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#they made him literally gray in the originals
pikahlua · 3 days
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MHA Chapter 421 spoilers translations
This week’s initial tentative super rough/literal translations under the cut.
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1 おまえらもかよ omaera mo ka yo "You guys too, huh?"
2 そっちもな socchi mo na "And you as well."
3 警察から"まだ戦える者は"って……! けいさつから"まだたたかえるものは"って……! keisatsu kara "mada tatakaeru mono wa" tte......! "[I heard] from the police, 'Who is still able to fight?'......!"
tagline A組続々… エーぐみぞくぞく… EE-gumi zokuzoku... Class A, one after another...
4 相澤先生が黒霧を味方につけたって聞いてーーー あいざわせんせいがくろぎりをみかたにつけたってきいてーーー Aizawa-sensei ga Kurogiri wo mikata ni tsuketa tte kiite--- "I heard that Aizawa-sensei got Kurogiri to join our side---"
5 友だちがまだ戦ってんの見てーー… ともだちがまだたたかってんのみてーー… tomodachi ga mada tatakatten no mite--... "I saw that my friends were still fighting--..."
6 行かずにいられましょうか いかずにいられましょうか ikazu ni iraremashou ka "And I felt like I had to go."
7 意識がある内は…どこへだって! いしきがあるうちは…どこへだって! ishiki ga aru uchi wa...doko e datte! "As long as I'm conscious...to wherever you go!"
8 勝つ為にここまでやってきたもんね かつためにここまでやってきたもんね katsu tame ni koko made yatte kita mon ne "We've come this far for the sake of winning."
9 今日踏んばれなきゃ きょうふんばれなきゃ kyou funbarenakya "Today we have to stand firm."
10 何の為にヒーローを夢見たかわかりゃしねえ!だからよお〜〜 なんのためにヒーローをゆめみたかわかりゃしねえ!だからよお〜〜 nan no tame ni HIIROO wo yumemita ka wakarya shinee! dakara yoo~~ "For what reason did we dream of becoming heroes! That's why!~~"
11 みんな…! minna...! "Everyone...!"
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1 オイラたちが OIRA-tachi ga "We"
2 来た‼︎ きた‼︎ kita!! "are here!!"
tagline No.421 WE ARE HERE 堀越耕平 ナンバー421 ウィー・アー・ヒア ほりこしこうへい NANBAA 421  UII AA HIA  Horikoshi Kouhei No. 421 WE ARE HERE Kouhei Horikos
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1 灰色の肉が並んでいる… はいいろのにくがならんでいる… haiiro no niku ga narande iru... (literal.) "Gray bodies are lined up..." (context.) "You are all just gray bodies to me..."
2 本来ならば僕は弔の一部として…もろともうちくだかれていたのだろう ほんらいならばぼくはとむらのいちぶとして…もろともうちくだかれていたのだろう honrai naraba boku wa Tomura no ichibu to shite...morotomo uchikudakarete ita no darou Originally, as a part of Tomura...I probably would have have been destroyed along with him.
3 だが daga But,
4 与一が砕ける音を聞いた時 よいちがくだけるおとをきいたとき Yoichi ga kudakeru oto wo kiita toki when I heard the sound of Yoichi smashing to pieces,
5 僕の世界は色褪せた ぼくのせかいはいろあせた boku no sekai wa iroaseta the color of my world faded.
6 執心を喪い しゅうしんをうしない shuushin wo ushinai "I've lost my passion,"
7 故に ゆえに yue ni "therefore,"
8 喪失の穴に通る攻撃はなくーー… そうしつのあなにとおるこうげきはなくーー… soushitsu no ana ni tooru kougeki wa naku--... "there is no attack that can pierce through my loss--..."
9 僕は止めを免れたのだ ぼくはとどめをまぬがれたのだ boku wa todome wo manugareta no da "I am the one who escaped the final blow."
10 今なら理解る いまならわかる ima nara wakaru (kanji: rikairu) "Now I understand,"
11 緑谷出久 みどりやいずく Midoriya Izuku "Izuku Midoriya."
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1 悲劇こそが人を強くする ひげきこそがひとをつよくする higeki koso ga hito wo tsuyoku suru "It is tragedy that makes people stronger."
2 そう思わないか? そうおもわないか? sou omowanai ka? "Don't you think so?"
3 どうだろね dou daro ne "I don't know about that."
4 あんたらみてーに起伏に富んだ人生じゃねえから あんたらみてーにきふくにとんだじんせいじゃねえから antara mitee ni kifuku ni tonda jinsei ja nee kara "My life is not full of ups and downs like all of yours."
5 「明日の実技置いてかれねーよーに」とか…そういう事でしか俺は頑張ってこなかったな 「あしたのじつぎおいてかれねーよーに」とか…そういうことでしかおれはがんばってこなかったな 「ashita no jitsugi oitekarenee yoo ni」 toka...sou iu koto de shika ore wa ganbatte konakatta na "I had no reasons to try my best other than things like...'I don't want to be left behind at tomorrow's practicals.'"
6 それに sore ni "Also,"
7 今日まで大変そうだったよ きょうまでたいへんそうだったよ kyou made taihen sou datta yo "until today, he seemed like he'd had it rough,"
8 かつてガンギマリだった彼は かつてガンギマリだったかれは katsute GANGIMARI datta kare wa "and one time his face was so intense and distant*." (Note: What Sero is saying here is that one time Shouto had this look on his face that is described by the Japanese slang word: gangimari. Gangimari refers to an intense, eyes-wide face that comes from a marijuana high. It also refers to a feeling of emptiness that comes with the high. If you search for images of the face, you'll see it's often a frightening look. I believe Sero here is referring to the face Shouto makes at him in their sports festival battle in chapter 34, so I believe this description is meant to refer to how Shouto was overwhelmed with anger and mentally somewhat removed from the fight itself.)
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1 悲しー事なんざ かなしーことなんざ kanashii koto nan za "[I think] such sad things"
2 あるよりない方が良いだろ‼︎ あるよりないほうがいいだろ‼︎ aru yori nai hou ga ii daro!! "would be better not to have than to have!!"
3 赫灼 かくしゃく kakushaku Flashfire
4 熱拳 ねっけん nekken Fist
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1 早くリカバリーガールの元へ…! はやくリカバリーガールのもとへ…! hayaku RIKABARII GAARU no moto e...! Quickly, to where Recovery Girl is...!
2 婆さんも怪我人(?)をX続けて限界(?)だ…XXできるかどうか… ばあさんもけがにん(?)をXつづけてげんかい(?)だ…XXできるかどうか… baasan mo keganin(?) wo X tsudzukete genkai(?) da... XX dekiru ka dou ka... (Note: This line is only partly legible. I've skipped figuring it out in the interest of time and may come back to it later. The gist of this line is something like "The old lady is also at her limit with injured persons... Whether or not anything can be done...")
3 あんたいても母さんたち熱いだけだ あんたいてもかあさんたちあついだけだ anta itemo kaasan-tachi atsui dake da Even with you here, mom and the others will only be hot.
4 行きなよ いきなよ iki na yo So go.
5 まだ少しでも まだすこしでも mada sukoshi demo Even if it's [just] a little,
6 力が出るんなら ちからがでるんなら chikara ga derun nara if you can muster [any] strength...
7 ってな! tte na! "That's what"!"
8 荼毘に勝ったって聞いた時ちょっと思った! だびにかったってきいたときちょっとおもった! Dabi ni katta tte kiita toki chotto omotta! "When I heard you won against Dabi, I thought about that for a moment!"
9 ……ありがとう… ......arigatou... "......Thank you..."
10 戦える奴召集完了 たたかえるやつしょうしゅうかんりょう tatakaeru yatsu shoushuu kanryou "Recruiting of those who can fight complete."
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1 ガイズ‼︎今日が分水嶺だ‼︎ ガイズ‼︎きょうがぶんすいれいだ‼︎ GAIZU!! kyou ga bunsuire da!! "Guys! Today is a watershed [moment]!!"
2 行こう‼︎最後の大仕事だ!!! いこう‼︎さいごのおおしごとだ!!! ikou!! saigo no ooshigoto da!!! "Let's go!! It's the last big job!!!"
3 手負いのヒーロー…これだけの数がいて何も感じないのは…寂しいものだな ておいのヒーロー…これだけのかずがいてなにもかんじないのは…さびしいものだな teoi no HIIROO...kore dake no kazu ga ite nani mo kanjinai no wa...sabishii mono da na "Wounded heroes... With just this number of them here I don't feel anything... How lonely."
4 オールマイトに届きえぬ屑肉に オールマイトにとどきえぬくずにくに OORU MAITO ni todokienu kuzuniku ni "You scraps of meat who can't match All Might,"
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1 掃き掃除だ はきそうじだ hakisouji da "I'll sweep and clean you up."
2 逸らせえ‼︎ そらせえ‼︎ sorasee!! "Deflect!!"
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1 速ぇ…! はえぇ…! haee...! "Hurry...!"
2 一つの挙動に数十人で対処しなきゃ ひとつのきょどうにすうじゅうにんでたいしょしなきゃ hitotsu no kyodou ni suujuunin de taisho shinakya "If dozens of you have to deal with a single action."
3 戦いになんねえ! たたかいになんねえ! tatakai ni nannee! "this won't become a battle!"
4 みんな離れないで‼︎ みんなはなれないで‼︎ minna hanarenaide!! (literal.) "Everyone, we can't be apart!!" (contextual.) "Everyone, we can't be scattered!!"
5 一かたまりになって戦おう! ひとかたまりになってたたかおう! hito katamari ni natte tatakaou! "Let's fight as one bunch!"
6 行かなきゃーーー いかなきゃーーー ikanakya--- "I have to go---"
7 体が…! からだが…! karada ga...! My body...!
8 戻ったのはあくまで数分 もどったのはあくまですうふん modotta no wa akumade suufun "Only a few minutes were returned [to you],"
9 腕を失う少し前まで… うでをうしなうすこしまえまで… ude wo ushinau sukoshi mae made... "to a little bit before you lost your arms..."
10 継戦のダメージは残ったままだ けいせんのダメージはのこったままだ keisen no DAMEEJI wa nokotta mama da The damage from the rest of the battle remains.
11 …どれ程長く激しい戦いを… …どれほどながくはげしいたたかいを… ...dore hodo nagaku hageshii tatakai wo... "...What a long and violent battle..."
12 …っ ... "...gh!"
13 僕は…OFAをなげうちました ぼくは…ワン・フォー・オールをなげうちました boku wa...WAN FOO OORU wo nageuchimashita "I...relinquished One For All."
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1 ないのか⁉︎ nai no ka!? "It's gone!?"
2 歴代の"個性"は……でも… れきだいの"こせい"は……でも… rekidai no "kosei" wa......demo... "The successive generations' quirks are......but..."
3 短い時間だったけど… みじかいじかんだったけど… mijikai jikan datta kedo... "[I had it for] a short time, but..."
4 "無個性"の僕に染みついてる… "むこせい"のぼくにしみついてる… "mukosei" no boku ni shimitsuiteru... "it's ingrained in me [as I'm] quirkless..."
5-6 オールマイトがそうだったように OORU MAITO ga sou datta you ni Just like with All Might.
7 まだ残り火があります まだのこりびがあります mada nokoribi ga arimasu "I still have the [lingering] embers."
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1 残り火があれば…AFOあいつは… のこりびがあれば…オール・フォー・ワンあいつは… nokoribi ga areba...OORU FOO WAN aitsu wa... "If I have the embers...then that All For One..." (Note: This line is partly cut off, so I made some educated guesses.)
2 ……緑谷 ……みどりや ......Midoriya "......Midoriya,"
3 傷薬と包帯あと…体を冷やしちゃいけない きずぐすりとほうたいあと…からだをひやしちゃいけない kizugusuri to houtai ato...karada wo hiyashicha ikenai "After a wound salve and bandage...don't let your body relax."
4 避難先の方々からだ ひなんさきのかたがたからだ hinan saki no katagata kara da "It's from the people who evacuated."
5 メンズノンノの全サ第五弾Tシャツ…! メンズノンノのぜんサだいごだんTシャツ…! MENZU NON NO no zen SA daigodan T SHATSU...! "A Men's Non-No one-size-fits-all fifth edition t-shirt...!" (Note: Men's Non-No is a men's fashion magazine.)
6 走ろう☆ はしろう☆ hashirou ☆ "Let's run ☆"
7 僕らは君の力が必要だし君も僕らの力が必要だ ぼくらはきみのちからがひつようだしきみもぼくらのちからがひつようだ bokura wa kimi no chikara ga hitsuyou da shi kimi mo bokura no chikara ga hitsuyou da "We need your strength, and you also need our strength."
8 この手を握ってくれ青山くん このてをにぎってくれあおやまくん kono te wo nigitte kure Aoyama-kun Please grasp my hand, Aoyama-kun.
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1 頑張れ…‼︎ がんばれ…‼︎ ganbare...!! "Do your best...!!"
2 皆 みんな minna "Everyone"
3 一緒に戦ってくれてるよ いっしょにたたかってくれてるよ issho ni tatakatte kureteru yo "is fighting together!"
4 デクさん DEKU-san "Mr. Deku!"
5 緑谷兄ちゃん みどりやにいちゃん Midoriya-niichan "Big Bro Midoriya!"
6 デク…! DEKU...! "Deku...!"
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1 頑張れ がんばれ ganbare Do your best!
tagline 少年は走るーーー しょうねんははしるーーー shounen wa hashiru--- The young man* runs--- *(Note: This word can mean "boy," but it's also the word All Might uses for Izuku that often gets translated as "young man." Both work.)
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kimuramasaya · 10 months
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Jinhwan 1st solo pt 2 ‘Blue Moon’ Concept Photo 1
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celestemona · 2 months
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WHERE KAEDEHARA CLAN RISES UP ONCE AGAIN
a when they're dads au introduction
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pairing: dad & husband! kaedehara kazuha x fem! reader
cw: established relationship, you and kazuha are married and have children. original characters. domestic and parenting universe. quick pregnancy mention. slightly ooc to fit the plot. fluff and not beta read.
reblogs and comments are appreciated ♡
part i. | part ii.
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Considering that Kaedehara Kazuha’ only reputation was his mild personality and free spirit, no one believed that the wandering samurai would one day be able to pause his travels and settle down to a monotonous, homely life.
So you can imagine the surprise that’d be among the fishing and sailing communities throughout Teyvat when they discovered that the white-haired man had not settled down but also married and had children.
Surely it only could be a prank because, after all, was there even a possibility of that happening?
Well, this answer was given by a drunk and laughing Captain Beidou who showed to curious and shocked eyes a photo of his wedding held by the Crux fleet itself on a small and isolated island in Inazuma.
If the residents and locals didn't know her so well they might think the pirate captain was lying. However, looking at the photo closer, the way Kazuha looked at you while you smiled back at him confirmed the undeniable: the man was madly in love with you.
After that, with the help of a few barrels of rum and beer, the story of your love was shared. From you falling from the sky directly (and literally) into the samurai's arms, to the blossoming of your relationship; the ups and downs faced to the marriage proposal, and then the small family's decision to leave the seas to rebuild the Kaedehara Clan together.
Oh, well… Beidou may have let escape one more detail since dozens of wide eyes stared at her in astonishment at this information. However, she was pretty sure Kazuha wouldn't mind if she told them a little bit more about his new life as patriarch of the clan and his greatest prides. You, his wife, and your three children.
The samurai himself didn’t believe that one day he could be so fortunate and blessed to have the opportunity to return to a happy and noisy home. His days as a teenager left him with a deep scar in his heart since his relationship with his father, at first, wasn’t one of the best and therefore staying away from the place that was once his home was the best decision to be made.
Not only had the distance from Inazuma changed his perspective but also an insecurity had blossomed in the back of his mind where he feared that one day he’d make the same mistakes as his father.
Even so, after you entered his life, the only feeling he had when he set foot in the old estate was pure warmth and belonging. Love and serenity that not even his children, while yelling and playing around the mansion, could shake it.
Kiyomi, his middle and only daughter, was, most of the time, responsible for the laughter and noises in the house. Both you and your husband didn't know where she had inherited such an extroverted and mischievous personality, causing you to grow a few strands of gray hair and eliciting genuine laughs from Kazuha. There was no denying that the girl had a temperament as unique as her beauty, which was a mixture between yours and your husband's. And as the only girl in the family it was undeniable to say that Kazuha loved the ground she walked on. Nevertheless, neither you nor your husband would change anything about her, loving and being proud of your daughter the way she is  — because if there’s something prettier about Kiyomi was her heart as big as her stubbornness.
Clearly, the affection of the two parents wasn’t limited to just the girl but also extended to the two sons.
Kazumi is your firstborn son and only three years older than Kiyomi. With such a small age difference, some parents would expect there to be a certain amount of rivalry and jealousy between the siblings, but Kazumi was his father's son in both appearance and personality. With such a sneaky smile and a relaxed attitude, he was often mistaken for Kazuha himself — even sharing the same mindset of preferring to go with the flow rather than worry about small, insignificant things. This didn't apply to situations where you or his siblings were in danger, of course. After all, he took the title of older son and brother very seriously.
Shortly before his tenth birthday, Kazumi had learned and inherited the techniques of the Isshin Art which even took Kazuha himself an entire decade to re-learn. Unlike his ancestors, the current patriarch would teach his children the clan's secret technique so that the art would remain alive. Whether his children would dedicate themselves to it or not will depend on each of them.
Kiyomi didn't seem too interested, neither did Kazumi.
You, though, hoped that one of your children would carry the bladesmithing practices forward but you were also happy to see each of your children following their own path. If not even Haruki, your youngest son who was known to be as hungry for knowledge as any sage of Sumeru himself, seemed enchanted by this idea then ​​the Kaedehara Clan must expanding its businesses in other areas.
The youngest Kaedehara was the prodigy and the pride of the entire family. Your third pregnancy was a big surprise in the house but very well welcomed. Kazumi had just turned ten and Kiyomi was awaiting her seventh birthday when the fragile little Haruki arrived into the world on a autumn morning — although, the first few months that followed weren’t very pleasant as your baby's health was poor, leaving both you and Kazuha with your nerves always on edge.
