?”

Your current dress was form fitting and you knew it would require a two-man job to remove. You focused on Joker’s twin pools of jade as he approached you again and your gaze remained locked with his, right until your dress blocked your vision.

Joker’s presence took your mind off the fact that you were stripping in the middle of a jewelry store. Whenever his hands were on you, you were caught in his spell and nothing else mattered.

You couldn’t explain the amount of trust you had with Joker. Perhaps it was a blind faith spurred on by your desperation or maybe you were just that stupid. Regardless, you felt safe with J.

You stood in your bra and panties until Joker placed the cool silk gown over your form. He arched an eyebrow before his dexterous fingers unclasped your bra without looking. It made you flinch and he apologized by sliding the straps of the dress into place—and sealed it there with a kiss.

When you turned for him to zip up the dress, he hummed in intrigue.

“That’s a ahhh harsh panty line don’t cha think?”

His words made you look down and sure enough, you could see the outline of your underwear through the rich silk. Not a good look. You and Morgana failed to shop at my lingerie boutiques.

You doubted he would let you go home and change, he was rushing you as is. There wasn’t any more options to choose from.

Joker didn’t think you would do it. You were too bashful in nature.

His eyes widened as you shimmied out of your panties and offered them to him with shaky hands.

They hung from your finger before Joker snapped back into focus. Just when he thought he couldn’t love you more. You were truly something else.

“Thank you, Princess.” As always, that particular nickname made you flush a deep maroon.

He pocketed them in his coat for safe keeping and reached around to grab your jewels for the night. This is the part Joker was avoiding.

Not a word was spoken as you undid your namesake and handed it over to Joker. The diamond in the lighthouse sparkled as he pulled out the original box and placed it inside. You were touched by the care he displayed your necklace. It felt strange not wearing it, even if you only had it for a few days. In the short amount of time, you had gotten used to its presence.

You pulled your hair back for Joker to clasp the new necklace on. The twin bracelet soon followed and just like that you were all dolled up for your mystery outing.

Your heart was beating wild. “Does my hair look okay?” You fluffed it back into its wild curly strands that framed your face.

Morgana suggested wearing it up but that was before Joker came and coerced you into getting ready on the spot. You had absolutely no idea how you looked right now.

Your mind was immediately flooded with the thought of the store’s CCTV cameras and other shoppers watching this intimate scene unfold. What was Joker thinking when he suggested this? Your hair must’ve been more than okay if the way Joker was licking his lips meant anything.

If anyone else did that, it would come off creepy yet somehow, he made it endearing. Joker’s actions always spoke louder than any words he could string together.

He was unwrapping your mini bag for you when your curiosity knew no limit.

“Um.. Where are you taking me?”

“Aht aht ahtttttt. You see. If I tell you that, then it won’t be a surprise, Y/n. You look... well.” He drank in the sight of you as he handed you the white handbag. “I’m a lucky guy.”

His brute honesty made you drop your head and knowing how he felt about you made his words hit that much harder. Joker loved you. You still couldn’t believe it.

“Now! Uh here’s what’s gonna happen, doll. Don’t worry about your stuff. I need yoooou to walk outta here and sit that sexy little behind of yours in the car outside. The one by. The. Curb. Then, I need ya to wait for me. Can ya do that?”

It sounded simple enough. There had to be more. “And then what?”

Oh how he loved his curious little Bunny.

Joker dragged you close so he could brush his lips against yours. He felt your breath catch at the proximity. You looked every bit a goddess and tonight he hoped to show you just how far he would go to be your everything.

You needed to relax and free your mind of all the stresses and cares that weighed it down. Joker wanted you to forget about therapy, your abusive ex and the uncertainty of a new lover— he just wanted you to focus on being the Y/n that he loved.

He was grateful you didn’t jump when he kissed you, “Then.. I’m gonna treat my girl to a night she’ll neverrrr forget.”

#ledger joker x reader #ledger!joker #ledger joker #joker x y/n #black!fem!reader #reader insert #romance #heath joker #joker x reader #cross posted on wattpad #cross posted on ao3 #long reads #dark knight joker #why is joker so soff?#soft joker loading #dinner is served #i hope you enjoy #his lighthouse

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mack3030 · 2 years

Note

What do you think of this post? :/ I thought it’s absolutely disgusting and wanted you to tell me your opinion on this?

https://www.patreon.com/posts/59072686

I think the best way to handle this is to take this view by view as he's got a lot of opinions shared in one post and I'd like to handle it topic by topic: Issue #1 that Zero Shared: EA is spending too much time working on fixing "social issues/respresentation issues" rather than fixing more important aspects of the game. My reaction to this is a bit of "Well, why can't they do both?". Why can't EA fix the game's core features and work on making sure that representation is included? Because part of the issue is that this game is supposed to allow people to feel like they can create sims that represent them. And if those sims do not look like them, or have the ability to interact with the world like they do, that magic is lost. I also should point out that this is something that the custom content community has also had to step in and help, and that it's pretty important that the CC community, if it REALLY wants to promote representation and social awareness, should NOT paywall aand should make sure that the quality of such CC is acceptable. I was sent this screenshot of an excellent opinion shared by a BPOC simmer in Dollhouse Mafia:

But in the end, it really is up to EA to make sure that their game represents the sims/community well, especially since console folks CANNOT use CC. And if they do not have enough people to make the game excellent for everyone AND address any representation issues brought by the community, then they might need to hire more people, or dare I say it, partner with the custom content community. Electronic Arts surely has the money between all of their franchises (Fifa, sims, etc) to be able to pay for programmers and artists. If EA cannot manage to both make the game playable, and representational of real people, then they frankly don't deserve to be paid. Period. The second issue Zero brought up is the issue of the community and social justice. Now, as a member of the sims community he is certainly welcome to his opinions (even if they're misguided), but I'd like to try to share my thoughts on it. First, why does he assume that when people in the sims community speak out about social issues, they are ONLY talking to people about the sims? I don't know about you but with tumblrs tagging system, there's lots of ways to get posts seen by people outside of your own fandom. To assume that simmers only talk to simmers about social issues in sims games or in the world in general is a pretty narrow viewpoint don't you think? I'm sure the same can be said for just about any other playform that people talk about the sims on. Facebook, Twitter, Twitch, Youtube, etc. There's methods to be able to have your message reach beyond the audience of a specific game. In addition, I'd like to assume that when people talk about social issues that matter to them they are also educating other people in their life about it. For example, as an autistic person, I routinely teach my friends, family, and yes, even my students about what life is like for me with the way my brain is wired up. I am always advocating for autism acceptance. I can't turn it off. It's to the point that my students know not to use "autistic" or "retarded" as an insult in my classroom. Now, he does bring up a semi-valid point that there's more to causing change with social justice than just talking about it. Yes. Some action needs to occur. For example if you try to raise awareness for the rights of one group or another and don't take any actionable steps, then you're just expecting others to do all the work for a cause that you care about. But, for Zero to assume that this is all the community does and that there aren't members of the sims community actually going out and taking actionable steps is a big brush to paint people with. {Because imagine having the cajones to assume that you know how every person in a fandom spends their own personal time. You must be God, amirite?} There's a saying that when you assume you make an "ass" out of "you and me" which is why assume is spelled that way. And in this case we are seeing a prime example of someone making a bunch of lame ass assuptions and painting a community with a giant brush all because they're pissed that a game they don't want to play anymore isn't being updated in the way they like. Which creates some very odd and slightly nostalgic imagry in my brain:

^ Literally how I am imagining Zero acting right now, but with much more crying like an actual baby. So honestly, I'd just tell him to grow up and get over it. If he doesn't like how EA handles stuff, he can stop playing. But he doesn't need to make baseless accusations of the community to do so. /shrug The sims helps people enjoy something away from the real world (in fact the sims can often be a safe escape from a world that is dangerous/unfriendly to some people), and if they desire to have the game represent them, they deserve that. So stop being a pigeon pooping on people's hotdogs, and let people do what they want without your judgement. If you don't like it, then don't read people's opinions/blogs, and just move on. They don't need heckling from your peanut gallery, and your "clout" as a creator. As long as they are not actively hurting other people in the community, they don't need controlled or "karen'd". Also I'd 100% recommend reading @anachrosims' take on this situation as well.

#zero #sims 4 #sims 4 mods #sims 4 cc #sims 4 tea #sims 4 drama #sims 4 maxis match #sims 4 alpha #the sims #sims4cc #sims4 #sims4alpha #sims4mm #paywalls suck #the sims 4

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issaxcharlie · 3 years

Text

Spectacular!

Pairing: Alive! Luke Patterson x Fem Reader

Summary: Inspired by Nickelodeon’s Spectacular! Luke Patterson needs the money for his bands demo, and miraculously, that same night he gets an offer to fix his problem. The catch? Rockstar boy has to join his school’s show choir and put up with their fearless Female Lead Singer. (don’t come here searching for accuracy remember it’s inspired by a movie)

Note: I had a lot of fun with this one, hope you like it! Oh and it’s a little long so keep it in mind +8k👀💜

Say this is not her scene would be to fall short, but she has to make sacrifices to find greatness. The first thing she notices when she walks into the little club, is that it's packed. The people look excited and somewhat desperate and she doesn't blame them. The pamphlet marked they were supposed to start at 8:00 p.m. and it's already 8:40. She makes her way carefully until she finds a perfect place in the middle of the room.

The musicians take the stage visibly anxious, especially Alex who cannot stop moving his hands trying to probably calm himself down. Reggie and the rhythm guitarist take their positions. They look at each other one last time before beginning to play the enveloping sound of the pop-rock song. The bass line sounds insane and she hasn't heard Alex play drums in years, he’s exceptional. They could both play without their singer all night and she wouldn't mind.

The space in the center of the stage that belongs to who she came to see today, completely empty. The bassist seems about to take the first verse when Sunset Curve lead guitarist and vocalist Luke Patterson appears on stage.

She has seen him multiple times in the hallways laughing with her childhood best friend, Alex Mercer and her lab partner, Reggie Peters, but she has never spoken directly to him. Still, it's hard not to notice how handsome he is and how much of a charismatic personality he has.

“I'm living my life just the way I like, they say I get a little too loud. Try to push me in a box, over analyze. But I'm never gunna turn it down”

His voice is enchanting and mesmerizing, a sound that immediately reminds her of the best rockers in history and his movements and energy are electrifying. In seconds the entire audience is jumping and dancing to the beat.

“They say never and I say right now!” Y/N analyzes him excitedly. The passion with which he sings and plays his guitar reminds her of when she is on stage, although the two of them dedicate themselves to totally different things, their love for music is the same. She definitely has a lot of work to do to polish him and make him the perfect performer she needs, but if there's anyone who can accomplish the impossible, it's her.

“No one's gonna stop me tonight! Thank you, we are Sunset Curve, tell your friends!” The presentation ends and Sunset Curve leaves the stage. The girl moves quickly to catch up with them at the back of the club, but when she finally arrives, screams can be heard from two of the members of the band.

“I know you don’t like me, Bobby. But trying to sabotage the show by giving me the wrong time is just the most stupidest thing you've ever done!” The guitarist looks furious, his muscles are really tense and Y/N can't help staring at his biceps way more than she probably should.

"This fight of egos between the two of you has to stop, we can no longer continue to be in the middle." The bassist cries out, tired of all the bickering.

“You no longer have to, Reggie. It’s time to decide. The lousy rocker or me. Remember that the money for the demo is mine before choosing... I'm not sure Patterson's lyrics can compete without the money to record them.”

The guitarist looks down at the ground, a mixture of anger and sadness on his face. Alex and Reggie turn to see each other for a second and then position themselves on either side of Luke, no sign of doubt on their faces.

“We’ll find a way without you. Let’s see If you find one without us.” Reggie declared with a little smirk. Bobby grabs his stuff and gets into his truck without looking back, completely furious.

"Some things Bobby was angry about are true and you have to improve them. You are not a solo artist, you are part of a band." Alex points to Luke as soon as the truck is out of sight, but before he can respond the blonde intercepts the girl at the door.

“Y/N?” The three of them turn to see her, Reggie smiles at her while Luke looks pissed off.

“Hey guys, I came to talk to Luke.” Luke frowns in surprise while the other two gape for a few seconds.

"Really?” Y/N turns with a murderous face towards her friend, who puts his hands in his pockets and begins to walk. “...Okay. Meanwhile Reg and I are going to figure out how to get the drums in Luke's car."

"If you come for an autograph please be quick, I don't feel like socializing." The guitarist declares to the wind, not wanting to pay attention to the stranger who approaches him in the middle of the alley, no matter how cute she looks.

“I’m not a fan.” She confesses in a firm voice, trying to measure the situation.

"Oh, then I'll go. See you later beautiful." He's about to leave when her voice stops him.

“Patterson, come back here!” There's something about her tone that makes Luke suddenly interested. He turns to see her carefully, her chin is up, her shoulders back. Her lips are press together and her eyes look determined and he can't help but admit that the confidence she projects is really doing something to him.

“2 minutes, firecracker.”

“I’m Y/N Y/L.” Faced with no comment from the guitarist, she decides to continue. “I need a male lead singer for my group and I think you might be the perfect fit, after I'm done with you, of course."

He’s unable to believe what he hears. “A band? I think you know pretty well I'm already in one.”

“It’s not a band, it’s a group. THE group If I can say so myself. Spectacular!” She affirms with the first smile he sees her that night, and he can't believe it is possible that she can look even more beautiful.

"Don't you think you're exaggerating a bit with the spectacular thing? At least tell me the name or what kind of band is." She rolls her eyes and he chuckles in response, thinking it was adorable and hot at the same time.

“I already told you, Spectacular! It’s a show choir.”

“Is this a joke? Did Bobby sent you?”

“No and no. I know it’s not really your style, but I’m telling you I can make it work. I heard a bit of the conversation you had with the band, the prize of Nationals is 10,000 dollars. I'm willing to give you half for the demo, if we win, obviously. And I can assure you we will if you accept and do absolutely everything I say.”

“Firecracker, are you trying to tell me that all I have to do to raise the money is put on some stupid cowboy or tiger-print outfit and humiliate myself in front of an entire audience with my best jazz hands? Wow, sounds like a dream!” Maybe he got a bit too sarcastic, but meh, as pretty as she is, she's still a stranger.

“My name is Y/N, and I'm not appreciating your tone of voice.” By this moment the girl seems tired of the musician, who feels the frustration in her and tries to be more gentle.

“I- I’m sorry. Thanks for the offer, but I don't feel as desperate yet as to end my reputation in that way. I hope you find what you are looking for, but that’s just not me. I'm just a guitarist.” She nods, entwining her arms against her chest. He admires her for a few more seconds and turns to his car, where his friends are already waiting for him to help with the drums.

Before getting behind the wheel he turns to her one last time, but she is nowhere to be seen.

Fights between Luke and Bobby weren't new to the band. The big-headed attitude of both collided practically all the time and things had been getting worse in recent months with the more overconfident attitude of the guitarist, but they never imagined that they would end up in this situation.

The days go by and the boys are running out of time. They have to deliver the demo to the Orpheum offices in two months so that they can be taken into account for the great concert they will hold at the end of the year presenting the best new talents in the city. All they've heard from Bobby is that he's trying to build his own band but without much success. Still, he doesn’t fold his hands and continues to try on his own.

The three remaining members of Sunset Curve are in Alex's room lying on the floor with their instruments around trying to think of solutions, when Y/N's voice coming from outside refreshes the blonde's memory. “What did Y/N want to talk to you the other day?”

“Who?” Luke narrows his eyes in confusion.

“Y/N? The captain of the school’s show choir? She went to talk to you after Bobby left the band. Small, fire in her eyes, a lot of attitude.”

“OH, Firecracker! So that group is our school's choir? that's even worse. She tried to recruit me, even offered me the money for the demo if we win the competition in which they will participate.”

“What? She wants you in Spectacular? What did you said?” Alex heard that his friend's ex-boyfriend broke up with her and joined last year's national champions, but he never imagined that she would try to replace him with someone like Luke. Luke is distracted by a melody and doesn’t answer his friend's question.

"Why does your mom always leave her music on when she leaves to work?" The music is definitely not his style, they are always usually pop songs or even songs from musicals, but the singer's voice is one of the most beautiful he has ever heard so it never bothers him.

