#i love love LOVE whenever Cooper gets deep about the characters

[thepaintedlady00]

Burden

Chapter 14 |

Chapter 15: Forget Me Not

TW: some awkwardness, confusing visions, Daniel makes an appearance, mentions of major character death and spoilers for the comics, a bit of Dark!Munin, The Fates, some intense memories and mentions of violence, pain, and allusions to assault, a bit of trickster god energy (I'm not super familiar with Puck and Loki from the comics, so please don't crucify me if they're not great!), threats, some cryptic shit from Destiny, a pretty big revelation, and finally, some soft fluffy goodness to give our story a happy end before the rewrite.

I really struggled with this last chapter! 😅 I think because I already know I'm going to rewrite it the words just didn't wanna cooperate with me and I'm overall not super thrilled with how it came out. I do really hope y'all still enjoy it and are looking forward to getting the rewrite whenever I have the time to get that going. Thank you all so much for your love, support and patience with this series!

Awkward felt like an inadequate word to describe the stiff silence that now consumed Hector's home. You quietly took a sip of your drink, eyes darting back and forth between the two men as they stared one another down across the living room. You’d quietly hoped that the two would use this time to let go of the strenuous circumstances they’d previously met under.

Hector finally leaned back and spoke, “Make any pregnant women cry today?”

Or not…

Dream’s face tensed slightly, but his voice was steady as he replied, “No.”

“You could’ve given us a minute to say a proper goodbye, you know,” Hector insisted with a sneer. “She had to go through so much all alone… we didn’t even get a chance to talk about baby names. I don’t… I don’t even know how they’re doing.”

This made Morpheus soften, and for a moment, you wondered if he was thinking about his own son, that had been long lost to him. “Daniel. Your son's name is Daniel, and he is doing well. I’ve had my raven check in with them on occasion.”

Your friend smiled and looked out toward the trees. “Daniel. What about Lyta?”

“She’s been more…” Morpheus chose his word carefully. “Restless as of late. A just reaction, I suppose, after learning all she has.”

“Couldn’t you help her with that?” Hector asked. “Isn’t that your job or something?”

“I could, but she does not wish for my help.”

“Sounds like her,” his smile was soft and sad but filled with a restfulness you’d not seen in him for a long while. “Lyta was always the stubborn one between us.”

Morpheus glanced at you, an invisible smirk plain to your eyes. “A struggle I understand too well, spirit.”

Your eyes narrowed. “Are you calling me stubborn?”

“I said no such thing,” he insisted with a wicked gleam in his eyes that answered the question for him.

Turning your head away, you smiled at Hector. “Apologies for bringing up such painful memories. It was not my intent, my friend.”

He shook his head and waved your concern away. “It wasn’t so bad.”

Morpheus allowed the man to show him the home he’d built, taking in details he’d missed the first time in his haste, and, you thought, the two seemed less at odds with one another by the time you departed. Your beloved remained as long as he could, spending time with you to tell the children stories while you held Sirius and got lost in the sound of his silken voice. A loud screech and a string of curses echoed from the wood, bringing you and the Dream Lord to your feet, shielding as many ears as you could reach from the vile things being shouted.

The Corinthian stumbled out of the woods with Kat hot on his heels, talons bared and clawing at him with every swoop. Her feathers were ruffled, and the noises she made were ones you’d never heard before. “Kat!”

She heeded your voice, halting her attack on the nightmare to settle on a branch beside you. The Corinthian shook his clothes off, looking at the deep tear in his suit. “Your beast owes me a new suit!”

Kat’s eyes burned. “The only thing I owe you is a slow and painful death, nightmare.”

“What is the meaning of this?” You demanded as Morpheus distracted the children.

“Is this not the nightmare that betrayed you, my lady?”

“It is,” you answered honestly. “But he has been remade now. He will not hurt me again.”

“Once is more than enough,” She bit back. “This was something you knew once.”

Your eyes narrowed, and you tilted your head at her words. “What do you mean by this?”

Kat shook out her feathers. “Nothing, my lady. If you say the nightmare means no harm, then I shall trust you.”

“Thank you, Kat,” you answered, her words still rattling around your mind, but the golden owl took to the skies before you could question her further. 

The Corinthian bared his teeth at the shredded suit jacket. “Daunty, love the new realm and all, but you gotta get a tighter handle on your greeters.”

Rolling your eyes, you shook your head at him. “Relax. I’m sure your maker would happily repair your suit if you asked nicely.”

He scoffed. “I’d rather live with the tears.”

“Stubborn.”

“Always,” he replied with a grin. “So, you gonna give me the tour, or are you too busy for little nightmares now?”

Linking your arm with his, you smiled at Morpheus, who continued telling the children stories beside the fountain. “I always have time for you, dear Corinthian.”

*

It had been a few days since you’d spoken with Hector, but the sad look in his eyes when he’d mentioned not being able to see his son had stuck with you. You approached the young tree with a gentle touch and kind gaze upon the face carved into the trunk. Hector's son was still quite young, and his tree of memory reflected such. It was smaller than his mother's that stood beside it, but the roots were strong and ran far deeper than any mortal. Daniel, you quickly realized, was special. Different. Like you.

The face seemed to stare back at you, white leaves peeking out from beneath the lush green canopy. You approached slower, urging the roots to lift and open the young one's mind to you. His memories would be few, but there was no doubt much you could learn within them. Veins of white stood out in the darkness. Some roots, the ones that borrowed deeper, were pale and sung with power and immortality. The song of The Endless. But, the tune wasn't Dreams, or Deaths, or Desires. It was its own song, still unfinished.

You walked through the light, lush still forming along the walls of his memory, focusing on the memories he found joyful. You intended to share them with Hector, a gift to show your gratitude for his hard work and kindness. That, however, was not where the tree led you.

Stumbling into the blinking light, you found yourself kneeling in deep sand. Sand scratched your palms, sticking to you like sap, just as it had the first time. Except now that sand, once a deep void of black, was white. It sparked like tiny perfect crystals in your palms as you stood and looked out at the miles of glistening sand and bright cerulean waves.

You knew this beach better than any save its creator. You knew the placement of each stone and the feeling of the sand as it molded to your steps. This place felt different… All at once, the beach you knew and not. It was old and new and entirely confusing.

The fragile ground beneath your feet seemed to remember you as you walked toward where the Gates of Horn and Ivory should have been. The sand didn't swallow your feet or try to slow your steps. It felt as though you were walking on nothing at all. Before your eyes, the entrance stood, an entrance that was not the gates you knew at all.

Glossy white marble caught the light and cast an ethereal glow all around you. An aura of both light and color, beautiful and bright. The gates stood open, revealing a sight you'd grown to know well. "The Dreaming."

As you passed through, you admired the fine craftsmanship of the carvings in the marble gates. A story familiar and also not… Something that had not yet been told. Familiar things were more abundant here as you walked through the town and admired the dreamers. Dreams and Nightmares, old and new, greeted you like a friend and wished you good fortune as you made your way to the palace.

The regal and beautiful palace of The Dream Lord was quite similar to the one you’d known. Only some small changes in the stone and the statues caught your eyes, but as the doors opened to the throne room, a wave of unfamiliarity washed over you at the sight. The white marble of Dream’s palace was pristine in every sense of the word, reflecting the array of light and color that swirled around the room, drawing your gaze to the tiny crystals that hung in the air like drops of frozen rain. It was beautiful, marvelous, but not what you knew to be.

The stairway leading to the throne was wrong as well, far more winding and long, a path of almost transparent crystal. The stained glass windows above the throne shifted to reflect you, a perfect vision of white mist and black dogs and golden leaves. It was as if The Dreaming was trying to welcome you… trying to lull you into a feeling of peace or comfort at all that was not as it should be. And there, in the place of the throne, you knew Morpheus to have was something entirely not his. It looked far more organic, like a split geode holding an uncontainable cosmos of stars and cosmic clouds inside it. And sitting on that throne was a being that was not Dream of The Endless. Not your Dream.

The pale being lifted his head, and not a single strand of his cloudy white hair strayed. His black eyes consumed you entirely, two small slivers of starlight shining brighter as they looked upon you. The robes he wore were white, adorned with golden designs, and there, sitting proudly upon his chest, was a glowing emerald dreamstone.

“It is a great honor to meet you at last, Munin of the Emerald Wood.” His voice was silken and light, Dream’s but not his. 

“You are not my Dream… are you?” You asked with tears building in your eyes.

With a soft sigh, he rose from his throne slowly, almost as if he thought doing so any faster would scare you. “No, I suppose I am not.”

You didn’t dare look away from him as you asked, “Then who are you?”

“The name you would likely know me by is Daniel. Daniel Hall.”

Lies. “Daniel Hall is little more than a child. You could not possibly be him.”

“Not as you know him to be,” he said, slowly descending the winding staircase. “But, as you’ve already noticed, none of this is as it was. A future carved in stone, written in Destiny’s book of things, a future only you can stop.”

“Future?” You questioned, looking around at The Dreaming. “You mean to tell me I’ve stumbled into the future?”

“No,” Daniel replied with a light chuckle. “More of a vision.”

You watched him carefully as he stood before you, hands clasped and a soft, childlike smile on his lips. “So this is what is to come then? You mean to steal this realm from Morpheus?”

His brows furrowed. “I’ve stolen nothing. The Dreaming and the title Dream of the Endless was given to me by he who came before.”

“Morpheus would never just give his realm or his title away,” you insisted. “Unless…”

“He did all he could to stop it, but The Kindly Ones were relentless in their attack. His sacrifice saved The Dreaming and those that remained.” Daniel could see the pain in you, and with a sigh, he added. “He did not suffer. Death greeted him and showed him the way. He was at peace in the end.”

You shook your head, tears rolling down your cheeks. “And what of me? I did nothing while he perished?”

“There were… things complicating your involvement.” He shook his head. “It matters not. You are here now.”

“You’ve been expecting me?”

He smiled, chuckling softly. “No, more… hoping you would find a way here so we could speak.”

“Speak of what?”

"If the love you bare him is even a fraction of the love that lingers in me still…" he lifted a hand to your cheek. "Love he bore for you. Then you'll save him. You’ll ensure this future never has to be.”

With narrow eyes, you asked, “You would give up his power… his title, and his kingdom?”

Daniel nodded. “All I ever wished for was a normal life with my mother. Plots larger than me… Larger than him made that impossible. But you, you could change it.”

“How?”

“Seek out Loki and Puck. The end of your Dream Lord began with their plot and… my mother’s misguided actions.”

Loki and Puck - two tricksters that you’d only met in passing. Gods that were notoriously difficult to track down. “And how do you suggest I find them? They’re not known for making such easy.”

“Visit my mother,” he urged. “And myself, I suppose…” he chuckled again. “The two should be close by.”

You paused, listening to the faint sounds of The Forest calling you home. “What happens if I fail?”

Daniel only smiled, reaching out to lift your hand to his lips. “Then I hope this is not the last time we meet, Lady Munin. And that the next is under better circumstances.”

*

Lyta Hall lived in a modest apartment in a bustling city. Though you’d ventured into the mortal world before, it looked vastly different from what little you could remember. She was surrounded by those she loved, Rose Walker and Ged, and many familiar faces - faces you knew from memories alone. And while the apartment wasn’t large or lavish, she appeared to be happy aside from the large bags that hung beneath her eyes, telling you she’d not found any peace in her dreams.

For a while, you simply watched them, searching for some sigh of Loki and Puck’s coming mischief, but the longer you looked in, the more you felt compelled to venture closer. You wanted to speak with her, to reassure her that her husband was safe and loved. And so you found yourself in her apartment, standing in the kitchen and admiring the little notes, photographs, and memories each held. Lost in your own examining, you barely heard the sharp gasp and the sound of wood scraping against the floor as Lyta hurriedly rose from the table at the sight of you.

Suddenly you were reminded that it was not normal for people to appear in mortal homes simply, and you bashfully bowed your head to her. “Apologies. I did not mean to startle you.”

“Who are you?” She demanded, forcing her voice to sound firm and dangerous.

“We have met before,” you answered softly. “In a dream.”

Her face softened slightly. “You… you’re the one that took Hector.”

Nodding, you answered the question she had not asked. “He is safe. He misses you,” your eyes drifted to the small child in his high chair. “Both of you.”

“What do you want?” She demanded, wiping her eyes. 

“I simply wanted to apologize for my coldness that day. I was… I was not myself.” You sighed. “Were it within my power, I would have let him remain with you.”

“But it isn’t,” she answered bitterly. “It’s his power, isn’t it?”

You realized Morpheus was the he that she spoke so sourly of. “It was out of his power as well. The Dream Lord means you no harm, Lyta. This is why you’ve not slept, isn’t it?”

Lyta looked at Daniel and shook her head. “I don’t want him to come for my son… not while I’m under some spell and can’t defend him.”

“Dream of the Endless would not steal your son,” you said gently. “He means neither of you harm.”

“You don’t know that,” she replied bitterly.

“I do,” you assured her. As you watched her move to the child's side, you felt an odd power humming around her. The song of the Endless echoed from the boy, swirling around her, but beneath his song was power. A power that you knew. Lyta and Daniel froze, time halting as mist rolled in from unseen places, and their power engulfed the apartment.

"You are meddling in dangerous things, lost one." Their combined voices sent a chill up your spine, but not one of fear or anger… A feeling of familiarity.

The Mother tutted softly as she moved around the frozen figure of Lyta Hall. "Fate is not something easily changed, dear sun."

The Crone lifted her head, glaring at the babe in Lyta's arms. "And this fate is one you should not even attempt to alter."

"I won't let you do it," your voice was cold as mist rushed beneath your feet. The Forest bled into this illusion they thrust you in, dark, twisted trees casting long shadows over the three. Black engulfed your fingertips, and you could feel the darkness, the daunting power of it bending to your will. "Morpheus is mine. And none shall have him while I draw breath."

The Maiden tilted her head, eyes shining back at you in admiration. "You always were so determined."

"So headstrong and unafraid," The Mother continued, her eyes bearing a deep sorrow that surprised you.

"It is what led you to your doom the first time." Though The Crone's eyes were stiff, guarded, and unwilling to bend beneath your steady gaze, her voice trembled, lips quivering as she uttered a single word. "Mneme."

All at once the darkness vanished. You felt your power stripped away, leaving you trembling and bare before The Fates. Breathlessly you fell to your knees. Sparks of golden light and a searing, unbearable pain engulfed you until all you could do was scream.

Not a word. Flashes filled your vision, swarming like molten gold in water. A name. Fire blazed, and a burst of sickening laughter echoed in your mind. Your name.

Their hands offered you some comfort, albeit temporary. The Mother smoothed your hair back. "Do not fight it."

The Maiden stroked your cheeks. "Let it come."

The Crone looked down at you with tears in her eyes. Her palm pressed to your forehead. "Remember."

*

The first thing you saw once the blinking light faded from your vision was the orange hues of the sun setting over the ocean. You sat upon the edge of the cliffside, wind combing through your golden locks of hair, and a peaceful feeling settled in your chest. You were home.

"Mneme!" The Fates’ voices called out as one. 

Turning your head, you smiled at them. "Not too close to the edge, I know!"

The Maiden offered you a smile back. "The fall would be terrible indeed, even for one such as you."

The Mother waved, gesturing to you to come to them. "Come down from there, sweet child!"

The Crone rolled her ancient eyes and scoffed. "She won't fall! Our Mneme is far too surefooted to do something as foolish as that."

"Accidents still happen, sister self." The Mother reminded.

You squeezed her hand. "I'll be more careful."

"More careful!" The Crone laughed. "She's been careful since the day she was born, I doubt she's capable or more."

The Maiden lovingly braided a strand of your hair. "There's no harm in having fun every now and then."

The sky above had begun to shift to the deep star-filled night, your favorite. "I have to go."

"Back to that tree of yours?" The Crone asked.

"Back to the humans?" The Mother's question was far more bitter.

You kissed all their cheeks. "I'll be home before the sun rises!"

More light flashed, more voices echoed in your mind as your body felt like it would burst apart. You saw it through the slightly golden haze. The Great Tree standing tall amidst a bustling village. Its trunk was a rich reddish brown with golden leaves glistening in the low light of the fires the humans had lit to illuminate their festivities.

In the blink of an eye, you were in the tall branches, looking down at the bodies that moved below, watching the humans with wonder. You and the tree had been linked from the moment of your birth. A tree with roots that spanned across realms and lifetimes and a little spirit born of fate and memory. 

A rather simple pair when compared to the billions of other supernatural and immortal beings and creatures that existed. But, you were fine with simple. You enjoyed your time spent on Mount Helicon and watching the humans, quietly gifting them with long memories and thus making their marvelous stories last forever.

It had been centuries since you'd heard the lovely tune for the first time. The first song ever made. A simple and beautiful thing that planted a seed deep inside you. A longing for something real… Tangible… Something wholly yours. You had no idea what it would be, this thing, but some nights you could hear The Fates whispering. They must've known. There was little they did not see. So, you waited, hoping that it was something marvelous.

The memories raced by, quicker and more painful than before. You could feel the raw ache in your throat, a result of your screaming, but you could only hear the voices. It was all still fragmented, flashes of a happy life with The Fates that all shifted… The sour smell of decay stung your nose. These flashes were darker, the fragments blurry and hazed. 

You felt fire cracking under your skin, nails clawing at the wrong flesh that caged you. A laugh… A wide and villainous grin letting down at you. Unfamiliar hands touching you… Defiling you… The human's bright beauty slowly diminishing before your very eyes. You could taste the salt of your tears and feel the ache in your knees as you bent to the floor and begged. "Harken to me!" Your voice sounded so broken… Desperate. "Please, I beg of you! Deliver me from this place!"

The gentle hands that touched your head bore a somber tinge that answered the question you did not even ask. "Enough, dear one."

"You should rest," The Maiden said.

"You will need it for what is to come," The Crone finished.

"Help me," you begged them, lifting your drowning eyes. "There must be something you can do… Someone to intercede on my behalf."

The Crone's eyes turned cold as she sighed. "Foolish child. You are awfully bound. There are none that can deliver you from this place."

The Mother's eyes were filled with tears. "Not now, at least…"

The Maiden braided a strand of your dull hair. "Not when so much of you has been spent."

