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#could have all that too especially after all we've been through and still continue to suffer through each day. it just doesn't feel fair
pinkflower2003 · 3 days
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Ferrari Family
Charles Leclerc x Reader
a/n - pure fluff, i am a pregnancy trope girly, it just makes me feel all warm inside!
send your submissions<3
Masterlist
It had been months since you’d attended one of Charles' races. Your absence didn't go unnoticed, especially by the media. Speculation ran rampant. Had you and Charles split up? Was there trouble in paradise? The constant barrage of questions and rumors filled the paddock, but Charles remained tight-lipped, a small smile playing on his lips whenever the topic arose.
Today was different, though. Today, you were making your grand return to the circuit. And it wasn’t just any return—you were eight months pregnant. Charles had been supportive and loving throughout your pregnancy, but you had chosen to stay out of the public eye, relishing the peace and intimacy of your private life. However, with only a month to go before your baby was due, you felt ready to step back into the bustling world of Formula 1, hand-in-hand with Charles.
As you walked through the paddock, it was hard to ignore the stares and whispers. Eyes widened, jaws dropped, and cameras quickly turned your way. You could hear the hushed excitement as fans and workers recognized you, your hand resting protectively over your baby bump. It wasn't long before a crowd began to gather, eager to catch a glimpse of the spectacle.
Charles, who had been busy with pre-race preparations, spotted you from across the paddock. His eyes lit up, and a broad smile spread across his face. He quickly excused himself from the conversation he was having with one of the engineers and made his way toward you.
"Amour!" he called out, his voice filled with pure joy. He closed the distance between you in a matter of seconds, his arms wrapping around you gently but firmly. His hand instinctively found its way to your belly, caressing the curve of your bump tenderly. "You look beautiful," he whispered, pressing a kiss to your forehead.
You smiled up at him, feeling the familiar warmth of his presence. "I missed you," you replied, resting your head against his chest. The chaos of the paddock faded away, leaving just the two of you in your little bubble of happiness.
"I missed you too," Charles murmured. "And I can't wait for everyone to meet our little one."
As if on cue, a small group of journalists approached, cameras and microphones at the ready. They had been dying for an explanation, and now they had it—plus, they couldn't resist the sight of Charles Leclerc doting on his pregnant girlfriend.
"Charles, Y/N, can we get a word?" one of them called out.
Charles glanced at you, his eyes seeking permission. You nodded, feeling a mix of nerves and excitement. This was a big moment, not just for you and Charles, but for your unborn child as well.
"Sure," Charles said, still holding you close. "What do you want to know?"
The journalist smiled, clearly eager to get the scoop. "First of all, congratulations! How are you feeling, Y/N? And why the long absence?"
You took a deep breath, smiling warmly. "Thank you. I'm feeling great, just a bit tired. As for my absence, Charles and I wanted to keep this special time private for as long as possible. We wanted to focus on our family and enjoy these precious moments without the added pressure of the public eye."
Charles nodded in agreement. "It's been important for us to have this time together. But we're excited to share this news with all of you now."
The questions continued, but Charles made sure you weren't overwhelmed. He answered most of them, always deflecting the attention back to you and your well-being. It was clear to everyone just how much he adored you and your growing family.
After the impromptu press conference, you and Charles made your way to the Ferrari garage. The team had been eagerly awaiting your arrival, and as soon as you walked in, they erupted in cheers and applause.
"Welcome back, Y/N!" one of the mechanics called out.
"We've missed you!" another chimed in.
You felt a rush of warmth and gratitude. It was wonderful to be back among friends who felt like family. Charles led you to a spot where you could sit comfortably, making sure you had everything you needed.
"Charles, Y/N, we have a little surprise for you," Frédéric Vasseur, the team principal, announced with a grin.
One of the team members stepped forward, holding a tiny red shirt. It was a baby Ferrari onesie, complete with the team's logo and colors. The sight of it brought tears to your eyes.
"We wanted to make sure the newest member of the Ferrari family is ready for the races," Fred said, handing you the shirt.
You took it, your heart swelling with emotion. "Thank you so much. This means the world to us," you said, your voice choked with happiness.
Charles wrapped his arm around you, his eyes shining with pride. "This is perfect. Our little one will be the best-dressed fan in the paddock."
The rest of the day was filled with joy and celebration. Charles couldn’t stop doting on you and your bump, constantly checking to make sure you were comfortable and happy. He introduced you to everyone who hadn’t had the chance to meet you yet, proudly showing off his beautiful, pregnant girlfriend.
As the race approached, Charles had to shift his focus back to his car and the upcoming competition. He squeezed your hand and kissed you softly. "I'll be thinking about you the whole time," he said.
You smiled, feeling a mix of pride and nerves. "We'll be cheering for you," you promised, placing your hand on your belly. "Both of us."
Charles gave you one last lingering look before heading to his car. You settled into a comfortable seat in the team’s viewing area, surrounded by supportive friends and team members. The excitement was palpable, and you couldn’t help but feel a surge of adrenaline as the race began.
Watching Charles race was always a thrill, but today it felt even more special. Every turn, every overtake, every strategic move made your heart race. You knew how much he loved this sport, and seeing him excel made you feel incredibly proud.
When Charles crossed the finish line in first place, the roar of the crowd was deafening. You jumped up, cheering and clapping, your heart bursting with joy. Charles had done it—he had won, and you were here to witness it.
As soon as he stepped out of the car, Charles made a beeline for you. The cameras followed his every move, capturing the pure elation on his face. He scooped you into his arms, careful not to press too hard against your bump, and spun you around.
"We did it!" he exclaimed, his eyes shining with happiness.
"You did it," you corrected, laughing through your tears. "I'm so proud of you."
Charles kissed you, his lips soft and tender against yours. "I couldn't have done it without you. Both of you."
The team joined in the celebration, surrounding you with cheers and applause. It was a moment of pure joy, a memory that would last a lifetime. Charles' victory was sweeter because you were there to share it with him.
Later, as the celebrations continued, Charles found a quiet moment to sit with you. He placed his hand on your belly, feeling the gentle movements of your baby.
"I can't wait to meet our little one," he said softly. "To hold them, to show them the world. To show them how much I love them."
Tears filled your eyes as you looked at him, your heart overflowing with love. "I can't wait either. They're going to have the best papa in the world."
Charles smiled, his eyes reflecting the depth of his emotions. "And the best mama. We're in this together, Y/N. Always."
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yesimwriting · 4 months
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thinking about bestfriend!felix who's known for being touchy within his social circle, so when he holds your hand as you walk around campus and leaves giggly kisses against your cheek, your jaw, your neck after a few drinks, you think nothing of it.
especially because it comes up in conversation from time to time. everyone that hangs out with him regularly enough has at least one story: felix smoothed circles against my back until i fell asleep on the bathroom floor after a party; he's kissed the top of my head twice; i've never seen him end a hug first.
and you've seen things--at parties, while studying, while out with friends in general. so you genuinely have no reason to think there's anything strange or different about the way he treats you, and neither does anyone else.
at first.
one night, when you're still new enough to felix and his world that you feel extremely out of place at a party that he invited you to, he calls you over to where he and his friends are sitting. you walk over to them, greeting everyone politely before moving to take the available space next to felix.
he grabs your wrist before you can actually sit. you're confused, but given little time to react. felix mumbles an absentminded, "c'mere" before pulling you towards his lap. it's a little flustering, but you sit, because that's just how felix is.
okay. normal enough. conversation continues. no one thinks twice about it. farleigh thinks it's a bit of overkill, but just assumes it's a combination of alcohol and maybe an attempt at laying the groundwork to hook up with you a little later in the night.
then, someone asks about potential vacation plans over break and farleigh brings up an inside joke from the last trip he and felix went on. it's casual, but it's clear that felix is supposed to say something.
farleigh looks over in time to see felix holding one of your hands to his lips. alright. still not the most egregious display of platonic affec--felix takes his time pressing kisses to each of your knuckles.
it's not just the gesture. it's the way felix watches your reaction through his lashes and the amount of care in his focus. as if you're the only one in the room. there's a patience there that's practically devoted.
maybe farleigh had it wrong. he thought you were just one of those platonic friends that felix would cart around for a few months before getting bored. maybe it's more romantic, or at the very least sexual.
then felix's eyebrows draw together. "you're cold." you start to say that you're fine, but before you can get the words out, felix is holding both of your hands between his.
in the beat that it takes farleigh to recover from the slightly nauseating display, the rest of the group has gone quiet. they're all watching felix dote on you like you're the reason for the moon hanging in the sky. annabel whispers something about the "unsuspecting".
farleigh eventually tries again, directly stating felix's name. he finally looks up, a little confused, as if coming out of a trance. farleigh repeats his earlier comment, finally getting a reaction from felix. the group recovers because while the moment had been almost uncomfortably intimate for something so casual, this is far from the first time felix has started (casually) seeing an 'outsider'.
some time passes and you finish your first drink. when felix notices, he asks if you want another. you tell him that you don't mind getting your own, but felix is insistent. you stand so that he can get up.
a part of you wishes you could have found an excuse to go with him. the gesture, in theory, is nice, but without felix's protection, being left with his friends feels like he's thrown you to the wolves.
annabel, a little tipsy and now curious asks, "so, how long have you and felix..." she trails off with a knowing look.
you kind of get what she's implying, but it feels like too random and too unfitting of an assumption to be accurate. "oh, we've been friends since around right after syllabus week, felix ask--"
"no," she shakes her head, "i mean--" she tries again, this time asking with precise language.
your face grows a few degrees warmer. "oh." the slight laugh that follows the syllable is too genuine for it to be you playing coy. "no, it's not--we're friends."
friends. you genuinely believe it. annabel fixes you with a tight lipped smile that makes something in your stomach knot.
you decide that her question must have been prompted by you sitting on felix's lap. you've also heard enough stories about them to assume that they have an on again off again, sort of thing, and because you really don't want to make an enemy of her, you try to justify it, "that was just--you've known him way longer, he's just like that."
oh my god. he's fooled you. completely convinced you that that's normal. before annabel can really react, felix comes back. he hands you your drink and kisses your cheek before sitting down next to you. he doesn't ask you to go back to where you were sitting before, but he does keep a hand on your knee.
----
some bestfriend!reader concepts ft oliver
another bestfriend! felix blurb :)
bestfriend! felix and reader basically dating
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lightwise · 2 months
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Omega is not okay
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I know we've all been over the moon about Crosshair and Hunter's dynamic in The Return, but I want to draw some attention to Omega in this episode, and something that I think Joel Aron is trying to draw attention to with his lighting choices.
Omega is not okay.
Joel has made pointed out many times that he loves doing reveal lighting (think the overhead light in Crosshair's cell or on the freighter at the end of A Different Approach giving him a halo, or how Hunter stops short of the overhead light on the Marauder before stepping out to greet Omega). And throughout this whole episode, the light is breaking over Crosshair and bathing him in warmth more and more. He is slowly returning the light and coming home to his family.
Omega, however, in nearly every single scene in this episode, is in shadow.
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Yes, her hairstyle is contributing to the fall of light on her face, and yes, she has her hat on while they're on Barton IV. But this is showing that her psychological state since they escaped Tantiss is uneasy, at best, and very conflicted and darkened, at worst. Even when she wakes up in the comfort and safety of the Marauder, she is shrouded in shadow. And even in scenes where the light wraps around and highlights Crosshair's face, Omega's is kept harshly defined, and she is often looking away from the "camera".
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Even when we see her somewhat happier at points in this episode, usually due to watching her brothers reconnect, her face is not as well lit as theirs.
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Omega kept her positivity and optimism at the forefront while she and Crosshair were in prison, and throughout most of their escape. It's what we most associate with her--being a ray of sunshine and encouragement for those around her. Now, however, she has the opportunity to relax a bit, for the adults to be handling certain things, and the trauma and perspective shift that she has just gone through is coming to the forefront.
Her survivors guilt, her shock at not being the only female clone, her confusion and questions over who she is and why she is so important, the cruelty she's seen Hemlock be capable of, and her continued empathy for anyone who is suffering is all swirling around in her in ways that she doesn't know what to do with yet. Yes, she has seen much suffering in the galaxy already in her short life, and has always been adamant about her need to help others. But ultimately it had never impacted her like this. Until now.
Crosshair has been broken and remade by his experiences. Omega is being broken and remade by hers as well. And I'm not sure the boys fully realize just how much yet.
Omega refuses to be left behind. She feels responsible for the fact that the rest of the clones are still on Tantiss. She feels guilty that she could have a chance at a life still and they don't. She feels an all-encompassing need to help them if she can, even though she is still young and vulnerable. This is ultimately going to conflict with Hunter's desires to keep her safe and hidden. Echo has already chosen the fight. Wrecker is willing to go wherever he's needed. Crosshair has been through too much to not be willing to fight back however necessary.
Hunter is going to eventually realize that while Omega is still a child, and does need to be protected, at the same time, her own sense of responsibility is going to eventually supersede his desires.
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Echo and Crosshair especially will be able to understand some of what she is feeling and hopefully help guide her through it. Hopefully, Omega will be able to reconcile who she is, what she is capable of, and what is outside of her ability to fix, sooner rather than later. But it's safe to say she will never be the same after this. At least she has a little bit of reprieve before facing whatever is next.
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I am very happy for my sister but I can't help feeling jealous that she's the only one of us who's actually fortunate
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ginnsbaker · 10 months
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Bulletproof
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Summary: You're the only Avenger who sleeps in a cell. | Series Masterlist
Word count: 2.9k+ | Tags: Mild Angst, Fluff, Sharing A Bed, Enemies to Lovers
Ship: Wanda Maximoff x Gender Neutral Reader
Requested by anon:
could i maybe request wanda x r where the whole team kinda mistreats them and wanda is especially bad. & r saving wanda on a mission, with this: wanda: “How'd you know you were bulletproof?" r: "I didn't. I just knew that you weren't."
Author's note: Thank you to the anon who requested this :) Not sure if this is exactly how you wanted it, but I had fun writing the battle (my first time!) Hope you don't mind I took some liberties ;) Takes place before Civil War.
--
“You don’t have to be so mean to them,” Natasha tells her. 
Wanda's eyes narrow as she continues to fixate on you, her glare seemingly willing the daggers to find their mark. You can sense the energy of her powers tingling in the air, but she maintains control, stopping the daggers just short of their target.
“They need to know what they’re up against,” Wanda retorts, her accent slipping through in a rare moment. “If they’re going to be one of us, they have to prove themselves.”
Natasha moves to stand between you and Wanda, her body language calm but assertive. “They will, in time. But not like this.”
You can feel your heart pounding, but you refuse to let Wanda see any fear in your eyes. Your choice to leave your former life and join this team wasn't made lightly, and you won't be intimidated.
“I'm right here,” you say, stepping forward. “And I'm not going anywhere. If you want to test me, do it properly.”
Wanda smirks, and the daggers drop to the floor, clattering loudly in the silence. “Impressive,” she says, almost as an afterthought.
Steve Rogers, observing from the sidelines, steps in to defuse the situation. His authoritative presence commands respect, and his voice is steady and even. “That's enough for today. We're a team, and we need to start acting like one.”
He looks at you, his eyes filled with understanding but also a hint of caution. “However,” he continues, his tone shifting, “You'll still be sleeping in the cells.”
Your heart plummets, each word from Steve feeling like a blade to your chest. Being sent back to that room, devoid of windows, with only a tiny bed and a comforter too thin to ward off the chill, feels like a betrayal every time. You've spent nights there, shivering and reflecting on your decision to join this team, yet still, you find yourself confined.
“After several months of captivity, even cooking your dinner, you still don't trust me?” you ask, trying to keep the hurt out of your voice.
Steve's expression softens, but his resolve remains firm. “It's not about trust,” he says quietly, his voice carrying a weight of experience and pain. “We've been crossed so many times before, mostly by former HYDRA agents.”
Like you, he doesn’t need to say.
You understand the logic, but it doesn't make the reality any easier to swallow. The sense of being an outsider, the cold isolation of the cells—it wears on you.
Wanda, who had been silent up to this point, suddenly speaks up. “Maybe you should just leave then. If it's so unbearable, why stay?”
The room goes quiet. 
A thousand retorts spring to your mind, but you swallow them down, unwilling to escalate the situation further. The temptation to throw back that it's rich coming from her, considering she's also a former footsoldier of HYDRA, is strong, but you bite your tongue. 
You look at her, stunned by the bluntness of her suggestion, but also recognizing the challenge in her eyes. 
Her words strike deeper than she may realize. Leaving isn't an option you've entertained, mainly because there's nowhere for you to go. No one left in your life to turn to. This makeshift “family” despite their reservation and distance, is all you have.
-
The days that follow are marked by a subtle but relentless isolation. 
In the training room, Wanda's partnership becomes more aggressive than usual. Her powers lash out without warning, her critiques sharp and cutting. You hold your own, but the lack of camaraderie is palpable. Each comment she makes stings, and with every barb, you feel more and more alone.