“It’s not her music, is Y/N.” Alex responds, wondering what the young woman is up to since she is never usually home at this hour.

“Who?” Alex's eyes widen, not able to believe his friend.

“Really? I already told you!” The guitarist tilts his head and shrugs. “Firecracker?”

“What does firecracker have to do with this?” Alex opens his balcony curtains and the silhouette of a young woman singing and dancing through her transparent pink ones comes to their visions.

“She’s so good bro, I thought it was a record too.” Reggie looks at her with a big smile as Alex rolls his eyes at Luke.

As soon as he sees her, the musician is in a trance, admiring the grace and energy with which she moves, wanting with all his might to remove the pink curtain that does not allow him to see her properly.

The song ends and a well-known melody begins to play with prominent bass and drums. “Guys, shut up! I’m trying to hear her sing.”

“It’s not us, man.” Reggie answers almost screaming with how loud the girl’s music is.

“What do you-” Luke turns around and sees his friends with their hands raised, the cables finally connecting in his brain. "She is listening our song?"

"Not just listening, she's also destroying your career, her vocals are amazing." The black-haired boy adds, smirking and running to connect his bass.

Luke excitedly opens the balcony window and sings the pre-chorus as loud as he can to get the singer's attention. “Call me in the morning to apologize, every little lie gives me butterflies.” She immediately turns around and smiles at the guitarist's cocky smile. She opens the curtain and the window and her sunset curve t-shirt is the first thing the band notices.

“Something in the way you're looking through my eyes, don't know if I'm gonna make it out alive.” Luke sings seductively towards her, each word fully dedicated to the woman in front of him.

Reggie accompanies them with his bass while Alex looks at his friends incredulously, an "Are you fucking kidding me." Comes out of the blonde almost like a whisper when he identifies the shirt that the girl wears as his.

Both sing the chorus together and the chemistry is unquestionable. Alex had never thought of this two together because at first glance they seem completely different, but thinking about it a little more deeply they couldn't be more similar. They are both passionate, headstrong, live for the stage, and are ridiculously talented and confident.

“Fight so dirty, but you love so sweet. Talk so pretty, but your heart got teeth. Late night devil, put your hands on me. And never, never, never ever let go.”

The performance between the duo is playful, driving, sexy and intense and Alex and Reggie can't help but feel like they're interrupting a private moment. As soon as the song ends, the girl moves closer to the window, blows them a kiss and closes it.

"Where did that woman come from?" Luke whispers as he tries to catch his breath. Nobody had enchanted him so much just by singing, well, nobody had enchanted him, period. But she’s definitely something.

“She has been my neighbor since we were 6 years old, we used to be best friends but we both drifted apart when we entered high school. She’s amazing, the best performer in the city.” Alex informs him and then Reggie adds his own piece of valuable information. “She’s my lab partner. Fun, smart, beautiful, the whole deal. A true gem.”

“Answering your question, I said no to her offer. But I guess the group of someone this rad can't be that bad. And we really need the money." The drummer purses his lips and nods. His friend definitely took the hook.

"Honestly, I always wanted to audition, I guess the three of us could try in, to support you obviously."

“Of course man, she sounded desperate when she asked, and if the shirt and song is any indication she is definitely a huge Sunset Curve fan. She tried to fool me by saying she wasn't a groupie, as if that was possible after seeing us perform.”

His friends leave the house and Alex plays on the drums the secret signal he had with the girl when they were younger, a minute later the girl appears in her window with an amusing smile, dressed in her classic blue pajamas.

“Really?” The drummer chuckled and his friend’s smile grows even bigger, a little laugh leaving her lips. “The shirt was a nice touch. A little much, but that idiot must have fallen for it completely. I want it back by the way.”

“You can see right through me. You know the invitation is open, right? I would love nothing more than to have you there.” He has known her his whole life, and realized early on that she was just trying to get his friend's attention to reconsider her offer by raising his ego, and he honestly doesn't mind. It's about time Luke met someone of his caliber. Perhaps her influence could do him good.

“I- thank you. I guess we’ll see. See you tomorrow.” She blows him a kiss and closes the window. Tomorrow sure is going to be an interesting day, Sunset Curve joins Spectacular.

Having to face Spectacular! And telling them they still don't have a male lead singer who can compete against Damian was not easy. Her options are running out and she honestly doesn't know what to do to save them.

Damian on stage is the best, it pains her to admit that she has never seen anyone like him. At first she thought she could continue without him, but it’s becoming increasingly obvious that he is just impossible to replace.

Everyone continues to practice the routine, clearly discouraged after her bad news and it honestly breaks her heart. She knows how much the group means to everyone for different and personal reasons and she can't let them lose this. So whatever she has to do, she’ll do it so they can have the leader they deserve.

“I thought the children in the choir would have more energy, this is just sad, firecracker.” She hides her wide smile before turning to the owner of the voice, who is entering the auditorium with his best friends. Money really talks, otherwise she can't explain what would make him appear here.

“Dude, can you please play nice? This is important!” Reggie looks flustered and scolds Luke probably louder than he planned. The guitarist just ignores him and winks shamelessly at her. Seems her little plan from yesterday was successful, now she just has to play the situation in her favor.

“Mercer, Peters... Patterson. Can we help you with something?” The performer shows a perfect poker face, Spectacular continues to practice but they can't help but turn their attention to the rock band.

“I came to accept your proposal, but only If we can include Reggie and Alex in the deal. I guess as long as I’m in whatever I ask shouldn't be a problem." He crosses his arms and gives her a confident smile.

“I could actually do with a few more members, specially as talented as Reg and Alex. As for you, you've already turned down my offer Lucas, but if for some reason you don't graduate this year, make sure you audition the next one. Now, let’s start boys." Y/N moves within inches of Luke to gently close his open mouth with her index finger, and gives him a small wink before turning and taking the other two musicians each on each arm and pulling them closer to where the group is still practicing.

“Y/N, you can’t be serious.” The skilled singer continues to ignore him as she explains to her new members something Luke can't quite hear.

The musician frustrates and walks until he is directly in front of her. “Y/N” He groans.

“I'm not firecracker anymore? That is just sad.” Luke looks upset, but she's determined to not let him have what he wants after what he said at the club, so if he wants the money that bad he's going to have to prove it.

“I’m going to explain you something quickly so you can go and stop wasting my time. I’ve seen your band play, I know how good these two are at singing, which means I don't need you anymore, nor do I have to put up with your rockstar wannabee attitude. I need someone that I can connect with and have the chemistry that leaves everyone forgetting how to breathe, and after yesterday, I just don't think that's you.” Right now she is grateful to be such a good actress because yesterday's act melted her legs, even though they were separated by the balconies. This man is unreal, totally unfair.

"I do, I wouldn't be surprised if they kissed at any moment." The bassist whispers as Alex looks at him with an incredulous face, he just slowly shakes his head from side to side and continues to see the leader of their band and their new leader in a starting contest, is kind of an amusing sight since Luke is definitely not used to having to face someone like him.

“It’s like you said, you are just a guitarist. Thinking you could handle something like this was ridiculous of me. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a group to direct."

Y/N hopes she hasn't pushed the rockstar too much, but remains firm in her tactics and turns to the others to continue with the rehearsal. She signals them to put the most similar song to the Sunset Curve sound that she can remember at the moment to make Alex and Reggie feel more calm and to see if she finishes catching Luke’s interest, who still doesn’t move from where he is with his eyes fixed on her, which she takes as as a good sign.

The moment the song start, both sunset curve members smile, and Luke's voice is heard from behind. “So you're the girl, I heard the rumor.” He sounds powerful and captivating and immediately sets everyone's eyes on him. She doesn’t give him the luxury of turning to see him, but he is not going to give up and in a quick and agile movement he turns her by the hand.

“Why don't you break my heart, make it hurt so bad. Come on give it your best, nothing less, I insist, I want it just like that.” The girl should have thought more about her choice before asking for a song like this. Every word that comes out of the musician's mouth is addressed directly to her with an intensity in his eyes and movements that should be illegal.

She tries to get out of his way but he makes it pretty clear that he's not singing to prove himself to the group, he's doing it to prove something to her. Specifically, to prove her wrong.

“Stare me down, intimidate me. Oh baby please you'll never break me.” He comes dangerously close to her, basically inches apart, his eyes fixed on her lips and smiling flirtatiously as he sings, his eyes glinting mischievously.

She enters the song so as not to make him feel like she’s defeated and starts dancing with him to the rhythm, their movements matching effortlessly as they move across the stage.

She pulls herself back as far as she can, but Luke surprises everyone by doing a body roll on the floor, his arms looking more gorgeous than ever in that sleeveless shirt as they take the full weight of his body without any problem, his eyes never losing contact with hers. All the girls start to do small screams while Y/N's cheeks turn red at her thoughts. He slides on his knees towards her and gets up as he puts his foot on her to make her lose balance and catch her right at the end of the song.

“Why don’t you break my heart.” They've been in a trance since the song started and it's like it's just the two of them in the auditorium. Their lips are almost touching, neither willing to give up eye contact or move from their current position, until the applause and shouts of excitement bring them back to reality.

“I have chemistry with everybody that I sing with, firecracker.” He whispers to her lips before shifting the girl's full weight to his right arm to raise his left one to her face and carefully close her mouth with his finger, winking with a cocky smile before lifting her up.

Immediately everyone begins to advocate for him with all kinds of arguments that ranged from how sensual he was to how much of a presence he had on stage. Her best friend’s comment is the one that catches his attention the most. "You have even more chemistry with him than Damian, I didn't think it was possible." That definitely sounds interesting.

Y/N pretends to listen to her teammates before saying Luke can enter the group. The truth is that she knew from the first moment she saw him perform with Sunset Curve that he was a star, but this facet without the guitar and irradiating passion from his pores was something that left her speechless.

Still, she knew all the work that would go into preparing the band and it really was exhausting. For them to understand that they couldn't just sing like they do at the club, that there are rules to follow, dance steps they have to learn, facial expressions they have to master, notes they have to hit perfectly, wasn’t easy but they succeeded.

Along the way, she regained her bond with Alexander, her friendship with Reggie grew stronger, and each day she felt closer to Luke. She has been practicing a duet with him for weeks now, and the chemistry that they have set to burn the stage more than once. It was hard for her to ignore how the guitarist's hands feel on her thighs as he lifts her or the way he wraps himself around her, breathing softly down her neck or brushing his lips teasingly over her cheekbone. Both are very physical to show affection so small contacts such as hugs or caresses, as well as small kisses on the cheek or hand were very recurrent. They had also gone out multiple times alone and with their friends, from the cinema, the park, to see them play, to small parties at home, to midnight talks.

Reggie was the one who had her alone the most because they were lab partners, but no matter how hard the bassist tried to get information from the girl, he never succeeded. The truth is that not even she knows what is happening with the guitarist, she is for the first time in her life letting herself be carried away and enjoying the moment, and she’s loving it.

Luke and Alex are in detention after the brown haired boy made a mess in the classroom by putting together a little concert with the help of the blonde, and as they die of boredom, his mind can’t help to go to her for the 14th time of the day. "How did she end up in the show choir?"

Alex is blank for a few seconds but analyzes the question and realizes who they are talking about. “Spectacular used to be the most important show choir in the country, led by her mother, may she rest in peace. Y/N always wanted to be a part of it and when she lost her, it became a goal. She suffered a lot to get to the perfect star we see today, especially because her father is rarely there since he works outside the country. She has practically had to face alone auditions, injuries, she had to learn to sew, comb her hair and put on makeup for the show, sing for hours her solos with no one to encourage her, without mention that the current director could not care less about the group and practically leaves all the work to her. That’s why she’s so be fearless, she kind of has to."

“I didn’t know.” The sight of Y/N as happy as ever with his mother when he took her home for lunch the week before appears in his memory. She looked radiant as she ate his mother's famous stew and listened to stories of little Luke as he gently stroked her thigh while songwriting with his other hand. When was the last time she got to experience something as homelike as that? Luke probably doesn’t want to know.

Alex's sad voice brings him back to the conversation.“I was supposed to be there, you know? At first I was. We were going to audition for Spectacular together, but that summer I met you and Sunset Curve was born, and I didn’t have the time anymore so I abandoned her. I knew how important it was for her to have me there, and I didn't even go to her audition. And do you know how many times she has reproached me? Not even one.”

Luke knows that Alex would never hurt her on purpose and that the situation was probably much more complicated than he expresses it, so he reassures him and lets him know that she loves him and is proud that he took his own path. As soon as the blonde calms down, he begins to tell him multiple stories about when he and the girl were kids, the songwriter takes out his journal and begins to add lyrics to the song he has been working on, more inspired than ever.

“You are falling so deeply for her, man. I’m happy for you both.” His friend comments to him while reading the verses written on the paper. He totally is.

“Bowling, nice. I'm going to finish you off, Patterson.”

“As sexy as your confidence sounds, I'm not going to let you win.”

“I'm pretty sure you've never gone bowling.” Alex adds with furrowed eyebrows.

“Your point is, Mercer?” She wrinkles her nose and sticks out her tongue. Reggie chuckles amused.

"How can you be so sure that you are going to win?"

“Oh, my dear cute blonde. I’m good at everything.” She makes a slight remark on everything with her eyes fixed on the guitarist, who chokes while blushing.

She smiles cheekily at him and confidently steps into the room, Sunset Curve behind as Alex and Reggie tease Luke for being completely whipped.

Happiness doesn't last long when the first thing they see inside is Damian Miller along with a couple of his new teammates. The moment their eyes meet, Y/N seems to melt, but not in the good way.

Her firm and perfect posture now all bent as she embraces herself with her arms and tries with the strength that has left to hold her gaze at the person who took everything from her without much more than an empty sorry.

When she feels the guitarist at her side again, she unconsciously stretches her hand to intertwine her fingers with him, who tilts his head to see their hands together and then to see her face.

She is not doing it to make Damian jealous, but to feel supported. And when Luke realizes it, he can't help not feeling angry at the boy in from of them. In the month that he has been with her, he has never seen her doubt, fear, or believe anything less than that she is unstoppable. And today for the first time ever he sees her intimidaded, and the fact that it's because of a jerk like this makes it even worse.

He rubbs her hand to make her feel less anxious and when she turns to meet his eyes, he brings his index finger to her chin and winks at her, hoping she gets the message. She seems to do it because she immediately smiles playfully and begins to look more relaxed.

The guitarist is aware that Damian was his firecracker's first boyfriend, and he also knows how much he betrayed her love and trust. No matter how strong the woman is, her reaction is completely normal and valid, and that she has the confidence to be vulnerable and let him be there for her means a lot to him.

“Princess.” Damian whispers as he moves closer to her, his eyes fixed on Y/N and Luke's clasped hands.

“I’m not your princess, Y/L is just fine. Listen, Damian. I could pretend this is not uncomfortable and boring but, I don't want to. So yeah, excuse us.”

She pulls the hand that joins her to Luke to make him walk and Alex and Reggie follow behind them, looking at her ex boyfriend with little smiles of pride. Alex knows how much Damian turned off Y/N’s spark and seeing her put him in his place makes him feel so proud.

"So someone is going to teach me bowling or what?"

“I’ll do it baby, but another day. Today we came here with a different purpose.” Luke points to the large Rock the World machine located in a comfortable corner space.

“Of course, is always about music with you, eh Patterson?” She smirks, getting a little closer to him.

“Pretty much, but I can tell that attracts you, Y/L.” He wrinkles his nose, his lips parting slightly.

“Hell yeah it does.” he smirks, not at all expecting her to admit it so openly but he definitely should have seen it coming.

“Good thing I’m into dominant firecrackers then.”

“Could you stop flirting for a second and start playing? I have plans to destroy Alex and your daily session of sexual tension is not going to ruin it.”

Both smile at Reggie while Y/N takes the games microphone and Luke the guitar. The song that Y/N chooses is She’s so gone by Naomi Scott, and it goes without saying that the boys have never played it in their lives but they love a challenge.

The mastery with which the girl interprets the song makes a good number of people come to see the round, including her ex-boyfriend and his new friends.

“Here I am, this is me, and I'm stronger than you ever thought I'd be. Are you shocked? Are you mad? That you're missing out on who I really am.”

