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#I did not edit the colors of any of these photos but I feel like I should say: m
sturgeonposting · 2 months
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Do you love the colour of the sturgeon?
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Which one?
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baby-yongbok · 6 months
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I loved your handjob fic with bang chan, I thought it was really sweet.
So can I pls request their first time together where reader is all shy and sweet?
I'd love it if there was hand- holding and just adorable words of praise ❤️❤️
I did it! I hope that this is okay! Thanks for your request <3
First Time - Boyfriend!Bang Chan x Fem!Reader - Imagine
Word Count: 2,886
Genre: Smut, The fluffy kind
Warnings under the cut
This piece is kinda like a part two to Free Time. You don't have to read the first one to enjoy this one but it'll be cool if you do <3
✨Masterlist✨
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Warnings: Cursing, that should be all of the warnings? So Sorry if I missed any! This is a pretty fluffy piece!
Reader is Called: Baby, Babygirl, Princess
Chan is called: Babe
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You knew that the time would come eventually, you just didn’t know when. You and Chan had agreed to take it slow when you first met, you wanted to get to know each other and see how your feelings developed before you got too physical. It’s been 8 months since the two of you started seeing each other and two months since the two of you upgraded from making out and dry humping to handjobs and fingering.
 Each time that the two of you were intimate you could feel the longing radiating off of each other. You were damn near desperate to feel the weight of him in your mouth or even experience the bliss of him stretching you. Chan would mention his desire to taste you every now and then, he claimed that licking your arousal off of his fingers just wasn’t enough for him. You both wanted more, you just didn’t know when it would happen. You both decided to leave it up to the universe. 
Today wasn’t supposed to be a day off for Chan, it was actually supposed to be tomorrow but there was a mix up with the venue schedule where the boys had a photo shoot scheduled and they were granted time off while it was all figured out. Of course Chan couldn’t complain, who would get upset about an extra day off? You had also gotten the day off due to your job's entire system crashing last night and never going back online. Coincidence? 
Despite having the time off you and Chan both still took some time out of the day to work. You spent most of the day in your respective corners typing and editing to your heart's content until you both got hungry. The two of you decided to order out and spend some time together. That’s how you ended up here, watching a movie in your bedroom at 6:13pm. The deep orange of the sunset is shining through your blinds and illuminating the dark space around you. It looked magical and Chan definitely noticed it. He hasn’t even looked at the screen for the past four minutes. He’s too busy admiring the way that the deep orange compliments your skin, and how it brings out the color in your hair so flawlessly. You looked like a celestial being and he couldn’t help but to be drawn into you. He hated that your eyes were still trained on the screen, he wanted you to look at him. He needed you to. 
“Baby.” He called to you in a whisper and you replied with a hum, eyes still fixed on the screen. This wasn’t good enough, he needed your full attention. He moves his hand and brings it up to your chin, his pointer finger resting on the underside of your chin and turning your head towards him. He tilted it up a bit so that your eyes would catch his, what he didn’t expect was for the sunlight to illuminate your gaze. Your brown orbs turned to gold right in front of him and his entire body caught on fire at the sight of it. It wasn’t some plain old lust that he was feeling, no, it was an intense longing. A desire to become a part of you and turn your body into gold too. 
“Chan?” You blinked up at him, your doe eyes boring into his.
“I want you.” The words left his lips in a whisper, the soft music from your movie adding to the moment. “Is that okay?”
“You want to…” Your sentence trails off as you catch Chan pulling his bottom lip between his teeth. You feel a shiver run down your spine as lust starts to pool in your core. You’ve been more than ready to go all the way with Chan, you were just nervous, you wanted everything to be perfect. But, looking into his eyes right now you can’t imagine a moment more perfect than this. 
“Yes, that’s okay.” You whisper back to him as you lean into him. 
“Thank god.” Chan closes the distance between the two of you, his soft lips crashing against yours and pulling you into a deep passionate kiss. You sigh into him, moving your body to press against his. His hand sneaks up under your shirt to grip your hip, pulling you closer to him. 
You shift your position, straddling him without breaking the kiss. Your hands lace through his soft curls as your lips move in tandem. He lifts his hand higher, raking his nails softly against your skin and leaving Goosebumps in their wake. He breaks the kiss and starts breathlessly kissing down your jaw and neck. He sucked at the sensitive skin, definitely leaving marks behind. 
"Chan I wanna taste you." He groans against your skin, your words making his cock twitch against your core. 
"I don't think I'll last very long if you do." He plants one more kiss on your neck before pulling away, you climb down his body, keeping eye contact with him the entire time. His bottom lip is back between his teeth as he watches you carefully.
"Let's just feel it, okay? Don't worry about lasting." He nods his head as he lifts his hips, allowing you to peel his sweat pants and boxers down his legs. His hard cock spring up, slapping against his clothed stomach. You marvel at his pink tip, the prominent vein on the underside of his dick making your mouth water. You'll finally get to feel it against your tongue, you press your thighs together in anticipation before looking back up at Chan. 
"Ready?"
"Yes, please, I need you." You smile up at him, leaning forward on your knees and licking up the underside of his dick. You both moan at the sensation, his soft skin glides perfectly against your wet tongue. 
Chan tilts his head back to rest on the headboard, a deep exhale falling from his parted lips. You lick up his shaft again, sucking his tip into your mouth and bobbing your head. You take more of him inch by inch as you move against him. The weight of him in your mouth and filling your throat makes your clit throb with need. This was more than worth the wait. 
"Oh, baby you're so perfect." Chan whispers, lifting his head to look at you. Your watery eyes meet his as you take him farther down your throat. His praise makes you want to make him feel even better. 
Chan reaches down towards your hand that's resting on his thigh, covering it with his own and stroking his fingers over the back of your hand. 
"Just like that, you're making me feel so fucking good." You hum in response and Chan's brows pinch together at the sensation. "I love how deep you're taking me. Fuck, babygirl."
You take that as a prompt to take him deeper, a tear rolls down your cheek and you nearly choke around him but the deep groan that leaves him makes it worth it. 
"Oh, baby" You lift up, a string of spit connecting you to his throbbing length. A breathy chuckle leaves your lips and Chan smiles at you. 
"You taste so good, you're so big in my mouth." Chan's cock jumps and you chuckle in response. Just as you're about to go back down on him he sits up a bit, stopping you before you can take him in your mouth completely. 
"I don't want to cum yet and I won't last another second with that pretty mouth on me." You sit up on your knees smiling at him. "It's my turn now."
With a wide playful grin Chan grabs your wrists, pulling you forward and swiftly switching spots with you. He holds your waist, pulling you flat onto your back. You both laugh as he situates you, brushing his fingertips over the sensitive skin of your inner thigh and the back of your knees. Your laughs quickly turn into gaspy moans as the sensations cause shivers to rush over you. Your nipples harden as your anticipation builds. 
"I've been waiting to taste you for so long, princess." He tugs at your shorts, nearly ripping them off of you like a kid opening gifts on Christmas. You giggle at his hasty behavior. 
"Oh really? I couldn't tell." Chan rolls his eyes playfully but his expression quickly changes to one of lust when his eyes land on your naked core. The evening light makes your skin glow and your arousal glistens in its presence. 
"Ready, baby?" 
"So ready, love." He smiles against your inner thigh as he kisses his way up to your heat. He licks up the sensitive flesh, moaning at the feel of you against his tongue. His eyes flutter shut as he savors the taste of you. 
Your breath catches in your throat as he licks up your pussy again, circling his tongue around your clit before going back down to your entrance. A deep moan erupts from your throat, your eyes squeeze shut and your back slightly arched off of the mattress.  He's only just started but he feels like heaven against you. He always told you that he believes he's pretty good at eating pussy but you didn't know that it would feel like this. 
"Oh my god." One of your hands reach down to tangle in his hair just as one of his reach up to intertwine with your free one. You hold his hand, squeezing a bit as the pleasure builds. 
He sucks your clit into his mouth, flicking the sensitive bud with his tongue and moaning against you sending delicious vibrations through you. 
"Oh, yes, please don't stop. You're so good baby, you're perfect." He trails his tongue down to your entrance, slipping it inside and fucking you with it. A loud whine escapes you as you circle your hips against his face, covering his chin and cheeks in your arousal. 
"Will you suck my clit please, and put two fingers inside."
"Of course, princess." He does as you asked, latching onto your clit again and bringing his free hand over to your entrance. He teases you a bit before pushing his middle and pointer finger inside. He fills you up to the second knuckle, curling his fingers to hit your sweet spot. 
"Oh fuck Chan, Yes just like that." He shakes his head against you, giving you a new sensation against your clit. You squeeze his hand, trying your best to reassure him that you're feeling good but with the way you're reacting you're pretty sure he can tell. 
He swirls his tongue around your clit one more time and you barely have a second to warn him before you're coming undone. Your walls clench around his fingers as they try to move inside of you. Your back arches off of the mattress and your eyes squeeze shut as you moan his name with a string of curses. He pulls away from your clit, fingering you through your high just how you like it. 
"That's right, cum for me, babygirl. You sound so pretty, taste so good." Chan kisses the inside of your shaking thigh until you come down from the intense pleasure. He pulls his fingers out of you. Sucking your arousal off and moaning at the taste. 
"You are everything that I dreamed you would be and more." You smile at his words, eyes still closed as you try to regulate your breathing.
"Wait until you feel me."
"Oh fuck, I can't wait to feel you." Chan climbs up your body, lifting your shirt along the way so that he could pull it off once he got to the top. Once your shirt is off he pulls his off, leaving you both naked in front of each other. For each other. 
"I know exactly what position I want, baby. Trust me?" You open your eyes, finding Chan's excited ones and nod. You'd trust him with your life so something as small as a sex position is more than doable. "Turn on your side, okay? Face the window."
You do as he asked, turning on your side and jumping a bit as your thighs close. The pressure on your sensitive bud sends chills up your spine. Chan lays behind you on his side. He snakes one arm under your side, pulling your back against his chest and holding you tight. His other hand grips his cock, positioning it at your entrance. He looks down at you, beautiful doe eyes shining like gold in the deep orange sun. His heart skips a beat. You look so beautiful, you sound even better and at this moment he can't believe how lucky he is to be with you. To have access to you in such a vulnerable way. He leans down, peppering kisses on your cheek, making you giggle. 
"Can I tell you something, baby?" Chan whispers against your cheek and you nod, turning your head to meet his eyes. Suddenly he pushes in, sinking into your dripping heat slowly. Your mouth opens in a silent scream and your eyes widen as they stare into his. He wants to close his eyes but he doesn't dare break eye contact, a deep groan leaves his lips as he leans down to kiss you deeply. He pulls away once he bottoms out and his eyes meet yours again.
"I love you so much." He whispers as he pulls his hips back, thrusting into you slowly and passionately. His arms wrap around you. Hugging you into his chest as he moves in and out of you at a steady pace. Only speeding up a bit once he's adjusted to your tight walls. 
"I love you too, so so much, Chan." Your words leave your mouth in a moan. Your head rests against his shoulder and his rests in the crook of your neck, leaving light kisses in between moans and groans. 
"I feel so good when I'm with you" Chan whispers into your ear, kissing the lobe softly. You moan at his words, you can feel the knot in your stomach pulling tighter and tighter. Suddenly he speeds up a bit, circling his hips into you and fucking you deeper.
"Oh my god, you feel so good. You're so big." Chan groans and you can feel his cock twitch inside of you. He bucks his hips into you, reaching impossibility deep as he sucks on the sensitive skin of your neck. Usually it takes more, it always has. You've always needed to touch your clit to cum, but Chan has proven that to be false. 
You feel yourself slip into a pool of pleasure as you start to come undone. You choke on your words as you try to warn him but the fluttering of your walls tells him everything that he needs to know. He grunts, squeezing his eyes shut as his own release creeps up on him.
"Oh fuck, where can I cum. I'm so close." You blink your eyes open slowly, your body still shaking lightly as he stretches you open. 
"Inside, please, wanna feel you." 
"Oh my god." Chan tilts his head back as his rhythm falters. You already felt like heaven and now you were telling him that he could finish inside of you? It's the literal icing on a perfect cake for him.
"I'm gonna - oh fuck." He thrusts into you slow and deep as ropes of sticky cum fill your dripping cunt. You both moan at the sensation, seeing stars and floating through space together as you step out of your cloud of bliss. You squeeze his hand that is holding onto you, tight and secure. 
"Baby?" You call him and he hums, eyes still shut and his chest rises and falls quickly against your back. "Come back to me."
You both giggle a bit and he slowly opens his eyes. "Oh my gosh."
He looks down at you, meeting your bright eyes and smiling. 
"Hey." He chuckles, pecking your nose lightly. 
"Hey." You chuckle back cuddling into his chest. 
"I should, uh, pull out." You shake your head, clenching around him and pulling a groan from him. He's still hard by some miracle and it feels so good to finally feel him complete you. 
"Let's just stay like this for a second, yeah?" Chan stares down at you with bright eyes filled with love, he nods, settling into the mattress and laying down behind you. His fingers run over your stomach slowly as if he were strumming a guitar. The soft touch makes you feel safe and grounded. 
"Sure, baby." He exhales against you softly, kissing your shoulder "Was it everything you expected?"
"So much more than I expected, so perfect. You're so perfect." Chan smiles against your skin, leaving another soft kiss. 
"It's you that's perfect." You both lie there in silence as the sun finally sets and the soft darkness swallows you both. You hear soft music playing and you both look up towards the end of your bed at the credits for the movie you were watching. 
"I wonder if that was a good movie." You ask with a laugh and Chan shrugs pulling you closer. 
"Even if it was, this movie was so much better."
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gender-trash · 3 months
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(i am seriously late in posting about this due to The Problems BUT whatever! its here now!!)
somewhere around late november 2022, i asked my dad "hey are there any out of print technical books you'd like a reprint of for christmas?"
he linked me to a dubious black-and-white pdf of Foundations of Mechanical Accuracy. now, i wound up checking out a copy through link+, and the original edition is a really nicely put together book! the chapters are themed around various types of measurements (length, angle, etc), and they all have these cute little diagrams which the endpapers reuse in a lil repeating pattern... the image captions are done in this really lovely dark red that did not scan for SHIT... tons and tons of diagrams and illustrations and images (both color and b&w)... just, all around, a fucking nice book!! (see also @morrak's post about it here.)
and that made me feel kind of bad about the crappiness of the pdf, which is where the Problems began. i used my phone to take pictures of all the photos and color diagrams in the original and went about replacing them in the pdf, using what turned out to be the world's worst pdf editing software (i also got through replacing all the image captions in chapter 1 of 5 before my dad convinced me to give up). i did NOT finish the pdf editing before christmas 2022 (i was going somewhat off the deep end, because both my housemates were away visiting family and i had zero external structure in my life so it was just me and my cat and this stupid FUCKING pdf wrecking my sleep schedule together); i poked away at it for most of the rest of my time off and then got so goddamn sick of it i put the project away for months. "it'll be a birthday gift instead", i said optimistically (my dad's birthday is in april! it should have been enough time!)
gentle readers, i did not finish the pdf editing by april. mostly because it was such a miserable slog that i put it off until the last possible moment and then tried to make up for it with another death march.
hating both myself and the project again, i decided i was Not going to let myself typeset Anything Else before it was done, and then took a break to bind my immortal (using the renegade publishing typeset! i didn't do any typesetting!!). SURELY, i said, i can finish this in time for christmas 2023.
i'm sure you know where this is going.
in my defense i DID finish the pdf editing by christmas, despite first doing every other possible procrastination project (including a second edition of the little second century warlord book), because by this point my dad had managed to convince me to lower my standards. on the evening of the 22nd i kicked off the print job and said to myself "this will finish printing overnight and then tomorrow i can work on sewing the textblock!"
late on the 23rd, after lots of babysitting and using at least one cartridge of every color ink in my printer, the print job was finally done. (my sweet and lovely cat wants SO BADLY to hunt and stalk the printer while it is printing -- more specifically, the printed pages, i think because they tend to make noise and move and then STOP moving. for this reason, the printer is kept in the craft room, because the cat can be shut out of the craft room and thus prevented from chewing on the pages when i have an all-day book printing job going. unfortunately the craft room was also being pressed into service as a guest room at the time so 80% of the floor space was consumed by an air mattress which i had to repeatedly trip over in order to reach the printer and replace the ink cartridges.)
then i went to my parents' house on the 24th and 25th and apologized to my dad (again) for not having the book finished. but this worked out well because we finished putting together my awesome new book clamp:
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(the feet still aren't done being painted so they're just dry-fit on for now but you can still clamp books in it and that's what matters!!)
i came home, sewed the textblock (french link stitch over four linen tapes, with sewn endbands made of variegated embroidery floss over linen cord, and kozo paper glued over the spine)
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... and promptly realized i SHOULD HAVE PUT IN MORE OF A GUTTER because some of the text was getting reeeeeeal close to the spine. "it's fine!" i said. "i just have to make sure it lays flat!! what better time than to try out K118 binding, a technique i have literally never done before and which people on the bookbinding discord notoriously have a hard time pulling off first try! i even have tyvek tape for it!"
so it turns out that tyvek tape isn't actually tyvek with glue on it, it's tape FOR attaching pieces of tyvek TO EACH OTHER, which maybe i could have guessed if i'd done even the slightest amount of research or planning. at this point i think it was the 27th and i was still angling to get this thing done by new year's, so no time to order Actual Tyvek.
fortunately, i had ALSO received An Package in the mail with yarn for a totally unrelated knitting project... shipped in a tyvek envelope.
i peeled all the shipping labels and stickers off my tyvek envelope, cut that shit up, and glued it on there.
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and THEN it was time for gluing on covers, which i thought was going to be easy because i had actually thought ahead and ordered materials (specifically acid-free museum board), except when i cracked open the box of museum board i decided i Didn't Like It because the surface was too soft and easily dented, so i glued onto it the too-thin board material i'd previously been using (so that the cardboard goes on the outside of the book). this worked super well (the cardboard stuff has a tendency to curl up from the glue moisture, but the museum board doesn't!) and i'll probably use it on other stuff in the future.
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i thought the blue bookcloth i used was kind of boring but i showed my dad the available cloth options and he really liked it, so... what do you know? i cut the piece i used on the back cover very slightly too short but it wound up being covered by the leather, so you can barely tell.
and the leather... a scrap just baaaaarely big enough from my bag of leather scraps from discount fabrics... and this the first time i'd ever attempted to put leather on a book... AND YET the only complaint i have is that i didn't manage to put an even amount on the front and back. it's reasonably square and straight!! amazing!!
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i am super super happy with how this project came out (especially given the number of problems i encountered) and oh my god check out how much the spine bends
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AND, AS A NEW YEAR'S PRESENT, I FINALLY MANAGED TO GIVE IT TO MY DAD
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Ineffable discontinuity and the Bentley's roadtrip transformation: new back doors and other changes (after it was yellow), and Crowley... didn't notice?!*
*Also, as a side observation, did he leave the Bentley window open during the ball and everything that happened after? Why?