At meal times, the rest of the Avengers seem to be in their own world, deep in conversation, sharing stories, laughing. You sit at the end of the table, your presence barely acknowledged, a shadow among them. Your attempts to join in are met with curt replies or indifference. You try to brush it off, believing that you should be used to rejection by now. But no matter how much you tell yourself that you're accustomed to it, that you've developed a thick skin, the pain is still there, raw and fresh.
Mission briefings are no better. Your opinions and insights are consistently overlooked. You contribute where you can, but your ideas are dismissed without consideration. You are a tool, a means to an end, not a part of the team. The realization gnaws at you, festering in the pit of your stomach.
Casual encounters with the team become equally disheartening. Tony passes you in the hallway without so much as a glance. Natasha avoids eye contact. Bruce mumbles something noncommittal when you try to engage him in conversation. Steve's assignments are devoid of the warmth or encouragement he shows to everyone else.
Your cell becomes a constant reminder of your status, metaphor for how the entire team treats you. 
You’re both just a weapon and a first-aid kit at their disposal.
Wanda is relentless, her words sharp and her gaze cold. You have no idea why she treats you worse than any of them, why her manner towards you has turned so hostile. You don't understand why you get under her skin without even trying, why she seems to target you with a venom that feels deeply personal.
You were expecting that Wanda would be the one to understand what it feels like to be an outsider, given that you both share a common history as former HYDRA agents. 
As the days turn into weeks, the isolation wears you down. The walls of your cell seem to close in, and a growing determination to prove yourself begins to take hold. 
You'll show them all that you're more than just a disposable weapon.
But underlying that determination is a gnawing doubt, a fear that no matter what you do, it will never be enough to earn their respect, their trust, or their friendship. It's a lonely road, and for the first time, you begin to wonder if Wanda's earlier suggestion might hold some truth.
Perhaps it would be easier to leave.
-
It’s not like you know the extent of your abilities, but they bring you along the most dangerous missions for one thing:
Your healing ability.
On top of your martial arts training, you provide a sense of security to your teammates, knowing that you'll be there to heal them if they get hurt.
Now, you find yourself on one such mission, infiltrating a den of underground supers. These aren't ordinary criminals; they're mercenaries hired to carry out the dirty work of high-ranking government officials. It's a treacherous job, one filled with unknown risks, and you've been paired with Wanda for the operation.
As you and Wanda are attempting to escape, things take a turn for the worse. You find yourselves cornered in an alley, your escape route cut off by a group of armed thugs and a few individuals displaying unnerving superpowers.
Wanda takes on those with special abilities, her eyes glowing red as she unleashes her powers in a flurry of attacks. You, on the other hand, focus on the armed assailants, wielding two-handed pistols with expert precision. Bullets fly, and bodies fall as you both fight for your lives.
But in the midst of the chaos, you notice something that sends a chill down your spine. Snipers, perched on a nearby rooftop, taking aim at Wanda. Even with your healing abilities, you know that a precise shot to the head would be fatal.
“Wanda, get down!” you shout, but she's too engrossed in her battle to hear you. Your mind races, knowing that you have only seconds to act. 
Without a second thought, you turn and run towards Wanda, your body moving on pure instinct. Bullets whiz by your ear, but you keep going, your focus solely on reaching her before it's too late.
You leap into the air, positioning yourself between Wanda and the snipers just as they pull the trigger. 
You hear the distant release of the bullet, muted but deadly.
The world seems to slow down as you brace for the impact, only to feel the bullets bounce off your skin.
You land, unscathed, your mind reeling from the realization that you're bulletproof. But there's no time to dwell on it.
Wanda looks at you, her eyes wide with shock but also gratitude. “How did you–”
“No time!” you cut her off, urging her to keep fighting. “We have to get out of here!”
Wanda's eyes flare with a vivid scarlet as she zeroes in on the snipers in the vicinity. With a flourish of her hands, she uses her powers to locate each of their positions. A pulse of energy emanates from her fingertips, reaching out to the snipers' weapons, and within moments, the firearms disintegrate into dust, leaving the men defenseless.
Seeing an opening, you reach for Wanda's arm, your grip firm but not rough. There's no time to waste, and you start pulling her towards the exit, half running, half dragging her to safety. Her breath is warm on your neck, her body close to yours, as you weave through the maze of alleyways, your heart pounding in your chest.
Once you're at a safe distance, Wanda turns to you. “How'd you know you were bulletproof?”
“I didn't,” you admit, still in disbelief, and much to Wanda’s horror that you almost got yourself killed for her sake. “I just knew you weren't. And if those bullets got to you, I wouldn't be able to heal someone who's already dead.”
Wanda stares at you, her eyes searching your face as if she's trying to see something… deeper. Her lips part, like she wants to say something more, something that's just on the tip of her tongue but won't come out.
That's when you realize that you're still holding her arm, your bodies so close that you can feel her heartbeat. A flush of embarrassment washes over you as you become aware of the intimate proximity. Wanda clears her throat, a delicate, almost shy sound, and you immediately let go of her arm.
The silence that follows your sudden step back is heavy and awkward. You can't help but glance at the spot where your hand had been moments ago, still feeling the ghostly sensation of her arm beneath your fingers.
You look at Wanda, and she's looking back at you, her eyes wide and filled with something you can't quite name. 
And then, without warning, Wanda starts to laugh.
It's a soft, bubbling sound at first, almost as if she's surprised by it herself. Her laughter grows, becoming louder and more contagious, and you can't help but stare at her, your mouth agape, wondering if she's lost her mind.
“What's so funny?” you finally manage to ask.
Wanda wipes a tear from her eye, still chuckling. “I was just thinking,” she says, her nose scrunching, something you haven’t seen on her and you find it quite… adorable. “You're like a shield now. As effective as Steve's vibranium one, maybe even more so.”
The absurdity of the statement causes you to finally join in her laugh, and your heart seems to flutter at the sound of Wanda's glee.
“I don't know about that,” you say, trying to sound modest but unable to keep the smile off your face. “Steve's shield has a bit more style.”
“Oh, I don't know,” Wanda teases, her eyes twinkling with mischief. “There's something quite stylish about being bulletproof. And practical too.”
Was that a compliment?
You shake your head, still smiling, your previous awkwardness forgotten. You're not only pleased at the first light banter you've shared with a teammate but also smiling at something else, something that stirs deep inside you and that you're not quite ready to confront.
Your crush on Wanda Maximoff.
-
The toll of the day's event is weighing down on you and Wanda, but like every mission, you're required to report the details of the mission–successful or not. Your muscles are sore, your mind is weary, but the mission was a success, and you can't help but feel a sense of accomplishment.
Arriving back at the Avengers compound, you follow Wanda into the debriefing room where Steve is waiting. Wanda explains what happened, how you discovered your newfound ability, and saved her life. Her voice is filled with respect and something more, something warmer, as she recounts your bravery.
Steve's face lights up with pride. “You both did well today. I'm proud of how you handled yourselves out there.”
You exchange a glance with Wanda, waiting for something more, perhaps some acknowledgment of your change in status within the team, or even an upgrade to your sleeping quarters. But instead, Steve simply nods, his face turning serious. “Dismissed.”
Wanda's face falls, and you feel a sharp pang of disappointment. You start to retreat towards your cell, the cold, windowless room that's been your home for months, but Wanda's voice stops you in your tracks.
“Wait a minute, Steve,” she protests. “After all that's happened, after all Y/N has done for us, don't you think it's time for a change? A real room, perhaps?”
Steve looks between you and Wanda. You hold your breath, hoping for a reprieve from the isolation you've been feeling.
Finally, Steve sighs, his face softening. “Wanda, if it were up to me, Y/N would have their own room already. But it's not that simple,” he explains, his voice strained. “I still need to place an official request with Tony. He's the one who approves these things.”
You can hear the frustration in Steve's voice, and you realize that he's fighting for you, in his own way.
“Fine,” Wanda says, crossing her arms. “But this needs to be done quickly, Steve. It's not right.”
“I agree. I'll talk to Tony first thing tomorrow.”
As you turn to leave and retreat back to your cell, Wanda's hand on your arm stops you, and you look back at her, surprised by the action.
“Come with me,” she says. Without another word, she leads you towards her quarters. 
Your heart quickens at her words, and you follow her, trying to process what's happening. 
Is she really inviting you to stay in her room?
Once inside her quarters, the reality of the situation sinks in, and a nervous tension takes hold. Her room is filled with personal touches–little trinkets, photographs, her clothes all over the place–that provide glimpses into a life you've only seen from a distance. You feel like an intruder, momentarily paralyzed as you take in the intimacy of her space.
Wanda seems to pick up on your hesitation, her eyes narrowing as she studies you. A smirk plays on her lips as she teases, “Don't look so terrified. I won't bite.”
You chuckle at her remark. “Well, that's a relief.”
Wanda's eyes sparkle with amusement, and she moves further into the room, gesturing for you to follow. “Make yourself at home,” she says. She then goes to the closet and begins to pull out a spare pillow and blanket. “You'll be staying here with me until we sort out a room for you,” she says.
“Thanks, Wanda,” you say softly.
Without further comment, you move to make your bed on the floor, your movements deliberate and slow as you try to give her space and respect her privacy.
“What are you doing?” Wanda asks, her eyes widening as she realizes your intention.
“I'm just getting ready to sleep,” you explain, feeling slightly embarrassed. “I'm quite tired.”
“No, what are you doing on the floor?” she clarifies, a hint of disbelief in her voice. “You're sharing the bed with me.”
“I wouldn't want to impose,” you say, though the offer is tempting.
“You're not imposing,” Wanda assures you, her eyes sincere. “You've earned a proper bed, and I trust you.”
The word 'trust' hits you like a wave, and you feel tears pricking at the back of your eyes. 
Blinking them back, your voice cracks a little as you reply, “Thank you, Wanda. That means more to me than you know.”
“Good night, Y/N,” Wanda whispers, turning on her side to face you.
“Good night, Wanda,” you say, just as softly.
You both settle on the bed, and with a flick of her wrist, Wanda uses her powers to switch off the light.
The softness of Wanda's bed is worlds away from the harsh, unforgiving mattress in your cell. You find yourself sinking into the plush comfort, every muscle in your body releasing the tension from the dangerous mission earlier. The scent of Wanda on the pillows only adds to the incomparable comfort they provide. The difference is staggering, and it contributes to you falling asleep much more quickly than you have in a long time.
In the middle of the night, you're stirred awake by the feeling of Wanda rolling closer to you. Her arm finds its way over your stomach, and her soft snores fill the room. Being ever alert, the small action wakes you, but as soon as you realize it's just Wanda, a smile forms on your face.
You lie there for a moment, taking in the warmth and the gentle pressure of her hand. A soft blush creeps up your cheeks as you place your hand over hers to keep it there.
You've become more than just teammates.
You've become friends.
And maybe, just maybe, something more.
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matrixbearer2024 · 3 months
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Paws and Pixels: VoxPet™️
Tiny!Vox x Reader
A/N: Totally writing this thing because of a cute chat session I had with some wonderful people on a Hazbin discord server, it's a shitposty idea but it was a cute one so I couldn't help but write about it. A continuation to "Get off my Screen!" is in the works alongside some other requests too! I'm just glad it was received so well, thanks y'all!
A/N: Btw, the chibi Vox art isn't mine. I might draw something similar with a Y/N eventually though so message me or request it in my askbox if you wanna see it XD
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You wished you could say it was a normal day.
But truth be told-
It was so far off from that.
The Vee tower was complete mess by the time you had arrived.
The place was often busy, you knew that much-
But to fall into complete disarray?
Your beloved would have never even allowed it.
Speaking of your lover, where the hell was he?
His absence left you more than puzzled, this was Vox you were talking about after all.
Mr. I-have-to-keep-an-eye-on-everything-or-it-all-entirely-goes-to-shit-
You couldn't say he was wrong this time however, walking towards the elevator with intent to find the other Vees.
But of course they ended up finding you first.
It was Velvette who abruptly dragged you away from the chaos in the office.
Not that you still quite understood what was going on and the reason for her urgency.
"WhaA- Vel??"
"Sorry darling, we've got a bit of an issue as you can clearly tell- but there's just something I absolutely must show you."
You didn't really even have time to ask questions before you saw Valentino rush past you.
Was he holding a phone in each hand?
He barely even greeted you in his hasty exit, probably too busy with the 4 phone conversations he was having simultaneously.
All this chaos and your boyfriend still hasn't shown up.
You started getting worried that something happened to him.
But what Velvette ended up showing you was definitely not at all what you expected.
Especially since you didn't expect to find Vox here of all places.
That and... he wasn't quite himself.
Not that you were complaining, but it was really weird seeing your boyfriend so tiny.
He was probably plushie-sized to be honest.
You would have found it cute if it weren't for the shock from everything else.
The tiny Vox visibly perked up when he saw you.
Was he beeping or squeaking?
"What... what the fuck even happened???"
"Do you want the whole story or a TLDR?"
While you lightly poked the smaller Vox that stood atop the table, Velvette quickly updated you on what had transpired before your arrival.
Apparently, Vox had gone and gotten himself in trouble with some goons earlier in the day.
It wasn't often Vox would get hurt by anything, he was an overlord after all-
But sometimes people got lucky or they really just ganged up on him in big numbers.
The good news was he won, the bad news was he'd gotten pretty beat up because of it.
Shattered screen, fried motherboard, stray wires, and a whole other myriad of issues to boot.
He'd come back to the tower needing a ton of repairs.
Problem was, he'd run out of the needed spare parts and his backup body wasn't in any good condition to be used either.
So go figure, your creative boyfriend decided to handle his situation in another way after he'd put in the order for said needed parts.
They'd probably arrive in just a few days but seriously-
You could only stare at the tiny version of your lover in bewilderment.
There was absolutely no understanding of what was running through this man's brain.
He was even wearing a miniature version of his typical outfit, coat and all!
"Soooo... has he just been in here the whole time?"
"Pretty much. He doesn't really talk either, Val and I haven't figured out if it's because he can't or won't."
"Oh lord."
You sighed and pinched the bridge of your nose, patting the tiny Vox with your hands.
You honestly wanted to be more mad at the situation-
But Vox really just looked too cute.
You just wanted to freakin squeeze him-
"I'm gonna need a purse to carry him around..."
"Oh wow, you're treatin' 'im like a pet already."
You rolled your eyes at Velvette's comment, looking down at your currently tiny boyfriend to find him staring at you.
He had absolutely no business being this cute-
"I'm taking him home, I'd gather that you and Val can handle things here?"
"For the most part, just be a dear and make sure nothing else happens to 'im until his parts arrive."
You just rolled your eyes again.
Great way of stating the obvious Velvette.
Besides, Vox was still an overlord and the strongest of the Vees.
His powers shouldn't have been affected in this form right??
There was no way your beloved went ahead and made himself as harmless as he looked-
At least that's what you had hoped.
However, you picked him up in both hands- you were starting to doubt that.
Vox merely tilted his monitor head to get a better look at you before beeping, his legs dangled slightly from how you held him.
BEEPING AGAIN.
WHERE ARE YOUR WORDS FOOL-
"Huh, he's never made that sound before."
You were really starting to regret even walking into the building today.
And that was of course when your miniature boyfriend decided it was the perfect time to lightly zap you.
It didn't hurt, but it was enough for your attention to go back to him.
Only to see his face all pink with a bunch of hearts emoticons on it.
This little shit-
You really couldn't stay mad at him for long.
Eventually when you were able to get a grip on yourself, Velvette handed you a purse to put Vox in as requested- and you were on your way home.
What did the other Vees even expect you to do with Vox like this?
Did you accidentally become your boyfriend's babysitter??
Today was just way too tiring for you already.
You practically collapsed on the couch once you got home.
Dropping the purse with tiny lover in it on one of the nearby cushions, you didn't really care about the annoyed squeaking that came from inside the bag from the rough landing.
Vox just crawled out of the small purse with a huff.
He figured you would've liked him being all cute this way.
But judging by your reactions-
He couldn't tell if you liked it or hated it.
He did feel slightly bad seeing how tired you were though.
Practically waddling over towards you, Vox patted your head trying to get your attention.
When that didn't work he started beeping and squeaking until you raised your head and looked at him again.
And you were surprised when he awkwardly moved to hug you.
Well, hug your face rather.
The words: "I'm sorry." flashing on his tiny screen.
You sighed tiredly.
Even if he was a little infuriating at times, you still loved Vox's antics.
This one included.
"It's okay, I'm okay. Everything just happened way too fast."
A heart then appeared on his tiny screen face and you pretty much melted.
He was just too fuckin cute.
A/N: Might write a part 2 for this with other headcanons, this was so friggin adorable AHAHAHAHAHA
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strawbeerossi · 11 months
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Jealousy
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18+ Content. Minors DNI
Pairing: Fem!Reader x Spencer Reid
Description: Whenever the team tracks down the unsub they are looking for, it’s up to reader to lure him out of the bar with nothing but her charm and charisma. Spencer however, just can’t stand watching it. He makes sure to make his feelings known to the reader later on. 