The singer sings the verse directly towards Damian, as his friends start pointing out and teasing him. Reggie goes over to tell Luke he thought he would join her, but the guitarist only replies, "I want to see her shine."

She gets carried away with the music and draws Luke to her, jumping and twirling to the beat of the music. The guitarist hyping her up every single second og the song. At the end the night was incredible, the four of them spent it singing, dancing and even bowling, which Y/N ended up dominating from the second round.

Luke thought that there would be no better time than that night to show her what he had been working on, so after saying goodbye to her he went to Alex’s where he had left his journal.

Before he can say goodbye to the blond, screams are heard from the house next door. “I wasn't trying to embarrass you, Damian!”

“No? So what were you doing shaking your hips against the rock boy?”

“I don't have to explain anything to you, but I think it's pretty obvious why I wanted to be against that body, have you seen it?” She says it playfully with her eyes fixed on the guitarist, who is walking with the blonde to her door, her eyes glinting wickedly in the dark. He chuckles, knowing it's the girl's way of reassure him and she smiles as she sees his expressions relax.

“Everything alright, firecracker?” Luke does not stand in front of her like a brave prince, he stops a meter from both of them and asks before intervening, and that makes her heart melt. Because he wants to hear her first, he trusts that she can take care of it and has the confidence to tell him if she needs help, which is also completely valid. And it's something she has to work on, know that there are also times when it's okay to trust someone. That you don't always have to carry the weight alone.

“Go away, punk. My girl and I are in the middle of something.” The three of them start laughing at the ex-boyfriend's intimidation attempt, who seems to get angrier with every laugh that comes out of their mouths.

“I’m fine baby, but you guys could show him the way out? I’m tired of his bullshit.” She asks the boy with a cute smile, and he would disintegrate over the nickname if her horrible ex-boyfriend and her best friend weren't there.

"Don't touch me, I’ll go. Right now the numbers are not working in my favor so we will fix this where it really matters, on stage. Let's see if this attempt at a singer can save you from total humiliation, because let's be honest Y/N, you are nothing without me."

The faces of both members of Sunset Curve begin to tense, Luke's fists completely white from how much he's clenching them. For her part, the singer, who is already used to that type of comments from her ex-boyfriend, only tells him "yes, yes, you're right. It was a pleasure Dami, never come back." while pushing him to the other side to make him go away.

The nickname comes off her tongue in the most natural way in the world, she doesn't even seem to notice it and Luke feels some annoyance hearing it. As if someone had hit him in the stomach. But immediately the discomfort goes away when the girl turns to them again with a big smile and runs to hug them excitedly.

“Thanks for coming to check me out, guys. Things can sometimes get out of control with him.”

"We will always be there for you when you need us, okay? I actually went into Alex's house to get something I wanted to show you but it's late, I’ll come back tomorrow." The blonde turns from his friend to the other, a tired smile appears on his lips as he passes Luke his journal to place his arm on his childhood friend and lean on her.

"No, don't go please. Damian was pretty mad and... I don't want to be alone." She can be very dramatic at times but the fear in her voice sounds sincere, and remembering the scream that brought them outside in the first place Alex imagines how scared she really was before seeing them show up and his heart clenches at the thought.

“O- Okay, sure.” He sounds nervous but the excitement is evident in the way his left leg keeps moving, just like when he's on stage.

“I do have to go in, you already know mom. Will you be alright with just Luke?” He already knows the answer from the girl's radiant gaze but it doesn't hurt to confirm. She hugs him tightly with her arms around his neck and whispers a "Yes, I love you but go away already." which makes the drummer laugh out loud while high-fiving his other friend goodbye.

The third wheel enters his house and finally they are alone. She smiles and takes him by the hand to enter the house. Luke takes a moment to admire it, everything is in place but there are several instruments throughout the living room. A keyboard on the couch, a guitar next to the TV, even a tambourine on the table.

"May l?" He walks over to the guitar and turns to see the girl nodding and pointing up the stairs for him to follow. Her room is quite similar to her style, white is the predominant color but there are many details in pink and gold, as well as multiple yellow lights giving a romantic tone to the room at midnight.

“Do you want to show me now?” she asks eagearly, with joined hands, closed eyes and pursed lips.

“Y- yeah... of course.” He sits on the rug and puts the guitar aside, then puts his notebook between his legs and when he finds the sheet he is looking for, he carefully tears it off. The girl looks at him adoringly, the happiness of having him with her making her heart beat louder in her chest. She sits across from him making sure to brush his legs and waits for him to speak.

“Here.” He looks nervous, his cheeks totally flushed as he avoids eye contact for the first time since they met.

Y/N takes the sheet in his hands and a huge warm smile appears on her face when he sees the guitarist's terrible lyrics. BRIGHT written and highlighted several times in the title.

“It’s for you.” Luke whispers while bringing his face closer to hers, making her shiver.

“You wrote me a song?” She doesn't know what to say. Since her mom, no one had done anything so beautiful, considerate, and selfless for her. Something so vulnerable and full of love.

“Don’t be mad, but Alex told me a little about how you ended up in show choir, your friendship with him, your mom.” He turns to see her looking for her reaction, she just nods to tell him it’s okay to continue. “A sweet story about a little girl with the voice of an angel who loved to sing love songs. And you know what was in my head all that night? That even though I've never written one, I would write millions of love songs for you.”

Some tears fall from the girl's face, she carefully places the lyrics on the guitar and throws herself on the guitarist, who falls in surprise against the carpet, making sure to grab her by the waist so that she falls safely on his chest. She rests her arms on either side of his head and brings her lips against Luke's, brushing them gently.

Luke doesn't move a muscle, not wanting to do something to make her uncomfortable, when he suddenly hears her talk. “And what about teeth? I mean is not the sweetest love story ever told but-”

The boy chuckles, Y/N's curious eyes a few inches away. “Alex wrote that one after his first breakup, Reggie and I did the melody.”

“Good. Guess we’ll have to start making some experiences to help you write all that songs.” At that moment she finally pushes her lips against his, both in a moment of euphoria at the taste of each other. She presses her body against him and he bites lightly with his teeth on her lower lip to shove his tongue against her mouth in response. Her little hands pulling his hair hard as his hands go down her butt. Both of them enjoying what they had been dreaming of for so long.

When the two finally separate they fall in a comfortable silence, she starts to admire his facial features, delicately running her fingers through his nose, his mouth, his cheekbones, until he interrumpts her. “I knew you want me from the beginning, I could see the lust in your eyes. Everything about the choir was a complex plan to get me under you.” Luke affirms with his best poker face, and sees clearly how her eyes fill with light while a pure laugh escapes from her now swollen lips.

“And as always, I achieved the goal. The hot local rockstar is sleeping on my bed tonight.” No matter how hard he tries, he can never catch her off guard and he always ends up being the one blushing. She kisses him softly before getting up and taking the song lyrics back. “Luke, do you mind if I sing a bit of the song?”

“Of course not, it's yours. I will accompany you with the guitar, from the pre-choir?”

She nods and begins to sing the words he wrote for her. “Life is a risk but I will take it, close my eyes and jump. Together I think that we can make it, come on, let's run.”

She is reading the choir as she sings and the urge to cry reappears. He's basically telling her that she no longer has to go on living life alone, that she can lean on him, she can trust him to fight by her side. That it can be us instead of I.

“And rise through the night, you and I, we will fight to shine together. Bright forever.”

As soon as they finish singing Luke puts the guitar aside and goes over to wipe the tears from the girl's face. “I know that at first glance it doesn't seem like a love song, but..."

“But it is. It’s perfect, thank you Luke.” She didn't know that someone other than her could make her feel so special, but he proved her wrong, again.

The night before was like a dream. Y/N sleeping with his shirt while he wrapped her completely in his arms, singing softly in her ear and leaving little kisses on her neck every few verses until she fell asleep. At this point there is no way to deny how completely in love he is with her.

“Man, we need to talk.” His blonde friend wakes him up from his daydream and starts pulling him down the hall to an empty table in the cafeteria, where Reggie is already waiting for them.

They both sit down and Alex takes a deep breath as he plays with his fingers, trying to form coherent sentences with the words in his head. “Bobby called last night.” Luke's gaze instantly shifted to disgust, while Reggie looks quite shocked.

“So? What did he want?” Luke whispers, trying to sound disinterested.

“He sent some of our videos to an important person at Destiny Management and they are interested in the band. He said that if we comply with certain requests he will give the money for us to record the demo this Friday so that it’s ready for the appointment."

“And I guess you told him we don't need him or his money. What did he answer you? He cried?" the guitarist asks with an amused face, but his friends just look at each other.

“Don't you think we should think more about it? What happens if we don't win nationals? We’ll have lost something as sure as Bobby's deal for nothing."

“She’s my friend and I love her but I have to agree, Luke. As difficult as it is, our priority has to be Sunset Curve, not Spectacular"

“But-”

“They are right, Luke.” All three look at the girl, as pale as If they had seen a ghost. “Spectacular is my dream, And I know I'd do anything for it. It would be unfair of me to get angry because you’re fighting for yours. Don't hesitate, if anyone can find a way out of this it's me.”

“But, the duet...”

“I’ll just have to be the melody and the words. I’ll be fine, and honestly I'm so proud of you guys, I know you will be rock legends one day.” All three feel guilty but don't know what to say or do to make it right. She goes over to hug the drummer and the bassist who take her in their arms with all their strength, a “I’m so sorry” from the blonde accompanied by an “I know” from the girl can be heard. Then she stands in front of the guitarist and kisses his lips intensely, but breaking away painfully fast. The guys leave lovers alone for a moment of privacy.

“I believe in you, baby. You are destined to be a star, forget everything else, even me. Take the moment and knock them off their feet.” She kisses him lightly on the lips and walks a few steps back. “This month was the happiest of my life in a long time, thank you. Guess I’ll see you guys around.”

“Why do you sound like you are saying goodbye? And a horrible one? I thought you were good at everything.” Luke walks over to her again and places his hands on her cheeks, rubbing them gently. His voice is shaky and his eyes are glassy, she snorts at his sudden taunt, a little smile covered with the tears.

“Once everyone gets back to their own business, do you think you'll still have time for me? Alex is my damn neighbor, and we couldn't keep in touch.” And Luke gets it. She is used to being alone, to people not being permanent in her life. Neither her parents, nor her best friend, nor her boyfriend, nor anyone else has stayed. So this time to protect herself she decided that he too was going to leave, that it would be foolish to think that he of all possible people would stay.

“I‘m not letting you go baby, you're the only one I would let to boss me around.” The girl laughs when she remembers the millions of times she had to correct him and how he always ended up making her blush in some way, especially when they danced. She can't remember telling him but dancing with him has been the most special thing she has ever experienced. She danced with Damian for years and it never felt like the first time Luke put her long, strong hands on her waist and pulled her close to him. She can only hope to feel that way again one day.

“You are my one and only, firecracker. We’ll find a way, neither of us is a quitter.”

They say that actions are worth a thousand words, and Luke had definitely missed his first chance to show Y/N that he was serious about them by not getting in time to wish her good luck before she left with the group to the city of the competition, a few hours from there. He couldn't help but feel more miserable when he returned to the studio and found a small yellow sheet in his journal.

“You got this, rockstar. I have so much faith in you, so go make me proud. And I don’t want you feeling guilty, okay? I always want to see you shine, baby, no matter what. Your firecracker, Y/N.” Luke laughs softly, dazzled by her attempt to be sweet. If she trusts him so much, why doesn't he return the favor? She assured him they could win and when she says something, she follows through.

Why ruin his life with all of Bobby's ridiculous demands while ditching his girl in the process when he can go sing with her and do band things their way, without selling their soul to the devil. He sits on the couch thinking about what to say to the boys when they both rush in and pick him up, one from his feet and the other from his arms.

“What the hell are you two planning this time?” Luke sounds annoyed but does nothing to stop them from moving him, they throw him into the back of the car and he hits his head, getting him to kick them before they close the door.

"I'm not going to let her down again, I can’t."

"Yeah, and surely we can win, the number is spectacular... do you understand what I did there?”

Alex rolls his eyes and Luke smiles. They drive at full speed to Luke’s for him to take all his things and when he returns to the car, stands thoughtfully by the window.

“What are you doing?!” Alex is not having it, looks like a vein is going to burst from stress any second now.

“Do you think we’ll make it?” Questioned the guitarist, clearly nervous.

“If you stop asking stupid as fuck questions and get in the car, maybe.” Luke pouts but listens and finishes loading everything in the trunk.

The road is full of music to try to calm all the nerves, there was also plenty of time to rehearse the number over and over again, Luke analyzing in his mind every move he had to make, from time to time his bossy girl correcting him in his head. The only difficult thing was probably changing into the costumes, especially for Alex.

They arrive directly to register and the band turns pale when they hear the powerful and breathtaking voice of the singer who is playing her solo right now, a heavenly version of 'Never enough’. By the time they are ready to go, the main number has already started, the imposing woman in the very center of the stage with one of the boys of the group, who although does not have the voice of the guitarist, is making a good effort. Damian is on the other side, staring at her with a superiority smirk and Luke can't help but want to punch him.

“I never realized how anyone could make everything so right, I was so sad, you brought me back.” Alex quickly indicates to him how to enter the stage from the back, and Luke prepares to jump in time for the chorus, taking care of not being seen as he climbs the platform. The song is an old pop-rock song from the 80s, specifically chosen to make the guitarist's voice shine. He and his firecracker sat listening to music for hours until they finally found it, the girl's eyes shining with excitement as she imagined all she could do with the potential of the melody.

“You give me something to believe in, after all that we've been through.” He appears on the platform just in time, the lights and smoke coming out right in his grand entrance. Y/N turns immediately upon hearing her voice and he dances his way towards her.

“The love you give, it all comes back to you. You give me something to believe in, you can see the real me. And here with you is where I'm meant to be.” both singing together the remainder of the chorus and dancing to the beat. The biggest smile he has seen in his girl since he met her on her beautiful face. With that he feels satisfied with his decision, whatever happens, win or lose, it was worth it.

“And here we are together side by side, and nothing seems impossible tonight.” the duet between them is electrifying as always, he puts his hands on her thighs and lifts her with ease, both of them moving and enjoying themselves as if they were the only ones in the place. The dance ends as the first time they danced in the auditorium when he showed her that he was the right option, he holds her with one arm, their lips inches from touching but holding the magnetism back for a few more seconds until finally leave the stage.

As soon as they are backstage Y/N throws herself at Luke, wrapping her legs around his hips and devouring his lips with hers. “Someone missed me.” Luke whispers catching his breath.

"I can't believe you guys did this for me." Expressed the girl as she turns to see her other two friends, still wrapped around Luke who has her tightly held with his huge arms around her butt.

“We trust you as much as you trust us. We know that you will win, you worked like nobody for this moment.” Affirmed the blonde, giving her a small kiss on the forehead.

“I feel like I won already.” And she did. She won the trophy, the money for the demo, friends, and a ridiculously gorgeous rockstar who drove her crazy in more ways than one. All this years working hard were finally worth it... and Damian throwing a tantrum in the middle of the stage felt good too, not gonna lie.

“When are you going to ask me to be your boyfriend? As much as I love you more than anything, a man has to have some pride, you know? We've been together for like 5 months and I'm getting desperate.” They are both lying together on the girl's bed, their legs intertwined as he makes little circles with his fingers on his girl's stomach.

She raises her head resting her hand on his bare chest, her thoughts impossible to read. What are you talking about? I'm waiting for you to ask me!” He chuckles, prepared to tease her. “Bu-”she interrumpts him, pushing the hand that is resting on him to sit down. “Ba-”

“Wait a second, Lucas!” He bites his lip, he never liked being called by his name but for some reason it sounds incredibly sensual when she says it. “Yeah, baby?”

“D- did you say you love me?”

“I did, and I do. Everybody knows you've got me trapped in your claws.” He jokes to make her laugh, and he succeeds.

“I love you too, so much.”

“I know baby.” He winks teasingly at her. “Returning to the topic, you are the most bossy and confident person I have ever met, and you want to tell me that you were waiting for me to take the first step? Doesn’t sound like my firecracker. You literally pretended to be a sunset curve super fan to get my attention.”