"I am so sorry, dear one…" The Mother pressed a kiss to your head. "Your prayers were wasted."

"No!" You cried out, rising to reach for them, but they were already gone. The chain binding you to this place scratched against the stone floor. "Do not leave me…"

The pieces fragmented further. Shattering like glass when you tried to hold onto them. All you could truly recall was a knife, blood, screaming, and fire. Darkness that felt warm and safer than what you'd known for so long and then breathlessness. You could see a rippling surface, bubbles floating away from you as the air abandoned you. 

As you sank deeper into an unknown abyss, you could see the golden strands of your hair fade to white, and a voice echoed in your mind as all else began to fade away. "You will never be rid of me!"

*

"Mneme," The Maiden's voice called out to you.

"Stop," you begged, voice raw and hardly understandable. This wasn't true… This was a trick. All of it. Their hands, cradling your head, felt too heavy. "Don't call me that."

“Mneme…” The Mother cooed softly as you shook their hands off you.

“Do not call me that! I… I cannot deal with this now. I… There’s…” You wanted nothing more than to sob, to let the information you’d just regained swallow you whole. 

Morpheus needed you. The events Daniel spoke of could still be years away, but you’d not risk it. Especially not now. Forcing your body upright, you looked into the eyes of The Fates. “I am going to change what is written. Morpheus will not perish, least of all at the hands of you.”

The Maiden’s tears were like diamonds upon her cheeks. “We take no pleasure in this.”

Your sound of disbelief caused The Mother to sigh, “Not much pleasure in it.”

“You cannot change this,” The Crone said, cold as ice once again. “Try as you might, what is will be and what will be is.”

“The only one you shall harm is yourself,” The Maiden replied.

"You will spend your power," The Mother warmed. "Spread yourself thin until all you are withers."

"Lost again to Lethe," The Crone finished.

“If anything happens to him… anything at all, it is you that I shall harm. Consequences be damned.”

You didn’t give them the chance to speak again, vanishing from the apartment and from their presence with a mere thought. The world felt both heavier and lighter, and with it, you felt both more powerful and less. Forcing the memories… the past from your mind, you put your plan into motion. It was just as you’d told The Fates. None would have Morpheus.

The meadow was quiet. From what you’d seen of the human world, there were few places like this that remained. Calm and untouched, reeking of old fairy magic and buzzing with godly power. Two tricksters lurking in the shadows. The combination of their power was dizzying and stunk of mischief. A warning to any that drew too near to turn back and hope you’d not caught their eye. You, however, would not be so easily deterred.

“What have we here?” An old and giggly voice purred from the shadows.

“A little witch?” Another chimed in, smug and prideful and filled with echoing laughter.

You showed no emotion as you addressed them. “I am Munin, Queen of realms of memory.”

A figure appeared a greenish beast with scales and fur and long pointed ears. Sharp teeth gleamed back at you as the deep red eyes of the spirit Puck glowed. “Queeny, Queeny, Queeny… why are you so far from your castle?”

Bright hair and an angular face examined you closely from a safe distance away as Loki grinned back. “Come to play with the old tricksters, have you?”

“More like come to talk sense into you,” you replied calmly, urging the wood around you to slowly shift.

The two laughed loudly, clutching their guts as they looked at each other. “Sense? Oh, we’ve not had sense in ages!”

“So I’ve been told. But, kidnapping a dream-touched child is a new sort of stupidity I thought even you two would be above.”

“Careful now,” Puck growled. “I’d surely hate to have to get blood all over that pretty white dress, Queeny.”

“It would be quite the shame,” you agreed. “Though the dress could be a trophy of sorts stained with your blood.”

Puck giggled, deranged and gleeful. “I like you!”

“Focus,” Loki insisted as he languidly stalked forward to circle you. “What’s this about a kidnapping?”

You followed him for a moment but chose to keep your eyes on Puck; he was the one you’d have to be most mindful of. “Your little plan to kidnap the boy… Daniel Hall.”

“How would you know about that?” Puck questioned.

“I have my ways.” That was the only answer you offered them. “The how is hardly the point. I’m far more interested in skipping it all together so we can focus on the bit where you both use your brains and forget about this half-baked scheme.”

Mist slowly began to seep between the trees, a low groan echoing in the air that signaled your plan had worked. Loki shook his head. “We aren’t exactly known for listening to threats from little girls.”

You smiled. “I’ve not even threatened you yet, Odinson.”

“Do not call me that!” He hissed, pointing a long elegant finger at you.

“I’ll call you whatever name you see fit after you’ve agreed to leave Daniel and his mother alone.”

Puck tutted, clawed nails digging into the branch he leaned on. “Greedy, greedy. You’re getting boring, Queeny! Perhaps we should just be done with you… After all, you look so tasty!”

Sirius dove out of the mist and snapped at the spirit. “Mind your tongue, beast. Though I shall gladly rid you of it should you insist.”

Loki pulled two daggers from their sheathes as The Corinthian appeared somewhere off to the side of you, calm and collected as he casually leaned against a tree. “Naughty puppy!”

Rolling your eyes, you lifted a finger, calling forth the tree roots to bind them. “Enough of this.” The trees wound around their limbs, squeezing hard enough that were they not immortal beings, their limbs would have snapped. Loki sneered while Puck laughed. “It’d be in your best interests to leave the child alone.”

“Best interests,” Puck laughed harder. “I care little for interests.”

“You may not care,” you began, eyes turning to the god. “But he does.”

Loki shook his head, chuckling at the notion that he cared about anything at all. “You think you know me, little wood witch?”

You shook your head and walked along the tree roots. “I do not care to know you, trickster. But, I see more than just your eyes…” Memories swirled inside them, good and bad, joyful and not. “We may not have met more than in passing, but make no mistake, Loki, I know you.”

Puck was the wildcard, the mischievous being that none could reason with or bribe unless he so sought, but Loki was a god. He was shrouded in golden pride and a deep-rooted desire to make Odin love him. Loki was the one you needed to convince. Puck would follow, or he would die, a choice you’d not have to spell out for him, especially with Sirius’ watchful eye and menacing teeth gnashing in the sprite's face.

“Why do you care so much for this runt?” Loki pondered with a wide grin. “Have a soft spot for dream-touched mortals?”

“Why does not concern you.” You sat down on a high-up branch and stared the god down. “No more questions, Loki. Will you leave Lyta and her son alone, or will you die here in my little woods?”

He attempted to shrug against the branches that held him. “It’s not me you need to worry about.”

Puck rolled his eyes. “She doesn’t need to fear me! This game has gotten boooorrrriiinnggg! One little mortal, dream-touched or not, isn’t worth this kind of fuss.”

Loki glared at the sprite, clearly displeased by his so-called partner in crime's words. “Fine then. We’ll leave the kid alone. Happy now?”

“Swear it.”

“I swear it,” he sneered back. “Now let me go.”

You waved your hand, and the roots released. Puck was gone in a blink, no promises made or extra words exchanged. Here then gone, just like you’d expected from the trickster. Loki remained, anger and some ugly, wounded pride shining in his eyes as he glared at you. Sirius growled. “Leave this place, trickster. And pray you never return.”

Suddenly all emotion drained from the god's face, and he laughed. “You know, I don’t much like being humiliated, especially not by insignificant little girls. Do you think you're suddenly untouchable just because you have some new realm and a bit of power? Well, you aren’t.”

Lunging for you, Loki found himself face to face with The Corinthian, who smiled as he brandished his blade. “I believe my lady released you. That means you leave.”

“I’m not scared of you, nightmare!” The god shouted.

“You should be. Hold him down for me, pup.” Sirius surprisingly heeded the nightmares command and pulled the god down while The Corinthian worked with his blade. The screams were drowned out by the trees cheering and laughing at the now mutilated god. You stood high above it all as The Corinthian finished his work and turned, presenting you with the eyes he’d plucked from Loki’s skull. Bowing his head, he chuckled. “Any other body parts I should take, my lady?”

You accepted the eyes and shook your head. “No. Kat has already sent word to Odin. Someone will be here to collect him shortly.”

The Corinthian glanced at you. “You alright, Daunty?”

Your mind was plagued with the past that you’d still not fully regained, a thing you now had broken and confusing fragments of. “Yes. There’s just something I need to do now.”

“Need a nightmare?”

Smiling at him, you shook your head and placed a loving hand on his cheek. “Not this time, dear Corinthian.”

*

Upon Mount Helicon, a secluded cabin stood overlooking the sea. The cabin was not what you’d pictured when you thought of The Fates. You’d imagined they’d live in some large palace or a winding maze, like Destiny, but there the three stood, looking out at the sea as you quietly approached. “Such a lovely sunset.”

The Mother smiled at you. “It used to be your favorite part of the day.”

The Maiden laughed softly. “You’d sit here until the yellow faded from the sky entirely.”

“One sun,” The Crone said. “Watching another.”

"Whatever the reason for this… Fondness, you bear me…" you stopped yourself, pain that you could not yet confront boiling within you like the fires in your vision. Shaking your head, you met their gaze again. "I urge you to cease these schemes against the Dream Lord."

The Maiden nodded, "Painful as this may be, you cannot run from the truth forever."

The Mother took a step closer with a sad smile. "Oh, dear one… Is this truly your wish?"

"It is."

The Crone stood before you, cold eyes slightly less so as she wiped your tears. "Very well. If it is your wish, we shall honor it. So long as Dream of The Endless does not bring harm upon you, then we shall not harm him or his Dreaming."

“Thank you… my mothers.”

The Three smiled sadly and watched you go. The Forest greeted you as it always had, offering you soft handing leaves to dry your eyes and a melodic rumbling to ease the ache in your heart. You did not know when you would be able to accept what you now knew fully, nor did you know if you’d ever be strong enough to remember the full brunt of the pain your past life had lived through, but you did know that The Fates had spoken at least one truth. You would not be able to run from it.

A dark figure emerged from the trees, breathing a sigh of relief at the sight of you. “There you are.”

“Morpheus,” you breathed, the pain easing as air filled your lungs.

His eyes narrowed as he took a step toward you. “Where have you been?” His arms wound around you, pulling you into the embrace you’d fought so hard to preserve. You buried your face into his chest and breathed in his scent. “I’ve been worried.”

With a soft noise, you smiled. “Forgive me, I did not mean to worry you. There were some things I needed to take care of.”

“Is all well?” His breath hitched at the mere thought of something being wrong. 

You smoothed your hands down his chest and smiled. “All is well. I… I learned many things these past few days and have many questions that need answering.”

Morpheus nodded, soft hands caressing you. “I trust you will tell me your meaning when you are ready to?”

“Of course,” you answered. “It would be rather cruel of me to keep you in such suspense.”

“Cruel is not a word I’d use to describe you, my love.”

You wanted nothing more than to tell him of all you’d learned and everything that had happened in your time apart, but instead, you simply smiled. “Would you walk with me?”

He seemed to understand the gentle gleam of tears in your eyes and quietly offered you his arm and a kiss upon your head. “Always, my love.”

The two of you walked through the misty forest until you found the cave of crystals and the lake that you’d once danced upon. Without needing to speak any words, he stepped out onto the water and swept you away into a starlit dance. With your head laid against his chest, listening… feeling the steady beating of his heart, you finally spoke, “Do you think we will remain together in whatever existence comes after this?”

“I should think so,” he answered with a soft laugh. “We’ve found one another against impossible odds thus far.”

"Well, if it should come to an end, this immortal coil we find ourselves in..." You pulled away from his chest and gently held his face in your hands. "I should like it to end by your side, that we might turn to stardust together or be bound in the roots of the earth as one. I shall not pass to whatever existence awaits us in The Sunless Lands without you, my dearest Morpheus."

With the software of smiles, he pulled a small thing from his cloak and held it between you. A ring. The stone in the center was an ethereal array of thinking stars with a branch-like band of roots twining around it. He lifted your hand to slide the ring on your finger, kissing it and whispering a soft oath, "I vow that no matter what comes, nothing shall ever part us again. I am yours, Lady of The Forest, Distress, Discourage, Daunt… Munin. In every existence, every realm and lifetime, I am yours."

"Just as I am yours, Prince of Stories. Always."

Beneath the starry skies and amidst the groaning echoes of your realm, you and the Dream Lord shared a kiss, soft and bright and beautiful. For that one moment, the past didn’t matter. Not Daunt or Mneme… you were Munin, and you were here. You were loved. And as you stared into the eyes of your lover, you knew you always would be.

#dream of the endless x reader #dream of the endless #dream the endless #morpheus imagine #sandman morpheus #dream of the endless imagine #morpheus x reader #sandman netflix #the sandman fanfic #the sandman series #king of dreams #morpheus x reader smut #dream x reader #sandman x reader #dream x you #morpheus x daunt reader #morpheus x daunt #munin #dream of the endless x munin #the sandman dream #dream sandman #the sandman netflix #dream the sandman #morpheus the sandman #neil gaiman sandman #the sandman #netflix sandman #morpheus sandman #netflix the sandman #sandman

[mrskamo]

Rindo as Your Boyfriend;)

Hello my luvidy-duv-duv-chicka-chud-chuds, this is my first post where I make a TR character x reader, so please inform me if I made any mistakes, it would help a lot, and I will make sure to prevent it from happening again. All Tokyo Revengers characters and their art styles, choice of names, etc, belong to Ken Wakui.

This is basically what I see Rindo would do as your boyfriend, so if you get offended in any way, feel free to ignore this and continue on with your beautiful day.

There's not really anything to warn you about and I believe there's no spoilers coming along with the headcanon, so... Haitani Rindo x Reader Characters mentioned: Haitani Ran

Haitani Rindo as your boyfriend

as soon as Rindo finishes tagging along his older brother all day, he won't hesitate to come over to your house

whenever he comes over, he always makes sure to dust off his shoes before he steps foot inside your house, what a gentleman

he'll go to the supermarket with you from time time, but most of the time it's only if you want him to

he's constantly busy with Ran always being a bother and other sorts of gang business, so he'll try and give you all the time and attention you need, although he might be quite flustered, he'll still cooperate, as you are his s/o

during movie nights, you will cuddle against his chest, or it's the other way around

you probably spent most of your money on buying each other your favorite goodies, so you'll cherish every movie night

first, you both will watch your pick of movie(s), then Rindo's pick will go last

most of the time, he waits for you after school with his motorcycle so he can give you a ride home, but sometimes he's too busy

you confessed first, as a matter of fact, he was going to confess on the exact same day, but you beat him to it

sometimes Rin will stay the night at your house, but you'll be the one sleeping while he's just admiring how beautiful/handsome you look when you sleep, in such a calm state

he wants you to be happy even though he doesn't exactly show it

Rindo's always hides his feelings, but is slowly expressing them towards you

while on the other hand, if you decide to be in a relationship with Ran, Ran won't be afraid, he'll openly express himself towards you

if you guys go out to eat, you'll hold each others legs together, as you both don't want to attract too much attention

Rindo will always be thinking about you, even though his facial expressions don't show it, he's constantly wondering what you're doing at the moment, if you're okay, what he's gonna do when he sees you again, all that romantic stuff

Ran rarely notices that Rindo is thinking about you because Rindo is very skilled, he can have several things on his mind and can do several things at a time

whenever Rin comes over with bruises, you'll immediately bandage him up, then you'll both laugh about it and joke how he's probably going to come over tomorrow even worse

The point is you and Rindo will love each other forever, the deep intense feeling of a spark inside of both of you, and butterflies fluttering around whenever you both connect lips is just the beginning. Rindo will make sure you're safe at all times, and will forever want to be with you, even when you both crumple up like dry raisins and be buried six feet under, he'll still be with you

#rindo haitani #rindo x reader #ran x reader #haitani brothers #haitani brothers x reader #haitani rindou #tokrev #haitani ran #tokyo revengers

[bylertruther]

random thought, but i feel like putting all of the blame on karen for the fact tht mike doesn't open up to her is a little ...................... (insert vague hand motion here bc i can't think of a fitting, not-childish eloquent word) ????

yes she's the parent and yes she does have to make the effort to create an environment where he feels welcome to share and talk to her, but karen cannot force mike to open up. mike doesn't respond well to his parents being overbearing and honestly he doesn't react well to ANYONE coming at him head-on no matter how close they are to him.

mike needs to come to people on his own terms when he's ready and collected himself. and karen knows that! she literally says that to ted when ted offers to go talk to him in s1 because they know will's death and disappearance is hard on him. and no i don't think they should've taken away his toys aka doled out a punishment when mike wasn't cooperating in s2, because that's simply Not how you handle such a situation, but they did it because they thought well if us being "soft" isn't working then maybe us putting our foot down will get through to him. it's not like they did it bc they thought to themselves "lmao fuck that guy 🖕".

and even though mike doesn't seek support through verbal means like nancy does, he does seek comfort from her through physical affection! and karen does give it to him! whenever he feels like he's lost will, he goes to her and breaks down in her arms and she drops everything to go hold him.

the point is that when mike does go to her, she's there. they all care about and love each other in that family, including ted. karen and ted are not plot-involved parents like joyce and hopper are, and we're not going to get a deep dive into any of the other families unless it's relevant to the plot. ... as we've literally already seen before?

and ted is the way he is because he's written as the kind of father that spends all day at work to provide for his family and gets home and just wants to watch tv and eat dinner and go to sleep and repeat that ad nauseam for the rest of his life bc tht's just what you do and you only have so much energy (smth smth silly little play). i'm not saying he's father of the year and no one should ever comment on his involvement with his kids, but... that's just his role to play in this story.

he's clueless abt the crazy shit that goes down in hawkins the same way that everyone else is clueless abt it but that doesn't make him a bad guy lol. there's purposeful juxtaposition of him chillin' watching the news cover everything up while joyce and hopper and the kids are out there losing their minds almost dying fighting monsters saving the world etc etc. it's supposed to be comical. he lives here and he has no idea what's really happening, unlike us and the central characters of the show.

not every family has to look or act like the byers or sinclair family to be Good. you can try your best to get someone to talk to you, but they're not going to do it if they don't want to. mike is a hothead that doesn't often share or even totally understand what he's feeling, and if he does, he rarely opens up all the way. he still keeps certain things to himself and only reveals just enough to achieve his goals. it's mainly when he's apologizing over something big that he manages to be open, and that isn't even something that happens often or outside of a situation that necessitates it.

and the whole "not knowing exactly where your kids are, but knowing they're with their friends somewhere and that they'll be home later tonight" isn't a sign of abuse or that they don't care. that's what life was like before the technology that we have now, and that level of freedom was the POINT. it's a big part of WHY the duffers chose the eighties. such a story wouldn't work with our current technology. that isn't even an experience exclusive to those that are 30+ or whatever. i'm in my twenties and i remember my childhood being like that.

like. i don't think it's as black and white of an issue as some people suggest. the wheelers haven't been perfect parents, but they're not malicious and they do love their children, even if they clearly don't always understand them. saying that karen and ted don't care about or love their children and that they're on the same level of neglect as lonnie is just... i mean. what?