Content Warnings: Post-Prison!Spencer, Jealous!Spencer, BAU!reader, case details, coarse language, Dom!Spencer, kinda mean!Spencer, sub!reader, possessiveness, degradation, praising, unprotected sex, creampie, oral (F receiving), fingering, hair pulling, spitting, aftercare, fluff at the end
Word count: 3k 
Navigation || Masterlist || Join My Taglist || Request
Well, here it is! Can I technically call this ‘Jealousy (Taylor’s Version)(From the Vault)’ ?
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Spencer approached Emily, his brow furrowed with concern, as he held a file tightly in his hands. "Emily, we need to talk about Y/N's undercover assignment. I've been analyzing the data, and there are some significant risks involved that we need to address before we even think of sending her out there.” he began, his voice laced with urgency.
Emily, her expression serious yet attentive, met Spencer’s gaze. "I understand your concerns, Reid, but we've already vetted this operation thoroughly. Y/N is well-prepared and capable of handling herself," she responded, her voice steady and reassuring.
It wasn’t matters of him thinking that Y/N wasn’t prepared, it was him being worried because this unsub was taking women who fit her image description and killing them after doing horrible things to them. 
The male nodded, his worry still evident. "I know Y/N is skilled, but the circumstances surrounding this case are unusually complex. I just want to make sure we have contingency plans in place and that we're ready to support her in any way necessary," he explained, his analytical mind racing with potential scenarios. She could have a knife pulled on her and be forced out, this unsub could drug her by sticking her with something, he could kill her right there if he figured out she was a federal agent..
After being released from prison, Spencer became a different man. He used to be more composed, now however, he was more temperamental. It didn’t help that Y/N was his girlfriend, the need to protect her being obvious. Besides, who wants to see their partner talking with a man who was brutally stabbing women and doing horrible things to their corpses? Especially when each of those women could’ve been her twin. That put her in a high risk situation that wasn’t a guaranteed arrest. 
“Reid,” The Unit Chief let one hand come up to rub her face, the woman being tired of the argument. She could understand the worry and frustration, however this was Y/N’s job that she’d been doing for a good six years now. She knew the stakes as well as what she could or couldn’t handle.
“I promise that we will have this covered. We have surveillance all over the bar. Alvez, Simmons, and you are going to be inside, close enough to stop anything if things go too far.” She stressed the details, the woman just being exhausted explaining her decision continuously. “You aren’t changing my mind. I need you to understand that this decision was made with Y/N. You need to let her do her job.” 
   ✯¸.•´*¨`*•✿ ✿•*`¨*`•.¸✯
Y/N walked into the dimly lit bar, her gaze looking around for Marcus Black, the man’s face still fresh in her mind from the picture that Penelope had sent her while she was on the way over to the location, the woman trying to mentally prepare herself for the mental gymnastics she’d have to go through for this. It was a common misconception that undercover missions were much easier than having to risk it by assuming who the unsub is and building off the profile. 
Y/N would argue this is much harder. You have to stand in front of a person who did unspeakable things to others. You have to get close and personal, be able to hide that overwhelming feeling of being disgusted, nervous, and even terrified. This was a man who was definitely bigger than she was in every aspect, being able to take her down if he truly wanted to. 
That didn’t stop her from flashing a bright smile at the bartender as she’d approached the bar, sitting in a bar stool while ordering a vodka tonic. Across the room, she could get a clear view of Matt Simmons, the man keeping his gaze fixated on her as he gave a nod once the two made direct eye contact.
She had a wire, the team could hear everything from the earpieces they all had in order to communicate with one another as well as communicate with her, even if she couldn’t very well respond in an obvious way. 
Although as Y/N was lost in her thoughts, she could feel a presence beside her, one that oozed darkness. The vibe had dropped tremendously low, however Y/N needed to keep up a façade or all of this will go to shit, something the team definitely doesn’t need right now.
Especially when they could just taste the capture that was going to come. “Hi.” The woman spoke, a charming smile gracing her features while her head tilted ever so slightly to the side, her fingers playing with the straw in her drink. 
Which as she had struck up a conversation, Spencer was quietly watching from the other end of the bar, nursing a full glass of some mixed drink in front of him just to avoid suspicion. He knew that she had to fake interest but that didn’t stop a heat rising in his chest, one associated with jealousy.
Seeing his girlfriend giving another man bedroom eyes, laughing at every word he said, even putting her hand on his upper arm was enough to make him seethe in his spot, hazel eyes focused on his girlfriend. 
She was giggling, he could just hear it from his spot, probably telling him that she just couldn’t bare the thought of going home alone. He was just further pissing himself off thinking of the potential things she could be saying, not even tuning in to the actual dialogue because he knew it would’ve pissed him off much more than his own thoughts.
It was enough to make him clench his hand around the glass in his right hand. It was like his brain was trying to trick him into genuinely believing that Y/N was enjoying herself. He knew better, however the anger over the ‘what if’ had him shaking. 
It reminded him of when he was in prison.
Y/N would come to visit him and it was one of the only things that got him through the hell, however the other inmates always had their comments. Saying explicit things about his angel, what they’d do to her given the chance to ever see her outside of those four cement walls. He wanted to keep his head down at the time but god damn, if this version of him was in prison, he would’ve been throwing fists and starting fights over his girlfriend, adding onto his sentence.
This was absolute fucking torture, Spencer’s leg bouncing in annoyance as he was using his opposite hand to put the earpiece in his ear, just in time to hear something that would have him absolutely livid. “I don’t think you could handle me, sweetheart. However if you’re up for a challenge, I’m always happy to take a precious little dove like yourself home.. However.. I don’t know if you could take what I’m going to give you,”
The male’s voice was the first thing Spencer was greeted with. “Is that so? You have no idea what you're getting yourself into. But I promise, once you've tasted the forbidden fruit, there's no turning back.” Y/N countered, her voice low and in a seductive tone while her fingers were tracing over the rim of her glass. 
“I don’t think you understand what I’m saying, honey.” The man continued while looking over at her with a raised eyebrow. “Most women can’t handle what I offer. We make a wager..” There it is! Now tell her, you fucking fuck.
“If they can get through my little game, they get to go home. If not?” He began, reaching in his jacket pocket. Which was enough to make Spencer jump up from his spot before he was storming over, catching a glimpse of a knife being pulled from an inner jacket pocket.
It gave him probable cause to shove the man over the counter, making Y/N’s eyes widen at the surprise while she was jumping back. 
“Marcus Black, you are under arrest for the murders of Christine Brailey, Jessica Fredricks, and Emily Knight as well as the attempted murder of Amanda Grey.” Spencer spoke through gritted teeth, the handcuffs locking tightly on his wrists before he was shoving him out of the bar. 
  ✯¸.•´*¨`*•✿ ✿•*`¨*`•.¸✯
Y/N’s back was hitting the front door of the apartment as soon as she and Spencer made it inside, the woman gasping while she was trapped between her boyfriend’s body and the wooden door.
“If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were enjoying yourself back there. I mean you were really trying to sell it, weren’t you?” Spencer asked, eyebrows raising as his hand was coming under his girlfriends chin to make her look at him. He looked furious, it was enough to make Y/N nearly fall on her knees right then and there. 
The thing about Spencer was that he was much different now, prison changing him in many ways. He was still a good man, there were no doubts about that, but now he had more anger.
Which Y/N was the outlet he needed when he was having a hard time, fucking her deep into their mattress where she was soaking their bedsheets with her cum, getting to the point where she was crying from overstimulation and begging for more. 
“Get your little ass in the bedroom.” Spencer spat, dropping his hand before watching his girlfriend scurry off, making a b-line to their bedroom. It took Spencer an agonising amount of time to lock up and make sure everything was turned off for the night before he was making an appearance.
“You know, I could tell you were truly enjoying yourself. How does it feel to be a fucking whore?” He spat, making Y/N clench her thighs together as she could just feel her arousal soaking her panties from the harsh words. 
“Look at you. Fucking pathetic. You’re really getting wet right now while I’m scolding you for being a whore?” He asked, taking a few steps over before letting his hand tangle in his girlfriend’s hair, tugging her head up to force her to look up at him from the spot where she was sitting on their king sized bed.
“So cock hungry.” He spoke while letting go of her hair while working to loosen his tie, urging his girlfriend to take his belt off for him. However as she was moving to start on his pants, his hand was wrapping around hers. “No.” He began, using the tie he’d loosened and taken off to restrain her hands behind her back.
“You don’t get the pleasure of touching me tonight.” He scolded his girlfriend before pushing her back onto the mattress, his hand grabbing her right ankle before he was pulling her to the end of the bed. 
The black dress she wore had a perfect eyeful for him, her tits threatening to spill over the top as he was running his large hands over her body, fingertips tracing over the straps before he was pulling them down, letting her breasts out of their confinement while he groaned lowly. He had seen her body so much and he could navigate it with ease, but seeing her was always like the first time. Just.. He knows what he’s doing now and he’s not as nervous. “Fucking gorgeous.” His voice was low while he was using no effort at all to tug the dress down her legs, throwing it somewhere on their bedroom floor. 
“The point of panties is to have something to cover you up.” He spoke lowly, chuckling as her needy, swollen cunt was practically swallowing the fabric of the panties that were on her hips. With a soft hum, his fingertips were running across her covered slit, collecting her arousal on his fingers while sighing, his head shaking.
“Look my angel. Who’s got you this wet?” He asked, his hands pushing her thighs apart more, falling to his knees at the edge of the mattress. “Y-you.” Y/N was whispering, shaking with anticipation as she was really desperate for something, anything. She knew the game Spencer was playing though. 
“Damn right,” He gave an arrogant smirk while blowing cool air on her soaked pussy, a chuckle leaving his lips at the pathetic mewl that fell from her lips. “That’s right. Me. Because you’re mine, Y/N. Gonna show you what happens when you get too into flirting when you only had to do the bare minimum.” He murmured, his fingers hooking in the waistband of the black panties, tugging them down her legs while discarding of them somewhere on the floor.
Spencer was delving right in, eating her as if she was his last meal and he was a starved man, the way Y/N’s whines and cries making his cock stand at attention. However it wasn’t long until he was pulling away, tongue paying attention to her throbbing clit while two of his long fingers were being pushed into her without warning. 
Her pussy was clenching around the digits, her back arching off of their sheets as she was blabbing her own praises, even if she wasn’t making too much sense because she was a sobbing mess as she could feel those long fingers curling.
Her hands were still bound, grabbing onto her own wrist, although she’d rather have her fingers in Spencer’s hair and being able to shove his face against her more. However, it was all crashing down when Spencer was pulling away, the male chuckling as his girlfriend was looking up at him with tears in her eyes. She was desperate for relief. 
“Shh.. I know.” The male chuckled, now getting off his shirt, shedding his slacks as well before his boxers were the last to go. He was getting situated, his hands wrapping her shaking legs around his waist while he was spitting onto her already soaked pussy, the tip of his cock teasing her desperate cunt by spreading the sit around as if she needed to be lubed up.
“Alright, angel. Are you ready for my cock or do you need my fingers a little longer?” He asked, an eyebrow raising. Even in his state, he’d always ask before going too crazy. Last thing he needed was to hurt her. 
“Cock!” Y/N blabbed immediately, eyes glossed over while her hips were rolling in an attempt to get some sort of friction, clenching around nothing as she was left to lay there helpless.
“Answer any faster, why don’t you? Someone is eager..” Spencer chuckled, however he was getting quite desperate himself. So, he wasn’t wasting time before his cock was pushing into her cunt, his head falling on her shoulder while he let out a low groan. 
Y/N was letting out a drawn out moan, a few whimpers following after. There was always a delicious stretch, the pleasurable pain having her squirming and trying to push herself against his cock for more, the only thing stopping her was a strong hand on her hip.
“Patience. I’ll pull out right now and cum on your stomach and leave you here to squirm. You know better than this.” He warned, his voice low as he kissed the spot under her ear. 
Feeling his rock hard cock stretching and stuffing her felt beyond amazing and she loved it. Once he was bottoming out, Spencer wasted no time in beginning to ram his cock into his girlfriend.
The feeling of her velvety, plushy walls was always enough to drive him insane. It was like she was made for him, not even just her body but her as a person. She complimented him so well and he did the same with her. It was safe to say that she was his person. Emphasis on his. 
The sinful sounds of skin slapping against each other and the moans, whimpers and cries from Y/N were filling the once quiet bedroom. Their neighbors hated them enough, Spencer could already hear the complaints from the woman next door. She’d already made several noise complaints in the past, which Y/N would joke with Spencer that it was because she hadn’t been touched in a good thirty years. What a life that would be. 
Spencer kept up his steady, relentless thrusts. His goal was always to have Y/N cum first, mainly because the mere sight of her creaming around his cock was enough to make him explode. “Sp-Sp.. I-I… C-Cu-“ That was all he got out of her before he knew exactly what she was trying to convey judging by the way her cunt squeeze tightly around him, a cry leaving her lips as she was doing hitting her orgasm, her back arching off the mattress as her nails were digging into her wrists.
“Fuck!” She cried, Spencer giving a few more sloppy thrusts before long ropes of his sticky cum were beautifully decorating her inner walls, his thrusts fucking it deeper into her while he was slowly coming down from his own high. 
Y/N was in full orgasmic bliss, her face flushed, her eyes glossed over, her once neatly done makeup running down her face as well as her face being all over the place. She was fully fucked out, making Spencer lean down and press a few loving kisses against her lips before he was pulling out and pushing himself to stand.
He disappeared off to the bathroom for a few moments, getting a warm bath ready for his girlfriend before heading back to the bedroom, a soft hum leaving his lips as he was carefully picking up his tired, fucked out partner.
“There we go. Let’s get you cleaned up.” He breathed, the woman letting her arms loosely wrap around his shoulders. She was still in the stage where she was crashing down from her high, so he was placing her gently in the warm tub before grabbing a washcloth. 
As he was washing his girlfriend, he was looking up at her face once he could see the content smile on her face. “Hi,” He whispered, the two sharing a little giggle amongst each other. “Hi.” Y/N responded, leaning over to press a kiss against her boyfriend’s cheek.
“I hope you know, I might be flirting with more people more often if this is the outcome.” She joked, making Spencer laugh. 
“Like hell you are.”
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thankskenpenders · 4 months
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Sonic Prime Season 3: Final episodes, final thoughts
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Well, here we are. The final seven episodes of Sonic Prime are out on Netflix, concluding the story of Sonic's adventures in the Shatterverse. I've previously shared my thoughts on the first and second seasons, which I was pretty mixed on, but there were still glimmers of hope. The fluid animation, Shadow being fun in all his appearances, Nine being fairly interesting as a jaded alternate version of Tails, etc. There was enough to make me believe that after some highs and lows there was still the possibility that this show could end on a high note - or at least a decent note.
This did not happen.
Sonic Prime's final season sucks. The ending sucks, and the road to get there sucks. It's left me wondering what the point of all this even was. There are still moments I like that I'll try to highlight, and the animators and voice cast are still clearly giving it their all, but these efforts sadly don't outweigh the overwhelming mediocrity of the story. I would barely even recommend other Sonic fans who are on the fence go out of their way to finish it. I won't begrudge people who got more out of this show than I did, but I think overall I just really, really dislike Sonic Prime.
...The problem, of course, is that all other discussion of the show has been overshadowed by needlessly hostile arguments over its place in Sonic's canon. So we've gotta talk about that, too.
(This post will contain full spoilers for Sonic Prime.)
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The show's out of ideas but they've gotta stretch that shit out to hit the 23 episode mark somehow
Season 2 ended with the big twist that Nine decided to betray Sonic and Shadow, taking the Paradox Prism for himself so that he could go turn the empty world of the Grim into his own little paradise, since he doesn't believe he'll fit anywhere else. Nine has made himself the true big bad of the show.
The main impact this has is that now, instead of fighting endless identical Eggforcer bots and members of the Chaos Council over and over, the good guys and the Chaos Council have to fight endless Chaos Sonic-style robots sent by Nine while he goes "grrrrr I need Sonic's energy to stabilize the Paradox Prism." This continues for six whole episodes until the series finale, when the show decides it's time for Sonic and Nine to quickly make amends, fix everything, and send Sonic and Shadow home.
That's pretty much the whole season.
I cannot emphasize enough just how much of this final season is just fight after fight after fight against Nine's bots, and how fucking boring that gets. The season feels like one long, drawn out final battle that did not need to be nearly this long, but Nine had his big heel turn 2/3 of the way through the show and we've gotta fill up the rest of the time somehow. The novelty of the bots being based off of Sonic's friends (including the Chocobo-sized Birdie from the jungle world) really wears off quickly when they're just used as generic, silent mooks that the good guys have to fight by the dozen like it's the climax of an MCU movie. The first episode of the season with Sonic and Shadow fighting the new bots is pretty good, especially because Sonic and Shadow's dynamic is one of the few redeeming aspects of this show's writing, but after that it just gets boring. Three full episodes in a row are spent showing all the characters fighting robots in an empty wasteland while Nine scowls next to a big beam of energy. I found myself missing the in-your-face attitude of Chaos Sonic so much. He truly was one of the best parts of this show.