However, with the help of your friends, the traveler, the Crux fleet, and even Yae Miko’s divine blessing, little by little Haruki managed to recover and finally grow up healthily.
Unlike his brothers who always seemed to be somewhere or running around, Haruki preferred to stay at home surrounded by the comfort of his parents' presence or his books. It took little time for you and Kazuha to realize that at a young age he was already reading advanced-level books and scrolls, and was interested in subjects that even adults would find boring. So it was also no surprise either when an invitation to study at Akademiya arrived at your home just before the boy's thirteenth birthday.
Needless to say there was a huge party before his departure to Sumeru where on one side there was you crying at the sudden departure of your son, Kazuha consoling you and a very happy Beidou getting all the guests drunk.
So, yes. If someone asked Kazuha about what he thought of this new life of his, he wouldn't lie when he answered them that it was a very different reality from the one he had projected years ago. There would always be something to worry about, his days were almost the same, rarely leaving the routine, and every now and then the desire to reach new horizons would always call him.
But in the end of the day, he wouldn't trade a second of his life by your side for his old one. Because, after all, he’s already living the biggest adventure of his life with you by his side, and if there’s something that Kazuha was sure of, it'd be that there’s nothing in the world so rewarding as having your company.
.
.
a/n: i must confess that i have this plot on my drafts for almost two years now but i’ve never found will enough on myself to sit down and write it. nevertheless, i’m thankful for my mind to remind me of this plot and make me re-write new ideas.
those who knows me, or not, must’ve know that i really do love parenting, domestic and pregnancy universe so not so often i caught myself writing about it. it’s so relaxing and enjoyable to picture these guys as dad idk.
i hope you’ve liked it so far. i would like to share more about this headcanon too in a possible future so let me know if you want to know something more about the kaedehara clan. thank you so much, bye!
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jasmineslonghair · 6 months
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Another rant.
In a sense I do believe that Snow did love Lucy Gray, but I saw this tiktok talk about how it isn't a love story, it's a tragedy. I have to agree, because Snow was given so many chances to choose the good path, he had people that genuinely believe in him. Tigris, Lucy Gray and Sejanus but Snow is so emotionally stunted and not willing to progress. (At least from my view that's what I concluded)
So many times throughout the book I caught myself smiling or laughing at something he said. And I literally would be like "wtf" but Suzanne Collins is such a genius writer like that, and like a broken clock I'll repeat, she wrote this book so well that, I was genuinely forgetting that this young man will become a man I will hate and wish death upon.
Reading the original trilogy as a pre-teen I never truly understood the gravity of Snow's evil and watching the movies again recently with context from the book, made so many little actions and lines hold more weight.
I hate over-analysing books because of English in school, but books like this remind me why I love to read and get lost in worlds that are are different but the same.
I'm rambling but this book and this whole franchise has been on my mind for a while and I need a creative outlet.
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faeriekit · 3 months
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Health and Hybrids (XVIII)👽👻💚
[I can't remember the original prompt posters  for the life of me but here's a mashup between a cryptid!Danny, presumed-alien!Danny, dp x dc, and the prompt made the one body horror meat grinder fic.]
PART ONE is here PART TWOis here PART THREE is here PART FOUR is here and PART FIVE is here PART SIX is here and PART SEVEN is here PART EIGHT is here PART NINE is here PART TEN is here PART ELEVEN is here PART TWELVE is here PART THIRTEEN is here PART FOURTEEN is here PART FIFTEEN is here PART SIXTEEN is here PART SEVENTEEN is here..welcome to eighteen..
💚 Ao3 Is here for all parts (now featuring mediocre mouseover translations, only available on a computer)
Where we last left off... Uh... *checks notes* UH... *flips frantically*...listen my laptop exploded and I lost the original version of this chapter gimme a break. I think it was the oatmeal ch. last off.
Trigger warnings for this story:  body horror | gore | post-dissection fic | dehumanization (probably) |  my nonexistent attempts at following DC canon. On with the show.
💚👻👽👻💚
So. Danny is halfway through his squeeze this, please exercises where he has a grippy thing the doctors give him where he tries to squeeze this until they make calm noises again when something bursts through the door.
He’s so distracted that he drops his squeezing machine. 
Everyone immediately gets terse and guarded— the lady who looks out for him the most actually pulls up in front of him? Like, protecting him? With her body?? It’s so far out of left field Danny has to wonder if they’re, like, keeping him for something important down the line instead of just treating him. 
The doctors take shelter behind medical equipment where they can, but whatever the assailant is, it’s too fast for them to put up their defenses. For a second, Danny is instinctually scared— the doctor in the periwinkle scrubs sees him almost every day, changing out his bag and fussing with his lower half under his blankets. The doctor in green makes him do the hand stretches he doesn’t want to do and sit up so that he can do it more often again. 
He’s used to them. He doesn't want that to change, or— Or for them to get hurt. 
The blur darts through the doors and past the doctors and is definitely aimed at Danny, so when the lady catches it (with one hand??) and hauls it up out of reach of Danny’s cot, Danny’s relieved wheeze is genuine and emphatic. Ohgodthatwasscary. 
On the other end of her arm is a teenager. A teenager in a…red…outfit, probably, unless he really likes gray and Danny’s eyes are actually working normally for once. Gray hair. Some kind of face, presumably. 
The teen’s legs keep spinning until he realizes how caught he is. Then he goes completely limp in defeat. 
“Cild Lihting se þridda,” the lady scolds, not unlike how Danny’s heard Vlad scold his cat for throwing paperwork off his desk. “Hwæt eart eow dydest?”
“...Naþing ,” the teenager lies, badly, and it sounds so much like Nothing, mom, wasn’t me, that Danny can’t help but choke out a laugh. 
It makes his chest muscles spasm and his throat sore, sure, but that’s not the point. The lady keeps scolding the teen she’s holding up midair, but the teen lights up at Danny’s choked out wheeze like the sun. Almost literally, actually— the green starts accumulating in Danny’s field of view as his body tries to compensate for whatever’s going on in the atmosphere around him. 
The doctors slowly let down their improvised shields, fetching Danny’s lost grippy tool (ugh) and putting it back in his hand (UGH). Danny gives one, pathetic squeeze of the tool, and then decides to visibly languish, because this sucks, obviously. The fact that no one can sympathize with his struggle isn’t new. Just watch him go limp about it. 
The next time the lady and the teen stop making scolding and scolded noises, Danny looks over; the teenager has been, apparently, wrangled into a hair net and face mask. Okay. So it’s not that Danny is off limits then— or maybe he is, but either way, it’s more about getting people into the right gear than about keeping them away from him. Once the teen’s been sprayed down with something that smells absolutely gross, forcibly gloved, and dropped unceremoniously onto the ground, the teen is back on his feet and hollering as he leaves the lady behind. “Þancie eow!!” 
“Slaw, lytel Lihting!” 
Slow, Danny understands, parsing out the weird words as they reach him. Lytel might as well mean little. This sucks. He can never tell if he’s right when he guesses, and he just gets lucky when people understand him back, or whether people are pretending to understand him more than they actually do. Lighting is a weird nickname for a kid though. 
—And then the teen is a foot away from his face and babbling at top speed, entirely at ease with their proximity and hands moving a mile a minute, and Danny has not been losing enough time for that to be anything other than either magic or a superpower. 
Oh, his brain corrects. The word clicks into place. Lightning. 
It’s probably some kind of magic, Danny’s guessing, because as he’s absolutely flabbergasted that someone is leaning into his face and trying to engage him that talk that isn’t happening, his ghost sense flares with a backwash of OMGHIHELLO!!MIS/SEDYOUMISSED//YOUPLAYING?? that. Uh. Is very…a lot? Very intense??
Very…welcoming?
The lady who minds him but isn’t a doctor sighs, picks the teenager up by the waist (??) and sets him a whole foot back. The teen doesn’t even stop chattering, his aura flaring alongside a story Danny is definitely missing, but not unappreciative of. 
He throws something onto Danny’s bed. Danny drops the grippy tool in order to grab it, to the doctor’s verbal dismay. 
But. 
Like Danny’s model shuttle, which never leaves his side, the thing on his bed is Danny’s. This is Danny’s weird, flimsy, squishy toy.
The teen practically vibrates with pride.
…Okay, then. He’s kind of confused, but like. You know. He’s not against this.
Danny picks the squishy, blue thing in his trembling fingers and shakes it around without any sense of fine motor control, and the thing leaps out of his fingers and lands on the floor pretty much instantaneously.
It makes a weird suction noise. Danny peeks over the bed to find it sitting upright, stuck to the floor.
The teen responds by throwing even more colorful, oddly-shaped toys on the bed.
Danny knows enough about doctors to know that there were probably structured plans on how Danny was supposed to spend his time on specific exercises to target specific muscles and stretch specific parts of his hands, but the teen sits at his bedside and plays with toys Danny doesn’t remember with him, and no one stops them at all.
It’s nice.
For about an hour, until Danny truly tires, it's almost…normal.
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adwendoodles · 3 months
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"… hi, Dad,"
from Oh, where do we begin? by @esamastation
Ever since I read this scene in the fic I was consumed by a need to do fanart for it. I originally wanted to do both Noctis and Regis' faces in close up, ideally in the same canvas, but couldn't get perspective to work. Then I realized it would be most logical as mini comic.
I think the part of that fic I most appreciate is how instantly Regis enters dad mode when he realizes the strange man is Noctis. Like literally he just is like "my son! my beloved baby boy! he looks older than me! oh my god he looks older than me there's gray in his hair he looks so tired he doesn't even have clean clothes :ccccc im going to dad you and silently judge your own father for his childraising choices. yeah I know i'm him sans 10 years of defeated acceptance but that isn't going to stop me."
Since 30 year old Noctis from canon seems uh, healthier and more groomed than this fic Noctis, I tried to make him more disheveled and crustier. He's paler than Regis too but that's the (likely?) vitamin d deficiency/ten years without sun. Wish I had made him Crustier tbh but my art program kept crashing. I also wanted to make him with an expression close to tears / smiling anxiously like in the fic ...so I hope to revisit this fanart someday and do it More Justice... and include Regis closeup as planned...
Anyway thank you Esama for sharing this fic with us. I literally decided to play the game because I saw you were writing fic for it and didn't want to miss out because I wasn't familiar with canon. 10/10 decision. Would cry at Regis and Noctis in the endgame again.
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Autistic Spencer Reid
Happy Autism Acceptance Month, everyone! By request, my wonderful friends and I have taken on the daunting task of documenting the reasons why Spencer Reid is considered Autistic. Big thank you to you @spencer-reids-adventures and @foxy-eva specifically for their help. We hope everyone enjoys! This is not an exhaustive list.
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Stimming/Self-Stimulatory behavior, including rocking/spinning in his chair, twiddling with his fingers, gripping sheets, bouncing his legs, biting his lip/tongue, rubbing his eyes, spinning pens, pacing (e.g., S6E12 "Corazon")
Averse to touch, dislikes hugs (S7E13 "Snake Eyes" & S11E11 "Entropy")
Explains multiple attempts at masking, including "being more conversational," (S2E19 "Ashes and Dust"), scripting conversation (S15E4 "Saturdays"), saying what people want to hear (S6E20 "Hanley Waters")
Verbosity - Difficulty recognizing when he's talking too much/speaking at inappropriate times (e.g., S1E16 "The Tribe" & S10E16 "Lockdown")
Began studying behavioral science to understand behavior that made him frustrated/confused (S11E22 "The Storm")
Averse to hosting/hanging out in his space; didn't invite his friends to his apartment for over 15 years (S15E9 "Face Off")
The only team member capable of proficient communication with other Autistic people (S6E16 "Coda" & S11E22 "The Storm")
He is referred to as Autistic by multiple characters, including a literal profiler, and does not deny or question it (S1E5 "Broken Mirror" & S8E3 "Through the Looking Glass")
Lack of social awareness, such as focusing on a convention while at a workplace shooter crime scene (S7E3 "Dorado Falls")
Various special interests, like Doctor Who (S6E16 "Coda" & S7E23 "Hit")
Literal thinking, such as focusing on scientific accuracy of a star-based fable (S5E13 "Risky Business")
Difficulty recognizing common phrases, such as the "sitting in a tree" song (S3E14 "Damaged") or jokes (S7E9 "Self-Fulfilling Prophecy" & S1E8 "Natural Born Killer")
Makes inappropriate references, such as to Derek's playboy behavior (S1E18 "Somebody's Watching") and Rossi's age (S7E13 "Snake Eyes")
Coordination/Spatial deficits (S1E17 "A Real Rain" & S8E6 "The Apprenticeship")
Hyperfocuses on a task to the point he doesn't notice his surroundings (S5E20 "A Thousand Words")
Unusual/hyper-specific pedantic language (S3E6 "Remembrance of Things Past")
Resistance to change, manifested as a luddite dislike of technology (S6E7 "Middle Man" & S8E4 "God Complex") and struggling with Gideon's death (S10E14 "Hero Worship")
He receives (apparent disability) accommodations to be in the field (S6E10 "What Happens At Home...")
Introverted, difficulty sharing emotions, even with his closest friends (S10E13 "Nelson's Sparrow")
Heavily bullied as a child (S3E16 "Elephant's Memory")
Difficulty making friends (S2E1 "The Fisher King Part 2")
Trouble with eye contact, which persists throughout the series
His mother is schizophrenic, which has a strong genetic link to Autism
Dislikes small talk (S8E3 “Through the Looking Glass”)
Enjoys memorizing lists (S7E11, “True Genius”)
Savant skills - eidetic memory and hyperlexia
Matthew Gray Gubler has also explained that, regardless of the canonical confirmation, he views and portrayed Spencer Reid as Autistic. Specifically, he stated:
"He's an eccentric genius, with hints of schizophrenia and minor autism, Asperger's syndrome. Reid is 24, 25 years old with three Ph.D.'s and one can't usually achieve that without some form of autism." (Note: Asperger's is an outdated term with Nazi origins, which is now referred to as a part of "Autism Spectrum Disorder" by most countries)
DISCLAIMER: I am Autistic, as diagnosed when I was a toddler. These thoughts are my own and shared for fun. If you disagree, please make your own post about it rather than posting them here. This was a labor of love for fans like me and those who love Autistic people and the characters like us. Thank you for respecting and understanding my boundaries!
Looking for more to read? Check out my Autistic headcanon posts for Penelope and Hotch!
Thank you everyone! 🌈♾️❤️
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situationsoured · 5 months
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People keep saying Katniss is like the reincarnation of Sejanus, or even Lucy Gray, which I just don’t think is true. If there’s a character in the movie that reminded me of Katniss it was Reaper from District 11. Both had an advantage in the game from their trades (Katniss was a hunter and Reaper was a lumberjack, I think). Despite this, both chose to ally themselves with young girls (Rue and Dill respectively) over the older, stronger tributes. And they both have to watch this girl die. I saw way more of Katniss in Reaper tearing down the Panem flag to cover his fellow tributes after finding Dill dead than in Sejanus sprinkling breadcrumbs over Marcus.
What this movie made me sure of is that there must have been so many tributes like Reaper and Katniss. While we see some tributes driven to do awful things to survive, we also see so much love and mercy – in Reaper immediately telling Dill to stick with him in the arena, in that little girl taking Lucy’s hand, in Lamina mercy killing Marcus’ and cutting his body down.
I also don’t think Snow felt especially haunted by Lucy Gray in Peeta. While I think the two are a lot more alike than Sejanus and Katniss, Snow has seen dozens of games since the 10th. While Lucy was the first of her kind, I’m sure there have been so many tributes like Lucy, who try to use charm and personality to win over the audience as opposed to relying on physical strength. The games were literally reshaped to give tributes like her a better chance. We hear over and over during the first book how likability is the key to surviving in the arena.
Ultimately, neither Katniss nor Peeta are unique as tributes. Peeta isn’t even unique as a victor – while he was an underdog, I’m sure there have been at least a couple other victors like Peeta and Lucy Gray who managed to get by. I do not, however, think there had ever been a victor like Katniss. That’s what’s different between her and Reaper, and why Katniss successfully inspired a revolution while Reaper, who rebelled against the games in almost the same way, did not. Reaper died as an act of defiance against the Capitol, while Katniss lived. They both ultimately refused to play the game, but Katniss proved that resisting the Capitol was not a death wish. And that is what scares Snow. That's why he needs her to frame it as an act of love for Peeta. Not because she reminds him of a dead revolutionary, or even of a dead friend (although idk if I would even call them friends tbh).
(I feel I have to add, the capitol was clearly threatened by what Reaper did, or Gaul wouldn’t have interrupted him with that announcement. Also, we don’t see how 11 reacts to Dill’s death like we do with Rue, it could have also resulted in riots. But Reaper died where Katniss did not. There’s that line Snow had in the first movie about needing to control how much hope they give the districts, and clearly Katniss surviving pushed them across the threshold)
But Katniss and Reaper were not rebels or revolutionaries going into the arena. Yes, they hated the Capitol, but what tribute wouldn’t? Their priority was survival and helping Rue and Dill survive. It was the deaths of their friends that sparked their rebellion. Sejanus, on the other hand, had little to no concern for survival. He was consumed with his hate for the games and the Capitol (he was choking on it).
If I had to make a parallel between Sejanus and someone in the original trilogy, it would be Cinna. They both live in the Capitol, on a path of upward social trajectory, and despite that neither of them are willing to live with what the Capitol is doing, and it kills them. Snow even causes both their deaths.  
I also had to consider that Katniss reminded Snow of himself. Both of them start out their respective books with very little consideration with the big picture. Their focus is on improving the lives of themselves and their families. I think that is how Snow knows where to put the pressure to keep Katniss in line. (Coin does not understand this, and it’s why she struggles manipulating Katniss into doing what she wants). But unlike Snow, Katniss doesn’t feel ownership over her loved ones, and her idea of ‘doing anything for them’ means sacrificing herself, not the lives of others.
I don’t think Snow was haunted. I think that requires feeling guilt or regret. After Lucy Gray ran away, Snow got married. And had children. And grandchildren. He hosted more games and killed more district kids. He might have cried after what he did to Sejanus, but he then immediately took the money that would have been Sejanus’ and used to do things that would have had him doing barrel rolls in his grave.
