#container box 20 liter

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Too big to care

I'm on tour with my new, nationally bestselling novel The Bezzle! Catch me in BOSTON with Randall "XKCD" Munroe (Apr 11), then PROVIDENCE (Apr 12), and beyond!

Remember the first time you used Google search? It was like magic. After years of progressively worsening search quality from Altavista and Yahoo, Google was literally stunning, a gateway to the very best things on the internet.

Today, Google has a 90% search market-share. They got it the hard way: they cheated. Google spends tens of billions of dollars on payola in order to ensure that they are the default search engine behind every search box you encounter on every device, every service and every website:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/03/not-feeling-lucky/#fundamental-laws-of-economics

Not coincidentally, Google's search is getting progressively, monotonically worse. It is a cesspool of botshit, spam, scams, and nonsense. Important resources that I never bothered to bookmark because I could find them with a quick Google search no longer show up in the first ten screens of results:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/21/im-feeling-unlucky/#not-up-to-the-task

Even after all that payola, Google is still absurdly profitable. They have so much money, they were able to do a $80 billion stock buyback. Just a few months later, Google fired 12,000 skilled technical workers. Essentially, Google is saying that they don't need to spend money on quality, because we're all locked into using Google search. It's cheaper to buy the default search box everywhere in the world than it is to make a product that is so good that even if we tried another search engine, we'd still prefer Google.

This is enshittification. Google is shifting value away from end users (searchers) and business customers (advertisers, publishers and merchants) to itself:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/03/05/the-map-is-not-the-territory/#apor-locksmith

And here's the thing: there are search engines out there that are so good that if you just try them, you'll get that same feeling you got the first time you tried Google.

When I was in Tucson last month on my book-tour for my new novel The Bezzle, I crashed with my pals Patrick and Teresa Nielsen Hayden. I've know them since I was a teenager (Patrick is my editor).

We were sitting in his living room on our laptops – just like old times! – and Patrick asked me if I'd tried Kagi, a new search-engine.

Teresa chimed in, extolling the advanced search features, the "lenses" that surfaced specific kinds of resources on the web.

I hadn't even heard of Kagi, but the Nielsen Haydens are among the most effective researchers I know – both in their professional editorial lives and in their many obsessive hobbies. If it was good enough for them…

I tried it. It was magic.

No, seriously. All those things Google couldn't find anymore? Top of the search pile. Queries that generated pages of spam in Google results? Fucking pristine on Kagi – the right answers, over and over again.

That was before I started playing with Kagi's lenses and other bells and whistles, which elevated the search experience from "magic" to sorcerous.

The catch is that Kagi costs money – after 100 queries, they want you to cough up $10/month ($14 for a couple or $20 for a family with up to six accounts, and some kid-specific features):

https://kagi.com/settings?p=billing_plan&plan=family

I immediately bought a family plan. I've been using it for a month. I've basically stopped using Google search altogether.

Kagi just let me get a lot more done, and I assumed that they were some kind of wildly capitalized startup that was running their own crawl and and their own data-centers. But this morning, I read Jason Koebler's 404 Media report on his own experiences using it:

https://www.404media.co/friendship-ended-with-google-now-kagi-is-my-best-friend/

Koebler's piece contained a key detail that I'd somehow missed:

When you search on Kagi, the service makes a series of “anonymized API calls to traditional search indexes like Google, Yandex, Mojeek, and Brave,” as well as a handful of other specialized search engines, Wikimedia Commons, Flickr, etc. Kagi then combines this with its own web index and news index (for news searches) to build the results pages that you see. So, essentially, you are getting some mix of Google search results combined with results from other indexes.

In other words: Kagi is a heavily customized, anonymized front-end to Google.

The implications of this are stunning. It means that Google's enshittified search-results are a choice. Those ad-strewn, sub-Altavista, spam-drowned search pages are a feature, not a bug. Google prefers those results to Kagi, because Google makes more money out of shit than they would out of delivering a good product:

https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/2/24117976/best-printer-2024-home-use-office-use-labels-school-homework

No wonder Google spends a whole-ass Twitter every year to make sure you never try a rival search engine. Bottom line: they ran the numbers and figured out their most profitable course of action is to enshittify their flagship product and bribe their "competitors" like Apple and Samsung so that you never try another search engine and have another one of those magic moments that sent all those Jeeves-askin' Yahooers to Google a quarter-century ago.

One of my favorite TV comedy bits is Lily Tomlin as Ernestine the AT&T operator; Tomlin would do these pitches for the Bell System and end every ad with "We don't care. We don't have to. We're the phone company":

https://snltranscripts.jt.org/76/76aphonecompany.phtml

Speaking of TV comedy: this week saw FTC chair Lina Khan appear on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. It was amazing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaDTiWaYfcM

The coverage of Khan's appearance has focused on Stewart's revelation that when he was doing a show on Apple TV, the company prohibited him from interviewing her (presumably because of her hostility to tech monopolies):

https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/apple-got-caught-censoring-its-own

But for me, the big moment came when Khan described tech monopolists as "too big to care."

What a phrase!

Since the subprime crisis, we're all familiar with businesses being "too big to fail" and "too big to jail." But "too big to care?" Oof, that got me right in the feels.

Because that's what it feels like to use enshittified Google. That's what it feels like to discover that Kagi – the good search engine – is mostly Google with the weights adjusted to serve users, not shareholders.

Google used to care. They cared because they were worried about competitors and regulators. They cared because their workers made them care:

https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/4/4/18295933/google-cancels-ai-ethics-board

Google doesn't care anymore. They don't have to. They're the search company.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/04/teach-me-how-to-shruggie/#kagi

#pluralistic #john stewart #the daily show #apple #monopoly #lina khan #ftc #too big to fail #too big to jail #monopolism #trustbusting #antitrust #search #enshittification #kagi #google

[nvrsaidiwasinurcloset]

pleaser part 4 pls 🙏🙏🙏

Hiiii! I hope you like it!

Sorry I left it on a cliffhanger again but I'll have the next part this weekend if anyone wants it!

Also, I'm sorry it took so long for me to write this, but I literally had almost 20 requests in my ask box for it. HOPEFULLY it doesn't suck😭

AND I STG BAD IDEA, RIGHT?(Part 4) IS STILL COMING! I'm struggling to get the end just right lmao.

Pleaser - Stepbrother!Ethan Landry x Fem!Reader - Part 4

This contains SMUT - Minors DNI

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

Summary: You're still sneaking around with your stepbrother, and it's looking like you have the chance to actually be together with your mom and his dad splitting up.

Contains: p in v, fingering-ish, thigh riding, stepcest but like...your mom and Ethan's dad aren't really together anymore so is it really that bad💀(I know I'm probably missing something but if I read this again, I'll delete the whole fucking thing lmao)

A/N: There's a lot of dialog in this fic, even the smut. If that's not your thing, don't read it:)

After a couple weeks of you sneaking around with Ethan, you started to get a little reckless. You knew how close you were to leaving for college, and you knew the odds of your mom sending you away at the last minute weren’t very high. It got to the point where he was sneaking through your bedroom window every night because you didn’t want to sleep without him. Then, he’d have an alarm set to wake up before Wayne and your mom would get up for work and go back to his room.

The situation between your mom and his dad seemed to be civil, even though Wayne had to sleep on the couch while he tried to find a house. He even contemplated getting an apartment for him and Ethan while they figured it out, but your mom was adamant that it wasn’t a big deal. As irritated as she was over the situation, she didn’t feel right for Ethan to bounce from place to place right before he was leaving for college anyway.

You were sure that your mom had no idea that you were still spending time with Ethan, but she started to notice little things. The flirty glances, the sneaky subtle touches. But what really let her know that you’d found a way to spend alone time with Ethan was when you were helping her make dinner, like you always did, and you put your hair up to get it out of the way. She saw the huge purple mark on the nape of your neck, and she realized that you had no idea it was even there once Ethan walked into the kitchen to see what was for dinner, and his eyes grew wide the second he saw it. He motioned for you to put your hair back down, your cheeks turning bright red. You thought she didn’t notice because she didn’t say anything, but she was planning to later that night after dinner.

Just like clockwork, you and Ethan excused yourself to go to bed right after dinner was over. He was crawling through your bedroom window as you walked over to cut the lights off, your room only lit by the moonlight that was pouring through the window before Ethan closed it and drew the curtains shut.

As you crawled in bed with him, he couldn’t keep his hands off you. Your back was pressed to his chest as your legs were spread for him, his fingers rubbing over your panties as he placed open mouth kisses along the side of your neck.

“You’re so hard,” you said, as your ass was pressed against his cock that was straining in his boxers.

“You always do this to me,” he mumbled against your neck. “I want to fuck you so bad right now.”

“You can,” you whispered, as he slid your panties to the side.

“You think you can be quiet?” he asked, a gasp slipping past your lips as he slid one of his fingers inside you.

Before you could say anything else, you heard a light knock on your door before it eased open. Ethan pulled his hand away from you as you closed your legs. You both froze in fear as you saw the silhouette of your mom as she made her way inside your room.

“Are you still awake?” she whispered, as she tried to navigate through the darkness of your room.

“Yeah, I was almost asleep. Just don’t cut the light on,” you said, your anxiety creeping up as she sat down on the foot of your bed.

“We need to talk about you and Ethan,” she said softly, “I know you’ve still been sneaking around.”

Ethan was trying to be as still as possible as he laid beside you. He was so thankful for your blackout curtains, and how you really couldn’t see anything in the room.

“I know you’re probably going to try to deny it, and I don’t want you to lie to me right now. Please be honest with me,” she said, as you took a deep breath.

“When am I going to dads?” you asked, confirming her suspicions without actually admitting to it.

“Do you love Ethan?” she asked, as you tensed up. You hadn’t said those three words yet, and you knew she was just trying to have girl talk with you to know where your feelings were, but you didn’t want to tell her when he was right behind you. “I think he loves you. He looks at you like it’s way more than just some fling.”

“It’s not just some fling,” you said, as you felt Ethan's hand rubbing against the back of your thigh. “I guess I do have really strong feelings for him.”

“I know I was upset when I first found out about the two of you, but I really like him. I’ve seen a different side of him since the weekend that Wayne and I went on our little trip,” she said, as she started to laugh to herself. “You know he used to annoy the shit out of me.”

“He’s actually really sweet,” you said, as his hand just kept moving.

“I’m not going to send you to your dads…and I think I’ll ask Wayne and Ethan to take the cameras down. They don’t really seem to be serving a purpose,” she said, “But, don’t think that I’m okay with the two of you going crazy. I don’t want to walk in here one morning and see him in your bed or something.”

“I’m not that stupid,” you mumbled, “But I’m really tired. Can we talk more about this tomorrow?”

“Of course, honey. Get some sleep,” she said, as she stood up to make her way towards the door. “If you want, we can go get stuff for your dorm tomorrow. Ethan can come, too.”

“Cool, I’ll ask him about it in the morning,” you said, as she opened the door and walked out, quietly closing it behind her.

You and Ethan laid in silence for a few minutes to give your mom plenty of time to go to bed, but he still snaked his arm around you to hold you close.

“Did she just give you permission for us to be together?” he whispered in your ear.

“I think so,” you said, smiling at the thought of it. “I’m sorry if she made things awkward.”

“I think the only awkward part was me being in the bed with you and she had no idea,” he said as he softly laughed against your neck. “Are you talking about the feelings stuff?”

“Yeah…I know we haven’t really discussed that yet. I didn’t know what to say.”

“Do you have really strong feelings for me like you said?” he said, as his hand ran up your thigh.

“I do,” you said softly.

“Good, because your mom was right…about me loving you.”

“You love me?” you asked, as he nodded his head against you.

“I have since we were left alone for the whole weekend.”

You adjusted on the bed so you were facing him, your legs tangling with his as he held you close.

“Why didn’t you say something sooner?” you questioned, as he sighed.

“It’s a complicated situation. I didn’t want to say it until I knew we actually had a chance to be together.”

“I love you, too, babe,” you said, as you leaned up to kiss him. You started to laugh against his lips once you felt how hard he still was, his cock brushing against you. “You’re still hard.”

“I told you; the idea of getting caught is my kink,” he mumbled against your lips. “You still want me to fuck you?”

“Mhm.”

He connected his lips to yours again, his hand running over the curve of your ass as he rubbed his cock against you. You were getting more wet by the second, the anticipation building as his tongue moved across your bottom lip. He moved his leg so his thigh was pressed against your pussy, as you started to grind against him, gasping at the friction on your clit.

Your breathing got heavier as you kept moving your hips, and once his hand on you ass was helping you move faster, you were trying so hard to be quiet. He started to groan once he felt how wet you were, your panties completely soaked as you rubbed against him.

“You think you could cum like this?” Ethan said, his tone teasing as his hand went to your hip to hold you down harder against him.

“Oh fuck,” you whimpered, as he softly laughed.

You reached between the two of you to palm him over his boxers, as he helped you move. He attached his lips to yours again to keep quiet himself, because his cock was throbbing so hard as your hand moved over the fabric. He wanted to fuck you so bad, but he wanted you to fall apart over his thigh in between your legs first.

You were whimpering into the kiss as you felt yourself start to get close. He pulled his lips away from yours, his bottom lip in between his teeth as he helped you move as fast as you could.

“Oh my god,” you said, your voice strained as he helped bring you closer to the edge.

“Try to be quiet, baby,” he said, his voice raspy as your legs started to tremble.

“I can’t,” you panted, “Fuck, we’re gonna get caught.”

“No, we’re not,” he said, as he leaned down to kiss you, hard. His mouth caught all the sounds you were trying to hard to hold in as your orgasm hit, your hand still shakily rubbing over his cock.

The grip he had on your hip loosened as you slowed down, your moans turning to soft whimpers as you started to relax against him.

“That was so hot,” he said against your lips, as your breathing started to slow.

“Now, I need to make you cum,” you said softly, reaching into his boxers to pull his cock out.

He let out a low moan once you started stroking, paying extra attention to his sensitive tip.

“Try to be quiet, baby,” you teased, “You want me to suck it?”

“I need to be inside you,” he said, “I want to feel your pussy.”

“Okay, let me grab a condom,” you said, untangling your legs from his before you rolled over to reach into your nightstand.

“I still think it’s funny that you don’t hide them under your bed anymore,” he said, chuckling as you reached into the almost empty box.

“What’s the point? My mom knows I’m not a virgin now,” you shrugged, as you felt him move closer to you, his hand pulling you towards him so your back was against his chest again.

“I can’t believe she thought you were just so innocent,” he said, as his lips went to your neck again, his hand running under the big t-shirt you were wearing. He squeezed your breast, a soft moan slipping past your lips at the feeling.

“I am innocent,” you said, your words making him squeeze you harder.

“You’re far from innocent…especially when you’re in bed with me.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” you said, playing dumb as you moved so your ass was firmly pressed against his cock.

“Keep that shit up and you won’t be able to be quiet,” he playfully warned, as he started to suck on your neck.

You moaned at the feeling as his hand moved to your hips, hooking your panties under his thumb as you adjusted to make it easier for him to slide them down. You passed him the condom, your anticipation building as you heard him open it. He rolled it on and grabbed your leg, spreading them open so it’d be easier for him to slide inside of you.

“Don’t be loud,” he reminded you, as he started to push inside you.

“Oh my god,” you whispered, feeling him stretch your walls.

“Shh, you can take it.”

Once Ethan was all the way in, he stilled to give you time to adjust, but that wasn’t what you wanted. You started to move your hips, giving your pussy the friction it was craving. He groaned at your actions as his hand started to roam under your shirt again.

“You gonna help me out or not?” you asked, once you’d been moving for a little bit and he wasn’t.

“I want you to beg me for it,” he said, as you kept moving.

“Please?” you asked, as he chuckled.

“Not good enough,” he teased, “Tell me how bad you want it.”

“So fucking bad,” you said, as his hand moved to your hip. “I need you to fuck me, please baby.”

He started to move, but it was so slow. He was helping you meet his thrusts, the tip of his cock hitting that spot every single time, but you needed so much more.

“Ethan,” you whined, as he shushed you. “Please.”

He didn’t know how quiet you were going to be, but he couldn’t hold back anymore. He started giving you hard, deep thrusts, as your hand slapped over your mouth. The grip he had on your hip was getting tighter, as your free hand started to grip at the sheets. He placed kisses along your neck as he started to whisper in your ear.

“You take my cock so well.”

“Your pussy is perfect.”

“I’ve got you.”

He knew you were getting close, the sounds muffled by your hand just getting louder as he started to go faster.

���Keep moving your hips, baby.”

You did as he said, his hand leaving your hip to rub fast circles against your clit. You were whimpering as your toes started to curl, your entire body getting hot as he brought you closer to your orgasm.

He let out a low groan when your pussy started to clench him, his fingers pressing even harder as he rubbed your clit. Your body started to arch against him as you cried out against your palm, your eyes rolling back as the intense euphoric feeling washed over you.

“Gonna cum,” he panted, as his hand went back to your hip, his cock giving you a few more hard thrusts before his grip on you got shaky. “Fuuuck.”

You both laid there, the only sounds in the room were the heavy breathing coming from the two of you until it started to return to normal. He slid out of you and crawled off the bed to navigate around the darkness of your room to the trash can to dispose of the condom before he laid back down and wrapped his arms around you. You soon dozed off with Ethan’s head nuzzled against your neck.