#sometimes your children just don't want to open up to you especially if they're teenagers going through crazy shit lol. #sometimes that IS a personal failure of the parent but not always. you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink. #long post #wheeler #mine

[talesmaniac89]

Charity Heist 3 - aka. Front Row Seats to the Gun Show

A Supernatural Heist AU - Masterlist

Pairing: Hitter!Dean x Thief!Reader

Summary: The Singer & Winchester Retrieval Agency is the best group of con artists in the world. But even though Y/N can crack safes, scale buildings and infiltrate even the most secure locations, she still can't find a way to deal with her all consuming feelings for the group's greek god of a hitter; Dean Winchester. How will she handle their next big heist, when she's forced to get up close and personal with the man of her dreams?

Warnings: Idiots in love, smutty thoughts, a lot of swearing and a ton of bad jokes.

Watch the trailer here

A/N: This story is 50% jokes and 50% dirty thoughts. No deep angst, just fun and action! Inspired by the series Leverage.

Y/N = Your Name | Y/H/C = Your Hair Colour | Y/E/C = Your Eye Colour

Start Here - Last - Next

“Alicia Cooper? Really?” 

You raised a teasing eyebrow at Dean as he dropped your cover’s details in your lap where you were lounging on the couch nursing a much needed beer after having to deal with Crowley. The damned Scotsman had nearly insisted on being wined and dined until your group had managed to force him out the door to let you start prepping for the heist. 

“Shut up (Y/N), it beats some of your cover name ideas,” Dean scoffed, though you could see a tiny bit of pride in his smile from how you’d managed to guess the chosen cover name was one of the ones he’d put in the system. Though it wasn’t all that hard to guess. Most of his naming ideas came from classic rock or pop culture references. 

“I think ‘The Artist Formerly Known as Thief’ was an absolutely brilliant cover name thank-you-very-much,” You threw back with a laugh that only grew brighter as Dean dropped down onto the couch next to you and bumped your shoulder. A beer in his own big hand, and a similar folder hiding his own cover identity resting against one of his big thighs. Though his was… Suspiciously thicker than yours. 

The folder, not the thighs… Though he did have some deliciously thick thighs.

“Maybe, if you were supposed to be some sort of actual artist, and not a French art dealer,” He retorted with a boyish grin and a wink. Easily teasing more laughter out of you with memories of your evening spent at the Met gala, rubbing shoulders with the rich and famous and pretending you knew your oils from your watercolors. 

“Alright… So Alicia is passable. Who is she?” You conceded as you flipped open the cover and picked up the fake driver’s license. A small crease in your brow as your eyes went to the details on the paper under it. 

Great… 

You were a damned Bond girl again. And not one of the kick ass ones either. Just one of the empty, two dimensional characters added for ‘sex appeal’. Standing around in skimpy dresses and batting fake lashes at the hero of the story with no story of their own to tell. Or at least none they were allowed to tell.

Whenever you were dealing with the mob you normally only got to play the secretary, cocktail waitress or the ‘side piece’ to one of the guys. Which was usually Sammy or Castiel, since they’d handle intel while you scouted for infiltration, and Dean was just too much for your little heart to handle. Spending most of your recons hanging off of one of their arms and pretending you couldn’t kick the ass of everyone in the room, in heels. 

“Sorry sweetheart, you know how these mafia types are… They can be kinda misogynistic. I promise, next heist you’ll get the kick ass cover and I’ll be the arm candy,” Dean winked, with a grin that looked anything but sorry. 

“Alright, so I’m Alicia Cooper, young heiress and unwitting accomplice who’s just out spending daddy’s money… Got a degree in psychology from KU, but haven’t put it to good use yet. Languages: English, barely. Hobbies: Fashion week appearances, festivals and… That’s it?” 

You looked up from the mess of IDs with your smiling face on them and pinched the laughably short list of information about your character between two fingers before glaring at Dean’s much more sturdy background history in his lap.

“As I said, sorry (Y/N). The mob shouldn’t go digging too deep in Charlie’s or your background; we need you guys to be invisible. You’re the aces up our sleeve after all,” 

The words left him with a smile against the lip of his bottle. And damn it… 

When he pulled that smile, lips a little damp from the beer, the damned gorgeous bastard could get away with anything. Even giving you the cover story of a freaking extra. Your fake cover father’s backstory was more detailed than your own for god’s sake.

“Since there's not much to go on, you can build the character traits however you want, within reason. Don’t go making up any more dark pasts of parents shot in an alley and a lifelong promise of hunting down their killer. Alicia Cooper’s family is all alive and she ain’t no Batman,” He added with a raised eyebrow and a crooked smile. Teasing a chuckle out of you, though you were trying your damned hardest to pout.

“Maybe there’s an uncle…”

“She’s also no Spiderman (Y/N),” Dean gave you an exaggerated eye roll and a fake sigh as his eyes crinkled into that smile that always made you melt.

“Alright, I’ll be Alicia. What about you? Will you be the Mr. Nice Guy to my Cooper?” 

Turning in your seat you leaned in to sneak a peak at the folder in his lap. Leaning against Dean’s shoulder, you pretended little shots of electricity weren’t going straight through your arm and into your heart from the small touch as you tried to focus on the words. Pretending you hadn’t just taken the chance to get closer to him. The same way you always did. Finding little, innocent moments to just revel in the closeness of your crush. 

Whenever Dean was close, you just felt safer, and more real than you’d ever had the chance to feel in your former life on the run. And you’d noticed a few times that he seemed to be doing the same. Like how his clenched fist had brushed up against your arm when Crowley was busy making an ass out of himself. Using touch and human body heat to ground himself. Though for you, only Dean’s touch would do. Anyone else and it just made you skittish… 

Jumpy.

“Not exactly a nice guy, no. I’m Mal Young... Jackpot, AC/DC! I’m the School Days to your School’s Out. Former US military turned arms trader. Should be an easy enough sell for me,” Dean said, eyes skimming the information as he lifted the already empty beer bottle to his lips. Frowning when nothing but droplets hit his lips.

“You always get the cool roles,” You mumbled, sinking back in your seat and frowning at the size of information your combat specialist, hitter and all around heist muscle had to go through while you could already basically burn yours, past glancing over your father’s details and family tree.

“Next time sweetheart, pinky promise,” He hummed, putting his folder to one side as he stood up to go fetch himself a new beer. Stretching his arms over his head, his black t-shirt rode up just a tiny bit, teasing a hint of his perfectly toned stomach and that mouth watering v-shape that you’d love to trace with your tongue. Nearly leaving you too breathless to even notice him walking away without offering you a new bottle as well.

“I don’t need your empty promises Dean, just bring me back a beer!” You called out after him, hoping the combat specialist couldn’t hear how your breath stuck in your throat and your pulse rose from just seeing that small teasing flash of his skin. 

Damn him. 

Damn his cool roles. Damn his adorable cover name style. And, most of all, damn that fucking perfect body. While all you got was…. 

Alicia. 

---

Since you didn’t really need to waste much time trying to learn your laughably weak cover, you’d quickly gotten antsy watching Dean prep for his. Since him concentrating on his role made it very easy for you to get away with watching him. His jaw clenching as he got into character, getting angry at some past wrong in his background story.

After nursing your second beer and casting not-so-hidden glances at him for nearly thirty minutes, your poor body craved some kinda release. And hell, it was the middle of the day, with thin as fuck walls between each of your ragtag group’s private rooms. Meaning any form of more intimate release would have to wait until the cover of night. So, you’d hit the gym instead. 

Rushing to your room, you’d changed into your workout gear quickly before practically skipping towards the large, fully customized gym. Larger than most commercial gyms and featuring every little toy a thief could dream of. Though you weren’t planning on using the climbing wall or even hone your skills against the laser system Charlie had designed for you this time. 

No, you needed to tire your body out and make your muscles ache. Which meant it had to be reps and weights. Heavy weights that could stop the butterflies in your stomach from making you take off and float away.

Luckily for you, Sam was already in the gym. Weight training was always more fun with a friend. Especially when said friend was normally your spotter on days where you wanted to work on your strength and endurance.

“Samwich! Just the man I was looking for. Hope you don’t mind the company. Need to burn some energy,” Your voice echoed in the windowless room, nearly making Sam slip from where he was doing salmon ladder pull ups on the other side of it. Teasing a loud laugh from you as you bounced on the balls of your feet, ready to train away your dirty mind and refocus your body. 

Pre-heist waiting games were hard enough without your filthy daydreams piled on top of it. 

“Really? I thought you were having fun acting like a love sick teen… Alicia,” Sam smirked, easily composing himself and dropping back down to the ground with a soft thud. Damn it. Of course he’d caught you gawking at his older brother. 

It was just your kinda luck. Which meant no luck at all. Ever.

You were definitely cursed in some way, though you couldn’t for the life of you think of who’d want to curse little ol’ you. You were a freaking angel… Past the thieving, infiltration, ass kicking, identity scams and other slightly illegal things you got up to that was.

Sam was grinning, he enjoyed teasing you a little too much. Which meant you wouldn’t get to work out until you could shut him up. Never an easy task with the tall-as-a-skyscraper man. It wasn’t like you could just slap your hand over his mouth to stop him from speaking. Not without climbing him like some kinda jungle gym. 

He was the little brother you never had, even if he towered over you, and you loved annoying him. But sibling love went both ways, and you knew he saw you as his sister too. Which meant he’d take any chance he got to make fun of you, just as readily as you’d take even the slightest opportunity presented to you to annoy him.  Unfortunately, he’d had way more practice at being the infuriating younger sibling than you’d ever had at being the troublesome older sister.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about Sam,” You huffed, pulling your (Y/H/C) hair out of your face as you walked across the room. Shooting a quick glance towards the door you just walked through. Just in case Dean had somehow materialized out of thin air and caught his brother’s words. 

“What? So you weren’t crossing your fingers, hoping Dean would be your… What was it? ‘Mr. Nice Guy’?” 

Rolling your eyes at him, you glared in his direction as you got ready to warm up. However, the scowl you threw at him wasn’t exactly very threatening when paired with how you kept glancing towards the door, worried that Dean would walk in. 

Especially not when you bent over at the waist to stretch your body and loosen up to be ready for the work out. You’d yet to find someone who could look threathening while warming up pre-workout.

Sam knew exactly how you felt about his brother. And he never let you forget it. Maybe it was the fact that Dean was just a flirty guy, and you always reacted like a damned teenager whenever he turned on the charm, or maybe how you always found some excuse to stay close to your resident hitter when off the clock, joking around and just enjoying his presence. Either way, Sam was just too smart for his own fucking good and had easily picked up on your feelings. 

Luckily those same smarts also meant he knew better than to go tattling to the rest of your crew. 

Just because your job entailed sneaking around in the shadows, it didn’t mean you couldn’t kick some serious ass when you needed to. Hell, you’d been in the game since childhood, and since you turned 15 you’d been in it alone, while running from the mafia organization who’d raised you. You could kick his ass any day of the week, and Sam knew it. 

Not that you’d guess it from seeing how you fidgeted in place, casting nervous glances towards the door between scowls in Sam’s direction and weak attempts at limbering up. He’d clearly found his calling in trying to be your cupid, and you really didn’t want him to be. 

You needed a spotter, not a wingman.

“Why don’t you just tell him? Instead of batting those (Y/E/C) doe eyes at him and hoping he’ll get it? Dean can be a bit blind to the obvious,” Sam continued, clearly not ready to drop it, even as he reached a hand out to help you stretch out your back. The teasing glint was still fully visible in his hazel eyes, but you also saw genuine affection there. He really did care, even if he was annoyingly persistent about it. 

“I can’t just tell him Sammy, and don’t you dare say a thing either,” You shot back as soon as you straightened back up, eyes once more glancing at the thankfully empty doorway. 

“It’s not hard. C’mon, say it with me (Y/N) ‘I love you D...” 

Damn him, he really had the irritating brother act down to a pat. And yeah, you loved him like a brother. Which meant half the time you wanted to strangle him with a jump rope. Which the gym had plenty of.

“Shhh! Shut up and spot me. Your brother is right down the hall and I swear, if he hears you…” You grumbled, making sure to shoulder check him as you walked past him towards the weight bench. Though, at your height, you basically just bumped into his lower bicep, which didn’t even move him a tiny bit. 

Thankfully, Sam was smart. Which meant he knew when he’d pushed a joke just far enough to annoy, but not so far as to get an elbow to the diaphragm. So instead, he simply laughed, as he followed you over to the weights section of the home gym.

Sliding down on the weight bench, you took a few steadying breaths as he readied your weights for the bench presses. Needing no further indication on what you were there to do, since your weight reps were on a more or less set schedule and endurance focused rather than just straight up strength. 

“Hey Sammy, I need a bit extra weight today, either that or more reps. I have too much energy to burn,” You spoke the words to the ceiling, as you listened to the weights falling into place on the bar, stretching your arms above your head and shivering slightly when the cold plastic of the bench hit your bare midriff, since you’d opted for a shorter workout tank top for the day. Given how your body was already uncomfortably hot from just being around Dean.

“More reps then. You’re not tearing up your muscles right before a case (Y/N),” Sam shot back from somewhere to the right of you. 

The Winchester brothers shared the responsibility of being the workout coaches for the rest of your team. Well, mainly for you. Since you tended to push your body too far if you were left to your own devices. So, any change to your rep plan was run through them.

“Soooo… 30?” You tried, hoping ¨he’d let you double your normal reps, though you knew the chances of that were slim to none-existent. 

“20, and not one more, remember you do three to five rounds of these reps, plus barbell squats, leg curls, dumbbell…” 

“Yeah, yeah… I know my routine,” You pouted, rolling your shoulders and sticking your tongue out at him as he came into view behind you once you pushed your head back. Your hands lifted to curl around the cool bar, flexing your fingers to ensure your grip on it was secure.

“Count ‘em,” 

Lifting the bar off the rack, you focused on your breathing. Letting your mind drift away with the pleasant burn in your muscles from the repetitive motions. Until the reps all flowed into each other and you put all that useless energy and downright filthy adrenaline to good use. 

--- 

“I’ll take over Sammy,” 

You were on your final runthrough of your reps, having decided to finish after four sets. And just in the middle of the fifteenth bench press, when Dean’s voice pulled you out of the zone. Nearly making you lose your grip on the bar. Luckily, Sam was there to help you steady it as you placed it back on the rack and sat up, reaching for your water bottle.

“Damn it Dean, you nearly killed me,” You gasped, trying to even out your breathing and throwing a grateful smile to Sam as he handed you your towel. Your body was spent, and your muscles were screaming. Clearly Sammy had been right to stop you from doubling your rep amount. You doubted you’d even make it through the last one without needing to stop. 

“Sorry sweetheart, I’ll knock next time,” Dean grinned, giving his brother an affectionate pat on the shoulder as he tagged himself in and let Sam go wash up. 

Luckily you’d already burned most of your energy, but the sight of Dean in his workout wear still somehow got the embers of fire in your veins to act up again as you dropped back down against the bench. Lifting slightly shaky arms up and stretching them to dull the ache that was already starting to build. 

“How many have you done?” He asked, wiping down the bar for you as he leaned over it to look down at you. Green eyes bright and focused as he filled your vision with only him, framed against the concrete ceiling. 

“I’m on the final interval, only four today. Rep 15 out of 20,” You smiled back, forcing your mind to stay on your workout and not on the way his t-shirt clung to him. Or on how his arms across the steel bar tensed and looked absolutely mouthwatering. 

“Twenty? You’re on fifteen reps (Y/N), not twenty,” He frowned, looking not at all pleased with your additional five reps per exercise. Though there was no way in hell you could tell him you needed the additional physical punishment just to deal with the dirty little daydreams of him in your mind. 

“Extra energy to burn. You know I get antsy when we’re left playing the waiting game before a new case,” 

The white lie slipped easily past your lips as you tried to refocus your attention on a blank spot of ceiling above you. Raising your arms up, you curled your fingers around the bar, just as Dean leaned back and spread those stupidly perfect bow legs to ground himself, getting ready to spot you. 

“... Right, final round, then you spot me,” He grumbled, knowing better than to keep arguing and letting your body cool down too much from the workout. 

Training with Dean was like a fucking double, if not tripple, workout. It always was. Past the physical strain of your muscles and the endurance needed to push your body to the limit, you were also left trying to control your poor heart. The overexcited muscle getting an aerobics exercise like no other just from the proximity of the damned greek god of a man. 

The way he’d brush against you, your hot skin heating up even more from every barely there touch. Big hands and calloused fingers, always lingering against your slightly flush skin. His voice in your ear when he stepped behind you and placed a big palm on your lower back to help correct your form. The direct touch against your bare lower back sending shots of pure unadulterated electricity through you, which only grew in intensity as he pushed his body against yours to further shape and correct your stance.

Damn it, this was not the release you’d hoped for it to be. And by the time you finished the last set, you were just as worked up as you’d been before you even got started. It would have to be yet another cold shower for you. Damn him and his… Shit. 

Where was your snarky quick wittedness when you needed it?

“Thirty reps?” You questioned, slightly breathlessly, as you patted the towel against your neck and reached out for your water bottle. Stretching your body and shaking away that pleasant tremble from a good workout while you followed Dean back to the bench. Stopping just a few steps behind him to watch as he bent over to wipe down the bench, giving you a front row seat to a view of that damned perfect ass in his loose workout sweats.