Snow at the end of the Hunger Games trilogy does not strike me as a man who is haunted by his choices. Like he told Lucy Gray, he came to believe humanity is innately evil. When you think that, you can do as many horrible things as you want to, because there will never be an innocent victim. You’re just doing to other people what they would do to you - if they were as smart and cunning and powerful as you are.
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sometimesanalice · 1 year
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Give Me Your Hand {Here Is My Heart}
Summary: You and Bradley have been dating for a couple months now. You want him and he wants you. And it’s getting harder and harder to keep your hands off of him. So what is holding you back?
Pairing: Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw x Female Reader
Length: 9K
Warnings: Fluff, Pining, and Smuttt
(This will be a 2-Part series for characters in the “Like I Can” Universe. It can be read without reading the original series first.)  PART 2
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You’ve seen Bradley’s thick, wavy hair in various stages throughout your life. He has a little cowlick tuft in the back that would always pop up if it was cut too short. You’d seen it in high school when he used a little too much product like most boys did at that age. You’d seen it smashed and sweaty from being trapped under a baseball cap for too long.
However, for all the ways you’ve seen it over the years, his hair mussed by your own hands is easily one of your very favorite looks on him.
There is an open bottle of some random red blend you had picked up from the grocery store on the table, you had been more drawn to the label than what was inside of it. Your glasses were mostly untouched, the only clue about whose belonged to who was the imprint of your lower lip left behind on the rim from your lipstick that’s long worn off from your mouth.
And you are straddling Bradley’s denim clad lap enthusiastically making out on his probably-from-Ikea-but-still-very comfortable dark gray couch. The short skirt of your flirty little ruffled red dress sliding higher and higher up your thighs with every movement.
Your hands are undoing what minimal styling he had done to it before you had gotten to his place that evening, while his large ones are everywhere. Traveling the length of your back, squeezing your hips, running over the outsides of your calves. 
It has been almost a couple of months since you had been set up by the Daggers on those truly terrible dates. At the time it seemed like a fun idea to go on all those blind dates, until it wasn’t. 
That is, until Bradley. Being with him had made it all worthwhile. 
There have been plenty of dates since then. Nights out. Nights in. Nights spent laughing at the Hard Deck with his friends. But they all end the same. With Bradley kissing you goodnight. 
In the Bronco.
At your door. 
At his. 
You haven’t stayed the night, not once. Not even after the time where you both fell asleep tangled on his couch. You had woken up it find it was nearly 3 A.M, and even then you still made it a point not to cross the threshold into his bedroom. Even though you wanted to.
The way his mouth is moving against yours is nothing short of sinful. He is so good at making you breathless. So good at making you blush. Having him like this is more than you ever thought you’d get, its deliciously thrilling being the one to pull the low moans and satisfied sighs from him. 
It is almost too easy with Bradley. You’d never let yourself think about forever at this point in a relationship with anyone else. He made it so difficult for you to keep your head on straight when he looked at you with such dizzying adoration. 
It was getting harder and harder not let yourself think about Bradley being the one for all of your last-firsts. Even as you tried to take things with him day by day, moment by moment.
How that evening out on the outdoor terrace could have been your last-first date. That pretty green dress you’d worn, now tucked away in your closet protected in its garment bag, felt special in a way you weren’t sure you were ready to look at too closely.
How that kiss against his Bronco in the parking lot near the beach afterwards could have been your last-first kiss.
How whenever you mustered up the courage to finally give yourself to him entirely that it could be your last-first time.
But one of you had to be the practical one. One of you has to keep their feet on the ground because the other literally as his head in the clouds on a daily basis. You felt constantly at war with bullet pointed logic of your mind and the whatifwhatifwhatifs of your heart.
When Bradley dropped you off back at your car after your post-oceanside-dinner-milkshake-run, he asked you out again for the next weekend. Claimed he wanted you to have a second first date with him, even though you both already were planning on meeting your friends at the Hard Deck the very next night. 
His smile had been so sweet and his eyes so sincere there was no way you were going to turn him down. Even if you didn’t think you needed a second first date with him when the first had been one for the books. 
Bradley’s burning lips work their way down your neck. His hand at the base of your neck keeping you exactly where he wanted you. The delicious drag of his mustache along the sensitive skin of your throat makes your toes curl. His hot mouth sucking softly at your pulse point before laving it with his tongue. Can he feel how fast your heart is beating?
For your second-first date, the only feeling that had been coursing through you that day had been pure excitement knowing it would be Bradley knocking on your door. 
And when he picked you up, he arrived with a bouquet of your favorite flowers in one hand and a bottle of your favorite champagne in the other.
There was an undeniable giddiness that evening, but also a tentative shyness between the two of you as you sat across from each other at one of the many seafood restaurants that dotted the boardwalk. The table had felt almost too big, since the two of you were both a little too in your heads. 
“Why did it feel easier last time-”
“I feel like I’m on an interview-”
After a couple awkward stops and starts, you both just looked at each other and had to laugh about it. It was better when you moved your place settings and slid into the spot next to him. When his leg nervously bounced under the table, you were close enough to rest a hand on his thigh. 
“Have I told you how pretty you look?”
“Only a few times now,” you replied as you nudged his foot with yours, “But I like hearing it.”
And then slowly but surely the nerves and awkwardness melted away as you two settled into the familiarity of each other. You did call him “Rooster” a couple times on accident, and he ended up almost telling you the same story twice before he realized it halfway through the second time. But it was a comfortable kind of bumbling as you explored the newness of this part of your relationship together.  
Afterwards, he had suggested taking a walk along the beach, you’d readily agreed at the thought of the sand beneath your toes and your fingers tangled between Bradley’s.
You didn’t walk very far before a large canopy made entirely out of thousands of string lights caught your eye. The area was roped off on the beach halfway between the boardwalk and the ocean waves. People were already milling about, some brave souls already dancing away as the final rays from the sunset illuminated them in a golden red light. 
“C’mon, kid,” he’d said already tugging you along with him by the hand, “Let’s check it out.”
“Bradley, I don’t know. This looks like some kind of private event.”
It didn’t click until he was pulling out his phone with the tickets already pulled up and ready to be scanned that he had planned it all along. 
“I’ve always wanted to go to one of these,” you told him with a grin on your face as you waited in the line to exchange your shoes for a pair of light up headphones.
“Have you now?” He was looking very pleased with himself as he slid an arm around you, tucking his hand into the back pocket of your jeans.
“I thought you said you were done with surprises,” you asked teasingly, smoothing down the front of his Hawaiian shirt. Enjoying the way his stomach tensed beneath your hand. 
“Now, where the fun in that? I think I like surprising you,” he murmured into your ear.
When you made your way to the front, he slipped the headphones over your ears before pulling you to the side, bending down to roll up your jeans a bit and then doing the same to his. 
The sand was still warm for the sun under your feet, and the twinkle lights were picking up the golden strands in Bradley’s wavy hair. He was so handsome and he was all yours tonight.
The two of you had the best time as you bounced around between stations, the colors on your headphones changing from blue to red to green as you told the other one to change over whenever a familiar song came on as the inky night settled around you.
You had danced with Bradley plenty of times of the years, like at school dances and at your mom’s second wedding. However, it was always the goofy and fun kind of dancing between friends. Where he would spin you until you were doubled over in laughter or where you’d compete to see who could pull out the most ridiculous moves.  
His fancy footwork and carefree exuberance still amused you to no end, but it was also the good kind of different the way he wrapped his arms around you from behind. You’d felt a good kind of free in the way you let your hips move against him without overthinking it. It was the good kind of exciting the way he feathered kisses down the side of your neck when the music playing through the headphones slowed down.
The two of you moving in sync and touching each other in ways you haven’t indulged in before, a little sweaty and out of breath. You had never felt so truly lighthearted and uninhibited as you did as you danced the night away with Bradley, as he shimmied with you, as he twirled you about, as he held you close. 
By the end of the evening, your cheeks were hurting from the wide smile that hadn’t left your face once the whole night. 
And there was no hesitation in the way you pulled his face to yours as people danced around lost in their own moments on the beach under the twinkle lights and moonlight that night. As you got lost in him.
The rough denim of his jeans between the soft skin of your thighs has you desperate to move against him for more. His fingers are playing with the frilly chiffon fabric of the red dress you bought forever ago and completely forgot about in your closet. You wanted to be as bold as the color you were wearing, to take the lead and slide his hands up your dress to where you both really wanted them to be. Instead you trail your lips long the strong line of his jaw, reveling in the way he sighs your name.
The next date you had planned. 
And the only thing you had told him about it was what time he should expect to be picked up. 
At the time he’d grumbled something about his mom raising him as a gentleman and that meant always picking the girl up. To which, you had retorted that Carole told you not to take nonsense from any man, and that included her son. Phoenix had clicked her glass with yours at that.
Bradley was notoriously bad a keeping a secret, excluding when he had planned that first date, but he was even worse when he was the one being kept in the dark. Needless, to say you thoroughly enjoyed teasing him that whole week before your next date.
And if he ran his hands more over your body as he tried to get you to give him even the smallest of hints, you couldn’t say you minded. 
You’d stopped by his favorite deli on you way home from work and ordered a couple of those giant sandwiches that were piled high with all the cold cuts and too many toppings, along with a few containers of different sides to round out the meal. Your fridge had been stocked his favorite beer from your last grocery run, so you’d grabbed a few cans of those and some sparkling waters and put those in your cooler basket with the other sweet treats you had already bought before you’d quickly changed and left to go pick him up.
You’d barely had the car parked in his driveway of his condo before he was opening the door and throwing his large body in your car.
“It’s not too late to let me drive, kid,” he’d said in greeting, pressing a kiss to your cheek. You really liked this part, the casual physicality of his affection. You liked it a lot.
“Oh please, you just want me to tell you what we’re doing,” you countered, as you backed up and pulled on to the main road. “Plus, I don’t see what your problem is. I drive you around all the time when the Bronco is getting a tune up.”
“Yeah, but only when it’s in the shop. I am physically pained to be in a Honda Civic,” he complained, as he shifted from side to side and moved the seat back trying to get more comfortable. Ever the drama queen.
“Hey, it’s a hybrid! I’m saving the planet,” you lobbed back at him, “How much fuel does your F/A-18 go through?” 
“It’s boring.” There was no missing the derision dripping from the word.
Such a little car snob.
“I think you mean it’s practical,” you replied primly. “I’m not going to apologize for having a car from this century, Bradley.”
“Is it even safe to be this close to the ground?” he groused as he looked at you from over the top of his sunglasses. 
“Well, my lease on this is up soon and I have been thinking about getting an all-American whip,” you paused for a moment as he perked up at the idea of that, “Do you think I would look cute in a Jeep?”
The taunt landed just the way you hoped it would when he groaned and clutched his heart.
“My girl is not driving a Jeep. That’d be like sleeping with the enemy!” he dramatically bemoaned, “The Bronco would stall out of spite knowing you’re driving the competition.”
You hoped he didn’t catch the way you’d clamed up. How your hands had tightened on the steering wheel, knuckles standing out in contrast against the paper-thin skin there.
It wasn’t like you hadn’t slept with someone on the first date before. And while you knew it was a matter of when and not if, you were still having a hard time wrapping your brain around the fact that you would be having sex with Bradley Bradshaw.
But there was fucking and then there was whatever this was. 
It already felt different with him than anyone else you’ve dated before. It felt like it would mean more with him and you couldn’t pretend you weren’t anxious about it.
This was Bradley.
Bradley.
Who had always made it to your tennis matches wearing the t-shirt he had made that boldly sported your last name across his chest after you had complained that the boys’ teams always better funding and therefore got better apparel. He was always the loudest person in the stands, except for your moms when they overdid it on the Sauvignon Blanc.
Bradley.
Who had always sent you your favorite kind of flowers to be delivered on your birthday and never failed to FaceTime with you regardless of where he was in the world or what time it was where he was stationed.
Bradley who was looking so handsome next to you in your practical Honda Civic wearing a snug light blue button up shirt and smelling really good. Woodsy with the tiniest hint of citrus.
With his tousled sun-lightened curls and warm brown eyes. His strong, sturdy nose. That mustache that had no right to look so perfect on his face. You’d liked every version of him you’d know throughout your life, but this one next to you? You lo--
“Light’s green, sweet girl.” He was wearing that little half smirk of his. The one that was entirely too knowing, and that looked entirely too good on him.
You had blinked at him a few times before you had realized you’d been completely caught checking him out. And it wasn’t until the car behind you honked that you were startled out of your Bradley filled mental wanderings.
Thankfully you were saved from further jokes at you or your car’s expense as you pulled into the parking lot of the library, happy for the distraction from your earlier thoughts.
“Do you have some books you need to return?” he asked a bit perplexed, his eyebrow knitting together. 
“Nope,” you answered. Sending him a smug wink as you reached over to click the button to unbuckle his seatbelt. 
He wasn’t the only one who could plan a surprise in this relationship. 
And in the midst of your self-satisfied musings, you had somehow missed the way he had rounded the car until his big hands were on your waist. Then he was turning you around and crowding you against the side of your very practical car.
“This ok?” he rasped questioningly against your ear, stroking your side.
You nodded rapidly. All words had escaped you the second he had pressed his broad, hard body against yours.
It was a miracle you didn’t drop the basket in your hands when his mouth collided with yours, his lips leisurely gliding over yours. You were still getting use to the sensation of his rough mustache on your delicate skin, but you liked the feel of it. 
You liked everything about him.
He pulled away after a few moments, nudging your cheek with his nose, “Hey, you good?”
There was a moment when you thought that maybe he had noticed the way you’d froze in the car when he had made that joke. He knew you so well, but even that felt like a stretch.
“Just peachy,” you replied, as you leaned in for another quick peck. But just as you tried to pull away, he tugged you back in.
“’m not done kissing you yet.”
“Bradley, come on,” you laugh breathlessly, the grin on your face derailing any further plans he had for your mouth. 
“Or, hear me out,” he mused, as he trailed a finger down your arm, until he reached your hand to take the basket from you, “We can make out against your car. Seeing as we’re already very good at that.”
“Nuh-uh.” You shake your head at him. “There will be no more making out.”
“At all?” he coaxed. His thumb sneaking under your top, stroking the skin above your hip.
“For the next couple of hours,” you amended. “Are you going to be trouble?”
“Only the good kind, I promise.” He was wearing that cheeky smile that always left you feeling a little flustered. Threading your fingers together with his free hand, he gestured for you to lead the way. 
You pulled him along with you as you followed the other groups of people who were making their way the same direction around to the back of the library where the large section of grassy lawn was located. 
“Last chance, you sure you don’t want to go make out in the stacks?” he teased as you passed by the entrance, giving you a heated once over, “You always were such a good girl in school, Miss Valedictorian.”
It made your cheeks warm at both the idea of him pressing you against the shelves and from him calling you a good girl. And you were almost tempted to let him have his way. To let him pull you out of the line you were waiting in in favor of finding out what his mouth tasted like in some quiet, dusty corner of the library. 
“Behave, this is an all ages event,” you reminded him, and yourself. He held up his three fingers in Scout’s promise. But you knew better, recognized what that smirk he was wearing meant, so you met him half way, “If you’re good, maybe we can do that for our third date.”
You had felt your pulse radiate through your whole body when he leaned in close and murmured, “I can be good for you.”
A pointed cough jolted you both out of the moment, you had been so wrapped up in him that you had completely missed that the line had moved. Muttering a sheepish Sorry, you tugged a shameless Bradley along with you to catch up with everyone else. 
When you made it to the front of the line, he tried to fish out his wallet before you could reach yours to pay the suggested entry donation fee. The volunteer chuckled as you tossed the blanket you were carrying at your troublesome date’s broad chest. And then you handed over the cash you had withdrawn from the ATM earlier in the day, plus a little more.
You were a patron of the literary arts, after all. A humanitarian with a point to prove. This was your date you had planned for Bradley, you would be the one sweeping him off his feet tonight.
The big screen they had set up gave it away, but you refused to tell him what movie was playing that evening even as he made guess after guess as you wove your way around people to find an unoccupied spot in the grass.
You kept him busy by having him smooth out the blanket until there were absolutely no wrinkles, and then distracted him with all of his favorite goodies as you unpacked them out of your cooler bag. Thankfully, it wasn’t too much longer before the event’s coordinator was welcoming everyone since you had run out of PG-rated ways to keep Bradley diverted without spoiling the evening’s featured film.
When the opening credits had started rolling for Singin’ in the Rain Bradley had turned to you, his wide grin lighting up his whole face. 
“I love this movie,” he said excitedly.
You smiled back at him indulgently, as if you didn’t already know that. However, you still had felt very pleased with yourself that he was so thrilled as you passed him one of the massive, overly filled sandwiches along with a beer. 
You had forgotten to pack some extra plates to put the sides on, so you and Bradley passed the containers of creamy potato salad, tangy coleslaw, and cold tomato salad back and forth. Occasionally feeding the other bites in between watching Gene Kelly and Donald O’Connor’s antics on screen. 
A little while later, the two of you had cozied up on the blanket, the leftover food pushed off to one side. Bradley had pulled you into the space between his legs, encouraging you to rest your back against his sturdy chest. You had never felt as perfectly content as you did sitting there wrapped up in his arms sharing a bag of gummy bears and the other boxes of movie candy you had packed as the warm California breeze washed over you.
You had been surrounded by families and other couples, but the way he rested his chin against your shoulder and hummed along with Gene Kelly singing “You Were Meant For Me” was for your ears only.
There isn’t anything in this world that feels as good as Bradley’s wet lips sliding over yours. Nothing as exciting as wondering where his hands will roam to next on your body. Nothing as devastating as when he teases down the strap of your dress off of your shoulder with his nose as his mouth purposefully works along your collarbone.
Ever the gentleman, he’s never pressured you, or even brought it up. You know he is waiting for you to make the move, to let you be the one who sets the pace. To let him know when you’re ready to take that next step with him.
And you want to. You really want to. Even now, you can feel how enticingly hard he is beneath you as you moan into his mouth. 
You know that you’re the one holding you back. 