Have you been longing to be even more perplexed by the ineffable discontinuity of Good Omens season 2? Do you love endless data in the form of screencaps? If so, then please join me on this wild ride! Here are some highlights:
Top photos: Season 1, episode 6, after Adam reboots reality; S2e2, before Aziraphale's e3 road trip. The Bentley is a gray and black 2-tone car with 2 doors (only 1 handle is visible on each side).
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And on the bottom is s2e5, while Crowley is driving, it's a solid black car with 4 doors and smaller silver hubcaps.
(edit: For those of you thinking about the different Bentley models used in s1 vs s2 (discussed in detail below), or the difference between the full car and half car set, just those three full car pictures above demonstrate that the new s2 Bentley model is NOT the reason for this mid-season shift. For more details about the half car set plus other ways to tell the Bentleys apart - without talking about color - see my newer post with handy diagrams, here.)
And the s2 interior?
Here's e1, after Crowley talks to Shax, and e3, as Aziraphale arrives in Edinburgh (which is also when the Bentley debuts as a 4-door). And look at this blocking - how both characters are posed so similarly with their backs to us in these shots!! It's so deliberate! :
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And look at the seats! In e2, Crowley is talking to Shax again, and in e5, Crowley just parked the Bentley before the ball:
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When Crowley, who is so tuned in that he senses the car is yellow and driving too slow even from a distance, sees the "new" Bentley in e4, he doesn't act as though anything has changed, he just happily and purposefully walks up and opens the back door that was never there to put his plants inside.
THE BACK DOOR THAT WAS NEVER THERE
For that matter, Crowley and Aziraphale both seem to be unaware of the changes! This feels like both a metaphor and a functional plot device for season 3. There's more discussion at the end of this post!
Thanks to comments and observations awhile back from @bbbitchvibbbez , I did some careful searching for s2 scenes featuring the Bentley, and this post is the labor of love and irrational obsession result!
If you want to see lots more Bentley screencaps and discussion, including Crowley nonchalantly using the new back door, and possibly also leaving the Bentley window open during the ball and everything that followed, please keep reading:
Some background and context:
Ok, so there was a different Bentley "actor" for s2. The s1 actor was a 2-door, the s2 actor is a 4-door. If you look carefully, you'll see that in s1 the backseat side windows are smaller than the front side windows. In s2, they're the same size. I talk more about the windows - with handy diagrams! - in my newer Bentley post, here.
There's also been some controversy about the interior color of the s2 Bentley, black vs brown, and how that could relate to the s2 body swap theory; here are details about that from @lonicera-caprifolium and @picturesque-about-it. I don't think my findings support (or disprove) that theory, but take a look at what I found and see what you think!
(*Please don't ask Neil about any of this, he's already given us the answers he wants to give, and he's not going to spoil the surprises in s3 now by telling us what's really going on!*)
Here's the episode/scene breakdown:
S2e1 on the street with Shax - gray, two toned, two doors (one visible door handle on a side), brown interior - both the seats and the inside panel of the door. Notice how the door is hinged at the back, and opens opposite the way most modern cars do (this is called a suicide door):
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More s2e1 photos, the Bentley is in a lot of scenes this episode and as far as I can tell it stays the same gray 2-door for the whole episode, but it's frequently in dark lighting to make it harder to tell it isn't actually black (I've brightened most of these shots). It also has larger silver hubcaps, and I notice consistent brown seats (these interior pics are from three different scenes):
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In s2e2, the Bentley is only in two scenes, and it's the same as s2e1. Now, you can see in the larger photo below that it's obviously not the SAME as s1 - the backseat side windows are too long - but the production team DID try to make the new Bentley "actor" look the same as in season 1. It's a gray 2-tone car with 2 doors (1 handle visible on each side) with larger silver hubcaps. As an aside, what's with the red lights on the car in this shot?? I mean, yes, it's a reflection of another car's brake lights, but why put that onscreen?
Also, in case it's relevant, Crowley is wearing his turtleneck throughout this episode, and still has the silver-sided glasses from e1:
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Ok, now we have s2e3, and as Crowley meets Muriel and gives Aziraphale his car keys, we see he's no longer wearing the turtleneck, AND this is when his glasses change to black-sided ones:
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Outside, we see the Bentley looks the same as the rest of s2 thus far, as Aziraphale sets off for Edinburgh. Gray 2-tone, brown interior (with window bullet hole decals very visible), with larger silver hubcaps. There's only one handle visible, so it's still meant to look like a 2-door:
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Ok, here's where things start to change! Azi is driving and the Bentley is yellow. The seats might (?) be black, there's still only one door handle on the side, the silver hubcaps are still larger. But when he "changes it back", NOW it's black:
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And by the time he pulls into Edinburgh, Transformation Complete. (Did Something Else Happen?? Or is this an effect of Aziraphale finally being welcome to take care of this extension of Crowley? More speculation at the end!) It's a black 4-door, two handles clearly visible on the side, with smaller silver hubcaps:
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And the interior? The door panel, at least, is black now - and it has a texture that wasn't there when it was brown. Here's e1 next to e3 (and appreciate, again, this very intentional parallel blocking of the two actors!):
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In s2e4, we see the Bentley in two scenes; at the beginning when Aziraphale meets Shax-as-hitchhiker, where we see the bullet holes and the black door lining, and at the end when the Bentley is reunited with Crowley:
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When Aziraphale parks the Bentley back at the bookshop, we see the bullet hole decals and that it's still a black 4-door:
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So he goes to meet Crowley, they come back with the plants. We can see that the camera is to the rear of the car, and the front of the car is to their left. They're standing on the left side of the car. If Crowley opens the door, we won't see the interior door panel, right? Because the Bentley doors are hinged on the back, instead of the front, so the door will open towards us:
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WELL. Mx "I can feel when you drive below the speed limit" and "change it back!" Crowley very eagerly walks up to the BLACK car, greets it with some sweet baby talk, and then opens the suddenly-existing BACK door with a hinge on the front (so it opens away from us) as if this is All Perfectly Normal, and we can (barely) see the door lining and it's BLACK and textured:
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A few more shots of Crowley, standing at the brand-new back door of the Bentley, still wearing those black-sided glasses:
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And in case you're wondering, in s1e2 when Anathema gets a ride in the Bentley, she climbs into the backseat from the front driver door, and she climbs out through the front passenger door. There wasn't a back door on either side. Here she climbs into the Bentley, and you can see Crowley fold down the front seat, and there's clearly only one door on that side, and it's hinged at the back. (When she gets out on the passenger side, it's harder to see, but you can tell that door is also hinged at the back.) :
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In s2e5, Crowley drives the Bentley to the bookshop, and then we only catch a few small glimpses of it while Aziraphale is recruiting shopkeepers to the meeting/ball. Here's Crowley driving the black 4-door Bentley with small silver hubcaps, and here he is getting out of the car with black seats. The front door is still hinged at the back, as it always has been. The window is open - his hand is reaching through to open the door - so we can't see the bullet hole decals:
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The next time we see more than a hint of the Bentley, it's the end of s2e6 and Crowley is standing next to it, watching Azi leave with the Metatron. It's still black, with 4 doors and black seats and smaller hubcaps. We don't see the bullet hole decals, but perhaps the window is still open from when he parked it in e5? (And WHY would he leave the window open? Was someone supposed to come by after he parked it to deliver something to the Bentley, or take something out?) Emotional photos ahead:
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I over exposed that last picture, to make the colors really easy to pick out. The seats are absolutely, definitely black.
So... what does it mean? Why did it happen, and why didn't Crowley notice or react?
I love the metaphor that Aziraphale subconsciously created a back door for - or into - Crowley, especially with all those references to the "back channels" of communication between heaven and hell. I'm thinking it could represent - or actually be - another way for them to communicate, or like another entrance to his heart; it's something that Aziraphale doesn't realize he changed or added and that Crowley hasn't noticed yet either, even if he's making use of those changes on some level. I'm sure other metaphors could also fit!
And I'm reminded of something @theeminentlyimpractical said, "Crowley, despite his whining, fully accepts the idea of "our car," which fundamentally transforms the Bentley". That post was liked by Neil, so there could definitely be something to this "our car" transformation line of thinking.
So, was the transformation a subconscious effect of Aziraphale finally being welcome by Crowley to drive the Bentley, and caring for and taking responsibility for this part of Crowley? Or did Aziraphale consciously do this, or did Crowley? Or maybe the Bentley is sentient, and it chose to be bigger/different now, to accommodate both of them. Or did the change happen in response to Something Else We Didn't See?
Is Crowley's (and Aziraphale's) apparent non-reaction another example of an unreliable narrator or some memory tampering? Is manipulation of the Book of Life involved? Are there multiple timelines? Is someone time traveling? Or is it just that Aziraphale and Crowley already discussed the changes off screen, before Aziraphale left Edinburgh?
If Crowley noticed the changes, I would have expected a comment about them. Either, "change it back!" or a reluctant, "those are changes I can live with", or... Something. But instead, the production team went to some trouble to make sure the hints are there, but hard to spot (you can review the similar, careful s1 hints about the appearance swap here, from @fuckyeahgoodomens); as opposed to, for one example, the way they very clearly pointed out Maggie's mysterious spelling mistake, both on screen and in the dialogue. So I feel reasonably certain the Bentley's transformation is a careful, subtle hint about a Secret Something Important That Will Be Revealed In Season 3. I think it's both a metaphor and a plot device*.
What are some of your favorite metaphors? Your most reasonable theories? What about some of your biggest, wildest, most improbable theories?
*And if you enjoy Good Omens metas, theories, clues, etc, I have a big pinned collection of those from the fandom, here!
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hauntedrain · 4 months
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Part 2: F1 Drivers as Fathers Headcanons
A/N: Not edited.
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✧*̥˚ Part two: includes Lando & Oscar*̥˚✧
AN: Not edited.
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Lando Norris ⋆ ˚。⋆୨୧˚
A goofy dad for sure. Like always joking around and messing with the kids. Would also be the type of dad to agree with random stuff, like bringing an animal home, to buying a stupid toy.
Honestly, it's probably not him saying yes because he wants to keep them happy (even though it's a part of it), but mainly because he genuinely thinks it's a good idea. Like why is it a bad idea to buy a big RV car? or a kitten?
I think he would like to do things like, play games, build Lego sets, or watch movies/TV shows with his kid rather than going out and doing things.
I think once he found out he was going to be a father, he was over the moon with excitement and happiness. Like sweetly bragging about it or bringing it up whenever he could to fellow drivers or friends.
However as for his worries, I don't think he really would have any, and if he did he wouldn't let it get to his head. But I do think he was on high alert to make sure that everything was okay, and that everything was taken care of before and after the baby was born.
I don't think He would necessarily want his kids to get into racing or even push it. I think he wouldn't really care, however if they did get into karting/racing he would be overjoyed and make sure they had everything they needed to be successful and supported.
Like showing up as much as possible to their races, and celebrating if they did good, and even if they didn't do the best competitively wise he would cheer them up somehow. I don't think he would care much in the sense that they're winning or competing well, but rather if they're just having fun and enjoying it.
I think he would like to travel with his kids a lot, like exploring different places and making major memories with them. And best believe he has a photo album with all the photos he took at any place you guys visited.
After every trip, he gets the pictures printed out and as a family, you guys sit down and make and fill the album with the pictures, and decorate it, kinda like a scrapbook or something.
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Oscar Piastri ✧・゚: *
Would be a gentle father for sure.
Would be there to help his kids 24/7 or be very protective over them. Making sure they're feeling well all the time, if their shoes are tied correctly, or if they tired he carries them until they get home or aren't tired anymore.
I feel like he would do things like take his kids on a walk, or to something like a zoo, aquarium, park, museum, etc all the time.
I also feel like he would do arts and crafts with his kids if that was something they were interested in.
Like making paper flowers or drawing something with them. or like imagine him lying down on the living room floor with his kid, having colored pencils and crayons around them while coloring in coloring books together. ( he also probably has his own coloring book of cars or animals tbh)
As for him finding out he was going to be a father, I think he wouldn't be worried but rather very happy. Like all smiley and shit since he found out.
He would make sure everything was perfect for his kid, like having a checklist of things you guys need for the house or nursery. Or even reading things to support you and his child throughout and after to make sure things can go as smoothly as possible, and that he can be helpful and useful for anything you or the kid needs.
I think he would enjoy it if his kids could be at his races, even though he knows it is hard to travel all the time, but I do think he would like the idea of being able to spend that time with his family and if there was free time between each weekend and location he would take you guys to explore around the area.
As for if he cares if his kids get into racing or karting, I don't think he would really care. He would love it if they did, but on the other hand, I think he wouldn't want them to get hurt or anything like that and probably silently prefer if they picked a different sport or something not related to sports, like speech & debate or something like that.
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⭒❃.✮:▹A/N: I'm sorry for not posting in a while, I got a bit sick and school is starting up again. I'm also sorry if this isn't the best, I think I'm forming a small writer's block, so I was struggling to come up with ideas (especially for Lando? I don't know why.) However I hope you still like it, Love you guys <3
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yessa-vie · 4 months
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❝LIKE YOU WANNA BE LOVED❞ — jeong yunho.
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PAIRING. jeong yunho x fem!reader
GENDER. strangers to lovers. fast burn. yunho and reader are young adults (but I still consider teenagers since they are not at uni but finishing high school, so technically 17-18 year old) who met during summer. mostly fluff with a tiny bit of angst.
SYNOPSIS. with an encounter on the rock near the pier begins a friendship that, within a month, turns into butterflies in the stomach, sweaty hands, ragged breaths and hearts beating out of control.
WORD COUNT. 5,580 (not counting the end quote).
NOTE. another old story I did as a birthday gift to one of my best friends, also edited to fit Korea and the situation. not my best work, so I may edit this story further on, but for now I'm ok with the changes I did, but again, fast burn is not usually my style, but I hope you enjoy it regardless.
IMPORTANT. this is a work of fiction, it has zero intent on portraing how any of the people quoted here are in real life.
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                Jeju Island. That was what awaited him during this month of vacation. He had never been to Jeju Island before and it excited him, so many people he knew went and said it was beautiful. Friends of his always came and went renewed, so to speak. Now it was his turn. A month with the family in a rented beach house. Summer at its peak. A time to think and a time just for him.
                He didn't want a relationship, far from it. He had just ended a relationship, why get involved and not enjoy the single life? A month by the sea, summer behind him, beautiful women passed by the door of his house and let's face it, he attracted attention, from his perfect physique to his innocent childish face – which was anything but innocent.
                “Yunho, we better get going or we’ll be late!” Yunho heard his mother call him and soon closed his window, picked up his bags and left his room heading towards his car to put his things.
                Another positive point, his parents would go in one car and he’d go in another with his younger brother. It wasn't that he didn't get along well with his parents, but he preferred to go alone with his brother, they could listen to whatever music they wanted, and he wouldn't have to worry about getting the car seat dirty and getting looked at.
                After a while everyone was at the beach house, as beautiful as the photo sent. A white wooden staircase at the entrance and the balcony with light wooden floors. The house was simple. Two floors, a mix of wood, cement, and glass. In the coziest interior that the outside view could provide. The room was of a light cream color that it looked white, the entire wooden floor giving it a rustic feel. A fireplace with an LCD on top, surrounded by a pastel “L” shaped sofa and an armchair of the same tone, on the left side a glass door that opened onto a balcony that – thanks to the relative distance between the houses – made it possible to view the beach without having to go in front of the house.
                The kitchen was relatively large, with the counter being made of marble, the cabinets made of wood and glass, and high wooden chairs so that they could reach the small counter in the center of the kitchen. On the left side of the room there is a staircase leading to the second floor. Four bedrooms were there, but to his happiness, at the bottom there was a small staircase that connected to the attic, which, to his happiness, was extremely tidy and a window that covered the entire wall facing straight to the sea. That would be his room for the month.
                He packed his things and when he looked at the clock, he saw that it was already 4pm, he decided to help the family get settled, as he went downstairs he saw his parents in the kitchen talking about something while his mother was cooking.
                "You need help?" Yunho was wearing black shorts, a white tank top and a black cap and flip-flops.
                “Don’t worry about us, enjoy your vacation, do like your brother and go to the beach!”
                Yunho's father said and he watched them a little more and when he received a smile from both of them, he smiled too and went out the door, walking a little along the beach.
                The flip-flops didn't bother him, and the cap helped keep the sun out of his brown eyes for a while. He was already near the navy pier when he decided to sit down. It was already close to sunset, and he had a privileged view from his vantage point.
                The sky was orange and pink, several people were already leaving, others were watching the sunset, he could see that they were either a group of friends or couples in love. He didn't let himself be shaken by it, mainly because he barely had time as a cream Golden Retivier soon appeared at his side barking and wagging his tail.
                “Hey big guy, what are you doing here?”
                Running his hand around the dog’s neck, he noticed a collar, but before he could utter any words, he heard a female voice and then she knelt down next to him running her hand over the dog.
                “Thanks for holding him,” she smiled. Yunho thought it was one of the cutest smiles he had ever seen. He watched her quickly. Straight black hair falling over her shoulders, charming almond-shaped eyes, the cutest smile on her lips, a teal tank top over a bikini and white shorts with flip-flops on her feet. “(y/n),” you commented giving him her hand.
                “Yunho,” he said, shaking your hand giving you a toothless smile that you found extremely cute. Yunho knew how to act around girls, but he especially became an idiot if he found them interesting. “So… He’s yours?”
                “My sister's actually...” You commented laughing and sitting next to Yunho on the rock and looking forward with the Golden lying at your feet. “She got it from an ex-boyfriend of hers,” you let out a nasal laugh. “We all like him despite everything and well, if we were really going to keep this little guy, our parents made us promise that we would go out with him whenever we could, and it was my turn to go out with Thor” you commented pulling Golden's head up receiving licks in the face and laughing, making Yunho laugh too.
                “He's beautiful,” he commented, running his hand over Thors's head, who licked his hand in response.
                “And he liked you,” you commented, laughing, observing him. “I’ve never seen you around here...”
                “Ah, I just moved, for a month,” you looked like you understood and shook your head.
                “I see, that explains a little…”
                "What?"
                “You're here to watch the sunset,” you said with a charming smile, in Yunho's opinion, on your lips.
                "What you mean?" He looked at you without understanding.
                “Let me guess, either you live around here, or you walked too much and got tired sitting on this rock and watching the sunset, now which one is right?” You didn't look at him despite the sparkle in your eyes and the mischievous smile that gave it away.
                “The second one,” he commented blushing slightly.
                "Where are you living?" You asked without expecting anything but making conversation.
                “I don't know any references here, but…” They both laughed as Yunho was remembering what he did during that time he was walking. “Since it took me two hours to get here and I was walking slower than a snail,” you laughed contagiously, making him release a smile that you thought was charming, “I think that an hour or thirty minutes of walking will be enough for me to go back home.” He commented smiling. "And you?"
                “I live that way,” you pointed to Yunho's side, the same path he had passed, making him smiled at that. “I was heading back, considering the sun was already setting when Thor ran like crazy and only stopped when he reached you,” you smiled at the boy who was looking at you enchanted.