Mentally tongue-tied, cotton mouthed and filthy minded, you nearly missed his cocky grin and raised eyebrow. A clear indication that he’d caught you checking him out. Though you’d of course still pretend you didn’t. You were an innocent sweet summer child; your mind was unicorns and rainbows, not hot skin, teeth and tongue. 

“Yeah… Actually, let’s do 35. I think I have some extra energy to burn too,” He finally said as he fell back against the bench. Groaning as he stretched his body and rewarded you with a glimpse of that perfectly toned stomach below his t-shirt. 

Walking around the bench, you somehow managed to keep your fingers from brushing over his taut body on the bench. Which, considering your profession was all sticky fingers and an attraction to anything shiny or gorgeous, was a damned miracle. 

—

Spotting Dean was always harder than the toughest case to crack. Not because you needed to actually do much. The man was a damned perfect specimen, lifting the weights easily and barely even breaking a sweat. It was, however, yet another hellish workout for your poor frustrated libido and heart. Standing there, ready to spot him, you had the perfect chance to ogle him indiscriminately. 

Watching as those perfectly muscular arms strained against the weights, lips slightly parted around sharp breaths and brow furrowed in concentration, showing just the slightest sheen of sweat from the physical exertion. He was damned near too much for you to handle. 

Just the sight of those muscles moving like liquid under his shirt, adding extra layers to your dirty daydreams of how that same hard body would feel if you were to run your fingers down his muscular back, with his body towering over yours on the bed. Pupils' wide and sharp breaths replaced by groaned moans… 

Yeah, you definitely needed a cold shower. 

Fucking arctic; ice cubes instead of water if possible.

Luckily for you, or unluckily, depending on how you viewed it, Dean only got two sets into his workout. Before he was pulled out of it, and you were pulled out of your absolutely downright dirty mind, by Charlie popping her head in through the door. 

“Operations room in fifteen!” She called out, barely stopping to raise a knowing eyebrow at your clearly hot and bothered state before she raced off to find the rest of your group. Apparently the plan for the party infiltration had been coming together while you were busy trying to work up a sweat, and not the fun kind.

Throwing a bottle of water towards Dean, you shot him a wink and a shaky smile, before you hurried out of the room. Rushing to hide your breathless, mentally tongue-tied state from the stupidly handsome hitter. For once thankful for the possibility of more manila folders and pre-heist planning.

Still before you got ready to pull off the heist, you’d have to pull off the quickest cold shower ever. Unless you wanted to sit through hours of planning in Charlie’s intelligence HQ all sweaty, hot and bothered. Hopefully your cold shower could at least help with one of those three things. And unfortunately, it wasn’t going to be your filthy mind that followed the water down the drain. 

---

Start Here - Last - Next

Charity Heist: @foxyjwls007 @seppys-return-to-madness @stoneyggirl2 @ladysparkles78 @twinkleinadiamondsky @tmb510

Dean Winchester Tags: @ria132love @woodworthti666 @defenderrosetyler  @akshi8278 @justanotherwinchester @lyarr24 @torn-and-frayed @all-will-be-well-love @wearesuchstuff1 @thefridgeismybestie @adoptdontshoppets @starsandmidnightblue @screechingartisancashbailiff @septixtrash @punof-agun  @deandreamernp @justagirlinafandomworld @sexyvixen7 @justrealizedimmascifygurl @globetrotter28 @siospins2 @iprobablyshipit91 @mrsjenniferwinchester @leigh70 @roseblue373 @djs8891

Forever tags will be added as a reblog

#dean winchester fic #au!spn #dean au #au!dean winchester #tales89writes #hitter!dean #thief!reader #supernatural heist au #supernatural leverage au #spn heist au #dean winchester #supernatural #spn #dean x reader #dean winchester x reader #supernatural fanfiction #supernatural dean #dean winchester heist au #mercenary!dean winchester

[ive-got-99-problems]

Ok, please tell me I’m not the only one who’s a simping hoe for Rocket Raccoon. His personality is just so awesome! He’s funny, his sweet deep down, he’s a good dad, he’s super smart, he’s amazing with his hands, he’s snarky, he’s loyal, he’s a gun man, ALL of these things I love in a man. Also HIS VOICE. Bradley Cooper and Nolan North have the best voices for Rocket, they’re so hot. I’m gonna admit it, whenever I watch Vol 1 and Rocket goes “oh… yeah…” I still get a little flustered.

I’m telling you, if I met a guy who had Rockets personality… all I’m saying is “swiggity swooty I’m commin for that booty.”

I’m suffering through Rocket brain rot right now, and I’ve honestly been thinking about making an 18+ server called Rockets Harem where we all can come together and simp for this amazing character. Please feel free to DM me if you wanna simp over Rocket with me, and if this post gets enough likes, I’ll make the server. Thank you all for reading through my brain rot

#rocket raccoon #furry

[bostoniangirl85]

Inspector Gadget (1983) episode review: “The Amazon”

I’m back with another episode review, this time Episode 4 of Season 1, “The Amazon”! This episode was one of the big inspirations for starting “A Man’s Worth” and it’s one of the best episodes of the first season IMO.

This episode is probably the closest we come to knowing anything about Gadget’s past and his origins as a cyborg through the introduction of Professor Von Slickstein. I really wish the show had explored Gadget’s origins in more detail but I understand it’s a kid show and meant to be light-hearted. But still, there are so many things we don’t know about Gadget, Dr. Claw, Penny, etc. that it’s a fanfic writer’s gold mine of possibilities.^^

It’s interesting that Gadget tells Penny that Quimby wants him ready 24/7 for action, which makes me think Gadget is much more than a  mere city cop. Gadget’s secret missions all over the world are definitely in line with international espionage and this is what started the whole INTERPOL/spy angle in “A Man’s Worth”.

Hmm...and on that note, Gadget must get a TON of overtime pay. Either that or his salary is much higher than a regular police inspector, especially if he can afford such a large house.

Von Slickstein’s background is also really interesting - if he’s the “father of modern bionics” then he’s probably one of the most valuable people in the world in terms of scientific knowledge. It’s no surprise that M.A.D. ends up kidnapping the professor. And on that note, I’ve noticed that M.A.D. goes after a *lot* of scientists in the series, which got me started on the whole cyborg/bionic warfare theme. If one agency had a monopoly on something as powerful as bionic technology, they could easily become the most dangerous organization in the world.

So what were the circumstances in which the good professor turned Gadget into a cyborg? The “official” canon story is that Gadget slipped on a banana peel, but I could see that as a light-hearted joke to keep Gadget from asking too many questions, which of course Gadget would easily accept due to his faulty memory. And maybe the fact that Von Slickstein lives so close to Gadget’s home is a way for him to keep an eye on Gadget.

Okay, you gotta hand it to Gadget, he almost caught Claw during the car chase scene. Gadget may be a terrible driver, but he’s tenacious as heck and his sheer determination makes me think that he really was involved in law enforcement before he was turned into a cyborg.

Claw’s plan to create an army of robots is actually pretty terrifying if you think about it. If he got his hands on all of the bionic technology available, he could replace anyone with a robot doppelganger (like we saw in “Gadget’s Replacement”). Even *more* terrifying is the thought of turning someone into a cyborg against their will. No wonder Quimby was so serious about this mission (not that he isn’t in every episode, bless him).

I’m not sure whether to laugh or cringe whenever Gadget sees a pretty face.^^ I don’t think Gadget would ever behave so outrageously if his mind wasn’t scrambled, but I can see a pre-Cyborg Gadget being a lady’s man when he was younger. I think on some level deep down Gadget knows he’s not like other men so maybe his behavior is a way to make up for it? More on this later - I’ll probably save that for another post.

I love that Brain is a better driver than Gadget. XD

I really like how Von Slickstein stands up to Claw and at first refuses to cooperate. It says a lot about his character. And I’m convinced that Von Slickstein gave Penny her computer book and watch, though if she knows that isn’t revealed. And apparently he also has super-strength as he was able to carry Gadget out of the pyramid!

There’s so many questions this episode created, but it was a big inspiration for the plot line of “A Man’s Worth” and I really enjoyed it. 

#inspector gadget 1983 #inspector gadget episode reviews #inspector gadget episode: the amazon

[mephicchi]

((I can personally recommend watching Kruggsmash's Dwarf Fortress videos on YouTube, he makes illustrations of characters, artifacts, and events that happen in his fortresses as he's telling the story which helps with some amount of understanding. He also really gets into the rp side of it all and just has a nice storytelling voice in general. MonsterKiller, and HoneyStoker are my personal favourite fortresses he's done. HoneyStoker especially, but it has a rougher beginning and Krugg swaps between a few fortresses in that storyline. I'll cut myself off here, or I could talk about DF all day. My humble apologies to your followers.

I'll admit I'm a little concerned about how quickly and how thin exactly the veil may be getting, but I'll keep this rolling for now. I have ideas for how this can play out ic if you feel so inclined to indulge me. You'll see in the letter.

I have. SO MANY mini campaign ideas I want to DM. I love planning for sessions. Making borderline unnecessary props. And cooperative worldbuilding and character building is a favourite passtime of mine. Almost like I enjoy rp or something cough cough. Although when it comes to actually DMing a live session I feel like I choke, I can't read my own notes any more, and descriptive words suddenly all fall out of my brain like it's made of swiss cheese. It's probably all in my head as so far I haven't received any complaints from my players. In total I've probably only DM'd 4 or 5 sessions, all 5e (although once I tried to mix in my own dismal attempt at a homebrew mechanic.) Unfortunately the friendships fell apart and went separate ways due to outside and unrelated circumstances. But it's been 3 years or so and I haven't DM'd live since discovering CR and picking up a lot of techniques from Matt Mercer. I'd like to try it again with what I've learned. In the meantime however I've been DMing a murder mystery over text with my one remaining player still with me. Mostly just written rp, not unlike we have been doing here, although in a much shorter format, and involving skill checks and challenges whenever something necessary comes up. I'm much more in my element when writing tbh.

I am toying with the idea to retry the aforementioned homebrewed mechanic I attempted, but move it over to Call of Cthulhu one day, as the plot I had come up with mainly involved horror themed mindfuckery. But I'll need to do a lot more research and I'm currently, if you'll excuse the phrase, balls deep in 5e with my current headworld obsession.

Ahh I'm going on too long though, once again I apologise to your followers, and I'll leave you with that and move on to the actual letter now.))

// Thanks for the recommendation, I'll definitely check out some videos of his, who knows, perhaps I will fall into a DF hole, I wouldn't count on it though.

In my mind the veil might have already been lifted, but I am having way too much fun to stop this, communicating like this both ic and ooc might just have ignited a small spark of mine to seek out some text based RP groups, while it has also been a wonderful opportunity to learn more about both you and your character, which I would never say no to.

Your enthusiasm towards DMing is all too familiar, I too get ideas all the time, I never write them down anywhere though so they always get lost to time, but perhaps that is not the worst thing for I feel like I am incredibly bad at describing things, and even worse at changing my voice for different NPCs, making it hard for my players to discern who is speaking with them in a conversation with multiple NPCs.

As mentioned before, this whole "thing" might make me seek out some text based RP groups, for as I've just now discovered with this, I seem to have an incredibly amount of fun with it, even if I sometimes have to google translate a word, or look for a word that better encapsulates what I want to say, since English unfortunately isn't my first language.

Despite my refusal to DM, since I feel I am awful at it, I've picked up the rulebooks of a good few systems I'd like to try someday, seems I simply have to find someone that will indulge in my torture and run them for me, hah!

Aside from DnD 5e, I have the core rulebooks of Pathinder 1st Edition, Cyberpunk 2020, Vampire: The Masquerade, Werewolf: The Apocalypse and Mage: The Ascension taunting me with their presence in the corner of my eye whenever I am using my PC.

I hope you know how much I truly appreciate this exchange, but alas, I shall too get to writing the letter. //

#Personal stuff

[freindly-neighbourhood-anarchist]

If You Flinched Away From Their Touch

Dream SMP x Fem! Reader

Here’s some more angst lol

I’m definitely doing more Dream SMP stuff now that it’s ‘ended’ so if you have any requests just comment or message me! ^^

I’ll do prefrences, imagines, oneshots, fluff, SFW, angst and NSFW (not for The Dream SMP tho, only for other fandoms lol. NSFW in the MCYT community is genuinely weird-).

            ⋆﹥━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━﹤⋆

                                   DREAM

Clay stared down at you with trembling green eyes, his hand that was about to cup your cheek was still held up and shaking a little. 

His mask was pushed to the side of his head so he would be able to kiss you, but you had actually flinched away from him. Like, properly flinched away like you were afraid of him. The more he looked into your nervous eyes, he finally realised.

Eyes darkening, he gritted his teeth and brought his hand to his side,” Who was it.” It was more of a demand than a question.

You panicked at his angered tone and how his hands clenched,” N-no! It’s fine! You just surprised me--”

“[Y/N].” 

His tone shut you up, your eyes burning a little. He looked hurt and most of all, concerned,”... Just tell me who. Please...” 

You gulped and told him, his dark eyes lighting up ever so slightly at your cooperation.” Thank you...” He then reached down and gripped your hand tightly within his own, squeezing it reassuringly.

                ⋆﹥━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━﹤⋆

                       GEORGENOTFOUND

His eyes wide with concern, George instantly took his hand from your cheek when he saw you flinch. It hurt him... Where you scared of him?

“ [Y/N]... A-are you alright? Are you-....” He paused, gulping down the tight lump in his throat,”... Are you afraid of me?” He whispered, it was barely audible but you heard him clearly.

You instantly denied his claim, grabbing both of his hands within your own,” George you could never scare me... It’s just... The last relationship I had wasn’t.. the best, lets just say.” You explained it horribly but your boyfriend seemed to get the gist of it.

The brunette’s hand moved from holding your hand to holding your waist, pulling you into his chest and then wrapping them around you safely and securely, you froze at his warm embrace but found yourself melting in it,” I get it...” He whispered next to your ear,”... I’m sorry. I love you.” He muttered.

You couldn’t stop the loving smile from crossing over your lips,” Yeah... Same here.” 

                   ⋆﹥━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━﹤⋆

                                      SAPNAP

“...babe?” Nick muttered out with a confused look,” Why’d you flinch away? Is everything good?” He was worried now.

You smiled up at him quickly and nodded your head,” Y-yeah! Sorry, you just surprised me a little. I didn’t think you were just gonna hug me outta nowhere!” You laughed out to make it more convincing that you weren’t lying.

Nick knew better than that.

Sighing, he settled his head in the crook of of your neck, holding your arms gently and securely. You looked at him in confusion and you were about to question him, but he interrupted you,” I’m not gonna push anything out of you... but if you need to talk about it, then just talk. Okay?” He whispered to you reassuringly, burrying his face deeper into your neck.

You visibly relaxed and took your arms from his hold gently, moving them around his neck and playing with the back of his hair,”... Okay...”

                  ⋆﹥━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━﹤⋆

                                WILBUR SOOT 

The brunette looked terrified for a moment, afraid he had hurt you whenever he cupped your cheek but then a wave of realisation crossed over his expression. A solemn and monotone look passed over his worried expression, biting his lip due to habit.

“ Who was it, [Y/N]?” He asked calmly, but there was an angered undertone to his voice.” Who hurt you?”

You were silent for a long while, staring deeply into his chocolate-brown eyes that were dangerously dark. Those eyes that you had fallen for the first time you ever saw them. Sighing, your brought a hand up to his cheek and cupped it gently. Standing on your toes, you pressed a light kiss to the tip of his nose with a kind smile.” Who cares who hurt me before? I’m with you, and I could never be more safer than I am when I am in your arms.”

He was surprised for a moment before his tense shoulders relaxed, and a smile twitched onto his lips.” Fair enough.” He muttered, giving into you.

                ⋆﹥━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━﹤⋆

                                       ERET

Pulling you into a deep kiss, Eret’s eyebrows furrowed in concern and anxiousness. You had just flinched away from him when he tried to hug you. You were afraid of something.

He pulled away, staring down at you with stern eyes,”... Who was it and did they hurt you.” He demanded a response, he was just being a concerned significant other but his deep voice cracked a little when he spoke those words, he was silently panicking on the inside.

Shaking your head a little,” I don’t... please, can we not talk about it?... I didn’t mean to flinch away, I just need to get used to it. Give me some time.” You pulled him down a little and pecked his lips lovingly,” Just give me some time...”

Silent for a moment, he nodded.” I’ll wait.” 

             ⋆﹥━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━﹤⋆

                              TECHNOBLADE 

“ Who the hell was it.” 

His words were like venom as his red eyes glowed with malice and killing intent. Whoever had hurt you, he was going to find them and torture them until they wished they had never even met you before him-

His thoughts stopped spiraling as soon as he felt arms wrap around his waist, watching as you buried your face into his chest, shaking your head a little.” I-I’m sorry for flinching away, but please, when I tell you who it was... You need to promise me that you won’t go and hurt them.” The girl mumbled into his chest, her voice muffled by his clothing.

His lip twitched a little but he brushed it off,” Yes.”

“ Yes what?”

“ I promise.”

You looked up at him with narrowed eyes, watching as his eyes narrowed in return. ”Lair.”

“HEH? I’m not lying!! All I was gonna do is introduce them to my axe of peace, that’s all-”

“This is why I’m not gonna tell you, Techno.”

“ Eh, I’ll find out sooner or later anyways.”

                   ⋆﹥━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━﹤⋆

                                    JSCHLATT

Schlatt breathed in a little, closing his eyes to calm himself down.’ Why the fuck did she flinch away from me, I swear to fuck if someone hurt her I’ll fuck em up-’

“ Sch-schlatt?” You stuttered out, concerned at the fact he was staying silent.” What’s up?...”

He coughed a little and opened his eyes, narrowing them a little as he looked down at you,” Look- I love you [Y/N] but who the fuck hurt you.” He spat like an angered snake.

You gulped a little,” Hey now- whatever your thinking...” You trailed off, not even able to defend yourself.

Scoffing, Schlatt settled a strong yet reassuring hand on your shoulder, squeezing it as a way to reassure you. He was never one for comforting others face-to-face even though he was so good at it. 

Breathing a  little before he spoke with a softer tone than before,” [Y/N].... Tell me who the fuck hurt you.” Although his words were threatening, his calm voice made [Y/N] give into him. He could only smile a little at her submissive nature and bring her into a tight hug.