The one holding the both of you back. 
And you know exactly why.
The closest you two even got to toeing that line into something more was the night you got back home after spending a few days on the East Coast for a work trip. 
Bradley had wanted to pick you up from the airport, but you were getting in late and didn’t want him to lose out on the sleep that he needed to stay safe doing his job. He only let it go once you had promised him you would text him when you landed and got home in one piece.
You had been getting ready for bed after showering off the plane from your body, slipping on an old shirt you had recently rediscovered buried in the back of your dresser when your phone had lit up. And you really shouldn’t have been surprised to see Bradley’s name on your screen well past 2 A.M, but your heart still fluttered seeing his name pop up.
“Yes, Bradley?” you answered with a playful lilt in your tone. 
“Hi, kid,” you could hear the soft smile in his voice, “Did you make it home ok?”
“I did, but what are you still doing awake? You’ve got that new training program that starts tomorrow, and roosters aren’t known for being nocturnal creatures.”
“She’s got jokes, ladies and gentlemen,” he deadpanned flatly before tentatively continuing, “You said you were going to text me when you landed. But my phone has been suspiciously silent.”
You didn’t know if that swooping sensation in your stomach had been from feeling like you’d let him down or from the fact that he was calling you this late because he was worried about you. That he had stayed up wanting to hear from you because you mattered to him. You that you were in his 2 A.M thoughts. 
“I figured you’d be asleep, and I didn’t want to bother you,” you admitted self-consciously as you puttered around you room, putting away a few of the things from your suitcase.
And it had been the truth. You had typed out a message when you were waiting in the ride share pick up area with your carry on, but ended up deleting it not wanting to bother him or disturb his sleep. 
“Nah, you’d never bother me. I was waiting to hear from you. Wouldn’t have been able to sleep anyways, not with you being flown around by some random pseudo-captain airline pilot wearing a pair of wings with a brand logo on it.”
The men you had dated in the past had always said the same thing without really meaning it, sending halfhearted thumbs up when you’d let them known you got home after a date or landed safely after a work trip. But Bradley wasn’t like those men, he truly meant the things he said because he cared.
“Not the branded wings,” you teased, before softly saying, “I’m sorry.”
“It’s all good, sweet girl. I’m just happy you’re home. You free dinner tomorrow? I want to hear all about your trip.”
“For you? Yeah, I think I can clear my schedule.”
“Good,” he said contentedly before pausing for a moment, and you heard rustling on the other end of the line, “So, what are you wearing?”
You burst out laughing, as you finally crawled into your soft bed, grinning wildly, “Bradley Bradshaw, you did not just ask me that!”
“What?” he asked innocently, his chuckle giving him away. “How about this, you tell me and I promise to never bring up the fact that you have contributed to any prematurely gray hairs that might have sprung up in the last few hours.”
“A silver fox Bradley Bradshaw?” Now that was something you were very much looking forward to seeing one day, “Be still my heart.”
“Chances are you won’t have to wait long,” he joked.
“Well, it’s funny you should ask,” you mused as you look down at the threadbare shirt you had on, “Because I am currently wearing a very old Cardinals Baseball shirt.”
He had given it to you after they had won the State Championships his junior year as a thank you for all the time you had spent helping him practice after school and on the weekends leading up to the playoff games.
“You’re messing with me.”
“I would never joke about Washington High school pride.” He laughed at that, because really, when were you not teasing him?
When you didn’t say anything more he’d pressed, “Wait, seriously?”
“Mm-hmm,” you purred smugly, playing with the frayed hem of the shirt.
“I want to see it.”
“Are you asking me to send a photo of myself in bed after 2 A.M?” you asked with faux shock, “Sir, I am a lady.”
That made him snort, “There wasn’t anything ladylike about the way you took down that burger the other week. But seriously. You’ve got sixty seconds, kid. Otherwise I’m coming over there to see it for myself.”
Your breath had caught in your throat. His demand made your heart beat faster in your chest, the two of you had never done anything like this before. 
“Ok, ok. Give me a moment.” 
Working quickly knowing Bradley wasn’t one for idle threats, you positioned yourself where his shirt is clearly visible, but also featured a glimpse of the top of your thighs and a hint of the smirk on your lips. Satisfied you sent it off to him and put the phone back up to your ear.
“Holy shit,” he breathes out incredulously. You didn’t know if he meant to say it out loud or not, but you’d felt the heat work its way in your cheeks all the same.
“Come on then, Bradshaw. You’re up. Tit for tat as it was.”
“I didn’t realize tits were on the table,” he rasped lowly.
You were thankful he hadn’t made this a FaceTime call, so that he didn’t see the way your jaw dropped.
There was a thrumming working its way through your body. There wasn’t anything explicitly dirty happening, but it felt deliciously thrilling all the same. It was exciting doing this with him.
“Nuh-uh, rules are rules. You’ve got sixty seconds,” you tell him, trying to sound more in control than you felt.
A few moments later you see the notification pop down, and you click into the text. The first thing your mind registered was his skin. 
So much golden skin. 
He was leaning against his head board, navy comforter bunched around low on his waist. His hair was a little mussed, and his mouth was pulled to one side in a half-smirk. He was just so handsome, you could even see the fine trail of hairs that led to his---
“Goddammit, Bradley!” you’d exclaimed putting him on speaker, so you could still hear him without putting your phone back up to your ears since you were too busy staring at the picture he had just sent. “Are you kidding me? This is some serious one-handed fodder!” 
You could hear his booming laughter on the other side.
“Happy now?” You could hear how pleased he was with your reaction in his voice.
“Truly, the happiest. You have no idea,” you replied, albeit a distractedly, “But, full disclosure? I am going to be gazing at this so disrespectfully after we hang up.” You’ve never been so bold before, but everything about that moment had been electrifying with him. Because of him.
“Enjoy your one-handed fodder, kid. But full disclosure?” his voice was teasing as he used your own words against you, “You’d need to use both hands. I’m glad you’re home, I’ll see you tomorrow. Sweet dreams, sweet girl.”
He hung up on you without waiting for a response as you gaped into your home screen.
As images filled your head of what it would look like to have both of your hands wrapped the length of him, you let your fingers trail down your stomach and under the waistband of your underwear.
You had already lost a lot of sleep thinking about Bradley. Dreaming about how it would feel to be naked and pressed close along his body. He runs so warm normally, would he be even hotter to the touch as you both rocked against each other? You wanted to know the sounds he made when he came.
Too desperate to come to bother reaching for your vibrator, you had propped your phone against your spare pillow looking at that photo of him cozy and warm in his bed, and with your other hand you easily slid two fingers into yourself. Circling your clit with one hand as you worked yourself with the other.
You wanted his fingers. You wanted his mouth. You wanted his cock. You wanted all of him.
Closing your eyes, you let yourself think about Bradley. His molten brown eyes. His strong forearms. The tantalizing veins of his thick neck. The way his mustache feels against your mouth when you make out in his Bronco. The powerful grace in the way his body moved during a game of dogfight football.
You imagined him unreservedly and unabashedly. 
Above you. 
Below you. 
Behind you.
You came like a flash. Back arching as you spasmed against your own fingers while thinking about his.
And a few minutes later, just as your heart rate had settled back down and you were about to turn your light off, you got a text from him.
𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚗’𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚐𝚊𝚣𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚖𝚢 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚛𝚝. 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍. 𝙸 𝚎𝚗𝚓𝚘𝚢𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚢 𝚘𝚗𝚎-𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚍𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘𝚘, 𝚔𝚒𝚍.
Which promptly had you tossing your phone away from you as you squealed into your pillow. 
It was so easy to lose yourself in his kiss, breathing in each other’s air. Your mouths are drawn together like magnets. His hands are high on your ribcage, his brave thumb caressing the underside of your breast. You are dizzy off of the feeling of his tongue stroking yours.
There is an earnest yearning in the way you both kiss each other. In the way you touch each other. It’s almost like you’re trying to make up for something. 
“I can feel you thinking, sweet girl,” he says a little breathlessly as he pulls away from your mouth. His lips are swollen and his hair is a wavy, brown mess. “Am I not going a good enough job over here?” 
You know he is teasing you, but you can tell that he is giving you the gentle opening to talk about what distracting thoughts are pulling you out of being in the moment with him.
“I was just thinking about when you picked me up in your old Montero for the first time. You were leaning against it like my very own Jake Ryan,” you tell him as you place kisses across his cheek.
Not exactly the truth, but you don’t want to ruin the mood by telling him what was really on your mind. Not when you wanted to make him feel just as good as he was making you feel.
“I loved that car,” he moans lightly as you kiss along his jaw, his hands sliding up your back.
“I know,” you hum against his ear, “You didn’t talk to me for like a week when I spilled my milkshake in it that one time.”
“I should have kept that car, she was a classic,” he sighs as he leans his head against the back of the couch to look up at you. His hands skimming up and down the sides of your waist, still hard beneath you.
“You know, my parents still think I was some kind of manual stick-shifting wunderkind,” you tell him grinning down at him. Your thumb tracing the long scar there under his Adam’s apple.
“Yeah, I probably shouldn’t have taught you how to how to drive when you were fourteen,” he says with fondness. The grin on his gorgeous face nothing short of sheepish, “Your mom can never know. I still want her to like me.”
You smile briefly thinking about him teaching you in the afternoons after school when neither of you had practices to attend in the abandoned parking lot across town. 
How he had patiently taught you how to shift from neutral into first even after stalling out multiple times in a row. He had done his best to hid his wincing from you when you inevitably managed to grind the gears because he didn’t want you to feel bad about it. You can still remember how loudly he whooped for you when you managed to start it and get it moving in one go. Afterwards, he had taken you to the ice cream place to celebrate, that time with him in the driver’s seat. 
When you had finally gotten your learner’s permit your parents had called you a natural. And you had immediately known that there was no way you were ever going to tell them you’d learned from Bradley. That was a secret just for the two of you.
“You know,” you muse toying with button on his shirt, “Sixteen-year-old me would probably be losing her mind knowing that I get to make out with you anytime I want.”
“Huh, that so?” he smirks, a hand coming up to play with the ends of your hair, “Did you have a crush on me, kid?”
For the most part, before getting together you had been good about keeping your feelings for Bradley purely platonic. Except for a couple of slip ups here and there over the years, like that time at the Hard Deck after seeing the team play dogfight football for the first time. But that was another secret that you were never going to give up easily. 
Your friendship with him had always meant more to you than anything else.
“Mm, I wouldn’t call it a crush. What I had was a lot of hormones, and it didn’t help that you were pretty.” 
He had always been cute, even as a gangly teen whose arms and legs never seemed to be in sync, but the man looking up at you now was in a league of his own. His warm brown eyes were slightly hooded filled with mischief and something more.
“And now?” Bradley asks teasingly, his other smoothing up your back to press you closer. He leans forward to kiss the spot where your neck met your shoulder.
“Now?” you breathe out, as his mouth moves up along your neck, “Now I still have a lot of hormones, think you’re very handsome, and definitely have a crush on you.”
“Good,” he murmurs as his teeth graze your jaw.
“What about you?” you gasp, melting into him further. You want to keep him talking, so you don’t think about how you want his mouth on other places. He is so hard, so warm, and you want him so bad. 
But for as much as you wanted to strip off your clothes and his to let him have his way with you, it was the last boundary between being just friends and this. It wasn’t something that could ever be undone. And you wanted it so bad, it scared you just how much you wanted that kind of permanence with him.
It’s been almost two months and you’ve had him for years, but you want him like this forever.
“Yeah, there’s been a few times when I’ve caught myself thinking about you in less than friendly ways. You’re gorgeous, and smart, and funny,” He squeezes your waist, before admitting, “Always felt guilty when it happened though.”
He had thought of you too. 
Why did that make your chest hurt? Could you have been doing this for years?
“Tell me,” you quietly urge, running your fingers through his hair encouragingly, “I want to know.” 
You were desperate to know.
“Do you remember that house party we went to that Spring Break you visited me during my senior year at UVA?” he asks, letting his hands lightly trail up and down the tops of your thighs. 
You could have been doing this for years.
You didn’t trust your voice not to wobble and betray you, so you nodded your head instead.
“I had gone in to get us a couple more drinks, and when I came back out there were so many more people in the backyard than there were when I left. I mean, I was probably a little drunk, but it was packed,” he told you as his thumb rubbed small circles near your inner knee, “I remember looking for you when I got distracted by a great set of legs in pair of frayed denim shorts. And as I was working out how I was going to play it as I made my way over to her, she turned around.”
It wasn’t a secret where this was going. You knew what the ending would be before he even started telling you the story. Yet, you were still hanging on his every word with bated breath.
“You turned around. Couldn’t believe I didn’t recognize you in that moment. And the way you smiled at me,” he reaches up and cups your cheek, his thumb lightly tapping on the spot where your dimples lived, “God, I still remember, it hit me like a suckerpunch. Your hair looked so pretty under the string lights they had put up.”
“They were the shitty red and green Christmas kind,” you whisper. 
You remembered that party, it was one of the last times you got to spend uninterrupted one-on-one time with him before he joined the Navy. Before your friendship turned into a long-distance game of catching up and phone tag.
“They were and probably a fire hazard too,” he confirms softly with a chuckle, reaching up to tuck a piece of hair behind your ear as you gaze at each other. “I felt so bad afterwards that I had been checking you out. Like I was taking advantage of our friendship somehow.”
This was a new kind of openness between the two of you in this little moment of transparent honesty. A reminder for how well you know each other that there are still new things to learn. 
“I remember when you picked me up from the airport, I think it was like the first time we’d seen each other in person in almost a year. And I had this moment when I saw you waiting for me that realized that the boy I had grown up with was very much a man,” you sit back a bit to better look at him, his cheeks were still flushed from earlier. “But god, Bradley, now? Now, you’re devastating.” 
You wanted him to have these parts of you, to fill him in on the things he didn’t know, the things you kept close to your heart. It was your story, but it belonged to him too.
“C’mere,” he murmurs as he wraps his hand around the back of your neck pulling you back into him. Your mouths are a whisper away from each other as you share the same air, and he is looking at you with such open want, “I didn’t realize until recently how much time I spent trying not to think about you like that when you first moved here. And now that I can, you’re the only thing that’s been on my mind. You’re so fucking distracting, sweet girl.”
If you thought you were needy before, now you felt like you’re going to vibrate out of your skin if you didn’t get your mouth back on his right that very second. 
He meets you half way for a desperate kiss. It’s hungry and open-mouthed. You come alive under his touch, his kiss energizes you in a way that no drug or stimulant ever could.
Your hasty, frantic hands landing everywhere. Never content to linger in one place for long. Not when you have so much of his body you are dying to map with your hands. With your mouth. You want to touch him everywhere. You want to taste him everywhere.
You nibble on the fullness of his lower lip, seeking entrance into his warm mouth. He opens for you without hesitation, his tongue ready and waiting to welcome yours. You can still taste the juicy, full-bodied red on him from that long-forgotten bottle of wine.
He says your name on shattered breath, pulling away only long enough to place wet, hot kisses down your neck, down your chest. Your hands are buried in his hair, clutching at his sunkissed waves.
“This damn bow,” he rasps as he roughly pulls at the little bow at the center of your flirty red dress as if it has personally offended him by its very existence. Once untied it reveals a bit more of the swell of your breasts to his eager eyes. 
Your skin feels almost a size too small for your body, and your throat is tight with want. His kisses were like champagne going straight to your head. His hands are the only thing you want touching you.
You don’t mean to let your hips rock against the firm swell of him, but his resounding groan is quite possibly the hottest thing you’ve ever heard in your life. And you know in that moment you need to hear it again, and again. So you roll your hips once more, intentionally this time.
Bradley’s low moan of pleasure makes you feel heady and reckless. You lick a stripe along the underside of his jaw. His hands fly to your ass, sliding under that frilly dress, grasping you with greedy hands when you kiss a spot behind his ear. Even in your frenzied state you file away his response to that for later.
And then you are lost in the feel of his mouth. Of his hands on you. Of your hands on him. Of the taste of the skin of his neck. Of the feeling of the zipper on his tight jeans hitting your clit just right as you writhe on top of him.
It starts as a shiver that makes your whole body erupt in goosebumps as he encourages the rolling of your hips against him. You’ve never felt as cared for, as safe as you do in his arms.
The tingling sensation begins at the base of your neck and like a flicker start it shoots down, down the entire length of your spine setting off in your cunt in spectacular electric bursts.
You spasm deliciously and devastatingly against nothing with Bradley pressed thick and hard against the center of you. The shockwaves gripping your body as you’re left gasping and panting into the hollow of his throat. 
“Did you just...?” he asks urgently. You can’t speak yet so you nod vigorously into his neck. “Fuck. That’s so hot.”
Pressing closer, you try to hide from the intensity you know you would find in his eyes. Burying your face further in his neck as you try to catch your breath. You breathe him in in hopes that his soothing cedar scent will help settle the rapid beating of your heart. 
“Sweet girl, please. C’mon, I gotta see you,” he murmurs desperately. He pulls his head back a bit trying to create more room to get a look at you, attempting to coax you out by brushing your hair back, “I need to see it. Please. Let me see your face.”
You can feel how turned on he is, can hear it in his voice. And you’re feeling truly shy around Bradley for probably the first time in your life.
“I’ve been thinking about what you’d sound like for weeks,” he tells you with such soft sincerity.
“Bradley,” you whisper finally pulling away from the sanctuary that is the crook of his neck. His heated gaze roams your face, drinking you in. He brings a hand up to cradle your cheek, this thumb skimming your lower lip. There are a thousand different emotions coursing through you and you know he can read them all. 
“God, you’re so beautiful. Talk to me, please,” he breathes, “What’s going through your mind? It’s just me.”
You have been so careful trying to skirt around this conversation. It has been the elephant in the room after every date, every heated make out session, every honeyed goodnight kiss. 
And you want him too much to keep avoiding this, even though it scares you.
“That’s just it, Bradley, it’s you!”
“It’s me?” he asks confused.
“Yes! It’s you, it’s me, it’s us. It has never been like this with anyone else. I have never felt like this with anyone else. And the way you look at me sometimes, it’s overwhelming.” You were still feeling flustered from your surprise orgasm, and you know you aren’t expressing yourself clearly. But you feel so flayed open before him.