                “Well, do you want to accompany me back?” you looked at him without understanding. “I came from there too, we can go back together...” you were silent for a while and Yunho quickly tried to correct himself. “I mean... if it’s okay with you or-”
                “Hey! Don’t worry,” you laughed a little, taking Thor by the collar and going to Yunho’s side. "Let's go?"
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                It had been three weeks since Yunho was in Jeju. You met every day. Your family had invited him and his family to dinner or lunch with them and Yunho's family did the same to you. They lived just three houses apart. You had gotten surprisingly close.
                Yunho now knew of two boys who “chased” you at school, he knew they had a crush on you and that's why they were always around and watching you, he could see the reason why they liked you thought, of course he could. You also knew things about Yunho, things he never told his friends or his brother. This was a good thing. But Yunho was afraid of confusing things, after all he was a master at confusing things.
                He already knew every little detail about you without you needing to say anything. He knew what to do and how to do it. He wanted to protect you from everything and everyone, in addition to being stressed because you had taken the final college exams and was waiting for an answer. You wanted to enter Seoul National University, but he knew that it wasn't easy to get into that university, but he knew how much you had studied even if he didn't know the details regarding how you felt emotionally.
                Unconsciously he had memorized your perfume, how you made him feel good and complete, something he hadn't felt since the end of the relationship. Yunho knew your scent, he knew all the smiles – and their meanings – that you gave out to everyone, he knew and loved the faces you made when he pushed you into the sea, or when you simply walked at night and the cold air hit your face.
                He loved hugging you and having you in his arms. He loved being able to call you “little one” whenever you arrived and hug him warmly with that smile like a child on Christmas Day. Yunho loved everything about you and that was his biggest fear and warning alert. He knew that falling in love with a girl like you was easy, but he didn't want to confuse things. He noticed the glances you directed at him, how your smile was different in some moments when you were together, how the concern on your face was evident whenever he and your father were in the same space, the face of relief and joy that your face showed when Yunho was congratulated or simply did well in the areas established by your father.
                He had to admit that he thought your father thought he was your boyfriend, or at the very least, a suitor. Not only him but your mother too. He also noticed the exchange of looks between you and your sister, noticed the hints that your sister threw at the two of you whenever you were together or Yunho would go to your house so you could go out somewhere, but what stressed him out and confused him was yourself.
                Despite all the signs from your family and the statements from the boy's family that said there was something more than a simple friendship, he didn't see any sign coming from you. He didn't want to ruin the friendship that had begun, nor did he want to go back to Gwangju and leave you behind. He had become attached to having you by his side every day.
                At that moment, you were both silent, walking side by side on the beach. The sun would set in less than three minutes and soon night would wash over Jeju. The silence was both pleasant and unwelcome. Yunho thought about ending the silence, but what would he say? ‘I think I'm confusing things and I think I'm starting to like you as more than a friend’? Yeah, that was out of the question.
                “What day are you leaving?” Your eyes didn't meet his.
                Yunho looked at you briefly, trying to memorize the few moments he would still have left with you as this trip would soon be nothing more than another memory. In two weeks he would hit the road back to his city so he wouldn't know when to return.
                “Two weeks,” he lowered his head.
                "Which day?" Yunho stared at you without understanding. “What day exactly are you going?” You asked hugging yourself tighter after a gust of cold wind came. Yunho automatically hugged your side trying to keep you warm. "Thanks..."
                “It’s still not sure, but we have to return before the fifth...” He replied without looking at you and lowered his head. He didn't want to think about leaving you, not after having you so close, bringing him the security and complete feeling he had whenever you were near.
                “Great,” it was the first real smile you’d let out since you started walking aimlessly as the sun began to set. Yunho looked at you without understanding. “You gonna stay for my birthday!” Yunho soon cheered up and a cute smile took his lips, being imitated by you who finally looked at him.
                You were getting closer and closer to the pier and the cold of the tidal wind tormented you each time, making you lean more and more against Yunho, which made him smile every time. When you finally arrived at the rock where you had met, you remained there for a while in silence, enjoying each other's warmth.
                For some reason the wind had died down and consequently the cold from the sea air, but you didn't move away, much less Yunho. Your head was resting on Yunho's chest which was slowly going down and up, he was controlling it, because in reality, his breathing was failing him. Yours was no different. Yunho's hand on your waist as he caressed that area leaving your body burning. Yunho was different from the other boys. You had created a friendship with him that was never possible with many people you had always lived with. You looked up at Yunho, thinking if you should let your intrusive thoughts win.
                “How can someone be so perfect with just under the light of the moon?” That was the thought that kept running through your head. You shouldn't find him beautiful in a silly, passionate way, you couldn't fall in love with him, you didn't want to lose this short-term friendship that made you feel so good. Yunho barely noticed you watching him. Little did he imagine that you were recording every detail of his face and how you held yourself back from touching his face and pulling him to face you so that they could finally kiss.
                Little did you know that in his head, he was holding himself back from doing the same. Yunho had his right hand on your waist, making a small caress while his left hand rested on your leg, his head was going through a thousand and one things, but reality brought him back when he felt his hand being welcomed by another hand, a warm hand with slightly cold fingers. He looked at his own hand, following the arm of the other hand that overlapped his, finding you looking at both of your hands with a shy smile and... Dumbfounded? He had never seen that smile. Something burned in his chest and a thousand things stirred in his stomach as if the carnival had just begun.
                You looked up and the two pairs of almond-shaped, goofy eyes met. Yunho pulled you closer against his body involuntarily and automatically. You lowered your head, feeling your cheeks itching, Yunho undid the clasping of your hands and touched your chin making you look at him. Both of your eyes were different, with a different shine. You hid your face in the hollow of Yunho's neck, making him shiver when he felt the heat of your breath in that place, and he was a little scared when he felt you place a simple and – almost – innocent kiss in that area.
                Yunho tangled his free hand in the hair at the back of your neck, pulling it lightly to find his face. Noses touching, breaths mixing, butterflies celebrating, hearts fluttering, the certainty of one thing and the doubt of another. Little by little the centimeters between your faces ended and a simple and innocent kiss took place between the two.
                The sensation was the most perfect combination of elements and sensations. A fire dominated both your bodies and the feeling of accomplishment took over completely. Neither of you wanted to open your eyes, neither wanted to part your lips, neither wanted to forget the feeling of liking someone and that person reciprocating.
                The lips parted to quickly come together again. This other kiss was different, of longing, of desire, of passion, of love, of fear, of security, of desire, of fulfillment. A perfect dance in synchronization of all the elements that surrounded you made the moment more and more perfect. The tide, the location, the feeling of freedom, the sound of the waves breaking, the feeling of tranquility and lightness. The kiss was delicate, nothing rushed, there was nothing to rush there. That was the consummation of the best feeling in the world for any being, the feeling of correspondence, of friendship, of love.
                The lips parted. Both red and swollen, making both want to resume what you were doing, but when you met each other’s eyes, you stopped. That was the certainty, you liked each other and wanted each other, get closer to each other, the good you did for each other was something more than visible. But doubt soon caught up with you and you lowered your head. Yunho was returning to his city in two weeks, what would be the probability that this continue? What would work? They didn't have any clue and that was a problem.
                “Let’s not think about that now, okay?” Yunho cupped your face and you nodded, soon kissing him again. And the explosive consummation of their feelings hit you again.
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                It was the night of the 31st, your birthday. Everyone was there, friends, family and obviously Yunho and his family. You and Yunho didn't let go of each other for more than thirty minutes. Forming an extremely cute couple, the type to have cute and sickening nicknames, you always hugged each other, whispered to each other, etc. As the party ended around midnight and everyone left and, as a birthday present, you asked if Yunho would and could sleep there. Your father didn't like it very much at first, but he couldn't do much, other than accept it, after all he liked and trusted Yunho, he knew he was a good boy and would do everything he could to not disappoint his little girl. And if he did leave, he wanted you both to have the best memories of this summer vacation.
                The night was basically the two of you exchanging caresses, imagining what would happen when Yunho left, what would happen if you decided to continue the relationship and if it was worth trying to maintain it. You quickly fell asleep in Yunho's arms while he sang and watched over your sleep as well as stroking your hair lightly.
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                August 4th is the last day of the two of you together. You had decided to spend the night with Yunho, you wanted to enjoy all the time you still had with him. As soon as they hit the road, you would head home. Dinner was peaceful, a few jokes here, laughter there, jokes aside. Soon the first floor of the house was the same as when his family had arrived, apart from most of the suitcases being present near the door.
                You were lying on Yunho's bed watching him pack some things that were missing from his last suitcase. Your eyes were burning, your body hurt, you didn't want to let him go, long distance relationships are rarely successful. You stayed with him practically the entire summer and now you would have to spend the rest of the year away from the boy.
                Yunho put a handful of blouses in his suitcase and turned to pick up his pants, finding your sad gaze directed at him, that was more painful than he ever thought it would be. He left his pants where they were, his suitcase open on the floor, some clothes still on the hanger, nothing mattered to him other than his little girl in bed looking at him sadly. He knew why you were like this; he knew because he was the same way.
                Neither ever thought or believed in a “summer love” or a “holiday affair”, that was something that neither of you thought would ever happen and you also never understood people talking about them with a look of longing or, whatever that they felt, but now you understood.
                You both wanted to be able to relive that month of summer every day, walking on the beach, playing, laughing, playing with Thor, jumping in the sea, chatting, having each other's warmth and imagining that, at that moment, you were infinite, that nothing could stop you, that feeling would be eternal and that no one could ever take that away from both of them.
                You were unique on that vacation, without lies, without anyone but you and you alone. You just wanted to run away and hide, spend the rest of yours lives together. Too dramatic and irresponsible, but that's how you felt. You wanted to be close to each other, Yunho forever wanted to be sitting on the rock near the pier with Thor coming towards him barking and you coming behind, catching up with them and kneeling down, petting the big and clumsy little Golden Retriever.
                You wanted the feeling of the first kiss again, wanted to relive every vain moment without caring about the world falling apart around you. Yunho wiped the tear that insisted on falling from your eyes. Your head fell on the chest of the boy who hugged you back, not just any hug, that hug that says more than any words, that memorable hug, that hug of longing, that hug of affection, love, goodbye.
                "I do not want to leave you."
                Your voice came out weak and shaky between a few tears that were already wet Yunho's shirt.
                “We’re not going to let each other go, remember?” Yunho commented, stroking your hair, placing a simple kiss on the top of your head. “You will always be with me, no matter where. You made me be me, you completed me, you made me feel like the happiest person in the world...” you moved your head away and looked him in the eyes. Watery, red eyes met and Yunho sighed. “We both know that everything could go wrong after I get in the car and hit the road, I just want you to know that I will never forget this summer.”
                Yunho's words of conviction brought in you the feeling of happiness that you hadn't been able to allow yourself to feel since the night before. You both knew it was more likely that you would never see each other again, but that didn't mean you had to forget about each other. His eyes lit up when he noticed the first real smile you allowed yourself to give in the last 24 hours, making Yunho smile too.
                “Yunho…” Your voice was weak. Yunho ran his thumb over your face, making you smile slightly at that, feeling it and trying to memorize everything. “I wanted to repeat everything...”
                “Me too, little one.”
                He placed a kiss on your forehead, your hands quickly cupping Yunho's cheeks, pulling him closer to your face with a slight smile and his eyes were shining, not with sadness, but with happiness.
                “Shall we go to the rock?” Both smiled. Yunho was already getting up, but you stopped him, hands on his forearm. “Finish your bags, I don’t think when we come back, we’ll have time for you to pack them later.”
                A mischievous smile appeared on your lips.
                “(y/n) are you sure?” You approached the boy, looking at him with a toothless smile and that spark that Yunho loved in his eyes.
                “I trust you and I don't think we'll have a second chance anytime soon,” the kiss was quick, but full of desire, desire, trust and longing. You and Yunho finished packing your bags amidst small stolen kisses, some tickles and small moments where you distracted Yunho by the simple fact of existing and being in his room.
                “Shall we go, little one?”
                You nodded, taking his hand and you soon headed to the rock where you met for the first time.
                The path was relatively long, but that didn't stop you from keep on running, laughing, kissing, hugging and screaming – in the moments when Yunho decided to carry you on his lap when you started trying to tickle him again. Soon the beach could be seen and your hands quickly intertwined as you walked along the shore and – occasionally – joined the other beachgoers. You kicked the sand, went close to the sea to feel it on your feet, trying to relive every moment, until at dusk, when almost no one was on the beach, you both sat on the rock facing the dark horizon, the reflection of the moon in the sea, the waves breaking, seeing the stars, the wind from the coast, that for both of you was all you had to remember from that vacation.
                “The best memories are made of small moments, they are made of people, the right people and the wrong people. They are made of a longing, of a desire. Memories are memories that our unconscious keeps and releases from time to time to remind us of who we are, what we have become, what made us change.” Your speech was serious, but your eyes were focused on the ocean in front of you, your hands always intertwined, the constant reminder that Yunho was still there with you. The silence was nice, it wasn't uncomfortable like it probably should have been. You laughed softly and looked at Yunho with a goofy smile and shining eyes. “You are one of my fondest memories, Yunho.”
                “And you mine, (y/n).”
                Yunho grabbed your face with his left hand, bringing you closer and your lips soon met. A simple touch of lips. Just a taste of what was, what is, what would always be.
                You both spent a few more moments enjoying the moment in which it all began, remembering moments that you thought were lost, moments that you would give anything to relive and never forget. Once you left the rock hugging each other, it must have been close to midnight when both arrived at the beach house where Yunho and his family were staying. Then you went up as silently as possible to Yunho's room.
                As soon as he closed the door, began a warm kiss that would remain in their minds for a long time, knowing that when you saw each other again, the desire to repeat it would be extreme. Both walked awkwardly towards the bed, laughing between kisses, feet and legs intertwining from time to time, hands running and exploring each other's bodies. That was when you felt the bed on your knees, pulling Yunho closer to you, not wanting to break the kiss for anything, but Yunho moved away a little, supporting his weight on his arms, looking at you from above, both of you with a smile on your face, eyes shining like two pairs of obsidian, lips swollen and red.
                “Are you sure you want this?” Despite the breathless voice and the desire to have his mouth on every part of your body, he wanted to be sure.
                Before you started getting involved, when neither considered it anything other than friendship, you had already had a similar conversation where you said that you couldn't give yourself to someone the way some girls did, that you both had to have something relevant for you to get along with, for you to give yourself in such a way and it would not be easy for that to happen.
                “Yunho, we may not be officially dating, but our relationship is the relevant relationship I was talking about,” your voice was firm despite your breath being missing a little, a small laugh came out of both of your throats, and you continued with a slight smile and little blushed. “You make me feel good, you give me confidence and I have no problem with that happening between us.”
                “I promise not to hurt you.”
                You knew he could never do that to you, but that sentence brought greater security as Yunho continued to look into your eyes, waiting and looking for some kind of change, of apprehension, of fear, but he didn't find any. A cute smile took over your face along with a slight pink tint on your cheeks. Yunho smiled lightly, kissing your forehead, then your nose, both cheeks, chin, and a simple kiss on your lips and then focusing on your neck, taking the opportunity to wrap one of his arms around your waist when your back arched with the trail of kisses that he left around your neck.
                You both wanted that, there was no better time for it to happen. What would be the possibility of meeting again? Practically zero. You just enjoyed it, you only had one night, one more night together, why not make it more special? Why not make it that memory that will make you let out that goofy smile, bring you that feeling of freedom, that desire to come back, have the feeling of loving and being loved?
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                "Will we try?"
                Yunho asked after closing the trunk of the car and observing your reaction as you stared at his arms, exposed thanks to the tank top he was wearing.
                “You had to wear a sleeveless shirt.”
               Your comment was low enough that only you both could hear, an embarrassed smile on your lips as you approached him, running your hand over the nail marks on Yunho's arms and back, making a slight grimace when you noticed how visible they were, making the boy laugh and hold your hand.
                “Why hide it?” He commented laughingly, looking into your eyes, making you blush a little more before he pulled you in for a quick kiss. The lips trailing from your mouth to the base of your ear. “You still haven't answered me...”
                One last kiss under your ear, along with a light squeeze on your waist, caused your mind to go into short circuit, pressing your thighs together, which didn't go unnoticed by Yunho who laughed softly, depositing a last kiss on your cheek. Your hands quickly going to the back of his head, a small caress there and you could swear you heard a grunt come out of the boy. Knowing that you had as much of an effect on Yunho as he had on you was gratifying to say the least.
                The memories of the previous night quickly infiltrated both of your minds.
                “We can, but when will we see each other again?”
                Yunho smiled and kissed you again, he heard the horn of his parents' car and immediately went to the driver's door and opened it, but before entering, his arms were quick around your waist, pulling you between his legs. The kiss was quick and full of feelings. Your hands wrapped around his neck, while his fingers tightened around your waist. It was only when Yunho felt a salty taste amid the kiss that he pulled away, lips red, just like the eyes that stared at him. You had cried. He quickly pulled you closer, feeling your face hide in the crook of his neck, tears wetting part of his shirt, but he didn't care as his hands ran up and down your back.
                “Don't worry,” he said wiping away the few tears and kissed your forehead and got into the car, closing the door, lowering the window and then starting the car. “I’ve already made arrangements with our parents, I’ll come here next vacation, you just need to accept me into your house and we’ll see each other again.” Yunho gave a mischievous smile as you stared at him with your mouth open, not knowing what to say. “I love you little one,” Yunho blew you an air kiss and squealed behind his parents’ car, leaving you unresponsive for a few moments.
                You ran to your room soon after and rolled over in bed with happiness, stifling a scream with your pillow, you quickly ran to your cellphone marking the next long holiday on the calendar, such as the next day of the start of winter vacation, which was supposed to be the time when Yunho would return. Your happiness was greater than anything else, you didn't know whether to scream, jump, run, or whatever to release the happiness you contained within yourself.
                Your fingers quickly sent a simple message to Yunho for when he arrived in Gwangju, to call so you can talk. Even though you didn't know exactly how everything would happen from that moment on, you couldn't care less. Yunho had said he loved you. He would come back to you, you just had to wait for him, which you knew you would do even if he didn't ask.
                Yunho had marked you; you were his, just as he was yours the moment he saw you run after Thor on the beach the day he arrived in Jeju. Deep down, you both knew that it didn't matter if it worked or not, because in the end, what you experienced that summer had been more than remarkable, you belonged to each other even before the night you spent together and that was enough at that moment.
"And what was eternal, will not remain only in the smell; in the speech; in the embrace; in the eyes. It will remain inside, intensely stored in the heart.”
(Victor Hugo Felipe)
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raindropsyndrome · 1 year
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I gotta ask (of you're okay with answering of course!!) How do you get your traditional sketches- that are on paper- I'm assuming, so clean?
I'm totally envious of how pretty it is and how vibrant and clear it turns out in pictures!