The next morning, you woke up with Ethan’s arms still wrapped around you. You reached over to your nightstand to check your phone, your eyes growing wide once you noticed that Ethan didn’t set his alarm.

“Babe, wake up,” you said, your hand shaking his arm as he sleepily mumbled. “Ethan, it’s almost eight.”

“Fuck,” he whispered as he sat up and jumped out of bed. “Where’s my sweatpants?”

He walked over to your curtains to let a little light in so he could see, his heart pounding in his chest one he noticed your mom working in the flower bed right outside of your window. The moving curtains caught her attention, and when she glanced up, she saw Ethan quickly trying to close them.

“Your mom’s out there,” he whisper-yelled, feeling around on your floor until he finally found his sweatpants.

“Did she see you?” you questioned, jumping off the bed to put your pajama bottoms on.

“Fuck, I don’t know,” he said, “I’m so stupid.”

You tried to think of a plan, but once you heard the front door open, you walked over to your bedroom door and eased it open to see your mom walk in.

“Out the window, now,” you said, rushing him as he did what you said.

Once he was out of your room and you closed the window behind him, you turned around to walk back to the door to see your mom standing there.

“Maybe we do need to look into you going to your dads.”

#ethan landry #ethan landry x reader #scream smut #ethan landry smut #smut

[finniusastraeus]

This chart doesnt give you precise amounts and some numbers are innacurate so let me clear up here

30kcals per plum

78 per one 2-3'' apple(small), 116 per one 3'' apple (large)

45 per cup of chopped up watermelon

40 in 10 MEDIUM sized strawberries

1 kcal in 1 raspberry. So 10=10

In 10 red cherries there are 45 kcals

17 in 1 apricot

119 for a whole papaya so 59 for half

60 in a cup of cut cantaloupe

50 per 1 orange,

201 in a whole mango, 100 in a cup of cubed mango

37 per 1 tangerine

50 in 1 medium peach

105 in a 7'' banana, 70 if it's less than 6'' long

82 in a cup of pineapple cubes, 452 in whole thing (ik no ones eating a whole pineapple but yk)

20 in 5 olives

64 in a cup of cubes honeydew, 360 for whole thing

33 in 1 large cucumber, 10 in a mini, 8 in a cup of slices

42 in 1 kiwi

100 in a medium pear

240 in 1 avocado

82 in a cup of blueberries, 1 per blueberry

62 per cup of grapes, 2 per small grape

62 per cup of blackberries, 2 per small blackberry

EXTRA

Breakfast tips I learned at the hospital

One english muffin is 130 but if you cut it so you're only eating the edges it will look like youre eating the whole thing but only be getting a 3rd or about 45kcals!! and 1 teaspoon of margarine will cover both of those "halves" and there's 35 kcals in that. so 80 that looks like 160.

A cup of dry plain cheerios is also 80

78 in one large egg BUT throw out the yolk and only have the white. It looks like a full over easy egg but the white is only 17 kcals. Trust me on this one, have it for every meal you can get away with.

Fruit salad

10 raspberries=10kcal

half a small banana, thinly sliced=35kcal

5 thinly sliced strawberries=20kcal

15 blueberries=15kcal

2 tsp sugar free table syrup=0kcal LITERALLY BEST THING EVER

total 80 kcal and the syrup makes it the best breakfast in the world while adding no calories but it makes you feel like youre eating pancakes and keeps you full.

Frozen waffle/pancake, 1=95kcals

Lunch

Use the english muffin excuse to make a sandwhich with just lettuce in it and whatever veggies you like.

what I do is 1 english muffin cut to look like halves but its a 3rd = 45kcal

1/4 cup lettuce=1-2kcal

1 slice of tomato=3

if you want more you can have 30kcal of margarine (1 tsp) on the toasted muffin and half a cheese slice which is 56kcal. so i dont reccomend it.

plus 1 egg white if you want=17

or fake balogny (im a strict vegetarian of 8 years) for 20kcal and like 5g of protien

Supper

One pack of mr noodles has 190kcal. never eat more than half

always make a salad if you can. most can be made under 20kcals and actually taste amazing but dont add dressing they're really high cal.

RICE CAKE PIZZA

this is made to look like you're eating a lot

2 plain rice cakes=70

or one tomato basil=60

2 tbsp grated cheese=70

or 1 tbsp herbed goat cheese=35

slice some mini tomatos and mushrooms/peppers, onions, ect=5kcal

total 100-145 and it tastes amazing

this one would be hard to hide bc the brand name is literally skinny noodles but buy some skinny noodles (9 kcal per serving!! vegan and gluten free) and put them in a box or something. my family puts our noodles in long containers so it wouldnt be noticed and the package could be thrown away

#ana meal #mealsp0 #ana male #anarex14 #tw ed sheeran #anorexcya #thiinsp0 #34t1ng d1s0rd3r #i will be a skeleton #ana buddie #ana0rex1a #ana miaa #ed meals #mealspo #mealspø #tw skipping meals #ana trigger #4narex1a #4n0r3xia #4namia #4norexi4 #skiiiiny #skinnni #i wanna be skinnier

[leggerefiore]

https://twitter.com/sasaku_rkgk/status/1635669369450795009?s=20

https://twitter.com/sasaku_rkgk/status/1638145415915925505?s=20

I've completely forgot about this but I found it while cleaning out things BUT s/o making bento boxes/lunch that look like this for them.

Thought it be cute.

anon, the pokemon café food could be so many cute reactions from characters. ingo getting the Sneasel Burger™️

▲Ingo▼

● Poor guy was already overjoyed you made him a lunch and just was tearing up. You could put literal garbage in there, and he would still eat it because he's just so happy his love made him something so sweet and domestic. Ingo makes certain he doesn't miss his lunch break because he simply must make sure to eat your lovingly made meal.

● When he finally opens the box, his eyes go wide at the sight of the dishes inside. An adorable Drillbur themed chocolate cream dish explained why you asked him to make sure he placed it in the refrigerator at work. A cute note you left assured him it wasn't overly sweet, to align with his tastes. A thermos held cooled coffee with an adorable Litwick cup sat beside it. He held back a bravo. This was already too much for him.

● The Trubbish and Garbodor themed rice balls broke him, though. You reassured him you were careful to choose fillings that he'd definitely enjoy in your note. Ingo needed to thank you for all this effort. It truly brightened his day. He happily ate all the cute dishes you prepared for him and was clearly in a good mood for the rest of the day. Even an incident report couldn't bring down his emotional high.

● When he got home, you were quickly embraced and showered with endless praise from your beloved train man. It may tempt you to make more dishes like that for him. (This is how the Sneasel Burger somehow happens with his post or after Hisui.)

▽Emmet△

○ When you placed the odd box into his hands on his way out of the house, he had been confused. You then explained it was his lunch, and he nodded. Emmet is happy you made him food, the container just caught him off guard. He eagerly clocks out for his lunch break and sits the box on his desk. He enjoyed your cooking a lot, so he already expected to like what you made.

○ You proceeded to make his jaw drop and him gasp. The food inside made his grin grow large after getting over the initial shock. Joltik omelette left him overly giddy. They looked just like his babies! The ketchup on one even had him slightly concerned at first. The egg rice with a styled Tynamo made him just sit there with a goofy grin. You left a cute note teasing him about needing a diverse diet than sweets and hoping he enjoyed the meal.

○ You, however, weren't so cruel as to deny him his beloved sweets. Two doughnuts laid in the box, themed like two pieces of a Klink. You gave one a black nose and the other a white one. He chuckled at the idea of he and his brother being the pieces of a Klink. Emmet devoured the entire lunch box, but with momentary hesitation towards the Joltik omelette. He was scared he'd bite into it and hear a familiar squeak. It didn't happen, however, thankfully. All the Depot Agents were then terrified by a genuinely at ease and happy Subway Boss Emmet treading through the station. No one dared ruin his mood.

○ When he got home, you got tackled into a hug and covered in kisses. He thanked you for such a “verrrry” cute meal and squeezed you tightly to him. You definitely were tempted to make more for him, though he did beg you for more sweets.

▲▽▲▽▲▽▲

Sneasel Burger.....

#ingo x reader #ingo/reader #emmet x reader #emmet/reader #pokemon x reader #pokemon/reader #pokemon ingo x reader #pokemon emmet x reader

[xreaderbooks]

Paradise on Earth (20)

Chapter: 20. The Coastal Venture

Pair: JJ Maybank x Routledge! Reader

Summary: John B, Pope, JJ, Kiara, and You are on the way to help Sarah and retrieve the cross.

Warnings: language, violence, mentions of death and kidnapping

Word Count: 3.7k

Wattpad | Ao3 | Playlist

Chapter 19 | Series Masterlist | Navigation | Chapter 21

The heat in the torture chamber was going to make you stab somebody. You’ve never felt this suffocated before.

“Let’s address the elephant in the room,” John B announces and focuses his attention on you, “Y/n.”

“Are you fat shaming me, JB?”

He narrows his eyes at you, “You know what I mean.”

“Is this even an appropriate time to be talking about this?” You wonder aloud. He couldn’t seriously expect to get into this right now, you hadn’t even found a way to leave this hell hole without getting caught by the crew members and now, he wanted to talk about your controversial sex life.

“Uh, yeah, ‘cause if I have to keep thinking about what Sarah might be going through right now, I’m gonna go crazy.”

You brace yourself for the worst, “Oh God.”

He doesn’t say anything, he stays in his position on top of a stretch-wrapped box. “So?”

You glance to the side and back at him, “So, what?”

“We’re waiting,” He extends his arms outward to gesture to the crowded area of your friends. Kie took off her jacket and let out a breath, Pope was leaning his head against other containers listening.

“I don’t know what you want me to tell you, I’ve already apologized. Not that that fixes anything or takes anything back.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Pope said. “What’s done is done, we have much bigger things to worry about but since we’re getting into it; I just wanna know what your thought process was-”

John B cut him off, “Or whatever the opposite of that is ‘cause you obviously weren’t thinking clearly.”

“Alright, you know what, no.” You got up from where you were sitting cross-legged on the bottom of the container. “I wasn’t thinking and at that moment I didn’t regret it because he cared about me, I’m not going to go into detail about how or what he made me believe about him ‘cause I obviously didn’t know him as well as I thought…”

“So he manipulated you?” Pope asked.

“No, not entirely,” You risked a quick glance at JJ whose gaze averted from your own. “He made me feel like he cared, I was hurt and felt neglected. I’ve always been a part of the Pogues but it always felt like I’m just John B’s sister to you guys like I’m only along for the ride. I don’t have much to offer the group, Rafe made me feel seen as ironic as that is.”

“That’s some bullshit, Y/n,” John B scoffed.

JJ steps forward, “John B.”

John B stares at JJ with pure annoyance, “I don’t see how you’re not losing your shit over this, you’re always going on about how she’s like a sister to you, this is some high-level offensive shit and you’re all chill?”

“She was right,” JJ shook his head. “This isn’t the time, alright? We gotta figure out how the hell we're gonna get out of this, you know these things lock from the outside? This is your  fault and now we’re trapped in this death cage!”

“JJ, you’re not helping,” Pope was breathless as he spoke. All you knew was that there was not enough oxygen coming in to be wasting our breath on arguing.

“You don’t have enough room to talk right now, Pope, you said you had a plan, but what happened to thinking ahead?”

“I find your lack of self-knowledge disturbing.”

JJ laughs sarcastically, “Last I checked, you literally shot an oil container with the gat, remember that?”

“Oh my God, Shut up!” Kie who was perched on the highest stacked container, stretched her foot slamming it between the two boys against the other box parallel to hers. “Shut up! Pull it together.”

She removes her foot with a roll of her eyes landing on yours and puffing out a breath, mouthing the word boys to you. 

~~~

“Hey Pope, how do you kill a snake?” JJ asks randomly.

You lost track of how long you’ve been in here, looking out of the metal panel of the vent/window, whatever it was. It had to be around noon.

“You go for the head,” Pope answers with exhaustion.

“Exactly, but the head in this instance, is the bridge. To take the bridge, we need maximum firepower and I happen to know that there’s an armory on this ship in case of pirate attacks.”

“Pirate attacks,” You mocked in a whisper. Kie gets up from her place on the ground and walks behind JJ, through the middle of the columns of boxes, nodding for you to follow.

“You lost me,” She said as she passes him.

“I’m talking knives,” He tells her.

You pat his arm as he continues his nonsensical planning, “Killing everybody here is not a plan.”

“You too?” He waves his hand dismissively, “Alright, we lost them. I’m serious, if we get to the armory, I’m talking AKs, pistols, knives, double barrels-”

“Are you okay?” Kie searches your face with sympathetic eyes. “John B shouldn’t have called you out like that.”

You shrugged, “Yeah, to be expected honestly. I’m more worried about how we're gonna get out of here, he can bitch at me later.”

You caught a glimpse of light shining on her face and follow the beam to where sunlight was peeking through, hidden behind a barrel of tubing. “Hold up,” You carry the heavy roll and place it on another one beside it.

“Guys,” Kie calls out to the boys who were now bickering loudly, “Guys!”

With a look, they come over to where you and Kie were determining whether or not you all could fit through another vent. It was bigger than the other one, you’d have to find a way to pop it out.

“What was that about a Swiss Army knife not coming in handy?” JJ pulls one out of his pocket and climbs on top of one of the rolls and begins to remove the screws. “Okay, we raid the armory, get weapons, roll back here, and plot the next move.”

That didn’t sound like a stable plan.

“The armory is on the third deck, aft, near the laundry room.” He instructs Pope and John B, “Let’s roll.”

“JJ, hold up.” Pope stops him before he can fully take out the vent, “I don’t think we should all go out there, it’s too risky.”

“Why?”

John B and Pope give each other an unspoken message, and your brother confesses, “I’m just gonna be honest, I think you should stay here.”

JJ had a puzzled look, “What?”

“I have Sarah that I’m gonna go after and Pope has the cross, also, if you go out there there’s a hundred percent possibility that you’re gonna do something stupid.”

“Okay, first of all, I think the correct terminology is ‘ballsy’, that is it,” He tries to debate but Pope pulls him down from his spot that was blocking the exit. “I’m a field player.”

John B shushes him, “If we go out there and we get in a bind, we need someone to look out for us. That’s what we need.”

That was the only way you figured he could convince JJ to stay behind with you and Kie, no doubt he felt a little betrayed by the boys.

“Okay, I get it, I get it.” He tunes out the rest of John B’s words, “I’ll be on ‘B team’.”

“I never said B team,” John B states.

Kie sputters motioning to you and herself, “Sorry, are you calling us ‘B team’?”

“Did ‘B team not just find our way out or am I totally tripping?” You say, looking between JJ and Kie.

Pope grasped JJ by the shoulders, “Just hang back and hold down the fort.”

“Great, looking forward to it,” JJ purses his lips. “You guys have fun, it’s your funeral, your game. I’ll be in here, on the bench.”

He backs away into the area the five of you were once suffering in, Kie grabs both Pope and John B and gives them, her last words of wisdom before sending them on their way. John B didn’t so much as give you a last glance before climbing out of the small window.

~~~

The lack of flowing oxygen in the container was concerning, you grew up with struggling winters and no electricity during hot summers but this felt like hell. Especially now with the conversation that you were witnessing.

JJ began to express his dream of traveling the world with the riches you were in the process of acquiring and surfing every coast he comes across.

“When all this is over, and we’re just rolling in the dough.” He speaks with half-lidded eyes, sweat beads down his neck with his head leaning against a netted crate. “I’m gonna get a new board, deck it out, and I’m gonna go on a surf trip. I don’t know where, but the world’s calling.”

You felt so faint and fatigued from the heat, yet the thought of JJ being excited about a future when all his life he’d been told he wouldn’t have one, made your heart warm.

“Name a place,” He tells Kie.

She rolls her head in thought, “Spain.”

“Then after Spain, South America, or South Africa.”

You raise a brow, “You’ll go to South Africa?”

“One of the South places,” He shrugs. “Then Micronesia maybe, and then… and just ride. Wherever the wave takes you, you know?”

“So that’s the plan if we were to get a ton of cash, that’s the dream. Surf trip?”

You watch Kiara as she asks and that’s when you notice, the hope in her heart that’s shining through her eyes, the soft smile as JJ describes the end goal of this adventure. JJ resembles the freedom and lifestyle she craves to escape the Kook life her parents have for her.

“Ripping jungle break all day long, bamboo hit, cooking a fish on the fire, and after that, you go back out and just hit the waves again. That’s the dream.”

Then, at the same time after listening to the blissful life of adventure, you and Kie respond at the same time. “Sounds perfect.”

Your and Kie’s eyes meet at your matching answers, the nonverbal confirmation that you both wanted it. You both wanted the dream and you wanted it with JJ.

Kie recovered faster than you did, “Got room for one more?”

JJ chuckles casually and taps your knee that bumps into your other one from the way you were sitting. The little tap gave you hope.

“You got your passport?” He sideglances you before asking her.

She grins, “You don’t have a passport.”

“Hell no, I don’t have a passport, that’s the Kookiest thing ever.” They laugh in sync, and your hope is gone.

Thankfully you hear a whistle come from outside the vent and you immediately jump up to open it, passing it to Kie who was right behind you. Pope climbs through, then John B, you were about to cover the hole when Pope stops you.

A girl wearing a workers cap pops up from the other side, “Jesus Christ! I kill you, John B!” she threatens your brother with a thick West Indies accent.