“Hey, hey,” he says soothingly, “If this is too much for you, we can slow it down. Or if you aren’t feeling it, we figure out how to be just friends again.” He can’t hide the wince on his face as he says it, but you know he honestly means it. “It might take me a couple of decades to forget the way you sounded just now, but we would figure it out together.”
“No, I don’t want that. Don’t you get it? I feel the complete opposite, and that’s the problem!” 
“Ok, wait. You just came on my lap, sweet girl,” Bradley’s voice is unmistakably proud, even as he breathes out raggedly. “I’m trying to get my thoughts in order over here. Because that was the best thing I’ve ever heard and I’m having trouble getting my head on right to talk about this. So as much as I love having you on me, we have to readjust before we can continue.”
You make a noise of protest as maneuvers you both so that he is stretched out across the couch, while you’re nestled securely against the back of his couch and half draped over him.
“Let’s try this again,” he says rubbing small circles on your back, “I don’t want to mess this up by not knowing exactly where we stand with things, you are too important to me. Are you worried it’s going to be weird or that it’s not going to be good?”
“No.” That legitimately never even crossed your mind. But now a seed of doubt had been planted in your already anxious mind, “Are you?”
“Not even a little bit,” Bradley tells you with a shake of the head, “I know it’s going to be good.”
“That confident about your sexual prowess, huh?” It felt easier, safer to make a joke.
“Well, yeah. There’s that,” he hums with a half smirk, “But it’s you and me, kid. It’s gonna be good. How could it not be?”
There’s something about his steadfast sureness that warms your chest.
“Can I tell you what I’m worried about?” He waits for your nod of confirmation before continuing, “I’m worried about how I am supposed to function afterwards. How am I supposed to just get up and go to work in the morning after I’ve had you in my bed? Because once I get to have you like that, I’m never going to stop wanting more with you.”
And there’s the longing again, that pull in your stomach. You want him too, you want him too.
You are comforted knowing that he has things that have been on his mind too, that you’re not alone. Even if the two of you are concerned about two different things. And it was only right that you let him in, you could be unreservedly vulnerable for him. 
“Bradley, it’s been so incredibly good with us. But I’m so afraid that once we take this step, that all I am going to be thinking about is that we could have been doing this for years. That we could have had each other like this for years.” Even the idea of it hurts your heart, at the glimmer of the possibility that you could have gotten to this point with him sooner. “And I don’t want to have any regrets about the way our story has gone up until this point. But I especially don’t want to have any regrets about missing out on time with you.” 
He presses a kiss to your forehead in understanding. 
“Let me ask you this then, would you trade any of it?” he asks as he slides a hand around your neck to tilt your head up to look at him, “Any of the adventures we had when we were younger? Or the weekend visits? Or any of the late-night milkshake runs for it?”
You knew the answer immediately, “No. No, I wouldn’t trade a thing.”
“Then we’re right on time,” he promises sincerely as he skims his thumb along the line of your jaw. “We’re right on time, sweet girl.”
It’s so perfectly Bradley, the way he knows exactly what your heart needed to hear.
And all the extra pressure you had been feeling releases from your body because it’s Bradley.
It’s just Bradley. It’s just you. 
It’s just you and Bradley. 
It’s been that way since you were kids. 
You’ve had him as a friend. You still have him as a friend. But you also get to have more. 
Of course, it’s going to be good.
Of course, it’s going to be right.
Of course, there were going to be what if’s. It was inevitable.
What you weren’t going to do is let yourself dwell on what-could-have-beens or regrets because you have him here and now. And that is more than enough. 
It’s everything. 
You untangle yourself from him to stand up as he watches you apprehensively. Waiting to see what your next move will be.
Standing in front of Bradley, you hold his gaze as you find the zipper on the side your little red dress. All concern leaves his face as you draw it down slowly before him. He doesn’t blink as you let the silky fabric skim down your body, puddling at your feet. And then he is looking at you with open awe and longing. 
Stepping out of it lightly, you confidently make your way to the stairs towards his bedroom.
“Well, are you coming?”
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PART 2
Not to worry, friends! There is more to come! After all, we have to find out what happens once she goes up those stairs!
To those who like to spice up their life a la the Spice Girls, I’ve got more headed your way (and by more, I mean smutttt)! I have a taglist, so let me know if you would like to be added!
I wrote this as a birthday fic for the one and only @gretagerwigsmuse​! (Surprise! See I can be sneaky, even if you already knew about it, haha!) It may be a little late, but I hope it was worth the wait!
Mood board for Part 1
(This is written for part of my ‘Like I Can’ series. You don’t need to read it first, but you might want to. It’s pretty cute! You can check it out here!)
You can check out my other fics here!
Taglist:
@gretagerwigsmuse @sehnsuchts-trunken @notroosterbradshaw @laracrofted @bradshawsbitch @starryeyedstories @top-hhun-main @itscheybaby @prettylittlelauraa @startrekfangirl2233 @marantha @callsign-viper @teacupsandtopgun @itsizzythebell @shanimallina87 @angelbabyange @boltgirl426 @oneelleandaneye @mizzzpink @cornishkat @torres-espana @uzumegui @dont-talk-me-down @fandomunite2107 @alana4610 @20th-centu-fairy-girl @pariahsparadise @pono-pura-vida @donttouchmycarrots @nina-sj @eg-dr3amer3 @whaledots-blog @a-beaverhausen @misty-inferno @angellwingsss @hangmanscoming @mandolin22 @theweekndhistorybook @lilpeekabooze @high-bi-imgonnacry @ahintofkiwistrawberry @mrsdaamneron @ruewrote @spiderman-stilinski @jayniebop @melllinaa @my-soulmate-is-mycroft @mandolin22 @imaginecrushes @soleilgrec @keyrani @chicomonks 
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hyatoro · 11 months
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Augustine Carver
SecondMaleLead!Yandere
Appearance: 6’2”, Ashy blue hair, gray eyes, noble clothing, well dressed, buff. (Picrew image at bottom.)
Setting: Villainess Isekai/Reincarnation Genre style story.
Heads up, the reader made for Augustine is probably the most described one since it’s going to be transmigration. Meaning that the reader will be taking the role of the villainess from the original story. Like literally inhabiting her body. If you want more general reader inserts, you should check out Franklin Russell and Hwang Minsu. Kayden Nguyen also has a more general reader but his is a psychic!reader. 
She won’t be described in extensive detail about her appearance or anything, other than that she’s the image of current trends and has a naturally ‘cold and vicious’ appearance, as is typical of the genre she comes from. 
Augustine was part of a cliche romance story where he played the part of the other strong man in an unnecessary love triangle who the poor little saintess could rely on when the crown prince was off doing whatever. Sometimes he was doing royal duties so that the 2ndML had time to shine, to build up the readers’ affection for the 2ndML. Other times the crown prince was in conflict with the saintess for more story building and relationship growth. 
Basically Augustine Carver’s existence was used as a tool for the growth of the main couple’s relationship. 
He cared about her. Wanted her to be happy. Wanted to win her heart.
And they trampled on his feelings by discarding him for their happily ever after. 
He even went to war for them. Not exclusively because of them, because he’s a reasonable dude who was doing his due diligence as a noble, but him going to war and fighting for the main couple’s ideals was played up a lot in the novel. And though he wasn’t owed affection simply for helping her, the way the main couple threw him away left a bitter taste on his tongue. The way they shoved him out of the way and belittled him so that he couldn’t rise to become a problem for them in the future instead of fairly compensating him for his efforts after the war was over? Disgusting. 
Forced to clean up their mess and then get out of their faces, any amicable feelings he had for the couple, especially since he had grown up as close friends with the crown prince, are extinguished. He’s not stupid. He knew what they were doing, as much as they wanted to play dumb whenever he spoke with them in person. 
Reader, feeling rage and contempt for this, gets fucking yoinked into the world of the story. 
The reader’s soul merges with the Villainess’, making them one and the same with twice the memories. So you’ll see me switch between “you” and “the Villainess” a lot, depending on current and past actions. 
Ages during the story and after story:
Saintess 19 > 22
Crown Prince 20 > 23
Augustine 21 > 24
Villainess 20 > 23
2nd Prince 16 > 19
Setting Details:
Magic is real but sparse. We’re talking 1 in 300,000 kind of thing. Mages are given a lot of prestige, and many get employed by the royal family. Magic powers can range from just being able to light the stove, to massive fire balls, to insane weapons of mass destruction shit. There’s also healing too. 
The Saintess is a figure that’s meant to fight off the miasma. A holy and divine power. Actually not a unique role, which is discovered when you enter the story. The author made it out to seem like it was, but it turns out that it isn’t. 
Background and relationships between characters:
Villainess was the original prospective fiance to the Crown Prince. As the only daughter around his age from a ducal family, it was essentially set in stone that she was going to become the future queen. With latent magical abilities, she kept them hidden, lest there be trouble because of power imbalances between the nobles. She was already going to become the queen, so for her to also be a powerful mage? Shit would’ve gone down. So she keeps it hidden throughout the novel, keeping her family safe from political strife. Though she didn’t care for the Crown Prince romantically, she still thought they were good close friends. Until the Crown Prince becomes smitten with the Saintess and disregards her presence entirely and humiliates her by doing so. Villainess retaliates accordingly, but in typical romance genre fashion, her legitimate critiques are interpreted as harassment. 
In the original story she goes on to be like “Fine. If you’re going to keep believing that I’ve been harassing your precious flower then I might as well have done the things you’re accusing me of.” And she goes on to actually commit to the bit. The reason why she isn't killed or banished is because the Saintess’ role isn’t unique. There are others, Saints and Saintesses. Think of it more like an RPG class. They just weren’t covered in the story. So despite being special and key roles to dispelling the miasma, the Villainess’ bullying is the same as if she were harassing a lesser noble. Still bad, but not enough to warrant such harsh punishment. This is of course, if the story goes according to the novel.
Augustine is also a childhood friend of the Crown Prince, making them and the Villainess a trio from youth. He never really thought of her in any romantic way early on because she was going to become the Crown Prince’s fiance. He knew better than to fall for the future queen. That mentality stuck around, though he is still fond of her as they grow up and go through school, and through life. Though he falls for the charms of the Saintess, he’s still good friends with the Villainess. They have a lot of side conversations too. When he sees how the Crown Prince treats the Villainess after meeting the Saintess he confronts the man. Asks him why the hell he’s doing this to their close friend and his fiance. The Crown Prince then describes the Villainess as a villainess, basically believing all the rumors of how she had harassed people. 
Augustine is skeptical, because while he is fond of the Saintess, he hasn’t fallen so blindly and has faith in his friend. He does clear up the misunderstanding between himself and the Villainess. But he isn’t surprised when she hits her breaking point and actually follows through with the bullying. It’s after she does this that he turns his back on her and falls into the Saintess’ faction. Something he regrets later on. Not because he supported her harsh actions, but because he knew she was coming from a place of hurt and as her friend he didn’t do more for her. Also has a sense of camaraderie cause they were both done dirty by the royal couple, though he knows that their feelings about it are different. 
Also he’s the heir of the Count. Some time between the 3 years of the story he officially becomes the Count. 
The Crown Prince is young and naive. He wanted to feel like a hero and worshiped, but the Villainess wasn’t raised to be anything like that. He does however feel like that with the Saintess, which is how everything spiraled so fast. The Saintess being his first love and his dream girl is what makes him into one of those people that prioritize their romantic relationships above all else. 
The Saintess is a white lotus bitch. She appealed to the Crown Prince intentionally despite knowing of his official engagement to the Villainess. She isn’t a reincarnator or anything of the sort herself. She’s just like that. And because the Villainess can tell that her schemes aren’t elaborate, it’s just a greater insult to her that this clown is meant to become the queen all because the Crown Prince fell head over heels for her. The country is at stake bro. 
There’s also the obligatory 2nd Prince that’s younger than everyone else, but will serve to become the Crown Prince’s replacement once you get your fucking hands on that idiot Crown Prince.
Generic background aside, the reader gets inserted at some point in the story as the Villainess. 
Now, here’s where I have two separate routes for this. Mid or post story. Mid story allows for more interfering with the original story and changes the outcome greatly. Post story means angst and comfort and revenge. I like both so I’ll differentiate between the two depending on the post. 
Mid-story: 
Reader becomes the Villainess after the Crown Prince meets the Saintess and falls for her, your memories mashing together as one. Here, you can either ignore or do something about the Saintess, but regardless, your goal (both mid and post story) is to side with Augustine. The Villainess was never an awful person, pretty great actually, so it’s easy to maintain that reputation and steer things a different way. Those familiar with the genre have probably seen endings where the reader would manipulate the main couple into ruin, which is the most likely route I see both options going. It’s just that one is preventative and the other one is revenge. 
The Villainess remained complacent in terms of reaching out for higher help in the original story because she didn’t want to cause trouble for her family. You as the reader do not care and utilize all the connections to yank those two off their high horse and drag them through the mud. The way you clear Augustine’s eyes is by showing him just how much of a rat the Saintess is in reality. 
The Villainess wasn’t stupid. She just fell into that mindset of “if our years of friendship wasn’t enough to earn your trust, I’m not going to fucking bother.” Which isn’t entirely wrong, but you’re more vindictive so you’re willing to take those extra steps to drive shit home. 
Being the villainess means you have “evil” magic, which is just dark magic. Dark as in darkness and shadow, not evil in nature. You practice and hone your skill and eventually get to a point where you can conjure shadow servants to do your bidding at night. 
Augustine is curious as to why the Villainess has changed, but comes to understand what major event would’ve caused it, and that perhaps she was just lying low all her life (not really but that’s what he thinks). He’s not surprised that the future queen is cunning. He thinks it’s pretty hot, but again, she’s still engaged so he doesn’t really continue that line of thought. 
When his eyes are opened to how badly the Saintess schemes he’s eventually disenchanted by her and joins you on the ‘what the fuck are those two on’ boat. Normally you two wouldn’t be allowed to spend so much time alone together since you were engaged, but because everyone knows the Crown Prince did it first, no one really says anything. Again, you’ve basically kept the Villainess’ reputation intact so if anything everyone is still on your side. 
With everything in motion you start to enjoy your time with Augustine properly. He’s drawn in by you and finds that you are his respite from serving the Crown Prince. He’s charmed. But he grew up with such a strong mental boundary that he shouldn’t see you as anything romantic that he doesn’t know what to do with himself once the engagement gets annulled and the 2nd Prince becomes the Crown Prince. At first he thinks that the engagement between you and the royal family is still in place, only being transferred to the younger brother, but you make it clear that you’re not interested in marrying into the family that disgraced you, and no one can really argue with that. Which is good cause he might of started a coup, even though you were trying to avoid him going into battle.
So now you’re walking through the gardens the night that everything went down, and his mind is whirling because all the feelings he’d held back are now bursting to the surface but old habits die hard and he bites his tongue before he can say anything stupid. 
It’s up to you to make the first move, and when you do he almost collapses out of relief. 
“Oh thank the gods… I didn’t think- I just- Are you sure? Me? You know you’d be marrying down, right?”
“No no no. I’m not refusing. I just- You were always engaged to him so I never-” 
“Yes, I care for you. I feel for you more than I’ve ever felt for anyone. I’d be more than happy to send a formal proposal to your family as soon as I get home tonight.”
War is also avoided in this version because it was initially instigated by the couple. 
Post-Story: 
War is not avoided in this version and he comes home scarred and bitter when he sees what’s there to welcome him back. The couple started to plan their grand wedding as soon as the end of the war was announced. Garish, gaudy, and downright tasteless considering that the efforts should be put into restoration and support for the people. When his so-called friends don’t even greet him all his fantasies of being welcomed back warmly go crashing out the window. He has to schedule an audience with them. Schedule. 
And when he does he’s delegated a lot of the tasks that they should be doing to help the people while they make themselves busy planning their dream wedding that could probably feed multiple cities. 
You as the reader drop into the Villainess’ body at this point. You find out that you’re in the outskirts of the kingdom, laying low and chilling. Ties are tense between her and her family, but they don’t hate her or anything. Just want her to stop causing trouble, which is frustrating considering she’d been doing that all these years until then. 
Once you get settled and used to the new life, you find your way to Augustine, who is also on the outskirts of the kingdom helping the affected areas recover. 
When you two meet again he doesn’t know how to react. He’s not hostile, but the way you casually waltzed back into his life leaves him a bit confused. You look at him and your gaze softens when you see how much he’d been through, reaching to hold his cheek and brushing your thumb across his scars. The ones on his face were minor and would likely heal to the point where they were unnoticeable, but looking down, seeing his sleeves rolled up, you could tell that there was more than what was shown. 
He stiffens when you reach for him, but you’re a familiar face, and you were never really a threat to him, so he gives into his urge to relax into your touch. Deep down, even when he was at war, he missed the Villainess. His good friend. 
Then you welcome him home, thanking him for his efforts in the war, and the man almost breaks down crying right then and there. His throat closes up as he nods, whispering a simple “I’m back,” and a “thank you.”
It’s at this moment that he mentally swears his allegiance to you. He already had time to reflect on how stupid everything was while he was off at war, the distance helping him take a step back and cringe on how ridiculous he was when he was fawning over the Saintess. The guilt and regret mix in with the comfort and familiarity you offer and he can’t find it in himself to deny your outstretched hand. 
You help him with his work. When he tries to stop you, saying that noble ladies aren’t meant for this kind of stuff, you give him a deadpan look and he shuts up. You then explain to him how if he’s good enough for this kind of work then you are too. 
You two spend the time talking and catching up on the time apart. You tell him about your time away from the capital. What you’ve been up to for the past 2 years. He tells you about what happened after you left, how shit went downhill and his time in the war. 
Your reader’s brain knows what happened to him, but hearing him pour his heart out in person just strengthens your resolve to give the couple real hell. The Villainess’ harassment of the Saintess was child’s play compared to what you were going to do to them. 