I was wondering maybe what your process is or simply how you edit your art to look so pretty! 💜💜
Ahhh thank you!! I’m happy to help!
I’ll use Mikey for this demonstration :>
When traditionally sketching, I first start out with really light lines, then after getting a rough sketch down, I come in with darker lines, then I erase the lighter ones
The darker lines may also get partially erased, but because they’re darker and pressed into the paper more, they remain and I can still see them, so I can just go over them again without keeping my rougher light lines I’d done before
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I rinse and repeat until I feel satisfied with my drawing!
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Now for the editing, I just use my phone’s camera app editing settings
If this went by a bit too fast, (I’m so used to doing this at this point lol)
In short, what I did was turn the contrast up 100%, then brilliance up to 80% (this varies, it depends on the lighting I took the photo in,) and then I adjust the rest from there. With “highlights” being turned up pretty high, and “shadows” turned pretty low.
Then for the coloring I turned the saturation down to 0%, (for a crisper black and white look, I don’t do this all the way if I used color,) and then I put the “dramatic” filter on it, I like how the filter makes darker hues sharper and how it evens out lighter ones.
Also!! The “sharpness” setting is really nice for making your lines less blurry!! I turn that up to around 15-25%
The cropping is just a matter of framing the main subject well, then taking out unwanted space. I usually adjust angles before cropping, otherwise I might crop out something I wanted in
Here’s the before + after
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I hope this wasn’t too confusing, lmk if you want any clarification!
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my aftg fan cast
disclaimers:
a lot of these, especially in the next part, aren’t actors, so this is less a fancast and more of a “i have a horrible imagination and need to visualize characters so they feel more real to me” list
if they don’t look like what you picture, agree to disagree! i love seeing other ppl’s perspectives of what the characters look like and i hope you do too
without further ado,
neil josten - benjamin wadsworth
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okay listen just because i picked the most used neil fancast DOES NOT MEAN THE REST OF THIS LIST IS BORING!!! he’s just so neil-coded to me in deadly class! i even put him into a photo editing app to change his hair and eye color and he still fits!!! plus the top right pic is exactly how i imagine a nathaniel smile.
andrew/aaron minyard - vlad konoplev
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i’m gonna give credit to @kalu_aftg on tiktok for this, because i saw this actor in their tik tok. he’s in a russian series called my biggest secret (i watched a couple clips but i haven’t seen the show)
but come on!!!! this is andrew minyard!!!! and always with andrew fancasts it’s difficult to see them as aaron but i feel like this could go both ways, especially in the bottom right pic. identical, but different vibes, yk?
dan wilds - kiersey clemons
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i first saw kiersey clemons in new girl as kc and she feels so dan! then i saw the pic on the top left and i was like YES! this. is. dan. she seems very sweet and friendly but i know she could give a great game face.
nicky hemmick - conor husting
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even his pics give off major nicky vibes. he also has a very similar hair length to what i picture nicky with. fun fact: he’s also half-mexican on his mother’s side which is strangely accurate lol!!
allison reynolds - jessica lord
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i’m gonna be honest i just searched up “blond actresses 20’s” and that top left photo popped up and it was just so so so allison!! i included a couple pics of her in the ballet movie “find me in paris” because i couldn’t find a lot of pics of any of these actors in active wear and this felt close enough.
kevin day - nicholas galitzine
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honestly i got this idea from an instagram live he did where he was yelling about being 6 foot and my brain was like “that is kevin day IN THE FLESH”. i originally saw him in bottoms and he totally cracked me up.
matt boyd - daniel ezra
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like come on!!! his smile is so bright and inviting, it gives off such strong matt energy. he played spencer james in all-american and i haven’t watched it but ive seen ppl say good things. bonus: he’s the only one i could find with any form of a face guard (even tho nick galitzine also played a football player in bottoms lol)
renee walker - sydney park & lana condor
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okay SO my criteria was soft-looking people that can look sharp in other pictures, and i came up with these two! it’s kinda hard to picture renee without the pastel/white hair but let’s suspend disbelief.
seth gordon - young david beckham
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speaking of suspending disbelief, LMAOO. just hear me out, okay. seth was a fifth year, slightly older than the rest of them, so i was looking for that + blond buzz cut and this is the result!
and that’s all! i have more so i’ll probably make a part two, but im having trouble finding a nathan because it’s so hard NOT to picture nathan as a redhead but that means he probably won’t look like benjamin wadsworth.
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nwrsie · 3 months
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Any chuuya icons in a soft pink and can you recommend tips on how to start making rentrys
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sure thing!! i’ll put your request up top, but the tips can be found under the cut!!
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♡ — posted !
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so there’s a few components to making rentries!! here’s a few of the bigger ones. if you need any specific details on anything let me know!!
finding inspo : pinterest is one of the best places for this!! just search “rentry inspo” and you’ll get hundreds of results!! i also post some rentry/sntry inspo on @holybunnie (as well as some of my own psds) if you wanna check it out!!
image masks : for image masks for graphics, i recommend searching “rentry image masks” on pinterest, or checking out my png board. this carrd has some realli neat masks as well!!
pngs : as for little cute pngs to add to your graphics, i recommend picsart stickers!! pull up a transparent background in the app (it should be titled “blank”) and search for whatever you want in the sticker tool search bar! for the best results, i recommend searching “color png”!!
creating your graphic : photopea (free website version of photoshop) and ibis paint x (app) are your best friends!! i recommend ibis paint x for beginners, while more advanced editors may appreciate photopea for its ability to, well, behave much like photoshop would in the photo editing department! for me personally, i used to use ibis paint x (see @digichu) while now i primarili use photopea!! to make a very simple graphic, import your mask and whatever image you want for your graphic. then (assuming the background doesn’t need to be removed or you alreadi did so) use a clipping mask!! your image while now adhere to the shape of your image mask! isn’t that neat?
gif-ing your graphic : if you’d like to give your graphic more pizazz ezgif (website) is another one of your friends!! there are two types of gif graphics you can make in ezgif. you can select the “crossfade frames” option in the animated gif maker to have multiple images fade into one another, or you can hit the “don’t stack frames” option to have a png appear to move! to have the second effect in your graphic, you’d need to save two of the same graphic, with the only difference being one of the accent pngs is rotated a bit.
finding pixels/dividers/etc : there’s a ton of resources out there for finding these. some of my personal favorites would have to be my resources blog (@digitalita), my resources discord server (which has a ton of masterlists and resources rentries within), my resources rentry, and pixelprism!!
putting it all together : the age old saying realli is true, practice does make perfect!! my first rentry (which i don’t think i still have screenshots of or anything) was realli, realli bad. the graphic wasn’t even a graphic, it was literalli just a cutecore edit of strawberri cookie i found on pinterest. there was no image masking, no gif-ing, and certainli no psd-ing. if you’re feeling silli, look at my templates from @digichu compared to the ones i make now!! the difference is wild right? i feel like those were only made like a year ago at most. don’t beat yourself up about not having the perfect rentry. if you need more specifics about anything i said here, please let me know.
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scarasbaefy · 10 months
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u should totally continue the obsessed scara drabble and make it so that reader finds out and he confesses and she thinks it’s cute… kinda like @/celabi ‘s scummy scara?!?!!😢
GOT ME RESEARCHING N STALKING CELABIS BLOG !!! plz go follow I LOVE U @celabi n ty anon for introducing me
first pt for context
since the day you saw him in your house, you had been looking around and asking everyone if they have seen the man, giving them the best description of him you could possibly give. you did only see him for a mere second so it was kind of hard to give any specific details other than him having indigo colored hair.
the thought of someone adoring you from afar made your heart flutter. especially when the person was someone as cute as this doll-faced man. sure, he broke into your house. but he didn't cause any harm! he only took a photo of you. every second since the day you saw him, he has been in your head, running it NONSTOP! how long has he noticed you? maybe he was just shy? he was taking over every thought of yours even if it had nothing to do with him. he was always just there.
it was when you were traveling back home after picking herbs that you heard something snap behind you, causing you to turn your head out of instinct, only to see the boy you’ve been asking around for. 
the sight of him made you drop your basket and turn your heels, quickly running towards him so he wouldn’t have the chance to escape again. “wait, please!!” you shouted.
scaramouche didn't run away from you this time, waiting for what you had to say. he got excited, but was still shy, about getting the chance to speak with you without it being weird. he also couldn’t just ignore you. you told him to wait, and even pleaded for him to do so. if you told him to jump off a cliff he’d do it without a second to spare, as long as you’re the one requesting for him to do so. 
he stood there patiently; eyes glued to his hands which were fidgeting around from the anxiety of you noticing him. “you were at my house the other day… were you not?” you asked in a soft and calm voice, careful not to startle him or worse– make him think you’re upset. the boy nodded without taking his eyes off of his hands, too scared to see the expression on your face. you noticed this and gently pulled his hands away. you aligned them with your own and interlaced your fingers with his, finally making him look up at you. he was flustered, eyes wide and biting his lip to keep him from making any noise from the contact. to be honest, he would’ve died in your arms on the spot but he didn’t want to embarrass himself. 
“don’t be alarmed. i’m not upset. I’ve… been thinking about you.” the look on your face after you said that made scaramouches heart flip, brain stop, body melt, face heat up, hands tremble. he literally wanted to steal you and lock you in his basement you're so cute. you had looked to the side with a pout, feeling embarrassed from the words that came out of your mouth. you barely knew this man and you were already confessing to him!!!! 
“wanna come over?” your hands squeezed his as you looked back at him once more. DO NOT KILL THIS MAN!! HE CAN’T HANDLE IT.
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©2023 scarasbaefy do not copy, edit, or post my work on any platform.
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kadextra · 5 months
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it’s time…. time to take a look at q!Bad’s Corrupted Head Wound™ again, since it could be relevant - now with a timeline of progression! :D
(this is only the main images that show drastic shifts. bro has gradually changed skins like 25 times over the past 2 months, I can’t put every photo here)
left -> right
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how it slowly got colored in with soul blue (which stayed brightly saturated for a While) to later turning grey over purgatory… that’s so cool.
let’s do a little recap of all the confirmed things the character is experiencing, that this wound may be contributing to!
eye color change
colorblindness
memory loss
psychosis
paranoia
loss of smell
inability to feel pain
probably more I’m not mentioning
always hurts to know this monster of an injury under the hood has just Been There for over 2 months and nobody knows. the nuclear blast sending him straight to limbo may have worsened any damages too for all we know, q!bad now has scrambled up memories and keeps saying his head hurts. <- I wonder if that means he can register a bit of pain again…?
also some more changes happened between the previous and most recent skin:
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not only did it darken quite a lot + more blood, but you can see some greenish/teal pixels have appeared which were never there before. they are only on the back side too, not in the front. unsure what this is
my current guess is it’s some kind of marks from putting his back to the explosion when shielding dapper
edit: I think I was first to notice the green back? and predicted its origins as nuclear explosion damage correctly. now looking at its current bright green state is just…. oof. love it for me but am still kinda amazed lmao
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marmie-noir · 20 days
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Bar Top Goodbyes
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I struggled with this and idk why. This scene was what inspired the whole thing in my brain while watching the show the first time. I've given up on editing and double checking, so I am throwing this out and running away. If there are mistakes please forgive me!
TW: Smut. MxF smut, no protection, dirty talk, Mitch Keller.
“M’sorry, could you say that again darlin’?” Mitch asked, half asleep next to me at the small kitchen table. He was cute like this, sleep clinging to him like a warm blanket, making his movements a little slower and his voice full of that gravel that made butterflies go crazy in my lower stomach. His hair was still a bit mussed as well, falling over his forehead instead of held back by his usual hat. 
“I wanna say goodbye to the bar today.” I repeated, watching him slowly process what I was saying. 
He blinked before scratching his jaw, his other hand wrapped around a steaming cup of fresh coffee that he apparently badly needed. “Sunny,” He hummed, a little amused. “The bar isn’t going anywhere.” 
“No,” I agreed, giving a little one shoulder shrug as he sipped at his coffee. “The building isn’t. But after the renovation it’s going to be different. Which isn’t bad, but I wanna say goodbye to it before men with sledgehammers go at her. Plus, we need to grab our pictures.” Last night at closing Mitch had informed everyone that Bred-2-Buck was going to be temporarily closed for renovations. He wasn’t sure how long, but he intended to pay everyone’s salary still, and our jobs would still be there upon the bar’s reopening. 
Unlike the others I knew the bar wasn’t just closing for the renovations, that this went far deeper than slapping a new coat of paint on the walls and fixing that leaky faucet that drove us all crazy. That motorcycle gang was getting antsy, it was escalating, and Mitch wasn’t going to risk anyone getting hurt in any crossfire. 
He let out another little hum, finishing off his coffee, the caffeine ever so slowly brightening his eyes and making him perk up. He worked late so it wasn’t a surprise that he wasn’t exactly a morning person, but I did appreciate how long it took him to actually wake up. 
“That is a good idea, better grab some stuff before we forget.” He said, deep voice rumbling in the kitchen. “We can swing by Maureen’s Diner on the way home and get more of those muffins you like.” “A perfect plan.” I grinned, pressing a kiss to his temple as I got up to go check on Pops and get ready for the day. 
A little over an hour later Mitch was unlocking the back door to the bar, keeping his truck parked out back so it couldn’t be seen from the road. The large sign out front stated in big bold letters that it was closed for renovations, not another soul around. 
I went towards the front as Mitch ducked into his office, flicking the lights on as he did so. I had the jukebox start playing on shuffle, wanting a little background noise, the volume low and the crooning of old country stars comforting with how familiar these songs had become since I started working here. 
Busying myself with collecting our pictures and newspaper clippings I made a neat little pile on the bartop, not wanting to damage any memories. They would go back up after the reno, Mitch had promised as much. 
In truth I had another reason for asking Mitch to bring me to the bar this morning. I hadn’t lied, I wanted to say goodbye to the place that had changed my life, but probably not in the way Mitch thought. 
Tucking teh photos away into an envelope I pulled myself up to perch on the bar, glancing at my own reflection in the back wall mirror, the rows of liquor bottles not really obscuring anything. Because I wasn’t working I had opted to wear the other sundress I had bought while shopping with Ann but hadn’t had a chance to wear yet. This one was a cream color with a lilac print, delicate spaghetti straps holding it up, the skirt landing about mid-thigh. It made me feel pretty, and I need the boost of confidence. 
Smoothing the soft fabric over my thighs I steeled myself. Yes, I had come to say goodbye to the bar, but I had also come here to finally seduce Mitch in the very spot we first met. 
It wasn’t as though we didn’t know one another intimately at this point, but we had never gotten around to actual sex. At first I felt self conscious about that fact. Did he not want to, had I done something wrong? 
Ann had been the one to reassure me. “Sugar, the way that man looks at you? I don’t think you could do something wrong. He’s a patient man, probably wants to make sure you are sure.” 
And god was I sure. Since I met Mitch all I could do was fall more and more in love with him every single day. I had boyfriends before, even an ex-fiance under my belt, but no one even came close to making me feel how I did around him. No one could touch how happy I was falling asleep and waking up in his arms, cuddled up together all cozy and warm. Not to mention the way he touched me. 
Mitch Keller touched me with a reverence that made me almost shy. His big hands on my skin while praise left his sinful lips. Pretty girl, good girl, his girl. So good for him, so perfect. 
He rarely let me focus on his pleasure either, insisting on making me fall apart under him, on his lap, touching me in a way that made me see stars and had every thought flying out of my head. I was more than ready for this, my want for him bleeding more into a need weeks ago. 
Shifting slightly where I was perched, already a little hot and bothered, I smoothed my hair one last time before deciding to just go for it. Pushing down the little anxious demon whispering in the back of my mind that there was a reason we hadn’t had sex yet I cleared my throat before calling out to him. “Mitch, could you come here please?” With only the jukebox quietly playing I knew he could hear me, reassured at the sound of his bots on the floor drawing closer. He appeared around the corner and flashed me a smile that I couldn’t help but return. He was carrying a box which he sat on the bartop, walking over to stand directly in front of me instead. 
Mitch looked as handsome as ever, in one of those back t-shirts that hugged his biceps just right and showed off his broad shoulders. He had on dark jeans with his usual large belt buckle and boots. 
He seemed to be in a good mood. I was worried maybe being in the bar would have made his nostalgic and a little sad but he seemed eager to upgrade the bar. With a familiar shine in his dark blue eyes his hands rested on my knees before sliding up the sides of my thighs, stopping just below the edge of my panties and rubbing reassuring little circles against the skin there. 
“Have I mentioned how pretty you look in this dress?” He asked, leaning in and looking down at me with an obvious appreciation. 
I tilted my chin up to meet his eyes, grinning. “Just nine times in the last hour.” I teased even though I probably wasn’t far off on the count. The moment I had stepped out of our room in the dress he had started to lay it on, giving me a little whistle. “Mm, can’t have that. Better make it a good, even number.” Mitch said with that little half smile on his lips, leaning down and brushing a few kisses down my neck before pulling back just enough to meet my eyes once more. “My girl, so pretty.” I was blushing but my grin never fell. Reaching out I hooked my index fingers into his belt loops and pulled him closer, chin tilted up in an obvious ask for kisses.He let me pull him closer, my legs parting to let him slot between my thighs. Giving me a teasing look with a raised brow Mitch didn’t say anything. He did reach up though, one of his big hands weaving into my hair and giving it a gentle tug, making me tilt my head up just a bit more before capturing my lips in a heated kiss. 
Apparently he was taking advantage of our alone time, leaning into me a bit more as he kissed me breathless. His free hand slid from my thigh to my lower back, pushing gently to bring me completely to the edge of the bar, pressing our bodies together with a pleased hum in his throat. He felt so good, warm and solid, the smell of his cologne and tobacco making me whimper. 
Breaking the kiss we looked at one another, both a little breathless. His hand in my hair moved down to cup the back of my neck, his thumb slowly brushing against the sensitive skin there. 
“Did my pretty girl need something?” He asked in that honey tone, a ghost of a smile on his lips when he saw how much the kiss had gotten to me.  
I blinked up at him for a few moments just taking in the way the low bar lights made him look. I had known meeting Mitch at this very spot not that long ago that he would become special, I just hadn’t been sure how. My fingers unhooked from his belt loops and instead a few of them brushed against that big silver belt buckle he always wore, one from when he used to ride. Glancing down at it a moment I wet my lower lip. 
“I need you.” I said quietly, chin tipping back up to meet his gaze head on. 
There was a moment of surprise before it melted into a heated satisfaction. “Me, honey?” He asked, voice low, head ducking down to brush our noses together as his lips ghosted over mine. “You need me?”
I nodded, eyes fluttering closed as I felt his lips trail along my jaw. The brush of his facial hair and his warm lips was a mix that had me sighing happily, one of my hands sliding under his t-shirt to brush my fingertips against the dark trail of hair that disappeared into his pants. “Please, Mitch.” “How can I say no when you ask so pretty?” He murmured against my skin, his teeth grazing over my jumping pulse as he’d now made it down the side of my neck. His hands came up, looping under the thin straps of my dress and slowly sliding them off my shoulders, the dress falling to expose more cleavage but not falling away entirely. He made a pleased sound in the back of his throat, duck lower still as his lips and teeth found my collarbone. 