“Who is this?” Kie begins to panic.

“Just relax, okay?” He tries to ease her mind, “I told you I had a surprise. Remember I told you about the girl we met in the Bahamas that saved us?”

You took in the appearance of the girl standing above you and tried to match her face to the name your brother told you, “This is Cleo?”

“She’s gonna help us,” John B said more to Kie than to you. You wondered what it was gonna take to get John B to forgive you.

“Next time, ask me,” Cleo retorted.

John B and Pope updated you all on what happened when they left the container, the only thing they succeeded in doing was getting the crew's attention, getting Cleo on your side, and not grabbing any weapons on their way back.

“This is why I should have gone with you,” JJ emphasized. For once, you would’ve agreed with him, if only so that you didn’t have to sit through Kiara fawning over JJ.

“Let me get this straight,” Cleo cuts in. “You five, with no weapons, decided you were gonna hijack this tramp steamer on your own? Do you have any idea who these people are?”

She stares you all down like a mother scolding you for touching a hot stove, “Eberhimi, if he catches you, he’s gonna kill you. Dead. Cut off your fingers.”

“What about waiting until we get to port?” Kie suggests. “At least then, if something goes wrong we have a place to run.”

You shake your head, “We can’t wait, by now they already know we're here.”

“I’ve run this scenario over a thousand times in my head, our best chances are on this ship.” Pope adds, “There are fifteen crew members and six of us, three-to-one odds, that’s the best it’ll get. If we wait till we get there, they’ll trap us.”

“We have no chance,” Kie protests.

“There’s something else,” John B spoke, and by the look on his face- it had to be bad news. Your stomach sunk, and your mind immediately went to Sarah, Was she hurt? Dead? “Ward’s alive.”

The worst thing he could have said, your father's killer was alive, the peace you thought you had when he was dead was ripped away from you once again. There was no winning against him.

“He’s alive, and he’s on this boat. It was all a setup, blowing up the boat, the confession to Shoupe. Think about it, that was to clear Rafe’s name.” John B glances at you, “And he does what? Goes to the Druthers, and what’s on the Druthers?”

“Scuba,” You exhale your answer, your back hitting a corner of a box.

“Ward’s alive, he’s got the gold and the cross.” JJ’s boots slam down on the metal as he climbs off the crates he was hanging on to. “And Sarah.”

“Thanks for rubbing that in,” Kie looks up to the ceiling.

“He’s just gonna get away with everything again, huh?” JJ shakes his head in denial, “Not happening. We’re not watching this movie again, right, Pope? You said we need the win, and with her,” He points to Cleo. “We’re going to the bridge and we’re gonna take it right now.”

“Let’s do it,” John B nods.

“I’m with you, and I wanna be the one to take that bridge,” Pope agrees with a new fire in his eyes.

Cleo snickers, “He’s gonna take that bridge?”

“Yeah,” JJ defends Pope.

“He couldn’t even take me.”

You giggled at that, as much as you would like to believe in Pope, he would definitely need help.

“First of all, I was going easy on you.”

“I went easy on you,” With the knife in her hand, you would bet on her.

John B shushes them both, “Relax, both of you.”

JJ takes the silence as an opportunity to say his plan aloud, “If you’re with us, we can use that knife to hold it up against the captain’s neck then we go on the intercom and make him tell the rest of the crew to meet up in the forward hull. Once they’re in the same place, we lock them in there and we take back what’s ours.”

“I like it, it could work,” Pope concurs.

“Are you with us?” JJ meets Cleo’s eye to ask her seriously.

She takes a second, “No. This is stupid.” Cleo looks at you sharply. There was a man shouting orders from outside to check the containers, she hops onto the platform and opens the vent. She hops out, and you all hear her shout a name.

You were starting to think about how John B was wrong to trust her when you heard her tell the men that were trying to open the container that she searched it already. You all breathe a sigh of relief.

“She’s on our side,” JJ says. “Pope, you’re up, we’ll wait for your signal.”

Pope pulls the vent from the hole once more, climbing out. You watch as he follows Cleo with no trail before covering it up again.

You were getting anxious about how long it was taking, how long does it take to take over a bridge anyway?

“You think he’ll pull it off?” You ask Kie. Right as she opened her mouth to respond, the order from an unrecognizable voice was heard through the intercom.

“Repeat. All hands and all passengers report to the tween forward hull immediately.”

“Sounds like he did,” JJ responded. “Let’s split up, once they’re all in the hull, Kie, Y/n, and I will lock them inside.”

“Is that really a three-person job?” John B asks JJ.

You look at him suspiciously, “I’d go with you if you wanted me to, but...”

“Now is not the time guys,” Kie tells you both.

“Fine, I’ll find Sarah and get the lifeboat.”

“We’ll meet you, load the cross, and get out of here,” Kie confirms the plan.

JJ climbs out first, John B after, then Kie, and You. You glance behind you to check if there was someone coming before walking after the rest of them. John B went his separate way as soon as you all made it inside the ship. You and Kie followed JJ to the forward hull, knowing you’d get lost on your own.

There are still a couple of crew members making their way inside, huffing and complaining as they went.

“How many?” JJ whispers to where you and Kie were pressed against the metal wall. You hold up three fingers as you counted the men walking. You heard Wheezie talking to Rose, and walking behind them was Rafe.

You almost gasped as you saw him, and moved your head out of sight. You were sweating from the nerves and anxiety of potentially getting caught as well as the heat. “That’s all of the crew,” You whisper to JJ.

“Except Ward, we need Ward.”

“We can’t wait,” Kie tells you both. JJ begrudgingly nods for you all to go ahead with the plan. You, Kie, and JJ push the heavy metal door shut, the crew members from the inside were pushing it to stay open. You plant your feet as you push against them, using all your strength, and JJ officially closes the latch.

You heard their footsteps run away from the door they were fighting against you. “There’s another door!”

The three of you bolt to the other side, the crew members were too late. JJ managed to close the smaller exit before they could fight against it. With no crew members to stop you, JJ found a lower ground where the cross could be.

You climbed down the ladder where there was a wooden box, the shape of the cross, was. A blanket was lazily thrown over it, you, JJ, and Kie uncover it.

JJ smiles at you both, “Surf trip.” He reaches out his hand to do your secret handshake, he had a different one with both you and Kie.

The ceiling began to open, and Pope was standing on top, Finding this cross was a huge step in the right direction, Ward may be alive but the Pogues were going to take back what was rightfully yours, one by one. Sarah, The Cross, your lives.

You, JJ, and Kie let out shouts of excitement as Pope pumps his fist in the air, “The time where people do shit to us and we just sit back and take it is over!”

With final whoops of encouragement, Pope rushes to the crane as you, Kie, and JJ prep the cross for him with the thick rope hooked on each side of it.

“It’s ready for you Pope!” JJ shouts at him.

Pope lifts the cross quicker than he should, you shout him a warning, JJ directs him to move the cross more to the middle but he moves it far to the left. The Cross swings at a barrel of wrapping, knocking it over.

“Too far, too far!” Kie exclaims.

You hear a faint, “My bad!” coming from inside the crane.

“Your other middle!” You told him. JJ helps him by moving the extra rope from the cross and guiding it to where it isn’t hitting the ‘ceiling’ until he finally had it in the air.

You and the others go back to the upper deck from the same ladder, passing where Pope was with the crane and the cross, making sure it was clear before moving forward in your search for the lifeboats and John B. You kept going until you saw a man who looked boiling mad.

“I don’t see him,” JJ said.

“J,” You called his attention as he was looking over for John B. You and Kie shared a concerned look.

The man pulls out a machete, “Of course, there’s more of you. Get down on your knees.”

“Yeah that’s not gonna happen,” JJ speaks right before the man swung his machete down on JJ. He manages to dodge it and gets a hold of his forearm, pushing it onto the wall, you and Kie hold it down as JJ punches him. Kie lets go, and you open the metal emergency kit door, slamming it in his face, knocking him back.

Kie looks over to the lower level and calls for John B as JJ attempts to fight off the guy who’s two times his size. JJ gets shoved on the ground, his head hitting the floor, the man makes his way to Kie who had her guard down.

“Kie!” You yelled out her name as a warning and jump on the man's back, your right arm around his neck- choking him and your left arm pulling against his with his hold on the machete to keep him from swinging it at your friend.

You heard JJ shout at you, “Y/n, no!”

You couldn’t hold him back, he slams his back against the railing which meant that you would take the hit, your spine hit the edge making fall off his back and onto your feet. He then, with full force, elbows you in your stomach. You couldn’t breathe, he literally knocked the wind out of you and as he swung the machete at Kiara, she ducked and the blunt end of it hit you in the head and you went straight into the water.

JJ dove in after you, Kie kicked the man back and went in after him.

“Y/n!” Kie swam after you.

JJ held you in his arms, desperately trying to keep you afloat while also keeping himself up. “Y/n, c’mon, stay with me, baby!”

“John B!” He dully heard Kie shout. He couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t think, he was struggling to keep you both up but he didn’t care how much his arms ached, he would make you sure you were alive.

“Y/n, please,” He begged. “John B’s coming alright? He’s coming, Kie!”

The lifeboat came around the corner of the ship in the distance.

Kiara continued to scream for John B to rescue the three of you. At the sight of you, unconscious in JJ’s arm, John B felt sick. Pope, John B, and Sarah cried out for you as Kie helped JJ swim with the weight of your body.

John B pulled you from JJ’s hold and into the lifeboat, JJ hovered over your body, “C’mon, Y/n.” He held your cold cheek in his palm, wishing- willing for you to wake up. The lifeboat stopped moving.

“What’s going on?” Sarah asked.

“We’re stalling!” John B pulls the string to start the engine back up again.

“You serious? We’re sitting ducks,” Pope panics.

JJ looks up to the ship and sees Rafe pointing a gun at the boat, you were all in. He moves his body in a position where he’s covering you in case Rafe starts shooting, while John B keeps trying the motor.

Miraculously it starts, and speeds away, as soon as you all were in the clear, everybody turns their attention back to where you lie, unmoving.

“I’m sorry, alright?” John B crouched on your left, holding onto your hand. “I am so fucking sorry.”

JJ was beginning to feel anxious, the start of an anxiety attack forming in his chest, “Wake up, Y/n, wake up!” He had both of his hands on your cheeks, shaking you ever so slightly. Your eyes shot open, and you were coughing out water. “There you go, cough it out, baby.”

~~~

The first thing you saw was blue, your throat felt raw from the salt water you unknowingly consumed, your lungs were screaming, and your head was throbbing like you had a migraine that was splitting your head open but the only feeling that mattered was the one you felt when you saw him looking at you the way he was right now.

His eyes held words you wished you could understand, tears appeared as if they were about to spill over, and they did as he grinned so wide, his cheeks wrinkled his eyes.

“No CPR needed, huh?” Kie commented with a smile.

You broke the intense eye contact you had with JJ and felt a hand in yours, you looked to the hand's owner and saw your brother. He immediately engulfed you in a hug. “I’m not, not talking to you again.”

“Don’t lie to yourself, JB,” You hugged him back with feeble arms, relieved that he was no longer upset with you. “I’m sorry.”

“We’re all good, lil’ P,” John B ruffled your wet hair before letting you go. JJ was mute as he beamed down on you.

“Hey,” Your voice came out small.

His lips parted, once again, in a bright smile “Sup?” He brought your head to his chest, grabbed a piece of cloth, and dabbed at the side of your head that stung.

“What the hell happened?”

“The blunt end of a machete,” Kie explained.

“Next time, duck,” Cleo joked.

You chuckled, “I’ll try to remember that next time, thanks.”

Way into the distance, on the ship you had barely escaped from, the members of the crew were hoisting the cross from the water. The plan you all thought would work, and was working, had gone wrong. You were left with nothing. Ward had the cross, the gold, and the retribution you all thought you had when Ward was dead is gone.

At least Sarah was now safe and with her people, you thought as you and the girls sat against a couple of palm trees along the shore of a remote island.

“Good job, guys” Sarah cheered for the boys as they brought in the lifeboat from the water.

“Anybody knows where we’re at?” JJ threw out the question you were all wondering.

“Deserted beach, unknown island,” Pope answered as he settled down next to Cleo.

“Plan A, huh Pope?” JJ leaned his forearm against the tree to your left, you looked up at him from where your head lay on Kie’s lap. “That went well.”

“This is the lowest we can go,” Pope said. “We literally have nothing else to lose, the cross? Gone.”

You sat up, letting the weight on your hands that dug into the sand as you listed another thing off. “The gold? Gone.”

“Seriously, if we had a nickel for every time we got beat up, I’d say we’re at a dollar fifty.” JJ reminded the group.

“That’s more than I got on me,” Kie commented.

“Somehow that doesn’t make me feel better,” Said Sarah.

“Yeah, you’re right. But, we’ve had some good stuff happen.” Your head snapped to John B, wondering what speech of optimism he was going to muster up.

“Name some,” Pope told him.

“The boiler room, if the boiler didn’t explode, I wouldn’t have gotten away from Rafe. I couldn’t have gotten the zodiac and gotten us out of here.” He mentioned, and pointed to the lifeboat the newly branded ‘Zodiac’.

Cleo, who was to the right of John B, looked amused. “That wasn’t luck, that thing was gonna blow the second I stopped feeding it.”

“Stealing my thunder, Cleo.”

“Sorry.”

“Okay, Pope,” He redirects. “You’re related to Denmark Tanny, that’s crazy.”

“And I lost all of his inheritance,” Pope shut down John B’s next point. You knew where he tried to go with it, and you admired him for trying to keep the group's spirits high, but you were all literally on rock bottom.

You’ve accepted your fate, after your near-death experience, all that had bothered you before had drifted away just like you and that Pogues did. All except one, human-sized thing that was stuck on this island with you.

“You know what,” John B stood and faced the ocean with his arms out wide. “Guys, this is it. This is the Pogue life. We are in the Caribbean, it’s our own little slice of paradise, with my best friends- with my family. I wouldn’t wanna do it with anyone else.”

You raised your hand and pursed your lips, “Can you say that again in like two weeks? When we’re still here, starving, and fed up with me.”

“Y/n, you almost died, the love’s gonna last a ‘lil while- don’t ruin the moment.” He put up a hand as if to stop you from speaking. “Look, while you guys were complaining about every little thing, JJ?”

The blond who was stabbing his pocket knife in the tree, paused after sinking into the bark, humming in response.

“I was looking at those burly lefts,” John B points to the waves forming on the water.

“There are some slabs out there,” JJ agrees.

“Kie, you see that?” John B attempts to persuade her.

She shakes her head, “No boards.”

“Well, we can bodysurf till we make some boards.”

“Lame.”

“They are tasty,” Pope refers to the ocean. “There’s nobody around, we could squat here for a bit. Kind of belongs to us now, huh?”

“You got a point,” You shrug. “Seven-way split.”

“Poguelandia. I claim thee Poguelandia,” JJ pipes in with a posh accent. You noted how he carved ‘P4L’ on the bark of the tree right below where his knife was embedded, emphasizing your ownership of the island. Then returns to his normal voice, “I like the ring of it, I’m gonna make a flag. It’s gonna have a chicken on it with a coconut bra, smoking a J, in crocs.”

The image of it came to mind and you laughed, it was a little blurry but you didn’t doubt that JJ would make a real visual as soon as he could find the materials.

“I could use a J,” Kie confessed.

“Can we vote on this?” Sarah asked, John B reached out to her and pulled her out of the sand.

“‘Til death do us part?”

You looked away from their little moment, slapping your hands together to get rid of the sand that got stuck, when you looked up a hand was extended out to you. The owner of it being JJ, you took his hand and allowed him to wrap his arm around you.

“What’s up?” You ask him as he guides you along the coast, away from the group. You looked back to where Kie and Pope were teaching Cleo the Pogue handshake, Sarah and John B were a couple of feet behind you and JJ.

“Just wanted to check in on you,” He let his arm slip off your shoulders once you were far enough away from the others.

Besides your severe thirst for water, the pounding in your head had gone from a blinding headache to a dull throb, and despite the fact that you were on a deserted island? You were well.

“I’m good,” You told him honestly.

“You cared the shit out of me,” He let out a sigh. “You know, earlier?”

“When I got knocked the fuck out?” You laughed. “Yeah, well, he was going at Kie and I couldn’t just not do anything.”

“I don’t know what I would’ve done if I lost you, dude,” He fiddled with your fingers as he was holding your hand. You wanted to know what he meant- what he truly meant- by that.

“You’d survive, J,” You playfully pushed his shoulder. He didn’t budge. “It would suck, losing your only form of amusement, all of you would be losing an asset to the team.”

He didn’t laugh, he was standing in front of you, his back covering the view of you from the group and openly searching the features on your face. Your neck was tilted upwards, doing just the same. You'd be lying if you said you didn’t expect something to happen right now.

The way his face was the one you saw when you woke up, according to Kie he jumped into the water the moment you were hit, the way he was looking at you then- the way he was looking at you now. Everything that happened between you in the past, it had to mean something.

“Y/n, JJ!” John B’s shouting broke through the tension around you and JJ. “C’mon, we gotta get started on provisions!”

“We’re going!” You shout back, though you weren’t sure it was loud enough. You step to the side to move past JJ, “We should go before-”

He took a hold of your face with both of his hands and you thought that he was gonna do it, he was going to kiss you. Instead, he kissed you on your forehead and said “I just need you to know that I care about you, alright?”

You flushed, “Yeah. I care about you too, J.”

“Not that I’m letting that happen ever happening again, but I didn’t want you to die without me telling you.”

“Right.” That was not what you were expecting, you had to admit that you were disappointed, knowing JJ had a difficult time expressing his emotions but when he acts like this it builds up your hope.