Similar to the mid-story route you hone your shadow magic and work behind the scenes extensively. You mend your relationship with your family, and even have some audiences with the king. The king still cared for you like his daughter because of how long the engagement was, and he was always understanding of the problem. It’s just that as the king he had to dole out a fitting punishment without any bias, which is why you were banned from entering the capital for years, until the duchy made an appeal for your audience with the king. 
Lots of discussion and political intrigue that I’m too dumb to figure out happened.
The royal couple are on edge, seeing as how you found your way back to the capital and were talking to the king privately, making the two immature rats act out. They were right to be nervous however, as you scheme behind the scenes to rip away every single luxury the Crown Prince had due to popular demand from the people, infuriated with his conduct. 
Augustine is by your side the entire time and was initially on the fence until he discovers that their idiotic plans to essentially lock him away in the outskirts because of the Crown Prince’s jealousy. Then he’s all aboard and adding to your resources. 
The entire time he was appreciative of your efforts and liked spending time with you in between moments. When you brush your hand against his grabbing a pen, or place a hand on his back as you squeeze past him in an alley, his breath hitches and he has to do a mental reset as he reevaluates what he’s feeling. 
Older him is actually more in denial of his own feelings because he wanted to kill off his romantic desires, but you poured oil on the flickering embers and now it’s a full-fledged flame that threatens to engulf him whole. 
When you grabbed his hand and pulled him against you to hide in the shadow of night he had to stop breathing or else the scent of your perfume would drive him insane. The warmth of you pressed against his chest was enough to do it already, and he was barely clinging on by a thread. 
It’s up to you whether you confess before everything is resolved or after. The entire time he’s going to be hopelessly pining and pathetically hiding his feelings until you make that step. 
His claim on you is still like, ridiculously obvious to anyone with eyes. And those without honestly. He’s glued to your side and quick to asserting himself if literally any other suitors present themselves. 
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https://picrew.me/en/image_maker/32223
He doesn’t have the scars mid-story of course. 
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frogboy0 · 14 days
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THE HEAVEN CAST!!!!! WHOOOOOOO!!!!!
So first off, we got a redesign for the Exorcist Angel armor. I wanted to keep the colors light so they stand out when in Hell. I was also hugely inspired by Crusades armor, since the Crusades fought for religious territory, I thought taking inspo from there made sense.
Then we have Lute, Emily, Sera and Adam's designs. I'll explain it all under the cut if you're interested!!!
LUTE!!!!!!!!!! Sorry guys but she's basically a different character with the same name at this point
So I think that Lute was like a mentor figure to Vaggie, she was the closest thing Vaggie had to a (sorta) mom but it's defiantly like a student-master relationship.
I think that Vaggie trusted and cared for Lute deeply, she devoted all her time and energy into training in order to make not only Heaven better, but to make Lute proud. Lute was a HUGE driving force Vaggie's martyr complex.
But they were close!!!! The care wasn't just once sided, I think Lute did love Vaggie. I think they both care for each other SO much, that's why it will hurt SO MUCH when it's LUTE as the one to de-wing and banish Vaggie. She LOVED her, she TRUSTED HER!!!!!
Trust that I will be delving deeper into this in the future ✊✊✊
So Emily and Sera's designs and roles in the story are pretty much the same, I liked them in canon! They were fun and offered an interesting addition to the show!!!!
The main thing I chose to change was basically their hair and skin color tbh. I understand what the show was TRYING to do, w the fact that they're supposed to be black (and apparently those are supposed to be dreads in Sera????) but.......... It wasn't good.
With their canon skin color, I know a lot of angels have gray skin but to me, it looked like the designers didn't know whether to make Sera and Emily (especially Sera) gray or flesh colored, which then resulted in them trying to meet it in the middle and left us with this,,,, really ashy looking black skin in some shots which I didn't like.
I decided to just make them a darker gray so they can both be seen as black and also keep consistent with angels having gray skin :)
ALSO THAT ONE DOODLE WITH EMILY LOOKING AT CHAGGIE, I PROMISEEEEEE THAT SHE DOESN'T LIKE EITHER OF THEM LIKE THAT, I JUST DID IT TO BE FUNNY!!!!!!!!!!!!
(I think the ship is cute but personally, it's not for me ^^)
And finally..... ADAM!!!!!!!!!!!
So like Lute, Adam is basically a completely different character with that same name just slapped on.
I REALLY didn't like him in the show to be honest. I think we was an enjoyable character at times but he's totally like my second to last fav character (with my LEAST favorite being Lucifer LOL). I think it was an interesting take on Adam definitely!! To see him so cocky and full of himself bc of his title but....... It was just very...... Viziepop with the whole "original dick" thing......
Adam is the literal FATHER of humanity!!!? He is EVERYONE'S FATHER!!!!!! I don't understand the point of making him mean aside from the fact that he's supposed to be an opposing force in the show, but even then, just because he's the opposing force, doesn't mean he's gotta be a huge jerk!!!!!
I think it could be more interesting and add more nuisance to the story is Adam WAS this sweet, caring guy who, like the protagonists, is only doing what he thinks is right!
I'll delve more into Adam in my next post BUT everything he does is out of his trust in God and the Seraphims, he trusts them wholeheartedly and despite the fact that the Sinners of Hell were once his children too, he does what he must because his flaw isn't that he's egotistical or an asshole, it's that he cares and trusts with his entire being.
He's also best friends with Kris Kringle
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deacons-wig · 12 days
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I'd prefer if we never got to see the origin of Vault Boy and Vault Tec's branding in the same way I'd rather not get a canon answer of who started the War or how. That's the point of War Never Changes.
Vault Boy is a sinister figure in his cheerful embrace of Armageddon. Giving the Vault Tec brand a face and a name and a backstory feels so unimportant to what is actually interesting about Fallout. What's important to me is the big picture pre war, and the details of what comes after.
What is interesting to me is exploring how propaganda is designed to convince people how close they are to annihilation--or homelessness, unemployment, obscurity, or being The Other and therefore destined to suffer--in hell, in oppressions, being ostracized. Honestly insert any sort of marginalization or suffering here. Crony capitalism uses propaganda to market products designed to manipulate people into buying distance between themselves and that annihilation. Putting themselves "behind the thumb" of Vault Boy, so to speak. Buying a lifestyle. Vault Boy does it with a wink and a smile, inviting those who can afford it to buy their way to safety while using capital and fear to perpetuate the cycle. I don't need the specifics to understand this.
Some ghoulnaysis below the cut:
I'll admit, my initial reaction to pre-war Ghoulgins being the inspiration for Vault Boy was funny! Mr. Cooper Howard, washed up actor experiencing an existential crisis being shoehorned into corporate propaganda that then haunts him for the next 200+ years? Selling manifest destiny, racism, the Rugged Individual, the revisionist history that cowboys were a) white and b) more than a brief footnote in the history of the colonization of North America's west. The commodification of entertainers/creatives/public figures. Selling identities to be packaged into a product that will outlive them? Only to have that person live alongside that role they regret (?) playing... kinda tasty, if we have to give Vault Boy a backstory, though I didn't get a clear sense of his actual feelings about being used as a propaganda guy which I think is a failure of the show to commit to the narrative they set up, which happens with a lot of the show's (lack of) engagement with Fallout's larger themes anyway.
But The Ghoul (stupid name!!! weird and boring choice!!!) is just such an uncompelling and repellent character to me. I love a good bad guy or even anti-hero, but honestly he lacks any interiority. He's an evil karma character (eats people, waterboards and mutilates people, sells people to organ harvesters...like? that literally makes you evil in the games...) but the narrative pushes him as an antihero or someone with gray morality because he what..."likes" dogs? And isn't as decayed or unsettling looking as other ghouls (implying handsome=good or interesting). People aren't afraid of him because he is a ghoul, they're afraid of him because he's evil and will hurt them! Sometimes for no reason! I see the callback to the director telling him to shoot his co-star and Cooper saying he's "the good guy," but is that why he becomes so fucking evil post war? Really?
I don't know why he does what he does other than...the world sucked before and sucks now so he might as well represent the basest of human behavior? That seems to be the thesis of the show--unless kindness and community is engendered (by the vaults, by Management, by a civic government, by corporations) people will descend into chaos.
So why have this poorly executed anti-hero be the origin of Vault Boy? What are the narrative choices being made here? Is it just Rule of Cool?
Personally I would like a pathetic, rotting wet cat of a ghoul, some sort of carved out husk of a washed up movie star either trying to relive his glory days, or avoid them--having given up hope of finding his family after 200 years--being dragged into Lucy's orbit and being constantly reminded of his Vault Boy fame, that she is a walking Vault Girl with her Okey Dokey's and Golden Rule. He'd be a joke, a footnote of the old world. He'd be mean and snarky, even unpredictable and uncooperative--have a public persona of friendly curiosity and a private, cynical one.
Pathetic Ghoulgins would remind audiences of the cost of capitalism and imperialism without resorting to the thesis that war never changes means that people are inherently cruel and will resort to violence, rather than existent corporate and political power structures intentionally create the conditions in which people accept perpetual cycles of exploitation and harm for the sake of their own safety and comfort, despite knowing the cost of maintaining the status quo, and not seeing or believing that distance between the status quo and total annihilation is measured by the smiling thumbs up of a cartoon mascot.
I'm sure there are other ways The Ghoul could have been a successful character as well but.... That's satire. That's interesting. That's Fallout.
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ouroborosorder · 2 months
Note
Do you have an instance of Arknights VFX that gets frequently praised that you as a VFX artist think is mediocre or bad?
EBENHOLZ' SKIN "EINE VARIATION" IS A CRIME AGAINST ME SPECIFICALLY.
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Look. I love Ebenholz, a lot. His effects are really strong, too! Some of my personal favorites. But this skin. Jesus Christ this skin.
I have seen so many people praising this skin as having good effects or being better than his original and it genuinely makes me wonder if half of the effects are actually rendered in some sort of shrimp colors that everyone but me can see.
There is not a single part of this skin's effects that I don't hate. Not just because I find them ugly, uninteresting, and unclear, but because I think they fundamentally misunderstand who Ebenholz is.
You asked for this.
Part 1 - The Colors.
The actual art for his skin has a beautiful striking blue and light gray background, with the light pink Arts accentuating it, and then the blood red and pitch black of his outfit meant to draw the eye to the center. This works perfectly in the art, so what's wrong?
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First problem. Ebenholz doesn't have the blue background in gameplay. Meaning that his effects are red (not pink, like the art, they are red) and his skin is red. So there's extreme monochrome happening, with absolutely no interesting contrast between him and his Arts. His Elite Charge is blue, at the very least, so his signature gimmick stands out uniquely, which is quite nice! That's a great decision that won't cause any problems down the line at all.
"Oh, but Keys, it's so that the red Arts stand out when he uses his S3 and summons that giant goat spirit in the background!" That's a great point, person I just made up. Please remember this excellent point for later.
Part 2 - General Effects
The effect starts with a deploy animation wherein Ebenholz is surrounded by sparkles like some sort of magical girl. The deploy effect is genuinely bad in so many ways, mostly related to timing and motion, but this rant is going to be long enough. And I'm gonna need to focus and talk about the sparkles.
The biggest thing to know about Eine Variation is this image. Get acquainted with it. If there was a recurring visual motif in Eine Variation, it is this piece from the original art.
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And yeah, as an effects artist, I'd be amped to work on this. This looks fucking sick as shit. It's dynamic, it's chaotic, it's got harsh lines to contrast the flowing music staff, it's great. So let's see how this texture looks in g- okay what the fuck.
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In the game, it looks nothing like the art. It's literally just the stock glimmer effect. It's not even a new texture. This thing's been in the game since release. It looks. Bad. It's way too simplistic. Because it wasn't meant to be the center of attention, it's meant to appear for an instant and then fade. Like, you know. A glimmer.
What you just saw in the screenshot above is one of Ebenholz' Mystic Caster charges. And it is easily my least favorite part of the entire skin.
Ebenholz (Original Flavor)'s Mystic Caster charges has one of my favorite visual touches in the entire game. Ebenholz fights using artifacts from the Witch King whose power he inherits - a wand and a set of five Originium dice. So he wields the wand, and has die rotate around him as he fights. In-game, they represent this by his charges being the dice, rotating around his hand. This is, as we say in the vfx industry, fucking badass. So naturally they removed the dice entirely in Eine Variation.
Fuck.
Fine, alright. Maybe it's him... moving further from the Witch King's influence, then? We'll go with that hey stop looking at his S3 what are you doing don't get ahead of me.
Now, I know what you're thinking. "hey, Keys, this is unfair. You're asking us to judge an animated effect based on a static picture of it." Well, my dear reader, I have bad news. You just saw the entire charge's visual. The whole thing.
They are a glimmer of light that does not pulse or twinkle. They just. Sit there. Floating. Again, it's just so simplistic, it's not even interesting to talk about.
The only good thing I can say about it is that it's way easier to tell how many charges he has since they're bigger, more spread out, and not moving. Also the Elite charge is WAY more distinct, since it's bright blue now to contrast with the red normal charges. Which is nice! A good decision! It would sure be a shame if it bit them in the ass later!
Part 3 - Attack and Skill 1
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Did you think I was kidding when I said that the sparkles are the sole visual motif in this skin?
I hate these attack trails. Not only are they too simplistic, they're just too cute. I joked about magical girls before, but dear god, this just doesn't fucking look right. This skin is literally described as him being apathetic and miserable as a noble, so why are the effects so... Colorful and cute? Ebenholz isn't a cutesy goofy music-themed magical girl, Ebenholz is a sad gay goth kid who would create a fake My Immortal confession for attention.
I also hate the musical notes. I know I complained about the glimmers being too one-note (pardon the pun), but they just don't interact with the rest of the effect at all. There's nothing else musical about what is happening here. They feel added to remind you that he is casting music.
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God I fucking hate the sparkles so goddamned much. I also find it really funny that one single musical note bursts forth with each hit. These shapes are just... So boring, so simple. But put a pin in that for a later.
His S1 uptime comes with an awful aura. he glows red. There is only red and white. this is all there is. This is all there will ever be. That's all I've got about S1.
Part 3 - Skill 2
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Oh jesus go back to the red and white
First off, I find these goat so fucking ugly. The synths are a truly terrible choice, because synths and digital music don't come up in any capacity throughout the rest of the effects. So. Great work. This doesn't make sense.
Anyway I hate the color here. The original has a great two-tone black smoke with bright blue glowing eyes, contrasting with Eben's orange Arts. In the skin they slapped an awful blue glow haze over them. This makes them just completely draw visual attention, while they don't match up with Ebenholz' aesthetic at all. if you could see the black, there would be a clear visual link between them, but... Nope. It's ONLY blue, motherfuckers.
Also, they passively emit triangles, which is the only time in this entire effect that the Arts = Geometric Triangles visual idea appears in the entire skin based around an arts caster. Yay for recurring game-wide motifs!
Shockingly, I hate the explosion. It's passable, it's fine. But the timing is absolutely awful. The original's feels like an explosion that is pulling the target in, but the skin's feels like an explosion followed by absorption. It makes it feel less like an explosion and more like a contrivance. Also, it spawns only like, four notes total, which is just so low. Please have more notes, you even have the musical staff, you're so close to having this look like musical arts. I also hate the random swirl of red. The goat didn't have any red in it. Why does this have red. Monochrome would have actually worked better, this is just a summon.
Part 4 - Sound of Silence
Eine Variation S3 features Ebenholz getting hoverhanded by a goat.
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I wish I had any other way to put it. But he gets hoverhanded by a goat for the entire uptime of this attack.
What even is this thing? Obviously, it's the goat behind him in his splash art, but what is it? Is it the Witch King? That would make sense, but why is the Witch King's avatar blue? The Witch King has literally never been blue, he's always been associated as being red. Unless this isn't The Witch King, in which case, what the fuck is it then?
I hate this effect more than anything else in this game. The ghost looks absolutely awful. it is very blatantly just the art from the actual skin, slapped behind him with no regard for aesthetic consistancy. Or even regard for if the image is readable at the distance Arknights is played at. The goatghost.jpg is not animated at all, but the hands move up and down, which weirdly only further reveals how static the ghost is. Also the hands aren't animated outside of going up and down which is just so uncanny and uncomfortable. It just reveals how desperately they needed to have some animation to make it not look like absolute hot garbage, and they still failed.
After an entire skin of absurdly simplistic geometric shapes and basic ass textures, suddenly they think they can pull off some shit that looks like a granblue render. This doesn't even look in-line with the rest of the skin's effects, let alone with the chibi artstyle.
Now. Why I truly, truly hate this attack.
When you activate S3, all of Ebenholz' Charges become Elite charges. Meaning they all become blue.
The charges all finally become blue.
In the only part of the skin where you have a blue background.
I just. I can't figure out how you'd fuck this up this bad. If the Elite Charges were red, it would look like the fucking skin art, with the red notes on the pink staff. They'd stand out, or at least look fucking decent. How many charges does Ebenholz have? Oh I don't know THEY'RE FUCKING BLUE ON BLUE.
WHY. WHY ANY OF THIS. WHY ALL OF THIS. I'M IN HELL. THIS WAS MADE TO TORMENT ME PERSONALLY RIGHT
anyway I will give credit where credit is due. I actually quite like the trail when he casts his stocks in S3.
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The slight orange two-tone and complicated trails add a lot of nuance and depth to the effect, and the glimmer is toned down to the point where I can see the diamond shape hidden underneath. There is one singular silver lining to this cloud. It could use more musical touches and less fucking sparkles but at this point I need to compliment something.
Finale - Why Do I Give A Shit
Eine Variation launched as part of the Bloodline of Combat skins that came out with Lone Trail. It released alongside Specter the Unchained's Born as One; my personal favorite skin in the entire game. It is a skin that perfectly conveys Laruntina's love of natural beauty and Specter's love of poetry and recitation, bringing them together into poems reflected in a starry lake. The effects are serene and dreamlike, peaceful yet chaotic. It conveys who they are going into the future, who they are together.
Born as One is Bloodline of Combat at its best. Bloodline of Combat is at its best when it tells you something about who this character is at this part of their life. How they change, how they grow, how they look at the world in this point of their life. This is the story that good effects can tell.
So I ask you: What story does Eine Variation's effects tell?