While the cast is busy fighting all these robots for what feels like an eternity, various things of varying levels of interest happen. There's a halfhearted attempt to have some kind of rivalry between Shadow and the main Grim Sonic throughout the final battle, but it completely falls flat because Grim Sonic has no personality whatsoever. It's like Shadow beefing with an above-average Egg Pawn. (Actually, no, that would be funny.) There's also a death fakeout with the two other versions of Tails, where they make a makeshift bomb and throw it a little too close to themselves on the battlefield and seem to get vaporized. If they had actually died there they would have had the funniest, most pointless deaths in the entire franchise.
I also realized at one point that they were trying to do the Avengers girl power fight thing with the three versions of Amy fighting a bunch of Rouge bots. This was very funny to me. Actually, so much of this is just following the tired MCU formula to the letter. Fighting over a macguffin, two armies just kind of running at each other and clashing in a big empty field, constant one-liner quips instead of actual jokes, the need to take out key targets to make the whole enemy army disappear, a villain who has a point but has to randomly hurt people so that there's an excuse for the heroes to fight him. When combined with how shit the multiverse stuff is, this whole show really is just Man of Action tackling some of the most played out storytelling tropes in modern pop culture in the most bland way possible. What a bunch of hacks.
By far, the one truly fun thing that happens in this protracted final battle is when a giant robot based on Big appears. It doesn't have arms or legs, but it can swing itself around to use its tail like a giant mace, and it can also shoot Froggy-shaped missiles out of its mouth. I wish the rest of the show was even half as fun as this. Again, Sonic Prime has just enough good moments to make you mad that the rest of the show isn't better.
The thing is, all this repetitive (but well-animated) action and the thin excuse plot would be totally serviceable if I just gave a shit about the characters involved. But I don't. I don't care what happens to the pirate version of Amy who goes "arrr." I don't care about what happens to Hipster Eggman. And unfortunately, by the end, I didn't really care about Nine, either.
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Nine as a villain
It's hard to criticize the story here without it coming off as a broad condemnation of the tropes at play. The thing is, I like many stories that try to do similar things. I love clashes between heroes and villains that are really just fantastical exaggerations of more personal conflicts. I love stories where a tragic, sympathetic villain lashes out at the world as an expression of the pain they feel, and a compassionate hero just has to get through to them. I eat that shit right up. Undertale is my favorite game ever made. Shit, I love other Sonic stories that do these exact things. And Sonic having to fight an alternate timeline version of Tails also has so much potential for drama!
So I can very easily imagine a version of the show where all this works for me. That just isn't the version we got.
Like I said last time, Nine's motivation is just too sympathetic and understandable for his sudden turn to supervillainy to make any sense. He just wanted to start over somewhere where he can be happy after a childhood filled with bullying and loneliness. Nine betraying Sonic and stealing the Paradox Prism to go make his own world? That tracks! Especially since we don't even know if Nine will still exist if Sonic goes through with his plan to restore his original world! But trying to kill everyone in New Yolk City by tilting the world 90 degrees, intentionally targeting the civilian population because it'll get to Sonic? Nope! Sorry, that's a bridge too far. I don't buy it. He's jaded and antisocial, but he doesn't strike me as cruel. Writing in an excuse about him needing Sonic's energy to fix the Prism does not make this make more sense.
This was really just one of those conflicts where it felt like everyone should stop and talk it out. Instead we got six episodes of fighting before one of Sonic's many, MANY attempts at reasoning with Nine throughout the season finally works. This isn't me pulling some Cinema Sins bullshit where I complain about characters in a work of fiction not always behaving rationally - the real problem is that it's just so damn repetitive waiting for this conflict to resolve. This could have been wrapped up in two or three episodes and instead it takes seven.
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A brief aside about that weird Dorkly-ass Sonic Advance 3 flashback scene hacked together with mismatched sprites where Gemerl happens to be present, presumably just because he's a part of the sprite for the Sunset Hill boss, and seeing him briefly makes me remember the extended cast from the games and how much I wish they had just made a cartoon about them instead of a bunch of stock characters wearing the skin of Sonic's friends, but then Gemerl just explodes with the boss machine at the end while Eggman is shown to get away so I guess Gemerl just dies in this flashback
Yeah that sure happened huh
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The ending
Despite having a final battle that felt like an eternity, Sonic Prime is a show that just kind of... ends. And that ending is weird and haphazard.
The understanding I had was that Sonic's normal world had "shattered" when the Paradox Prism was destroyed, and from those remnants these new worlds were created. This is why they use terms like "Shatterverse" and "Shatterspaces" and why there's shattered glass/crystal/whatever imagery everywhere. This is a broken, fragmented version of the real universe. Right? Right?? Isn't that the entire premise of the show? And therefore, if the universe has been shattered, then fixing it means putting all the shattered pieces back together. Which I would assume means that the Shatterspaces cease to exist.
So, in the ending... Sonic's world seems to just exist as another Shatterspace. Restoring the Paradox Prism doesn't seem to combine the worlds or anything, it just fixes the broken portal to Sonic's world that exists alongside all the others. So... what exactly was the point of all the shattered glass symbolism?
Things only get more confusing as the ending progresses. Shadow brings Sonic through the portal before the draining of Sonic's whatever energy makes him disappear, and they're transported back in time to right before Sonic broke the Paradox Prism. Only Sonic seems to remember what happened (Shadow might remember, but he doesn't say anything), and with the Paradox Prism never shattered, it's unclear if the Shatterspaces exist now.
I'm not particularly hung up on the time loop ending. It's very much in line with all sorts of classic morality tales like A Christmas Carol or It's a Wonderful Life, where the flawed protagonist goes through some kind of magical experience and then returns home with a new appreciation for the people in their life. It's always been pretty obvious that was the type of story they were telling. I'm more bothered by the fact that there's no time whatsoever spent on whether or not the other worlds and the characters in them continue to exist. Sonic seems to act like the worlds will go on without him before he leaves, but it's not like we get an ending scene that shows how the other worlds are doing, so they really truly might as well not exist anymore. Sonic just wraps up the adventure from the first episode when he gets home, and before he can explain what happened from his perspective he's interrupted by a mysterious energy wave from off-screen and it's off to the next adventure.
(Despite this odd cliffhanger ending, the show is extremely over and not coming back. I have to imagine this is just a "the adventures never end" type ending and not a hint that more shit is going on with the Paradox Prism.)
This ending is also a terrible resolution to Nine's whole arc, despite him being the driving force of so much of the show. The way I see it, there are are three possible fates for him:
The Shatterspaces continue existing, and things go as Sonic expects them to go. Nine is allowed to make the Grim into his own little utopia, and everyone else leaves him alone instead of punishing him for all the trouble he caused. Instead of finding love and acceptance so he can heal from a lifetime of bullying and loneliness, Nine is allowed to run away, isolating himself from every other living being in the multiverse, and live alone as the god of an empty world with only his own creations as company. Sonic was his only friend, and he's gone forever now.
The Shatterspaces continue existing, but because of the time travel ending, most of the events of the show never happened. Sonic never helped defeat the Chaos Council, so they still control New Yolk City. Nine is back to living in this dystopian city with no friends. He never met Sonic.
The Shatterspaces have been erased. After fighting so hard for his right to exist as his own person and not just a "wrong" version of Tails, when the timeline is altered, he just... stops existing. Along with almost every other character in the show.
Do I even need to explain why these are all unsatisfying?
Misc. thoughts
I skimmed over this, but a lot of the final season is just spent seeing Sonic's friends bicker with the Chaos Council and then Sonic has to beg them to get along to save the universe. It gets old.
We also never really got an explanation for why the Chaos Council exists. They can't have come from other Shatterspaces because there ARE no other Shatterspaces. If the original Eggman was just split into five guys or time travel was involved or whatever, it never comes up. I can live with this, but it seems like an odd omission for a children's show that's constantly bogged down in technobabble explaining the mechanics of its extremely small and finite multiverse.
I have no idea where Shadow was for the first part of the final battle. I figured Nine must have captured him off-screen after Sonic first left the Grim, but Shadow was just... hanging around until his cue in the script, I guess?
Sonic saying "help a brother up" to Shadow was funny
Hipster Eggman pointing to one of the few nameless extras who tagged along for the final battle and going "Who are you? Seriously, does anyone know who this is?" was the only funny thing he did in the entire show
Mangy Tails randomly pressing buttons on the Chaos Council's generator like a curious animal and managing to improve its output was cute
Rusty Rose randomly realizes that the Birdie in her chest actually isn't being used as a power source, and that the Chaos Council was just... using that to manipulate her, somehow? I don't really know how that works but whatever
The Sonic Advance 3 flashback uses the actual boss music from the game, but they can't use the real Sunset Hill theme because they didn't wanna pay Masato Nakamura for using the Green Hill motif, I guess
To my fellow fans of bad games: did you know that Man of Action wrote the story for the bizarre Square Enix game The Quiet Man? The one where the lengthy FMV cutscenes play out with muffled audio and no subtitles because the protagonist is deaf, so you can't tell what's going on? And you had to do a New Game+ playthrough to actually hear the audio and understand what's going on? The worst-reviewed game of 2018? That one? I only learned that recently and it blew me away
So yeah, that's the end of the show. I didn't like it, and I don't think I liked the show much as a whole. I am far from alone in this sentiment, but the reasons why people dislike the show... those vary a bit.
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The canon conundrum
More than anything else, it seems like most other discourse surrounding this show has been consumed by one talking point:
How can this be canon? Why is it canon?
I want to state very clearly up front that I, too, am a person who's noticed and complained about the inconsistencies with the games in Sonic Prime. Some of the characters are a bit off - or, you know, completely unrecognizable when discussing the writing of some of the AU counterparts. I think it's lame to say Sonic and friends all live in Green Hill and act like that's the entirety of their world. That sort of thing. But if Sega says it's canon to everything else? Sure. Fine. There's weirder shit in the canon.
Really, most of this can be explained away pretty easily. The show was written at a time when Sega was still figuring shit out and there were looser restrictions. Why does Sonic act a little more immature? Probably just because Prime is aiming for a slightly younger audience than the games or the IDW comics. (And also it's, y'know, written by Man of Action, who people have accused of only knowing how to write one kind of protagonist for years.) Why do Sonic and friends live in Green Hill? Because that's the most recognizable location from the games, and the game world doesn't get enough screentime to justify modeling multiple different environments, so they just focus on Green Hill. Why is this considered canon to the games? Because this is the first Sonic cartoon that outright references events from the games as things that have happened to Sonic in the past.
But announcing early on that Prime would be canon certainly let fans' imaginations wander. It was one of the few things we knew about the show before it premiered. People wondered if characters from the games and comics who had never made any appearances in Sonic cartoons might get their time in the spotlight. We wondered if it would tie into the lore or any existing storylines in interesting ways, like the IDW comics do. But above all else, we hoped that its canon status would mean that Sonic Prime would finally be the Sonic cartoon that was faithful to the source material with no catches. We've literally never seen the actual world of the games brought to life in a TV show. Sonic X came the closest, but that still took its liberties. And so hype built for this Canon Sonic Cartoon.
And then it actually came out, and after a brief intro in Green Hill based loosely on the games, it spent most of its running time focusing on things like "what if there was a version of Eggman who was a bratty teen who just wanted to play video games?" The disappointment among fans is understandable. I am disappointed. Look at how much I've bitched about this aggressively mid cartoon.
Some fans, however, came up with an elaborate theory about the series. You see, when asked about the show's place in the game timeline during a live Q&A, Ian Flynn (who only served as a consultant on Sonic Prime and did not write any of it) said this:
"I cannot answer because I know the answer, and you haven't finished watching the show yet."
A couple days later, when answering another question about Prime's place in the timeline and also about a writing discrepancy, he said this:
"As to where it fits on the timeline, I can't speak to it because that would spoil the show to a degree. So you're just gonna have to wait 'til it's done. Towards the other point, I don't know how much I can say, so it's probably better that I not comment. That's a really dissatisfying answer, I know, I'm sorry, but my hands are kinda tied on that one."
I feel the need to quote Ian directly here, because these very basic statements about how he can't talk about behind the scenes shit or anything from unreleased episodes was GREATLY misinterpreted by the fandom. People clung onto Ian's claim that we had to keep watching like a life preserver. Some took it as Ian saying that the ending would explain everything. Finally, we'd have a definitive answer for every little discrepancy and the apparent differences in worldbuilding. An explanation for why Sega and the producers repeatedly insist this show HAS to be canon.
And to these fans, the only explanation that made any sense... would be if the ending of Sonic Prime pulled a Flashpoint.
As this theory explained, the Sonic we were following in Sonic Prime wasn't the Sonic we know from the games and the IDW comics, and likewise the world he comes from isn't really the game world. This is a different Sonic who fights a different Eggman in a world that's literally just Green Hill. It was a hint that something was off all along! But in the end of the series, this Sonic would sacrifice himself to merge all of the Shatter Spaces together and form a brand new world, and that would be the more visually diverse world of the games and comics. According to this theory, Sonic Prime was canon because it was a new origin story for the entire franchise.
I want you to really stop and think about how asinine of an origin story this would be. Really drink this in. The idea that there was another, slightly different version of Sonic who went on a kinda shitty multiverse adventure and then sacrificed himself to create the real Sonic that we've known since 1991. People convinced themselves this made more sense than the simple explanation that a different team of writers got some stuff wrong and Sega didn't make them change it. Interviews where producers talked about drawing on Sonic's "mythology" (ie: they reference the games in the show) were taken very literally - they must be saying that Prime's story is mythological in nature, and that this show would be integral to the games' mythology. Why bother making a show that's canon if it's not going to be crucial to that canon, after all?
The final episodes dropped, and none of this happened. Because of course it didn't. It was all Sherlock fandom-level copium. But fans were left confused by the lack of a grand reveal of where Sonic Prime fits in the timeline, believing they had been promised this, and they turned to Ian for an explanation. Ian's answer:
It doesn't matter, b/c Prime wipes itself out. It's sometime after Advance 3*, but otherwise, it's moot. I didn't want to sour anyone's expectations or investment by spoiling how Prime resolves, that's all. If you enjoyed it, awesome. Savor it. If you didn't, then you can safely ignore it. Simple as that.
* About a trillion people have um, actually'd Ian to point out Orbot and Cubot briefly appear in the show, but if we're really being pedantic here we don't actually know how long before Colors Eggman built Orbot and Cubot, so it wouldn't be fully accurate to say a story featuring Orbot and Cubot couldn't be set before Colors. Either way, a story set anywhere around Colors, or at any point later than that, could still be described as "sometime after Advance 3." Advance 3 is just the most recent game that has specific in-game events referenced in the show. Yes I can feel myself morphing into the nerd emoji before your very eyes
Anyway, this is the latest reason Ian is getting death threats on Twitter. This time it's over a show he barely even had any input on!
I'll cut to the chase. It is truly wild to me that people are getting this heated over canonical inconsistencies in a series as historically inconsistent as Sonic, to the point that they think threatening Ian is justified. The aesthetics of the entire world Sonic inhabits change every other game. Sonic Chronicles may no longer be canon due to the Penders lawsuits, but it was canon at one point, and it took huge liberties with Sonic's world, moving Green Hill off of South Island and reinterpreting Station Square as a tiny outpost in a snowy alpine forest region. Characters' personalities change from writer to writer and based on what Sega wants at the time, with some being WILDLY different across different games. One game Sonic will be stoic and cool, the next he thinks "Baldy McNosehair" is the funniest thing ever. Sega's STILL trying to figure out what Amy's personality is supposed to be. We still don't have the explanation for how the two seemingly contradictory backstories for Blaze can fit together. There have been multiple huge, sweeping retcons, and retcons to those retcons. Sonic Forces claims that Classic Sonic is from an entirely different universe than Modern Sonic, and the plot only makes any sense if that's true - otherwise, Modern Sonic would have already known Eggman was going to beat him and take over the world when he did, because his younger self had already lived through that war. All of that makes no sense in the newly reunified timeline, but Forces is very much still canon.
For fuck's sake, we're talking about the series where Eggman blew up half the moon and then it looked completely normal in every other game after, explained away as "the moon just rotated so we can't see the destroyed side from Earth." This has never, ever, ever been a franchise where everything lines up perfectly with no issues. It's not that serious.
The real core problem with Prime isn't that things don't line up 100% with our current understanding of canon, or that Sonic's characterization means this can't be the real Sonic, or anything like that. The problem, as I've been saying this whole time, is that the story is bad. None of these discrepancies would truly matter if the story was better. They'd just be nitpicks. The fact that Sonic and friends live in Green Hill would be the farthest thing from my mind if the drama was more engaging, if the villains were better, if the jokes were actually funny, if more of the alternate universe counterparts of Sonic's friends had more than one generic character trait each, if the multiverse was more creative and varied, if the final seven episodes of this show didn't devolve into the third act of an MCU movie and then just arbitrarily end, if Nine's character arc actually had a satisfying conclusion instead of ending with either isolation or nonexistence. Maybe we'd be seeing people talk about more than just whether or not it should be considered canon if the writing was any good.
"Canon" is not real, and it sure as hell isn't worth sending people death threats over. It's a storytelling tool. Real human beings decide what does and doesn't go into that canon, or how much they do or don't want to draw on past stories, when creating a new story. Serving that canon is secondary to creating a story where the emotional truth resonates with the audience. And Sonic Prime failed to do that. That is its true failing.