I leaned back slightly, one hand behind me on the bar to steady myself while the other grabbed his hat, setting it aside on the bar top before returning to weave into his hair. He liked that, sucking a mark on my upper breast as he continued to trail further and further down until he hit the fabric of where my dress was still covering me. 
“Been thinkin’ about this, pretty girl?” He hummed, pulling the dress gently. The one small tug was enough to have the fabric pooling around my waist, leaving my upper body bare before him. Mitch didn’t wait for my response, ducking his head and capturing one of my nipples in his warm mouth. I gasped, thighs squeezing his hips and his nipped and sucked at my breasts, his hands sliding back up my sides to cup them and squeeze gently. “Mhm.” I whined out, biting at my bottom lip as I tightened my hand in his hair. Mitch continued to kiss down my stomach towards where my dress was pooled, his hands sliding up my thighs now to push the skirts up. I pulled on his hair, hard enough that he lifted his head, surprise clear in his eyes as I’d rarely stopped him from going down on me.  
“Everything okay, darlin’?” He asked, leaning up to steal a few chaste kisses from my lips. “Don’t want your mouth, Mitch.” I murmured, nipping at his bottom lip. My hands worked on undoing his belt as I lured him in for more sweet kisses, one working on sliding the leather through the buckle and the other palming him over the top of his pants. He was half hard already, the press of him against the denim and my hand making me smile against his lips. “What do you want?” Mitch asked between teasing kisses, both of us tasting one another, his hips pressing forward as I touched him. “I want you to fuck me on top of the bar.” 
He groaned at my blunt words, his hands that had been slipping up my thighs grabbing at the sides of my panties. “Up.” I stopped touching him a moment to have both my palms flat on the bar top, using the leverage to lift my hips so he could pull my underwear off and into his pocket per usual. Immediately his hand was on me, two thick fingers pressing into me without any warning. I gasped, arms shaking, eyes going wide as I looked up at him. He gave me that heart stopping smile, thumb finding my clit and circling as his fingers pumped in and out of me slowly. The cool press of his rings against me had me gasping, back arching slightly at the mix of sensations. “So wet already.” He murmured, leaning down to kiss me again. I moaned against his lips, my own hands moving back to his waist. His belt finally was undone, the jingle of the buckle loud between us. It was hard to think when he was knuckle deep inside of me, those thick fingers curling just right, pulling out and thrusting back in with wet noises that would be embarrassing if I had enough brain cells functioning to form thoughts. But every push, every time his thumb circled my clit, had the new thoughts flying from me until all I could think of was Mitch. My hands were clumsy but I was determined. I undid his pants and he made no move to stop me, his tongue sweeping into my mouth and sliding against mine. He tasted like sugary sweets from breakfast and minty toothpaste, a combination that had my hands pausing for just a moment before I was working his zipper down. I didn’t even tease, feeling a little desperate at this point. My hand slid into his boxers, wrapping around his cock and giving him a firm stroke. He moaned, low and quiet against my lips, and the sound had a shiver racing down my spine. My thighs tightened around his hips, heels pressing to his lower back, trying to pull him closer with a whimper as I slowly stroked him from blunt head to thick base. “Please.” I asked against his lips, the two of us stealing the other’s breath. His hand never paused between my legs, instead he sped up, forehead pressing to mine. “I need you to cum before I can fuck you, pretty girl. You are so fucking tight, don’t wanna hurt you.” I had no words, a desperate noise leaving me as the wet sound of his fingers fuckign into me filled the space around us, the low tones of the jukebox melting away as I looked up into his pretty blue eyes. My hand paused on his cock but he didn’t care. His pupils had nearly swallowed the iris, his hair a little messy from my hands early, lips parted as he watched me. 
“C’mon baby, just one, and then I’ll fuck you on the bartop. You asked so nice.” He said, voice low and honeyed, making me tighten around him. Mitch knew I liked when he talked, the rumble of his words over my skin was the best. “Such a good girl for me, c’mon.” His thumb rubbed at my clit a little faster and I was done for. 
I cried out as I came on his fingers, thighs shaking against his hips, my hands finding purchase against his shirt. He made a pleased humming sound, leaning down to press kisses against my neck and cheeks, pulsing around his index and middle finger with breathless moans and whimpers.  
When I blinked my eyes open I found my back against the bar, looking up at the old ceiling tiles and panting. Mitch was leaned over me slightly, pressing kisses to my chest and throat, murmuring praise as I came back. My hands lifted to weave into his hair and he let out a quiet laugh that was pure male satisfaction.
“You okay, darlin’?” He asked, looking up at me with a little smile. 
I pushed myself up, albeit a little shaky. Mitch didn’t poke fun, instead he helped, a large hand spanning my mid-back and helping me. I looped an arm around his neck, my other hand tugging at his shirt. “Off.” “Yes, ma’am.” He said, his smile immediate. I took my hands off him as he pulled his shirt off, leaving him in a pair of unzipped jeans, the imprint of his hard cock obvious against his boxers. I bit my bottom lip, excitement and impatience mixing with my blood. I looked up at him, legs hooked around his hips, pulling him closer in an obvious ask. 
“I know darlin’, I know, I’ve got you.” He said, his hands pushing the skirt of my dress up so it was pooled around my waist and looking down at where I was wet for him. He kept one hand on my thigh, grabbing hard enough that my skin was indented slightly between his fingers, his other hand reaching down to push his boxers down. 
Mitch Keller had a pretty cock. There was no other way to say it. Long enough to make my mouth water, thick with veins that I knew I would be able to feel. My lips parted, eyes lifting up to find him watching my expression. He moved me closer, perching me right on the edge of the bar, my legs around him. He rocked his hips, the length of him grinding against me and making me gasp, grabbing at his upper arms to steady myself. “Oh my god.” “You okay?” He asked, hand tightening on my thigh as he rolled his hips once more before pausing, giving me a moment to let my brain come back online. My lips parted when he moved but I took a deep breath when he paused, gathering myself before giving a small nod. “M’sure. Please, don’t stop.” I said, looking up at him. 
Mitch leaned down and captured my lips in another kiss. This one seemed needier, as if my plea did something to him, his kisses almost hungry now. At the same time his hips pulled back, no longer grinding against me, instead lining himself up to slowly thrust into me. I gasped against his lips as he pushed forward, pushing in, the stretch more than his fingers even with how wet I was and how he had prepped me. 
He took advantage of my gasp and kissed me deeper, sinking deeper at the same time, every thick inch stretching me in a way that had me clinging to him. Mitch kissed me like I was the air he needed, teeth and tongue tasting and teasing me, his breath warm and his lips soft. I felt his hands slide around my body to reach down and grab my ass, his chest pushing me further down on the bar top as he pulled out only to thrust back in hard enough to make me moan. 
“Fuuuuck, my perfect fucking girl.” He ground out, teeth finding me neck as he started to fuck me against the bar, body half pinning me down, completely in control of every movement we made 
All I could do was hang on and take it. One of my hands remained woven into his hair and my other found his back, nails biting into the warm skin of his shoulder blade as we both panted against one another. His own hands remained on my ass, tilting my pelvis slightly, ensuring he slid as deep as possible. I felt like I could taste him on the back of my tongue, my legs wrapping around his hips, heels pressing against his lower back as I felt each thrust hit deeper and deeper as I saw stars. 
The wet sound of skin on skin filled the bar and I moaned, back arching off the cold hardwood, my dress stuck around my waist as his hips kept up their relentless pace. “Mitch- fuck, oh fuck please.” “There we go, I’ve got you honey.” He gritted out, voice taking a growly undertone that did something to me. Mitch saw that, he noticed every little reaction my body had, adjusting his angle slightly to ensure the blunt head of his cock hit my g-spot while his pelvis ground against my clit every time he bottomed out. “That’s it. Perfect fucking pussy, perfect fucking girl.” 
He pulled back slightly to look down at me, his eyes dark with lust and unspoken affection, each thrust and his hips slamming into mine making my body jump slightly on the waxed surface. But he kept a firm hold of me, possessive even, hands tightening to the point of near pain that mixed with the pleasure and had me whimpering and moaning. 
I knew I wasn’t going to last long, already sensitive from when he got me off with his fingers. My noises grew in pitch, eyes growing wide as I looked up at him. “M-mitch-” “Gonna cum? Good girl, give it to me. Wanna feel you.” Mitch’s voice nearly a growl at me, looking down the lines of my bodies where his cock disappeared inside of me, each thrust having the most desperate noises fly from my mouth. It was one of the most sinful things I’d ever seen in my life, the image burned into my brain for the rest of my life. One of his hands shifted to my thigh and then under my knee, pushing my leg up a bit more to adjust the position, pushing deeper. 
He leaned back down and kissed along my jaw, unbothered as my nails bit into his back or when my hand tightened in his hair. “Where do you want me, Sunny?” My lips parted in a moan, balancing on the blade’s edge of an orgasm. My brain felt stuffed with cotton, skin warm and the feeling of our sweat slicked bodies moving together almost overwhelming with how good it was. I blinked up at him, eyes hazed, and he repeated his question with a deep grind, my thighs shaking around his hips. “Inside, please. Please, fuck please.” I gasped, the idea of him pulling out sounding like the worst possible thing I could ever imagine at this moment. 
He apparently liked that answer, his pace picking up, the slap of skin on skin and our panting breaths mixing together. It didn’t take much longer before I cried out, face pressing to the crook of his neck as I reached my peak. 
It felt like someone had set off sparklers under my skin, the pleasure a wave of tingling euphoria that had me moaning against his skin as I clung to him. Mitch was true to his word though, he had me, his chest against mine as he leaned over me and smothered my neck and jaw with kisses as he fucked me through it with soft praise on his lips. 
“So good, sweet girl, I’ve got you- that’s it.” All of his words sounded far off but still comforting as I clenched around him, thighs shaking against his hips and back bowed off the bartop. 
He wasn’t far behind either, his pace picking up a bit before going sloppy, each thrust grinding deep and making me gasp. “So. Fucking. Perfect.” Mitch groaned, each word punctuated with a thrust, his hands tightening on my body to hold me in place until I felt his cock twitch inside of me, a warmth blooming deep inside. He moaned, low and sinful, his forehead resting on my shoulder as he came, grinding deep in a way that had us both gasping. 
The come down was warm, his body hot against mine as he relaxed and put a little more weight on me. His hand holding my leg up gently hooked it around his hip instead, rubbing at the joint to make sure any ache I felt wasn’t permanent. It was the brush of his facial hair against my jaw though that had me humming, arms looping lazily around his neck as I cuddled against him. 
His arms wrapped around my middle to keep me as close as possible, skin to skin comforting as we both worked on catching our breaths. I made a content little sound and nuzzled against his neck. “You okay?” He asked, voice low and a little breathless, but sounding warm and pleased. I nodded, knowing he’d get me some water in a little bit. “Mhmm.” I hummed, feeling a little boneless. “All according to plan.” I said, voice a little dreamy as I pressed a kiss to his pulse. 
Mitch let out a surprised laugh, leaning back and taking me with him. I didn’t tense up, trusting him as he lifted me up off the hard bar top, one arm around my middle and the other grabbing my thigh to make sure I wasn’t going anywhere. “C’mon darlin’, let’s get you cleaned up and take a quick nap on the couch in the office and then we will go get those muffins from the diner you like.” 
I looked up at him as he carried me towards the office, taking in his flushed cheeks and mussed hair. I was sweaty and sticky and satiated, and the idea of a nap sounded like heaven right now. I didn’t respond but did lean up, pressing my lips to his for a soft kiss, pleased that my plan had worked.  
More Sunny and Mitch here!
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emberfrostlovesloki · 2 months
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Dead Center [Hotch x Reader]
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Photo credits: Center (@madneyslifeline) Right and Left (@spencermyangel)
Prompt: Aaron wards off a creepy man from the reader at the shooting range and comes to realize that the reader is dealing with a lot more than just one man making inappropriate advances toward them. 
Pairing: Aaron x gender neutral!non-BAU!reader. The reader uses they/them pronouns 
Category: angst/comfort 
Word Count: 11.5K 
Content Warnings: unwanted touch [from multiple men], mention of drinking, guns [used at a shooting range] revenge porn [the reader’s nudes are leaked online] threat of assault [by multiple people (it does not happen)], a hand is placed over reader's mouth and the reader is pinned down [by some creepy men], mention of cheating [happens to the reader], trauma, isolation. If I missed any, please let me know
A/N: Hi loves! Here is another fic based on the amazing @imagining-in-the-margins January/February Writing Challenge. The prompt was “The character learns to navigate their life after a traumatic event.” I just want to give a heads-up that this is a little dark, but the reader is safe at the end and finds some comfort with Aaron. It takes a bit to reveal what happened to the reader, but I hope the build-up is worth it. This is another novel of a fic, but I hope you enjoy it! If you enjoy this fic, likes, comments, and reblogs are appreciated! I hope you’re having a great start to your weekend and thanks for reading. Love Levi - ❤️
P.S. I was so excited to get this out that I didn't edit it like my normal fics. I will go in tomorrow and do a proper edit then.
List with all stories 
_y/n_ = your name 
_y/c/e_’s = your color eyes 
_u/sf/d_ = up/straight forward/down (depending on your height) 
_y/f/c_ = your favorite color 
_y/e/p’s/n_ = your ex-partner’s name (the ex is an ass so add the name of someone you dislike here) 
_y/n_ cringed back as the shot rang out. It was so loud that they almost closed their eyes. However, _y/n_ managed to almost hit the target and that was a victory. The sound of other shots at the gun range continued throughout the large space. Even with the headphones on, the noise is distracting. What’s even more distracting is yet another person is tapping _y/n_'s shoulder. _y/n_  was fully aware that they couldn’t shoot for shit. It’s not surprising to anyone at this range. However, their inability with a Glock was not an open invitation for every man in the place to offer advice on their technique. _y/n_ strips off their headphones and turns to look at the next man.
He’s wearing a cowboy hat, jeans, and a belt buckle that’s laughable large. _y/n_ resisted the urge to laugh at that man-wanna-be-cowboy. Before _y/n_  could even get a word out the man said, “Sweetheart, I can’t help but notice you might need a hand with that pistol. I’ve got lots of practice under my belt.” The guy patted his belt as an attempt at a joke, and _y/n_ gave him a weak smile that didn’t reach their eyes. Again, _y/n_ tried to say that they weren’t interested in any help, but the man had moved into their personal space and ran a hand up their arms that was holding the gun. _y/n_ froze instantly. His hand was warm, too warm on their exposed skin. _y/n_ struggled to take a breath, let alone tell him to back off. The man leaned in closer and said, “Now sweetheart, if you just hold the gun like this,” he slid his hand down _y/n_’s arm and to their hand, wrapping around the handle of the gun and their fingers. The guy was so close. _y/n_ could feel his breath on their, neck. The panic was rising like it did now in all situations like this. _y/n_ thought that this might be the incident that broke them. Thankfully someone stepped in just in time before that happened. 
Hotch walked into the shooting range and checked in. Once the man at the counter checked his gun and gave him a key for a locker. The worker said, “Lane 10 is open, Mr. Hotchner.” Aaron nodded and took back his ID. He slipped his wallet into his pants pocket and moved to his locker. He put the extra things he had in his pockets in the grey chipping lockers as well as his duffle bag. Before locking it up, he took out his protective headphones and glasses. No matter where he was shooting, as long as it wasn’t on the field, he took all the safety measures he could. He’d nearly lost his hearing once, he wasn’t going to let it happen again. Hotch confidently stepped into the range. He didn’t normally feel the need to blow off steam this way. He didn’t see shooting as an outlet for emotions. He had actually killed people before, more time than he had ever wished. Many of those had been with his sidearm. So shooting guns wasn’t just a fun hobby to him. But he didn’t mind the practice now and then. He was a great shot, but he knew he could improve, and when he had an open Saturday and nothing better to do, he decided he could get a few rounds in. Aaron pulled his headphones over his ears, as he stepped into the range. The familiar sound of fire hit him, and he looked over to lane ten.
He furrowed his brow as there was a man half in his lane and half in lane nine. It was a tall guy and he was standing very close to the person actually in lane nine. Hotch let out a huff and thought for a moment that the guy was the other person’s partner. He saw this sometimes. Men trying to be macho often brought their significant other to shoot for the first time. He often found these guys couldn’t even shoot well. As Hotch got closer to his lane, he became aware that the person in lane nine was incredibly uncomfortable. They looked frozen to the spot and the man was pressed close to them. Not only was he close, but he was running a hand down their arm toward their hand that was barely holding onto the pistol. From the set of the frozen person’s shoulders, Aaron could see the tension in their body. This made Hotch move more quickly. Even if the man in the cowboy hat was their partner, it was clear the gun wielder wasn’t comfortable with what was going on. As he approached the pair, moving to the lane that he had booked. The cowboy turned to look at him with a sour look on his face as his chance to be close to _y/n_ was being interrupted. He scowled at Hotch, but Aaron calmly replied, “I’ve got this lane booked for the next hour. Mind if I use it?” He wasn’t looking for a confrontation, especially not one where everyone was holding a weapon. However, he did want to shoot. He was also interested in seeing if the man kept bothering the stranger next to him. Much to Aaron’s chagrin the man just fully moved into lane nine. Hotch sighed slightly, undid the safety of his gun, and listened as the man said, “Alright baby, now shoot like I just told you and showed you.” 
Aaron couldn’t help but look over to see the result. _y/n_ raised the gun. It was shaking in their hands, but they hoped that they shot, badly, that the unwanted guy might finally leave them alone. _y/n_ pointed in their lane and pressed the trigger. They were so far off that the bullet didn’t even hit the target. Not even close. Aaron held back any comments of noise, but the cowboy didn’t and he said, “Baby did you listen to anything that I told you?” It was clear to Aaron that “Baby” hadn’t, and Hotch watched as the guy physically put his hands on their hips and moved them back. It became even more evident that _y/n_ was frozen with fear and just let it happen. The man said, “It’s alright sweetheart, let Dalton show you how it’s done.” Dalton made sure to shoot Aaron a look as he took out his own, overpriced gun and aimed at the blank target. It almost seemed impossible, but his shot was worse than _y/n_’s. There was a small chuckle from _y/n_ behind Dalton, and he turned on his heel. He looked angry, and Hotch stepped forward a bit to stop any confrontation, as _y/n_ shied away from the red-faced man. Dalton turned toward Aaron and placed his hands on his belt as if challenging the Agent to do better. Aaron rarely felt the need to be competitive. He was confident in his abilities. However, when he was given such an easy opportunity, he couldn’t pass it up. Hotch had slipped the safety back on when he wanted to observe the pair next to him, but quickly undid it again, turned toward his target, lined up his shot, and took three perfectly clean shots in the center of his target. Hotch slipped the safety back on and looked at the man. Dalton furrowed his brow and almost said something, but stormed off instead due to embarrassment.