~~~

Before the sun went down fully, you all had started a fire with Pope’s lighter and dry wood. Everyone was surrounding the fire, just like you all would in your backyard. The only thing lacking was the beer and the lights that JJ had strung up when he bought ‘the cat’s ass’.

With the fresh breeze and ocean spraying on you, JJ exaggerating his side of the story on the ship, Cleo showing off her knife tricks to Sarah who had John B’s arm around her, Pope correcting JJ on whatever parts he got wrong, and you and Kie leaning against each other for warmth.

It felt right, you felt at peace, like you were home. John B was right, you wouldn’t want to do this with anyone else. 

~~~~

Last Chapter of Season 2! What do you guys think?

Credit to @ steffi55 on wattpad for the idea to switch from JJ getting hurt to Y/n

Chapter 21

Taglist:

@jbassettjmaybank - @deanwherescas - @thtbwltts - @nerdypartytrashpsychic - @random-girl-army - @wisegirlies - @instabull - @sexyfoxlady - @bubs-world - @sdawn03 - @mendesclines - @obx-pogues-4-life - @mentalforfics - @p-prettybitch - @namacissi - @dczedhee - @inkandpen22 - @royalavenger - @ayeitsjustmee - @80strashbag - @onlyangel-444 - @freds-slut - @poppet05 - @itsjuststaticnoises - @ahnneyong - @lovepizza567 - @jasminfelling - @rana03 - @loki-loveer - @rana030 - @lostinatimeline - @boldlypessimistic - @clinelyn - @a-j-stuffs - @yunhobug - @syd223sworld - @strawberry--fawn - @mysticalavenuecheesecake - @itsmytimetoodream - @natashtessabeth12 - @thatsthewaythechrissycrumbles - @chervbs - @or-was-it-just-a-dream - @newbooksmell777 - @afterzonee - @hana-1235 - @ilovesteveharrngton - @s1Ingwns

(if your name is crossed out that means tumblr won't let me tag you, I apologize for the inconvenience)

#jj maybank x routledge!reader #jj maybank x reader #jj mayback x reader #jj maybank x you #jj maybank x y/n #jj maybank imagines #jj x reader #jj maybank x pogue #john b x sister!reader #jj maybank imagine #jj maybank #jj mayback imagine #outerbanks imagine #outerbanks fanfiction #jj x y/n #jj x you #jj fanfiction #obx jj #obx imagine #john b x sarah #pope heyward #john b routledge #sarah cameron #kiara carrera #outerbanks series #rafe cameron x routledge! reader #paradise on earth by xreaderbooks #paradise on earth #rudy pankow

[mtkay13]

So I made those as requested by abscess chemical on twitter and figured it may be fun to share them on tumblr as well. And you know what? Share a break down of my choices as well, because why not! I tried doing it seriously haha.

Zhou Zishu:

Intense - 6/10: He can be very intense, re the things or people he's invested in, but he also has a chill and detached quality to him, a way of being at peace with things that he won't blow things out of proportions.

Complex - 9/10: I think that he's a very nuanced, multi-faceted and deep character, but I guess I didn't go 10/10 just because there's also a very straightforward and easy to get part of him (esp. from WKX's perspective.

Fruity - 2/10: I think the guy's very gay but not the most bombastic about it LBR.

---

Angst-lord: although it's not as obvious in TYK, QY gives us some EXTREMELY tasty ZZS angst and a good look into how ZZS can process things through anxiety. It definitely got more lowkey post-QY canon, but...

Flavor container: IDK what that means really but I wanted to tick it

Soft and sweet: I actually didn't check it on the twitter version initially (but published an erratum). He is described as soft on the inside by too many people not to check it.

Braincell haver: self-explanatory, the guy's brilliant

Chew toy: literally!

----

Tragic backstory: if QY can count as a backstory, then everything that happened with Jiuxiao works.

Frequently violent: duh

Sidekick owner: WKX is ZZS's sidekick from everyone else's perspective (or vice-versa) and my opinion abt it won't change ever.

Pet stray animals: ZCL, for one, and for two we all know he pets cats and raccoons

Chronic insomniac: technically, in TYK, the nails do force the insomnia, but we know from QY that he had a lot of trouble sleeping at night.

Murderer: well

----

Just some guy 95%: clearly he's a natural-born NPC/side character

Too many thoughts 100%: he overthinks everything!!

Awful company 15%: I think that a goofy drunkard like him is fun but not the best company, especially when he goes all grumpy shifu/shixiong

Beloved by all 60%: most characters REALLY like him (and the others don't even know he exists) and often praise how sweet he is. Charming against his will and attempts at being invisible uwu

Trauma x1000 10%: again, I think that the Jiuxiao story left deep scars.

Helps others for fun 70%: pretty much the plot of TYK

Scary-smart 80%: I think he's really brilliant but then you have these moments where he's just clueless abt stupid stuff and clearly doesn't care/doesn't want to know or try so those 20% left are the deliberate goof I guess.

1000 weapons and tools 50/50: it's both!! every rock is both a tool and a weapon and he just keeps pulling random shit from his bosom--

At peace with life 48%: I think, for the most part, he is--at peace with both life and death, until he decides that keeping on living is just the best option in the end.

Break the rules 80%: I had no idea w this one but... in TYK he pretty much does whatever he wants, so---

Extra comments: The way the "evokes" ticks every boxes for me to various degrees of intensity... sigh It was difficult for the "want them to have" section since I think he has everything post-canon, but I tried seeing it from a mid!canon perspective.

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

Wen Kexing

Intense - 9/10: While WKX's feelings are generally cold, they seem equally intense to me, just like his eyes or his stare. He's intense about his love, about his revenge, about his plans.

Complex - 6/10: I've had interesting convos about how WKX is... nuanced, of course, but not as complex or deep as it may seem on the surface. That doesn't take anything from how interesting he is, but he is rather straightforward in what he is, ultimately.

Fruity - 8/10: I MEAN--

----

Enemy of the State: he's literally THE main Jianghu villain

Flavor Container: I still don't know what it means but it felt right once again

Braincell haver: the guy is EXTREMELY smart and outsmarted everyone in TYK so yeah

----

Tragic backstory: can hardly do worse than parents murdered in front of you, ate your dad to survive, took care of a child in the wildest, most dangerous part of jianghu, fought to reach the top while "serving" the previous master........ He scored it all!

Orphan: again, fully checks out

Frequently violent: yes

Has enemies: in SPADES

Sidekick owner: GX and ZZS are WKX's sidekicks 100%

Murderer: yes

----

The antagonist of life 70%: had to change from protag to antag because he IS the TYK antagonist (if TYK had been a traditional wuxia from ZCL's perspective...); of course it ends up being subverted but you know

Too many thoughts 75%: I think he's a big thinker as well

Awful company 85%: Let's be real guys

Hated by all 30%: I think he's too underestimated or not even really acknowledged enough to be hated, but I am pretty sure that more people dislike him than the opposite

Trauma x1000 60%: well.......... I think he has a bunch!

Sadistic for fun 15% : I doubt he's one to like helping and we know him to have those sadistic tendencies

Scary-smart 80%: same reasoning as for ZZS

1000 weapons or tools: mostly bare handed for everything save for the occasional whip or walnut shell but---

Enemy of god 35%: I have to be honest I don't really know what that means but I guess he's defied death a few times!!!

Break the rules 95%: WKX shits on the rules

----

Additional notes:

Mostly ticks everything in the "evokes" categories as well, but I unticked "symptoms of projection" because I don't feel like I project much of anything on WKX... maybe? (save for the ZZS lewding.. LOL) always hard to say, IG we always do a bit of that on every character, eh

and The Horny ofc because i'm kinda known for not really lewding my good WKX atp

I want a lot of things for him during canon, but again, all I can think of is how post-canon WKX really got it and then I gush and am simply happy for him.

That's it thank you for reading this mostly unnecessary breakdown!!!! Edit, following a comment asking for the sheet:

#wenzhou #wen kexing #zhou zishu #tyk #meta

[jseobsky]

That spot will be mine.

Pairing ! bf!Seeun x gn!Reader Synopsis ! Seeun was tired of you having photocards of every idol but him on your phone, now that he was debuting he made it his mission to get you his own photocard. However, when you finally open the album, you don't pull him. Genre ! So fluff I can't, romance Warnings ! swearing, kissing, not proof-read, my humour- Wc ! 1.3k a/n ! Totally not based bcs today I finally bought the album and got Junmin while I was manifesting Seeun- HOWEVER JUNMIN LOOKED SAUR CUTE ON THE PHOTOCARD I CAN'T

Main masterlist !

After knowing my boyfriend was finally going to debut I had one thing in mind and one thing only: Collect his group’s photocards. Until now, I haven’t really collected any photocards even while having around 20 albums myself. I just kinda kept them in their album boxes and the usual one photocard that I kept in the back of my phone case. Seeun wasn’t thrilled about this, he took my photocard choices very seriously, telling me I should keep them in a safer manner or that I could not by any means in the entire world take my Enhypen’s Niki photocard everywhere I went. 

While he was still a trainee it seemed like he also had one goal in mind: Gain my phone case photocard spot. He tried to gift me Polaroids that he took and make me save them on my phone case. At first, I did have them on my phone, but after seeing an idea on Pinterest I couldn’t help myself; All the Polaroids went on the now giant pictures wall. He then started to hate Pinterest. Sure he said all those things jokingly, he knew how much I loved kpop and how much that wall of pictures meant to me. He loved seeing me happy, but he did hate when I got his first album. 

Seeun kept telling me how I could not, by any means, buy his album. Talking about how he was going to gift it to me. “You’re going to curse it.” He said. “You always cry about how you never get your biases unless I’m the one who gifted you the album. I’m not taking any chances.” It was hell waiting for it. I had been waiting for years until his debut, and now I had to wait even more until I could get the physical album? Unbelievable. Seeing all those unboxing videos, and all these people having more than one photocard inclusion while I, who wasn’t able to even pre-order because of Seeun, will only have one. I learned to get over it quickly, patience is a virtue… Fuck that. I don’t wanna wait anymore. It’s been years, decades, maybe even centuries since the album came out. I want that album. I need that album. 

What’s worse is that I didn’t realize with Seeun’s debut that he’ll be even busier. Maybe what I actually needed was Seeun, not his album. 

I’m lying around my living room. A kdrama playing on the tv, and the window is open while I feel really cold. Look, someone is lazy, okay? And the kdrama is so interesting as well… An open box of snacks next to me that I slowly reach out to, not taking my eyes off the tv. The scene was so intense that it was able to make me ignore the little click of the door until I hear someone shouting. “IT’S HERE!” I slowly turn my head around with my eyes wide open. Who the fuck? A wild Seeun appears. Like literally, ignore the bad pokemon reference, Seeun comes in running with a bag in his right hand and his phone in his left hand, which he’s waving. He has the biggest grin on his face while looking at me. I smiled too. Pausing the show while standing up, running towards Seeun going for a hug. Which I never received. Seeun moved to the window and closed it. “It’s really cold outside, you shouldn’t have your window opened, it’s literally about to rain.” He said. I tilt my head and shrug my shoulders while still smiling. “Meh that’s not important, come here” I ran towards him again, only for him to move to the couch, moving some items to the floor before placing a pizza-shaped box on the table. I glare at him. “Look I got it!! Aren’t you excited?!” Seeun says with, again, a really big smile. I try to contain a smile and jokingly I roll my eyes, turn around, and act petty. “I would be more excited if my boyfriend, who I haven’t seen since February, would hug me.” I try to look at him for a bit, and seeing that he now has a smirk on his face I turn my head around again. “Oh really?” He said teasingly. I turn around with a blank face. “No.” We stay looking at each other for some seconds before I start smiling again. I run to the side of the sofa he is sitting on and I jump on top of him. “I’ve missed you so much,” I say while hugging him tightly. He moves my head from being buried in his neck to being in front of him. His expression mirrors mines, a big, BIG smile, and eyes with adoration filled in them. He squishes my face. “I missed you too, so much” Seeun turns his face to look at the box on the table behind me. He sits me on his lap as he sits up, leans forward with a hand on my back to not make me fall, and grabs the box off the table. 

“I got you this,” He says, “hope you like it” I shake my hands and grab the box out of his hands. “I’m just saying, with my luck you’ll get my photocard so enjoy. I did one on this version with that pose you showed me. I’m manifesting specifically that one for you.” Seeun looks at me proudly. I nod fast and start to rip off the plastic that wraps the album. Seeun laughs softly at my poor attempt to rip the plastic off. “Look,” I start saying, “these things are made by the devil himself, don’t laugh at my poor persona because I can’t open the album” I stop my attempt while glaring at him. “Also, I’ve seen you trying to open albums before, and you aren’t a god at opening albums yourself” Finally being able to open the album I grab the most important part of the album. The cd. I’m joking, I grab the inclusions knowing that the part that Seeun mostly wanted to see. I rip one side of the envelope the inclusions were in and slowly turn my head to look at my boyfriend. Fuck, he has his face way too close. Seeun got closer in anticipation of the grand reveal. He nods encouraging. 

I pull out the postcard first, and I smile. “Look I got the baby!” I laugh, Seeun smiles a bit too. “Could’ve been better but I guess a Yechan postcard isn’t the worse,” He says, “now the most important thing, please” I nod. Seeun gets even closer and places his head on my shoulder. I pull the single photo card, which is turned around. I start talking. “You know, just remember it’s okay if I don’t pull your photocard because at the end of the day I-” “Just look at it” Seeun whines. I turn the photocard around.

I feel Seeun drop his whole weight into the sofa’s back, letting out a sigh. Here we go. “I just don’t get it. Why Minjae, why him? Like. If it was… Okay no. I wouldn’t have been happy with anyone. But still!! Why him??” Seeun fake cried. “I mean,” I start talking. “You’re right, you do always pull my biases” Seeun stopped his actions and looked at me with a dead face. He then went to push me off. “Okay no, no, no, wait, no, I’m sorry, I’m joking! You’re my only one!” I laugh, and he stops trying to push me off and goes back to pouting. I lay fully on top of him. I start kissing his face. “I. Promise. You. Are. My. Bias.” He smiles. “Also, I bought an album the other day and I pulled you” I showed him the back of my phone, where a big smiling Seeun was looking back at him. He dropped his mouth and looked at me. “I couldn’t contain myself I’m sorry-” Seeun kissed me. 

#✿•ᴗ•✿ lili posts! #seeun #park seeun #xikers seeun #seeun x yn #seeun x reader #seeun imagines #seeun reactions #seeun ff #xikers x yn #xikers x reader #xikers #xikers imagines #xikers reactions #xikers ff #xikers fanfic #seeun fanfic #xikers oneshot #seeun oneshot #fluff #kpop #kpop fluff #xikers fluff #seeun fluff #kpop imagines

[maireyart]

Dude, I just had the best image: so it’s Obito-Lives AU, and part of his capture and house arrest and stipulation to his living is all his criminal assets are turned over and searched. That includes Kamui. So Kakashi goes to Kamui to search for the items Obito admitted are stored there, and he returns so appalled. Because, yes, Obito put bodies and important documents and items there, but he also just dumped a lot of junk. There are stacks of old magazines, dirty clothes piles, an assortment of bento box containers that were too nice to throw away, souvenirs from different places, crap Obito stole just for shits and giggles and Kakashi recognizes some of the stuff as things he “misplaced” over the years. “This was my favorite shirt.” “I knew that.”

Hi anon! And I'm sorry it took me so long to reply :3 The way it played out in my imagination was angsty and a little melodramatic, so no funny illustrations this time 😅 Ok, I admit Obito did call his dimension a "trash basket" (屑かご kuzukago) once in canon, and there must have been blood splashes, debris and not only from his battles, but something tells me he didn't use it as a literal trash dump xD (I guess he could just burn all that junk with a good katon jutsu). But I love the idea of him storing there something curious, something unexpected. I imagine he didn't want any reminders of his friendships, after everything... Even for shits and giggles. They could mess with his evil plan. Evoke the memories he didn't want. He was too vicious to be sentimental anymore, but he could take there something accidentally! Imagine the ANBU Kakashi period. Obito was often spying on his old teammate, and at one point he teleported into Kakashi's room to inspect it or look for specific papers and documents he could be interested in. Instead, he found something unrelated to his objective, something personal -- an old letter from Rin to Kakashi (that Kakashi seemed to have been in the mood to reread some time prior, wallowing in his sadness, so it was right on his table). Obito was standing there deep in thought, looking at the letter, absently analyzing the handwriting, but not really taking in the words yet, and then suddenly felt that Kakashi had shunshinned nearby ->

Obito had to return to Kamui immediately, but forgot to put the letter in place! It stayed in his hand, and then forever in Kamui; he never brought it back. Having read it for the first time, he felt anger and only anger and threw it away somewhere. The letter got lost among the gray blocks. He forgot about the thing altogether. But way later, when he was in his late 20's, or maybe even not long before the war, he found it again, and the words kept ringing in his head till the very end.

This old letter was… Rin's letter about Obito! The real Obito, the kid Obito, which the current Obito had killed in himself once.

It went something like this: "Dear Kakashi, I'm writing this letter to you because it's not easy to talk about these things in real life, but let me try to express my thoughts here. I know you can't stand Obito, but please, please, for the sake of our team, try to understand him, because he's… that and that… (describes his loneliness, and kindness, and potential, and aspirations, and dreams). Maybe if you just show him a flicker of warmth, he will open up, and you'll see for yourself how much it will benefit us as a team and in all other possible ways. I'm his friend and I know him well, and it's so worth it! Just please believe in Obito, just please try, and you'll see how much it will change things."

Obito was so irritated when he read it for the first time. He couldn't feel the message at all, they were just words of a ghost, of an unreal Rin, and that unreal Rin was babbling something about that miserable unreal Obito, the helpless one. Trying to reach Kakashi's heart. How futile.

Later, when he found the letter for the second time as an adult, he wasn't outraged anymore; he was too numb inside for that. But what he didn't like was that the words made him think. They were haunting him, and he hated that. And then, when the Juubi almost destroyed his consciousness, he made himself recall what had made him whole and hopeful once, and Rin's message sparked in his mind's eye again, more brightly, and it helped him take control of the Juubi. But only after the change of heart he finally started seeing the truth in those sentences and even hearing her voice saying them in his head; the words became alive and almost prophetic. And Kakashi's faith in Obito… It did finally touch his heart (as did Naruto's, of course), did finally reach him… and it DID change everything. * Now, Obito lives! And Kakashi somehow keeps the Sharingan eye or gets it back from him. He goes to Kamui after the war to "turn over his criminal assets" and finds that letter…

He brings it from Kamui and gives it back to Obito.