There was a long silence.

”I’m getting my glock 17.”

“ Schlatt, nO-”

                      ⋆﹥━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━﹤⋆

                                     QUACKITY

He gritted his teeth a little as thoughts ran through his head, different scenarios of what you had to go through consuming his mind. The panic in his eyes were clear, the darker they got.

You stepped closer to him and cupped his face in both of your hands, bringing his face closer to yours. He was surprised for a moment before you pressed your forehead against his. Looking into your serene and calm orbs, he felt at peace again, his thoughts moving to the back of his mind.

“You need to stop thinking for a bit, okay?” You whispered to him reassuringly, he was silent as he just listened to you speak, feeling his anxiety slowly disappear,” I’m safe now. I’m safe and I’m with you... So calm the fuck down.”

Laughing at how out-of-character the last sentence you said was, Alex shook his head a little,” Alright, alright...” He muttered, a slight grin on his lips,” Whatever happened to you... if you wanna talk about it at all, come to me.” He reassured her, placing his hands on hers.

Snorting at his sentence, you gave him a cheeky grin,” Who else would I go to?? Sapnap?” 

“ Yeah, no me gusta-”

                    ⋆﹥━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━﹤⋆

                                       NIHACHU

As soon as you flinched from her hug, she instantly pulled away with a conflicted look. Her eyes full of hurt before realisation washed over them.”... What happened?” She whispered with a concerned expression.

You panicked and settled your hands on her shoulders quickly, a nervous grin on your lips,” D-don’t worry about it, Niki! You just caught me off guard-” You stopped talking as soon as her soft hand settled upon your cheek, caressing it gently with her thumb.

A soft smile crossed over her lips as she shook her head lightly,” You don’t need to hide things from me, [Y/N]... Just talk to me, I can help you.” She reassured, her smile widening further.

You stared at her for a long moment before sighing and leaning into her touch, nodding ever so slightly,” Yeah... yeah, okay...” 

#dream smp x reader #dream smp x you #dream team x reader #dream x reader #sapnap x reader #georgenotfound x reader #wilbur soot x reader #nihachu x reader #jschlatt x reader #quackity x reader #technoblade x reader #eret x reader

[sweetpxxches]

Ok so I have been following[stalking] your blog lately and I've truly been in love with your amazing content! now, I have been seeing that demon and incubus versions of madness combat characters been involved lately and I wanna know the vise versa of it. How would the trio[Hank, Deimos and Sanford] + 2BDamned react to a succubus reader? 👀

Thank you so much !! And HELL YEAH I can give you ideas for a Succubus version of the AU >:}

Succubus!Reader and the Trio + 2BDamned

CONTAINS: MILD Smut!

Hank:

- He's killed demons, CLOWN demons even, but this was one of those cases where Hank hesitated when he saw the looks of you. You were smaller, and you didn't seem like you were there to fight him, but more to... help him?

- He didn't want to believe it at first, with all he's dealt with involving demons he couldn't see that one of them would just take the time to help someone like him.

- You proved your self's worth to him however, by expressing your care and need for him, which he questioned how you even knew what he wanted, but that's how succubi are. They know one's weaknesses, and you provided what he would kill for.

- Convinced with your words, he'll let you follow him, but he's keeping you at arms length, because every time you help him around, you behave in a lewd manner that distracts him.

- The way you bend over and expose yourself while grabbing things around for him, the sway of your hips, it's tempting. But he should focus on-

- You? Hank for once feels like he's under some kind of spell with you. Better behave, otherwise Hank might bring out his discipline.

Deimos:

- Being the idiot who's all about wanting babes in life, he would definitely go "SCORE!!" the soon as he saw you. You couldn't help but laugh at him, though, because you already knew from the start that he never had a chance with any person in his life.

- With you following him around he tends to show off a lot and entertain you, sometimes even offering to carry you out of the places when the job's done.

- Though sometimes, when he's caught off-guard you whisper quite lewd and dirty things in his ear, and that makes him melt and get desperate.

- However, you give him the "Look but can't touch" treatment, making him pouty whenever he attempts to try and take hold of you, but you love seeing him get frustrated.

- Eventually, you let him spoil himself. You give him a moment to touch you, and it's like he's never even seen a person's boobs before, just all star eyed as he fondles you, having you enjoy how adorable he is.

- The moment you get intimate, though. He's weak, and will do anything you wish for.

Sanford:

- He was a nervous wreck the moment he saw you crawl out of that summoning circle, your figure was alluring and he had to hide his face so he wasn't staring disrespectfully!! Mama didn't raise no pervert!

- Though you tease him about that, seeing how he's so willing to be a good boy, but you know deep down he wants you to touch him and spoil him.

- You tend to follow him around, asking a lot of things about him, and he gets shy about most of the stuff about himself, but he does eventually warm up into talking to you.

- The moment you get him alone however, it's like he's being judged, but it's not long until you grasp onto him and ask for some sugar out of him. Sanford grows so flustered, he nearly faints!

- It's gonna be a lot of work to convince this shy nut to nut inside you specifically. But boy is he just the cutest in being good boy on you.

2BDamned:

- 2BDamned isn't the type to listen to a succubus's call. Instead, he makes work of it to contain them. You are no different.

- He treats you like his pet though, he finds it adorable how you beg for his attention but he gradually ignores you in a teasing and playful manner.

- Though eventually, he manages to get a hold of you, collaring you and having you fuss at first, but then you see a glint in his eye.

- He's tired of playing, now he wants to make you his. For once, a man has managed to tame the demon, and it's you.

- Though he never means to be so cold, he will still adore you and take good care of you, all he asks is for you to cooperate with him. Otherwise, it's punishment, pet.

#asks #anon #Succubus!Reader #madness combat x reader #deimos #hank wimbleton #sanford #2BDAMNED #mild smut warning

[destieltropecollection]

Destiel Trope Collection 2021 | Day 1: Fallen!Cas

In A Fortress of Pine Trees | @mistofstars Rating: Explicit Word Count: 3,380 Main Tags/Warnings: Endverse, Croatoan, 2014, 5x04, Smut, bottom!Dean, Angst, Top!Cas Summary: Future!Dean / Future!Castiel "Cas", he finally exhales. "I could need one of your amazing hippie massages right now" -it starts with a simple massage and ends somewhere else; Dean gives in to long neglected needs... DESTIEL in 2014

The Warmth of your skin | @notfunnydean

Rating: Explicit Word Count: 3,414 Main Tags/Warnings: Sharing Body Heat, Hurt!Cas, First Kiss, Naked Cuddling, Sharing a Bed, no explicit sex, human!Cas Summary: Dean and Castiel are in the middle of a forest, when a snowstorm surprises them in the middle of the summer. To make their luck perfect, Castiel breaks into the ice of a lake. There is only one way to survive this cold. Body Heat.

Are We Human? | @one-more-offbeat-anthem

Rating: General Word Count: 3,766 Main Tags/Warnings: human!/fallen!Castiel, first kiss, love confessions, pet cats Summary: After losing his grace, Cas struggles with being human. Dean tries to help him out—and in showing the former angel how to find joy in the little things, starts to find joy himself (if he's brave enough to reach for it). And also discovers that maybe cats aren't so bad.

The End Of The Beginning | @vampamber

Rating: Explicit Word Count: 3,885 Main Tags/Warnings: ABO, omega Dean, alpha Cas, endverse, endverse Cas, heat, pwp, S5E4 The End, there's a sequel Summary: He just wished that Zach-y boy had picked a better time. Dean could feel those deep seated aches in his abdomen that could only mean he was a day or so away from his damn heat starting. Hopefully he could learn his little lesson before he had to lock himself away for a few days to keep himself from presenting to every damn alpha in a five mile radius. He usually took suppressants, but dealing with Lucifer had kind of taken front seat just long enough for Dean to miss a few too many doses. “Damn it,” he muttered to himself as he rubbed at his wrists, finally free. He wandered out to see where the hell he was. It was an old summer camp, that much he could tell, but that was about it. But as weird as all this was, as unreal and impossible as it had to be, the most mind blowing part was definitely Cas. Fuzzy, stoned out of his gourd, sex guru to a gathering of betas and omegas Cas. Cas, who smelled so strongly of alpha and everything that Dean had ever wanted that he had to shift himself when the guy wasn't looking to try and hide the quickly growing erection in his pants, praying that he wouldn't slick right through his jeans.

Finally Realized | @vampamber

Rating: Explicit Word Count: 4,018 Main Tags/Warnings: ABO, alpha Cas, omega Dean, Dean in heat, human Cas, first time, porn with plot Summary: Dean is sick in bed, so Sam calls in a now-human Cas to come and take care of the cranky patient while he escapes goes on a hunt. Dean cooperates with Cas, but it just figures, when the cold is finally gone, his heat takes its place. Now denial stops being an options as Dean begs Cas for the thing he's always wanted, but could never admit to.

Sweet Cherry Pie | @imbiowaresbitch

Rating: Explicit Word Count: 4,801 Main Tags/Warnings: No archive warnings apply, first kiss, first time, friends to lovers, top dean/bottom cas Summary: Dean takes the newly-human Cas to a diner to try some new foods. Cas wants more than a taste.

Tick Tock Goes The Clock | @vampamber

Rating: Explicit Word Count: 5,784 Main Tags/Warnings: ABO, omega Dean, alpha Cas, human Cas, alcohol as a coping mechanism, implied mpreg, angst, porn with plot, drunken confessions, drunken sex Summary: It was a well known fact that every omega had a metaphorical biological clock ticking away inside of them, just waiting to spring the alarm and make the poor guy or girl go just a wee bit baby crazy. And as much as Dean Winchester tried to deny it, mostly to himself, the one inside him was gonna blow at any second. Even though Dean would never admit it to anybody, especially his brother, he had always felt pretty maternal towards Lisa's son, Ben. He’d always wanted a nice, big family with plenty of pups of his own, ever since he had presented as an omega as a teenager. At least, whenever John hadn't been pressuring him to act like the alpha his dad thought he should've been, that is. It had only gotten worse when Sam presented as a beta, so Dean had shoved that dream so far back in his mind that he completely forgot about it ninety-five percent of the time. That was exactly why the omega knew that his biological clock was gonna kick his ass any day now. Where he used to mostly forget about the idea of having a bunch of pups, it was now taking up the vast majority of his thoughts lately.

I Been Blind | @jemariel

Rating: Explicit Word Count: 22,387 Main Tags/Warnings: Human!Cas, porn-watching, masturbation, mutual pining, porn with feelings, suggestion of m/f and m/m/f sex (in porn), oral sex, frottage, anal fingering, suggestion of bottom!Cas. Summary: Castiel is in love with humanity. At least, so long as he's not the one experiencing it. A lighthearted smutty romp wherein Dean helps Cas navigate the tricky minefield of human needs.

Roaming in the Dark (WIP) | @casbelieves

Rating: Explicit Word Count: 24,624 Main Tags/Warnings: Major Character Death, Graphic Depictions of Violence, Drug Abuse, Drug Use, Drug Addiction, Explicit Sexual Content, Alternate Universe - Croatoan/Endverse, Bottom!Cas, Top!Dean, Heavy Angst, Smut, Fallen Angels, Apocalypse, Croatoan Virus, Canonverse, Minor Character Death Summary: A reimagined look into how "The End" came to be. Castiel does not return to heaven after he rescues Dean from his stint in an apocalyptical 2014. The brothers don't reunite. The angels do fall. A dangerous and deadly virus spreads worldwide. But, without fail, Castiel follows Dean and, perhaps, that is his only fault.

Room A Thousand Years Wide | @mittensmorgul

Rating: Mature Word Count: 34,921 Main Tags/Warnings: Case Fic, Getting Together, Long-Suffering Sam Winchester Summary: Once the world and their lives are finally their own, and Cas has chosen humanity once and for all, he begins to find a new routine of daily life with Dean. Sam doesn't know how much longer he can take their apparently oblivious platonic domesticity, when their regularly scheduled evening goes out the window with a single text message from someone they never expected to hear from again. Ex-Ghostfacer Ed Zeddmore is afraid he's stumbled over something too big to let slide, and sends them a link to a potentially dangerous Ghostfacer wannabe, and a case that isn't at all what it appears to be on the surface. What they uncover dredges up a lot of interesting feelings all around, and they must finally face a few ghosts of their own.

Empty Spaces | @thisisapaige

Rating: Mature Word Count: 48,411 Main Tags/Warnings: Angst, Drug Use, Drug Abuse, Drug Withdrawl, Fallen Castiel, Pre-series Dean, Canonverse, Internalized Biphobia, Slow Burn, Canon-Typical Violence, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort Summary: [Castiel] found the colour. It was a green, one of the few gentle colours at the edges of his dreams and the one he tried to capture in his paintings, never quite finding the right hue. He spent so long chasing the colours, trying to find it though pills and needles, but they always evaded his grasp. Yet he found one, right here, hiding in the eyes of a stranger. He studied the colour, the subtle differences between dark and light, the little flecks of gold nearly hidden in the sea of green, the ring around the outside. He studied it, trying to commit the colour to memory. The other man cleared his throat. “Uh, dude?” Oh. Castiel forgot the colour was attached to a person. ~~~ What if Castiel had fallen before the start of the series and met Dean on a routine hunt? Set in the spring before Dean goes to find Sam in Stanford.

Gates of Bronze and Bars of Iron | iCeDreams (AO3)

Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 80,466 Main Tags/Warnings: Season 9 Divergent, Dean in Heaven Summary: Dean realizes that staying in Heaven and catching endless fish isn't living up to its hype. Especially since the gates of Heaven are still closed and there are no angels to guide you in the hereafter. Castiel is surviving Earth, fallen and human until a reaper brings his attention to a hunt forcing him to seek out his fallen brothers.

#destiel trope collection 2021 #day 1 #fallen!cas #destiel #supernatural #fanfic

[nanaminokanojo]

BLOOM | Sukuna X You | Part 1/3

CHARACTERS: Sukuna X You | Gojo Satoru | Geto Suguru | Shoko Ieiri | Maki | Fushiguro Toji | Baby Megumi | Megumi's Mom (OC) CHAPTER COUNT: 1/3 WORD COUNT: 8900+ GENRE: romance | fluff | slight angst | (eventual) smut | ooc sukuna | female reader CHAPTER TRIGGER WARNING: profanity/strong language | alcohol use | cigarette smoking | age gap | unhealthy simping XD SPOILERS: N/A

collection masterlist

one two three | Bloom Masterlist

His hair was the color of cherry blossoms, that's the first thing you noticed. It was the softest shade of pink, easy on the eyes, reminding you of the tendrils of filtered rays of the sun lightly touching the edges of clouds very early in the morning. Or your favorite angora wool sweater.

The man stole your attention from the book you were reading when you chanced a look from your periphery just to check who sat on the stool beside your usual spot on the bar – the seat at the very end by the wall. Your planned glance turned into a furtive stare at the sight of him from his candy-floss-hued hair, the rippling muscles hidden under his white oxford shirt and the array of tattoos that peeked through his neatly folded sleeves. And boy, since when did men smell like vanilla and spring while also exuding such a virile scent?

A smile tugged at the corners of your mouth at the thought, internally shaking your head at your behavior. You should not be staring at people, and though you weren't exactly ogling him, you were still observing him enough to associate him with your favorite article of winter clothing.

"Hey. The usual for you?" you heard Maki, the bar owner, ask, giving you the idea that the man was a regular. How you haven't spotted him before was a mystery.

If it was already hard concentrating on the novel you were reading, you've completely forgotten about it when you heard him say, "Make that single-malt." It's either the gates of hell opened at the sudden heat you felt on your skin at the sound of his voice or the gates of heaven did with how delicious it sounded in your ear, thick like honey and deep with a distinct ring to it. It got you wondering what his mother craved for when she was pregnant with him, and your brain said, "Greek gods," when you lifted your eyes from the current page you were reading and briefly exchanged looks with him as he shifted his line of vision from Maki to you.

You turned your eyes back to your book, making it seem like you were just absently looking about, but in reality, it took herculean effort to wrench your gaze from him. In that brief meeting of your eyes, the features of his face registered in your head like a bar code scanner, etching itself in your mind like a white-hot brand. He wasn't shockingly handsome, but he was beautiful in his own right with those intense eyes that reminded you of drowning pools and the rugged yet refined planes of his face. It was as if an artist painted him in passionate anger, slowly fell in love with the piece and began redefining his features with gentler strokes.

You turned the page of your book despite not getting any reading done. Well, it has been the case for a considerable amount of minutes now, but you tried anyway, furiously staring down at the new page but not comprehending anything. Your eyes kept scanning the same sentence over and over again but it was not sinking in at all.

"Excuse me, miss," that deep voice you've already developed a strange affection for assaulted your senses again, making your head snap up to the direction it was coming from. Hell, you think you'll do its owner's bidding just hearing it at the rate you were going, reacting automatically as if you were programmed with a voice prompt or something.

You were about to look at him but Maki caught your attention as she pushed the smoothie you ordered towards you, placing it precisely in front of you on the hardwood surface with her fingers. She arched a brow at you, causing you to stiffen on your seat.

You've been coming to the quiet little bar since you grew old enough to drink. In fact, you considered it your regular watering hole, going there whenever you can even in the day as it doubled as a gastro-pub. You've already come to know the staff who reserved the spot for you every single time you told them you were coming, particularly the tough but very lovable Maki. She's basically a friend now, and you knew you were acting off if she was giving you odd looks.

"Thanks, Maki," you said just in time, even managing to smile. She just shook her head at you before walking away to tend to another client.

"I have to know what book you are reading," the person beside you said just as you began sipping on your drink, which, you've noted, was a cherry blossom tea smoothie that reminded you of him.

You let go of the straw between your lips, swallowing hard. Turning your attention to him, you found him sitting sideways, chin propped on the heel of his palm as he regarded you. "Huh?" was all you could manage to say to him.

A slow, crooked smile etched itself across his mouth, the action appearing sensuous with the gradual way his expressions changed. "That book," he said for your benefit. "May I know what it is about?"

You just blinked, still questioning yourself if he was addressing you.

"If you're that engrossed about it, it must be great," he said. "Mind telling me the title?"