"I totally did, I was awesome, first thing next day you were at the auditorium.” She says proud while Luke rolls his eyes with a smile. “But if it makes you feel better, I'm 100% a fan now, and...You are completely right, for once.”

She takes a deep breath, intertwining her fingers with his. “Lucas Patterson, I want you, if we're being honest, probably from the first time I saw you at that Sunset Curve gig we met at. You are annoying, cocky, passionate, and I love you with all my heart. Be my boyfriend... please.”

“There it is, that’s my girlfriend.” His eyes full of lust after hearing that she wanted him from the first night, he draws her closer to him to push his lips against hers, his girlfriend's tongue quickly dancing with his.

"Oh my god, we already talked about this, close the damn window, I don't want to hear it!” The blonde cries from his balcony, the couple can't help but laugh before joining their lips again.

Thank you for reading ✨

Taglist: @writerinlearning, @ghostofmgg @strangerthanfanfiction713 @thebloodthirstyvampress, @kinda-really-lost, @kcd15, @magnet-girl, @aliandthephantoms, @stxrkspidey, @pinkrockstar19, @s0uz4s, @shycupcakealissa @cookiebuba, @fangirlangioma, @sageellsworth05, @twist3dtinkerbell, @sunsetcurvenotsunsetswerve, @caitsymichelle13, @ifilwtmfc @luckylouiebug, @bibliophilewednesday, @totomoshi, @siennanoelle01, @lunashadow6955, @bookfrog247, @morganayennefertyrell, @kiss-themoongoodbye, @rachelle3musicals, @imsydneywalker, @really-dont-forget-it @agentstarkid @talksoprettyjjx @kaitieskidmore1 @lukeys-giggle @katie-navarro @crybabyddl @cocopuffs0211 @marvel-ousnesss @txrii @tuttigunner @dpaccione @justalittleweirdoo @mrstodorooki @averyharrypotterlife

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levihantrash · 3 years

Text

Priorities

For Levihan week Aug 2021 Day 2 prompt: confessions

Also based on a cute ass tumblr prompt by @sanothebreadpup <3 hope you like it!!

Summary: It’s been a while since Hange wanted to confess, but their to-do list was too goddamn long. Erwin suggested going to Levi for advice on managing prioritises. Instead, they asked Levi if he wanted to bake… for a titan.

note: no smut but lots of spicy poetic touching

cross-posted on ao3 🤪

-----

Hange wanted to confess. It had been months since they knew that their best friend status with Levi could potentially be tweaked to include just a bit more romance, and they knew they had to be the one to take that step. As much as Levi was quick-witted on the battlefield, he wasn’t quite the risk-taker in ordinary settings. In fact, Hange figured Levi would sip tea beside them until he was greying and would probably be as content with the arrangement.

Hange wanted to confess, but their to-do list was too goddamn long.

Out-of-the-blue, though characteristically charismatic, Erwin gave the soldiers a pep-talk on how they need to know what to prioritise (i.e., humanity's victory).

Inspired, though the speech’s intended audience was clearly for new recruits, Hange tried to prioritise their tasks. Within a day, they got overwhelmed, the list being more of a reason for delay than for action. Moblit, well-meaning as always, tried to get Hange to focus on one at a time but that was unthinkable to them. One at a time meant that the confession would never happen. There was too much to research. Too much at stake. Too much for one inconsequential confession.

Unknowingly, Erwin saw Hange wringing their hands, muttering to themselves in the dining hall.

“What’s wrong?”

“I just can’t prioritise the important stuff,” Hange grumbled. Perking up at the mention of priorities, Erwin advised Hange to seek Levi’s guidance.

“Levi only does one thing at a time once he sets his heart on it.”

Eager for a chance encounter with someone they technically already hung out with on most days, Hange asked Levi for help. More accurately, in perhaps the most roundabout manner, they asked Levi if he wanted to bake… for a titan.

“For research,” Hange said, almost convinced by their own performance.

“You can do that yourself,” Levi said reasonably.

While starting a task was horrendously difficult, Hange was not one to give up once they began on one.

“You’re the only one here who can bake.”

Eyes narrowed, arms folded, Levi was not buying the compliment. He had a pile of papers left to read. Hange’s whims could be settled by someone with more well-matched interests and time management.

“Go ask Petra.”

Hovering nearby with another paper for her captain to sign, Petra noticed Hauge's crestfallen face.

“It’s not about the baking being done but who Hange is doing the baking with,” Petra whispered, as discreetly as she could.

"I'm busy," Levi said, loud enough for Hange to hear, heedless of Petra’s input.

“Alright.” Hange sighed, internally fuming that they should’ve found a more legitimate excuse. Bluff out something like Erwin’s orders. Levi followed Erwin’s orders without question. Hange’s requests were dealt with more scepticism. Not that Hange had the best track record of requests.

In the end, Hange prepared the baking supplies, because even if titans couldn’t stomach cake, it was an experimental endeavour. Practically speaking, they could give some baked goods to the juniors. Maybe even gift some to Levi.

Stumbling into the kitchen with too many ingredients in hand, they found Levi leaning against the entrance looking positively sullen. Upon spotting Hange, his face morphed into a more acceptable, neutral expression, nodding towards them.

"I thought you were busy!"

Levi shrugged, grabbing some of the ingredients from their arms. "I was. Didn't you want to bake?"

“I guess?”

The sudden change of mind was too abrupt for Hange to wrap their head around. A hopeful glow had unfortunately begun growing in them. Levi was being exceptionally nice today. No doubt that he was usually nice. Just not will-bake-for-your-titans kind of nice.

"Erwin said that you are really good at prioritising tasks,” Hange said, slowly digging through the cabinets for the utensils.

"Huh. Let me guess—he wants you to learn from me."

Hange scratched their head absent-mindedly. "He did tell me to ask you."

"I'm not actually very good at sticking to a task,” Levi admitted, wondering where in hell Erwin got the idea that he was focused. If he were, the paperwork would have been submitted, instead of lying around, flapping aimlessly in the wind before Petra (and Oluo) offered their generous help. He refused—every time. Levi was simply good at keeping a blank face and reporting to Erwin that he needed more time, which Erwin must have mistaken as a sign of seriousness than a sign of procrastination.

“You are! You finished work before coming have, didn't you?”

Levi didn’t breathe out a word, silently pouring through the book of recipes.

"What do you want to bake?"

Hange didn’t mind his lack of response, pondering over his poor cover-up question. "Something easy. What about bread?"

"Bread isn’t easy."

Difficulties translated into the promise of adventure for Hange. Pumped up, Hange prodded at the picture of an unremarkable loaf of chocolate banana bread.

"Let's do it anyway!"

“Suit yourself.”

-----

The small touches were the ones that were hardest to ignore. Hange felt the accidental-deliberate brush of Levi’s elbow when he reached over to choose an ingredient. Other times, he guided their hand with the right amount of strength for stirring the batter. His fingers over their stirring hand were firm and reassuring.

“You’re stirring too fast,” Levi said patiently.

“You’re distracting me,” Hange replied half-heartedly.

“Oh, am I?” The fingers left Hange’s hand. Just as Hange was about to lament their moment of folly in allowing that to happen, the fingers reached out towards their face. Forcing in a breath, Hange felt Levi’s thumb rub out a chocolate stain at the side of their lip.

“How did the chocolate get there?” Levi murmured, more to himself than to them.

“I was snacking on some of the chocolate bits a while ago…” Hange said cheekily, licking the side of their lips only to realise that Levi’s thumb was still there. Their tongue brushed his finger, and in that contact, Hange was ready to collapse from self-generated sexual tension.

Though his eyes widened noticeably, Levi quickly resumed his blasé expression. Rubbing the rest of the stain out, he walked to the tap to wash his hands. There was some hesitation, before he hurriedly turned on the tap, letting the water run for two seconds over his hands before going back to his position next to Hange.

Unsure as to whether to be offended or pleased by the sight of Levi cleaning the evidence of their encounter with such carelessness, Hange busied themselves with breaking eggs and separating yolk. If it had been Levi with a finger lined with fudge, Hange would’ve licked it spotless. With permission, of course.

To pay him back in kind, Hange plotted their own routine of touch as well. The touches became bolder, starting innocently enough. From casually brushing away hair that was poking Levi’s eye, to going behind Levi who was busy slicing up bananas and placing both hands on the counter. Their arms were now on either side of him, conveniently taller than him so that their head could peer right over his shoulder. The cutting didn’t cease—it only got more rapid, the bananas becoming neat circles in a matter of seconds. Hange let out an impressed whistle, hands not leaving the counter.

“Stop distracting me.”

“Oh, am I?”

One drop of the knife, and a swift turn later, Levi found himself staring straight into Hange’s bright, beautiful, heavily eye-bagged orbs.

"Hange, do you know why I'm in the kitchen at 2am baking for some shit-brained monsters?"

“Titans don’t have—”

“Because I have priorities.” Levi interrupted, not allowing Hange to clarify what the physical anatomy of titan subjects entailed.

Hange blinked, maintaining an oblivious exterior. “Your priorities include titan research?”

“You know what I was going to say.”

“Somewhat. I want to hear you say it out loud, though.”

Grimacing, he concentrated his gaze on Hange’s collar instead. Skin flushed, collarbones peeking out mischievously. Bad idea.

“You little shit.”

Their laugh was quieter, milder than the ones they let out on other days. “My favourite little shit! So what are your priorities?”

“Wiping the blades. Cleaning the toilet. Dusting under the tables. Doing laundry. Having enough tea. Baking with a scientist who thinks—”

Hange pressed a gentle hand on his mouth. “I get it.”

“Which part do you get?” Levi asked, enjoying the fact that when he moved his lips, they grazed Hange’s palm. How would it be like to replace that hand with their mouth?

“That you like me.” Hange grinned, tugging Levi by the straps of his apron just a bit closer.

An unexpected flash of clumsiness made Levi knock down the bag of flour, spilling it onto the floor. The fall clouded up the vicinity in white dust. Gaining confidence with obscured vision, Hange held the back of Levi’s head, tracing his undercut, admiring how his immaculately combed hair had come undone. An attractively dishevelled mess. Hange was in no hurry. Yet.

Levi, in a spur of restlessness, looked up at Hange questioningly. Eyeing their faint smirk, he tilted his head sideways, watching carefully for any sign of reluctance. An impatient “are you going to kiss me or not” from Hange; a straightforward command was what he needed to hear. No time was wasted pulling Hange into an urgent, searing kiss. Backed against the counter, hands cupping Hange’s face, Levi devoured the sensation. The taste of sugar, fruit, flour, and chocolate clung onto the entwinement, as Hange breathily pressed up against him. Erwin had warned them both. Love in the military meant the threat of loss. The possibility of sorrow. As he felt the rumble of Hange’s satisfying groan beneath his lips sending an unprecedented warmth through his body, he was certain. He would have loved Hange whether he kissed them or not. Death would happen, whether or not Hange rubbed his waist in soothing, awe-inspiring strokes. Right now, he would die in absolute bliss.

To be honest, Hange would’ve been disappointed if they didn’t end up fucking, or at least, aggressively kissing eventually. Erwin’s advice was only a stronger reminder that Hange was never one to be conservative. They loved Levi, as a comrade, as a friend, as the person whom they would kill for, if it meant saving his life. Still, having Levi sneak a hand into the bareness of their back, sucking their neck with a hot tenderness that made their head spin, they knew that chastity and platonic hugging could not be the only option.

“We should’ve done this sooner,” Hange said, peeling away his jacket.

“Couldn’t tell when the right time was,” Levi said, starting on the buttons of Hange’s shirt.

The door creaked open.

“This is your idea of asking Levi for help?” Erwin said, a thick eyebrow raised as he surveyed the mess.

With some willpower, he stopped unbuttoning Hange’s shirt. Lightly pushing Hange away, Levi straightened up, less than pleased with the interruption.

“Erwin, you better have something worthwhile to say if you—”

“I’ll clean this up.” Erwin, fully recovered from his shock, was beaming.

“Huh?”

“It’s about time,” Erwin said, with the proud sincerity of an unwitting matchmaker, gesturing towards the door.

“We owe you one, Erwin!” Hange waved at him on the way out, while Levi cast him a grateful, wary glance. With his hand was secure on their back, and Hange’s arm wrapped around his shoulders, there was no care for an audience. Only the smell of baked goods and unfinished business fuelled their steps towards a private space. A place where they would end up in each other’s arms—spent, sweaty, and deliriously at peace.

#levihanweek2021 #lhw2021 #levihan #levi x hange #day 2 #levi ackerman #hange zoe #aot fanfiction #shingeki no kyojin #fanfiction #aot #my writing #hanji zoe #prompt

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lucysometimeswrites · 3 years

Note

Hey can you please make a award season one but for a latina reader, if you would like you can keep the tom element. Sorry I'm asking again I accidentally deleted the last ask I made. I love your writing, you are amazing.❤️☺️

thank you thank you so much ur so sweet and of course! here you go and i hope you like it :) absolutely loved writing for latina!reader

Awards Season (latina!reader)

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

“Here to present the award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, please welcome Meryl Streep!” the host announced. A roar came from the audience at the mention of her name, the very acclaimed actress welcoming the attention and making her way to the microphone.

“Oh, stop it” she said and waved them away, earning a laugh and even more cheering from the theatre. “If I’m honest, I really considered not presenting this award because it breaks me inside to give the Oscar to someone else when it’s rightfully mine” she said in a funny, raspy evil voice, resembling a witch, “But you know, sharing is caring or whatever. Alright let’s get to it.” she continued dejectedly, still joking.

“This year, we have been blessed with beautiful films and, along with them, incredible performances from beautiful and talented actresses. Viola Davis, your abilities to embody different characters and raise awareness to ongoing issues in society has always amazed us, and it does once again in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”, Meryl announced, the camera going to Viola who was sitting about 10 seats to my left, the audience (including me) applauding and praising her. Literally all of her performances are incredible.

Could I still believe I was here? Definitely not, and not any time soon. From small skits to my big break with Tom Holland in a stupid rom-com that I didn’t even want to make, to now. Tom knows it’s nothing against him, it’s just that I haven’t learned to appreciate romantic comedies the way he has, but the thing I loved most from doing it was finishing it with Tom. He had become such an important person in my life since that moment, what with guiding me through the newfound world of fame and being there for me when I joined the Marvel franchise, it was just more than I could ever dream of. Now I sit here at the freaking Oscars, with Tom Holland as my date, and having done one of the greatest films ever, nothing could keep the smile off my face. Or the nerves.

My leg kept bouncing up and down, a nervous action I often did and one that the guy beside me had caught on to real quick when we first met. His warm hand gently squeezed my thigh, and I turned to look at him a little surprised.

“Hey, it’s okay” he softly said, his gaze soft and comforting.

“I didn’t even realize I was doing it” I answered in the same tone, whispering a thank you and letting my hand rest on top of his, weirdly interlocking our fingers.

Meryl turned to where Olivia Colman was sitting, “Your Majesty,” she started, referencing her portrayals of royalty and causing her to chuckle, “your moving performances have always left us wanting more, and I’m sure that is what I and everyone felt when we saw you in The Father” a big smile broke out on her face, and cheering ensued once more for our queen, or at least one of mine.

“Aging is some we all go through...unfortunately,” Meryl uttered into the mic, touching up her almost white hair, “and you, Cynthia Erivo, made us relate to your character this way with your brilliant acting in Reaching 39″, that woman is simply amazing, I thought as I clapped and cheered with the audience.

“My dear Kate,” the camera panned to Kate Winslet, who just stared fondly at the woman on the stage, “watching you grow as an actress has been one of the pleasures of my life and you reach new heights both professionally and literally in Misdemeanors”, she is such an icon, oh my.

Finally, Meryl Streep turned to look at me in the front row with a grin on her face, and I quickly got into “camera mode”, as I like to call it. I sat up straighter, looking at her with gentle eyes and smile.

“Señorita Y/N Y/L,” she started with the heavily accented Spanish word for Ms., “with your entrance into the world of filmmaking, you have set new expectations for all of us to reach. Even though this is your first nomination, I feel in my heart it won’t be the last, and we can’t wait to see more of you like we saw with your extraordinary performance in Paraíso” she finished, bringing a big smile to my face at her words. Turning to the camera, I became a bit shy and gave a small wave, feeling Tom squeeze my hand in comfort and another hand on my shoulder from behind. I turned to see Salma Hayek, one of my co-stars in the film, who gave me a strong nod and smile, loudly saying “Eso!” as a cheer for me.