Obito, scratching the nape of his neck: "Ah… Sorry, I accidentally stole it from you ages ago." "I never noticed." "You didn't?" "I… memorized it so well that I never needed the original piece of paper anymore, the words were ingrained in my heart, is all…" "Why did you bring it back?" "I feel like you still need it. …Besides, thanks to it being in Kamui, it wasn't destroyed by Pein, unlike the contents of my whole apartment. When he attacked." "…Sorry." "Albeit losing things is nothing, in comparison with losing people." "Sorry." "I'm glad you're back..."

#post-war #obito #kakashi #uchiha obito #hatake kakashi #kakaobi #obikaka #obito lives au

[zvirinabebez]

“ douceur „

quanxi x fem florist | barista reader.

multiple part series. first part thats just pretty fluffy and romancey!! first time writing and actually publishing it so ermm leave tips ig idk. ik the pacing is weird but its bc i like to write in detail.

feminine reader x quanxi, includes romance. >:3 smut in later chapters or wtv.

disclaimer ; I've never written like romance before so forgive me lol. I write with extreme detail too so it probably gonna be the SLOWEST burn ever. also she smokes weed cuz ion fuck wit that cig shit lmfao

CHAPTER I

being a florist in tokyo isn't anything you thought you'd be finding yourself doing. though, being drawn to the sweet and naturey smell of flowers wouldn't suprise anyone who had known you before. head over heels constantly in love with all kinds of plants and flowers, from spider lilies to hydrangea, peony and flower arrangements in themselves.

. . .

you'd adjust your grip on the box cutter in your dominant hand, the vivid pink color of it mixing with the warm lighting above you, the blade swiftly and sharply cutting through the protruding thorns of the white roses, the remaining water inside would drip slightly onto the paper below the bouqet would find itself sitting inside of momentarily. a smell similar of freshly cut grass would fill your senses, and the cozy and comforting feel of the floristry – cafe place that you had recently assigned yourself to.

the smell of coffee, tea, and the baby's breath that sat to the right of you would fill the air, a rainy day with cars ever–so making light noises as their wheels splash and sputter inside of the puddles left by the rain. the annoying ding of the door would fill your ears once more, and like clock–work the all too familiar words would spill out of your mouth.

“ Welcome to Yrlissa's Flowery, How may I be of assistance? ”

as your eyes lazily drifted off the commissed bouqet that laid on the counter infront of you, your eyes would laid upon a tall lady, with a muscular yet slim figure. wispy bangs and a lacey eyepatch concealing her right eye. the rest of her thin hair contained by a black hairtie— who the hell visits a flower shop in a full black suit? Is she going to a fucking funeral ?

NOT professional thoughts. get it together!!!

the lady would approach the counter, with an almost monochromatic expression. not one emotion would appear on her face, and no body language out of the ordinary. her movements would seem almost perfected calculated, almost uncanny even, but as she grew closer the smell of the the roses and baby's breath would be replaced with the smell of marijuana.

the footsteps would come to a halt uncomfortably close to you, or maybe it would seem that way since shes near the height of a basketball player and you couldn't be any closer to a smurf, and also leaning over flowers with posture far from the best in the world– a few seconds of silence commence, the ladies eyes piercing above to read the sign. her lips parting to finally speak.

“A small espresso will do, please.”

“ would you like sugar or cream? ”

“ Surprise me. ”

the click of the box cutters blade retracting back into itself, and the clack of its placement onto the counter would follow her sentence. with your feet tapping to the cups behind you, and your body language obviously showing your nervousness, you'd swiftly grab it and draw back over to the counter near the woman.

tipping over the jug of geyser water just measuring to the line that marks a half liter. the sound of the water filling up would once again save you from extremely embarrassment from the pure awkwardness of the situation at hand.

. . . .

you'd stretch your hand over and weigh out 20 grams of coffee beans, pouring them into a small tin and placing them on the miniature scale. the lady bringing a stop to the awkward silence that filled the air.

“ I take it it's relaxing to work here hm? ”

“ It's nice on it's slow days, but then there's times like valentines day, and wedding season ykno? ”

“I'd imagine.”

as a few weeks passed, the lady swiftly became a regular. almost always coming in during your shift or being there before you clock in. a name you wrote on the coffee cup almost every shift, the type of name that rolls off your tongue sweet and slick, — quanxi. another day had arrived, opening the door to yrlissa's the bell would chime as you walked in, swiftly pittering to clock in, not missing quanxi sitting in the corner of the shop, as always.

she would stay for a few hours and make nice company on slow days, an often occurrence it would be to sit and speak with her while filling out the commissions for bouqets, and other kinds of assortments. it didn't take long to realize quanxi liked more to listen than to speak.

today was october 5th. the chill in the air sweeping into the store moments after the bell on the door would ring. it didn't take long for you to learn to brace yourself against the cold on the cue of the chime. completing the same ol' sequence you'd do everyday, steaming the milk and poking holes in the puck of espresso, yet this time for yourself to warm up on the cold day.

the thick fog outside would make seeing the people and events happening outside near impossible. pouring the milk, then espresso, a drizzle of caramel and whipped cream onntop, the perfect go—to drink. the cup would warm your hands, soothing you and bringing you into relaxation with the first sip, a small breath leaving your parted lips—

the all too familiar chime would fill your ears.

bruh.

quickly stepping behind the counter to at least shield your lower half. or.. 90% of ur body bc ur a fucking smurf. srry im writing this in my perspective im fucking 5'0. the chill would still expectedly hit your face and torso, sending a small shiver up your spine. gripping the cup of coffee just a bit tighter to warm your hands once again. fluttering your lashes and squinting to keep the ice cold air out of your eyes, you'd realize who'd walked in.

“I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you cold.” Quanxi would say, looking back and closing the door softly behind her as not to brush more cold air inside. this time she was wearing a brown turtle-neck under her coat and long black pants. she'd take a deep breath in and pull her other hand out of her pocket.

“you're fine don't worry. at least it's not another total stranger walking in, I think I'd rot inside having to make any more small talk today.” you'd set down your coffee to start her order, placing it beside the cash register and lean on the counter with the corner digging into your palms.

“Usual?”

“Mm.”

Quanxi would approach the table near the entrance of the work space, leaving about 3-5 feet in between the two of you as you started her order. It took her a few days in the beginning but she got what she wanted down pack. a shot of espresso, mixed softly into chocolate syrup followed by warm steamed milk and whipped cream. In other words, a Caffé Mocha. with some extra chocolate.

. . . should probably start that order

you'd started serving quanxi in the pretty white mugs boss lady told you not to use, simply to reduce dishes. but you didn't mind washing one or two for quanxi. You'd hear the clink of her keys being placed onto the table before she'd speak.

“How's work been treating you lately? ” Quanxi would say to you, looking at you completely still with a hand propped up under her chin, but still as nonchalant as usual. It was hard to believe she was genuinely interested sometimes.

pouring the chocolate into the bottom of the cup focusedly, to make it look as pretty and perfect as can be, you'd take a second before answering. “Horrible, Actually. This guy yesterday, came in and got mad at me because I forgot to put caramel on top of his frappe. He ended up throwing it on the floor, and of course I had to clean it. ”

Quanxi's eyes would follow the way you carefully made the coffee. The way you'd twirl the cup to make sure it was evenly distributed, and the way you'd add extra for her, even though she didn't ask for it. Nor did she really like how sweet it made the drink, but to her it was an act of kindness.

"Mm."

“Oh! and thennnn I had a lady come in here with her boyfriend and I guess I was a bit too friendly with her and she pulled me to the side and basically threatened me. I'm not one for wanting a guy in general. That was actually around a week ago and she came back a few days ago an—”

the glass pot to steam the milk in would fall to the ground instantly shattering. nothing but the thought of your boss chewing you out rushes into your mind. not only is it expensive to replace, it was definitely coming out of your paycheck. Quanxi wasted no time raising out of her chair and assisting you with cleanup even before you, yourself could process what had happened.

“thank you. god my boss is gonna make me pay for this. . . " you'd say squatting down and beginning to pick up the big chunks of glass first and placing them in your palm. “I'll get it, you might get cut. ” Quanxi would take the glass from out of your hand and continue to pick up where you left off.

"are you sure? I can just get a broom or something." you'd turn away for a second to grab the broom from the back, yet once you come back you find the glass all gone, not a single piece remaining on the floor and a note on the counter, sitting placed under two 10,000 yen notes. (around 140$)

the shock would spread across your face almost in an instant. what the absolute hell? picking up the notes, you'd take the time to read the note she'd left behind.

“𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓬𝓸𝓯𝓯𝓮𝓮 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓹𝓲𝓽𝓬𝓱𝓮𝓻. 𝓾𝓷𝓼𝓾𝓻𝓮 𝓱𝓸𝔀 𝓶𝓾𝓬𝓱 𝓲𝓽 𝔀𝓸𝓾𝓵𝓭 𝓫𝓮, 𝓪𝓹𝓹𝓮𝓪𝓻𝓮𝓭 𝓺𝓾𝓲𝓽𝓮 𝓮𝔁𝓹𝓮𝓷𝓼𝓲𝓿𝓮.

𝓠𝓾𝓪𝓷𝔁𝓲 347-1782.”

✧─── ･ ｡ﾟ✧: * 🎀 .* :✧. ───✧

tired of there not being fuckin quanxi fics and smut bro. ik u stans r alive ACT LIKE IT!!!! 😡 k hope u enjoyed tho owo also im seriously fucking hoping this isn't ugly on pc bro.. idk but if ur reading fluff n shit on a pc u got balls cuz id cry if i got caught

#quanxi #quanxi smut #quanxi fluff #csm x reader #csm smut #csm fluff #quanxi x reader #wifey is back #quanxi csm #chainsawman

[brain-rot-central]

Good morning, I'm having mushy personal thoughts

I was throwing around the idea of a possible oneshot/other long fic with Mia the other day. Like Tav/Astarion as adventurers but the events of the game never happened. They're lifelong friends and A just happens to be a vampire with a shitty backstory as to how it happened. But he's like all well adjusted to it now and uses it to his advantage etc

And then Mia suggested something like "hey you don't have to make this BG3 related, it can be actual fiction. You write really well. You don't have to box yourself into just BG3"

And I went

"oh"

I guess it's my imposter syndrome acting up whenever someone says something like that but I'm still in the mindset of like "nah my writing isn't good enough to post on AO3" which is why the majority of my library is here on Tumblr. I don't feel like I belong there; AO3 is only for the really good people. Which I am not. At least to me. And I don't mean to be disrespectful of the grace and the support I've been given by this community; it's all entirely received and I feel it and I cherish it. It's just challenging to change that sort of mindset. But I'm trying.

I would probably never think to actually try writing professionally but tbh I'm at the point where thinking about doing my current career full-time until I'm like 70 makes me extremely depressed so idk I guess now would be a good time to try?

I had a thought the other day too after our discussion where I used to feel a certain kind of way in my 20s, like a whole mess of creative energy all vibrating at the same time and I would try my best to keep it locked in a box and contained and never let it slip out because why bother allowing your creative side to flourish? You didn't choose that path in life. Ignore it, it's not to your benefit. And I would get extremely sad about it and just sit there and go "idk why I'm so sad I should be happy"

And idk it made me really emotional thinking about it because that's what those feelings were. And I remember how creative I used to be in my teens and then over the course of my 20s I just shoved it further and further into a box and kept adding chain after chain over it, effectively trying to suffocate it because I didn't choose it as my career path so it has no use to me. Like literally just trying to kill off that part of me because it doesn't help with efficiency. Turning myself into a machine, essentially.

And now that I'm writing again it's like taking the chains off and allowing the box to pop open every once in a while and idk I feel really fulfilled. It's made me realize just how much of myself I've had to (or forced myself to) sacrifice over the last 10ish years and yeah. It's just nice to reconnect with this part of myself again.

I just wanna thank everyone again for their support. It means so fucking much to me.

Signed,

The girl who hides in the corner because she's told herself she can't hang with the cool kids.

Thanks for lending your hands and showing me otherwise.

#neech's speeches #personal rant #writing

[bratshaws]

goodness gracious 1. brb x oc

THIS FIC IS 18+ ONLY! MINORS PLS DNI!

a/n: * pulls up megaphone * Rooster was raised right by his mom and doesn't care about body types. The lack of plus size fics made me upset so I literally returned to Tumblr to create this blog and write this. This is the first time I'm writing for this fandom so... I HO PE YOU GUYS LIKE IT??? its been centuries SINCE I WROTE aNYTHING ( also god im not creative with titles, please forgive me )

check out the fic's playlist made by the sweet @wiipes !!

pairing: plus size!oc x rooster

c:

1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10/11/12/13/14/15/16/17/18/19/20/21/22/23/24/

25/26/27/28/29/30/31/32/33/34/35/36/37/38/39/40/41/42/43/44

45/46/47/48/49/50/51/52/53/54/55/56/57/58/59/60/61/62/63/64

65/66/67/68/69/70/71/72/73/74/75/76/77/78/79/80/81/82/83/84

85/86/87/88/89/90/91/92/93/94/95/96/97/98/99/100/101/102

warnings: mentions of bullying, self doubt, aNGST, mutual pining, Rooster being a sweetheart.

“Hello!” Beatrice calls once she enters Hard Deck by the employee’s entrance, popping out her airpods to slide them inside her bag shoulder, “I’m not late, am I?” she calls to Penny who’s currently fixing the tables ahead of her.

“No, you are just on time!” she calls, her voice a bit muffled since Bea put her bag inside the little closet area for employees. She checked her appearance before going out on the mirror hanging on the wooden wall, pulling her dark brown hair up in a bun and fixing her Led Zeppelin shirt, wiping the dust off her jeans before finally walking out. Once she gets out, Penny is turning the lights on in the back area of the bar that leads to the beach. 

Meanwhile Beatrice grabs one of the bags of ice, carrying it to the ice machine behind the bar, plopping the cold cubes down the container, crumpling the plastic bag once it was empty to toss in the recycler. “I’m here, babes!” a voice calls, then a blonde head of hair shows up, “Hope you two didn’t do everything with me gone!”

“Just waiting for your presence,Michelle!” Penny calls, looking over her shoulder to press a kiss to her niece’s cheek, when she hugs her “Hi, honey, Bea is already here.”

“Bumblebea!” Bea smiles when the blonde comes over to the employees closet as well, removing her denim jacket to expose the low cut red tank top and jeans. “Need help?” Bea nods, pointing to the other bags of ice in the corner, “Friday night, tonight will be a long night huh?”

“Sure will.” Bea noted, the two of them dumping the rest of the ice “How was your date though? With the policeman?” the brunette asked, chuckling when the blonde girl rolled her eyes with a sigh.

“I swear, police officers are the clingiest guys.” Shells said, grabbing the empty bags from Bea’s hand to shove down the recycler, “He didn’t want to leave! I kept saying, ‘hey i gotta go to work,’ and he asked where I worked and I told him he didn’t need to worry about that.”

 The two of them then marched to the storage room area where Shells grabbed a box of handkerchiefs. “Then he said ‘oh it’s not a problem, I can take you’ and–and! Then he said ‘I like you a lot.’ Like!! We’ve only hooked up twice!...” she shakes her head, “I just told him it’d be better if we didn’t contact each other anymore and it was fun while it lasted.”

“He accepted that?”

“Course not, called me a bitch all the way out, I think I saw tears in his eyes before he left.” Shells shrugs, waiting on Bea to grab the recycled straws from the upper shelf, then turns off the light once her friend walks out “I swear, I’ll give up on Tinder like you did. It’s insane!”

Bea chuckles, opening the bag of straws to put them inside a glass, “I mean, you know my sister found her husband on Tinder.”

“Um, yeah, but he’s a handsome doctor from London with the body of a god and deep bronze skin. He’s like a beautiful statue!”

“I shouldn’t have never shown you their wedding picture.” Bea laughs, shaking her head with amusement. “and to think I just wanted to show you how pretty the location was.” the two of them looked at the clock, seeing they had little time before the bar opened for the public, so they had to finish everything up quickly.

Once they did and the bar opened, it exploded with people, the voices getting louder the more people entered. Music floated on the air, much to Bea’s delight as she hummed to herself with the songs. 

To think, just a few months ago she was looking for a job to help her with the bills and if it wasn’t for Shells and Penny, she’d never get it.

Beatrice is from a tight, traditional Italian family. While they are progressive in certain areas, most of her family doesn’t think women…should do much. If they have a job it should be a useful job, like banking or something like that, not Liberal arts. Which was what she always wanted to do, being a creative person since she was a child, she just wanted to work with what she liked.

But being the youngest of six siblings, the literal baby that had to stay home while her older siblings went out to live their lives out of state or even out of the country she had very little control in certain choices. Maybe it was the empty nest syndrome, with all her siblings gone from the house, her parents only had herself to… take care of in a way. It took years for her to actually go to her choice in college,juggling between work and long study hours, choosing to leave her job once she had enough money saved up to help herself once she got her place.

During college was when she met Michelle, or Shells, who took her to the Hard Deck a few times. It was distant from her job and her parents’ house and Beatrice loved it. She loved the atmosphere, she felt welcome by Penny and even if this was a Naval bar she didn’t feel like she was intruding in some way.

When Shells mentioned they needed one more person at the bar, Bea said yes immediately. Her parents weren’t happy with her choice, but they couldn’t stop her, especially since her own siblings supported it. So now she was here, working, happy, focusing on how she’d continue her career as an artist.

The bell rang, drinks were served, people were dancing. It was a nice night so far. Bea was washing one of the glasses when she heard a cacophony of voices that she heard a few times and her body heats up. She couldn’t help but just stare at him, he stood out of his group like a beautiful floral patterned thumb. With her eyes following him until they all sat down on their usual spot, Bea couldn’t help but bite her lower lip, feeling her cheeks warm up even more when he laughed at something.

“Ohhhhh, cock-a-doodle-doo huh?” Shells’ teasing voice snapped her out of her staring, Bea’s green eyes wide as saucers, seeing her friend’s teasing grin, “How long until you finally make a move?”

“I…I don’t know what you mean.” she continued washing the same glass, the squeaking sound of the sponge rubbing against it giving her some of a distraction.

“Bea, please,” Shells took the glass from her hand, then tilted her head, “You look at that man like he hangs up the moon every time he comes by.” but her friend then turned to the opposite side, focusing on checking the liquor bottles. Shells sighed, coming to her friend’s side and crossing her arms, the brunette trying too hard to keep her eyes on the label.

“This is a 1975, right?”

“Bea.”