As soon as the creepy guy was gone, _y/n_ relaxed and leaned against the barrier to the shooting field. They felt such a relief at being left alone that they hardly noticed Aaron’s concerned expression. Only after _y/n_ had taken a few breaths did they turn their head to look at the man who had helped them out of such an uncomfortable situation. They had been too panicked and barely noticed him before, but _y/n_ did now. He was tall, As tall as Mr. Cowboy, but standing back a respectful distance. This man looked professional. Like someone who might carry a gun for work. _y/n_ thought that they were reading into the dark-haired stranger too much. _y/n_ realized that they were staring and said softly, “Thank you so much for getting him to go away. I’m sorry he was in your space.” Hotch nodded and watched as _y/n_ seemed to compose themself as they spoke to him. Aaron offered a small smile and replied, “You don’t need to thank me, I think he was more in your space than mine. I’m sorry he was bothering you.” Aaron didn’t want to repeat Dalton’s gross behavior and he just nodded and moved back to his lane and target practice. 
_y/n_ felt like saying more to the man next to them, but he’d stepped back. He seemed absorbed in his practice which seemed to hit the mark every time he shot his gun. In some ways that made _y/n_ even more comfortable next to him. He was here for a reason, and that reason didn’t involve bothering them. _y/n_ wasn’t sure if it was their appearance or their inability to shoot a gun, but they had been bothered and offered advice nearly the whole time they had been here. _y/n_ tried to follow the man’s lead and turned back to their target. Although Hotch wasn’t directly paying attention to _y/n_, that didn’t stop him from occasionally looking at them now and then. It was clear that _y/n_ was trying and the next couple of shots at the target got closer to the mark but still didn’t hit the paper sheet. Aaron focused back on his shooting and after a few minutes felt a pair of eyes on him. He knew it was the person next to him. Again, he considered offering more advice but didn’t want to impose or offer help where it wasn’t wanted. He hoped that if _y/n_ wanted help, they’d ask him. 
And, as usual, Hotch was right because when he took a small break and took off his earmuffs, _y/n_ turned to him and said in a bit of a louder, more confident voice, “You’re really good with that.” _y/n_’s _y/c/e_’s looked briefly at the gun that fit so naturally in his hand and then back to his face. After a small pause, they asked, “Would you mind if I watched you while you practiced? I might actually learn about something from you.” Hotch smiled and said, “Sure you can. Would you like me to tell you what I’m doing while I do it ?” _y/n_ hadn’t expected the man to care enough to offer his help. They felt like they were imposing already by asking to watch, so being offered a verbal tutorial left like something special. Especially coming from someone as skilled as he was. _y/n_ nodded in agreement and said, “Yes, please that’d be very helpful.” Hotch smiled again and said, “I’m happy to help. I’m Aaron by the way.” _y/n_ gave him a small smile, the first he’d seen on them the whole time they were next to each other. _y/n_ lifted a hand and said, “I’m _y/n_. Nice to meet you.” Hotch replied, “It’s nice to meet you too.” He cleared his throat and continued, “Now, when you’re shooting you need a firm grip on the handle of the gun. It’s going to be loud and there will be blowback from the shot, and if you have a weak grip the aim won’t be good.” This was one of the things that Aaron had noticed off the bat about _y/n_’s shooting. Aaron demonstrated how to properly handle a gun with the safety off. He then stated, “Next you want to make sure your line of sight is directly with the gun and the target. You don’t want your eyes higher or lower than the gun itself. It’s like in baseball or softball when people say to keep your eyes on the ball. Here you keep your eyes on the tip of the gun.” Hotch drew a line from his eyes to the point of his extended weapon and said, “After that, it’s about lining up the shot and then following through with the trigger press. Be confident with it. If you’re not then the shot isn’t going to be good either.”
To demonstrate the things he’d just said, Hotch slipped off the safety of the gun in his hands, lined up the shot, and pressed the cool metal of the trigger. Aaron was so used to the feel of the blowback that he didn’t flinch.  It helped that he was trained and strong. He took two more shots to allow _y/n_ to see the process multiple times. _y/n_ nodded and said, “Thank you for explaining it to me. Hopefully, I can at least hit the target once before my time is up.” Aaron smiled and said, “I bet you’ll get it. Just try and relax if you can. Is this your first time shooting a gun?” _y/n_ looked at the ground suddenly self-conscious at being observed in a non-creepy way. _y/n_ looked back up and nodded, saying, “Yeah. I assumed it was pretty obvious.”  Hotch let out a small chuckle and said, “Well I’ve met people that have had guns for years, and they still don’t know how to handle them.” For a second Spencer flashed into his mind, but he’d seen other agents, and most of all, cops not be able to shoot for anything and he wanted to reassure _y/n_ that it was okay if they didn’t get it the first time. For some reason, he didn’t assume they were just here for fun. _y/n_ gave a small smile back and said, “Thanks.” They turned back to their lane wanting to use the rest of their time making a real attempt at shooting. _y/n_ did reflect on the fact that the man next to them had said that he worked with people who carried, which meant that he probably carried too which would explain why he was such a good shot. 
Aaron returned to his practice as well, only checking _y/n_’s progress once or twice. They were getting better. The last time Aaron checked, _y/n_ had gotten a lot closer to the target. They still hadn’t hit one of the three rings, but they were getting close. _y/n_ only had ten minutes left of their time and were getting annoyed that they hadn’t at least made it to the fifty-point circle. Aaron had put down his gun and even though _y/n_ didn’t think guns or carrying was for them after this encounter, they still wanted to at least hit the target. With little time left and no one else to turn to, _y/n_ looked at Aaron again and asked, “Sorry, to bother you again, Aaron, but could you just show me how to do this?” Hotch had noticed _y/n_ get more and more frustrated and he wondered if they would reach a breaking point. He’d seen people crack at much smaller things.
He could tell _y/n_ carried some tension in their shoulder that he couldn’t place. He couldn’t really place _y/n_ at all. They didn’t seem to belong in a place like this. But when _y/n_ asked for help again, he was happy to offer it to make them feel comfortable in a space that could be intimidating. He stepped forward, just a little and replied, “Sure. Do you mind if I help by guiding your hands a bit?” He didn’t want to touch them without getting their permission first. _y/n_ nodded. They hadn’t trusted any of the men who had offered to “help” them up to this point. But Aaron hadn’t pried at all and he asked before touching them. Plus, _y/n_ knew that he would need to. _y/n_ nodded their consent, and Hotch took a step closer into their personal space. He said reassuringly, “Alright, hold you’re gun out.” _y/n_ did as he asked, and pointed at the dreaded target. Hotch took their hand that was gripping the gun in his. His hand covered theirs and he steadied their arm with his. He then got on eye level with them, still providing space where he could, and made sure the gun was in line with the target. He asked softly, “Can you see the target and the tip of the gun together?” _y/n_ turned their face to him and said, “I can.” Aaron nodded and dropped his hands from their body for an instant, put his headphones back on, and then moved back to where he just was next to _y/n_. He used his left hand to wrap around _y/n_’s he could feel the trigger under their hand and he lined up the shot again. He took a breath and helped _y/n_ press the trigger. The bullet hit dead center. 
_y/n_’s mouth opened slightly in surprise. They snapped it back shut as Aaron moved a step back and dropped his hands from their hand and shoulder. _y/n_ suddenly missed his presence. _y/n_ was aware that they hadn’t made the shot, that it had been all Aaron. Hotch noticed and said, “Now, _y/n_ pretend I’m right there with you like I just was.” _y/n_ nodded and aimed the gun at the target again. This time it felt much easier. They could feel where Aaron’s hands had been, how he’d looked at the tip of the gun and the target. _y/n_ let out a breath and considered how he had said to try and relax. When _y/n_ was focused in, they pressed the trigger, and for once, didn’t flinch back. Much to _y/n_’s surprise, this bullet had hit the 25-point circle on the target. _y/n_ smiled slightly, slipped the safety back on the gun, and pulled off their headphones. Sure it wasn’t the center like Aaron seemed incapable of not missing, but it was something. They were proud of that and it was a good place to stop. _y/n_ didn’t want to push their luck. Aarou could sense the shift in _y/n_ and he said, “Good job. I knew you could do it. Are you heading out?” _y/n_ nodded and stated, “Yeah, my time’s up and I’ll end on a high note. Thanks for all the help. I wouldn’t have gotten that shot without you.” Hotch gave a small nod and said, “I’m happy to help. Have a good rest of your day.” _y/n_ smiled and gave a small wave as they moved to the exit. Hotch couldn’t help but notice as Dalton and another man he’d noticed staring at _y/n_ also holstered their guns and made their way from the far side of the room to the exit as well. A small part of Hotch’s brain said that it could be a coincidence, but the profiler in him had him quickly holster his gun and walk to catch up with _y/n_. Outside he leaned against the door, as he watched _y/n_ check in the rented gun and then move to a locker. _y/n_ pulled out their things and grabbed their car keys from their tote before slinging the bag over their shoulder. 
Just before Dalton moved out of the door, Hotch approached _y/n_ and said, “Hey, _y/n_ you forgot something in your lane.” _y/n_ looked up at him and said, “Did I?” They didn’t remember leaving anything in there. _y/n_ turned toward Aaron and he leaned forward and softly said, “Act natural, you have a few ‘admirers’ that seem to be following you.” Hearing Hotch’s words _y/n_ seemed to freeze up again. Aaron took a breath to remind them to remain calm. _y/n_ looked _u/sf/d_ at him and asked, “Is it the cowboy dude?” Hotch briefly turned his gaze to the left and Dalton and the other man were both standing with arms folded by the gun counter. Aaron nodded and added “And a man in all black. Do you know them?” _y/n_ swallowed and tried to stay calm as they said, “Not until today. They wouldn’t leave me alone in there.” Hotch nodded in understanding and said, “Alright. Do you have all of your things? I can walk you to your car if you want. Make sure you’re not followed?” _y/n_ nodded. They wouldn’t have normally accepted such an offer, but because they had built a rapport with Aaron already and he seemed trustworthy, _y/n_ accepted. Hotch moved to their side and let _y/n_ lead the way out into the bright parking lot.
Aaron ensured the two men didn’t get close to _y/n_ or their car. _y/n_ unlocked the vehicle and Hotch opened the door for them. When _y/n_ was seated and the keys were in the ignition, they turned to him and said, “Thanks again, again, Sorry for all the inconveniences I’ve caused you today, Aaron.” Hotch brushed off the thanks and said, “There’s no need to thank me, _y/n_. I hope you have a safe rest of your day.” He gave them a final parting smile, closed the door for them, and watched as _y/n_ drove away. Once _y/n_ was out of the parking lot, he turned and frowned at Dalton and the other men who had made _y/n_ feel unsafe. It was ironic as a gun range should be a place where safety should be ensured. Both men frowned into the sun and moved back inside, blocked from any further advances. Hotch also moved inside but chose not to shoot anymore. He signed out and moved back home. He’d had enough excitement for the day and he wasn’t keen on having any further contact with Dalton or the other men at the range. Given how _y/n_ had been treated here, he didn’t expect to see them here again, but the thought of what had drawn them here in the first place stuck as he made his way home. 
Hotch hadn’t expected to see _y/n_ again, but he did and in a place about as opposite from the shooting range as he could imagine. It was a few weeks later and the weather had turned from the Winter chill to the beginnings of the rejuvenation of Spring. Fresh buds and leaves were shooting from the trees that had been bare last month. During this time, Aaron liked to take Jack out to one of the local Farmer’s Markets near his place. Jack always loved getting some lemonade and a little snack as they walked around the stalls and people-watched. Whether it was his son emulating his father or just a current hobby, Jack had picked up making observations on people while Aaron was around and he found it adorable to see his son, “profile” people from afar. It was early afternoon, and Jack had his drink and Aaron was looking for a decent coffee while Jack walked on tip-toes around the stalls for a cookie or something sweet. Hotch made sure to keep his pace soft so Jack could keep up with him.
Everything seemed to be calm. People were strolling about, the park where the Market was being held was bustling with families and kids on roller skates. Again, it seemed like a perfectly safe place. That illusion was shattered when a slightly louder voice from in front of Jack and Aaron said, “Hey, she clearly said she wasn’t interested, so back off already.” A lower male voice repeated in just as loud a voice, “No one asked you your opinion so keep your nose out of our business.” From both people’s tone of voice, the situation didn’t sound good and Hotch turned to Jack quickly and said, “Alright, Buddy, time to come up.” Jack nodded happily and moved into his dad’s arms. Aaron picked up his son and moved through the crowd to find the source of the disturbance. Aaron saw a man, a few inches shorter than him standing with his hands on his hips in front of two people. The first he recognized as _y/n_ from a few weeks ago. The other was new to him. 
Aaron didn’t want to cause a scene for everyone, especially not with Jack here, so he called out over the noise, “_y/n_, Jamie, there you are. Sorry parking the car took so long, it was a mess out there. At hearing a familiar half-familiar voice, _y/n_ looked over at Aaron and relaxed immediately. It was surprising, yet calming to see him again. At least this time they weren’t the ones that needed protection. At least not at the start. _y/n_ had gotten involved in the situation precisely because of the gun range incident. _y/n_ had decided that guns weren’t for them at all, but having someone stand up for them had felt good. They felt safe for the first time in over a month. So when _y/n_ saw a young woman being followed and then spoken to in a demeaning and intimidating manner, they felt like they should step in as the man at the range had. The dude didn’t seem that intimidating until he did. When he raised his voice and moved toward the woman, _y/n_ stepped between them and told him to “back the fuck off,” he didn’t take it well. _y/n_ was proud of standing their ground and keeping the guy away, even if it did mean backing up. However, even though _y/n_ hadn’t fallen into a panic as they had expected in the situation, they were immediately relieved when Aaron came into view.
_y/n_ caught onto Hotch’s plan quickly, took the woman’s hand, and said, “Hey, Aaron. Yeah, we were worried about you.” To make it look extra convincing to the man, _y/n_ leaned over to Jack and smiled, saying, “Hey, kiddo. How are you?” As the group moved down the street, the woman followed along with _y/n_ and Hotch watched as her face began to relax. He looked behind him and watched as the man took a few steps forward. Aaron shot him a glare and the unnamed dude halted in his tracks. In instances like these, Aaron was glad he had a look that could freeze lava. When he turned back to the pair, he made sure to relax his facial muscles. He didn’t want to make them uncomfortable. When the trio plus Jack got to a quiet space, _y/n_ turned to the woman and said, “Are you, alright darling? Did he bother you at all?” The woman sniffled a little and said, “He was just being a…” She stopped herself from saying an adult insult as she remembered there was a kid here and said instead, “... a major creep. Thanks for stepping in. I wouldn’t have been brave enough to do that.”
The woman smiled at _y/n_, Aaron and Jack. Hotch smiled but knew that he hadn’t done the hard work this time. _y/n_ also smiled and said, “I understand.” Their voice dropped and _y/n_ added, “Something bad happened to me a month ago, so I couldn’t just watch as that dude followed you.” There was a small pause as the woman put a hand on _y/n_’s shoulder. They perked up a bit and asked, “Are you waiting for someone, or did you come here by yourself? I’m _y/n_ by the way.” The woman smiled and said, “Ainsley. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m waiting for my husband. He’s the one taking forever” she said and smiled over at Aaron. As Ainsley said this, however, her eyes shifted past Aaron’s shoulder and she rolled them. She looked back to the pair and said, “Well speak of the devil. He’s over there looking at the bread stand again. He keeps on forgetting he’s allergic to gluten bless him. Thank y’all so much for the help. Let me stop him before he buys stuff he can’t even eat.” The woman quickly moved over to her husband and both Aaron and _y/n_ watched as Ainsley moved to the bread stall. _y/n_ couldn’t help but laugh at the argument the couple seemed to be having and Aaron joined in. Although both found it slightly funny, they also realized it wasn’t a good situation before. 
Hotch turned to _y/n_ and said, “That was good of you to do _y/n_. I’m sorry to hear you went to something bad before.” _y/n_ dropped their eyes at the memory and said, “It was the least I could do.” _y/n_ didn’t feel like reflecting on why they felt like they needed to be able to protect themself and others. To lighten the mood, _y/n_ looked at Jack and his drink and said, “I don’t believe I’ve introduced myself, I’m _y/n_ and you are?” _y/n_ held a hand out to Jack and his eyes went wide at the attention. Aaron turned his gaze to his son and said, “Jack, what do we say when we meet someone new?” Jack looked at his dad and then _y/n_ and said softly, “Hi!” The little boy also gave a small wave with his words. Hotch chuckled and said, “And what else do we say?” Jack smiled and replied, “My name’s Jack, what’s yours?”
_y/n_ smiled and chuckled softly before repeating their name. Aaron’s smile widened at his son’s practicing his social skills. He could see _y/n_ look from Jack to his left hand and then to him. Aaron shifted his son to his other side and said, “This is my son by the way.” _y/n_ smiled and nodded, saying, “Well it’s nice to meet you, Jack. And it’s good to see you again too, Aaron. I hope you’ve been well since I’ve last seen you?” Hotch’s mind flashed to the last two cases. They had been hard, but _y/n_ didn’t need to hear about that, so he said, “It’s been good.” Hotch caught sight of the cold brew in their hand and he asked, “Can I ask where you got the coffee? I haven’t seen any around here yet.” _y/n_ smiled and said, “It’s a bit hidden. The stall is at the very back behind the crepe people. I might ask Jack where he got his lemonade. This heat is starting to get to me.” Hotch chuckled as _y/n_ half looked at him and half looked at Jack. It was clear that they were trying to include Jack in the conversation, but knew that Aaron was the one with the answer they wanted. Hotch replied, “It’s in the opposite direction as the crepe guy. Just down this way and to the left.”
Hotch could see why _y/n_ was hot in their _y/f/c_ long-sleeve shirt and form-fitting black pants. He had to move his eyes up before he got distracted. He didn’t want to start being the creep in this situation. _y/n_ didn’t even notice his distraction and said, “Okay. Thanks for the scoop. I think I’ll head over there or I might melt in this heat. It was nice to see you again. Maybe I’ll catch up with you later, maybe?” Jack squirmed in Hotch’s arms and he let his son down, saying, “Sure thing, _y/n_. I’ll see you around.” Jack was pulling at Aaron’s arm and _y/n_ let them both go with a wave. They knew it was unlikely that they had seen each other again. They weren’t expecting a third chance encounter. Little did either of them know the last meeting before Aaron found out what had happened to _y/n_ would come sooner than either of them imagined. 
The rest of that afternoon unfolded uneventfully for both Aaron and _y/n_. Both got their drinks and then left without seeing the other again. On the drive home, Jack looked at his dad from his car seat and asked, “Daddy, who was that person today at the park?” Aaron looked at his son in the rearview mirror and tried to think of how to word his response. “Aquanitice wasn’t a word or topic he fully thought Jack could get yet, so he opted to say, “Well _y/n_ is a friend of mine and they were doing a good thing, and I wanted to make sure they were okay.” Jack nodded slowly and then asked, “Are they a friend like Uncle Rossi or Aunt Emily?” Hotch chuckled slightly at the affection Jack gave the team and clarified, “Not that close of a friend, Buddy. But we can learn something from _y/n_ today, and that’s when you see something bad or scary happening you should try and help. That doesn’t always mean getting into the situation, sometime it means finding someone to help, but you should always help people where you can. Okay, Jack?”