“And the Oscar goes too...” ayyyyy no ay no que nervios que nervios que nervios me muero- all of this going through my head repeatedly but having to put on a smile and a calm façade for the camera was exhausting. Tranquila, tranquila, si no ganas está bien igual solo el hecho de estar aquí ya es lo más-

“Y/N Y/L, Paraíso!” Meryl announced, and all I heard were screams and loud clapping from around me.

Shocked, I looked up with wide eyes and my jaw going slack a little. I felt a buzz fill my body and the idol on the stage beckoned me up, when I realized I hadn’t moved. I slowly stood up and instantly turned to Tom who quickly pulled me into his arms with a strong hug and whispering in my year, “I knew it! I knew you would do it darling. I’m so so proud of you babe, go get your award!” not giving me a chance to answer as he gave me a quick kiss and turned me around in the direction of the stage. Still in a bit of a daze, I didn’t see Salma, Eugenio (Derbez), and Benicio (del Toro) make their way to me, ambushing me in a group hug as they started jumping around and sort of with me, chanting “EH! EH! EH!” like Latinos at a party and causing me to laugh and come back to my senses. I hugged them all and continued to the stairs, stopping to hug my directors Guillermo del Toro and Alfonso Cuarón.

I lifted my dress as I ascended the steps, and in true nervous fashion, stumbled and almost face planted in front of thousands of people.

“Uy, mierda” I chuckled to myself, and accepted the help of none other than Chris Evans who lent his arm for the remaining steps. I thanked him with a smile and after his Congrats!, I made my way to Meryl who held the famous award in her hands. She handed it to me and pulled me into her embrace, saying “Beautiful job, sweetheart, you’re amazing”, and all I could answer was “Oh my, thank you so much, you’re the amazing one”, sharing a laugh with her and standing in front of the mic.

I looked out into the audience, who were still giving me a standing ovation. Almost like a camera in my head, I tried to ingrain this moment in my mind and took a deep breath, starting my speech.

“God, I really hope I don’t forget any words in English right now” I said with a breathless laugh, inciting one from the people below me. “Thank you so much. Thank you to...um...so many people. To the Academy for this great, great honor. To my fellow nominees for inspiring me every single day. Being in the same room as you is already insane, let alone being nominated with you, it’s just- it’s truly out of this world. Viola, Olivia, Kate, Cynthia, you are my literal idols and if I could physically cut this Oscar into five pieces,” I said as I made a motion of cutting the award and humoured the audience, “I would give a piece to all of you. Um, thank you to my team, my agent, Victoria, te adoro y te agradezco for believing in me and helping me live out my dream. Sorry, I’m probably gonna switch between languages during this.” I said with a laugh.

“Paraíso was a project that, for me, came out of nowhere. But for my extraordinary directors los señores Guillermo del Toro and Alfonso Cuarón, it was a life’s work so to you, gracias por darme la oportunidad de darle vida a Marielos and for giving me the experience of a lifetime. Salma, Eugenio, Benicio, Gael, and all the cast and crew, thank you for becoming my second family and supporting me every step of the way. It has been my honor to work with you” I said with a hand on my chest, showing that I was speaking from my heart and smiling at the kisses and cheers sent to me from them, hearing a crazed Te amamos! from Eugenio. It eased the tension in my body which I was incredibly thankful for.

“I also want to thank-” I stopped, getting a little choked up, “ha, sorry, it’s my family that couldn’t be here” I said, a wave of claps and cheering in comfort came from the audience. Quickly composing myself, I continued, “Ya, okay. All the way back home, lo hice! Familia, les dije que no les iba a agradecer si me ganaba un Oscar algún día por no creer en mi y hoy es ese día, pero no me lo perdonaría si no les agradezco. Gracias por apoyarme a pesar de que yo sé que les dio un ataque que quisiera ser actriz. Gracias por siempre estar ahí para mi, por quererme incondicionalmente y por enseñarme que trabajando duro todo se puede lograr. Los amo infinitamente.” I finished, with tears threatening to roll down my eyes. I tilted my head to the sky to prevent them from falling, and with a deep breath I turned to Tom who had his hands in a prayer stance while looking intently at me, the same smile from before still gracing his face.

“Tommy...” I started, and the audience audibly awed at the nickname, “Oh, you don’t even know what I’m gonna say to him” I said with narrowed eyes, but my gaze found my love once more.

“Thank you so much for being my rock ever since we met. I’m beyond thankful for you and all you do for me, baby. You make me the happiest and thank you for pushing me to do things that scare me. For being there for me in case I fall and for being my person. Te amo, amor.” I blowed him a kiss which he caught and jokingly used to wipe his tears, making me and the other celebrities laugh.

Please wrap up, I read from the screen, and let out and “Ay, perdón! I gotta wrap up sorry sorry” hurriedly finishing up my speech.

“Lastly, this award goes out to all the Latina girls out there with big dreams. Nunca se den por vencidas. No dejen que nadie les diga que no porque de que se puede, se puede. Querer es poder! I love you guys, my fans oh my gosh, thank you thank you, gracias!” I rushed out, raising the award to the air with one last big smile as Meryl guided me backstage to answer some questions. Just before I was off sight, I turned and looked out to the stage once more.

Lo logré...

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

once again, disclaimer, movie names are mostly fictitious. feedback and requests always welcome!

#tom holland imagine #tom holland #tom holland x reader #tom holland one shot #latina!reader #tom holland x latina!reader #tom holland x actress!reader #tom holland blurb #tom holland fanfiction #tom holland blurbs #tom holland imagines

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yamaoni · 3 years

Text

The Second Great War of Remnant has begun. Once more, Vale and Mantle are embroiled in a massive conflict, only this time, they are on the same side against Atlas.

I don't think it was a coincidence that so many people drew parallels with the last episode and WWI. We've never seen people fight that way in RWBY. Grimm don't use projectile weapons the way humans do, so the benefits of the trench are diminished; especially if you compare it to the drawbacks.

Now, I understand not everyone in the Atlas military has their aura unlocked and the squishy soldiers need some cover, but if The Long Memory didn't nuke every grimm on Atlas, the lines would have been overrun and then there would have been nowhere for them to retreat to.

You think the very real hand to hand struggles in the trenches of WWI were bad, imagine being trapped in a narrow trench with a bear. Or having this thing explode out of the ground under you.

I refuse to believe no-one in Atlas ever thought, "if we put the dirt from the trench in a box, no only can we give our soldiers cover, we can also give them an elevated position to fire from."

The top of a wall has been the primary defensive position for the people of Remnant for a long time. You can see them in the establishing shots of most settled places the team has visited. So why are we seeing a trench now?

Simple.

Show, don't tell.

RWBY has done a pretty great job, especially in the last few seasons, of showing the audience what it is trying to convey without explicitly telling them. They especially like drawing from well known folk lore to give insight into the future of the show.

Only difference here, instead of drawing the parallel between characters, they're drawing parallels between worlds.

Remnant's first Great War started with Mantle suppressing freedom of expression, the destruction of Art and Color. Ironwood always has little in the way of color, but in his first broadcast since everything started hitting the fan, he has none.

That broadcast also included evacuation ships being blown up by fighter-bombers, Dunkirk. It threatend to level a city if they didn't surrender, Battle of Brittan. All delivered by a dictator trying to scare his opponents into submission through careful use of film.

Theories

If the rest of the season is WWII, I have several theories on plot direction. Considering how well they did keeping up with both ends of the battlefield it wouldn't surprise me if they followed all of them at the same time.

Operation Dunkirk

Or, the evacuation of Mantle.

Players: Penny, Nora, Ren, Happy Huntresses

The Happy Huntresses involvement is a given. Not only has saving Mantle been their goal the whole time, they're also stuck in the middle of it right now.

Penny is the Protector of Mantle. It would be a shining moment for her character to fully throw off the virus Watts implanted and overcome Ironwood's threats to do so. Just crossing my fingers that it doesn't end like the Iron Giant.

Nora is currently Penny's tether to sanity, so she has to go with, and I doubt they would separate Ren from her for the next arc so he's going too.

Surprise twist for this plot I'm betting will be the Starwars "they aren't warships, just people" scene everyone loves to rag on. After all, the broadcast went out that they needed help and, at least at Dunkirk, it was fishing boats and pleasure crafts that retrieved the 338,000 surrounded on all sides.

Why We Fight

Or, countering Ironwoods propaganda.

Players: Robyn and Qrow

For one, these two are unaccounted for and in the heart of Atlas' military machine. If anyone has means to do so, it's them.

The film, Why We Fight, also countered the dramatic cinematography of Goebbels propaganda by painting it as ridiculous and making a folksy call to action much like Robyn has done in the past.

Operation Fortitude

Or, the deception of Ironwood.

Players: Emerald, Jaune, Oscar

This is the mission to make Ironwood think the team is going after the relic. This theory is why I actually thought of and wrote out this whole thing. Thanks @maxiemumdamage, I had things I was supposed to do tonight.

https://maxiemumdamage.tumblr.com/post/644291955872890880/willing-to-bet-my-own-soul-that-emerald-uses-her

Only difference in my theory and their's, is Jaune is going to be playing the part of Penny.

I say this for two reasons. One, Joan of Arc pretended to be a man. While we've gotten both Jaune pretending to be something he's not and him in a dress, this would pose the first time in the story he could do both. Two, it would put him on a direct collision path with Cinder. It needs to happen at some point to bring his arc to a conclusion, but man I hope we're not about to watch him burn.

With Ozpin active again, Oscar has to go along to direct them to the vault. He's also one of two backing the idea of Emerald joining the team and Jaune wouldn't be willing to work with her without him.

Operation Overlord

Or, busting down the doors of Atlas Acadamy.

Players: Ruby, Blake, Weiss, Yang

Where Operation Fortitude was the faint, Operation Overlord was the real deal. For those that aren't history buffs, this is D-Day.

I think this is the reason we've only seen the main team fighting together once since their split from Beacon. And even then, that fight was at most pairs of fighters and not all four of them supporting one another.

RWBY tricked us into thinking season 4 was the post-timeskip level up we come to expect from anime when really we ended up watching the training flashbacks as they happened instead.

We've seen hints of it with the various team ups and combinations, but are we really ready for how much ass kicking they are about to do?

I'm hoping for a One Piece level of badass entrance that can give me shivers whenever I go to watch it again like the walk to Arlong Park still does to this day.

(Aside: if you try telling me RWBY isn't anime, I'm just going to ignore you. Anime is an art movement. If you don't understand what that means, watch this video. https://youtu.be/uFtfDK39ZhI)

youtube

Now last and certainly not least

Operation Valkyrie

Or, the death of Ironwood.

Players: Winter and Marrow

The long awaited defection. Plenty of speculation has already floated around about if and when these two where going to cave to their morals and jump ship. I don't know how many of us were expecting the straw to break the camel's back to be a nuke held over Mantle, but I certainly wasn't.

What worries me, is Operation Valkyrie failed and all its conspirators were executed. As if there weren't enough death flags for Winter before.

Even if it's not Winter that kills him. I don't see Ironwood surviving this season. Even if it means he goes out like another hated dictator. It's not like it would be the first time RT had a fallen hero chose to use his own sword.

Wildcards

Or, Murphy will have his due.

Players: Cinder, Watts, Neo, Tyrian, Mercury, Clover

These players can go any which way. Three we know for sure are going to be active in the coming episodes and I wouldn't be surprised if the other three play a part as well.

Oscar made a hell of a light show for Tyrian and Mercury to see behind them. Not to mention, Salem will still need a ride home when she pulls herself back together.

Clover keeps getting mentioned even though he's hospitalized. If he was truly out of commission for the rest of the season, they would have made us think he's dead before bringing him back like they did with Penny.

Up to now, what we've seen is a three way conflict. But one of the hallmarks of Remnant's First Great War, was making temporary alliances to fight off grimm.

The grimm might be gone, but the wild cards can't complete their own objectives if they are dead. The question is who's goals better align with their own.

Two surprise twists I can see here. One, Mercury stabbing Tyrian on his way to defection. He was raised by an assassin and has not going to get a better chance than that. Two, Clover joining Operation Valkyrie. He might have accepted that sacrifice is a necessary evil to ensure Atlas' survival, but might go Schindler's List on us and find horror in what Ironwood plans to do.

TLDR

I spent way too long writing this out. All the WWI imagery means we're getting a WWII movie with RWBY characters. Major death flags for Penny, Jaune, and Winter.

Also I finally figured out how to do a readmore. Apparently it's just been a long time since I updated.

Note: kept seeing things talking about clovers death and I kind of went ???? Isn't he barely alive in medical? Went back and watched that scene and though I am 90% sure he is dead still kind of weird that they have him in his own room instead of a morgue and the initial framing made my mind instantly think he was propped up on a hospital bed. I mean, I guess we needed to have all the ACEOPs there for their reaction to Ironwood... but it definitely made me think he was alive. That and they have a bandage on his chest wound... when he's supposedly dead. Also have a phantom memory of Harriet saying something about him being in critical but I think that's my memory playing tricks on me.

Having his face exposed instead of covered by the sheet and seeing him in the same frame as Winter being treated also didn't help my gut reaction of "Oh Shit! He's alive? How?!" If I'd followed up more on the "how" might not have made the blunder of writing his return as the final twist in my theory. Oops

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tinyboxxtink · 3 years

Text

"Caught In The Storm" *Part 5*

I feel like because this was dictated all the language seems off, but I don't know how to fix it! Please let me know if it doesn't sound like my..."voice", if that makes any sense?

Also YUP we might get through this whole thing tonight. Shut up if these are short chapters you're getting them all at once!

Tag List

@chasingeverybreakingwave

@milkshqke

@wanniiieeee

@word-scribbless

@gibbs274

@lolliepopsicle

@aprildecker-blog

@objection-argumentative

Part 6

----

A few days later, you sent texts to everybody in the squad including Rafael to meet you for dinner at Forlini’s for a “special announcement”.

When everyone showed up they found you with Nathan. The both of you were hanging on to each other pretty heavily, making the squad confused, looking from you to Nathan to Rafael to back to him.

“Guys.. this is my boyfriend Nathan,” You grinned.

“Hello all, it’s so great to meet you!” Nathan gave a casual wave to the squad. “Y/N has told me so much about you all,”

“Really?” Fin raised an eyebrow. “Because she hasn't mentioned you at all,” He gave you a look.

“Well.. I wanted it to be a surprise, Daddy,” You nervously smiled.

“Was it that or did you not want some of us to know?” Fin asked, looking between you and Rafael, who looked EXTREMELY uncomfortable

“No I just didn't know how you'd react…” You said through gritted teeth of a fake smile.

“Oh my God,” Nathan whispered finally realizing who Rafael was.

“Baby.. you never mentioned that you were friends with the ADA!” He exclaimed, making the entire group stare in shock.

“He's a lawyer…” you nervously added. Rafael looked like he was going to be sick.

“It's such an honor to meet you sir really, you have been kind of an idol to me for a long time,” He stared goo goo eyed at Rafael, completely unaware that if he could legally kill him in front of all these people, he would.

“Oh my God,” you muttered. This was going worse than you thought.

“You know I would love to pick your brain sometime if you'd let me sir,” Nathan asked while trying to shake Rafael's hand.

Rafael looked from you to Nathan, to you to Nathan in a bit of a shock but he tried to hide it with an awkward smile.

“You know I really don't think that's a good idea,” you interjected, stepping in between the two.

“Actually you know I think that's a great idea. What was your name again-- Nate?” Rafael suddenly had his charm turned up 90, genuinely shaking Nathan’s hand.

“No I really don't think that's necessary,” You said your gritted teeth while giving him a look.

“Baby don't ruin this for me. He could really help my career,” Nathan whispered to you.

“I don't think you know what you're getting into Nate,” You whispered back while glancing at Rafael, who had an evil smile.

"Why don't you call my office and we’ll set up a meeting? Rafael pulled a card from his pocket and handed it to Nate, smirking at you.

“Sounds awesome!” Nathan beamed.

“Well enough of that let's eat,” Fin jumped in, trying to break the tension.