“I can’t really see, the label is a bit faded–” the bottle disappears from her hand, Beatrice snapping her gaze to Shells, who holds the liquor under her crossed arms, her eyebrows going up to her hairline. Beatrice sighs defeatedly, “I…I don’t know what you want me to say.” she shrugs “He’s so…” she groans, covering her face with her hands, “He’s so…so hot,Shells. and he sings! and-and he’s funny and…he’s everything I’ve always wanted in a guy.”

“One more reason to go to him.” Shells whispers, “He’s single and handsome. You are single and gorgeous.” the blonde held her fingers up in a V position, before joining the two with a kissing sound, “Perfect match.”

Bea frowned, “It’s not that simple.” she murmured “I…I mean…look at me Shells.” she spread her arms to emphasize. But her friend just frowned, “Oh come on, like…look at me I’m not the type of girl who gets guys like that.”

She was a curvy gal, always had been. Normally, she wouldn’t mind it, but when it comes to guys, more especially when it comes to Rooster she just lost a good amount of confidence. He was literally adonis personified, just the most beautiful man she had ever seen. and she felt less than pretty when she remembered the type of girls that surrounded him or worked with him. 

“You know that’s not true.” Shells said with her voice low, a kind smile on her face, “You have as much chance as any girl out there.” Bea however scoffed, “You gotta believe in yourself Bea. You are gorgeous, any guy would be lucky to have you.”

The brunette’s eyes stung with unshed tears, the same eyes she clenched shut in hopes to hold them in. Memories of past relationships flooding her brain, bringing memories she wished to forget “Can we not talk about this anymore?” Shells is about to say something else but a customer calls for a refill, which Bea thanks every powerful being for, slapping on a smiling mask, “Coming right up!”

Shells only watches her friend go to the opposite side to serve one of the guys there, laughing when he says something to her - clearly drunk -  before walking away. Shells’ stare broke when she heard the bell ring, turning on to face the person. 

She immediately smiled wider, “Hi Bob.”

She likes Bob, she thought he not only was sweet he was also so smart. He knew he had a hard time with the group, especially Jake, but he was getting there. She leaned on her elbows, giving him a sweet smile, “What can I get you?”

The way his cheeks flushed and his eyes tried to look anywhere but the cleavage she put on display was so cute, “Oh, uh, just more beer?”

“Sure! Should I put it in your tab?”

“Yes,please.”

Shells went to the fridge to grab the beers, then paused, sending a look to where Beatrice was currently talking to two female customers. She then looked over her shoulder to Bob, who smiled at her, then past Bob to where his group was…a devilish thought showed up in her brain, “Why don’t you wait with the others? I’ll bring it to you.” 

“Oh, okay! I’ll be there then.”

With the beers on top of a tray, she sent one last look to her friend who was still busy, then sped her step maneuvering through the crowd until she reached them. “There you go, more fuel for the pilots.” she teased, making them laugh while switching the empty bottles with the full ones, throwing some quick looks to her brunette friend, “So,” she rested the empty tray on her hip, “What else can I get you?”

“Your number would be nice, sweetheart.” Jake was quick to say, sending her a wink with the bottle to his lips.

Shells chuckled, “I meant something achievable,Hangman.”

“I think we are all fine.” Phoenix says, “Thanks Shells.”

“Hey, not a problem. Oh, just letting you guys know, I’ll go on a break in a few minutes so if you guys need anything else, you can ask Bea.” She kept an eye on everyone, but especially Rooster. The way his eyes just snapped to her friend made her insides flip in triumph, the little smirk on her face hidden by her biting the inside her cheek, “She’ll gladly serve you.”

Rooster’s eyes finally left the brunette at the bar counter, meeting Shell’s knowing blue gaze only to clear his throat and look away again, “Well” she drawled, walking backwards, sending them a salute, “Enjoy the night!”

The moment Shells approached the bar, she ran to her aunt, whispering something in her ear. Both Penny and Shells looked in Beatrice’s direction, who was leaning down to pick something behind the bar, unaware of the scheming happening behind her back.

Once the time came for Shells to have her break, Penny kept an eye on Beatrice. It took just a few seconds for a known pilot to approach the bar, the bell rang and Beatrice turned around with a wide smile, a smile that faltered for a quick second before returning - albeit a lot milder than before - “Hi!” her voice was higher, so she cleared her throat, “Um,hi.”

“Hey.” Rooster replied, leaning his elbows over the counter, which made Bea suck in a hard breath once she saw the curve of his pecs underneath the white tank top, “Can you believe I came here to get more beer? Just three this time though.”

She couldn’t help but huff out a chuckle, covering her mouth with her hands then “Well, it is a bar.” she adds, “I would be surprised if you came here for groceries.”

When he laughed at her joke she almost felt like fainting, biting her lower lip hard with her head dipped, “I-I’ll go get it.” practically power walking towards the freezer where she stood for a few minutes, letting the cool air hit her cheeks as she tried to calm herself. She shook her head for a quick moment, grabbing the beers between her fingers and turning back around, almost letting out a yelp of surprise to see he was still looking at her “There you go.”

“Thanks.” but he didn’t leave, pointing his index finger at her “Bea, right?” she nods with a small smile, “It’s weird, I’ve seen you for a while and never got your name.”

Maybe because she chickened out every time he seemed to want something, ending up telling Shells to do it, “Oh, well,” she only gave him a weak shrug, then felt like her arms were too exposed, quickly lacing her hands behind her back to hide them the best she could, “I haven’t been here long.”

He hummed, a tiny smile on his face, “I’m Rooster.”

“I know,” she blinks when his eyebrows raise in amusement, “I-I mean, I heard Penny and Shells talking about you and heard your name being called around.” her face was so warm she felt like she was boiling. She hoped the light above her head hid her blush from his view. “I…is there anything else I can get you?”

“I don’t think so, no.” he looks back at his friends, seeing they are still chatting amongst each other. Then his eyes travel to the splotches of ink on her upper arms, the parts that weren’t hidden behind her. However before he could ask her about them, she snaps her head ahead when she sees someone on the table lifting their glass.

‘Sorry I–” she moves her own finger over his shoulder, “I gotta go get this.”

“Oh, oh no no, yeah, go ahead.” he smiled and her knees almost buckled just like that, “I’ll go back then.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

They stood there for a bit longer, until Rooster shook his head, picking the beers with one of his hands “I’l see you around then,Bea.” he smiles then turns on his heel back to the other pilots. Bea just stood there, face flaming and eyes wide, then she cleared her throat walking out from behind the bar to the table.

Penny, who watched the entire ordeal, just smiled, sending Shells a quick text once no one was looking:

“It’s on.”

#bradley rooster bradshaw #rooster bradshaw #bradley bradshaw x oc #top gun maverick #boy am i down bad #like woof man #bradley bradshaw x reader #ill go freak out now ha h

[panjakes]

Could I request a Vernon or Dino imagine where you have a hard time keeping eye contact with them and they try to help you out of that habit. Have a wonderful day love your writing. ;)

Thank you❤️

Dino watched you from your bed as you typed away at your laptop. He laughed at how serious and focused you were. You were currently writing a paper for one of your classes and Dino was keep you company.

“So what’re we gonna eat?” Dino asks making you look at him from your peripheral to think about it.

“Uh we can eat whatever. You know I’m not picky” you say still typing away

“Babe, give me some suggestions at least!” He says smiling

“Uh I’d really liked some fried dumplings” you say scratching at your fresh twist out

“Okay, I’ll go get that and I’ll be back” he says rushing to the door before you could even ask if you could go.

About an hour later Dino came back with damn near 10 bags

“What’s this?” You ask looking at the bags then his chest

“I got your dumplings and some snacks you like” he says handing you the container that held the dumplings

“I didn’t ask for all this. You didn’t have to do this Dino” you say opening the box

“You didn’t have too because I know you like these things” he says grabbing your chin making you look at him

You both make eye contact for a minute before you look back down at the dumplings

“Look at me” he asks in a gentle voice

“You know I can’t” you mumbled putting a dumpling into your mouth

“You can’t or you just don’t want too?” He asks

“Both” you admit making him smile

“I don’t like that habit of yours” he says putting a curl behind your ear

“Well you have habits that I don’t like” you say very sassy

Dino puts a hand on his chest looking at you with a raised brow

“Please. My habits are lovely” he says making you giggle almost choking on the dumpling

“Yeah alright” you say turning back over to your laptop.

Dino chuckles placing a kiss on your forehead before going back over to your bed to eat the food he got for himself

He watched you silently as you ate and did your work

“Yn” he calls out to you only for you to hum and keep your eyes on the screen

“Nothing” he says noticing you didn’t make eye contact

He was determined to get you to look at him for more than 20 seconds

Dinos first attempt was literally just grabbing you by the cheeks and make you look at him but you literally looked everywhere but his eyes

“Baby look at me, I want to see your pretty eyes. Please!” Dino asks puckering his lips out like he was asking for a kiss

You close your eyes and kiss his lips

“I wanted you to look at me. Not kiss me but that’ll work too” he says making you giggle

His next attempt was sitting you in your spiny chair in front of the tv.

“And how is looking at anime character going to help me keep eye contact?” You asks

“If you can keep it with the characters you can keep it with me or anyone else” he says

“This isn’t going to work.” You say making him sigh

“If you doubt it of course it won’t!” He says pausing the tv on a character

“Now…look” he says pointing to the tv

You look at the shirt the character was wearing instead of it’s eyes

“That’s not his eyes Yn! The eyes sweetheart I want you to look at the eyes!” Dino says causing you too look at the eyes of the character for a few seconds before saying

“I-I can’t!” You say before getting up and going to the bathroom

Dino sighs turning the tv off

His third and better attempt was just you two in FaceTime. With the terrible quality you felt like you could actually hold eye contact with him.

Dino was rambling about how S.coups had scolded him earlier about something he did and he noticed that you were actually looking at him.

He didn’t say anything. He kept his mouth closed about it with a smile on his face and continued to talk about getting scolded.

His last and finally attempt wasn’t even an attempt at all. You had came over and started talking about how your professor absolutely loved your paper.

You were went on and on about how you and your professor had a long talk about how amazing it was and you even took it a step further and read your paper to him.

He smiled as you talked about your major and how passionate you were about it. He doesn’t think you even noticed but you managed to keep eye contact with him the whole entire time

“That’s awesome sweetheart I’m proud of you” he says leaning in to kiss your lips

“Thank you!” You say

He doesn’t say anything about you two keep eye contact the whole time being afraid that you’d revert to not looking at all.

As the weeks go on you(very much unaware) make a lot of eye contact with Dino and even the other members. Even they noticed. Usually when you spoke your head was down or your eyes were off to the side. But as of lately you’ve actually been making eye contact and even they were proud of you.

“Can we go get something to eat? I haven’t ate all day” you say turning to Dino looking him straight in the eye

He just looks at you with a goofy grin not saying anything. Still look at him you turn your head to the side confused

“Oh baby!” He jumps off the bed wrapping his arms around you

“Dino what are you doing?” You ask

“I just love seeing you pretty brown eyes! Babe you’ve gotten better!” He says

“Better? What are you talking about?” You asks

“Baby! You looked at me for a whole 3 minutes” dino says

“Really?” You ask

“Yes! Look at me!” He says grabbing your cheeks squishing the cubby brown flesh

You allow him too squish your cheeks and you look at him like he asks. For the first time(in a while) you didn’t have the urge to look away

“Baby your looking at me!” He says making you laugh

“Your acting like I’ve never looked at you before”you say

“Well excuse me if I just like staring into my girls friend’s beautiful eyes” he says kissing your nose

You giggle and shake your head. This man was something else

#ambw fic #black reader #ambw #black girls are beautiful #black reader insert #kpop poc #kpop #x black reader #x black!reader #kpop imagines #seventeen #seventeen x yn #seventeen x blackreader #seventeen dino

[sideblogdotjpeg]

hello unfortunately i thought even more about sol + swag as an analogy for being asian and it is . making me unwell. i am putting it under the cut for the main reason that it is stupid beyond belief

OK. so. hear me out .

STUPID REASONS WHY SOL IS ASIAN:

(and hint: this is all me projecting 100%)

1) moist frog who immediately turns off when it gets too cold. SOUTHEASTASIAN BOY AS FUCK (to me). guy who thinks thirty degrees celsius is pleasant temperature. guy who thinks that anything below 25C is sweater weather. guy who is soo sweaty and moist all the time (the humidity) and that is not only a natural state, but a preferrable state. 20 degrees is too cold. anything below 0 is actually not functional.

anyway. sol bufo. keepin it warm and gross. if its too cold and dry he immediately hibernates. king

2) idk if anyone reading this has seen shaolin soccer. but sol bufo. could clump shaolin soccer. essentially what im saying is sol bufo is like a buff asian jock. which is kinda goofy and goodnatured and loud and also very obnoxious. i cannot articulate this very well. but. what can i say except a human version of sol bufo was delivered to me in a dream and it was every buff chinese classmate ive ever met.

3) (you will notice the reasons get progressively more stupid and more deeply specific)

sol bufo would love milo. omg. like. chocolate drink in a juice box container that is branded as a sports/energy drink and also green. also the guy on the front of the packet milo. sol bufo coded. tbh

anyway. milo isnt strictly southeast asian..? but. yes it is actually.

4) the whole monk class is extremely steeped in asian 'aesthetics' anyway. i mean. ki. so whatever i can claim this monk for me thats my right

NONSTUPID BUT STILL KIND OF SILLY REASONS:

and this is also me projecting 100%. obviously all delusion. so i guess see this as a for-fun reading of the sol/swag storyline through the lens of a very specific of asianness

okay so. swag right. his journey is about leaving his home where he was comfortable and safe but also very confined. mothership lures him to ezry w the promise of opportunity & seeing the world, making something of himself. he ends up being exploited for his body and skills. and he runs away, but his blood still oils up the mothership cogs.

so anyway. i think its pretty clear how that cld map onto like . an immigrant experience? leaving home because of the need to find urself, but simultaneously, the threat of exploitation at the hands of ppl who see you as a potential profit to be mined. this is the first part

the part that is more crazy to me is his experience in irondeep. like, when he left moonstone he left his entire community. now hes alone ... and he cant go back. (he is stranded physically, emotionally). and at this low point, of true and utter loneliness and purposelessness, comes along bronzebeard industries. they offer him a job - but more importantly, they offer him connections.

like. thinking about how were introduced to swag. its not at his job, its his downtime, its when hes hanging out with his coworkers, when hes surrounded by 'friends'. w people who think hes cool, and the people who think hes a "sucker".

idk! but i think this also relates rlly strongly to a common experience of being international? like. when you know you are permenantly lost from home. what you want more than anything is to feel the same community and sense of belonging you used to have. and it is very easy for that desire to ge manipulated. (like - im just gonna mention the one specific instance that ive seen. which is like. international students on college campuses getting targeted a lot by christian groups. because they know those people are lonely and want a feeling of shared tradition and practice. anyway. this is one specific example but also this is literally what happens to lyddie and sister rosaline :-| )

anyway so in summary: swags story of hope/idealism, exploitation, and loneliness leading him to be a very good pawn. i think that is something that could potentially be read as the experiences of ppl dislocated internationally from their home. and im saying its asian because I Want To.

... and sol! okay. i think very simply: sol is super white-washed. total banana. and thats part of his character. he is a moonstone bullywug who never knew his own home, and still, has never even seen moonstone with his own eyes. he does not know his own history. (and kinda tangent, the place where he spends the majority of his life is in launchpad, a sanitized corporate version of reality. and i mean, the whole 'boy wizard and frog pal' is very clearly alluding to harry potter. like. its white.) but ignoring that, the essence of his character is like. this is a guy who does not know where he came from

and currently? a large part of his arc is about trying to unravel his identity by figuring out where (who) he came from. swag daniels is his one link to a community hes just now found out he has. that is a part of why hes trying so hard to save swag. swag is his family - specifically the parts about family you cant choose. that is hard, complicated and how you understand where the parts of yourself track back to.

like. i think a lot about how the pivotal moments of connection between swag and sol are all about swag... showing sol what moonstone is like. in a dream, he lets sol experience what that place is like. that place is a muggy swamp. idk. swag is taking sol back home. that fucks me up a lot

... anyway digression aside. i think one of the most painful things gg on rn w sols arc rn is. how its looking right now. sol is going to lose swag. sol is going to have to come to terms w losing swag. sol for the first time, yearns to know who he is and who he came from. but by the time he went looking it was too late. his time is up. that moment of connection was brief and gone. there are so many questions about their history that sol will never know now

so obviously this kind of dips a bit into metaphor at the end. swag represents connection to cultural history and heritage and identity. and in that lens, it reads to ME as a story abt being asian and disconnected from ur roots. but anyway. even without that lens i think sols story is still v much abt cultural estrangement

(i also have a very loose and unformed thought: which is that sols journey from wanting to stand out/be special to wanting to find a place of belonging. is ALSO INCREDIBLY RESONANT to the experience of being whitewashed asian... ESPECIALLY for ppl who do come from asia. and how that also relates to the tragedy of wanting to understand ur roots when its already too late. but . i dont rlly know if that is a common experience so. itll be noodling in my head for now)

anyway. my essay. and yes this is all make believe in my head . TLDR: i think swags an immigrant sols a banana and i am fucking insane thanks everyone

also if u read this all and want to know what part of this long ramble actly answers the question of why i think theyre asian. well. you know what.

#ramble tag #im NOT tagging this . LOL. #if u read this that was an ACTIVE CHOICE ON UR PART and i am NOT LIABLE #also anyone who doesnt know: banana = asian on the outside white on the inside #so.... MEEEEE 🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌺🌹🌹🌹🌷💐 #fml this is 1k + words. LORD. okay.... im SILLYY.. man i have actual work to do tonight #anyway. i hope u guys understand why im normal abt sol

[possibly-in-wonderland]

Boromir and his chaotic hobbit wife

(and some incorrect quotes ft her in general, maybe one day she'll have a name...but for now we refer to her as hobbitess)