"Book?" you asked dumbly. He was really frying your brain.

He pointed at the book you were holding with his lips, protruding them slightly before smiling again. Jesus, you loved the way he smiled. The gesture didn't belong there when you've already thought he was the smirking, grinning-devil type. It was too soft a gesture, but then again his hair was shell-pink – a contradiction to his stridently brawny features.

"Oh." Despite yourself, you found yourself chuckling. "I'm sorry, I was distracted."

"Not by the book, I hope."

You looked away, smiling to yourself as you closed the object in question and slid it over to him. When you looked at him, you were surprised to see him actually reading the synopsis at the back, interest flickering in his dark eyes. You were already expecting him to just read the title, probably the author, too, thinking he was just flirting with you judging by his last words. But he was actually reading it.

"It's about an architect," he stated. "He must be mind-blowingly awesome if you're too transfixed on his story."

"No, Howard Roark is mostly a recalcitrant bastard who breaks rules here and there, doesn't cooperate or collaborate and is stone-faced about most anything."

"But it's what you like about him," he supplied.

You nodded. "He’s a breath of fresh air in a world governed by stuffy archaic principles. The spring to a long, stagnant winter of conformity. I'm in love with him." Noticing the look of amusement on his face, you were quick to add, "What?"

"Nothing." His smile didn't waver though. "Are you an architect, too?"

"Too?" you repeated with inflection then tilted your head. "Ah, you're an architect, huh?"

"Guilty."

"Any projects of note?" you asked, tilting your head in wonder when he seemed flustered. "What is it?"

He shook his head slowly. "You're very straightforward."

At that, you grinned. "Should I take you out to dinner before I get that information?" You sipped leisurely at your smoothie, glad that you throw him off as much as he flusters you.

"You don't have to," he found himself answering anyway. "But I work for a firm, so they get most of the credit. We built that new hotel at Shinjuku."

"Eh? Didn't pin you for a baroque kind of guy."

"You know..." He was all ears now judging by how he leaned closer to you. He leveled his expression to yours then. "So, what kind of guy did you think I am?"

There it is, you thought, the smirk you've been waiting for. Without giving it much thought, you said, "The Howard Roark type, of course."

***

"You seriously don't remember, do you?"

It wasn't that you didn't. You simply had no idea how you got home, considering how you ended up all smashed after enjoying too many margaritas after your smoothie. You seriously just didn't know certain things. You didn't know what happened after you reached your limit. And out of all the things you know you should not have missed, you didn't know his name.

You were sitting on the kitchen counter, nursing a headache, trying to fill in every bit of information your friends were trying to leech out of you in your addled state. You've been expecting it - the great inquisition - especially after you returned in a state lesser than they've been expecting, unconscious, according to the collective stories of your roommates, when you told them you were just stepping out to get some reading done. And on a school night, no less. Very atypical of you indeed.

"What should I be remembering?" you responded to Ieiri. You weren't exactly fond of her worrisome nature although you knew she was just watching your back especially since she has been rather disapproving of your escapades with these guys you somewhat dated back then. You appreciated it, but it didn't mean you liked it.

"Oh, I don't know, Y/N. Strawberry blond? Tats? Drives a Jeep? Ring any bells?" she said, jogging your memory. "He came knocking at two in the morning, carrying you in his arms. I mean he was hot according to Satoru, but do you even know the guy?"

“Cherry blossom,” you absently corrected the color Ieiri mentioned.

“Huh?”

“Him, I remember.” You smiled at the thought, not hiding your delight from them. You were sure they were just annoyed that they weren't in on the action since Satoru, your other friend and roommate, who seem nonexistent recently, was the one who interacted with the man you met and supposedly brought you back to the house you rented with all of them. And Satoru doesn't know basic decorum to actually ask what the man’s name was. "Howard."

"Howard?" Suguru, another one of your friends who was in the literature department as you were, asked. "Howard Roark?" He knew the reference, obviously. You forced him to read the book before it even became one of your study materials.

You nodded enthusiastically. "He's an architect."

"He didn't look like a 'Howard,' apparently," Ieiri said.

"That name is from her favorite book," Suguru supplied, his dark eyes shifting to you as he tucked some stray strands of his long, raven locks which were currently tied in a half-up. "So your guy's an architect, too."

"That, but he isn't 'my guy' and I don't know what his name is."

He grinned then. "If you're openly calling him by the name of the character you claim to be in love with, I'm assuming..."

"No!" Ieiri gasped.

You laughed despite the action making your head hurt. You were still hungover after all, but you didn't mind, not when you knew you had a good night. Probably a great night to allow yourself to be hammered like you have been. You only ever drank to your fill when the company is great and when you were in a jovial mood.

"It's nothing like that. He just feels like spring time. Looks like it, too." You waved your hands in front of you for emphasis. Still, your expressions said otherwise.

You weren't in love with the man because you didn't believe in mushy things like love at first sight, but you knew you liked him, just that you weren't getting your hopes up cause there's a chance you might not see him ever again, assuming your meeting was something transient like the blossoms his hair made you think of. Even if he was a regular at Maki's, if your schedules didn't coincide with one another, it would not be easy to meet. You've been coming to the same bar for years and yet, you've only ever seen him that time. You never really know.

But then, you got your answer pretty quickly.

From: Satoru

See you at 7 tomorrow night. Same place.

That’s how Satoru's message read, sent late the previous night. You almost forgot about the agreement you’ve had with him to get unlimited barbecue after sleeping the rest of the day but you made it out just in time. It was something you did with all three of your friends as a way to bond with them individually.

You glanced at the clock on your phone, feeling the stares of the restaurant staff on you. Well, you’ve been there for more than an hour waiting for him. One hour and thirteen minutes to be precise. All you’ve ordered so far was a glass of lemonade and you were able to finish that in the first half hour, sitting on a table for two when evidently, you were alone. All your texts were ignored and your calls were always being redirected to voicemail.

“Where the fuck are you, Gojo Satoru?” you asked him in one of your messages, hissing low into your phone just so the other diners would not be offended by your words. You got a message another twenty minutes later, the sound of your phone almost making you jump from your seat. However, when you looked at it, it was from an unknown number.

You were about to check the message when one of the waitresses came to your table, pad and pen on the ready. She’s always the one who served you whenever you and your friends would go there for a dose of beef and pork fat, and she has always been nice to you.

“Not to be nosy but I think your friend isn’t coming.”

You nodded, grimacing. “Tell me about it.”

“The boss has been giving you the stink eye, too.”

Looking over the counter, you saw the elderly man really looking at you. He looked away when you met his eyes, muttering to himself. You knew how the owner could get, but you simply loved going there since their food is good and the service is just the same. You smiled ruefully at the woman before you. “I’ll have a sukiyaki set and warm sake, please. Thank you.”

“Would that be all?”

“Yeah.”

“Coming right up.” She flashed you a bright smile before disappearing into the back rooms.

You almost forgot the message you saw earlier, but then, your phone lit up again with that familiar tone. The new message was from the same number.

From: Unknown

How are you?

From: Unknown

I hope you’re okay.

You frowned, not having the slightest clue as to who could be texting you.

From: You

Who is this?

Your order came but there was no response from the mystery texter or Satoru. You felt pathetic looking at your phone every once in a while as you ate and drank. Normally, you wouldn’t even have given anybody, including your best friends, the time of the day, making you wait for longer than an hour without as much as a message. You don’t ever wait for people over the agreed meeting time. You hated it with passion. And you were already thinking of ways to make Satoru pay.

You were about to eat a mouthful of beef when you heard the chair across you being dragged back. Your eyes flicked to the direction, and to your utter shock, you almost dropped your chopsticks if it weren’t for the hand that reached out and held onto your hand, securing the utensils.

Once again, you were sitting on your usual spot at the bar, eyes clashing with those intense ones owned by the pink-haired guy who apparently drove a charcoal grey Jeep and reminded you of spring, the same one who drove you home the other night.

“Careful,” he said, his scent assaulting your senses.

A lump formed in your throat, making you unable to form proper words, so you settled for putting down the chopsticks. You folded your hands together on your lap, recovering from your consternation before you finally looked at him, unable to help it but grin. He looked different that day, more laid back in a white baseball cap mussing his candy-floss hair down, a loose-fitting shirt in the same hue and jeans. He looked so fresh, you felt the air around you cool down considerably.

“How did you…” you hesitated and shook you head. “Hello.”

He broke into that crooked smile. “Crazy how the moment you sent the message, I saw you through the glass walls while I drove past.”

You opened your mouth to say something, but closed it again, not quite knowing how to react to it when suddenly, the first part of his statement registered in your mind. “Wait, message?” You picked up your phone, showing him the messages. “This is you?”

He nodded slowly. “Looks like you’re doing great.” He regarded the bottle of sake on the table. “I had to get your number to check up on you. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Y-yeah, I mean, no, not at all. Thank you by the way.” You chuckled, saving his number and naming him Spring God in your contacts. “I wasn’t really expecting you to bring me home.”

“I got your address from your driving license.” He grinned then. “I thought of taking you back to my place, but I didn’t know how that would sit with you.”

Who says chivalry was dead? “I’m sorry for acting crazy, if I did anyway." You chuckled. "I don't remember…and for having to bring me all the way to the house.”

“It’s fine. It was lovely meeting Satoru.”

At that, your face flushed red. You winced. “I’m sorry for whatever he did while I was out of it.” He could be crazy at times, and you wouldn't be surprised if he did something untoward.

He shook his head, letting out a slight chuckle. “He was very nice to me, don’t worry.” He furrowed his brows then. “I also got your name. Y/N. I don’t know if you forgot to tell me or you just didn’t trust me enough, but I’d like to think it’s the former since you didn’t seem to think twice about getting wasted with me like you did.”

You deliberately didn’t tell him your name, but he was making it sound a little nicer. It wasn’t really something you planned on doing again, meeting him, but somehow, he found you. You shook you head, coming clean. “If you put it that way, okay, but really, I thought it was better if you didn’t know.”

“Hmm. Why is that?”

You found it endearing that he tilted his head a bit to the side when he asked the question. Your lips curled upwards at the corner. “I just never thought I’d meet you again.”

“That would be unfortunate.”

You laughed awkwardly at his remark. “I didn’t mean that in a bad way.”

“I’m not offended.”

“Okay.”

You requested for another order of barbecue for him. He declined but you insisted. “Come on. My treat for your act of kindness.” You snickered. “Besides, my supposed date bailed.”

“Date?”

Sighing, you said, “Well, not really. Satoru. We agreed to meet here over an hour ago but he hasn’t been answering my messages or calls. Something probably came up.”

He eyed you thoughtfully. “If you don't mind me asking, is he your...?"

"My what?"

"Your boyfriend…maybe."

You chuckled at the thought, but then you realized you didn't even know his name. "I don't really tell strangers about things like that," you teased.

“Okay, but I thought we’re past being strangers.” He smirked then and you swore you felt your stomach flip.

“We’re in the getting-to-know-each-other phase,” you told him with a laugh, acceding. "Since I didn't tell you my name, I didn't expect you to tell me yours. Plus I didn't ask, so may I have yours?"

"Sukuna," he said. "Ryomen Sukuna."

"Su-ku-na," you repeated, liking the feel of the syllables as they rolled out of your tongue. Finally, the person you've gotten so fond of in just a short time had a name. You didn't know what his name meant but it seemed to match him well regardless of how arbitrary it was to his person. You couldn't think of any better name though. "I like your name. It's pretty." You smiled brightly at him then. "And no, Satoru is not my boyfriend."

Ryomen Sukuna was an absolute puzzle to you. How he could look so badass and pretty much intimidating with his strapping physique and inked skin – throw in the multiple piercings on his left ear which you were noticing or the first time – while also pulling off all these adorable little actuations was a quandary to you. Tall, solidly built men like him should not be reminding you of soft, cute things, but the moment he blinked in confusion, you knew you couldn't get enough of it.

"Nobody ever said that about my name, but thanks," he returned in that deep voice after a moment's pause. And was that a dusting of roses over his cheeks? The surprises you were getting from this man was endless. He really was such a breath of fresh air, so far from the usual stereotypes.

Your face seemed to be perpetually pulled into a smile whenever you were around him, and you didn't think you were doing a good job suppressing the urge to be beaming like an idiot around him. "So, anyway, what made you think that blue-eyed idiot is my boyfriend?" you asked, changing the topic.

"Well, he was a bit hostile at first when he took you from me, making me explain things but then started apologizing after. He told me you could be a handful when inebriated..." He let his voice trail off as if letting you chew on his words.

"You agree with him." It wasn't a question.

"Yes." Sukuna pretended to frown. "He also calls you 'his princess'."

You threw your head back, covering your eyes momentarily in embarrassment. "Now I wish you met Ieiri and Suguru instead," proceeding to explain that the nickname was something akin to what a father would call his precious daughter.

"He was rather intimidating, but I guess he's just looking out for you."

"He's still not off the hook for standing me up," you quipped, "But you finding him intimidating is funny."

"Why?"

You scoffed, gesturing over to him. "I think you can snap him in two if you wished, too."

"He was scary," Sukuna insisted.

"He's harmless...most of the time, but yeah, he’s rather protective. That’s one of my dads for you."

He laughed then. "There's nothing scarier than a fiercely protective friend…or a doting father. I can't muscle my way out of that for sure."

"Ah, then you'll find Ieiri scarier."

The night pretty much went well and ended on a good note. Sukuna did most of the talking for the rest of the night. You learned he was six years older than you at twenty nine, one of the head architects at the firm he worked for, has a love-hate relationship with his job cause he wants to draw portraits instead, was a delinquent when he was younger but got away with things cause he was a straight-A student, loved dogs so much that he cries when they die in movies, was closer to his mom, got his tattoos on a sudden whim, and was pretty much a sweet, charming genuine person which contrasted his appearance. What you see isn't what you get. That just isn't how it worked with him.

You loved it when he talked. It was rather entertaining as he had a way of telling stories which made you feel like you were actually there when it happened. Eventually, you forgot the reason why you were at the restaurant in the first place. It was as if you went there for the purpose of meeting Sukuna himself. Satoru was all but forgotten as you dissolved into carefree laughter and playful banters, and you felt at ease and more like yourself around him, pretty much like when you were with your three favorite people in the world.

“It’s not really that funny,” Sukuna told you, watching you laugh heartily at that one episode in his freshmen year when he made a mistake of going on a date with the wrong girl who happened to have the same name as his supposed date. You continued to laugh as if he didn’t say anything.

“It’s just crazy that both of them were there at the same time. I mean, what were the odds?”

He parked by the sidewalk in front of your house, killing the engine. “That’s the reason why I have never agreed to a single blind date ever again.” He pulled the key out of the ignition, glancing at the direction of your house. “We’re here.”

Your laughter died down when you followed the direction of his gaze. The lights were off except for the one lighting up the porch of the house you shared with your friends. You returned your gaze to him then. “Thanks for driving me home. Again.”

“I enjoyed your company. It’s the least I can do.”

You smiled warmly at him, reaching over to give him a chaste kiss on the cheek when he suddenly turned his head a fraction towards you. That minute change made your lips end up against his instead. He was surprised at first and remained immobile against you, but when you pulled away, he chased you back, connecting your mouths, his lips feeling soft and warm yet emitting that air of dominance as it coaxed yours to move in sync with his. You were kissing him back in no time, but you immediately caught yourself and withdrew, utterly flustered.

Your heart thudded heavily as he held you in his intense gaze, his tongue slowly running over his lower lip, making you even more mentally incapacitated. It made you want to just pull him back to you and covet those lips with yours again. You snapped out of it though. You already knew he was capable of hot-wiring and hijacking your brain.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry,” you told him when you were able to form words again.

Sukuna looked at you from under his lashes, smiling slightly. “I’m not.”

Taken aback, you chuckled nervously. “No?”

He shook his head, reached over and ruffled your hair a bit. “Go inside. It’s late.” You nodded and disembarked from the car while he leaned on the steering wheel, watching you. You were already on the pavement, about to close the door, when he spoke again. “Can I come see you again?”

“Sure,” you said without thinking. “Good night, Sukuna.” Man, you just loved saying his name.

“Bye, Y/N. Good night.”

He drove away while you made your way towards your doorstep. Your fingers flew to your lips once you were standing on your porch, smiling to yourself at the realization of having kissed him. Shaking your head, you fished for the keys from your pocket and entered the house, not quite remembering how you got to your room, but you slept that night with pleasant dreams of running your fingers through pink locks of hair.

***

"I'm really sorry. Something came up and my phone died."

You acceded. It wasn’t as if Satoru did something so big. You went to the outdoor kiosks near the parking lot by the football grounds to catch up on some reading while Satoru ate and told you bits of his past few days, since he got held up at their family estate. Having such a traditional, high-ranking family in the country sure had its downsides, and you weren't about to make him even more agitated than he already was. He had it difficult, you knew that, and you weren’t about to be petty over him not coming to your supposed bonding time. He may be happy-go-lucky but you felt tension simmering just under the surface when you squeezed his hand in assurance.

Suguru and Ieiri followed shortly after Satoru fetched you from class, also surprised to see him there. "So, you finally decided to show up," the former said.

"Don't ask," Satoru said.

"Wasn't planning to," Suguru scoffed, his attention shifting to you. “What are you working on anyway?” he asked, flipping the file you were reading haphazardly to peer through the contents.

“I’m making an analysis report on ‘The Romantic Manifesto’.” you answered, looking up from the notes you were writing when your eyes suddenly strayed over his shoulder. You almost did a double-take, glancing at Suguru before returning your line of vision at the spot beyond where he sat.

“It’s due…” your voice trailed off when you realized just what, or rather who, you were looking at. You weren’t so sure whether what you were seeing was real or a mirage, a very familiar, specific and detailed one, but then, you figured it was the former when the person smirked and cocked his head to the side, beckoning you over to where he leaned against his grey Jeep as he raised a cup of what looked like cherry blossom tea.

Suguru arched a brow at you, looking behind him but not really noticing the object of your distraction. “Hey, you okay?”

Ieiri followed the direction of your gaze and nudged you when she saw who you were looking at. "Is that your Howard? Damn, girl. He’s sizzling."