And finally, to close out...
Since people will ask, here are my current ranking of the Sonic TV shows, now that Prime is finished.
Sonic Boom
Sonic SatAM
Sonic X
The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog
Sonic Prime
Sonic Underground
Yes, I'd say Boom is my favorite. It's far from my ideal Sonic cartoon, but it gets a lot of points for being as funny as it is. But the top four are all shows I'd say I like, more or less. They all have their pros and cons.
So now, uh... I guess let's hope the live action Knuckles show coming to Paramount+ is better than the underwhelming synopsis of "Knuckles helps deputy sheriff Wade train in the ways of the echidna warrior" would imply? Maybe we'll get lucky?
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incorrectbatfam · 1 year
Note
The batfam as teacher comment section in report card.
Dick: Mr. Grayson brings a contagious energy to the class and his enthusiasm is well-appreciated. However, he tends to channel that energy very physically and while that may benefit his learning, it's a disruption to other students. This is a frequently recurring issue that I would like to discuss with a parent or guardian.
Translation – Is this kid ADHD because he won't sit the FUCK down
Jason: Mr. Todd has displayed remarkable attention to detail and a love of literature that I can only attribute to positive reinforcement at home, and he's always a pleasure to have in class. As much as I appreciate seeing him apply his lessons outside of school hours, I believe there are more productive avenues of discussing Shakespearean playwriting with his peers than what he has been reportedly doing. 
Translation – Stop biting your thumb at people
Tim: Mr. Drake continues to exceed expectations in his schoolwork, but his attendance and participation may become a detriment to his overall grades if unaddressed. I have caught him sleeping in class on multiple occasions but he has yet to provide me a reason why he is so tired. Additionally, last month one of our monitors caught him loitering in the bathroom with a note that I did not recall writing. 
Translation – Get some sleep and also you can't make your own hall passes
Damian: I have had the privilege of teaching the Wayne family through my decades at this institution and I believe that Damian takes after his father the most in more ways than expected. His grades are stellar and he is well-organized, but I'm noticing familiar and concerning traits in his attitude and social interactions. I am requesting a meeting with his parent to understand the full context so I can devise a plan for out how to best support him. 
Translation – Forget falling, the apple is still on the damn tree
Duke: Mr. Thomas has been a pleasure to have in my chemistry lab and is always willing to help classmates who are struggling. However, after last week's minor combustion reaction mishap, I think it would be worthwhile to review the lab safety packet that all students received at the beginning of the year. 
Translation – How did you set water on fire
Cullen: Mr. Row displays a passion for transformative literature and demonstrates a clear understanding of modern media culture that has helped him synthesize a lot of our complex readings. However, I'm concerned about his laptop being a distraction, especially with numerous incidences of him looking at non-academic material.  
Translation – Quit reading fanfics in class
Stephanie: You should be pleased to know that Miss Brown consistently keeps the well-being of her peers in mind. This semester, she launched a meal initiative for students whose needs could not be met by the school cafeteria. While we value her good intentions, she has been causing hallway obstructions and there are some regulatory concerns that we need to discuss. 
Translation – She sold pancakes in the halls without a permit
Cassandra: Although Miss Cain is relatively quiet in class, she continues to blow me away with her breadth of knowledge not just on class materials, but also interpersonal details. While this is a good skill to cultivate, we ask that she dial it back especially with our faculty. Additionally, please remember that the teacher's lounge is a staff-only space and students should remain in the common areas. 
Translation – She knows too much
Barbara: Miss Gordon is easily one of the best AP Computer Science students I've seen in my twenty years of teaching. She even went above and beyond the scope of our class to apply what we've learned to a greater school context. While that is deserving of credit, I'd also like to remind her that, in the future, certain ideas should be subjected to careful consideration before actions are taken. 
Translation – She hacked the lunch menu to make every day French Fry Friday 
Harper: Miss Row has a remarkable aptitude for the engineering process that exceeds beyond what students her age can typically grasp, and she is very inventive in her own right. That being said, I would appreciate it if she followed our lesson plans more closely and reviewed our guidelines for woodshop safety so everyone can continue to have a positive experience.
Translation – She made a working crossbow out of popsicle sticks
Carrie: Miss Kelley is a bright student who brings positive energy that is very much needed, especially in morning classes. However, she's been falling behind with several missing assignments at this point, and her explanations for why she cannot finish her work don't seem to be sufficient. 
Translation – "Killer Croc ate my homework" Yeah and I'm Batman
Kate: Miss Kane seems to be very eager to move forward to the next stage of her life, as evidenced by her Career Day presentation. While I believe young people should be free to explore their passions, I also think that Kate would benefit from some workshops outlining more feasible options. 
Translation – "Get bitches" isn't a career goal
Alfred: Mr. Pennyworth is easily one of the best students this institution has seen, both in his academic record and extracurricular activities. He recently expressed interest in the sharpshooting team, which I will not discourage him from, seeing how highly accurate he is. As of this year, I will be retiring as the coach for the team, but I wish him all the best.
Translation – I'm not about to get on his bad side
Selina: Miss Kyle's resourcefulness continues to astound me. Earlier in the semester, she forgot her locker combination and quickly improvised a mechanism to safely unlock it using only the materials around her. The speed and accuracy with which she did that will surely benefit her in the future. 
Translation – Did... did she just pick a lock with another lock?
Bruce: No further comments. 
Translation – whatthefuckwhatthefuckwhatthefuck—
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jordyn14 · 2 months
Text
It’s just a little scrape | Joe Burrow
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Summary: After a win against the Bills, everything is going good until a drunk fan finds his way into a place he isn’t supposed to be
Pairing: Joe burrow x first person fem reader
Words: 3962
Notes: this is different than the other fics I’ve written, but I hope you enjoy!! <3
A week later was the primetime home game against the Buffalo Bills. During the day, I had a quick photo shoot with a new clothing line here in Cincinnati, but I made sure to clear out my entire schedule for the rest of the day after that. Since it was a home game, which I was so incredibly excited about, Katie, my best friend, was coming to the game. Unlike me, she wasn’t with anyone on the team, but she loved going just as much as me. Like always, we were going to stay in Joes suite where his parents were also going to be. For the whole day, excitement ran through me. Not only did I have 100% confidence in Joe, but I had 100% confidence in the entire team, and today felt like a good day for the whole entire team. When it was finally time for Joe to leave, I sent him out of the door while admiring his all green outfit, which was my all time favorite color.
Currently, I was laying out my outfit onto our bed which consisted of a white sweater dress, a long brown trench coat, and a pair of almost knee high white boots. After I laid my outfit out, I grabbed my cute little clear purse with number 9 and Burrow on it which already held my must haves for game day, and then slipped into the bathroom. In the bathroom, I curled my hair and then put on some gold hoops. Once I was done with that, I put on my makeup and then walked out of the bathroom and to the bed where I got changed. While I changed, I got a text from Katie saying that she was on her way. I texted her back with, "I'm so excited, hurry!😆" The last game was in San Francisco and Katie and I just watched it over her house, plus before that was the bye week and we haven't gone to a game together since the Seattle game. Saying we were excited was an understatement.
We arrived at the stadium 2 hours early so we could settle in before the hundreds of people filed into the stadium. Like most home games, Katie drove me so I could drive back home with Joe when the game was over. Since we weren't in the stands where I could talk to Joe before the game, we both got settled into our seats. "I'm so excited to watch the game. Work has been stressful." Katie said while stuffing her mouth full of the chicken fingers we both got before we came up to the suite. "I know, it’s been way too long since we've watched a game together. How are the extra shifts going by the way?" I asked Katie. "Well," Katie said with a mouth full of food before she held up a finger so she could swallow the food in her mouth.
We both started laughing as she swallowed and then continued. "I'm making more money than I ever have, especially with the promotion, but I feel like I'm always on the go. I'm either at work, at the grocery store, the gym, the coffee shop, or in bed. I feel like you because I never see Jamie." Katie said. "Shit, Katie, why do you still work at the coffee shop? I even quit because I wasn't seeing Joe enough, and I don't have real job." I told Katie. "Yeah, well, you quit and you still don't see him." She said with a little scoff. Leaning towards her more, I said, "well that's because my husbands in the fucking NFL, obviously I'm not going to see him that much." I said. Katie gave me a little shrug of approval and then we laughed a little bit. "All I'm saying, is that you have the opportunities to see Jamie, you just have to take them. So, quit working at the coffee shop, pay the extra 10 dollars to have the store drop your groceries off for you, and see your damn boyfriend. If you need extra money, I'll pick up more photo shoots and give you the money." I said.
Katie sighed a little bit and then looked off into the direction of the field. "You know what, you're right, You should give me money." Katie joked. Elbowing her softly, I took a bite of my chicken and then watched as the boys went into the tunnel to get on their uniforms. "All jokes aside, you're right." Katie said. "Well obviously." I laughed with her.
The Bengals won the game 24-18. Katie and I cheered so much that by the end of the third quarter, we were already starting to get scratchy and sore throats. Although the bengals won the game, they gave us a big scare by letting the game get as close as it did. By the end of the game, my nerves were so high that Katie had to force me to unclench my fists and calm down a little. When it finally did end, we stood up and started to chant. "Who Dey! Who Dey! Who Dey think gonna beat them Bengals! Who Dey! Who Dey! Who Dey think gonna beat them bengals! Nobody!" I changed along with the whole stadium, which included Robin and Jimmy who were just as excited. "Let's fucking go!" Katie yelled. "That's how it's done!" I yelled with Katie as we stood up and celebrated the win over the Bills in the primetime game.
Once we settled down and the stadium started to clear out, I hugged a yawning Katie goodbye and then after a little bit, walked with Robin and Jimmy to the tunnel where I would meet up with Joe. Since it was already really late and they had a little drive back to Athens, they decided to just text Joe and congratulate him on the win. The three of us stopped just before the tunnel entrance and we hugged. "I'm so happy that you don't have to go home with another grumpy Joe. There's been too many losses this season." Robin said as we pulled away from our hug. "You and me both. I love him, but he sure can have an attitude." I laughed and then hugged Jimmy. "By the way, Joe wanted to remind you once again not to call him right after the game and give him a play by play of everything. I tried to tell him that you already know, but you know how he can be." I told Jimmy who shook his head with a sigh.
"That boy will be the death of me." Jimmy said with a shake of his head and a little chuckle. "You and me both." Robin said. We said our goodbyes and then I walked into the tunnel entrance by showing them my pass and then headed to the family area where the players could see their families. While I walked over there, I got a text from Joe saying that the press conference took a little longer so he just got into the shower and to just wait for him by the locker room. So, rather than going to the family section where I could just wait for Joe, I went to the locker room entrance and leaned against the wall while waiting to see Joe. I couldn't wait to see a happy Joe after a much needed win and wrap my arms around him.
While I waited, I went on my phone and scrolled through Instagram where new pictures of Joe from the game started to appear. Even seeing Joe through the screen made my cheeks flush a deep shade of red and I couldn't stop the corners of my mouth from turning up into a smile. My eyes were so focused on the pictures of him that I didn't even notice the locker room door opened up. "What are you smiling at?" I heard Joe say in front of me. Quickly taking my eyes off of my phone, I slipped the phone into my pocket and walked over to Joe. Both of us had huge smiles on our faces as we walked towards each other. When we met in the middle, I wrapped my arms around Joes back and he wrapped his around my neck, holding me closely. "It may or may not have been a picture of you walking out with Sam to do the coin flip." I said, leaning my head back to look into Joes eyes.
Joe raised an eyebrow and said, "oh yeah?" He then leaned forwards to capture my lips with his. The both of us breathed in the kiss before he pulled away, not wanting anyone to take a picture of our kiss. "Believe it or not, you in a uniform really does something to me." I laughed. Joe just laughed and then looked into my eyes deeply. "Well it's a good thing that we get to go home in a little bit." He said with that pantie dropping smile he loves to give me. Right after he said this, my face flushed red. With a little groan, I placed my forehead on joes chest, trying to hide my obvious flustered state. "If I could, I would slip into the nearest supply closet with you." I said. With a small sigh, Joe straightened more, obviously getting turned on. Before Joe could say anything else that would solidify my decision of going into a closet with him for a little quicky, the locker room door opened again.
Lifting my head from Joes chest, we both looked over to the door and watched Ja'marr and Sam walk out of it in mid conversation. Right when Ja'marr looked at Joe and then me, he ended his sentence and then walked over to Joe, reading his facial expression, and patted him on the back. "Y'know, the locker rooms empty, you might be able to slip in there for a few minutes. What's your record, like 3 minutes?" Ja'marr said, but quickly walked away from Joe before he could hit him in the arm. "Fuck you." Joe joked with a stern look on his face and looked over at Sam who just put his hands up to show that he wasn't going to make any crude remarks or add onto what Ja'marr said. The both of us released our arms from one another, but Joe kept one arm around my waist, pulling me close to his side and we exchanged quick I love you's as we walked.
The four of us walked together to the family section where the boys could get some food and Sam could meet up with Jessica. "Y'know, she blocked me on Instagram in college because she saw that I was following you. She thought I was her competition." I said to Sam while we talked about Jessica and where she was during the game since I couldn't see her and neither could Morgan, Holly, or Tianna. "I know, she told me she was worried that we were getting together behind her back. It took a lot of convincing for her to fully believe that you were loyal to Joe." Sam said. While we talked, I heard some scuffled footsteps behind us and turned my head slightly to look at who was making the noise.
As I turned my head, I saw a man that I've never seen before. He looked to be in his mid 30's and based off of the way he was walking and the way his eyes were slow to move, I knew he was drunk. I took another look at the man, careful not to make it too obvious, and watched as the man held up his phone out to us. By now, the boys knew someone was behind us, but thought nothing of it. "Joe burrow." the man said. Joe, realizing the man was probably a fan, kept on walking. "Joe! Hey wait up! Can I get a picture with you." The man said again, followed by saying Joes name continuously to try and get his attention.
"Who is that?" I asked Joe. "Just keep walking. once we pass security up here they'll deal with him. He's not even supposed to be in here." Joe said and pulled me closer to him, not wanting any of us to pay any attention to him. "Do I have to fuck your wife to get your attention?" The man said with a small and weird chuckle, slurring his words like crazy. "What the hell." Ja'marr said and turned around. Joe clenched his jaw and turned around with Ja'marr. "What the fuck did you just say to me?" Joe asked in an angry tone, stepping closer to the man. "Hey, security!" Sam yelled, wanting security to step in before Joe did something. "There he is! Can I get a picture with you real quick?” The man asked and stepped forwards. Once closer, he began looking me up and down and said, “and maybe take her for a spin afterwards.” A shiver ran down my spine as I scowled at him in disgust.
"Let's go Joe, security is coming." I said and walked in front of Joe to try and stop him from doing something stupid. In times like these, Joe was a hot head. The man was known as 'Joe Cool' on and off the football field until it involved the people he loved. "No, no, say that again to my fucking face." Joe said. "Just back the fuck up man!" Ja'marr said to the man, standing by Joes side. No matter what, Ja’marr was always by Joe’s side, especially when it came to disgusting people like this man. "C’mon, Can I just get a pic real quick?” The man said and held up his phone and got both him and Joe in frame, except I was in it also. The man, not liking that I was in it, slipped the phone into his pocket and then put both of his hands on my shoulders. Since I was facing Joe in an attempt to keep him moving, I could see a few security guards coming up to us that Sam got. All of a sudden, I felt his arms on my shoulders and then he spun me around slightly, pushed me to the side so I wasn't in the way. One second I had both of my feet planted on the ground, and the next I lost my footing because of my big boots and fell to the ground.
Not expecting to fall so abruptly, I let out a faint scream as my knees skidded across the concrete. From above me, multiple shouts and yells echoed through the walls of the tunnel. There was a lot of commotion for about 5 seconds and then I felt 2 firm hands go onto my sides from behind me. Quickly, I was lifted off of the ground and placed back on my feet. I quickly turned around and made eye contact with Joe whose eyes were filled with anger. "I'm fine, I'm fine." I said quickly and then looked to Ja'marr who was going off on the man who touched me and also the security guards who let the man slip past them. Once joe could tell by my expression that I was okay, he turned around and took a step closer to the man who was being put in handcuffs my a police officer who came rushing over after seeing the commotion.
"Don't you ever lay your fucking hands on my wife again!" Joe yelled and then added in, “you hear me!” I looked to the man quickly and then at Sam who walked over to me and put a hand on my shoulder. "Let's go over here." He told me and then guided me over to the side and away from everyone else. “Holy shit." I said, flustered from everything that just happened. It all happened so quickly. "Are you okay?" He asked me as we both turned around. Joe and Ja'marr were currently going off and raising their voices at the security guards who let the man get into the tunnel. The man was not wearing a pass and was not a family member of any of the players, so how he was able to get into the tunnel was beyond any of us. "I'm fine, I just fucking scraped the hell out of my knee's though." I let out a little exasperated laugh.