~~~~

Boromir: *wakes up to find flowers woven in his hair*

~~~~

Boromir: .. .----. -- / … --- .-. .-. -.-- (translation: I'M SORRY) Hobbitess: What's that? Boromir: Remorse code. Hobbitess: I'm even angrier now.

~~~~

Boromir: Fight me! Hobbitess, standing behind him and holding a knife: *mouths* Do not.

~~~~

Boromir: Everyone has a toxic trait. Except Hobbitess, they’re perfect. Hobbitess: Wrong! My toxic trait is how badly I want to domesticate a warg.

~~~~

Boromir: You have Crayons? Hobbitess: Yes, I have— Boromir: You're— how old are you? Hobbitess: YES I AM AN ADULT AND I HAVE CRAYONS, I HAVE A BOX OF EMERGENCY CRAYONS IN THE CABINET UNDER THE SINK BECAUSE EVERYBODY NEEDS CRAYONS SOMETIMES, OKAY? EVERYBODY NEEDS CRAYONS.

~~~~

Hobbitess: Hey, what’s the name of the guy who lives down the hall? Boromir: His cats' names are Walter and Rose. Hobbitess: That's not what I asked. Boromir: That is all the information I have.

~~~~

Boromir: Okay, I’m going to get the wedding cake. Hobbitess: Perfect, while you do that I’ll check on the ring bear. Boromir: ... Boromir: You mean ring bearER, right? Hobbitess: ... Boromir: Look me in the eyes and tell me you are not going to bring a dangerous wild animal to our wedding.

~~~~

Hobbitess: Oh, fiddlesticks! That really ruffles my feathers! Boromir: Please, just say fuck.

~~~~

Hobbitess: You know what? Let’s give it a go. What’s the worst that could happen? Boromir: Humiliation, embarrassment, fire, explosions, collisions, tears, nudity and death.

~~~~

Hobbitess: Here’s a fun Christmas idea. We hang mistletoe, but instead of kissing, you have to FIGHT whoever else is under it. Boromir: Hobbitess no. Gimli: Mistlefoe. Boromir: Please stop encouraging her.

~~~~

Aragorn: We need a distraction. Boromir: Is anyone here good at jumping up and down and making weird noises? Hobbitess, whispering: My time has come

~~~~

Hobbitess, Pippin, and Merry are sitting on a bench Gandalf: Why do you guys look so sad? Hobbitess: Sit down with us so we can tell you. *Gandalf sits down* Pippin: The bench is freshly painted.

~~~~

Gandalf: I currently have 7 empty notebooks and I have no clue what to put in them. Suggestions? Pippin: Put spaghetti in it. Gandalf: I'm currently taking suggestions from literally anyone but you. Merry: Put spaghetti in it. Gandalf: I'm currently taking suggestions from anyone but you two. Hobbitess: Put spaghetti in it. Gandalf: I'm no longer taking suggestions.

~~~~

Hobbitess: *Screams* Pippin: *Screams louder to establish dominance* Aragorn: Should we do something? Merry: No, I want to see who wins.

~~~~

Hobbitess: Sometimes I drink milk straight out of the container. Pippin: The cow??? Hobbitess: What? Merry: Pippin, W H Y?

~~~~

Hobbitess: Would you stab your best friend in the leg for 10 million gold? Pippin: You stab me, and then when my leg gets better, we buy a big-ass house. Merry: You can stab me too, then we'll have 20 million. Pippin: Good thinking.

~~~~

Hobbitess: So uhhh... my question is: my friend keeps on going into the pantry and grabbing handfuls of fettuccine... uncooked... Sam: I would hope they're not grabbing handfuls of cooked fettuccine! Frodo: In your pantry! Hobbitess: Yeah... and eating them raw, and they keep calling them 'chips'. ... How do I make them stop? Sam: Is your friend here? Hobbitess, motioning to Pippin: Yeah. Sam, to Pippin: You're a monster! Words MEAN things! >:( Merry: Does anybody remember- I haven't been to Olive Garden in many moons- but they DO have a like- fettuccine bottle that you can just- grab em out of and chew- Merry: HOLD ON. WAS THIS A PRANK YOU GUYS PULLED ON ME WHEN WE WENT TO OLIVE GARDEN AS KIDS?! Merry: NO, STOP. EVERYBODY SHUT UP. DO THEY GIVE YOU RAW FETTUCCINE TO CHEW ON IN THE LOBBY OF THE OLIVE GARDEN Everyone else: No. Merry, to Sam and Frodo: YOU FUCKIN BASTARDS Sam: YAAAAAAAAY! Frodo: THE PRESTIGE!

~~~~ Hobbitess: Why isn’t the statue smirking at me? Gandalf: It isn’t smirking at anyone, they’re all just imagining it. Hobbitess: Four of us saw it, Gandalf. How do you explain that? Gandalf: *points at Merry & Pippin* Sleep deprivation. *points at Sam* Paranoia. *points at Frodo* Delusional personality disorder.

~~~~

*The squad right before Hobbitess' & Boromir's wedding* Pippin: Well I have to go, I have a wedding to attend. Merry: Wait... Oh! I have a wedding to attend too! Sam: Oh, I have a wedding to attend as well Frodo: I THINK WE ALL HAVE WEDDINGS TO ATTEND Aragorn, panicked: I THINK I HAVE A WEDDING TO OFFICIATE

~~~~

Frodo, walking into his house: Hello, people who do not live here. Pippin: Hey. Merry: Hi. Sam: Hello. Hobbitess: Hey! Frodo: I gave you the key to my place for emergencies only! Hobbitess: We were out of seed cakes.

~~~~

Frodo: If you bite it and you die, it’s poisonous. If it bites you and you die, it’s venomous. Pippin: What if it bites me and it dies!? Merry: Then you’re poisonous. Jesus Christ, Pippin, learn to listen. Sam: What if it bites itself and I die? Hobbitess: That’s voodoo. Boromir: What if it bites me and someone else dies? Sam: That’s correlation, not causation. Pippin: What if we bite each other, and neither of us die? Hobbitess: That’s kinky. Frodo: Oh my God.

~~~~

Hobbitess: Time for plan G. Pippin: Don’t you mean plan B? Hobbitess: No, we tried plan B a long time ago. I had to skip over plan C due to technical difficulties. Merry: What about plan D? Hobbitess: Plan D was that desperate disguise attempt half an hour ago. Sam: What about plan E? Hobbitess: I’m hoping not to use it. Pippin dies in plan E. Gandalf: I like plan E.

~~~~

Boromir: HELP! I TOLD HOBBITESS I’D COOK DINNER TONIGHT BUT I CAN’T COOK! Aragorn, pouring milk directly into the cereal bag: And you thought I could help?

~~~~

Hobbitess: Boromir and I don’t use pet names. Aragorn: I see. Hey, what do bees make? Hobbitess: Honey? Boromir: Yes, dear? Hobbitess: Aragorn: Don't ever lie to my face again.

~~~~

Hobbitess: What time is it? Pippin: I don’t know; pass me that saxophone and we’ll find out Pippin: *Plays sax loudly and extremely out of tune* Gandalf: WHO THE FUCK IS PLAYING THE SAXOPHONE AT TWO IN THE MORNING Pippin: It’s 2 am

~~~~

Boromir: I really like this whole ‘good guy, bad guy’ thing you guys have going on. Hobbitess: It’s not an act, it’s just that I’m mean and Pippin isn’t

~~~~

Hobbitess: Dandelions symbolize everything I want to be in life Merry: Fluffy and dead with a gust of wind? Hobbitess: Unapologetic. Hard to kill. Feral, filled with sunlight, bright, beautiful in a way that the conventional and controlling hate but cannot ever fully destroy. Stubborn. Happy. Bastardous. Friends with bees. Highly disapproving of lawns. Full of wishes that will be carried far after I die. Pippin: edible

~~~~

Hobbitess: I've already sent good vibes your way… they’re coming. There’s nothing you can do to stop them. Boromir: This is the most threatening way I’ve ever been cheered up.

~~~~

Hobbitess, pointing: May I sit there? Boromir: That's my lap Hobbitess: That doesn't answer my question, Boromir.

~~~~

Boromir: Three words. Say them and I'm yours. Hobbitess: Three words. Boromir:

~~~~

Boromir: Welcome, fellow idiots Hobbitess: Hello, Boromir Boromir: No, no, not you, you're not an idiot Hobbitess: You underestimate me

#lotr #boromir #the fellowship of the ring #merry brandybuck #pippin took #gandalf the grey #frodo baggins #samwise gamgee #original character #srsly what do we name her

[littlemisspascal]

The Infinity Cube Part 19

Main Pairing: Marcus Pike x Female Reader

Chapter Pairing: Javi G x Female Reader

Word Count: 3500+

Series Summary:  When you play with a strange cube, you’re transported out of your current reality with your boyfriend Marcus into brand new ones starring alternate versions of your boyfriend who look and act entirely different every time. With each encounter, you start to wonder if you’ll ever make it back to your real universe?

Warnings for the chapter: Language, blood, angst, Reader feeling a lot of negativity, lots of italics + references to past chapters

Author Note: One more chapter to go! I can’t thank y’all enough for coming on this journey. I appreciate every like, comment, and reblog 💝

PART 1 / PART 18 / PART 20

It’s oddly serene, finding yourself sitting in an egg chair on a balcony watching the ocean waves in the distance. There’s a plush pillow propping up your back, a slight breeze keeping you cool despite the cloudless sky. All traces of blood are gone from your clothes and skin and hair. The cube sits in your lap like an obedient pet expecting praise. 

Everything’s peaceful.

Everything except you.

You feel like you’ve been cracked open like an egg, all your vulnerable parts spilled on the floor. A puddle of blood, ooze, and pus from unhealed wounds you’ve kept burying deeper and deeper inside yourself. 

You’ve survived a vampire assault. You’ve survived giving up a baby you loved as your own. You’ve survived exploding gunpowder and night terrors and violent murders and a meeting with the literal Devil. You’re good at surviving. At putting one step forward. And you’d thought, back in Oberyn’s universe, it was natural for all the negative emotions churning inside of you to disappear just like your surroundings did with each new place. But now, as your hands shake and Joel’s last shuddering breaths echo in your eardrums and the gaping, expanding hole in your chest threatens to eat you alive—you realize it wasn’t natural. 

They didn’t disappear on their own. All this time you’ve just been subconsciously locking them away in a box. Another survival tactic to keep you from drowning in trauma, from going insane, from losing another fragile piece of your true self.

And maybe it would have kept working, maybe all those turbulent emotions would have stayed contained in their makeshift coffin if you hadn’t watched Joel…if he hadn’t of…

The word is stuck in your throat, a bundle of barbed wire you can’t swallow and can’t spit out.

You’re abruptly aware of how harshly you’re biting your bottom lip, like your teeth could sink right through the layers of skin and release a gushing fountain of scarlet down your chin.

So tightly wound up, you nearly leap out of your skin when a man steps out onto the balcony. He reacts to your startlement with a surprised jolt of his own, one hand going to his chest. His alarm swiftly changes to dewy-eyed concern once he registers your trembling, like seeing you in pain causes him pain.

“One?” he asks softly, tentatively reaching out a hand. “What’s wrong?”

The strong accent in his voice is unexpected, but there’s comfort in the familiarity of the low, raspiness. It soothes something broken deep inside of you, a tender kiss against the worst of your pain.

The comfort doesn’t last long though. His appearance flickers, memories of Joel and your current reality overlapping, and you see him slathered in blood, wounds seeping as he sways on his feet. 

You don’t think, just launch yourself forward into his arms. There’s a clacking, metallic sound when the cube hits the ground, but you could care less, wrapping your arms around his neck and squeezing him tight enough he chokes out a gasp. He stumbles back a step from the collision, caught off guard by your behavior, and then he rapidly catches up with the situation, hands holding onto you just as securely. His lips are at your ear, quietly shushing your muffled whines, and he smells like seasalt and sweat and strawberry shampoo, but what matters most of all is he’s here, with you, alive and breathing.

You lean back just enough to look at his face, noses nearly brushing. He’s softer in this universe compared to most other versions you’ve seen. A lightness in his eyes that hasn’t been snuffed out by loss or violence. One of your hands traces over the laugh lines at the corners of his eyes and mouth, and he watches you do so wordlessly, seeming to sense this is something you need. 

“Javi,” you mumble, the name like a prayer on your lips while your palm settles against his neck, counting the steady beats of his pulse.

“Yeah,” he answers quietly, one hand rubbing at your back while the other cups the back of your head. “I’m here, One. Not going anywhere.”

“No,” you say, that tightness in your throat returning. “You never do. I’m always the one leaving.”

He hums a confused note as you untangle yourself from his hold and bend down to retrieve the fallen cube.  You’ve tried to outsmart it, tried speaking to it and cursing it. Failure after failure after failure. And your attempts at twisting and turning its sides have only brought you closer and closer to your own self-destruction.

The only thing you haven’t tried is asking for help. 

In most universes you’ve traveled to, people tended to diminish the cube’s significance or flat out ignored its existence like it wasn’t even there. It hadn’t occurred to you, in-between dealing with a headful of new memories and simultaneously falling in love with a new Brown Eyes, to ask anyone their opinions about the cube.

And then there was also the constant fear of merging which hovered over you like a shadow wherever you went, urging you to keep moving forward or else risk losing yourself. 

That shadow is still there, the fear still near-suffocating, but God you’re so fucking tired of all of this. You’re tired of constantly hopping around universes and seeing every possible version of Marcus except your own. You’re tired of surviving. You’re selfish enough to want to live, damnit. Let someone else deal with this gigantic clusterfuck. Let someone else lose the love of their life right in front of them. Let someone else have their heart pulled apart and trampled until they're hollow shells who have nothing left inside themselves to feel with.

You’re done. 

So this is it. A last ditch, go-for-broke Hail Mary plan. One way or another—whether the cube is solved or not—you’re ending this adventure.

“Javi, what do you know about the multiverse?”

He blinks, eyebrows drawing together in silent confusion as he looks between the cube and your face for a connection but fails to find one. “Enough to discuss Marvel movies,” he answers.