“Sounds good,” Olivia added as you all had dinner uneventful for the rest of the night.

-----

The next day you stormed into Rafael's office.

“What do you think you're doing?” You asked him.

“What do you mean?” He asked, acting oblivious.

“You know what I mean,” you narrowed your eyes. “What's your game here?”

“What game?” Rafael asked. Just because I want to help your “boyfriend” help his career suddenly I have a problem?” He asked.

“I think we both know that's not what's going on here,” you huffed.

“Why would it be anything other than that?” He kept his cool.

“I thought we've been through this, Y/N. We said we were friends, and I just want to do something nice for my friend,"

The word friend pierced your heart like a knife every time he said it you felt your heart breaking more. But that was stupid, because you had already moved on. You love Nathan, right? And Rafael was just trying to be friendly.

“All right fine,” you rolled your eyes. “Fine, help him. It'll be better for us anyway,”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Rafael asked suspiciously.

“Nothing that concerns you friend,” you enunciated, turning on your heels and walking out of the office.

----

The next few weeks Nathan worked under Rafael as an intern, and he was surprisingly loving every minute of it. Every day when he would come home you'd ask him if Rafael had been hard on him, and Every day he would assure you that it was just because he was trying to make him a better lawyer. But you knew better. You just really hope it wouldn't break him, or you.

Meanwhile, a representative from SMG records had been in the audience one night and asked you to come record a demo. You didn't want to say anything to the squad just yet because you didn't want to jinx it. But as you were in the studio recording your demo song, you couldn't help but wish they were there. Especially because you were singing “Caught In The Storm,” as your demo track.

As you sang the words you closed your eyes and drifted back to that night when all of this started. The emotions you felt, the excitement, the rush of emotions, and the way you looked at Rafael and it all came crashing down.

That moment changed your life. And you were pretty sure that it changed him too. But he wouldn't admit it, and you would accept that, and you were happy with Nathan now. You were in a very good place in your relationship, and you were beginning to fall in love with him.

And that was a good thing, right?

----

One day you were headed home from work when your phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Hey Y/N this is Katie from SMG records.”

“Oh yes, how are you?”

“Great. I just wanted to let you know that we loved the demo, and we would like to record a few more songs with you before I send it up to my higher-ups to see if they want to make a full album,”

“Are you serious? That's amazing!”

“It sure is, kid. I'll call you back later with the details,”

This time you picked up the phone and dialed Fin's number immediately.

“Daddy they want to potentially record an album!” You squealed.

“No way baby girl!” Finn cried that's amazing.

After you talked for a few minutes you hung up. You started to dial Rafael's number to tell him the good news, but stopped before hitting SEND.

Why was he the second person you wanted to tell? You should be calling Nathan. You dialed Nathan's number instead.

“Hello?”

“Hey baby I'm sorry to disturb you at work”

“It's fine sweetie, I'm just here with Mr. Barba filling out paperwork,”

Your heart began to speed up.

“Oh…, then I'll be quick. The record company called me and said that they want to record a few more songs, and potentially make an album!”

“Oh my God baby that’s amazing!!! I'm so happy for you!!” Nathan exclaimed. You could hear him tell Rafael the good news in a muffled voice.

You wished you could see the expression on Rafael's face in that moment.

Was he happy?

Was he happy for you?

Surely he was. You hadn't really spoken to him since Nathan started his internship because you didn't want to make it worse for Nathan.

But all you wanted to do at that moment was see Rafael's face and hug him and have him tell you he was so proud of you. It made you want to start crying.

“Well okay I'll let you go,” You said with tears starting to choke your throat.

“Are you crying, baby?” Nathan asked.

“Oh yeah, but just because I'm just so stoked!” you lied, wondering if Rafael knew you were lying if he heard you. you wondered if Nathan knew you were lying. Rafael would know you were lying, he always did

After you hung up, Rafael smiled at Nathan. “So she got her record deal?” He asked nonchalantly.

“Yeah I guess she did, Nathan smiled back like an idiot. “I'm so happy for her! Things are really starting to look our way,”

“Yeah.. that's great. I'm really happy for you both,” He lied, feeling his heart break more every second.

#rafael barba x reader #rafael barba #rafael barba x you #rafael barba imagine #law and order svu #law and order special victims unit #law and order svu fanfiction #caught in the storm

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douchebagbrainwaves · 3 years

Text

WHY I'M SMARTER THAN FRIEND

That's been a reliable way to get rich, is not just to intelligence but to ability in general, and that's why so many successful startups make something the founders needed. In 1994 my friend Koling wanted to talk to the new startups about fundraising, and decide they should raise money too, since that seems to be an instant success, like YouTube or Facebook. Even if the CEO is a programmer and another founder is a salesperson? The market is a lot longer than that. The emotional ups and downs. The median age worldwide is about 27, so probably a third of the population have y percent of the world's population will be exceptional in some field only if there are a lot of time trying to push your price down. This is not exclusively a failing of the young. Have low expectations.1

We're more patient. To understand what McCarthy meant by this, we're going to be times when you have absolutely no desire to work on an audience, and since valuation is usually the only visible number attached to a startup—so important that morale alone is almost enough to determine success.2 There were a few other kids and I could play all day. We may be able to develop stuff in house, and that employers are just proxies for users in which risk is pooled. So everyone is nervous about closing deals with you, they'd seem impressive, but not very novel. The non-gullible recipients are merely collateral damage. The best way to do this, and I think the rate of people who wish they'd gotten a regular job, and they all think we're going to retrace his steps, with his mathematical notation translated into running Common Lisp code. This trick may not always be enough.3 Deals don't happen that way. When do you stop fundraising? But if you're trying to advise 57 startups, it turns out to be a really long journey, at least straightforward.4 What I mean by habits of mind is to ask, could one open-source play?5

Even a day's delay can bring news that causes an investor to your cofounder s should be like introducing a girl/boyfriend to your parents—something you do only when things reach a certain stage of seriousness. Know where you stand. Only a few ideas are likely to be a good idea, because most startups change their idea anyway. It's practically a mantra at YC. It will be easier to raise money you might have to shut the company down, but because the process of talking to them all can bring a startup to a standstill for months. I written about yet? Immigration easier because they say they can't find enough programmers in the US.6

I've written this, everyone else can blame me if they want. Don't worry too much about making money, instead of drying up, curiosity becomes narrow and deep. Angels were generally much better to talk to all potential investors in parallel, prioritized by expected value, and accept offers greedily, your goal should be to get it from someone else. There's a limit to the number of people retain from childhood the idea that a bunch of leads in the process of discovering it's broken, you'll come up with startup ideas. The startup may have more long-term success rate ends up being, I think the only unusual thing about him is that he admitted it. As little as $50k could pay for food and rent for the founders for a year. It will be easier to raise money you might have to shut down.7 So the randomness of any one investor's behavior can really affect you. The critical moment for Einstein was when he looked at Maxwell's equations and said, what the hell is going on here? The reason, of course. You should get another multiple of three.8 It is, in itself, a valuable thing.

But if you're trying to choose between satisfying all the needs of all potential users. You should therefore never approach such investors first. I didn't realize how much room there is for a potential competitor to undercut them. Even the founders who fail don't seem to get how different it is till they do it. All the scares induced by seeing a new competitor pop up are forgotten weeks later. But I don't think you should make users the test, just as professional magicians are.9 How much better. The specific thing that surprised them most was the general spirit of benevolence: One of the things I didn't tell people.10 One of the most powerful motivator is not the usual one, which applies even when you know which investors have a reputation for being valuation sensitive and can postpone dealing with them, but they weren't going to die if they didn't get their money.

Notes

So if you're a loser or possibly a winner. The same goes for companies that grow slowly tend not to grow as big a cause. The study of rhetoric was inherited directly from Rome, where there were some good ideas in the process dragged on for months. Though you should probably start from the example of a company tried to explain that the meaning of the most, it's easy for small children to consider these two ideas separately.

In fact since 2 1.

But this takes a startup to duplicate our software.

Your Brain, neurosurgeon Frank Vertosick recounts a conversation reaches a certain way, they'd be called unfair. At Viaweb, if you have to sweat any one outcome. But friends should be designed to express algorithms, and that you have to assume the worst thing about our software, we found Dave Shen there, and yet it is not whether it's good enough to defend their interests in political and legal disputes.

Don't be evil, they have wings and start to be able to formalize a small percentage of GDP were about the origins of the USSR offers a better strategy in an era of such high taxes? I've learned about VC inattentiveness. Historically, scarce-resource arguments have been worth at least a partial order. It was born when Plato and Aristotle looked at with fresh eyes and even if the current edition, which merchants used to build their sites.

Adam Smith Wealth of Nations, v: i mentions several that tried to motivate them. The Civil Service Examinations of Imperial China, during the war, tax rates were highest: 14. San Francisco, LA, Boston, or the power that individual customers have over established companies is 47.

Surely no one knows how many of the previous two years after 1914 a nightmare than to read is not a product company.

99 and. Eric Horvitz. But scholars seem to be high, and when given the Earldom of Rutland. Applying for a name.

Actually Emerson never mentioned mousetraps specifically. I was writing this. We just tried to preserve optionality.

Currently the lowest rate seems to be free to work late at night, and then scale it up because they think they're just mentioning the possibility.

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rockysavannah · 4 years

Text

Videl vs. Pan! A Bored Burp-Off!

Description:

WARNING THIS STORY CONTAINS: Female Burping.

If you’re not into any of the above things, please do not read!

============

This could be considered a distant sequel to 'Bulma vs Chi-Chi! A Baby Shower Burping Contest!'.

Pan and Videl are sitting at home one day, bored out of their minds. After a couple of accidental eructations from the pair, they decide to have a burping contest, with a wager set in place to make it more interesting. Will Videl achieve victory, or will her daughter dominate? There’s only one way to find out.

I hope you like it. Any constructive criticism in the comments section is welcome.

============

Originally uploaded back on March 7th, 2017 on Writing.com.

This story was co-written with Jokermask18/JWAPPEL in my interactive.

Since Writing.com basically requires people to need a paid membership in order to do anything on their website, it’s practically impossible for many people to write and read there. Therefore, I’ve decided to post some of the chapters from my interactives onto my other accounts as full-fledged stories so that they can reach a wider audience.

============

The Art of the Thumbnail is a blend of two images. (Since no one had drawn this concept...).

Videl by Seiya-Dbz-Fan.

Pan by Krizart-DA.

Text by me and Jokermask18/JWAPPEL.

============

Son Videl, Son Pan, and Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT, and Dragon Ball Super © Funimation, Toei Animation, Shueisha and Akira Toriyama

(A/N: This is a collaboration with Jokermask18 A.K.A. JWAPPEL.)

Content Advisory! This story contains:

Female Hyper Belching

Taunting

Series: Dragon Ball

Characters: Son Videl, Son Pan

Synopsis: Videl and Pan try to alleviate their boredom by having some gassy fun.

If you’re not into any of the above things, please do not read!

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

It was a quiet Saturday afternoon for the family of Son Gohan. The man of the house was out on business, leaving his wonderful wife and daughter to fend off the onslaught of boredom by themselves. The duo engaged in a multitude of recreational activities—watching television shows and movies, playing video and board games, even training—but nothing could keep their interests for more than a few minutes at best. Both were currently lounging around in the living room, Pan lied half-asleep on the couch and Videl was playing with a paddleball. Videl checked the clock and her eyes widened at the time.

“Oh no, it’s almost dinner time!” she exclaimed, loudly enough to capture the attention of her daughter, “I better get cooking!”

“…Huh?” Pan muttered groggily, until the weight of those words truly hit her, “Wait, dinner?! That sounds great! I’m starving!”

The eleven-year-old girl’s sudden burst of energy got a small chuckle out of her mother, “Well, you’ll have to ‘starve’ for a little longer, because it’ll take awhile to make enough food to satisfy your appetite.”

Pan’s lips curled downward, “Can I at least get a soda to hold me over.”

With an approving nod from her mother, Pan moved faster than a normal human could track, seemingly vanishing into thin air for a split second, before returning to the same spot, only with a root beer in hand. While Videl was getting up from her chair and heading for the kitchen, Pan began chugging the contents of her can. The carbonated beverage cascaded down her esophagus before landing in the pits of her stomach, mixing with the boiling green acids that were already dwelling there, and forming large bubbles of gas from the chemical reaction. Pan put her right hand on her belly when she heard a low rumbling deep inside. She felt pockets of air shift around within her tummy, before some of it was dislodged and evicted up a valve at the top of the stomach. Pan barely had time to register what happened before a juicy belch blasted past her lips, catching her by surprise. Videl stopped in the kitchen and turned to look at her daughter, who just sported a look of content on her face.

“That felt good,” Pan commented with a giggle.

“Pan, you should show better manners than that,” Videl reprimanded with a stereotypical parental finger pointing.

Pan scoffed internally, wishing that her mom would loosen up once in a while, like what her dad said she was like as a teenager. Alas, Videl’s acceptance of her role as a housewife had meant that she sacrificed much of her cooler (in Pan’s opinion), tomboyish personality, so it was unlikely to happen anytime soon.

Videl was about to get the ingredients and kitchen ware needed to make a meal fit for a demi- and quarter-Saiyan, but was stricken with a sudden pang of thirst. Wanting to quickly quench it before getting to work, she fished through the fridge and picked out a can of Jetap, before popping it open and spraying some of the alcoholic liquid on her cheeks. Pan snickered at this, while Videl took a large swig of her drink, draining the can in a matter of seconds. Once the intoxicated fluid splashed into her gut, a similar reaction that happened in Pan’s abdominal area occurred here too. As soon as Videl removed the can from her mouth, a beery burp rippled out of it, having the length, volume, and smell to be comparable to her daughter. When the three-second-long eructation ended, Videl’s cheeks lit up in a scarlet flash.

“Ooohhh my goodness! Excuse me!” she apologized with her left hand clasped over her mouth.

There was a period of silence in the house before the juvenile giggling of the youngest Son member promptly shattered it. “Nice one, Mom! I didn’t think… that you had… it in you!” her compliments were intersped by fits of laughter.

Videl’s level of embarrassment continued to grow, “T-that was just an accident, sweetie. I didn’t mean to.”

Pan rolled her eyes and gave her an unconvinced smirk, “Not buying it, Mom. Dad told me how much of a tomboy you were back in the day and I bet that you miss that time.”

Videl widened her light blue irises, baffled at how her adolescent daughter managed to back her into a corner like this. Then, she started to think about Pan’s words; about how her ‘tough girl’ days were when she was at her coolest. But that was just a persona, right? An act that she didn’t need to keep up when she met her high school sweetheart. Without that, she felt comfortable sporting a more feminine appearance, like her wedding gown when she married Gohan, or the red dress and black leggings when she attended Bulma’s ‘39th’ birthday party. On the other hand, her feistier attitude did earn her some respect from her former classmates at Orange Star High School, and she still found some amusement when she thought back to the times that she beat various members of the student body in burping contests. Perhaps it would not hurt to relive some of that glory one more time.

“Maybe… you have a point,” Videl admitted.

Pan’s grin grew wider, “Great, because I’ve got an idea for curing our boredom: a burping contest!”

If possible, the Son matriarch’s eyes grew wider still, “Really? Well, what are the stakes?”

Pan tapped a finger on her chin in thought, “If I win, you order as much food as I want, when I want, for the next three months; If you win, I’ll do all of yours and dad’s chores on top of my own for the same time.”

Videl pondered Pan’s proposition. The risk was great, but so was the reward. After a few moments, she reached her decision, “Game on, young lady,” Videl answered with a smirk that matched her daughter’s, finally regaining her uncouth appreciation for the immature art of burping.

“Cool!” Pan’s eyes shone in anticipation, thinking that this would make for a gross, but fun, bonding experience.

Videl pulled out at least eight more cans of soda from the fridge and divided them between herself and Pan. After all, one needed the right ammunition for this kind of thing. Pan reached for her first one and chugged the whole thing in less than a minute! With a smirk, she then thumped her chest and let out a nasty sounding burp that sounded like it came from a hardened trucker. Videl was actually a little proud of her for that. That is, until she remembered she was looking at her competitor. The daughter of Mister Satan figured her turn was up and attempted to copy her daughter's opening move. Unfortunately, she ended up choking on most of the soda and launched into a coughing fit.