We both looked down at my knees. One was bloody just around the scrape, and the other one had a bigger wound on it which was currently dripping blood down my leg and onto my new boots. "Oh shit, that's not just a scrape." He said while laughing slightly because of the way I addressed the blood on my knees. “Oh no, my boots.” I said with a frown. After a few more minutes, more people gathered around the scene including a few more police officers, Zac Taylor, Jessica who came and found Sam and was currently having him fill her in a few feet away from me, and then Logan Wilson and Morgan who didn't leave yet. "Oh my gosh, are you okay?" Morgan asked when she got over to me, looking down at my scraped up knees.
"Yeah, I'm fine, I promise, it's just a little scrape." I said. Morgan and Logan stood by my side as we all watched what was going on in front of us. "How did he even get back here?" Joe said loudly. Zac stepped in between Joe and one of the police officers who was currently taking the man to his car outside. Joe and zac started talking. "What even happened? Who was that?" Morgan asked me. Logan stepped closer, wanting to hear what happened also. "A random guy from behind us kept trying to get Joe to take a picture with him. He was obviously drunk and whatever so we just planned on ignoring him until we got closer to the security guard so he could deal with him. When Joe wouldn't listen, the man literally said 'Do I have to fuck your wife to get your attention'." I said.
"That’s disgusting." Morgan said and put a hand over her mouth slightly, a sour look on her face. Logan's face scrunched up in disbelief and disgust and then looked over to the scene while still listening. I explained the rest of what happened to them and then the police asked to clear the area and informed Joe that the man was being taken to jail. As the area began to empty and everything died down, Joe walked over to me, but didn't notice my knees yet because of the chaos that just occurred. "I'm so sorry, are you okay?" Joe asked me his eyes darting from my right eye and left eye and cupped the sides of my face gently in his hands. His breathing was fast and ragged, obviously shaken up from what just happened too. Bringing my hands up, I grabbed onto Joes wrists that were on either side of my face and took a deep breath. "I'm fine, I promise you. I wouldn’t have even fallen if I wasn’t wearing these big boots. It was a small fall, that it." I said.
I looked deeply into Joes eyes with a small and reassuring smile, and shook my head to show that I was indeed fine. "Are you 100% sure? He shouldn’t have even put his hands on you." Joe said. "My knees along with my ego are a little damaged, but that's it, I promise." I said. Joe couldn't help but let out a small laugh at what I said before realizing that I said my knees. Quickly, Joe glanced down at my knees to see blood dripping down my right leg. "Shit, I didn’t know you were bleeding." He said quickly and then removed his hands from the sides of my face.
Joe kept his eyes on my knees for a few seconds before turning around a little. "Joe it's fine, I'll just wipe it off." I said and placed my hand gently on his arm, trying to pull him around towards me.  Joe looked at me quickly and said, "if the medical staff is still here then you're getting your knees cleaned up." The face he gave me told me that he wanted me to go along with him and not try to change his mind. Once again, he turned around and called Zac's name before he got too far down the tunnel. "Yeah?" Zac asked in a concerned tone. "Is the medical staff still here? I just want to get her knees cleaned up real quick and make sure she doesn't need stitches or anything." Joe said, taking a step forwards.
"I don't need stitches, it's just a little scrape." I said with a small laugh and walked by his side as Zac started to walk our way. "Well how am I supposed to know? All I see is blood dripping down your leg." Joe said, looking down at my knees again. "Oh man," Zac looked down at my knees, "Yeah, there are a few still in the locker room. Just come with me." He said. We all headed towards the locker room. I was in between Zac and Joe who was still a little fidgety and on edge after what just happened. Even though I was the one that got pushed down and hurt, Joe seems to be affected more by it. The way he keeps looking down at me and flashes those 'I'm sorry' eyes at me makes me want to pull him to the side and make him understand that I'm okay.
We finally got to the locker room and Zac found us someone who had their gear out still. So it went quicker, we just went over to Joes locker where I could sit down and the medic could clean up my knees and throw bandaids on them if needed. Zac said goodbye to the both of us and once again apologized for what happened. As soon as I saw Joes locker, my mouth almost dropped open. There were shoes, clothes, hats, some snacks, and many more random and weird things thrown around Joes locker room. It looked like a tornado came to Cincinnati and only hit Joes locker; plus a few other players lockers. "Do you ever clean? My goodness look at how gross it is." I laughed as I sat myself down on the fold out chair in front of Joes locker. Looking offended, Joe just chuckled and then kicked a few of the shoes that were in the open closer to his locker.
"The hate is really not necessary. Plus, it's not that bad." Joe said with a small shrug. Furrowing my brows, I looked around at Joes locker while the medic who kneeled down in front of me began to grab things out of his kit. Looking back up to Joe, he just started laughing at my reaction. "You really think this isn't "that bad?"" I asked, using air quotations to really emphasize what Joe just said to me about his terrible locker. "Okay, okay, it's pretty bad." We both started to laugh together and then the medic looked up at me, so I gave him my attention. "I'm just going to clean off some of this blood and then the actual wound itself. Once I get to the wound, it might sting a little bit." He said to me. "Alright, go for it." I said with a little laugh while Joe grabbed onto my hand and gave it a little squeeze.
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sunkissed-zegras · 3 months
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✮ 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬, zegras' have more fun
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♡ ─ summary | set after this instagram post. parker invites stass to a party after a football and somehow, it turns into luke and stass talking about "them"
♡ ─ warnings | unedited, mention of drinking, slight angst, parker slander (poor guy), nothing else!
♡ ─ taglist | made a new whole new form for my au! fill out if you're interested!
♡ ─ ev's notes | okay y'all, this au is back!!!!! finally had some motivation to finish up :) i hope you enjoyed, and if you did, PLEASE SEND IN SOME AU THOUGHTS!! literally anything, i just wanna hear some feedback and thoughts!
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September 29th, 2022
"I am not going out with Jack, Trevor." Stass punctuated as she spoke, her expression annoyed. She was currently facetiming with her brother when she should've been studying for her Chemistry midterm.
Her macbook was wide open as she laid in her bed, looking at the call. She knew the only reason he had been calling was to address those stupid rumors online.
"I know you aren't, he woulda told me." Trevor leaned back in his chair, a frown playing on his lips as he glanced at his sister on the screen. "He was flirting with you, though."
"Yeah, so what?" Stass responded. She sighed, running a hand through her hair. "Hasn't he always flirted with me, why's it a big deal now?"
"You know why, Stass." Trevor sighed, his frustration evident. You did know why, but it was just another baseless rumor from when you two were teenagers, it didn't matter.
"Luke does not like me, okay?"
It had been a joke since Stass had met the brothers that somehow, she were gonna end up dating one of them. Stass never how that started but all she knew is that it pissed her and Trevor off, because it wasn't true. Well, for the most part.
"Look, I'm not saying he does or doesn't. I'm just saying you have to be delicate when it comes to these kinda things, especially after this summer, with the whole lake house thing-"
"Stop saying that."
"Stop saying what?" Trevor's eyebrows raised, his tone annoyed as he waited for Stassie to continue.
Stassie's frustration bubbled to the surface. "Stop bringing up the stupid lake house incident like it's some kind of defining moment in our lives. It was just a misunderstanding, and we've moved on from it. Besides, Luke and I are fine. We've always been fine."
"Dude, relax. I'm not saying you guys aren't fine or whatever, stop getting so goddamn defensive. I'm just saying this entire situation is just sensitive for Luke, alright, tread lightly."
Stass didn't feel like arguing right now, especially over this stupid topic. She should be studying for her midterm but this situation seemed to keep coming up. "Luke is fine. But okay, whatever. I won't stir the pot anymore."
"Just be how you are, you know? Just minus the flirtiness." Trevor sighed. "I guess rizz is just hereditary."
"I can't believe you just said rizz out loud, Trevor. That was so cringe." Stass rolled her eyes as she looked back at the screen, her brother laughing back at her.
"Shut up. But I gotta go, I have an early practice tomorrow."
"Okay, Trev. I'll talk to you later, goodnight. I love you."
"Love ya too-"
She hung up quickly and shut her macbook, sighing. She could not believe that this whole thing was caused by a few comments left by Jack, they were meaningless. At least, that was what she was trying to convince herself. Before she could open her macbook to study again, she heard a knock from her door.
"Come in."
Parker came into the room quickly, "Hey Stass."
Stassie eyed Parker suspiciously as he entered the room, her eyebrows knitting together in curiosity. "Hey, Parker. What's up?"
Parker gave her his best charming smile as he approached her bed, taking a seat beside her. Stassie resisted the urge to roll her eyes as he continued, "Listen, I need a favor. The guys and I are going to a party after the game on Friday, and I know you swore off alcohol, but can you still come with us?"
Stassie furrowed her brows, sensing there was more to his request. "I was already planning on going to the game, you know that-"
"Okay great, can you bring your short friend? Shit, what's her name... Uhh... Samantha?"
Stassie's brow furrowed in confusion. "I don't know a Samantha, do you mean Chloe?"
Parker scratched his head, looking momentarily flustered. "Yeah, Chloe! That's the one. Can you take her? She's really pretty and I wanna get to know her."
"Why don't you be a man and just dm her?" Stass half joked as she stared back at him.
"Shut up, dude and just do me a favor, alright?"
Stass shrugged, knowing Parker well enough to understand his banter. "Alright, alright fine. But she's way outta your league. Like wayyy outta your league."
Parker rolled his eyes, playfully swatting at Stassie's arm. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Stass. But you miss 100% of the shots you don't make."
She couldn't help but shake her head at Parker's attempt at motivational quotes. "Yeah, well, just don't embarrass yourself too much, okay? Chloe's not exactly easy to impress."
Parker grinned confidently. "Oh, don't worry about me. I've got charisma for days."
Stass cringed once again before she sighed. "Whatever, can you leave now, I'm tryna study."
Parker chuckled, raising his hands in mock surrender. "Alright, alright, I'm out. Thanks, Stass."
"You owe me a vodka soda Friday night." Stass smiled as she looked up at the brunette.
"I thought you swore off alcohol-"
"That was last week, okay? Now leave before I change my mind." Stass flashed a playful grin as she spoke, watching Parker get up and walk towards the door.
"Okay, whatever."
──
"I think I'm gonna step out for a sec, Chloe. I'll see you two later." Stass took that as her cue to leave before she wiggled her eyebrows at Parker, walking away from her two friends. Now that her mission was complete, she had to go find some water. She has had one too many vodka sodas and she didn't wanna be hungover tomorrow morning.
As she searched the entire house for any sign of water, she soon gave up and sighed. This was a frat house, the only thing they had was beer and chips everywhere, what was she expecting? As she stumbled through the crowd, trying to find an exit, she felt someone grab her arm.
Before she could pull away, she looked up at the tall figure and realized it was only Luke. "By any chance, do you know where I can find some water that isn't from a sink?"
Luke smiled as he nodded, "Yeah I'll take you, they have some bottles up stairs."
Relieved, Stassie let out a grateful sigh. "Thank you, Lukey. I owe you one." The nickname rolled off her tongue easily as she spoke.
Luke offered her his arm, guiding her through the crowded house with ease. Stassie couldn't help but feel a sense of comfort in his presence, despite the chaotic atmosphere surrounding them. As they reached a quieter hallway, Luke opened a door to a room with a small table stacked with water bottles.
"Here you go," Luke said, handing her a bottle with a knowing smile.
"Thank you, Luke. You're officially my hero tonight," Stassie said, taking a grateful sip from the water bottle.
Luke chuckled, leaning against the wall. "Anytime. So, why'd you need water so urgently? Too many vodka sodas?"
Stassie laughed, feeling a bit more at ease. "You know me too well. Parker talked me into it. Long story."
Luke raised an eyebrow, curiosity evident in his expression. "Parker causing trouble again, huh?"
Stassie nodded, taking another sip. "Always. But hey, at least I'm not stumbling around looking for water like an idiot anymore. Thanks for saving me."
Luke's smile widened, genuine warmth in his eyes. "Anytime, Stass. Just take care of yourself, okay?"
There was a sudden silence between the two as they looked at each other, Luke's gaze warm and Stass' was a little... uncertain? They had been friends for a long time, but there was something different in the air tonight, something Stassie couldn't quite put her finger on. Like the lake house.
As the silence stretched, Stassie's heart rate quickened, unsure of what to say next. She shifted uncomfortably, trying to read the expression in Luke's eyes. She felt a subtle flush creeping up her cheeks, breaking the moment with a nervous laugh.
"Yeah, yeah, I'll be fine. Just need to pace myself better next time," she said, trying to brush off the odd tension that had momentarily settled between them.
"So, you and Jack have been talking?" Luke finally had ripped the bandaid as he studied Stass' movements and her expression, which had shifted from uncomfortable to slightly annoyed.
"Not more than usual, why?"
"What do you mean, why? I'm just asking, Stass." Luke seemed to be getting defensive too as his eyebrows knitted.
Stass sighed, feeling the tension between them mounting. "It just feels like you're prying, Luke. What's with the sudden interest in my conversations with Jack? And you guys are brothers, if you're so interested, ask him."
"It's not about that, Stass. You know that. We just never got over what happened at the lake house, or at least I thought we didn't."
"What happened, Luke? We kissed, so what? It's not like I'd do anything with Jack anyway. And plus, you're the one that hooked up with that other girl, not me." Stassie shot back, her annoyance evident in her expression.
Luke's jaw tightened, a defensive glint in his eyes. "We're not talking about me right now, Stass. We're talking about you and Jack. And don't deflect this onto something else."
"There's nothing to talk about, Jack's always been flirty with me and it's always been a funny joke until now. If you have a problem with it, talk to him, he's your brother."
Luke's gaze hardened, a flicker of hurt crossing his eyes. "It's not just about Jack. It's about us, about our friendship. You act like the kiss at the lake house meant nothing."
Stassie rolled her eyes, her impatience showing. "Luke, we were drunk, it was a momentary lapse in judgment. We've moved past it, or at least I thought we did."
"Fuck, Stass." Luke ran his fingers through his curly hair before letting out an annoyed sigh. "Fine, then. We can move on."
"Luke, I like our friendship." Stass sighed, defeated. "I don't wanna make it into something awkward, something that can get in the way of an already amazing friendship. Things are just better that way, okay? And we just forget that stupid kiss ever fucking happened and move on?"
Luke's expression softened, hurt evident in his eyes. "Yeah, okay. We can move on."
Stassie nodded, a sense of relief washing over her. "Great. So, can we just put this behind us and focus on being friends?"
Luke offered a small smile, his tone gentle. "Yeah, of course. Friends it is."
"Great, now, let's get back to the party before Parker starts freaking out." Stassie suggested, eager to shift the focus away from their tense conversation.
Luke chuckled, the tension between them dissipating. "Yeah, good idea. Last thing we need is Parker going on one of his rants again."
"You guys left me again, oh my gosh, Luke, I thought I was your favorite freshie." Stass mocked Parker as Luke laughed along, opening the door as the two of them made their way downstairs.
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thank you for reading all the way through, as always ♡
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ahgasegotarmy116 · 8 months
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Thinking about You... | JJK
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Summary: Jungkook has been thinking about your future together Pairing: f!reader x Jungkook Word Count: 1.5k~ Warnings: No real warnings just some cute fluff and a little bit of suggestive comments. Author’s note: Just a little Drabble that I came up with last night after I had seen Jungkook live <3
I've been missing Jungkook like crazy that I feel almost a bit neglected. I know he's been busy working overseas but it seems like he hasn't really had time for me. He explained that he has a lot of things he has to accomplish while he's there but I can't help but miss him even more.
I feel like my hormones have been all out of wack for the past few days so that probably what's caused me to feel so needy, and with neediness that isn't taken care of comes insecurity. I kick my feet in frustration laying in the middle of our bed and pout for the zillionth time today. "I miss you" I say aloud hoping he might hear me. 
*buzz buzz*
My train of thought is interrupted by the sound of my phone vibrating on my nightstand next to me. I flip over to check who it might be and quickly answer without a second glance.
"Kook!" I say so happy but still feeling upset at the fact that he can't be here. "How's my girl doing?" he says with a calm tone but still smiling, happy to see me too. "I miss you" is all I can say not really wanting to say how sad I've been but he can probably tell by my body language.
"Aw baby I miss you too" he says setting the phone down on the table in his hotel room and taking a seat. "Have you eaten yet?" I ask seeing how worn down he looks. "No I skipped my meals today" he says owning up to his negligence.
"Baby! You can't be doing that!" I scold, upset that he hasn't been taking care of himself. "It's okay, we had a huge company dinner last night and I also had to go out to lunch with a few of our clients before that too so I've been eating plenty, don't worry" he says with a sluggish smile.
"Are you sure you're okay?" I question again still concerned for him. "I'm fine love, I promise, I'm just really tired from all the work that we've been doing here. Plus my boss said that if I finish up with all of the tasks that I've been assigned that I could probably come home a few days early" he smiles as he sees my eyes light up at the thought of him coming home.
"Really?" I question, so hopeful that that'll be the case. "Really really" he says admiring me as much as he's able to through the screen. "What time is it over there?" I ask too tired to check my clock app where I had saved the timezone he was in this time. "It's pretty late" he says simply, not giving a clear answer.