Jack nodded happily. The inquisitive child that he was, Jack had to ask, “What was dangerous back there, Daddy?” Hotch let out a nod, knowing this wasn’t a conversation Jack was ready for. Aaron replied, “I’ll tell you when you’re older, okay, son?” Jack nodded and then seemed to get absorbed by finishing his lemonade and looked out of the window at the scenery. As the car ride lulled into silence, Aaron considered how some spaces that should be safe, spaces that were safe for him simply weren’t for other people. Facts like that always made him sad. He wished reality wasn’t like that. Hotch reflected back on one of the things _y/n_ had said that afternoon, Their words to Ainsley about “something bad happening to them” echoed through his head. He assumed this bad thing wasn’t just the incident he was involved in. He tried to imagine what had happened to _y/n_ but realized it was pointless. Unless _y/n_ directly told him about the bad thing, which he didn’t expect to happen, he was just going to have to let it go.  This thought stuck with Hotch as he made it home. As Aaron and Jack entered the apartment, he promised to teach his son that it was important to keep people safe and to model that behavior like he had to today when he could. Hotch knew he had the privilege of training and a gun to keep him safe, and this would come in handy when he saw _y/n_ for the third time. 
The third time Aaron met _y/n_ was not that long after the last. The team was celebrating the end of a long and violent kidnapping case and Emily’s two-year anniversary of joining the team. The BAU had gone to a nicer bar in D.C. thanks to the fact that Rossi was paying, everyone stayed up a little later than they normally would. It helped that it was a Friday night and the bar was full of people to watch and loud enough for them to talk about what they wanted without being overheard. After four rounds and some good conversation, everyone moved out while Rossi paid the tab. Spencer, JJ, and Penelope had parked to the right while Aaron, Derek, and Emily, along with Rossi had found parking in a garage on the left side of the street. One problem that everyone always complained about when it came to going to D.C. was the parking. It was always terrible. The BAU split into two groups after saying their goodbyes. Hotch’s trio moved down the half-busy street. Some bars had people lining up to get in while others seemed empty.
Aaron was having a conversation with Emily and paying attention to what she was saying, while Derek watched what was happening on the street. He noticed something unsettling happening in front of them. On the darker side of the street which was almost empty, Morgan noticed a few yards ahead a group of three men manhandling and herding someone forward and toward the stone wall and an alleyway that was even darker than the street. Derek was too far away yet to hear what was being said, but when they got a few feet closer Morgan caught something from the person being pushed: “I told you that ad was fake, just leave me alone. God get your hands off of me.” Derek watched as one of the men moved a hand over the person’s mouth and pushed them forward. This was when Derek tapped Aaron urgently and said, “Situation at 1:00 o’clock.” Hotch’s head snapped up and he saw what was happening in the gloom ahead.” A rush of worry passed through him as he noticed _y/n_ as the one being towed by three men larger than them. Hotch looked at Morgan and both men moved into a sprint down the road. Emily followed closely behind, now noticing what her other two teammates had. 
_y/n_ tried to thrash and kick those holding them against the cold wall, but they were pinned on either side, unable to scream. The man in front of them has his hands at  _y/n_'s waistband while his friend covers their mouth. _y/n_ flinches as gruff hands move under their shirt, working up their torso. _y/n_ tried to fight, but it was no good. As the violation continued and their clothes were pulled away from their body,  y/n_ accepted the fact that this would happen. No one had listened to them. Not the police, not Craigslist support. They tried to blank their mind out as much as possible at what was happening to them, so when the man in front of them was pulled away suddenly, they slumped forward not sure what was happening._y/n_ hadn’t even heard Aaron shout out, “Federal Agents,” as he and Morgan entered the alleyway. 
Hotch and Derek got to the site first and both men watched for a split second at what was happening. They both needed to make sure that none of the men who had _y/n_ pinned down was armed. When they noticed the men didn’t seem armed, they sprung into action. Hotch shouted “Federal Agents,” and Morgan tore the man in front of _y/n_ off of them. Morgan swung the man to the ground and pinned his arm behind his back while his friends ran off down the alleyway, up the side of a dumpster, and over the short wall dividing one back street from another. Hotch watched for a moment torn between following the men and making sure _y/n_ was alright. It only took a microsecond for him to know that he would stay with _y/n_. Hotch ignored what the man on the ground was saying as he approached _y/n_ with palms open and out to show he wasn’t a threat. _y/n_ was slowly sliding down the wall, and Aaron noticed the back of their shirt rising behind them. Hotch caught _y/n_ before they hit the ground. He could see they were in shock. Who wouldn't be after such a situation?
As he guided them with his strong hands down to the ground, Emily rounded the corner and took in the situation. Morgan looked at Emily and said, “Can you sit on him or something? Prentiss nodded and she took his place. She painfully pinned the man’s arm behind his back to stop him from moving and Derek stood up. Aaron knew that Morgan wanted to try and find the other two men who had made a run for it. It was in Derek’s nature to take action, so when Hotch looked up at Derek, he said, "Follow those guys"  It didn't take more than that for Morgan to take off running. Now Emily had the pleasure of the man below her shout out, “What the fuck are you doing. That bitch asked us to do this. They asked us. What do you guys not get about that? Like I said to the other guy I’ll show you the ad online if you just let me get my phone from my pocket. Em scoffed and replied, “Fat chance pal. Generally when someone is fighting you and you have to pin them to a wall that’s not what I call enthusiastic consent. Now if I were you, I’d shut up until the police get here.” 
Hotch overheard the conversation as he gently tapped _y/n_'s face lightly to try and bring them back. Aaron didn’t have to look at Emily as calling the police and 9-1-1. His attention snapped back to _y/n_ as they started thrashing slightly, fighting his hold on their shoulder. Aaron rocked on his heels and moved his hand to _y/n_’s as their breaths came raggedly at the new contact. Hotch made sure his face was in view as he squeezed _y/n_’s hand to match his breath as he said, “_y/n_, it’s Aaron, from before. I need you to take some deep breaths for me.” _y/n_ could hear a comforting tenor voice and felt their hand get enveloped in a larger, warm one. This was not the invasive touch from before. It took _y/n_ a few minutes before their mind fully came back to their body. When it did, _y/n_ turned their head and saw a familiar face. They gave a tiny squeeze of acknowledgment back to Aaron. Their breath was still rapid, and _y/n_ struggled to speak from the stress and adrenaline coursing through them. All _y/n_ could do was just make a little sound from the back of their throat. Hotch leaned forward and ran a hand over their forehead, pushing a loose strand of hair away from their face, He knelt on the ground and said reassuringly, “You’re doing good, _y/n_. You’re safe now. Just try and breathe and relax for me. Can you do that?” _y/n_ nodded and tried to follow his instructions.
They watched and breathed along with Aaron taking a moment to look over at Emily and the man on the ground. Hotch shifted to block _y/n_’s view so they couldn’t see the man clearly. He had finally shut up, and for that, Hotch was grateful. After a few minutes, the paramedics came and evaluated _y/n_’s physical and emotional state. Hotch was annoyed that the police took five minutes after 9-1-1 to arrive. While _y/n_ was being evaluated, Aaron provided the details of what had happened. He gave a description of the other two assailants and the fact that another federal agent was pursuing them right now. The pair of cops asked him a few questions but didn’t seem that interested in his responses. Hotch shifted his weight and folded his arms over his chest. He wasn’t impressed with either of the men’s attitudes. He took a quick moment to memorize their badge numbers as they moved to Emily’s side. One hauled the grounded man up and toward their cruiser while the other interviewed Prentiss with a similar laissez-faire tone. While this happened, Hotch looked over to _y/n_. They seemed to be back to a more normal state but they had a shock blanket on and a pressure cuff on their arm. Hotch looked around to see if Morgan was back, but he wasn’t. Aaron then texted the rest of the team. He didn’t say they needed to come. The scene was busy enough as it was, he just let them know that a “situation” had unfolded and that he might call or text them if he needed something. When the rest of the team sounded off on the chat, he thanked them and clicked off his phone. 
Morgan returned a few minutes later looking angry. Hotch looked up at him, and Derek shook his head no. As they began to chat about the chase that hadn’t ended up with the fit agent finding the other two men, Aaron noticed that the cops had approached _y/n_ in the back of the ambulance. Morgan noticed Hotch’s lack of attention caught Derek’s attention and he turned to look and listen to the quiet conversation happening near the street. Whatever the cops were saying was indistinguishable from the noise of the cars moving down the street, but both agents noticed how uncomfortable _y/n_ looked. They had their arms holding each other in a self-soothing gesture. They didn’t look comforted by what the men were saying either. The conversation also seemed to be too short to get any real information from _y/n_. One of the cops moved back toward the cruiser with their empty notepad out while the other approached Morgan. Aaron slipped past the officer and toward _y/n_. One of the paramedics was taking off the cuff on _y/n_’s arm and Hotch looked from _y/n_ to the man and asked, “Could you give us a few moments alone?”
The man nodded, placed the medical device back where belonged, and then moved away to give them some space. Before asking _y/n_ any serious questions, he just  checked in saying, “Are you feeling alright, _y/n_? Are you in any pain?” _y/n_ met his gaze and then looked down at the pavement below them. After a moment of silence and a breath, _y/n_ replied, “The medic gave me something to numb everything a bit. The nerves and stuff. So I’m not in any physical pain at least.” Hotch clenched his jaw knowing that _y/n_ was most likely in emotional turmoil at the moment. Even though it was going to be hard, he hoped he could provide some comfort and reassurance to _y/n_ that he would make sure they were safe. But in order for him to do that, he needed the full story. He took a breath and introduced himself again, this time fully. Aaron leaned a bit closer and said, “It’s good to hear that they gave you something. Would you be willing to talk to me for a minute? I’m a federal agent, and I’d like to be able to help you if you’re willing.” He pulled out his badge and showed it to _y/n_. He didn’t flash it like he normally did at cops or other agents. He gave _y/n_ plenty of time to look at it. In _y/n_’s brain, things started making more sense about the man they’d run into often. Why he was so good with a gun? How confident he was in stressful situations, and why the other men had run away when he got there. _y/n_ seemed mesmerized by the card but snapped their eyes back to his deep brown ones.
_y/n_ realized that they were focusing on only one thing at a time in order to not have to think about what was not happening. If that was the case, it might as well be Agent Aaron Hotchner. He was comforting and certainly not hard on the eyes. _y/n_ released a breath and nodded yes. The small rapport they had built with the man in front of them made _y/n_ feel safe enough to speak with Aaron. Hotch registered their consent and he thought about how to word his first question. He knew that with victims of trauma, specific questions were better than general ones. Something like “What happened,” could send _y/n_ into a spiral or unable to answer. Aaron decided to start from the beginning and move to tonight’s events in order. He asked gently, “The last time I saw you, at the farmers market, you said that something bad had happened to you. Could you tell me what that was?” _y/n_ looked down at their hands. They felt like saying “Nothing.” _y/n_ had felt like saying nothing for the last thirty-three days, but nothing hadn’t helped them, so _y/n_ resolved to tell Aaron the truth. Raising their eyes back to his, _y/n_ saw the compassion and care in Hotch’s gaze and it gave them the strength to quietly say, “It’s kind of a long story…” Aaron nodded his head no and said, “Not to me. I’ve got all night. Take your time.” _y/n_ nodded and looked at Aaron’s hands instead of him as they said, “I was dating a guy. It was pretty on and off. It was a mistake, we didn’t have the same beliefs or interests. So when I found out he was cheating on me I broke it off. I thought he felt the same way about me as I felt about him. I thought I was doing him a favor by cutting him free.
As it turns out he was very invested in me and he got incredibly angry when I told him it was over. He threatened to hurt himself if I did this to him. I told him that wasn’t true and that he was too arrogant to go through with something like that. Maybe I shouldn’t have said that, but it was true. He’s a baby and he’s never had to do anything for himself before. As it turned out he ended up just hurting me instead.” _y/n_ looked briefly at Aaron to see if he was still listening. Again, they hadn’t been before and _y/n_ was surprised as his warm gaze was still as attentive as ever. Hotch gave a little nod for _y/n_ to continue. _y/n_ moved their gaze to the wall just to the left of his ear and continued, “So he left and everything was quiet for a week. Then one day one of my friends sent me a link saying I had to see something.” _y/n_ picked at their nail, with eyes downcast. Hotch assumed it was a tell for embarrassment for them. His core clenched for what was about to come. He could tell it wasn’t good. Already had negative feelings toward whoever this guy was. _y/n_ finally said, “I clicked the link and it took me to an adult site. My ex had leaked the nudes I’d sent him a few months back. It turned out he put them all over the net. To as many sites as he could think of. I’d been told so many times not to send nudes because of revenge porn and stuff, but I never thought it would happen to me. Not to this scale. So that was horrible and I stayed up for two days emailing the sites and I called the police and they said they’d start a report or something. I was mortified, but the next day some guy I’d never seen before came to my door and said he was there about the ad.” 
Alarm bells were ringing in Aaron’s head because the three men earlier tonight had been speaking of an ad too. _y/n_ didn’t see the concern and anger on his face as they were too embarrassed to look him in the face as they said, “Of course, I didn’t know what he was talking about and said he had the wrong house. The guy got defensive and the ad said for sure this was the right address. I wanted him to leave me alone so I asked to see the ad. I was sure it was a mistake or something and maybe I could point him in the right direction. He pulled up Craigslist and showed me his phone. My… my ex had made an account pretending to be me. He’s posted an ad saying that I lived alone and had a sexual fantasy about being sexually assaulted. He’d put my picture up and my address and even times when I was normally home.”
Aaron watched as _y/n_ struggled more and more to get the words out. He his heart ached that such a violation had been done to _y/n_. He also felt like throttling the man who had done this. Who had thought of something so terrible and gone through with it? He moved a hand to _y/n_’s and gently brushed his fingertips over theirs. He wanted to offer some comfort. _y/n_ looked at their right hand and grabbed onto Aaron’s hand tightly, anchoring themself to his strength. _y/n_ swallowed thickly and said, “When the words registered I just broke down and the guy got real worried. He actually made sure I was okay. I explained it was all a mistake. Just a terrible prank from a friend. He apologized and left. When I finally got it together I emailed Craigslist and then called the support number. I got rerouted about twenty times and I gave up when I was put on hold for the seventh time. I called the cops and they said the same thing as last time. That they’d look into it; make a report. The ad stayed up and guys kept showing up. I told them all it was a mistake but some of them didn’t take it that way.”
Aaron clenched his jaw and spoke for the first time, asking, “Did anything happen? Did anyone hurt you?” His eyes scanned _y/n_ like he’d be able to see if she’d been attacked. _y/n_ found his gaze and said, “Not really. Not until tonight. Last week there was a guy that didn’t take no for no in my driveway but I was close to my car and got inside and locked it before he started running. That was when I called the cops again.” Hotch furrowed his brow. Law enforcement's response so far to _y/n_’s situation had been mediocre at best. That was demonstrated tonight as well. He cleared his throat so he didn’t sound angry at _y/n_ and asked, “And what did they do?” _y/n_ looked at him and said, “They came by and gave the guy a warning and told him not to come back. That was about it.” Aaron clenched his jaw so tight that he thought his teeth might shatter.
Aaron couldn’t help but ask in disbelief, “Why are they treating you so dismissively? Even tonight it looked like they didn’t care.” Aaron had asked the question aloud in frustration and as a hypothetical. So when _y/n_ responded his eyes snapped to theirs. This was the part that _y/n_ hated as they said, “My ex was a cop. Well, part-time cop until he quit because he didn’t like the night shift that they gave him. But he certainly loved waving a gun around and bossing people around too. His job should have been my first red flag, but I was sad and he gave me attention. I was such an idiot.” Aaron nodded his head no and said, “You weren’t an idiot, _y/n_. You were hurting and someone took advantage of that. That’s not your fault.” At hearing his words, and being believed, _y/n_ couldn’t hold in the emotions anymore and put their head in their hands and started to cry large hot tears. Hotch moved forward and protectively put his arms around them. _y/n_ moved their head to his shoulder and kept crying. Aaron placed a hand on their back and just waited. Sometimes words were unneeded and he felt like this was one of those times. 
After a few minutes and when _y/n_ had stilled and the tears had gone Hotch asked softly, still holding them, “And tonight? Were those men responding to the ad?” Aaron felt _y/n_ nod into his shoulder and _y/n_ said, “Yeah. I was just taking a walk and they were at the door banging on it. By the time they saw me, it was too late. I tried to tell them the situation like everyone else but they wouldn’t have it, so I ran. I thought they’d stop once I got to a place with more people but they just kept following. Thank God you were here.” Hotch questioned very much if God had anything to do with such cruelty, but he didn’t comment. Instead, he patted _y/n_’s back before pulling back to look at them. Aaron ran a thumb under _y/n_’s eye, catching the last of the tears and brushing it on his button-down. Aaron looked at _y/n_ sincerely as he said, “I’m so sorry that happened to you. No one deserves to be treated like that.” Hotch was more than sad, he was enraged, but he didn’t show it for _y/n_’s sake. He was going to find this guy and make sure he got what he deserved for trying to ruin _y/n_’s life. For getting away with what he had.
Aaron was also going to be filing a complaint to the District Attorney, whom he had on speed dial about how law enforcement was trying to cover for a criminal who didn’t even work for them anymore. Hotch took _y/n_’s hands softly and asked, “Can you tell me the name of your ex? I want to make sure you’re safe. Not only from him but from anyone who might come and try and hurt you.” Aaron knew this was a big ask. A huge ask, but it was needed if he intended to help them. After a few moments of silence, _y/n_ looked at him. Really looked at him. If there was anyone who had shown to act so far, it had been him, almost a stranger. But that feeling of safeness returned and _y/n_ said, “His name’s _y/e/p’s/n_.” Hotch nodded and said sincerely, “Thank you. I’m going to go and make a few calls. I’ll be back in a few minutes. Do you need someone to be here with you?” _y/n_ nodded their head no and said, “I’ll be fine as long as you’re close.” _y/n_ didn’t want to sound so pathetic, but it was true. Aaron understood and replied, “I’ll be in view, I promise.” _y/n_ nodded, relieved that he didn’t seem upset at such a silly ask. 