“You're losing Mommy,” Pan taunted in a sing-song voice before belching again. This one was ever bigger than the last, being five seconds long!

Videl's eyes narrowed as her competitive fire was beginning to reignite, “I'm not finished yet!” She began chugging her second soda, this time nearly matching her daughter's former pace. Pan was on her second soda as well, though sipping it in a leisurely fashion. It was clear she wasn't worried and this made Videl all the more angry.

Thumping her chest, the daughter of Mr. Satan unleashed her first real belch in the contest. It was decent, though only half as big as Pan's first attempt. Videl scowled, knowing she'd once been able to do much better. Pan responded with another huge belch that won her the bout and began opening her third can. Videl did the same and managed to start off with a belch that surpassed her daughter's previous attempt! The good feeling that came with that was quickly destroyed when Pan unleashed a belch that blew her mother's hair back! Once again, the daughter of Mister Satan felt oddly proud even as she began opening her fourth can. This truly was a bonding experience.

The contest continued on in this way. Videl had actually started to regain some of her old skill but it didn't seem to help. Pan dominated each bout and only grew cockier over time. “Get ready to order Mama, cause I am hungry!” The daughter of Mister Satan only scowled more deeply at this taunt. She refused to let her daughter win. It wasn't just about what losing would cost her either. Now, it was about pride.

But honestly, Videl was getting flustered. She had to admit that her kid was good. Scratch that, Pan was very, very good. As they went through what was now the seventh can for both of them, mother and daughter soon realized that it was almost over. There were only two cans left and one of them would belong to the victor. It was clear from her grin that Pan believed she knew which one it would be. “Ready to give up?”

But Videl refused. If there was anything left over from the Videl of old, it was that. She wondered, not for the first time, just what had happened to that girl? The tomboy who had dominated boy and girl alike in belching contests since she was seven! She even remembered winning a few farting contests in her time. Looking at Pan, she realized that she missed those times. She wanted them back. It was time for her to start thinking like the old Videl again, but how?

After the duo each finished their seventh can, Pan effortlessly belted out another first class burp. Though it was comparatively less powerful than her previous ones, it compensated with an odor that made the matriarch of the Son household go green in the gills. While Videl, with watery eyes, was coughing and trying to fan away the foul fumes, Pan was looking bored. Sure, she was certain that she would be able to pig out on as much food as she wanted to when this was over, which definitely appealed to her Saiyan nature, but there was another thing that her alien instincts craved: a good fight. Her father had gone on about how unladylike and badass her mother was as a youth, so Pan expected at least something resembling a challenge, just to make her victory feel more earned.

However, right now Videl was not proving those stories true at all. In fact, her burps were barely able to get much reaction out of Pan aside from condescending amusement. Either the stories were lies or Videl had simply lost her edge. In any case, Pan found it disappointing, not simply because of the aforementioned lack of challenge, but because she had a lot of respect for mommy dearest. All of the tomboyish tales about Videl, not just of how she shattered gender stereotypes by utterly decimating sexist boys in belching contests, but also of her beating up bullies and leaping into danger to stop criminals. It helped influence Pan into shaping her personality to mimic the mother that she idolized, both as a tomboy and as a hero.

Meanwhile, Videl’s mind raced to find a way to gain an edge over her daughter. Maybe she could use the Dragon Balls to wish for her old personality back. No, that would seem like a waste to use something so powerful to win such a juvenile event. Besides, what would Gohan say about it when he returned home? Nevertheless, if she cannot do that, then how will the daughter of Mister Satan triumph over the gaseous greatness of Pan? Suddenly, she thought back to what her husband said when he taught her how to fly all those years ago.

He said that you have to focus your energy from your stomach, she recalled in her head. Then, she also flashed back to when she heard Gohan say that his mentor, Piccolo, could fire ki blasts from his mouth, Wait a minute. That’s it! Videl breathed deeply and concentrated hard, gulping down air to fuel her belch. She soon felt a spark of ki in her belly and smiled, Alright, she thought, silently thanking Gohan and Piccolo for not teaching Pan telepathy, I’m on the right track, but I should try to limit how much ki I use. Otherwise, Pan will know what I’m up to and just copy me, then, I’ll be screwed.

And so, the metaphysical energy continued to manifest in her stomach, acting like fire boiling water to produce steam as it stirred up more gas than any normal human ever could. When she felt enough build up, Videl proudly forced out the gas using her ki creating a shockwave that blew away Pan’s orange bandana. When it finished, Videl sighed in relief and giggled at the befuddled face of her daughter.

“Wh-what was that?!” Pan exclaimed.

“Well, Honey, I guess I was just a little rusty,” Videl replied, lips curled up into a smirk.

Pan narrowed her eyes in suspicion. She may be somewhat naïve, but she was not stupid. The daughter of Son Gohan found it weird that her mom could just pull out a totally awesome eructation at the eleventh hour after a series of mediocre burps. In addition, Pan could have sworn that she felt a minuscule ember of ki coming from her mother, specifically in her tummy.

Maybe… The quasi-Saiyan pondered for a moment, before dismissing the idea entirely, There’s no way. That’s just ridiculous. She probably just got lucky, that’s all.

Putting the notion aside, Pan opted to pop open her eighth can of soda and began chugging it. Videl soon joined her and in a matter of seconds, both had completely drained their aluminum canisters of their sugary liquid contents. Pan patted her packed paunch playfully, feeling it press up against and peek out under her shirt. It was an expected result given that eight cans worth of delicious carbonated goodness filled that gut of hers, not including the can that she had taken a swig of before the contest officially began. Videl rubbed her own bulging belly, starting to wonder how this competition would affect her figure afterward. However, she pushed that thought out for the moment, instead focusing on the here and now.

“Well, do you want to start the final bout, little lady?” Videl inquired with a smirk.

“Sure, but you’ll regret it, trust me,” Pan replied, matching her mom’s smirk.

Pan proceeded to gobble down as much precious oxygen as possible, making her abdominal area inflate even more so. She held her breath, and after a while, she was starting to become blue in the face, which made Videl frown in worry. The mother was about to ask if her daughter was all right when Pan decided to unleash her outright abominable eructation right in her face. It was by far her greatest/grossest one in the whole competition. Pan’s oral expulsion of air lasted an astounding ten seconds, actually shattering some of the windows, which Pan had a feeling would come out of her allowance even if she won. However, the smell was again in a category of its own, as the guttural belch blast carried a sickly green cloud of gas out of Pan’s mouth. Said gas cloud was composed of an amalgamation of every food and drink that the Pan had devoured over the past week, which to a full blooded human would have been a month’s worth of nourishment.

“How was that, Mom?” Pan giggled smugly after finishing.

“Ohhh…” Videl moaned, wholly discombobulated, “That was so nasty! I think that I’m going to hurl!” she slapped both hands over her mouth to keep herself from doing so.

Pan giggled even louder, savoring her mother’s disgusted demeanor. Eventually, Videl regained her bearings and threw a piercing glare at her daughter, at which Pan only snickered, “I take it that you didn’t like my magnum opus.”

That straw broke the camel’s back, Screw it, Videl thought, I don’t know if it’s the lingering nausea or seething anger, but I’m going to put this brat in her place, no matter what! That’ll knock her arrogance ass down a peg.

Then, she got into a battle stance, her legs spreading out two feet apart and bending at a 90° angle, and closed her eyes. The quarter-Sayian cocked her left eyebrow, confused. “Uh, mom, what are you doing?”

However, Videl closed her eyes, tuned her daughter out, and took deep breaths. Pan frowned at the silence, but widened her eyes as she felt something weird happen in her mother. Once again, the daughter of Mister Satan manifested her ki in her stomach, though now it was much larger, to the point that Pan could clearly sense it.

Huh? Why is there so much ki in her stomach? Unless… Pan thought, until her eyes widened in realization, It’s true! She did do it before and she’s doing it now!

As Pan was trying to process the current situation, Videl pressurized the gas in her stomach by charging up ki in order to increase the power of her burp. Meanwhile, a glow formed in her stomach, the heat of her ki causing her to sweat profusely. After a while, she felt a huge burst of energy finish building up pressure in her belly. This feeling made her smile in anticipation.

“Oh, boy, here it comes,” Videl exclaimed excitedly.

“Here what comes?” her offspring questioned.

Videl ignored Pan and used her energy to channel the gas out of her belly. The glow intensified as it, the ki and the gas traveled up her body before entering her mouth, causing her cheeks to bulge outward and filling Videl’s mouth with a light bright enough to make her puffed out cheeks translucent. Then, she raised her head slightly away from Pan to avoid possibly hurting her and became the first person in history to burp out a blast of energy.

“*buuuUUUrrrrrrRRUUUuuuuuuuUUUCH!*”

Suddenly, her mouth snapped open and she belched out a large yellow ki beam, which rocketed past Videl's lips and barely missed the top of Pan’s head on its trajectory through one of the broken windows. The burp itself echoed throughout the house, shattering the remaining windows, and knocking down several books, expensive plates, and other belongings. The duo looked to see the blast vaporize some nearby trees, both of them gawking at the trail of burnt grass and destroyed foliage.

“Whoa, even I didn't expect that,” Videl admitted with a blush.

Pan turned back to her mom, “That… was… awesome! Let’s keep going! I want to do that too!”

Videl paused for a moment, but then chuckled at the absurdity of the situation, “Ok, but the loser gets punished for six months in lieu of three.”

“Deal!” Pan shouted, her eyes shining with enthusiasm.

Both remembered their unfinished cans of soda and grabbed them for the true final bout. They were going to need it!

Once the beverages had been consumed, the empty aluminum husk that previously held them were discarded and Pan began the final bout by pausing to focus her ki then:

“*BRRRRrrrRRRRRUUUUUuuuuUOOOOOOOoo-oooooOOOOOOOrrrp!!*”

A big energy blast shot from her mouth, twice the width of her mother's effort, though it only did a little more damage to the house by burning a few extra holes in the walls.

Videl applauded politely, then sucked in and:

“*beeeeeeEEEEEELLLLllllLLRRRRRrrroooOOOOOaaAAAAARRRRrrrrrRRRRP!!!*”

She not only managed to outdo her daughter, but shot out a stream of ki balls from her mouth in rapid succession. Pan was forced to jump on top of her chair in dodge in a rather comedic fashion. Videl laughed out loud at this when she was finished and an evil gleam suddenly entered her eye. Turning her gaze towards the ceiling, she forced out a small burp that resulted in a single ball of ki knocking some debris onto Pan's head, the quarter-Saiyan scowling in response.

“Okay Mama, you've had it!

*BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIG BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRP AAAAATTTTTTTTAAAAAAAAACCCCCCKKKKKKKKK!!!!*”

Videl's eyes widened as her daughter unleashed a huge belch that contained a variation of one of Vegeta's most powerful moves. It packed enough force to blow her through the wall of her home and leave her smoking on the already slightly scorched lawn. Pan laughed at the sight and began jumping up and down in an absurd little victory dance.

“Yes! I win! HAHAHAHA, I am the best!” This bratty sing-song voice awoke something in Videl and she slowly pulled herself to her feet, her eyes ablaze with fury. Pan watched with a mix of confusion and concern as her mother assumed a basic power-up stance and began speaking in grunts, as though she were on the verge of transforming into some new kind of super form. In fact, it wouldn't have surprised Pan at all if that were the case.

Little did the young girl know that during all this, her mother was reliving her past, watching various images of her rough and tumble self flash and the victories she'd achieved flash before her eyes. Everything from belching contests to looking best in a bikini passed her by. They were soon replaced by new images of Pan besting her younger self in all these same events. Other scenes were also included such as a rice eating contest and a farting contest. Every last one filled the Videl of the present with even more rage.

“No! I… Will… Not… lose… to a… little… girl! Even if she is my own daughter!” Pan watched in amazement as her mother's slightly higher than average power level suddenly skyrocketed, her aura blazing to life around her. Videl then bellowed, “Ka… Me… Ha… Me…

*HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRP!!!!!*”

The mightiest belch under the heavens, contained within the signature technique of both the Kame House and the overall Son Family, shot from Videl's mouth. It zeroed in on a horrified Pan and created a great explosion that destroyed the entire house! Pan lay amidst the rubble, somehow only dazed, “You win, Mommy.”

“Oh yeah!” Videl cried out in a rather good impression of her father, “I win! I'm number—oh crap!” The daughter of Mister Satan looked upon what was left of her home and decided to let Pan off the hook: she would need all the help she could get in order to collect the Dragon Balls and restore everything before Gohan got back!

#My Story #Sfw #Collaboration #Muse: Son Videl #Dragon Ball #Son Pan #Belching #Belching Contest #Burping Contest #Non-Vore

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silvermarmoset · 5 years

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(re: my ask about leverage costume design) so i was watching the first few eps and parker's outfits feel too cute for her characterization. is there any other way to read cute clothing, or should i just chalk it up to the costume designer wanting a female character to look good? (no need to answer this if it would require you to, like, watch the show. i'm just curious)

I’ve never seen leverage, but i instantly related to this ask because this is how i felt about Alice Quinn during season 1 of the magicians. Let me guess: Parker is a little socially awkward? maybe a bit nerdy? not really the type to be into clothes and fashion and looking adorable? and yet she always looks 500 times better than a lowly mortal?

Yeah, i thought so.

This is a widespread problem i see in a lot of costume design, and I think it comes down not so much to the costume designers as to our *widespread, sexist cultural ethos.* And I hate slinging the big words around like that, so I’ll explain it better.

Thing is, in modern America, a girl has to fit very narrow limits to be seen as a person. Shave the legs, shave the pits, pluck the brows, wax the face, manicure, pedicure, lip gloss, eyeliner, hair brushed, outfit put together—and all that is for the natural look; I didn’t even start on the complexities of real styling, or any of the dynamics of race/weight/etc that can make this scenario even harder to navigate! To be allowed to exist, a girl has to check all these boxes that make her “pretty”; if she skips them, we (as a society) judge her harshly, or label her as weird, and don’t allow ourselves to relate to her. Women have to fit within the boundaries if they want to be seen as people.

This problem intensifies for costume designers, who want you to tell the story and want you to care about these characters. Part of getting an audience to care about characters is getting the audience to, on some level, find the characters attractive. Maybe not in a supermodel way, but in an “I’d go out with them” way, or an “I’d be friends with them” way, or an “I am them, on a good day!” way. And this isn’t a problem for guy characters, because the politics of being attracted to a guy are based on vague factors like personality and charisma: like, maybe this guy has literally never brushed his hair, but he’s got a sweet smile and a good sense of humor, or this man is an absolute mess, but he’s smart so he gets a pass.

If you dress a woman outside the accepted norm, though, she stops being attractive and starts being weird. Doesn’t matter which checkbox you leave behind; if her legs are unshaven, or her outfit’s twenty different colors, or her hair’s not done, modern America cannot see her as human. She has to be female perfection to even reach the bar.

So that’s how we get our Alices and our Parkers: women who are ostensibly socially awkward or not into style, and yet dress like living Pinterest boards. The costume designers don’t want us to find these characters repulsive, because we need to sympathize with them to watch the story, so toxic beauty standards have their way, and all our plain-Jane, weirdo-geek women end up as Cute Dream Girls.

How to fix this cycle? We see dream girls on TV, we demand all women look like that, costume designers don’t want to show us an “ugly” woman, we get more dream girls. There has to be a drastic change in how we view women as a society to really break the mould. We’re edging closer, in tiny baby steps, but it’s still entirely frustrating to see an endless chain of mediocre men on our screens when women have to work so damn hard just to be seen. Maybe one day we’ll be brave, and bear the sight of an “ugly” woman—but it’s probably going to happen in the tiniest of stages, and take many, many years.

tl;dr: normally i’m for analyzing costumes that project “cute”, but it’s been overdone with nerd girl types and mostly means that SEXISM STILL EXISTS

#costume design #beauty standards #feminism #and all this is before i get into the hurdles that woc and women with various body types face #because wow! i wish we could see women as people!

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eileniessa · 6 years

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Hello! For Yennefer and Geralt (I'm predictable), could you do #19 please? Recently I was just rereading the last chapters of the Realm and I thought I could do with some fluff. So if you feel like it... =)

To Be Here - Eileniessa - Wiedźmin | The Witcher (Video Game) [Archive of Our Own]

Summary: Sitting amongst the vines, surrounded by the family she’s made, Yennefer gains a new perspective on her life’s journey.