"Well shouldn't you be going to bed then?" I say now concerned that I might be keeping him up. "No no I'm okay, I wanna talk to my girl for a bit. I've been so busy lately that I haven't been able to call you these past few day" he says pouting at me. "I hope you know how much I think about you" he says playing with his fingers on the table, feeling shy at his sudden confession
"Baby..." I let out about to tell him the same but he continues. "You know that I'm doing all of this for you right? You're my number one priority, don't forget that" he says tilting his head and paying close attention to me again.
"Are you trying to make me cry over here?" I say laughing as I feel myself start to tear up at his sentiments. "No that wasn't my intention but you know I think you look so pretty when you cry, especially when you're laying under me and I-" "Jungkook" I say getting embarrassed by his sudden switch up.
He chuckles a bit at my reaction and continues "Sorry love I just wanted to make sure you weren't really gonna cry" he says smiling at me cheekily. "Anyways I have a surprise for you when I come home!" he says with a big bunny smile.
"A surprise? What kind? You know you don't have to get me something every time you go away right?" I say giggling at his clear excitement.
"Trust me you're gonna want this one" he continues scrunching up his nose. "Cryptic but okay" I say and laugh it off and changing the subject. 
"What have you guys been doing over there? Is everything running smoothly?" I question laying on my side and propping the phone up on the nightstand so I can lay down comfortably.
"Yeah everything is fine but I don't wanna talk about work right now, I wanna know how you're doing. What have you been up to?" he asks and grabs a mug of ice and starts to poor himself a Highball, no doubt in an effort to help him wind down.
I start telling him about the things I've been doing since the last time we spoke, I don't really get up to much except for the part time job I got not too long ago at a little boutique downtown. I insisted on getting it so I could have something to occupy my time even thought he didn't like it.
He has assured me time and time again that I don't need to work since he makes enough money for the both of us but I said I wanted to at least be able to take care of any personal expenses I may have like when I go out shopping on my own, it's the least I could do.
I'm not a gold digger and I don't intend on living off of my boyfriend even though he always tells me that he wishes I would rely on him more. 
"You really like that job don't you?" he smile sleepily. I nod my head "Yeah the ladies that work there are so nice and the customers are so sweet as well! It's nice to be able to get out of the house and be productive with my time" I say and snuggle under the covers even more.
"Well what about if we decide to have a baby? Would you still want to work there?" he asks out of the blue.
"I'm sorry what?" I say jolting up and fully facing my body towards the camera. "I'm just asking hypothetically if we had decided to have a baby one day would you still want to work or would you finally let me take care of you?" he clarifies.
We've talked about having children in the past but it's been a few years since that topic has been brought up. "You want to have a baby together still right?" he asks now sounding a bit insecure.
"Oh my gosh baby yes, yes of course I do! I'm sorry you just caught me off guard that's all" I say rushing to answer, not wanting him to feel like I don't want the same thing.
"Remember though marriage first then babies" I say and he laughs at my old fashioned ways. "I know I'm just checking, we haven't talked about that stuff in a while and it's been on my mind lately" he admits. 
"What made you suddenly start to think about it?" I question, curious to see where his head is at. "I don't know, I think I've just noticed a lot of young couples with kids lately and it reminded me how much I want that for us" he says starting to get a bit shy with the alcohol clearly taking it's toll on him.
"We would make some pretty cute babies huh?" I say going to lay back down. "Yeah we would" he says nodding in agreement, "I'm looking forward to the process of making one with you though more than anything" he says sporting a cheeky smile yet again. I give him a glare, clearly not amused with the taunting since we aren't able to act on it yet.
"Jeon Jungkook" I say in a warning tone, "Okay that's the last one I swear I won't tease you anymore" he says giggling clearly satisfied with my reaction. 
We continue on with our call for a few more minutes before Jungkook makes his way over to his bed and mirrors me once he finally lies down. We continue on mumbling sleepily to each other before he decides we should call it a night and we end the call after a few 'I love yous' and 'sweet dreams'.
Jungkook gets up to check on the surprise one more time and crouches down on the floor to unzip his carry on bag and dig for the little box sitting at the bottom of it.
Opening it he sees the gorgeous engagement ring he had ordered for you months ago and ended up being one of the many tasks he had to carry out over seas. It worked out in his favor that his business trip ended up being in the same city that he had to go to to pick up the ring. 
"Please say yes" he pleads to himself, desperate to hear your answer, but in his heart he knows that you want nothing more than to spend the rest of your life together. 
Wanna see the proposal? Read Thinking about Us <3
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hoesandnuggs · 1 year
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"A Williamson would never wear sky blue!"
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You knew at the time she was teasing you. You'd asked her to wear your jersey to your game, she's refused, so you'd asked if she'd wear it just for you, wishing to see your surname on her back. She'd refused again.
Her words had stuck for years though, ringing through your head as you continued life with her.
You'd never asked her to move to Manchester, even on the days where you'd missed her terribly.
In fact, after you were married, and you'd taken her surname, you never played with it on your back, no matter how much you wanted to.
"A Williamson would never wear sky blue!"
And you were a Williamson now, you wouldn't disgrace her by having her family name on the back of your shirt.
She'd never really thought anything of it, never asked you why you hadn't changed your name. Your wedding was pretty much the last week before preseason started, she'd just assumed you hadn't had enough time to put it through, and with you being a fan favourite, you wouldn't have wanted to disappoint the fans who had bought your shirt by changing your name.
She couldn't help but be a bit disappointed when you didn't correct the girls when they still referred to you as 'y/l/n'. She wanted you to tell them that you were a Williamson now, that you were proud to be hers. She couldn't help but scour her brain for any moment where she forced you into taking her name over yours, or double barreling. She couldn't think of anything.
She was even more hurt when it came to the Euros, and you still had 'Y/L/N' on the back of your shirt. She didn't ask you about it though, she didn't want to admit her hurt to you, or to seemingly force you to change it if you didn't want to. You'd been successful in your career as 'Y/L/N' and maybe you had just wanted to continue with that.
You didn't discuss your move to Arsenal with her, you wanted to surprise her. She knew you'd been upset with some management decisions at City as of late, with many of your friends leaving the club. She also knew you'd been talking to other clubs, you'd told her if City didn't know your worth someone else would. She thought it was just you trying to pressure City into giving you the contract you wanted.
"Can I steal you for a second Leah? We've got a new signing in and I thought you might like to do an introduction?" One of the staff members asked Leah as she'd finished getting changed about to head into the physio room to check out her ankle.
"Yeah of course,"she said following her to the press room.
She didn't really know what to expect, but she didn't expect you, with a blank Arsenal jersey on the table in front of you.
"Y/n?" she asked, the tears starting to well up in her eyes.
"Surprise baby," you said with a smile, opening up your arms for her to fall into. Her emotion was expected, especially when there had been conversations about never being able to play for another club, but here you were, swapping your sky blue for red, for her.
"Are you sure?" She asked you, once the camera had been put away and it was just the two of you left in the room.
"Never been more sure of anything. I'm ready for the next step with you, I want us to be a real family. Speaking of which, I have a question to ask you." You said. She could feel the nerves radiating off you and nodded at you, encouraging you to ask.
You pointed to the blank shirt on the table beside your contract.
"Any chance there could be two Williamson's at Arsenal?" Your question confused her, it was your name now too, you didn't need to ask. You'd legally signed your new contract as 'Y/n Williamson', why wouldn't you be able to play with your surname on your back?
"Love, what's all this about?" She asked, concern evident as your head dropped.
"A Williamson would never wear sky blue," you said, your wife's heart sinking in her chest with every word.
"Oh darling," she wrapped you into her arms as tightly as she could, feeling the tears fall down her cheeks as she felt you sob in her arms.
"That's why you never changed your shirt after we got married," she said, finally realizing it wasn't you, it was her.
Her words had made you think that you'd never be able to wear your married name on the back of your shirt whilst you were still in Manchester.
"Please tell me that's not the reason you moved to Arsenal?" She pushed you out of her arms to ask you, forcing you to look her in the eyes as you answered.
"No, no. I was being truthful when I said I want to take the next step. You're my wife, I don't want to be a 4 hour drive away from you, I don't want weekly FaceTime dates when I could be here in your arms. I want this, I want you." You reassured, putting your hands into hers.
"I love you. I love you so much, and you are the only Williamson that I'd ever allow to play in sky blue. I wouldn't have married you if I thought any different." Her words easing any doubts you'd felt about taking her last name, although it probably didn't matter to much now.
She wrapped her arms around your waist once more, linking and rested on your lower back.
"Although, I have admit, you've never looked better in red. And you'll look even better with our name on the back of your shirt."
Her lips met yours briefly and lightly.
"Shall we go home and celebrate, Mrs Williamson?" She asked, a mischievous glint in her eyes.
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turtletaubwrites · 5 months
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Touching What's Yours ~ Part 2
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This story started with a request from @punkclowngutz found HERE. Thank you again for the request! 🙏🏼 This follows the poly fic 'We've All Got Needs' series linked below through Part 6.5, then diverges from there into an alternate story. It may continue after this part if people enjoy it, so let me know what you think!
Pairings: Zoro x Sanji, Sanji x Fem!Reader, Zoro x Fem!Reader
Word Count: 2344
We've All Got Needs Masterlist
Ao3 Link
Summary: You have a casual arrangement with Zoro and Sanji, but Zoro is not happy about sharing. He confronted Sanji last night, but their encounter was more intense than expected. Sanji wants to tell, but Zoro wants him to keep his mouth shut.
Rating/Warnings: Explicit Sexual Content, 18+ Only, MDNI, Reader Insert, Polyamory, Relationship Discussions, Relationship Drama, Swearing, Angst, Mild Violence, Alcohol, Shame, Smut (no smut occurs in this part, but there are memories and brief descriptions of smut), Possessive Behavior, Cigarettes, They're Gross, Don't Smoke, Anger, Zoro's Bad At Feelings, Sanji's Better But He's Still A Little Shit
A/N: I hope you enjoy it!
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“And I thought you didn’t want me touching what’s yours.”
Zoro fucking ran from the cook’s smile, those taunting words searing through him.
What the fuck?
Sleep evaded him, most of the night was spent pacing in his small quarters, smacking fists against his head to try to shake this night from reality.
But it was real, and Zoro was wrecked. He managed to sleep fitfully for a bit, but nightmares and memories had mixed, hunting him into the morning.
The moans you made while you let him fuck you in the kitchen.
The cook’s red, swollen lips after Zoro pulled away from him. 
Why the fuck did I do that?
Zoro cringed every time his mind brought up images, and fucking feelings, of the dumbass waiter’s mouth. 
How he’d forced him to his knees, and Sanji had just taken it.
“Fuck off,” he snarled at himself, hating the way his body was reacting.
I was just pissed, he put me over the edge when he-
His mental excuses were pushed aside at the thought of you. 
Needy.
Sick panic poured through him. It filled his body like molasses, sticky, heavy, and overwhelming.
He’s just trying to take her from me. He’s been fucking with me and my shit since he got here. 
I’ll show her. Needy’s mine. She won’t want that fucking pervert after tonight.
But first, Zoro rushed to the showers to wash the shame off his skin.
~
Sanji was already in the galley, humming to himself as he prepped vegetables for omelettes. 
The memory of the beautiful faces you made while moaning his name, coming on his tongue, milking his cock with your perfect pussy… He had to set his knife down and breathe, shoving a few large utensils and a pepper grinder in his apron pocket to hide the evidence of his thoughts. 
Then his mind turned to the other events of the evening, and his grin shifted, a wicked smirk taking over as he bit his lower lip. 
That fucking idiot, Marimo.
How easy it had been to rile him up, how recklessly the swordsman had shoved his cock down his throat. It was too fucking good. 
Sanji didn’t usually pursue men, especially shitheads like that swordsman, but now that he’d tasted how desperate Zoro was, he couldn’t resist the thought of pushing him again. 
I wonder how well he slept last night.
When Zoro finally arrived, he stood by the door, avoiding eye contact with everyone as he waited for you. 
You were the last to the galley, with darkened eyes, yawning as you moved toward the crew. 
Zoro followed, taking your usual spot at the end of the table so that Sanji couldn’t lean into you like he had the day before.
Zoro regretted that choice almost instantly.
He gripped onto your thigh under the table, wishing he could just pick you up and carry you out of here. Out of the room he heard you moaning in last night. 
Sanji brought a caramel latte made just for you, with a flower design in the foam.
He wanted to pamper you, but couldn’t resist the urge to fuck with Zoro at the same time.
All he did was brush his hand along Zoro’s arm as he stepped away, but the look on his face was worth it.
Zoro’s skin was burning from the brush of that pervert’s fingers. He caught his own fingers digging into your thigh, and he had to let out a breath as he loosened his grip.
He’s trying to fuck with me. He’s trying to take my place. I’m not gonna let him. I’m gonna fuck the memory of him out of you tonight. 
Sanji watched you enjoy the meal he’d made for you, loving the way your eyes fluttered closed when you’d take a bite. 
Your eyes that looked exhausted, heavy. 
Did I keep her up too late last night? Or has that brute been wearing her out too much? 
As the table cleared, you practically ran out of the room while Sanji tried to pull Zoro aside. 
Zoro shouldered past him, following you out on deck. Catching you in an adorable stretch, he breathed along your neck.
“You’re coming to my room tonight.”
Sanji kept his distance as he pulled out a cigarette, enjoying how cute you looked as you yawned in Zoro’s face. 
“I can’t tonight, Zoro. I need to get some rest.”
“What, now that cook treats you like a little princess, and you don’t want to fuck me?”
Sanji watched you take a small step back at those words, and his body was filled with fire. He lit his cigarette, done playing with this asshole.
“I believe the lady told you she wanted a break, Marimo.”
Zoro’s hand was on his sword as he turned, while Sanji found his stance.
Your voice was probably the only thing that could have stopped them at that moment. Unfortunately, neither of them could hear you now over the sounds of swords, kicks, and rage filled words. 
“You don’t know what she needs, waiter.”
“I think she might disagree with you, moss head.”
Zoro growled as he slashed two swords out, grunting in frustration as Sanji blocked with his fancy fucking shoes. 
You stopped yelling at them as the rest of the crew came to watch. Nami held your hand, rolling her eyes since she was in on the secret. 
“You’ve been after my spot since you got here, you piece of shit cook.”
“You really don’t have anything in that thick skull of yours, do you?”
The dance between them got faster, while the crew sat back and watched. The boys fought often enough that it didn’t seem serious, but you still wanted to throw both of them overboard before the secret came out. 
“You just had to touch her when you found out she was mine. You couldn’t keep your hands to yourself.”
“You’re one to talk, Marimo. I’ve still got bruises on my knees from last night.”
Zoro’s vision went red at the sight of Sanji’s taunting smirk, and his reckless attack landed him with a brutal kick to the face.
Before he could fly forward with Sanji’s death in his eyes, an arm stretched out, wrapping around his stomach three times. He was pulled backwards as he seethed, practically foaming at the mouth. 
“Zoro, Zoro!”
His captain’s voice broke through his mind enough, but Zoro was still itching to hurt the cook, especially as Sanji inched toward you. 
“This looks like a real fight. I’ll let you go if you need to, but if it’s important, I need to know what my crew is fighting about first.”
“Yeah, what the hell were you guys talking about,” Usopp asked from a safe distance. 
“Marimo’s just been having trouble keeping his swords to himself lately.”
You hissed at Sanji to stop while Luffy grunted, holding Zoro back. 
Zoro’s eyes finally left the cook, and fell onto your face. He didn’t hear a word anyone said while he stared into your eyes. Your tired eyes, with your brows tensed, shoulders slumping as you looked at him. 
She doesn’t want me. I fucked it all up. Everything.
Zoro sheathed his swords, avoiding eyes while Luffy released him. No words broke through his fog as he stormed away. 
Hiding in my room like a fucking coward.
Sanji frowned as he watched that green head walk away, leaving the crew to turn on him for answers. 
He caught your glare before explaining.
“We, uh... We had a disagreement.”
“No shit,” Nami snorted, rolling her eyes.
You couldn’t take it, not caring about being discreet after all of that, so you grabbed Sanji’s hand and dragged him, pushing him to climb to the crows nest.  
“What the fuck, Sanji?”
“I’m so sorry, ma belle, are you alright?”
Sanji’s eyes poured over your features. You looked wrecked, the past week all piling onto you now. He grabbed your fingers, trying to bring them to his lips, but you pulled them away. 
Your beautiful face that had looked at him with such softness and need last night, was angry now, and pinched from exhaustion. 
I’m going to kill that fucking idiot swordsman. 
“This is supposed to be casual. I can’t do this if it’s going to hurt the crew.”
“I know, sweetheart. I just don’t believe Zoro understands.”
“You were egging him on, Sanji,” you said, furrowing your brows. 
Sanji couldn’t help but think of how adorable you looked scolding him. He shook his head slightly as you continued. 
“What did you say that made him fly off the handle? Something about bruises?”
Sanji’s eyes went wide, mind flying through every possible outcome of telling you the truth or not. 