You nodded, but at that same moment, you rose from the table without any explanation, your feet immediately leading you towards the outdoor carpark. When you were within earshot, you said, “What are you doing here?”

You stopped a few feet from him, glancing behind you to where the others had already turned their heads to follow the path you took, flashing you shit-eating grins. It wouldn’t surprise you anymore if they had pieced together who the person was before you. They claimed to be your ‘parents’ but acted like children at times.

“I brought you tea.” Sukuna walked towards you, standing so close that you forgot how to breathe for a few seconds as you inhaled his scent and took in his appearance, looking immaculate in a plain white shirt and faded jeans, but your brain only seemed to register those lips and the memory of how they felt against yours.

You shook your head, snapping out of your trance, mentally cursing at yourself. “Hi.” You exhaled loudly, trying hard not to smile like an idiot while you absently twirled your hair on your finger, suddenly seeing the world through a pinkish filter. "How do you keep finding me?"

Sukuna's smile dropped. “Did I come at an inconvenient time?” he asked gently, trying hard not to sound miffed, but he obviously was taken aback by your words.

“No.” You shook your head, placing a hand over your forehead. You finally smiled at him, letting out a choked snicker. “No, Sukuna. It’s good to see you. It’s just that I wasn’t expecting to see you here. And you didn't really tell me you were coming.”

He grinned at you then but he still appeared unsure, placing a hand behind his neck. “Right.”

You flashed him a helpless look. “Please don’t look at me like that. I’m just really surprised.”

“Hmm." He moved closer to you, wrapping your hand around the transparent disposable cup. His proximity was affecting you in ways you couldn't admit out loud. "Are you happy to see me, too?"

"Too? So, you're happy to see me?"

"Always."

That's it. You're done for. Trying to avoid his intense gaze and escaping his scrutiny, you glanced over your shoulder to find everyone on your table observing you blatantly. Satoru raised a thumb at you while Ieiri was giggling with Suguru.

"Are those your friends?" Sukuna commented, his minty breath fanning against the side of your face which made you turn a little too quickly to face him again only to be confronted by his face leaning towards yours, mere centimeters away.

“Y-yeah.” You leaned a bit backwards but he moved forward. “That they are.” You stepped backwards again, nearly faltering on your feet, but you immediately gained your balance when he grabbed you by the arm, steadying you.

"Are you alright?" Sukuna asked, looking at you with concern written all over his face which morphed into wonder when you said, "Yeah, you're just overwhelming."

"Huh?"

"I can't think properly when I'm around you," you stated casually, your expressions not giving anything away as per usual. You arched a brow at him when he did the same. "You hot-wire my brain."

"I know what you mean." He smirked despite his confusion. "Is that good or bad?"

You eyed him thoughtfully, biting on your lower lip. "Good for you, bad for me. You can probably tell me to eat dirt and I'd do it in a heartbeat."

He chuckled, looking at you tenderly. "You're too honest."

"To a fault," you agreed, "Suguru tells me all the time. Wanna meet them?"

He ruffled your hair. "Sure."

***

While you weren't exactly expecting to see Sukuna again after the night you met, he became of constant presence around you. You have gone out with him several times over the course of two months. He was a busy person and you also had your priorities, but he always makes you feel special whenever you two would be out and about, behaving like such a gentleman opening and closing doors for you, naturally shifting closer to traffic while you walked, bringing an extra jacket in case you felt cold or a larger umbrella so you don't get wet, bringing you your favorite tea whenever he could.

He picked you up from school for lunch twice, making the most of the hour, and one time, you brought him lunch at work when he suddenly canceled on you, saying he was swamped with work. He sounded really upset so you decided to go to him instead. You brought Suguru with you as a buffer, but Sukuna's colleagues still teased him. He was different in the office – gruff and strict which fitted him more – but he still beamed at you happily when you brought him food, not caring who saw.

Apart from the brief phone calls, you two never really texted. It wasn't really your thing and he didn't like it either, so it could go days on end without you saying anything to each other, but when you do get a chance to speak, it would always be like picking up on where you've left off. He has only ever sent you two messages. One to remind you to take good care of yourself because he was going to be away for a while and another one a week later asking if you wanted to go out with him that coming Friday night.

"Your timing's off," you told him over the phone. You really wanted to say yes, but, "Ieiri, the boys and I are going out that night. Gang tradition."

"Some other time then?"

"Sure."

You hung up after a few more exchanges of words, getting started on reading some notes when Ieiri entered the kitchen. "Was that Howard?"

"Yeah. He's inviting me to go out on Friday, but I already said yes to clubbing with you guys."

She grinned cheekily, wrapping an arm around you as she poked you on the cheek. At times, it feels like Satoru was rubbing off on her. "Are you sure you don't want to ditch us for the hot architect?"

"Hot architect –" You snickered. "Did you just say that?"

"I was supposed to say 'sugar daddy,' literally and figuratively. Sugar and his cotton candy hair. Get it?"

You narrowed your eyes at her, shaking your head. It was supposed to be amusing, but when Ieiri says it, it just sounds weird. "Can I read in peace now?"

She left you alone, but laughed at your expense.

Friday couldn't have rolled around fast enough and you headed out with your friends at the club owned by a friend of yours, prepared to party in a pair of tight-fitting jeans, a crop top and your hair hanging about in wavy layers. You were already expecting the place to be cramped as hell given the day of the week so much so that Suguru had to hold onto you tightly so as not to lose you when you entered until you found the area you had reserved for the night. It was for good measure too since the place was drenched in purple, blue and green laser lights which were disorienting at first. And so, your night began as such.

You were in the middle of dancing, only pausing when you had to down your nth shot for the night when your eyes suddenly strayed to the bar area at the elevated part of the club adjacent to the the leather seats. You looked away but returned your gaze towards said direction when you realized this very familiar guy was looking at you. He was watching you as you danced and let loose, a ghost of a smile playing at the corners of his mouth.

You craned your neck, looking back and thinking the guy looked a lot like Sukuna, but then he couldn’t be. He was engaged elsewhere, still you continued to ogle him until you were pretty sure it wasn’t the same person. But the longer you looked, the more it was being proven to you that it was him.

That lopsided smile drew itself across his lips, seeing as how you were doubting yourself about his identity. There was no mistaking that look on his face, the way his dark eyes seemed to sparkle whenever he smiled even if the action didn't belong there.

“Sukuna?” you mouthed his name and he nodded, motioning for you to come over with his head. It had been a solid ten days since you last saw him, and for some reason, your heart raced at the thought of seeing him there.

Without saying a word to the people you were with, you squeezed yourself through the crowd, your feet carrying to the upstairs bar, to Sukuna. It took you a while to traverse the space between you, and when you finally stood before him, all you could do was smile up at him, taking in the soft look about him as he regarded you which were at odds to those fiery eyes that had the capability to turn into bright orbs of light when he beamed down at you.

“Hello, Y/N. Once again, fate has brought you to me,” he said rather dramatically, a smirk drawing itself across his pretty mouth.

Laughter escaped your throat, unable to say anything when you realized that you actually missed him, missed looking at him. Unable to help it, you stood on your toes and reached out to touch his hair, the action surprising the both of you. He eyed you, his expressions that of a half-smile and a look of confusion while you retracted your hands as quickly as you felt his soft locks with your fingertips, wincing at the realization of what you were doing.

At that, he laughed heartily, stealing your hand and pressing it over the side of his head. “Go ahead. I don’t mind you touching me,” he told you, staring into your eyes that you felt like all the air in the room was gone.

You blinked at him, processing what he said and joined in his mirth. “You're here!” You shook your head when it dawned to you that you were stating the obvious. “I’m sorry. How are you, Sukuna?”

“Pink?” he offered and chuckled at his own joke which made your face heat up. “Kidding. I’m great. I missed you these past days. How are you?”

“You did?” You felt your insides melting at his statement, made worse when he nodded to confirm it. “I’m fine. Great. Where have you disappeared to anyway?”

He snickered a your question. “Madrid.”

Your jaw dropped. “As in Spain?”

He nodded. “Had to do something there.”

“Uh-huh.” His words were rather obscure, but you didn’t want to encroach on his private life.

“What are the odds that we’re at the same club?”

“The owner is a friend,” you answered, smiling awkwardly as you glanced at the direction of your friends on the dance floor. You saw all of them looking at you. Suguru winked at you, giving you the thumbs up, making you laugh at his silliness.

“The gang’s all here, I see.”

“What?” You faced Sukuna, finding him leaning close beside you against the metal balustrade. Just then, a waiter passed by holding a whole tray of shots, and before you could duck, he grabbed you by the waist so that you were leaning against him with no quantifiable space between your bodies. Your eyes widened in shock and you froze, your thoughts clouded by the familiar smell of rain in a bamboo forest during Maytime. “T-thanks…”

He hummed in response to your gratitude, but he didn’t let you go. “I didn’t know you enjoyed places like this, too.”

“Why is that?” you asked, feigning ignorance to how close you two were.

"I never pinned you for the party animal type. I kinda developed a fondness for that quiet, nerdy girl sitting at the corner of the pub."

"Not exactly. I prefer Maki's place to be honest but coming here once in a while doesn't hurt. Especially with those three." You frowned slightly at him then as you thought of something. “So, why didn’t you approach me?” You motioned towards the dancefloor. “I'm sure the three-headed monster won't mind if you joined us. You alone?”

“Yes, sweetheart, but aren't you supposed to be hanging out with them?" You grabbed his arm before he could refuse you and started leading him towards where the others were.

However, he had other plans in mind. Again, he hooked an arm around your waist until your back was leaning against him. You eyed him sideways, startled by his actions, but unable to counteract it anyway as you’re just stunned speechless all the while. “You can go back to them, Y/N, but I don’t think I should go with you.”

You turned around, gently easing away from his hold. “Why not? They already know you, and they like you.”

"Are you sure? I don't want to be a party pooper.” He leaned towards you, tilting his head to the side while his lower lip slightly jutted out.

"What are you talking about?” You rolled your eyes at him then snickered.

He eyed you seriously then. “Just in case this is a friends-only affair?”

“Satoru already ruined that by bringing his girls into the mix.” You laughed at him when you saw him hesitate. “Come on, Sukuna. Join us. For me?” You showed him your best impression of puppy-dog eyes. “Pretty please?”

When you saw that he wasn’t budging, you changed your argument. “Fine. Dance with me then.” You didn’t give him any time to contradict you as you took him by the hand and dragged him to the dancefloor.

He was just standing still, looking uncomfortable as you started to groove to the beat, so you took his arms and started moving them until he was moving on his own, finally breaking into that smile. He looked too awkward that you wanted to laugh but decided against it, simply raising your hands and feeling the music.

“Aren’t you having fun?” you asked him as you were bobbing your head to the bass.

“I am!” he answered above the music.

“You don’t look like you’re having fun. Are you shy?” You chuckled openly at that.

“No.”

“You don’t dance?”

“I can dance.”

You giggled. “Then show me what you’ve got!”

Without a warning, he started moving in sync with you, taking your hands in his and finally letting loose in such a graceful manner as you both got into the beat and started waving and swaying against one another, his hands slowly running at your sides in sensual rhythms that got you reeling in excitement. You almost forgot that you were with other people as you danced with him. It was fun and it felt good to be that carefree, not minding your friends, drinks flowing in nonstop.

Soon, the group you’ve left joined you and Sukuna. They all greeted him excitedly while the boys exchanged high-fives with him as they were dancing. Satoru and the two girls who were with him also joined in and somewhere along that, Suguru offered everyone cigarettes, and you gladly took one when you saw Sukuna taking one as well. You didn’t really smoke on a regular basis but you didn’t exactly shy away from the so-called cancer sticks.

After taking another shot, you pulled Sukuna out of the dancefloor, hollering at the others as you raised your cigarette, signaling where you were going in case they wanted to come with. You made your way to the smoking area at the veranda situated at the back of the building with the older male in tow. You were pretty much buzzed, calming down from the high you had while dancing, grinning wide as the cool night air met you, making your lungs expand as you breathed in.

Sukuna watched you as he took his place against the banister, following him shortly as you produced a lighter from your pocket, something that you always carried just in case.

“You smoke?” he asked, toying with his own battered stick, twirling it around his long fingers.

“Sometimes,” you admitted, watching his reaction. “And you?”

“Not really.”

“You took one anyway.” You wedged the item in question between your lips and raised the lighter, but before you could light it, it was pulled out from your mouth and the next thing you knew, Sukuna was kissing you, his lips pressed against yours as he pulled you closer by the hips which he seemed to have a fixation for since you came up to him. It was a soft yet urgent kiss that cajoled you to respond, and not long after, your lips were submissive clouds moving to the will of the wind that was his luscious mouth.

Like the first time you felt his lips against yours, electricity ran through your body as if he was touching you elsewhere apart from your mouth. It was driving you off the edge of sanity, and you knew you’d probably jump off a cliff for the male. He grinned at your dazed state when your eyes met after he finally pulled away, showing you the cigarette that was supposed to be between your lips before he unceremoniously laid claim to them.

“You’re going to ruin your lips by smoking. I’m keeping this,” he told you.

You were too mesmerized with the tingling feeling in your mouth while your eyes stayed glued to his as you blinked slowly, your mind and heart racing at a thousand miles per second. “W-why would you do that?” you stammered, feeling your throat go so dry that you had to drag the words out.

“Apart from the fact that it’s terribly unhealthy, it ruins your sense of smell and taste.” He waved the cigarette in front of you before shoving it into the pocket of his jeans. “Scientific fact.”

You couldn’t quite process what he was saying. You were asking why he kissed you, but he misunderstood. “Are you going to taser me with your lips every single time I’m about to smoke?”

“Taser…” He chuckled and narrowed his eyes at you. “I might just if it means these dangerous things don’t touch your pretty mouth.”

“What the –” You didn’t know if you would be scandalized by what he said or if you were going to laugh. The latter won and you tittered. “That’s a good one.”

“I mean it, Y/N.”

Boldness engulfed your whole thought process as you stepped closer to him, looking straight into his eyes. “And if I insist on it? Placing dangerous things in my pretty mouth? What are you going to do then?”

He, too, leaned forward, eyes flicking to your lips. “Then I guess I just have to keep your mouth too busy to even think about smoking again,” he whispered to you, his breath hitting your lips.

You smirked at him then. “I guess I just have to make sure you aren’t around if I do feel like smoking.”

He pouted. You burst out laughing.

You reached over and pinched both of his cheeks. “You’re so adorable.”

Sukuna swatted your hands away, but smiled nonetheless. "You're the only one who says I'm adorable."

"You are. You just don't know it."

“Okay then. If you say so.” He tucked a stray strand of hair behind your ear then, your skin tingling where he touched you. “Are you busy tomorrow?”

“Not really.”

“Good. I wanna do something for you.”

You eyed him questioningly. “Hmm. What?”

“That’s a surprise.”

It was already around two in the morning when everyone had the unanimous decision to leave the club which was still packed. You, too, were getting tired especially after Ieiri ended up hammered and Satoru was emptying his guts through his mouth. Suguru was a bit drunk, too, but he was trying his best to help you take care of them. Sukuna had been very nice all night, even helping you load Satoru and Ieiri into the backseat of Suguru’s car.

“Would you like me to drive you home?” he asked you after shutting the door to the backseat.

“No, I’m gonna be fine. Besides, I can’t just leave Suguru to deal with them both.” You motioned to his Jeep. “You should go ahead, too.”

Sukuna grimaced as he nodded. “I guess that would be for the best. Anyway, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Okay. You take good care now.”

“You, too, sweetheart.” He stepped forward and pulled you against him, hugging you, enveloping you in his warmth and that scent you loved profusely. “It’s really great seeing you tonight.”

You returned the gesture, smiling up at him as you tried to compose yourself. “It’s great seeing you, too.” You stood on your toes and pecked him on the cheek before giving him a gentle shove towards the car. “See you, Sukuna.”

He waved at you then boarded the car. You watched as it disappeared down the street before turning away to enter the club to get Suguru who was left to settle the bills. You found him seated on one of the couches, finding your way easily since the crowd thinned a bit.

“You okay, dude?” you asked when you reached him. He was pale and he looked like he was going to throw up anytime. “Do you need to go to the restroom?”

He shook his head. “Just get me out of here.”

You chuckled, leading him faster out of the club. You sat him down on passenger side and soothed his back, asking after him again as you started the engine. He said he was fine, laughing when he caught a glimpse of the two who were already passed out on the backseat with Satoru lying on Ieiri’s lap while her head was lolling limply to the side.

The drive was rather short without much cars on the road, but Suguru was still able to squeeze in a conversation, and of all the topics he could broach, it had to be about Sukuna.

“I thought Sukuna will be driving you home,” he began, glancing at you.

“He offered, but I can’t just leave you.”

“That would have been okay.” He glanced at the rearview mirror then, checking on the two, you could only guess. He could be such a mother hen at times. “I think he’s cool.”

“Mhmm.”

“And he’s really good-looking,” Suguru threw in with a chuckle. “Just date already.”

You chuckled. “Why don’t you date him instead?”

“Don’t you want to try it out with him?”

“He hasn’t even asked me to date him.”

“Yeah, but he already kissed you –”

“How did you know about that?” you demanded, mortified. Your cheeks were heating up again at the memory of it.

“Well, you’re in a public place.” He laughed. “So, it’s bound to end in dating anyway.”

“Not necessarily.” You turned sideways to look at him. “He’s older after all, not that I see the age gap as a problem. But you know, he might just be passing time.”

“He obviously likes you. If you date him, it’s a win-win situation. You like him, too, you just don’t know it.”

You scoffed. “How can you say that?”

He blew a raspberry. Typical Suguru behavior. “You can be yourself around him. You’re all smiley face around him, too. I saw you. You can’t lie to me.”

“Really now?”

“Yeah. You look your best that way. And don’t ever think you are just a pastime. I’ll kill him if he treats you as such.” He smiled knowingly at you. “Besides, you should date properly. Enough with your flings with stupid boys in campus.”

“Okay, dad.” You sighed, trying to contain your excitement. “I do like him though. He’s so nice to me.”

Suguru reached over patting you on the shoulder. “Ah! My daughter is a grown-woman.”

You swatted at his hand, laughing at his antics.