Aaron moved toward Derek and Emily who were both talking in soft tones. As Hotch passed one of the police officers he frowned and asked, “What’s the name of your Cheif of Police?” The befuddled and bored-looking LEO replied with the officer’s name like he didn’t care. Aaron let out a huff and moved past the man and toward his team members. Both Emily and Derek looked at him and registered that he was unhappy. Morgan asked, “What happened?” Hotch responded, “I’ll tell you in a moment. Prentiss, can you call Garcia and ask her to look up a name: _y/e/p’s_n_? I want everything on him.” Emily nodded and Derek looked at Hotch with probing eyes. Hotch stated, “I need to call the Attorney General, will you watch those two officers and make sure they give _y/n_ some space?” At hearing the AG being brought up Derek knew this was important and he nodded and moved closer to the ambulance blocking _y/n_ from the sight of the police car and men talking inside. Hotch quickly left a message and then checked in with Emily. Prentiss assured him that Garcia was already on it. Hotch thanked her and moved back toward _y/n_. The medic was speaking to _y/n_ as he approached.
Aaron moved forward to see what was going on. He looked at _y/n_ and they filled him in saying, “I’m good to go. They’re not taking me.” Hotch looked at _y/n_ and the paramedic who nodded that that was correct. Aaron looked back at _y/n_ and asked, “Are you going home from here? Do you need someone to take you?” _y/n_ managed a small smile at the kindness he was showing them and replied, “I’ve called one of my friends that live close by. I’m going to stay at her house tonight. Maybe I’ll go home tomorrow.” Aaron nodded in understanding and said, “Okay. I’m going to look into what’s happened. I’ll keep you updated if that’s alright?” _y/n_ nodded and said, “I’d like that. Can I give you my number or something?” Hotch nodded and said, “Yes. I’d appreciate that.”
Aaron slipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out his wallet where he kept a few business cards. He flipped one to the back and added his cell number before handing it to _y/n_ saying, “Here’s my office number and my cell. If you feel unsafe if someone tries to come to your door again you can call me and I’ll make sure someone comes and gets them away from you. And I’ll stay here with you until your friend shows up.” _y/n_ felt like they could cry again but held it together and replied, “Thank you so much. Sorry if I messed up your night, or you getting home to your son.” Aaron couldn’t help but give a small smile at _y/n_’s memory of Jack. He replied, “Jack’s at his mom’s tonight. You’re not inconveniencing me _y/n_. I want to make sure you’re safe. That’s what’s important to me. Even though it felt impossible in a case like this after everything _y/n_ had been through, they believed him and just sat in the comfort of someone who made them feel safe for the first time in a very long time. Eventually _y/n_’s friend came and _y/n_ went with them. Hotch wrapped up with the officers, paramedics, and Emily and Derek after which he headed home. 
The following day he got the report from Garcia. He also asked her to find the ad on Craigslist take it off the internet and trace the IP address. He also mentioned the revenge porn and Penelope looked as horrified as he had felt when _y/n_ heard about it from _y/n_ Garcia promised to take down an images she could find of _y/n_ as soon as possible. Later that day Hotch got a call back from the Attorney General and he filled the man in on the Police situation. General Miyares promised to look into the situation. At the end of the day, Hotch texted _y/n_ that things were in progress and that the ad had been removed since noon that afternoon. He filled them in on some of the other details too. _y/n_ thanked him profusely over text which he brushed off. Aaron didn’t think too much about _y/n_ until a week later when her ex was arrested for a litany of crimes from assault and battery, to money laundering and fraud. Aaron happened to be on _y/n_’s side of town when he found out about the arrest and he felt like he should call _y/n_ to see if they had heard and if they were doing okay.
He dialed their number and after a few rings, they picked up. There was a hesitation before _y/n_ said, “Hey, Aaron. How are you?” Hotch wondered why he heard hesitation in their voice but answered honestly, “I’m alright? Are you doing okay? Have you heard the news?” After a moment, _y/n_ replied, “I just heard. My friend sent me an article about it. I’m trying to be okay. I haven’t gotten out much since I’ve last seen you.” Hotch could fully understand why _y/n_ would want to isolate. Even after the ad had been taken down, just getting out the door must be a challenge. Aaron asked gently, “Have you thought about any added security measures like you mentioned last week?” _y/n_ replied faster this time saying, “Yes. I bought a ring camera and an extra bolt for the door but haven’t had them installed. I called a guy but when he showed up I kind of freaked out. I’ve been too embarrassed to ask anyone else.” Hotch’s heart gave a little tug at how scary any man showing up at their door would be for them. Aaron had an idea and he simply said, “Listen. I don’t want to push or anything, but I’m in your area. I could come over and install those things for you if you like, _y/n_? But only if you wanted me to.” There was another silence and _y/n_ replied, “You’re not busy?” Aaron smiled and said, “No, I’m not busy.” 
Twenty minutes later Hotch parked outside _y/n_’s door and he knocked on the front door. _y/n_ opened it for him and said, “Thanks for doing this. You really didn’t have to.” Aaron gave them a smile and said, “I don’t mind. If it makes you feel safer, then I’m happy to do it. Could you show me the ring camera and bolt?” Hotch was just a few feet into their door and he didn’t move forward. He didn’t want to make them feel unsafe in their space so he didn’t venture further unless asked. From what he did see it seemed cozy and warm. A place that reflected _y/n_’s personality. After a minute and some rustling, _y/n_ came back. Their arms were full of a few boxes and a drill that didn’t fully seem right in their grasp. Hotch stepped forward slightly and said, “Here, let me get that for you.” He took the bigger items from _y/n_’s arms.
Hotch looked at the door and asked, “I can put this camera up first and you could set up the app while I added the bolt. Would that be alright with you?” _y/n_ nodded and said, “Yes, that sounds good to me.” Aaron returned the smile and said, “Great. Well, I’ll get started. This shouldn’t take long to set up.” Hotch grabbed the drill and the box holding the camera and moved back outside. Twenty minutes later he was back in the cooled room. As Aaron started adding the new lock to the door, _y/n_ worked on getting the camera set up and said, “Got it!” Excitedly when they could see the outside of their home from the safety of inside. Aaron turned and said, Great. Hopefully, that will give you some extra security, as will this.” Hotch pulled back and showed the deadbolt was now in place. Aaron stood up and said, “Is there anything else I could do to make you feel better? You said you weren’t getting out much. Are you feeling okay?” _y/n_’s smile fell slightly as they said, “Would you like a coffee or something? Or a glass of water? It was pretty hot out there.” Hotch could hear the desperation in _y/n_’s voice for him to stay, for just a bit longer. Aaron nodded and said, “A coffee sounds nice. Thank you _y/n_.” _y/n_ relaxed and let their shoulders relax. They looked at Aaron and said, “Would you like to come in and sit down?” They pointed to the table near the kitchen and Hotch moved further inside and took a seat. _y/n_ moved around the kitchen brewed a fresh pot of coffee and then sat down across from Aaron. They talked about light topics until the coffee was ready and they got them both a cup. 
When _y/n_ was seated again, Hotch asked the same question again: “Are you doing okay, _y/n_?” _y/n_ bit their lip and said, “You’d think I’d be. _y/e/p’s/n_ just got jailed and I have added security, but most days I can’t even leave the house. Some mornings I can’t get out of bed. I’m wondering if I’m ever going to move past this. If I can see a man outside my door and not be afraid. Sometimes I feel like my life is over.” Aaron leaned forward and said, “It’s not over, _y/n_. I know it’s hard, but you can do this. You didn’t deserve anything that happened to you, but I believe you can move on from this. I hope in time you can feel safe and that you know you have resources so when you don’t feel safe there’s someone looking out for you. I’m one of those people, _y/n_. _y/n_ felt their eye’s water again. They hadn’t told Aaron this but he was the first person they’d let into their home since that first man had come looking for sex. It didn’t feel like the new beginning they had planned, but it was a small step forward. If nothing else _y/n_ knew that Aaron Hotchner was a man out in the world fixing things rather than tearing them apart, and he cared enough to be sitting here watching them almost cry. Hotch moved a hand forward and placed it over theirs. _y/n_ closed their eyes, sure they’d say something soon. But for now, it felt good to be safe with someone. And that someone was Aaron Hotchner.
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starlitmark · 7 months
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Summary: The look in Jaemin’s eyes is something words can hardly describe; he’ll still try, though. Pairing: Jaemin x fem!reader Tropes: established relationship au Genre: fluff Rating: PG Warnings: none Word Count: 630 Note: requested by @jaehunny for the Anniversary Event
Rai’s Version
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You know the look in Jaemin’s eyes. It’s the same look he gives his cats, the look he has when he’s doing things he loves. Above all, though, it’s the look he gives you. Sure, you’re his first girlfriend, but you know a man in love when you see one. He thinks you don’t notice it either. You see the look in his eyes when you catch him looking at you, listening intently to whatever you’re telling him. You could be saying the most mundane thing, and he looks at you as if you hung each celestial body with your own hands. The look in his eye is nothing short of pure, unbridled love. 
“Are you almost ready?” your boyfriend asks, still fiddling with his camera.
“Mhm,” you respond, “Just getting my sandals now.”
Jaemin planned out a whole afternoon for the two of you to go out and have a picnic followed by wandering through a flower farm nearby. It’s late summer so the sunflowers are in full bloom and showing their bright petals for everyone. Your boyfriend just couldn’t resist bringing his camera along to capture the beauty of it all. 
“I thought you said you only had to grab your sandals.” you hear your boyfriend tease lightly from the bathroom doorway.
“I forgot something; I need to find-”
“In my camera bag already.” Jaemin assures.
“How did you know that I wanted to bring an extra chapstick?”
“I know you my love.”
Small things seem to never go unnoticed. Despite this being Jaemin’s first proper relationship you find yourself being more adored by him than anyone you’ve ever been romantically involved with. Your afternoon is spent full of fun and, of course, your boyfriend’s loving gaze on you when he thinks no one is paying attention. The afternoon quickly bleeds into night though and you find yourself back at home and getting ready for bed. Jaemin is already uploading all the pictures from his camera to his computer. 
After removing your makeup and changing into something far more comfortable. (Namely one of Jaemin’s t-shirts and lounge shorts). You find yourself shuffling over to his computer chair and wrapping your arms around his shoulders. Pressing a kiss into his temple, you look at him editing pictures already. A smile grows on his lips before placing a kiss against your forearm. Every time he comes across a picture of scenery, you watch as he meticulously edits the pictures to make them appear just as he wishes. However, every time you’re in a picture, he hardly edits anything. The most he does is enhance the lighting and shadows to make you stand out more.
“Why aren’t you editing my photos like you do everyone else’s?” you ask, “You never edit out blemishes or edit coloring like you do for everyone else you take photos of.”
“What is there to edit?” he asks, “You’re stunning all on your own. You’re everything I could ever ask for. What you see as blemishes, I see as another beautiful quality that makes you, you.”
He turns his chair and pulls you to sit in his lap.
“Even now,” he starts, eyes dripping with love, “your hair is a mess, not a single drop of makeup on your face, clothes that aren’t meant to look flattering. You are the most gorgeous person I’ve ever seen. You’re my first love, and I pray to whatever may be that you’ll be my last too.”
You blush and hide in your face before leaning against his broad shoulders. You know he feels this way. You feel just the same about him. But to hear it out loud has heat rushing to your cheeks and ears. He adores you as you are; that’s all you could ever ask.
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COPYRIGHT STARLITMARK 2023© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED — reposting/modifying any fic or piece of original writing posted on this blog is not allowed. Translations are not permitted. 
Networks: @kwritersworld @k-vanity
Tag List: @jaehunnyy @ericssmile @anyamaris
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fereldanwench · 6 months
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I saw someone recently ask why their shots weren't turning out how they wanted them to despite being able to support the highest graphical settings, so I thought I could share a little behind-the-scenes tidbit re: my approach to lighting and post-editing in VP in case it's useful.
And for my money, lighting is one of the most important factors in getting a shot that I'm happy with. Yes, a high-end graphics card can absolutely help, but that's just one tool of many that can make a difference.
(This info is probably most relevant to folks who can mod their game, but the overall principle can also be applied to vanilla photomode, too. You'll just have to find good in-game light sources since you won't be able to spawn your own, and it might require a little more finagling with the vanilla photomode exposure and contrast settings. Here are some 100% vanilla shots I took recently that I think turned out pretty decent even with those limitations, just to give you some ideas if that's what you're working with.)
Lighting & Exposure
So referencing the photos above, from left to right:
A purely vanilla shot with ray-trace enabled but no lighting tools
The same shot with lighting tools on Valerie
The same shot with lighting tools + some Lightroom editing
Beefy graphics cards can certainly make a difference here since they'll be able to render more nuanced light and shadows, but as you can see in the purely vanilla shot, that ray tracing on its own ain't doing much when it comes to lighting Valerie. The neon lights in the background are pretty, but she's barely even visible in that dark ass street.
In the second shot, Valerie is in the exact same location but has multiple light sources on her. I mostly use CharLi lights these days, which is a free suite of lighting tools available on Nexus, and the customizable ambient lights in AMM, also free on Nexus.
I didn't think to screencap my exact lighting setup, but I'm pretty sure it was something like this:
CharLi spotlight on the left and right of Valerie, tinted pink/magenta
CharLi spotlight on the upper right, tinted teal
(I think I might have had an orange CharLi spotlight too, but it wasn't visible from this angle)
2 CharLi white spotlights directly on Valerie
Probably 1 or 2 AMM customizable point lights on her face (I like using the point lights at very low brightness to accentuate faces and give them a nice glow)
Now putting all these lights on a character could end up way too bright at the default vanilla exposure, especially if you aren't using any kind of major Reshade overhaul (which I do not).
Instead, I just use the vanilla photomode exposure settings to make a scene really dark and then light it back up with my own tools. (This is also a great way to shoot in areas that might have weird lighting effects, and it can be done indoors or outdoors and at all hours of the day.)
Just a simple example of that in these shots:
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On the left, Valerie has a spotlight on her face and chest--It's pretty bright, too bright for my tastes. On the right, she has the same spotlight, but the overall exposure has been dropped down to -90 and the highlights have been dropped to -60 (now it's a little too dark for my taste--If this was gonna be a real shot, I'd build up more lights, but just wanted to show how much altering the exposure can affect a shot).
Post-Editing
As for making further adjustments to colors, shadow levels, sharpness, etc. of a shot, I know a lot of folks prefer to do that with Reshade presets, but... I don't, haha. I did make a basic shader to reduce the green tint of the game, and I use the Cinematic DOF and Real Long Exposure shaders to get a nice depth of field and reduce hair pixelating. Otherwise, all other adjustments I make are in Adobe Lightroom (or Photoshop if I need to make more precise adjustments).
And it's just a personal preference here. I just don't like having to mess with too many mods and menus in-game--I feel like it increases the chance of something freezing or crashing or me accidentally closing out of photomode. It also helps to give me a new perspective to see the shot outside of the game, especially if it's a portrait-oriented shot. Plus, I just like the process. Gives me one more reason to stare at the blorbos for a little while. :3
I adjust each Lightroom preset as needed depending on the color and exposure of the shots I'm working with, but these are some of the more common settings I modify:
I almost always finetune the exposure and shadows/highlights.
I like to do a global increase for saturation and vibrance.
A lot of my presets increase the saturation of reds and blues and decrease the saturation of yellows and greens, but this can vary; e.g. i like the greens to be vibrant if it's a nature shot.
I also usually make the white balance a little cooler.
I love tinkering with the global curves settings to "flatten" the shadow levels.
And I like really crispy shots, so I always increase the sharpness, and I'll usually bump the texture and add some noise, too.
These are all things that can be done in other similar programs/apps or even with Reshade. If you're just starting out, I think using pre-made presets and filters is a great way to go, and as you get more comfortable with the tools, you can start to make little tweaks and edits to personalize the style.
So anyway, there's some of my process! Everyone's got their own, and what works for me might not work for you--Don't feel like you have to take any of this as gospel or work exactly the way I do. But maybe this will... shed some light (ha ha, I'll see myself out) on how to get started with some VP tools. <3
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nanowrimo · 11 months
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Five Ways NaNoWriMo Turned Me into a Writer at Fifty-One
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No matter your age, NaNoWriMo has something to offer for you. For participant, Dorothy Wong, Camp NaNoWriMo gave her the chance to finish a novel! Read below to learn about her experience and what she gained during her writing journey. The year I turned forty, I took a twelve month leave from my job. With no work commitments, I thought I would finally write my novel. While I ended up with a blog full of chatty travel posts and fantastic memories, I didn’t write my book, not even a rough outline. Anytime I tried, I found myself distracted and overwhelmed. If I couldn’t write during that sabbatical year, I told myself, I was never going to write anything. And for almost a decade, I didn’t.
Then a friend posted on Facebook that she was attempting a month-long writing challenge called NaNoWriMo. My first thought was, “Why would anyone voluntarily sign up for that?”. I couldn’t imagine putting myself under that time pressure to produce an actual novel.
Turns out, NaNoWriMo was exactly what I needed to break through my self-imposed barriers to writing. During Camp NaNoWriMo April 2021 I went from never writing at all to writing an average of 1500 words per day and creating a flawed, but completed, 50,000 word manuscript. I was ecstatic. Not only did I finish a novel, I thoroughly enjoyed the process.
Here are the top five ways NaNoWriMo turned me into an enthusiastic writer at fifty-one:
1. Community: There’s nothing quite like being part of a group effort, where everyone is cheering you on to complete your 50,000 words. NaNoWriMo is dedicated to creating safe and diverse spaces, including providing online and in-person opportunities to meet fellow writers. As an older writer, I worried about keeping up when the participant age range skewed much younger. To my relief I found a community through the BIPOC online meet-ups that connected me to others like me, many with established careers and extensive life experience, who wanted to write. Finding a community of writers will give you the support you didn’t know you needed.
2. Timed Sprints: During my first online writing sprint, to my absolute shock, I churned out 600 words in 15 minutes. Being in the company of others who are all doing the same thing (known as “body doubling”) really worked for my brain. Scientific studies show that doing a task in tandem with others increases productivity. If you’ve never tried timed writing sprints, they can be a game-changer.
3. Word Count Tracker: NaNoWriMo’s online word count tracker sent an instant dopamine hit to my brain every time I updated my progress.
4. Word Count Goal: While writing an entire novel can be daunting, reaching 50,000 words felt doable. Broken down to 1500 a day, I worked in short bursts throughout the day, finding time around my job and caring for my family, to get that word count in. When I reached my goal each day, I felt incredibly motivated to keep going. Even if I didn’t reach the goal, getting some words down every day kept my inspiration burning.
5. Limits are Freeing: NaNoWriMo’s time-bounded word count freed me from the “what if it’s not any good” voice in my head. If I wanted to write, I had to sit down and write, no excuses, and I had to keep moving the story forward, as there was no time to go back and edit. By accepting that I would be writing a crappy first draft, I gave up perfection and embraced the challenge.  
NaNoWriMo made me finally believe that I could write a novel. If you’ve spent a lifetime trying to get started on your novel, I encourage you to give NaNoWriMo a try!
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Dorothy Wong lives with her family on beautiful Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada where she works as a lawyer by day and writes mysteries by night. She joined NaNoWriMo in 2021 and has been happily writing ever since. Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash   Interested in the writing events Dorothy talked about? Feel free to check out our upcoming events for Writers of Color Virtual Meetups or Virtual Write-Ins! Writers of Color are also invited to check out the forum group.
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