He took too long. 
“Sanji, this is already not fucking worth it. I need to know what’s going on, or I’m out.”
“W-Wait, please, darling,” he whispered, reaching for your hand again. He let out a relieved breath as you let him hold it, stroking his thumbs along the back of your hand. 
You stared at him, waiting.
Fuck, I really am going to kill that green headed asshole if he fucks this up for me. 
“I don’t believe Zoro understands, or, um… accepts that you aren’t exclusive.”
You fell back, leaning against the railing with a sigh. 
“I really wish he’d use his words.”
“Ha, I don’t think that’s one of his strong suits.”
He resisted as you took your hand back, sudden fear coursing through him.
What if she decides to be with him, only him?
~
Zoro didn’t know what time it was. He knew he was hungry. Just not hungry enough to go to the galley yet. 
You eventually knocked on his door, muttering his name softly through the wood. He stared at the door as if he could see you through it. But he couldn’t open it.
The image of you taking a step back from him at his harsh words played on a loop.
I don’t deserve to be with her. 
I don’t need her anyway.
It finally felt like late enough that he would be free to roam. Zoro crept out of his quarters, on alert, as if he was trapped in enemy territory. 
He rested his head against the wall by the galley door, battling his memories of the night before as he listened.
Just need some food and some booze. Mostly booze.
Hearing nothing inside, he pushed softly through the door.
He was greeted with the orange spark of Sanji’s cigarette being lit, and the weight of that blue eye that wasn’t hidden under all that stupid blonde hair. 
“There you are. We should really talk before we speak with Y/N tomorrow.”
Sanji leaned back as he exhaled, blowing smoke across the table as he gestured to a seat. As well as a bottle of sake he’d left out. 
Zoro’s stomach tied up in knots, but he knew this needed to happen. They needed to talk, to put things right with you.
He moved toward the table, hesitating before sitting down. 
Sanji rolled his eyes, pouring two glasses of sake while he waited. 
Zoro slid in, fighting his desire to pummel the blonde.
The burn of alcohol on both of their tongues wasn’t nearly enough. Sanji poured two more before Zoro took the bottle, taking a few swigs while the cook shook his head. 
Silence hung around them, Zoro staring at the table, still fighting his memories. Sanji finally broke it, putting out his cigarette as he leaned forward.
“Marimo, I’m not trying to fuck with you. Right now anyway,” he said, with just a hint of a tease in his voice. “I won’t tell the crew, but I hope you know that it’s not a big deal if you like men.”
Zoro ground his teeth together, fists clenching on the table as he continued trying to listen. 
“But I don't feel comfortable entering into this relationship with Y/N, however casual, with any lies. And sucking her other lover’s cock feels like quite the secret to me.” 
“Don’t you fucking tell her,” Zoro growled, finally meeting his gaze with rage bubbling behind his eyes.
Sanji tilted his head, exhaling a long breath as he tapped his fingers on the wooden table.
“See, you’ve put me in an uncomfortable position. Two nights in a row now,” he couldn’t help but tease, the corner of his mouth raising just a bit. 
“I would normally honor your request, but I can’t keep a secret like this from her. We’re all agreeing to be open and honest with each other. Is that something you can do?”
Sanji tried, really tried not to smirk as he watched Zoro falling apart. 
“Fuck,” Zoro breathed, taking a long drink off the bottle, rocking forward a bit as he fought his urge for violence. Your face filled his mind, your smile, your tired eyes, your step back…
It wasn’t supposed to mean anything. It wasn’t supposed to be a big deal. 
But I don’t want it to stop. 
Sanji interrupted his thoughts, sucking his teeth before speaking.
“You know, Marimo… With this arrangement, if we’re honest, you and I could-”
Sanji had raised his brows, a wicked smile touching those soft lips, before Zoro’s rage flew back.  
“Shut your mouth.”
The cook sat back in his seat, still smiling as he ran his hand through his hair. He watched the veins popping out on the swordsman’s arms as he clenched his fists, remembering the veins he’d felt slamming along his tongue.
“Hm, I think you helped me with that last night.”
With a growl, Zoro stood from the table, pacing as he took the bottle with him.
“Would you fucking stop, you dumbass waiter? I don’t fucking want you. I just want Needy…”
The cook watched him as he stopped moving, closing his eyes as he confessed. A half true confession, Sanji thought, while Zoro took another long swig. 
“You really want to be with her, don’t you?”
“Shut up, cook.”
“Maybe you're not such an idiot after all.”
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Thank You for Reading! 💜
TurtleTaub Fanfic Masterlist
We've All Got Needs Masterlist
A/N: I got a lot of requests for a second part. Let me know if you'd like a third!
Tag List: @astheni-a
Buy me a coffee ☕🙏🏼
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8-rae-rae-8 · 2 months
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Every part of his life was like one big file with most of it blacked out.
From being given his status as a little, to the military, to being locked away with Roba, to be safely helped back home.
Blacked out.
The military was a steady place for the longest time for him. Simon Riley being forced down long enough to be the Ghost instead.
Sometimes Simon peeked through though. The job was stressful and scary, himself calling out to put an end to it and resign. After all, he'd be given his honors anyways. Dying on the battlefield looked less and less appealing every day.
Simon forced his way out of his familiar bubble and back into the Ghost. No skill ever left, but softness was in his eyes as he handed in the papers to Price.
Resigning.
He was a risk to have on the battlefield, Simon wasn't concealed like the Ghost. He was raw and hard to handle, crying out for someone that would hold him- just for a minute, that's what he wanted... There was no one to hold him when it mattered. He had to give up this life. It wasn't even a life he had. There were only teammates and never real friend connections.
He loved Price and Gaz with his whole heart, he did. But something was missing. He had no home. No place to settle down for the night and feel happy to be in. Nothing for when the little side took over his head, nothing for the way he'd cry out for someone, anyone, to love him like he did.
Until Johnny. A man that carefully worked at training the rowdiest of pets, a man that cared for any living being, a man who would much rather work on nurturing rather than spilling blood. Simon has enough blood on his hands for the both of them...
Johnny was gentle, walking Simon around a shelter to show him all of the critters they had. A small dog caught his eye.
"the runt of the litter, poor guy hasn't grown an inch since he was 8 months old." Johnny spoke with such adoration and love about these pets. Simon could only think about if he'd be so soft to him too. Sure, the mohawk was stupid and he looked a little rough around the edges, but everything screamed to Simon that he was safe. Even in the thirty minutes they'd been talking and walking around the shelter.
"tell me about him." Simon simply requested.
"Well, he's the dumbest one we've got. Slobbers all over after drinking water. But he's so sweet. Dumb as a rock, but the sweetest boy ever. He likes sitting on laps, he likes going on runs. He likes to pick up his bed and move it all around.. not allowed squeaky toys, he inhales a speaker once and had to have surgery to get it out." Johnny talked and talked, but Simon hardly heard it. He nodded along but he was thinking about Johnny more than the dog. The way he smiled when he spoke. The way he swayed side to side ever so slightly... His mannerisms quite endearing.
"Cute dog.." Simon murmured when he realized Johnny stopped talking.
"Something on yer mind?" Johnny asked him, softer.
Simon blinked at the question. Being called sir after so long felt awkward, to say the least. Especially by a man he was interested in.
"Are you- do you.. uhm. Are you single?" Simon stuttered out. A blush rose on his mask covered cheeks. What was he doing?
"Aye, I am. Ye interested?" It was a joke, mostly, Simon could tell. But Johnny kept smiling so sweetly.
"Yeah." Simon cleared his throat. "I'm interested..."
"Take me on a date sometime, I'm always here."
And boy did he. Simon wasn't the romantic type, but he got the funds to take Johnny to dinner somewhere. A place not too expensive but still nice. Johnny never faltered, a sweet man with pretty much everything in his life. Lots of potential, and a bit of blood on his hands too.
From what they talked about, Johnny got injured in the field. A previous military man as well. Bones Shattered just under his knee, making him unable to continue the service with something that would inevitably cause chronic pain.
The pieces of each other slotted together much easier than expected.
One date turned into another, then one every weekend, then one every other day... Then moving in together.
Simon was yet to spill his classification. But he knew Johnny was a caregiver, he didn't have to ask but was told anyway. Sweet as honey.
Johnny was too sweet, Simon would complain but nothing comforted him more than him softly talking him down. He did it like it was the easiest thing.
Regressing got harder the longer he forced it down. He wasn't The Ghost anymore, he could relax, but something in him clogged it up like a dam.
"Johnny?" Simon called one day from the bathroom where he had just gotten out of the bath. An old injury worked up and he had needed help minutes ago, so Johnny rushed in with concern. Simon simply laughed softly.
"Are ye okay?? If ye tweaked yer leg again, 'm just gunna cut it off at this point." Johnny joked, getting them both chuckling at each other.
"I'm fine- I.. I actually wanted to talk to you.. about my.. classification." Simon's voice quieted once the laughter faded out. The room was still for a moment, Johnny leaning on the side of the doorframe.
"what about it? I mean, I want to know, but it's not a big deal." Johnny's arms crossed slightly, still smiling as he watched Simon sit on the toilet lid to dry off better.
"it is, Johnny.. a big deal, I mean." Simon sighed. "Everything will change, you'll see me different-" He looked down as he carefully dried his hair.
"Bullshit, come on. Ye're the strongest man I know, and that's saying something. Just tell me, and we'll sort it out so ye're not worryin'." Johnny said, a little rushed but somehow as caring as ever.
"I'm a little, Johnny. It's.. a big thing for some people, you'd probably want to break up with me, so I was thinking you could save the shit about it not being me-" Simon began to ramble, his eyes focused so low on the ground that he didn't see Johnny step up.
Two warm hands grasped his cheeks, tilting his head up. A kiss was pressed onto his forehead.
"I'm not breaking up with ye, Si. Promise. Ye're so brave for telling me, yeah? Don't sweat it, love." Soap brushed his thumbs over Simon's cheekbones.
Simon nearly froze, his breath hitching in his throat.
"what?" He asked softly.
“I said, ye’re brave for tellin’ me, and ‘m proud of ye… I can see why ye’d be scared, but ‘m not goin’ anywhere.” Johnny murmured to him, adding another kiss to his forehead as a bit of emphasis. 
Simon almost melted then and there. His hardened exterior softening as he pressed his face against the chapped lips on his forehead as a silent plea to stay. The hands were gently moved to cradle his head against his chest, stroking through his damp hair . 
“That’s it, I’m so so proud of you…” 
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exhausted-archivist · 10 months
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Concept Art Moments and Ideas: What I Wish Was Kept
Pretty sure we've all been there. Seen some of the concept art and thought how cool it was and how much you wish it had made it in the final game. These are some of mine, I won't go too much into why they're not in the game, the answer is usually either one of the following or a combination of: they needed to narrow the scope of the project, frostbite was a new engine they were struggling to make do what they needed, time, they didn't feel it had enough narrative weight or purpose, or it would make the world states branch out far too much.
I'm not really wanting to discuss whether or not I agree with cutting them either. I just really think these are neat concept, ones I've thought out how they would fold in, possible ways they could have played out, and some that personally I have worked into my fic just to fully explore the ideas.
Most of the images that don't have a source link came from either the art book or the BioWare Stories and Secrets From 25 Years of Game Development (B25) book.
Now lets start with the most common one:
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[Source]
I'm know others have said this, but I really wish that it had been feasible for you to become Divine. Though, honestly this only would have really worked as decision at the end of the series. While personally in my canon world state I don't have anyone I would want to put in that role. I do have an OC who I did design for that and would have been nice to see it play out. Especially come Trespasser.
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These are story boards from the art book of the prologue walk through Haven. The voice lines for this are still in the game files even though they're cut. Something I always wanted in the prologue was something to actually motivate me. There is no real sense of danger, and the walk through Haven hold no real weight. It's mostly telling and no showing, it feels hollow after your first play-through where you aren't curious and uncertain. It honestly would have been interesting to me if this was in there and if there were non-standard ending option outside of combat. Provoking the scared survivors to where they mob you, a timer on the mark instead of just the one check point. If it started draining your health the longer you took to get to the Breach. Things that could easily be removed if you decreased the difficulty level and wouldn't impact the game overly much.
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[Left Dragon Age Art Book, Right World of Thedas vol. 2 p. 245]
To continue on with my desire for the steaks in Inquisition to be more intense, for you to actually feel some type of risk or hostility from the world. These two are more of an expansion on the attack on Haven. I wish Corypheus was given a more dramatic entrance than being seen on the hill with his Commander. That when he arrived to scoop you up, that it was more ominous and threatening. Something to illustrate as him having this overwhelming presence and force.
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In Hushed Whispers had the concept art of King Alistair going with you and honestly, I feel like it is a missed opportunity. Not only would it make sense but there is a sort of thematic element with Alistair once again having to save Redcliffe from a mage. I think this also could have worked if he was king or warden. If he was a warden, it would have been a very nice way to tie in the Warden plot for Alistair and even Loghain. Would have really given the Inquisitor a reason to care about choosing between them or Hawke in the Fade.
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[Source]
Matt Rhodes labeled this as Anders in the tags, and I am really intrigued by this prospect. We know by the end of DA2 if he's alive he doesn't have many friends with the displaced mages of Kirkwall after awhile. It would have been nice for him to come back in that Warden role they were considering for the cancelled Exalted March DLC. But what really makes me curious, is why he's out in what we might think is the Western Approach/Hissing Wastes and what happened to his missing right arm.
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Alternatively, another scenario I would have liked to see with Anders comes from the B25 book. We see they explored the idea of Anders, as a Grey Warden in the cancelled Exalted March DLC. Honestly, I feel as if he would return regardless of if you killed him or not because we know that Justice can and has prevented fatal injuries from killing Anders before. This could have been an interesting thread to not only pull his story to an end in dai, but also introduce the Warden contact instead of the ones we had. Because he was on the run and the Wardens would offer a degree of protection so he would be unwillingly forced to return, couple that with him knowing of Corypheus - which would likely be the thing that forced the Wardens to keep him alive once they found his prison empty.
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This is Western Approach concept art, specifically this was suppose to be Adamant. Matt Rhodes describes that it was suppose to be a monastery, self-sustaining, and a place where they could cultivate their own food, weave their own fabrics. It would have been interesting to be able to see it like this, to see the game use this to not only explore how the Wardens survived out here but also how they recovered the fortress after it was wrecked in Asunder. It would have tied in nicely with exploring the fact that the reversal of Tranquility was found here, a fact known to everyone in game at this point (they just didn't know the Seekers hid it from the Chantry and mages). It would have been an excellent way to fold in Rhys, Evangeline, flesh out Cole's backstory and personal quest, and even show another side of the mages - the ones who didn't want to be involved in the war and fled to the Wardens.
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Two Words: Giant. Scorpion.
Look how massive that is. I love mega fauna so much. I want something massive to be living in the Hissing Wastes and I want this to be fighting dragons. It would have been amazing. Look at the boards they put out.
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I want to believe this is for the Western Approach given the ground type and the smoke in the background. If this thing was guarding the sulfur fields by Griffon Keep? It would have been epic. Or even if we saw it fighting the Abyssal dragon. Honestly, I think more areas should have had a competing predator for the dragons to be fighting. It would have been cooler if they kept great bears (previously known as Dragon Bears) at their massive size to fight a dragon in the Emerald Graves too.
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That said, this scorpion concept gets even better when you see the concept art for smaller versions being Venatori mounts.
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How do you not get stabbed bud? How do you domesticate/train this? What is the intelligence of this little critter? I can just picture a play on the scorpion and the frog happening here. This would have been really cool as mini-bosses or something of that nature. Particularly around the ruins, Venatori operations, or raids against the keeps.
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Another piece from B25, we see new concept art of the Inquisitor leaving Skyhold with the Inquisition as Skyhold is destroyed in the background. We learned from David Gaider that at one point Skyhold was actually suppose to be attacked by Corypheus, but it ended up being cut due to time/scope. This is something I wish they kept, having your second base attack, you home at the point where you felt the strongest and potentially after a recent victory.
It would have reminded the player that Corypheus and his commander, Calpernia or Samson, were a real and active threat. Something missing from Inquisition honestly. It would have been interesting to see if we had to find a new base of operations or if we had to rebuild. When first settling in Skyhold everyone mentions being able to see the enemy coming, about not retreating from Skyhold. They really built up an expectation that at the very least a scare of an attack would happen.
There would have been a sort of poetic sense to Skyhold being leveled. Considering it is of Fereldan make, built on top of a leveled elven site. To have the site once again leveled, the history brought back to its foundations. It would have been a thematic foreshadowing to what Solas plans to do as well.
These are clearly just things I found interesting, things I feel would have really added to the game, and some others might not agree with. There are other things I wish they hadn't cut, but I didn't want to include anything that has been post-humorously mentioned by the devs because I wanted to focus more on the concept art aspect. A lot of decisions were shaped by circumstances we'll never really know the full scope of, and sometimes I wonder if they had gotten more than the 3-4 years they had for Inquisition and maybe on an engine that wasn't so fickle and worked better for the style of game how different it would have been.
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