If this an Ebenholz who is growing further from the Witch King's legacy into his own man, then why does the avatar of the Witch King appear behind him? Why does the flavor text describe this as clothing worn by every Graf Urtica? Why does it not lean further into the synth aesthetic to separate himself from the classical music of Leithanien?
If this is an Ebenholz who is currently stuck within the confines of nobility, why is he not wielding the dice associated with his title as Graf Urbica? Why do his fucking goats have synths instead of traditional instruments? Why is the Witch King the wrong color?
And most importantly to all of this: Why are all the shapes so simple?
Yes, Arknights' Arts are geometric. They're usually represented by simple triangles. This is true. But think about who Ebenholz is.
Ebenholz is not a simple and elegant person. Ebenholz is a man who nails complicated, difficult, strange flute solos, but who fails to do simple rhythms and scales. He excels at the complex, the elaborate, and the detailed, and fails at the simplistic. This is always how Ebenholz has been.
So a skin full of simple shapes, easy language, and flat colors... Isn't how he'd fight. It's not who he is. It's not how he'd act. It doesn't just feel wrong, it feels like it's not made for him.
I don't just hate this skin because I think its effects are bad. I mean, I do, and they definitely are.
I hate this skin because it just... Fundamentally does not understand who Ebenholz is. And it definitely does not understand why he is so special.
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coryosmin · 3 months
Text
nsfw | mdni | part two of this blurb
warnings: mutual masturbation, pinv, fem!reader x best friend! perv! sejanus, unprotected sex
the following days after sej had walked in on you changing had been a bit awkward. he kept avoiding your gaze when you talked with him at the academy, he avoided being alone with you for long periods of time, and whenever you’d ask him to come over, he’d give excuses. and to be frank, you were fed up. sej was your best friend above anything else. above him being attracted to you and above you being attracted to him.
so when you walked to the plinth’s apartment on a mission, you walked there on a mission. it was a saturday so you guys didn’t have school at all. you were dressed in a simple casual dress. you knocked on the door of the plinth’s apartment and a maid answered, immediately welcoming you inside the apartment. Ma and Strabo Plinth weren’t there you realized. But you knew sej was because the maid wouldn’t have let you in otherwise.
so you walked over to sej’s room and knocked on the door. you heard the faint “come in” of sej’s voice. you walked into his bedroom, seeing sejanus laying on his bed reading a book. he was dressed in a pair of gray sweatpants and a sweatshirt as he laid on his lush pillows. “oh!” his eyes widened as he saw you. “i-i didn’t know you were coming,” he said, his cheeks immediately going red.
“would you have even answered if you knew i was coming?” you scoffed, rolling you eyes as you closed the door behind you. you walked up to his bed, standing at the end of it with your arms crossed. “you’ve been avoiding me.” you said bluntly. “and i don’t like it.”
sejanus looked up at you, biting his lip. he closed the book he was reading, placing it on his lap. “you’re right,” he said slowly. “i have.”
you frowned. “why?” you asked, whispering. his avoiding you clearly affected you more than you had originally realized.
sejanus took a deep breath. “i-“ he began. “after what had happened… i felt embarrassed.” he exclaimed, sighing. “i literally came in my pants from just seeing your boobs. that’s just so embarrassing.” he sighed, rolling his eyes as he thought about himself doing that. “i felt like you would’ve made fun of me for it.” sejanus admitted, looking down at his hands.
your gaze softened as you looked at sejanus. “sej, i would never make fun of you for something like that,” you exclaimed, your voice tender as you spoke to him. “i-i actually found it really hot.” you stuttered.
sejanus’s eyes widened as he looked at you. “really?” he said, looking up at you.
you licked your lips, nodding your head. “yes really.” you said. you were already admitting you found it hot, why not admit some more things? “god when you left, i touched myself so much that night.”
sejanus let out a shaky breath as you said those words, an obvious bulge forming in his sweatpants. “fuck,” he whispered under his breath.
you bit your lip, looking down at his crotch before looking back in his face. “i-i could show you,” you offered, playing with the hem of your dress.
sejanus inhaled sharply as he realized what you were insinuating. he nodded his head. “i-i’d like that,” he replied, moving over in his bed so that you could lay down next to him.
you smiled a bit shyly at him as you pulled off your dress, revealing your black laced undergarments. sejanus let out a small whimper as he saw you, unable to help it from escaping his mouth. you smiled at the sound as you unclasped your bra, tossing it onto the floor before taking your panties off. you looked at sej before laying down next to him. “i’m a bit nervous,” you murmured.
“you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.” sejanus said genuinely.
you shook your head. “i want to.” you replied. “but…maybe you could do it too?”
sejanus nodded his head. “of course.” he murmured. he grabbed his shirt, taking it off of his body and throwing it to the side before doing the same with his sweatpants.
you looked down at his cock, feeling yourself get wetter. he was so girthy and you couldn’t help but let out a shaky breath. licking your lips, you spread your legs. you pressed your thigh against sejanus’s as you brought your right hand down to your pussy, spreading your wetness around. “am so wet for you, sej.” you said softly.
sejanus watching you, let out a soft groan. he brought his hand down to his cock, gripping himself. “yeah?” he replied.
“mhm.” you replied. you began to slowly rub your clit, turning your head to look at sejanus. his face was right next to yours as you guys laid next to each other. sejanus began to move his hand up and down his shaft slowly. “always wet for you.” you murmured as you continued to rub your clit.
“fuck,” he whispered, his eyes fluttering shut. his hand continued to move up and down, jerking himself off. “am always so hard for you,” he said, opening his eyes to look at you again.
your inserted a finger into yourself, causing you to let out a soft moan. you thrusted your finger in and out of your pussy, the sounds of how wet you are filling up the room. sejanus looked down at your hand moving in and out of you. he licked his lips before looking at your eyes. you added another finger, curling them inside of you. you let out another moan, causing sejanus to shutter.
“oh fuck,” you moaned out, thrusting your fingers in and out of yourself, hitting your g-spot. you moved them a bit faster.
sejanus followed your pace, jerking himself off a bit faster as well. “fuck,�� he moaned, still looking at you.
“wish it was your cock, sej.” you moaned, your free hand cupping your left boob. “wanna fuck you so much.” you massaged your nipple.
“fuck, baby,” sej moaned, closing his eyes. the term of endearment just slipping past his lips. but you whined, loving the name. “wanna fuck you too. make you cum on my cock.”
“wanna cum on your cock so bad,” you whined, fucking yourself with your fingers.
sejanus moaned, opening his eyes to look at your face again. you looked so pretty. your cheeks were flushed, your hair sprawled out on his pillows. you were oh so wet. sejanus leaned in to kiss your lips, gently pressing his lips against yours as you both continued to get yourselves off. you kissed him back, stopping your movements to focus on kissing sejanus.
sejanus took his hand off of his cock, caressing your cheek as he kissed you. your lips were so soft and warm, he felt like he was on cloud nine. your fingers left your pussy as you used your hand to caress his cheek as well making your juices go on his cheek.
sejanus leaned into you, adjusting himself so he was on top of you while he kissed you. you let out a soft moan of contentment, wrapping your arms around his neck. he pulled away from the kiss, holding himself up with his hands. “gonna fuck you,” he whispered to you.
you nodded your head. “please do,” you responded.
sejanus gave you a small smile as he brought his hand between your bodies, guiding his cock to your entrance. “fuck, you are soaking wet,” he groaned as he let the tip rub across your pussy before easing himself into you with a moan.
you moaned back, closing your eyes in pleasure. you hadn’t felt so full in awhile. “fuck, you’re so big inside of me, sej,” you moaned.
sejanus let out a shaky breath. “you’re so tight around me, baby,” he said, leaning into to kiss you again.
as you guys kissed, sejanus began to thrust his hips slowly, relishing in the feeling of your pussy on his cock. your walls were so tight, he felt oh-so-good. he pulled away from the kiss to bury himself in the crook of your neck, kissing it and sucking on your pulse point.
you moaned loudly as his cock moved inside of you. he felt so good inside of you, stretching you out exactly how you had hoped. “f-faster,” you stuttered, your leg wrapping around him to bring his cock deeper inside of you.
sejanus moaned against your neck, moving his hips faster causing his cock to go deeper. you moaned loudly as he hit your g-spot, arching your back. he brought a hand to massage your boobs as he pulled away from your neck to look at your face. “you’re so pretty, baby. gonna make you feel so good, so so good.”
you whined at the praise, enjoying the words that sejanus spoke to you. “feels so good, sej,” you said. “am so close, so so close.”
“me too, baby, me too.” he moaned, kissing your lips.
he moved his hips faster, chasing both of your orgasms. you felt yourself orgasm approaching quickly causing you to pull away from the kiss to throw your head back in pleasure. sejanus began to nip at your neck, feeling his orgasm approaching as well.
your body began to quiver as you came, your walls clamping down on sej’s cock. you let out a high pitched moan while you came. sejanus moaned as well, cumming inside of you with ropes and ropes of cum.
and when the two of you came down from your highs, sej pulled out and laid down next to you. both of you were breathing heavily. you looked over at sej who looked over at you. no words were spoken as you guys looked into each other’s eyes.
and then you both began to laugh together. because you both just fucked your best friend.
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beargyufairy · 3 months
Text
Just My Thoughts Pt. 7
Natsu’s Growth
I’ve been disappointed a few times at how Hiro Mashima writes his characters and plot. But never have I ever been as disappointed as I was when I read this panel in the 100 YQ.
For reference, Natsu made a joke about disinfecting Lucy’s burns. It was not even a funny joke. I don’t think anyone laughed. Lucy was burned after trying to calm Natsu who consumed Ignia’s flames to battle against the water dragon god. While he did succeed in the fight, he lost control of himself and was stumped by the flames.
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This is such a disappointing situation when it comes to Natsu and his development as a character. Everything he experienced in the original manga/anime is put to shame. It’s like his growth as a person disappeared into thin air. I mean come on!! Is Mashima being serious right now?! Because am I supposed to believe this is the same Natsu who wouldn’t let Gray use Ice Shell on more than one occasion?! Natsu knows the consequences of Ice Shell and refuses to let that happen to Gray no matter how dire the circumstances are. Even though Gray and Natsu would never admit it, their relationship is unique and filled with love. They may be rivals and opposite (considering the ice/fire, demon/devil slayer attributes) but their friendship has grown so much since the start of Fairy Tail. Doesn’t this show how considerate Natsu is?! How important the lives of his friends is to him?
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If that isnt enough here’s another example. When Erza was sacrificing herself in the Tower of Heaven arc, Natsu refused to let her go and eventually saved her. Erza is important to him and Fairy Tail. He wants her to live on. Doesn’t this show how much Natsu cares about everyone?! Is he making a joke about Erza?! No he isn’t.
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Okay fine those examples aren’t about Lucy right, so why does it matter?! Because Natsu would never joke about burning his friends, accident or not. And if it’s about Lucy, then most definitely not. Lucy is probably the member of Fairy Tail he cares about the most (aside from Happy). When Future Lucy died, Natsu almost went completely rogue (pun intended, if you know what I mean). He even stated that something precious was taken from him. Furthermore, when Lucy was “dead” during the Alverez arc, Natsu lost it. Literally, he became END, the demon everyone fears, the strongest creation of Zeref, the black wizard. Lucy’s life was so important to him that without it, there was nothing holding him back. He even stated that he can’t be stopped after having flashbacks about her supposed death.
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Natsu couldn’t care less about the world ending. He wanted to fight the people that made Lucy cry. That’s what he was focused on. And so after all this, Mashima wants me to believe that Natsu would joke about burning Lucy?! Yeah, I don’t think so. After everything Natsu went through, he would’ve at least felt guilty. Considering that it was Lucy of all people he burned, he would’ve apologized over and over again. Why?! Because she’s so important to him. He literally became a demon when he thought she died!! Isn’t that proof enough?! I also think that he would feel so grateful to her. This isn’t the first time Lucy helped Natsu control himself. She’s always there for him. But Natsu has never lost control like this before. Did Natsu ever properly thank Lucy for saving by rewriting the book of END?! He’s literally only alive because of her. She tampered with a demonic force and black magic yet Lucy is so damn under appreciated that it pains me!!
If the goal was to lighten the situation considering the intensity of the battle against the water dragon god and Ignia’s involvement, a joke that doesn’t make Lucy’s burn seem pathetic would’ve been better. A joke about anything else would’ve been better. Seriously, Lucy knew the consequences of trying to stop Natsu, especially when noting that she was scared of his flames for the very first time. She did anyway because she cares about Natsu and knows that she can help him, even if it means she will get burned. I would also like to note that Lucy never actually saw Natsu as END. She arrived after he gained some sense of control. Considering everything, if Hiro Mashima doesn’t make up to me by having her fear of Natsu’s flame and her lack of experience with END play into the story I’m gonna be so mad. Since he already disappointed me with how he’s treating Lucy’s injury/burn, I really hope he plays the rest of the story properly.
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I’m very disappointed in how not only Natsu’s character is being portrayed and downgraded, but also how Lucy is yet again the butt of the joke. She does so much for her team and friends but is always ignored (I’m still upset about Aquarius’ sacrifice that’s not talked about enough).
Thank you for listening.
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haechurch · 1 year
Text
forgetting me, forgetting you
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It's not the way that jeno doesn't look at you the same. It's not the way of him chasing after a girl and leaving you behind in the evening downpour. It's not the way jeno said he didn't even love you that night. It's just nothing but your broken heart.
pairing: idol!jeno x fem!reader
genre: smut, fluff (kinda), angstt
wc: 4.8+k
warnings: minors dni, unprotected sex, oral (m, f receive), spitting, kind of meanie jeno, implied exhibitionist, degrading, praising, spanking, teasing, fingering, tons of pet name, hard and soft sex, etc etc, you know when i said idol and fan relationship its just so unreal as well as how their jobs work lmao ((i had a problem to make this at least a lil bit realistic) also not seem too delusional but- just pls dont @ me, i mean its a fic)
! how embarrassing that this shit got posted accidentally (i hate tmblr) my pupils were literally shaking lol. for those who might accidentally saw this (i know theres not even a soul who cares abt it..) ofc i had this to be revised also its inspired by rv song, in my dreams, (originally the title for this one but i changed it!) i might also have songs recommendation, its [coldplay-yellow > conan gray-astronomy > yoari-dice game > exo-hurt > davichi-forgetting you > red velvet-in my dreams]
Everything was pandemonium from the start. You saw jeno in person for the first time in the concert venue. Yes. He is the singer. That singer. A born-talented, handsome, lovable idol from nct. He didn't even know you were there, in the crowd of audience hyping his band up. Never in your dreams you thought you'd met him in person, but fate brings you two together. It was what you believed until then. Fate brings your jeno who has never been yours in the first place to kindly remind you that he will never be yours even at the end of the time.
You worked hard for your pay. You work as an employee (that mostly work for dreamies) under jeno's company after you earned your post graduate title while studying in korea. That point when you made it out, you never even thought that this was a real chance to finally get him.
That's just insane, to get lee jeno, in a somehow, romantic way. But you tried anyway. Ordinary person with an extraordinary person? Or can you just say idols and fans relationship? That jeno from all the people living on this earth? Mostly impossible. Those who live around you will think you're crazy for wanting someone who literally exists in a different world from you. Even though you're 'coexisting' with him and seeing him from time to time, that would not be enough; so near yet so far.
It's so hard to work under the company and let it flow at first. Without a will, you'll never get what you want. Even though this one is nearly impossible, you attempt to keep the mindset that revolves around you: it will work if you try, try, try and try.
But it's useless. Who do you think you are? You can't even be allowed to speak nor get close to him except if it's necessary. It's hard to work with him like a normal acquaintance. To them, to jeno, you're simply invisible. 
However, you did make it clear enough. No surrendering. That's the least you can keep in mind. 
But again, he didn't even spare you a glimpse.
Then there was this day when you two were put together in the same dressing room, waiting for some interviews coming up. There's actually no reason for you to not share the same room because technically, you're their regular staff. The rest of the members and other staff were nowhere to be found, it was you and him. You and jeno all alone in the same room. You nearly choked yourself when you were about to open your mouth as jeno scooted to where you sat. 
"Hi." He lightly started the conversation. You swear to god you can hear your own heartbeat. Keeping yourself calm and professional, you hum and put the sweetest smile to him. "Hello."
"I'm so sorry if i sound rude, but i believe we're around the same age? I've been seen you around and i just knew you're a regular staff in here," you intensely stared at him, eyes widened in disbelief that he just casually- 
"We can be friends if you wan-" 
"We can?!"
-asked you to be his friend.
Realizing you just replied to him in 0,023 seconds, you covered your mouth and muttered 'sorry' to him. He just laughed. Oh. That laugh.
That's when you feel like you two were 'getting closer' as he asked you to be his friend for some idiotic reason (u really have no idea why the universe would gave you this kind of, miracle, you'd say, but you're fucking grateful).
Of course you can be friends with everyone. Also a staff (fan) and an artist couldn't be an exception, right? But once again who are you kidding, lee jeno is super busy, and you should know it could probably the friendship that only lasts for four hours.
You didn't meet jeno for weeks and you missed him so bad. Sometimes you got to talk to him after he befriend you (tho it happens only if you had that rare chance) but both of you didn't get a long time to properly talk and have a good conversation. And it's been a long time, you just missed him.
Did he perhaps miss you too? Did he ever think about you even just for a split second? You shake your head from the thoughts and scoff at yourself. He probably already erased you from his memory. And that night, you drifted into a deep slumber whilst thinking about how he wouldn't remember you.
But you were dead wrong. That day was very hot because apparently, it's in the middle of summer, and you were called for a job in a broadcasting house which happened to be the same place for the band to attend their schedule.
You're standing in front of a vending machine, getting a drink when you hear someone call your name. You turned around and found jeno, looking at you with his smiling eyes.
"Jeno!? What are you doing here?" You can't hide your pearly whites when you see him, so please meet him again after a while.
"We're having some jobs here. How about you?" He asked. 
"Um, me too! But mine's still running, i take a little coffee break right before come back to the site. Have you finished yours?"
"Yes, actually," jeno scratched his nape awkwardly before he continued. "Uhh, do you perhaps want to meet me after you are done? Just for a sec?" He asked.