Chapters: 1/1Fandom: Wiedźmin | The Witcher (Video Game), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types, Wiedźmin | The Witcher Series - Andrzej SapkowskiRating: Teen And Up AudiencesWarnings: No Archive Warnings ApplyRelationships: Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Yennefer z Vengerbergu | Yennefer of VengerbergCharacters: Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia, Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon, Yennefer z Vengerbergu | Yennefer of VengerbergAdditional Tags: Fluff, Family, Confessions, Tumblr Prompt, Prompt Fic

Read it here, on AO3 or FF.Net

Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction using characters from the books by Andrzej Sapkowski and the game series by CD Projekt Red. I do not claim ownership to any of these characters and have written this fan fiction for entertainment, not financial gain.

Prompt: Send me a ship and one of these and i’ll write a mini fic. (19) things you said when we were the happiest we ever were

L.M. Montgomery - ‘Anne of Avonlea’: “After all,” Anne had said to Marilla once, “I believe the nicest and sweetest days are not those on which anything very splendid or wonderful or exciting happens but just those that bring simple little pleasures, following one another softly, like pearls slipping off a string.”

The bright grape-vines stood proudly above their heads, their stalks and leaves rustling in the gentle summer breeze like wind-chimes. Hidden amongst them only the sky was in view, clear and calming, no hint of rain or harsh winds written upon it. It would be hard to get used to the unforgiving weather of the north again, though she saw no reason why she’d ever have to. Other than the occasional trip, for pleasure or for business, Yennefer was content to stay well within the borders of Toussaint. She’d never have thought to find peace here, amongst the fairies and all this colour, and even now it was hard to accept that this was her lot in life. Perhaps she’d been a fool for laughing at the notion of a 'happily ever after’, but she’d learned her lesson now. After all, she was living it.

The fertile soil beneath the picnic blanket was dark and soft, having seen plenty of rain this growing season, most of it unnatural, of course. Retirement hadn’t made her any less competitive, nor would it. She reached just above ahead, pulling free a small bundle of grapes so fat that it seemed the slightest pressure threatened to burst them. The juice inside oozed over her tongue as she bit into the small berry, and she let the taste linger in her mouth before swallowing. Before Toussaint she’d never had much fondness for sweet fruit, preferring rather the slight bitterness of apples or oranges. But such things were not common in the south and her food-palate had to adapt.

On the other hand, Geralt had always had something of a sweet tooth and faced no problems tackling the mounds of sugar in many of Toussaint’s delicacies. Ciri was much the same in that regard, not that the young woman needed any more energy. Today was the first time in almost a week that Yennefer had managed to get her to sit still for more than a few, brief moments. Life in Vizima didn’t provide much of an opportunity for Ciri to stretch her legs, though Emhyr was willing to allow her to practice her sword skills, though she doubted he truly had any say in the matter.

Yennefer sat in silence savouring her wine, watching and listening to Geralt and Ciri as they talked freely within the forest of vines. She wanted to recall this day and hoped there would be many more like it to come. With Thanedd, Rivia and then the Hunt, they’d never had many moments like these. Time spent together free of outside worries and burdens, a chance to believe they were a normal family and that nothing was hiding behind the next corner.

She laughed softly with the others as Ciri concluded a story about her latest faux-pas in court; another trait she appeared to share with their clueless Witcher, though Yennefer hoped she’d be willing to change that, unlike him. They were both looking at her now, wide smiles painted on their faces. It was a shame that they looked so unfamiliar like this, too often had she seen weary faces in their place, as they likely saw in her case.

“Yen, is something wrong?” Geralt asked quietly, the edges of his grin drooping. Yennefer cursed herself for letting her mind wander as it had, too often did it stray backwards rather than staying close by her side. It had gotten better over time, but century-old habits didn’t just go away overnight.

“I’m fine, Geralt” replied the Sorceress, and she meant it. “You needn’t spoil your handsome looks with that frown.” The Witcher didn’t appear willing to obey at first, but kiss she left on his cheek quickly set things straight. He chided Ciri lightly as she rolled her eyes at them and it seemed as though the small tare she’d caused in the atmosphere had been easily mended. But something sat uneasily with her, and she felt an obligation to say more, a sensation Yennefer rarely experienced. “I was simply thinking, it happens to most of us every now and then, as you might be aware.”

“I’ve heard of it,” Geralt chimed in. He closed his mouth quickly when the Sorceress narrowed her eyes very slightly, but enough for the Witcher to plainly see.

She let the pause go on for a few seconds until continuing, hoping the moment was still there. “It’s been a long journey, one spanning a century…” at least for me, she thought, the words unspoken. Even if she were to stand at the edge of time, Yennefer couldn’t believe she’d find it any easier to admit how far she’d come. Such a statement called for a comparison and a view of things that she’d rather stayed buried. The mere thought of her skeletons made the Yennefer flinch when Geralt touched her hand. She felt an uncomfortable tingle run down her spine and over face, but it was quick to disappear and fade into memory.

The tips of Geralt’s fingers were pressed lightly against her wrist and she wondered if he could feel the invisible line marking them. If he had, he’d never mentioned and she was grateful for it. Unlike many others, he and Ciri respected her privacy. Though it had taken them some time to understand, they’d accepted the burden admirably, one she thought none would be willing to bare. A small gesture for some, perhaps, but to her… She never believed it possible.

Yennefer looked at them both sitting there, granting her patience that could span years if she needed it to. Today, however, she needn’t test it. “I’m grateful to still be here, and lucky to…more than you could imagine.”

Whether it was because they couldn’t find the words to say or knew that they weren’t needed here, she couldn’t tell, but she trusted more in the latter. Yennefer tried valiantly not to spill wine all over them as Geralt and Ciri sandwiched her between them, enveloping her in a sprawling hug. She couldn’t spare the time to be angry, as they stained the blanket and creased her dress, not even a second. It wasn’t worth it. Instead, she smiled and laughed along with them without a care in the world. It felt better than she’d thought possible.

There goes another prompt released into the wild from the confines of my inbox! Hurray! Hopefully, his friends will all be able to join by the end of the summer (maybe).

Thank you to Feelfreeimdone (Tumblr) for this prompt, felt good to write something fluffy, hope you enjoy :) Also, to anyone who doesn’t follow my on twitter/tumblr, I’ve posted some original stories (a short story and poem) on my Tumblr if you fancy taking a read Xx

#witcher #witcher fanficition #fanfiction #writing #yennefer #Yennefer of Vengerberg #geralt #geralt of rivia #geralt x yennefer #ciri #eileniessa

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leoninapelliolovesconchitawurst · 5 years

Text

ENGLISH TRANSLATION (by me)

MSN.COM Oct 2019

https://www.msn.com/de-at/unterhaltung/entertainmentmusic/conchita-wurst-im-interview-die-erleuchtung-ist-mein-ziel/ar-AAJkTsF?ocid=ob-tw-deat-1515664162172&fbclid=IwAR2vYaULC8-0LzvjXt5x7Cnko2l9tSwyttCKYAPUuw2MJ71nmaFRWSojFk4#image=AAJkTsD

(Conchita) Wurst in an interview: "Enlightenment is my goal"

Would you have recognized him? Tom Neuwirth aka Conchita Wurst aka Wurst is back. His third album is on the market. The 2014 winner of the ESC will also rely on unconditional honesty in the interview in 2019.

Stop glamor! With his third album "Truth Over Magnitude", Tom Neuwirth alias Conchita Wurst is re-imagines. No pompous orchestra ballads, extravagant ball gowns and big feelings anymore, but short hairstyle, rough beats and clear posture. The ESC winner of 2014 sets 2019 on unconditional honesty. Together with the producer Albin Janoska and the copywriter Eva Klampfer, the 30-year-old has freed himself from expectations and role models. At the meeting in Berlin Neuwirth wears an elegant jeans outfit completely in black and looks bright, relaxed and accessible. "Wurst", as his current shortened stage name is, is all about himself. A conversation about meditation, technoraves and plane crashes.

Q: It is said that on the way here you got stuck in the elevator. Is that your personal hell?

Thomas "Wurst" Neuwirth: No, I was not. I simply chatted myself in another interview. I think my personal hell is an army of people moving into a city.

Q: Your new album is called "Truth Over Magnitude", Truth over strength. When was the last time you lied?

Neuwirth: 20 minutes ago (laughs). Hey, I'm an actor! No, I can’t remember the last time I knowingly lied. Of course, I also know these everyday phrases so as not to escalate a situation. This probably happens with a regularity that nobody notices, not even me. But I think it's perfectly alright to lie out of social thought, to prevent hurting others, or because my opinion on a topic is not necessarily important. It does not help to break a fight. Sometimes it's easier to wave and say, "Yeah, okay." But I do not mean that with "Truth". By that I mean the truth that is above everything. The irreversible, so to speak.

Q: The album contains an acronym for its nickname - "T.O.M". How is the album a demask for you?

Neuwirth: I think that this topic is more content-related than that it has to do with a mask. I would separate it visually and content. I am a person who always wants to hear the truth. I also do not think that I'm unmasking myself with the album final. Personally, I know what each song is about, and I have every situation in mind. This is also because I do everything I do primarily for me. I am very happy about anyone who participates in my world and in any way finds beautiful what I am doing. But personally, I have come to accept myself with all the strengths and weaknesses and to love myself. I work on myself and do my best - that's the truth that I'm talking about. The people who are close to me may understand more about what's going on in my songs. For the rest, there is music that anyone can interpret himself as he pleases.

The "President's wife"

Q: You once said that the role of Conchita was too narrow for you. What is the difference between "Wurst" and "conchita" in the decision to make progress?

Neuwirth: After the ESC I thought that experts knew better what is right for me or Conchita. What to do, how to sound, what clothes to wear, and so on. The ESC was a megachance that I did not want to spoil with my half-knowledge. So I have addressed the opinions of others and spun a protocol in my head that today I call "the President's wife". The "President's wife" has made me unhappy. I did not remember where I belonged, and everything was more like working off for me, just working. It took me a while to realize that if my name is on the door then I should be in there as well.

Q: As an artist, however, one always puts himself in the service of his audience in a certain way.

Neuwirth: In the past, I always wanted to become famous, but I did not know how. Main thing is the public, no matter how. That's why I did projects from A to Z, be it reality TV, casting shows, everything. I would still do the same thing. I was asked today if I would say something to my younger self. My answer was: "Absolutely not". I have a great life, so we did everything right.

Q: You have been in New York a couple of times now, including to mark the anniversary of the Stonewall protests. What did you learn there?

Neuwirth: I always thought that I was too European for L.A. and that New York was my city. But, between us: New York is pretty cool, but L.A. is just awesome! This city is a single show and if I can do something then it's show! (Laughs)

Q: You also gave a speech at the World AIDS Conference, where you were announced as an "icon". How do you deal with such terms?

Neuwirth: I think that's a bit exaggerated. Sometimes I'm called a role model, which I do not like. To be a role model implies sacrifice in my eyes. I do not sacrifice myself for anyone. I do what I do because I can not help it. I say the things that I feel and believe I have to say. If I had grown up in another family with a different attitude, for example, I would probably live it authentically. I am glad that I am the way I am. But if I were an arch-conservative lawyer now, for example, I would probably live my life as an arch-conservative lawyer does and do not think much about it.

"I live in my own world"

Q: A song is called "Satori", a term from Buddhism. What role does spirituality play for you?

Neuwirth: Enlightenment is my goal. I once heard a story of someone sitting in a crashed plane and just saying to himself, "Yeah, okay, that's it. It was good as it was." I try to savor every moment of my life so that in case of my death I can say: "I'm fine with it, it was awesome!"

Q: How close are you to this condition already?

Neuwirth: To the enlightenment? Well, I do not want to die yet (laughs). No, I'm not that far yet that I would stay completely relaxed in a crashed plane. I would still go completely crazy.

Q: The album is much more electronically designed than your previous releases.

Neuwirth: The music is very close to my current private taste. For example, when I sang the great ballads and wore pompous clothes, I only heard things like Celine Dion. That just fit, that was the soundtrack of my life. Now it is a bit rougher.

Q: "Truth Over Magnitude" links the music culture of Vienna, where you are still living, in a certain way. On the one hand Vienna is the city of the opera ball, on the other hand there has always been a vital club culture there. Have you ever been to a rave?

Neuwirth: What does it mean, because "still living"? Vienna is the most beautiful city in the world! If you believe the "Economist", Vienna has just been declared the most liveable city in the world for the third time in a row! As far as the scene is concerned, I've never been to a rave before. But I have to do that, I'm sure I’d enjoy it. But I live in my own world. I do not need someone else for everything to make certain experiences. Honestly, for many things I do, at first I just have no idea how to do that. What are the codes, what are the rules? - I have never had rules.

Q: The single "Trash All The Glam" can be interpreted as a break. Where does this change of heart come from?

Neuwirth: At some point I asked myself why I did not make the music that I hear privately. Thankfully, I met Albin Janoska who, for example, also produced SON and understands this genre. And I was able to win Eva Klampfer, who also appears as Lylit, as a copywriter. Albin instantly got me into this electric world, that was great. Hand on heart: I can not write songs. My thoughts are too simple, my tunes are not mature enough. I also do not write a diary, for example. But what I always do is pick things up. Sounds, melodies, phrases - then I open Garageband and hold that tight. Out of this, a whole archive was created, which I gave to Albin, and he produced demos based on that. He chopped my voice into samples for example and, well, just made magic. Suddenly I recognized myself in this music. Then everything went very easily.

Extremely hot!

Q: Did you learn songwriting by doing this work?

Neuwirth: I do not think so. But I found my place when it comes to making music. It seems to be to document everything that drips out of my brain and heart. These are not lines of text or melodies, but moments and my personal story. I am in a position to be able to make music that is a part of me, even though I am technically only partially involved in the direct creation process. I am a kind of catalyst.

Q: Would you call yourself a musician?

Neuwirth: No, I'm not a musician. I'm a singer, actor, director, fashion designer, hairstylist, make-up artist, tailor and, if you like, interpreter. My problem with music is that you can not see it. But I'm a visual guy. Everything that I can see, I can judge and manipulate according to my ideas and let something arise. But that's not possible with music. That's why I love to make videos, for example. I listen to a song and have a movie in my head. In my music videos, I am also the boss who keeps everything in view.

Q: Your appearance is often interpreted as politically motivated. For example, in the video for "See Me Now", you're dancing in a red-lit window, suggesting a connotation to the red-light milieu. Was it here a concern to show that personalities are also taking place in this industry?

Neuwirth: Thanks for that, I'll use that in the future (laughs). Actually, I just wanted to show what my world looks like. The video shows what I like and how I find myself sexy. That was basically the starting point. I love being the center of attention, I love to be viewed, and I love to be talked about. That was basically the idea. I love my body too, I think I look extremely hot and I want everyone to see that. (Laughs)

The stomach - all of a sudden

Q: Do you prefer standing on stage or in the studio?

Neuwirth: On stage! I hate to be in the studio. You are so close to your own mistakes. Of course, I pull myself together and always sing the take as if it were the last one I ever recorded. But I can not stand it if I can not do something. Then I could disassemble the studio! This is the hardest part of my job. But I do not leave that to the producer. It just seethes in me.

Q: Maybe you should try meditation.

Neuwirth: In many situations I feel very emotional, that also notices my environment, but I'm not so quick-tempered. I have already tried meditating and do this at irregular intervals. But that does not always work.

Q: Speaking of mistakes: In the run-up to "T.O.M", many media have talked about your fitness. How hard did you like the change in sports and nutrition?

Neuwirth: Not at all. I am very vain and have spent months at airports after the ESC, where you quickly eat a bite to get on the next plane. Suddenly, I discovered something on my stomach that I did not know. My stylist then recommended a coach. When we started to exercise, I became aware of what it means to control your body through this really narcissistic reason. I found it fascinating how much control you have in the end. For example, in the past, I could not independently clamp different muscle groups. That's not terribly important, but I love to dance, and being able to move so flexibly is a win. I also see that as an investment in my future. I hope that I maintain this will to keep fit. I wish to be fit even in old age.

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