You’re torn between gasping and laughing, resulting in a breathy kind of hiccup sound bursting free from your mouth. It can’t be a coincidence, the same words you’d once said to the thief coming back again full circle. Only this time the roles are reversed and you're the one educating him.

“Right,” you say after recovering your voice again, “well–”

“Star Trek— the 2009 Chris Pine one, I mean—also focused on the idea of multiple universes too,” Javi interrupts, confusion turning to thoughtfulness as he rifles through the massive collection of films contained within his head. “And Sonic the Hedgehog, Coherence…oh! How could I forget Everything Everywhere All At Once? I think I like that one the most. Isn’t it amazing to think every choice we make is responsible for creating another universe? I hope other versions of me are as happy as I am with you, my one and only.”

Javi grins sweetly at you then, a dusting of red along his cheeks, and oh, how you want to kiss him then, to pull him in and surrender yourself completely to this universe’s identity. But you owe it to too many people to give this last shot your full 100% effort.

“That’s just it, Javi,” you tell him, forcing yourself to maintain eye contact as you rip off the metaphorical band-aid. “I’m not her. I know it sounds crazy. I know I look like your One and I sound like her, but inside, I’m someone different. Someone from another universe. And the reason I’m here is because of this.” You hold the cube up higher and it vibrates, or maybe it shakes because your whole body’s shaking, it’s hard to tell. “Every time I turn it, I’m taken to another universe. All I want is to go home and to do that I need to solve this and I can’t, Javi. I just fucking can’t.”

There’s a tense moment which follows where you’re not sure what he’ll say, what he’ll do. His body is unnaturally still except for his eyes. They drift over your face, dark and unreadable, and then drop to the cube again. 

You can’t move despite the painful, bordering on excruciating instinct to flee, to turn the cube one last time and then throw it into the nearest pit or ocean or volcano you can find. Maybe it's because you're too exhausted to give a damn anymore if this all blows up in your face.  Or maybe it’s that last, bottom of the barrel drop of hope keeping you pinned here, waiting for Javi’s response.

“How…” he cuts himself off, shaking his slightly as though to refocus his thoughts. “How long has it been for you? How many universes?” he wonders, and your jaw drops, stunned by his easy acceptance.

“Y-You believe me?”

“I don’t know what I believe.” Javi shrugs awkwardly, like he doesn’t know what else to do. “All I do know for certain are two things: firstly, before today I’ve never seen that thing in your hands and now you’re asking me about the multiverse and saying strange things my One would never say. And secondly, according to the legendary Mr. Nicolas Cage in City of Angels, some things are true whether you believe in them or not.” He nods his head, gaze solemn and face sincere. “I think you are telling me the truth.”

“Thank you,” you choke out, emotions bubbling to the surface. “I-I’m so close to giving up, Javi. You have no idea…what I’ve seen, what’s at stake…and I-I don’t—I can’t—”

“Hey,” Javi murmurs, hooking a finger under your chin and tilting your head up to meet his gaze, soft and without judgment. “You’re not alone. I’m here and you don’t have to carry all of this weight by yourself anymore. Let me take some of the load. Let me help you.”

It scares you more than you thought it would—his loyal commitment. He has no idea the mess he’s stepping into. But still he stands there, willing to do or be anything you need. 

“I don’t know how you can,” you admit, frowning as you realize it’s the truth. “The cube it’s…” difficult, hellish, a gigantic pain in the ass, “it’s not what it seems like.”

“Okay,” Javi says it so easily, nodding again like this whole thing makes absolute logical sense. He glances away for a second towards the beach and crashing blue waves, before looking back at you like he’s reached a decision. “Tell me about it. Tell me everything.”

And you do.

You tell Javi about your universe. Your universe where you work as an archivist examining stolen goods from art heists; where you’re an introvert who listens to One Direction on loop and knows the menus of the six restaurants near your apartment by heart; where Marcus is your boyfriend who loves movies almost as much as Javi does; where you picked up the golden cube, thinking it was an easy puzzle to solve, and turned your life into a nightmare.

You’ve experienced seventeen different universes. You’ve been to outer space and different countries both real and mythical. Seen aliens, dreamstones, and vampires. Worked as a waitress, a prop assistant, a superhero and a secretary. Your hands have fired a gun, thrown a knife, shaken a snow globe and cradled a baby. 

You and Brown Eyes are usually together. Sometimes not yet officially. Once only mere colleagues.

Brown Eyes has loved you, hurt you, protected you, lied to you, looked so much like Marcus and nothing at all like Marcus. You’ve been his girlfriend, his fiancée, his wife, the mother of his child. His love at first sight.

The thief tried to steal a wine bottle from the Devil. (Yes, that Devil.)

The Devil retaliated by capturing the thief’s heart—his physical one and the love of his life, his Dearheart—and trapping them in a torturous cycle.

His Dearheart is you and you are his Dearheart. You’re also Javi’s One, Oberyn's Honeybee, Din’s Cyar’ika, and so, so many more. The only person you want to be is Specs. You’re not sure if she even exists anymore. Smothered by the weight of it all. But there’s a piece of Dearheart which still persists after all this time, all these merges—maybe Specs isn’t totally lost either.

You made a deal with Dio. All you need to do is solve the cube.

But that was before Max’s fangs. Before Marcus’ wife and daughter. Before Joel’s death.

You’ve talked yourself nearly hoarse by the end of it all. You and Javi are sitting inside the house now on a couch that looks like it costs more than six months’ worth of your apartment’s rent. Javi has the cube in his hands, but he hasn’t looked at it the entire time you’ve been talking, only watches you. 

Now that you’ve finished, his eyebrows furrow, thinking hard. His silence lasts barely fifteen seconds before he licks his lips, asks, “So, if you turn the cube, that’s it? You’re gone to another universe, everything resets to normal, and I forget this whole conversation?”

You hesitate to answer, not sure you understand his tone. Is he asking to make sure he has the facts right, or is he asking how to get rid of you? You wouldn’t be surprised if he’s changed his mind about helping you. 

“Hey,” Javi says for a second time, nudging his knee against yours. His expression has turned hard now, nostrils flared, a look of firm determination. “Whatever you’re thinking, stop it. We’re going to figure this out together.”

“O-Okay,” you give him a jerky nod, still a bit stunned by his selflessness. “You’re right though. If we do attempt to solve the cube, the second I turn it I’ll be gone and you’ll forget everything.”

“Well that fucking sucks,” Javi says eloquently, a scowl on his lips. “One of the most important conversations of my life and—” he swipes a hand through the air in a cutting motion, “nothing.”

“I think it’s better not knowing,” you reply quietly. “I used to not understand what people meant when they said ignorance is bliss, but now I get it. There are millions of millions of millions of universes out there—a lot of them good, and a whole lot of them bad. I’ve seen seventeen—such a tiny, tiny number in comparison—and I’m barely keeping myself together. On paper it sounds amazing, all those possibilities to imagine, but to actually experience it? Trust me, Javi, it’s too much to handle. Our minds are too fragile.”

He hums a soft note, running his fingertips over the side of the cube, then: “You know you’re welcome to stay, right?”

Shock slithers down your spine before it sinks its teeth into your side, numbness spreading through your body. “I appreciate it. Really. But staying here isn’t an option. You and your One deserve a happy life together without the memory of me ruining that.”

In all honesty, you’d love to stay here. It’s a beautiful place, a beautiful home. And Javi…Even without One’s memories swirling around in your head, you could easily see yourself falling in love with him. One is a very, very lucky girl.

Javi frowns, clearly not liking your answer, but he doesn’t argue with you. Instead, before you can say anything else or move to stop him, he attempts to turn the cube. 

Your heart lodges in your throat. Acting on raw instinct, you throw out a hand to wrap around the cube as though you could somehow miraculously keep this moment intact.

Except nothing happens.

Javi’s grip has no effect on the cube, just as the thief’s efforts had failed.

For a few seconds all you can do is stare at Javi’s hands, breathing hard. 

“Why–” You bite your lip, looking up at Javi. He blinks back at you, no trace of fear of what might have happened if the cube had actually turned, and suddenly you want to slap the man. You want to shake him by the shoulders and scream at him what the hell were you thinking?!

“It isn’t fair,” Javi says, halting your furious train of thought. “You shouldn’t be the one who has to fix our mistake.”

“Our?”

“If you and Dearheart are the same, then me and the thief must be too,” he counters, looking at you like it should all be obvious.

Something sharp digs into your ribcage, not unlike a knife’s blade. You’d never considered that angle before, that all of the Brown Eyes you’d met were different versions of the thief, because you’d always been thinking of Marcus. 

“You’re stuck in your universe just like the thief is stuck in his,” you say, looking down again at where your hand and his are both holding onto the cube. A new feeling prickles along your skin, makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up. “It’s part of the cube’s punishment. You can’t leave.”

“It isn’t fair,” Javi repeats, but he’s missing your point.

“Javi,” you lean closer, the hand that’s not holding the cube tapping his wrist, “you can’t leave.”

His brows furrow, trying to understand, and then you see the exact moment it all clicks. Eyes lighting up with the same little seedling of hope you’re cradling within the fractured pieces of your heart. 

“On three?” he asks, voice barely above a murmur.

You nod, not trusting your voice not to crack. 

“One…” he starts, positioning his fingers so they wrap around the cube except for the side facing you. “Two…” you steel yourself, eyes on Javi’s face, memorizing all the features you can in case this doesn’t work. “Three.”

You rotate the cube’s segment, gritting your teeth when you hear the quiet telltale click of it locking in place.

For the next ten seconds you don’t move a single muscle, scared to even breathe. Javi stares at you, looking just as anxious as you feel. 

But nothing happens. 

You’re not sucked into a sudden whirlwind. Javi doesn’t vanish or change in the slightest. The two of you remain seated on the same overly expensive couch like nothing extraordinary occurred at all.

“Wow,” Javi drawls out the word, raspy with stunned disbelief. “That was worse than a fucking heart attack.”

A laugh bubbles out of your throat, almost like a wheeze. “Holy shit,” you gasp, wondering if this is how it feels to win the lottery. This is better than the lottery though, than all the money in the whole world. You’re finally going home again. “It worked. It actually fucking worked.”

“Keep going, keep going,” he urges, nudging you with his elbow like an excited toddler.

You turn another side and another and another. Javi’s hand keeps a steady grip the whole time, anchoring you to this universe, while also moving to accommodate each step. He offers suggestions here and there, the two of you working together to match each of the symbols together. Your determination burns hot, eating away at the negative emotions until they’re nothing more than ashes in the wind, no thoughts in your head except I’m coming Marcus. I’m coming home.

Without warning, several of the hearts light up white all at once, startling you. You think of the dreamstone, of the destruction that followed and Dio’s arrival, and a current of fear slices through you. 

Then Javi’s exclaiming “Look!” and you follow his gaze, noticing only two sides of the cube are actually glowing. Just the intertwined hearts and the striped hearts. Because their sides are solved, nine matching hearts in the squares. And after a childhood spent solving puzzles of all kinds, your mind races ahead of your fidgeting fingers, imagining the next step and oh. 

Sucking in a quiet breath, you twist the right side of the cube upwards and when it clicks, there’s no denying it anymore. One more turn in the same direction and all the symbols will line up perfectly on all sides. The Infinity Cube will finally, finally be solved.

Your heart skips a beat with anticipation, eyes slowly lifting to meet soft brown ones. “This is it, Javi.”

“This is it.” He smiles, all dimpled and sweet, and his other hand comes up to cup your cheek, bringing you closer until your foreheads are pressed together. “If you see that thief again, tell him he better not fuck things up again, ‘kay? You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to us. Don’t ever forget that.”

This close, he’s all tan skin and sharp nose and scruffy jawline. 

This close, he isn’t only Javi anymore. He’s the love of your lives. A thief. A warrior. A prince and an agent. And so, so much more.

“Never, Brown Eyes.”

You turn the Infinity Cube for the final time, all six sides filled with matching hearts. 

You don’t get the chance to see them light up or what Javi’s face looks like in the aftermath of it all. You don’t get the chance to see much of anything, really. 

White light immediately floods your vision, swallowing up everything in a flash, and you’re swept away into the unknown along with it.

#javi g x reader #javi g x you #javi gutierrez x reader #marcus pike x reader #marcus pike x you #the infinity cube #pedrostories #my fic #my writing

[7grandmel]

Todays rip: 20/02/2024

Chex Invaders

Season 4 Episode 1 No Album Release (Read More) Circus (Chex Mix) - Five Nights at Freddy's

Ripped by LiterallyNoOne

Requested by Realchickenmanny! (@realchickenmanny)

So remember back when I said in Goodbye To Love that I'd be providing some sort of further explanation to the Circus rips at a later date? Uh, yeah - that later date is today, and I still...don't really know how to properly explain it.

It all feels like a giant web of in-jokes that were never quite properly explained, culminating into a channel-long mainstay to the channel. SiIvaGunner presents itself as a place for listening to edited video game music, and it certainly stuck to that for...at least its first few weeks? That blurry line would get pushed and prodded with rips of "Nintendo Direct themes", rips of fake games like Battle Theme - Zeno Blade Chronicle X, and rips that didn't contain the original track supposedly being ripped at all for a complete bait and switch - all of it leading up to the release of Rip Squad, the first Circus rip ever, on March 16th, 2016. In just 37 seconds, it manages to be extremely memorable from just how good the execution is, with the beginning music box jingle, the coy transition out of it, followed by the hilarious skrillex-like dubstep drop edited to play the Flintstones theme. Given that the Five Nights at Freddy's franchise was still enjoying meteoric success from the original four games releasing across 2014 and 2015, yet lacked much of any music to rip on SiIva, to do this sort of complete bait-and-switch was a pretty fun workaround for a one-time gag. Yeah. One time gag.

Except, with just that one rip, NBGMusic had seemingly summoned a monster - due to the Circus theme technically just being the ditty playing at the first few seconds of the rip, any remaining runtime could be dedicated to doing exactly what Rip Squad itself did - quite literally anything on the planet, related to video game music or not. Circus thus became home to every kind of rip under the sun, with the very same song being ripped again and again and again with different "mix" names for each one to at least ATTEMPT to distinguish them. Trust me, "Chex Mix", as Chex Invaders dons, is far from the most absurd mix name out there, and given their sheer variety going to the Five Nights at Freddy's playlist alone is akin to playing a ripper-based game of russian roulette.

But then, let's return to Chex Invaders then - because with the unlimited freedom that Circus rips provided, not even asking rippers to come up with fake games to loosely attach their rip jokes to, they were free to go absolutely hog wild with whatever concepts they could think of. I praised Plantasia 2 yesterday for just how well the theming of its joke and game ripped matched together, yet Circus mix embody the complete opposite side of that spectrum, and take full advantage of it. The only tie that Chex Invaders has to your expectations is the dubstep-adjacent electronic music featured in it, which many rips taking after Rip Squad also did, but it's not as if that's at all a constant for Circus rips - that rule was broken by Chaze the Chat himself just a month after the Circus rips began.

No, Chex Invaders isn't playing on any sort of emotional attachment you may have to Five Nights at Freddy's, not any sort of expectations on the part of viewers upon clicking - it simply appeared in SiIvaGunner fans' subscription boxes like a face-down card, its true intentions unknown to those who didn't click it. Those who did, however, were met with one of the few contributions to SiIvaGunner by the excellent artist LiterallyNoOne, still going strong today with 245K subscribers on YouTube. And while I'm unfamiliar with their more numerous contributions to fan channel TimmyTurnersGrandDad (as mentioned in V​-​v​-​v​-​v​-​v​-​a​-​V​-​v​-​v​-​v​-​v​-​v​-​r), Chex Invaders alone proves their talents to me in its sheer quality. The base track Space Invaders by Teminite & MDK is played with in so many creative ways, from sections of melody-swapping in and out of one another, to overlaying vocals from other songs and clips onto the song, to full-on mashups, to moments doing all three in harmony...the amount of jokes featured, especially during Season 4 Episode 1, feels almost overwhelming! From the first four years of the channel's life, there's only a few channel mainstay jokes to NOT be featured here, from Flintstones to Snow Halation to CaptainSparklez to Megalovania to Inspector Gadget, yet it all ebbs and flows in and out of one another at such a befitting pace. A calmer moment in the song will play Fireflies, a more ominous section plays 8-Bit Beast's Haunted House (see Maroon 5 more like Maroon 8 hehehehehehe), the beat drop at one point is a single "op" from Gangnam Style - for having SO many different pieces of SiIvaGunner's long history in play, for being a rip made by just one person, it all fits together shockingly well, to where I almost forget that Space Invaders is a song that exists outside of this rip!

Loud, bizarre, unexplainable, and as memorable for their contents as they are easy to forget from their titles and presentation...Circus rips on SiIvaGunner are a true enigma, and I'm really not sure if I've even listened to them all. Yet there's rarely one that's disappointed me thus far - without a source game to pull from, it feels as if a rip almost has to be inherently interesting to have even been submitted as a Circus rip to begin with. Chex Invaders most certainly isn't an example of just HOW deep the rabbithole goes with these rips - but it is an example of an absolute banger from them.

#todays siivagunner #season 4 episode 1 #siivagunner #siiva #LiterallyNoOne #tentative rip name #circus rip #fnaf #five nights at freddy's #teminite #mdk #electronic music #electronic dance music #dubstep #space invaders #Youtube