"Sure! I'll text you when i'm done?" 
Yes, you both are having each other's numbers but can't even communicate a single thing through it. He didn't text you. And you, being the one who shamelessly asked for his numbers which he gladly gave it, never once texts him because as you can see, you're being professional enough to keep your words that it's only for the matter of work.
"Cool." You both smiled to each other and stood awkwardly for a good seconds until jeno left. 
So, did he just wait for you until you're done because he said he just finished his schedule? Is that even possible for him to do that?
The answer is yes. Though with a little bit of delay. He asked you to meet him after you're done, just to have you wait for him in the nearby cafe for nearly 20 minutes.
Jeno: uhh hi its jeno
Jeno: im so sorry for keeping you waiting
You: oh hii
You: nah its okayy not a biggie
Jeno: its the manager hyung, i told him i have to go somewhere but you know its hard to cooperate with them :/
Jeno: look i promise it will just need to b arranged real fast okay
You: okaaay i know youre busy you can really take your time tho
Jeno: so sorry ;(((
You: jeno its fine :*
You: :(
Jeno: thanjk you for the understanding ;)
Jeno: ill be there in.. 5 mins?
You: ill be here waiting!
You were smiling like crazy reading his texts. All you did was blushing and heart skipping while replying to him. He was so cute. And it's the first time you guys exchange texts. And he did it first! (how its a big deal for you)
Then there he is. Entering the cafe with a little skip and making a bee line to your table then sit down in front of you. 
"Right on time." He said jokingly. You just chuckled at him.
"Sooo what's up? What is it that you wanted to talk about in your very packed schedule, busy bee?"
He exhaled harshly before replying. "Nothing. Just wanna get out and have some fresh air."
He averted his gaze to yours before continue, "with my new friend." 
You raised one of your eyebrows at the boy. "Yeah? I thought you already forgot me because i was just simply a girl that worked at your company," you talk as you fold your hands.
"Why would i? I'll remember you anyway. You once fell in front of me when you were about to open some door and that actually was funny as hell. Shouldn't laugh but i can't help it. Oops. Should have not told you this part too..."
Your face heated in a second, and yes, you did that and it was humiliating and you felt very stupid. That time you were about to enter the conference room at the company building, but jeno (also the other members were there) was opening the door at the same time, unfortunately you stumbled on your feet and ended up kneeling at his.
He take a glance at you again then continue. "And you're pretty pretty."
You immediately looked up to him. You can't explain how his sudden confession affect you so much and leave your heart throbbing like crazy. 
Fortunately you can keep your act.
You chuckled and replied, "and what's that supposed to mean."
"I'm just saying that you're beautiful." 
He surely knows how to mess with your heart.
"And i'm getting worried that your eyes might have a problem," you laughed, more to laughing at yourself.
"No. I meant it."
You looked at him again, flustered, and he smiled when he saw you taken aback. A mischievous smile to be exact.
"Are you flirting with me?" Of course you were kidding. Asking that kind of question sounds nonchalant, even have no shame. But you had nothing to lose anyway.
"Would you accept it?" 
You blinked rapidly, your heart beating so fast in your chest, your palms were sweaty. He got you questioning yourself on how you can not fall for him even more? It's getting even deeper every minute you spend your time with him. He's dangerous. 
You were stunned for a moment. You felt like your cheeks burned, they're emitting flame. Your head short circuited for a while yet all you can think about is jeno. Jeno jeno jeno and jeno. The moment you can't hold it back from spilling, you just let it burst.
"I like you." 
Oh, you don't even care anymore about your image. The moment you spit that you felt like the most stupid, dense person alive on earth.
"I know." 
He responded in a heartbeat, and you felt fire burn a hole into you.
"You what?"
"I said i know. I noticed. And i do to."
"I'm so lost." You started to believe that you're out of your mind.
"I'm saying that i like you too."
Your pupils doesn't even falter when you stare at his face. You might just scream or gasp or even cry, but you were too stunned to speak, the way you were so calm also surprised yourself. You shake your head as you doubt your hearing and gave him a bitter smile.
"You're joking."
"Yes." 
Your eyes widen from his answer. He's such a prankster. 
"Jeno!"
He laughed. His laugh is so carefree but feels shy at the same time, that is just screaming lee jeno so much.
"So what am i supposed to say? You already heard me."
"I'm just trying to seek clarity." You narrow your eyes playfully. Now you don't even know where the confidence in you came from.
"You're my clarity." 
Now that sounds straight up came from a song lyric.
This whole time you think that you're crazy for wanting lee jeno, but here you are having a little cafe date and knowing him to have the same feeling as you are.
-
"Ah!" you squeal as your head thud against the hard surface.
"Sorry," jeno apologized as he giggled, then continue to peppering kisses down your neck.
Both of you were alone in a room at the backstage, making out like crazy before he bring you to the nearest table and pin you down. You sigh blissfully, thanking heaven every time your bodies this close, that you finally have jeno for your own and not anybody else. It's not the first time that he finally touched you, but every single one of his touches feels like the first time.
Oh, of course that didn't just happen in a night. He's been so sweet and kind to you that you mistaken his deed as something more than platonic relationship.
He bought you food. He told the manager to drop you off at your apartment at night when the schedule's over. You both go to the staff's cafeteria and eat lunch together. You offer him to go cycling together when he's off, and he did. He lent you his airpods when you lost one. You brewed his morning coffee. He called you one night and said that he's missing you. You asked him if you can do the same, texting or calling him as a normal friend would do despite both of your jobs. And that one night where he sneaked out to your apartment just to say that he wanted you.
That moment you thought everything is indeed possible. 
"Jen! Wait!"
He's currently railing you stupid at the backstage.
Now both of your hands were on the wall, legs spread open for him to easily pound you from the back. 
"Shit, this pussy's so tight." He slowed down, dragging his cock precise and keen, watching how his length appeared then disappeared inside your pussy.
"You like that baby?"
Your ears are buzzing, eyes fluttering, you only mewl and all you can hear is squelching sounds from how wet your pussy is before he sped up, skins clapping resonated all over the room.
When you didn't answered, he stopped and brings your hair to a ponytail then yanked your head up so your back is now against him as he whispered, "i said, am i fucking you good, little slut?" Well he can be cruel sometimes, but both of you know his mouth isn't that dirty on daily basis. He's just having his moment.
"Fuck yes," you finally speak.
Jeno railed into you again, he prop you to stand up, right hand on your hip, clamping so hard it'll leave bruises, and left hand grasping at your jaw to make you face him, his lips ghosting between your ear and lips, heavy breathing and all.
When he brushed against your earlobe, he whispered right onto your ear, "open your fucking mouth."
You obliged, as he bent your neck back and you presented all of yourself in front of him, he spit into your mouth. "Perfect. Keep it there like a good girl you are." 
Jeno started to pick up pace again, this time hitting your spot deliciously over and over, sending you to the cloud nine.
You agape as you moan, all while your mouth full of your and his spit, nonetheless making an effort to keep jeno's words but you're already drooling all over your chin.
"J-jen.."
"Shh, no need to say a thing baby girl, keep your pretty mouth shut."
Jeno suddenly lift you up and prop your back against the table. He's hovering over you, tapping your cheek, oblige you to open your mouth again, and spit another glob into yours.
"Now keep that warm and safe, you could do that, right angel?"
He asked and you only nodded in response. "That's it. Now let me make you feel good."
He spread your dangling legs by pushing on your thighs then dragging his hard and big cock along your slit, making a quite lubrication.
You're a whiny mess, never in your life you thought you'd have sex with lee jeno in a random room on their backstage, and he's pretty wild at the moment.
Before you can process a thing, he's already on his knee, eating you out slowly. You tug at his hair and hoist your hip up, but he's keeping you in place. He's taking his time, kitten licking at your opening with a slow pace, sucking softly at the clit, but it already making you tremble and wanting more. He's keeping the act for a while before the frustrations hit you.
"Jeno, hurry the fuck up."
He stop doing his ministrations, and as he pissed off, he suddenly lift you up again, your front pushed to the nearest wall.
"What did i just say to you? Shut your fucking mouth. Don't fucking speak. Why did you speak?"
He landed a couple of hard slap against your ass, making you yelp and shriek, "i-m sorry, please," your head drooped, your body trembling, but not from fear.
It's excitement.
Another slap on your ass. "Please what? Tell me, angel, what is it?
He kneaded your flesh and put his length between your ass cheek, nuzzling it sensually, and it made you bite your lip hard, can't take his teasing no more.
"Please," you almost sob. "Please, jeno, fuck me."
You beg, and he immediately bend you fully over again, both of his hands were on your hips as he fuck you into oblivion.
"Princess wanna get fucked. What she wants, she gets." 
He kissed his teeth before he rammed into you, hitting that sweet spot precisely over and over again it felt so good. Your hands and legs almost gave up, but he grabbed your hip in place. As you moan and scream for him, he keep chanting that he want you to come for him.
"Jeno, i'm fucking close- fuck," your hair is tangled, you're a drooling mess, your eyes rolled up. He fuck you so good it leave you dumb. Jeno's hips never once falter, he keep fucking into you rapidly as you whine non stop.
"Fuck, come all over me. Come on," he encouraged you.
"Coming!" You're a moaning mess, pussy can't help but tightened around him, making him curse under his breath. He continue to pistoning as he chasing his high, prolonged your own orgasm.
"Fuck, gonna cum," his thrust remain steady until it finally stopped, buried so deep inside you as he fill you up to the brim. Jeno finally pulled out, your hands and elbow propped against the wall as you arched your back while bending over, giving him a full sight of your ass and pussy overflowing with his cum. 
"Shit.." jeno cursed as he ran a hand through his fringe.
You felt your bodies emitting fog from the fever, glistening with sweat.
Just after that, you both heard a knock and someone's shouting.
"Are you guys done there? Jeno, get your loud ass out there right now, we're running out of time." 
You wouldn't miss whose voice it was.
It's fucking na jaemin. You felt embarrassment creep down your spine when you realized he found out, although nothing like the rest of the members doesn't know about the relationship you two have. But still, caught red handed fucking in the backstage with his band mate is a little bit..
"That's embarrassing.." you sigh while covering your face, making jeno chuckled as he patted your head.
"He'll get used to it." He smiled like a puppy, as he not merely fuck you senseless just now.
-
You said that it's embarrassing. But it seems like you're liking how unusual things did give you some thrilling sensations you can't explain. Since then, you've had sex with jeno in the void meeting room when everybody's leaving from work. It's giving you anxiety on what if someone's barge in, or the worst-you'd get kicked out from the company and never ever get the same job even at the different place again-but funnily, you can't resist the good feeling jeno made you and the realization that you were actually enjoying the shit, eventually not giving any fuck if someone know.
Another day of you and jeno spending time together in the same room, giving some different kind of affections to each other. And you're just too afraid to say something; to ask him: 'what are we?' Because you couldn't be more happy with what's happening between you two now. And tonight is a bit different because you feel your heart ache in the way he hold you as he won't let go.
"Jeno.." you arched your back when his tongue trailed from your abdomen up to your breasts while he attempted to unclasp your bra.
After freeing the flesh, he mumbled in awe, "beautiful."
He latched his tongue on your nipple, swirling it with purpose, to make you even wet just for him, and him only, just like the way he liked it.
"Fuck, it feels so good, don't stop," you pulled on his hair, a signal for him to keep going. 
"Yeah? You like that, pretty girl?" Jeno kneaded on your swell as he sucked again on your nipple.
"Louder. Moan louder for me." And that's what you did. Your fucked up sounds is a music to his ears, railing him up to the extent where he just wanted to sink in you. 
Jeno cupped your sex, your panties were damp in arousal. "Shit, look at you. So fucking wet." He slid his fingers up and down your panties before he slipped his fingers in. You whimpered when his cold digit met your folds. He only play with your opening and clit, but it already drive you crazy. You're practically drooling, he's collecting your essence on his fingers before he bring it up to his mouth, tasting your arousal. You huff and puff, look already fucked up before him when he barely did anything.
"So pretty. So fucked up. So needy for me."
All you did is fucking whine. Lee jeno is driving you insane.
"Please," you plead. "Jeno,"
"Hm? What is it princess?" He asked with a sweet mocking tone.
"Fingers. Want your fingers inside me." You sternly told him, but your gaze was infirm.
He chuckled then replied, "of course baby, you'll have it. But later. I have to taste you first. Will you let me?"
He asked for your permission and what on earth is stopping you from letting him eat you out? Of course you would never say no.
"Pleasee," your whiny voice made him smile from ear to ear in satisfaction.
"Love it when you beg."
Jeno get down to eye level with your pussy before dive in. Your hips wouldn't stop thrusting up to him and pulling his hair, his strong hands looping on your thighs. At this rate his face buried deep between you legs and tongue prod into your cunt, exploring your hole, lips trying so hard to swallow you up, open mouthed kiss at your pussy, sucking and lapping. He's eating you out like there's no tomorrow. 
"Fuck, i think i'm gonna cum."
Jeno chuckled, "already? So spoilt."
Jeno bring his fingers down and curled the digit expertly inside your pussy, you're wiggling like crazy when he reached that sweet spot that got your pussy tightening around him, then he sucked your clit hard, made you cum in instant at his doing.
You gradually came down from your high and stared at him in the eye, begging.
"Jeno, please, let me suck you off."
He feels like he's flying up the cloud seeing you prettily begged for him. Then he smiled, "can't say no to a pretty girl like you."
You bit your lip before you kneeled in front of him, taking a hand of his hard cock and kissed the tip. You hold onto his balls while you licked and sucked along his shaft until your tongue met with the tip, then sink into his cock, swallowing him whole. You bobbed your head up and down, sucking in intensity. He groaned and bring his hand through your hair, while he got his head thrown back against the headboard.
"You're doing so good baby, keep going."
He hissed painfully, his muscles clenched and his grab on your hair is getting tight. Your left hand massaging his balls, mouth sucking at the tip, the other hand stroking the rest of his shaft.
"Fuck, i'm not gonna last." He hold your head and thrust into your mouth, chasing his high. Your gagged sound heard all over the room, eyes pricked from tears. His groan went louder and that's when he came all over your mouth, and you swallowed all of his seed like a good girl, his good girl.
You lap all of his fluid, cleaning his cock clean, and lick your own lips.
"God you're pretty." His stare full with admiration, then he caged you between his arms, locked your lips with his in a passionate kiss. Tongue dancing with each other, nipping at one's lip. Both of you moan into the kiss, until he break it first.
Your back arched so high, hips pressed against his own, wanted more just than kissing him, but he pushed your belly down and leaned in.
"Need you now. Need to make love to you."
Once again, your heart sank at his confession. You're already tearing up as he pushed his big cock into you, soon picking up a steady pace to thrust between your wall, all while kissing you out. His kiss felt so soft and sweet, but also fragile at the same time. Your bodies met, no space in between. You hug him tightly, so afraid that he might just run away or disappear in the blink of an eye. He made you feel so good you're crying, can't even think or talk straight, your mind felt numb.
That night, you remembered vividly the last word he said before you passed out.
"I love you."
-
The rainy night made you feel all lazy. You wouldn't get up from bed if you just didn't feel the urge to go to the convenience store and fulfill your craving with some warm food. You're definitely starving.
You take out your umbrella because it's still raining, but as you nearly arrived, it's became a drizzle before it came to a stop.
You fold your umbrella as you walk closer, but before entering the place, you definitely saw jeno at the dark aisle between two buildings; making out with who the fuck you don't care, as if someone could've not just pass by and saw them two passionately changing spits.
You froze in your place, can't even walk any closer to where jeno was. You felt anger bubbling up to your chest and at the same time, you can't help your heart from breaking into pieces.
But as someone's controlling you, you suddenly stomped on your feet, making a way to them with balled fists, and you nearly scream when you call him out.
"Jeno."
The two broke the kiss after couple of seconds as if they're unbothered, both dripping from the drizzle. He turned at you, eyes dark and indicating that he wasn't even surprised to see you there. 
But then he opened his mouth, "how th-"
"What the fuck?" You cut him before he talk, spitting your anger out, voice all husky and spiteful, extremely vulnerable at the same time.
"Who the fuck is that?" Your eyes burned from restraining tears roll down your cheeks.
"What happened with the other days when we literally spent time together? Yesterday, you just- we just- fuck, i- i thought you just said that you lo-"
You can't help but blubbering, can't even say the last word you meant from spilling out. It's too much.
The girl he was making out with tried to walk away, but he grabbed her wrist.
You scoffed, speechless.
Did he just stop her?
Sickeningly, he just walked by you as he made a way out while dragging her with him.
You swear you just felt so fucking dumbfounded. He didn't even say a word since earlier.
When you can't hold your tears back again, you break out and scream his name out. 
"LEE JENO!"
He looked back from his shoulder, but he still put the same blank expression in front of you before he chuckled.
"Well. Looks like i've got nothing to explain since you already saw it."
Still standing with the balled fists, you can't even talk as you were trying so hard to figure things out. Why the fuck did he do this? Did this to you?
"I believe you're capable enough to think with your little brain, princess."
Suddenly, the rain started to pouring again, leaving you all soaked up gradually.
He's giving you the nastiest smile he have ever showed you as he made his getaway with the girl and said,
"Wake the fuck up. I have never loved you."
And that's when you wake up from your dreams.
As your eyes fluttered, you felt tears running from the corner of your eyes, making your sideburns damp uncomfortably.
This fucking whole thing is a dream. A dream that's so real.
No wonder that all of it was happening so fast; and absurd.
Now you can't even think of jeno the same way anymore if you see him at work. 
You checked your phone. Of course it's december. You laughed bitterly at yourself when you realized you trapped with jeno in your dreams when it's fucking summer. You swear you can even feel the heat. It just felt so true.
You get up on your elbows then cursed under your breath before muttered to yourself, "never thought you'd love and hurt me at the same time."
And it's not even in the real world.
Is it better because it's just a dream? Or is it not because the real thing is even more an awful truth you need to accept?
That's when you realized that the meaning of impossible is literally as it is. It's the time for you to understand that both of you is poles apart, that he is different.
You'll never ever get him, and you need to forget him; as he might already forget you.
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