-end of part 1-

If you're curious who Howard Roark is, he's one of my fave literary characters from Ayn Rand's "The Fountainhead." He's excellently made. That's it.

Can architect!sukuna please call me "sweetheart," too?

If you want to be included in the tag list, please DM me :) I'll be posting every week (or I'll try to anyway). Someone remind me to post the next chapters please?

Additional notes are available in the masterlist, particularly on the reasons why I wrote some things the way I did. I don't know what I'm trying to prove there, but haha!

Thank you so much for reading. Likes, comments and reblogs are deeply appreciated! Hope you enjoyed it.

© ORIGINAL WORK BY nanaminokanojo. CHARACTERS ARE INSPIRED BY GEGE AKUTAMI'S JUJUTSU KAISEN. [20210618]

PHOTO/IMAGE/GIF/FANART SOURCES FULLY CREDITED TO THE RESPECTIVE OWNERS.

#sukuna #ryomen sukuna #jjk sukuna #jjk ryomen sukuna #jujutsu kaisen sukuna #jujutsu kaisen #jjk #sukuna smut #sukuna fluff #ryomen sukuna fluff #ryomen sukuna smut #jjk smut #jjk fluff #jujutsu kaisen smut #jujutsu kaisen fluff #sukuna x you #sukuna x reader #ryomen sukuna x you #ryomen sukuna x reader #jujutsu kaisen x you #jujutsu kaisen fanfic #jjk x you #jjk fanfic #jjk fanfiction #jututsu kaisen fanfiction #jujutsu kaisen x reader #jjk x reader #jujutsu kaisen ryomen sukuna #gojo #geto

[gamerwoo]

[Tales from the Pack] Joshua: Second Chance (Part Five)

Characters: Joshua x female reader

Genre/warnings: werewolf au, fantasy, fluff, fluffy angst, Josh is still a grumpy old man

Word count: 2,888

Summary: After his mate died, Joshua always blamed himself and never wanted to imprint again. However, fate has other ideas when he meets you: a young, energetic werecoyote that’s quite the opposite of him. He insists he doesn’t want a new mate – nobody���s even sure if he’s ready for a new one – but he can’t ignore his instincts.

Previous | Next | Second Chance Masterlist

“So how exactly are we supposed to...prepare?” Soomin wondered.

“Prepare what? Prepare how?” Soonyoung asked.

“Well, it’s not like Josh is gonna take this re-imprinting thing well,” Wonwoo shrugged. Ever since the news about Joshua imprinting during his doctor visit, that’s all the pack could really focus on or talk about. But nobody was completely sure when he’d be released, so they wanted to plan things ahead of time. “None of us are really sure what to do when he gets home. He’s probably not going to want to talk about her so do we just not say anything? Do we brace ourselves for him to go back to being angry and reckless?”

“Reckless?” Yeji snorted. “You can’t tell me that old fart was ever reckless.”

“There are tons of stories we could tell you about him doing dumb things, and there’s even more from before he met us,” Seokmin nodded, though he wasn’t about to get into details.

“Even Lilly would tell us stories of how Josh was a menace growing up,” Chan chuckled. “We’ve all seen him act aggressively. He was never really great at managing his anger, even when it--”

“Shut up,” Seungkwan hissed, knowing exactly what Chan was going to say and not wanting to start that conversation up again.

“Is that why the tip of his wolf’s ear is missing?” Suvi wondered.

“Not necessarily,” Soonyoung said with almost a sour tone.

“Okay, but despite all of that,” Minghao began, “do we really need to ‘prepare’ for Shua to come home? If he doesn’t want to talk about her, then he won’t. So then we won’t. Problem solved.”

Except nobody ever thought that Joshua might let the girl he imprinted on tag along back home. He walked in with Seungcheol and Kyung helping him into the house, the pack smiling and telling him how happy they were that he was going to be back to normal. However, Joshua ignored them all, not even sparing them side glances. He just stared forward and grumbled for the two alphas to bring him to his bedroom.

Then Jihoon walked in. He seemed stressed when he lifted his head to address the pack.

“Don’t mention her to Joshua, don’t even talk to either of them if they’re ever in the same room together,” he warned.

“Who?” Junhui asked.

And then Hansol walked in with you as your blue eyes wandered curiously, subtly sniffing the air of this new place. You smelled...a lot of things. But as Hansol had quietly told you on the way there, there were fourteen werewolves living there, along with seven mates. You knew you were going to be bombarded with a lot, but still, you could somehow easily pick up Joshua’s distinct scent above all else.

“Oh…” Jun murmured.

Your eyes then began scanning each face in front of you. You assumed these people must’ve been the pack -- who else would they be?

“This is _____,” Hansol introduced you as if Jihoon didn’t just come in and basically tell the pack to shun you in Joshua’s presence. “She’s a werecoyote.”

“That explains the weird smell...” Jeonghan muttered.

With Joshua upstairs -- Seungcheol came back down with Kyung and reported that he didn’t think Joshua would be leaving his bedroom at least for the rest of the day -- the pack brought you into the living room just to get to know you a little better. Truth be told, they were kind of excited to see what Joshua’s new mate would be like. Would you be like Lilly? Would you be like how Joshua is now?

However, they found you to be...odd. Nice, absolutely, but odd. Living in a cave instead of a home was the biggest red flag, but there were plenty of others. It was like you were raised like an actual coyote rather than a person.

“Didn’t you have a family, _____?” Chan decided to ask. “Parents? Siblings? Anyone to take care of you?”

“Well yeah, but--”

“But, like everyone else, they kicked her out or something,” Joshua’s voice surprised everyone as he appeared in the doorway to the living room. He raised his eyebrows at you. “Am I right? Yeah, so you’re not special.”

“Are we supposed to not talk to her now?” Mingyu barely whispered.

“I can hear you all upstairs, y’know,” the older wolf said as he strolled into the living room and leaned against the arm of one of the couches.

“Shouldn’t you be resting?” Danbi asked.

Joshua just shrugged, not saying anything in response.

“Okay…” Yeji looked away from Joshua and back at you, wanting to get rid of the odd tension that the grumpy werewolf had created. “So _____, how old are you?”

But when you gave them your age, Yeji chuckled at you, “No, I mean how old are you really? Like, how many years have you been alive?”

“Um...th-that many?” you shrugged.

“Figures,” Joshua muttered, “I get stuck with a baby were-creature. It’s like fate fucking hates me more than I thought…”

“Really?” Kyung chuckled, ignoring Josh’s comment. “You’re younger than even me.”

“By a year,” Hansol chuckled, nudging his mate’s knee. “You’re still a baby compared to everyone else.”

“What does that mean?” you wondered.

“Age freezing,” Mingyu replied with a shrug, as if that would be obvious to anyone.

You waited for someone to elaborate, but nobody did, “...What’s that mean?”

Josh let out a dry chuckle, sending a glare your way, “You really don’t know anything, do you?”

Kyung frowned and said something you didn’t understand as she turned her sour expression toward your mate, but he didn’t even seem fazed by whatever she said.

“When you reach a certain age -- usually somewhere between like, eighteen and your mid-twenties -- you stop aging until you find your mate,” Chan explained. “For example, I’m actually twenty-six years older than the age my body stopped aging.”

“But I’m the oldest,” Yeji grinned proudly, “technical and actual age.”

“Bragging about being an old lady isn’t--”

“Watch it,” Jihoon growled, glaring at Joshua, who didn’t get to finish his snide comment.

“Look, Shua. We get you’re in a bad mood -- really, we do,” Seokmin began, seeming almost afraid to stand up to the older wolf, “but...you’re kind of being really mean just in general.”

He let out a deep sigh, “Fine, whatever, I’ll shut up. You can go back to talking about useless stuff.”

“Anyway,” Danbi quickly spoke up, “as we were saying. Even Wonwoo and I seem only a year apart, but he’s actually older than me by...what was it, like, twenty years?”

Her brother nodded, his arm draped around his mate, “Yeah, mom had me at eighteen and then didn’t have you until she was thirty-eight.”

“Wait, what?” Mingyu suddenly spoke up, looking between the siblings with shock written all over his features. “I-- I didn’t even know that.”

Danbi just giggled and shrugged, “Guess I forgot to mention it.”

“So what happened with your family?” you asked the pair.

Wonwoo and Danbi looked back at you again. You hadn’t said a whole lot since being brought to the living room, so whenever you spoke, the pack paid a lot of attention.

“We moved around a lot so nobody would realize I didn’t age,” Wonwoo explained. “They wanted to just kick me out, but they also were afraid that their son suddenly leaving the house would be a big red flag that I was a werewolf. And of course, they couldn’t have people thinking that. They kept me around for a while but they didn’t treat me that great.”

“But they kicked him out when I was fourteen,” Danbi continued. “I was dabbling in potion-making, and they thought it was somehow Wonwoo’s influence. They said he was bad for their precious daughter, so they kicked him out. We’d manage to visit each other, either in town or he’d sneak into my room at night just to talk. When I was finally of age, I went to live with him.”

That wasn’t anything like what happened with you, but you didn’t want to mention it and make it about yourself. You kind of liked absorbing this new information about the pack, anyway. Hearing about them was entertaining in a way.

“Do parents...normally abandon their kids when they find out they’re a werewolf?” you wondered.

“No,” Hansol chuckled. “My parents are super loving and I visit when I can. We still go visit Kyung’s, too.”

“Even Rin’s were super nice before she came to live with us,” Kyung added with a nod.

Your eyebrows furrowed, “Who’s Rin?”

“Kyung came from another pack before joining ours,” Seungcheol explained. “Rin’s one of her old pack mates.”

“Soonyoung refers to her as Cooper, though,” Kyung explained, rolling her eyes. “He thinks her surname is fun to say.”

“Because it is!” Soonyoung insisted before quietly giggling to himself and softly saying, “Cooper...”

“Anyway, you’ll probably meet her...at some point...” Kyung trailed off, so you decided to not ask any questions about her old pack despite being intrigued.

Chan suddenly leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees as he spoke up, “_____, I have a question for you.”

“What is it?”

“Can you shift for us?”

“Ooh, yeah!” Seokmin grinned, excitement in his eyes. “We’ve never seen a werecoyote before!”

Joshua wouldn’t say it, but you could tell even he was intrigued by the way his gaze suddenly locked on you and he just stared, waiting for your response. He didn’t even have anything snarky to say.

"Um,” you shrugged, “yeah, sure.”

-

It was a little awkward just standing in front of a large group of people who just stared at you in wonder, but it was also a little flattering at the same time. Nobody in the pack had ever encountered a werecoyote -- well, other than Yeji -- so they were surprised to see you were really just a smaller, scragglier version of a werewolf.

“I wanna see how fast she really is,” Seungkwan decided before shifting into his wolf form.

So then the pack watched the two of you race from one end of the large yard to the other. You heard someone whistle lowly when you won, followed by the pack’s murmurs of how cool it was that you were faster than them.

And then everyone else wanted a turn to race you -- except Chan because of course he was still the fastest -- so the whole thing just turned into you play-wrestling with a bunch of werewolves. It made you happy, though. You kind of felt like you belonged in their pack.

However, there was still one member of the pack who hadn’t shifted: Joshua. He stood on the porch with the mates, watching as you and the rest of the pack ran around and played with each other. He kept a frown plastered on his face despite the fact he secretly found it endearing that the pack was already getting along with you and vice versa.

But there was still that part of him that didn’t want you in his pack to begin with.

“What’s with the sour look, lover boy?” Yeji quizzed.

Josh merely side-eyed her before going back to watching the pack, “Don’t ask stupid questions if you don’t want a stupid answer.”

“Give it a rest, grumpy,” she scoffed, rolling her eyes. “We all know you don’t actually hate her as much as you want everyone to think.”

“I don’t know...” Suvi began quietly like she was afraid to give her opinion. “I think he just invited her back here because he feels bad for her. Look at how he’s been acting.”

Joshua shifted his weight to one leg, pointing his thumb beside him at the younger girl, “She’s right.”

“No she isn’t,” Danbi chuckled.

“Yeah? And what do you know?”

“For starters, you haven’t stopped staring at her since we got outside,” Eunjin interjected in a plain tone.

“And you can frown all you want but your eyes show everything, Shua” Danbi insisted with a giggle.

Joshua just let out a sigh and rolled his eyes, “Shut up, all of you.”

-

With the sun having set, the pack called it a day and shifted before going back into the house, pulling on their clothes as they talked and laughed with each other. You were toward the back of the group, walking silently as the rest of the pack made playful conversation with each other. You weren’t really sure what was happening next, but you also didn’t want to ask and possibly set Joshua off -- or seem rude asking if you were supposed to leave now or not.

“So, um,” Seungcheol stopped and turned around, pulling his shirt on over his head before he looked at you, “since you’re here and it’s already dark outsi--”

“Don’t even say it,” Joshua grumbled.

Jihoon sighed, rolling his eyes, “Come on, are you really gonna make the poor girl walk home in the dark?”

“She can take care of herself,” he stated, eyeing you up and down -- but there was more of a disgusted look on his face than anything else.

You didn’t really care, though.

“I get she’s a werecoyote, but come on,” Kyung spoke up. “She almost died to begin with because she was running around at night.”

“Wait, really?” Junhui asked.

After the rest of the pack started getting on his case -- especially after learning that new information -- Josh let out a loud groan, letting his head drop back, “Fine!”

His tone actually made you flinch -- not because you were afraid, but the loudness startled you. 

He lifted his head, his golden eyes landing on you, and you raised your eyebrows. He narrowed his eyes, “You can stay on the couch for the night.”

You visibly perked up, “Couch? Like, the one in the living room?”

“Um...yeah?"

“Really?!” you grinned. You were practically bouncing with excitement. “Thank you so much!”

“It’s...just a couch...” Chan said slowly, not understanding what you were so happy about. 

Seungcheol nodded his head toward the living room, “C’mon. We’ll find some extra blankets for you.”

“I think you’re forgetting her usual sleeping space,” Jia pointed out quietly as the pack began to walk down the hallway again to start going to their separate rooms.

That was when it clicked. Of course you were excited to sleep on a couch, you lived in a cave. Your typical bed was probably not the most comfortable thing. They imagined it was probably either the cave floor, or maybe a bed of leaves and grass. A couch would definitely be a huge upgrade for you.

As you beamed watching Seokmin and Seungcheol work to set up a makeshift bed for you on the couch, Joshua silently and slowly approached you.

“Have you...ever slept on a bed before?” he wondered.

You looked at him and shrugged with a small nod, “Not for a really long time, though. It’s been...”

You trailed off as you tried to do some math in your head, but you genuinely couldn’t remember when it was you last slept in a bed. You couldn’t even remember what age you were when you left home. Things started blurring together.

“I don’t know how many years, but it’s been a long time,” you shrugged.

Years? God, why did you have to tug at Joshua’s heart when he was trying to be cold and push you away? You just had to have a tragic life story, didn’t you?

After a moment of listening to Seungcheol and Seokmin bicker about which way the sheet was supposed to go, Joshua let out a deep sigh, “Y’know what? Just go take my bed. I’ll figure this out since you two are too dense to figure out a fucking bedsheet.”

To say you were shocked was an understatement. You looked at Josh with wide eyes and raised eyebrows, blinking as you waited for him to take the statement back. Even the pack froze and waited to see if he was just playing some dumb prank on you to get your hopes up.

Joshua turned his head to look at you when you didn’t move, “I’m sorry, was I speaking a different language?”

You knew it was sarcasm, but you still replied with a simple, “No.”

“Then why are you just standing there?”

Kyung groaned, saying something in another language under her breath before she stepped forward, “Come on, I’ll show you were to go since Shua’s too busy being an asshole.”

You followed the foreign wolf out of the room and up the stairs to where Joshua’s room was, and then she tracked down some pajamas to fit you and helped you get settled.

Meanwhile, downstairs, the pack was still looking at Joshua. However, they were all smirking or wearing some sort of shit-eating grin.

“Nice excuse,” Yeji snorted.

Josh grimaced, “What?”

“We all know it wasn’t because dumb and dumber were taking too long,” Jeonghan smirked, shaking his head as Seungcheol and Seokmin called out in offence. “You felt bad and you care about her.”

“You liiiiiiike her,” Danbi sang.

Joshua rolled his eyes before he walked up to Seokmin and snatched the sheet from him, making the younger wolf flinch.

“Just get the hell out of my room,” he growled.

#seventeen #joshua #joshua hong #seventeen au #seventeen imagine #seventeen scenario #seventeen oneshot #seventeen fanfic #seventeen x reader #werewolf!seventeen #joshua au #joshua imagine #joshua scenario #joshua oneshot #joshua fanfic #joshua x reader #werewolf!joshua #joshua hong au #joshua hong imagine #joshua hong scenario #joshua hong oneshot #joshua hong fanfic #joshua hong x reader #werewolf!joshua hong

[chibichibisha]

Omg I was looking through the drive file and I cannot believe I forgot about track and field club they're so cute. But now I wanna know what clubs everyone else is in!! So sha, oh wise one, tell us about The Clubs

Something I love about these types of settings is that we don't only have dorm interactions, we also have classmates and clubs!! And that expands a lot the relationships of a character! And at the end it feels natural that they know more or less everyone around the campus. Be ready this might get long!

So just as you know already, Kero is in the track and field club!! He is an upperclassman for Jack and Deuce and he wants them to rely on him for that, so he always wants to be supportive and cool for them. Thing is, he is sometimes too careless about it, and more than teaching them things or guiding them, he just puts the passion on the team, haha. Deuce and Jack like him though! They are a cute group of doggies.

Ermine is another one that is pretty clear already because of his bday card, he is on the Light Music club. He wanted to be active in it, but in his first year realized that they aren't too interested in performing. So he mostly uses his trumpet on dorm activities. He has a good relationship with the rest of the members, and honestly, they are the main reason Ermine has a break, since they insist him into joining them into their snack time and chatting. He is the most serious and diligent, but he is more "himself" with them. He usually listens to Lilia's advice, goes along with Kalim ideas and lets Cater take selfies of them. Pretty chill group.

Nahal is on the basketball club!! He doesn't look like it, but he is somewhat a sporty guy, a good balance between good student and good athlete, so that's why he choose a sport club. He may be the shortest on the team but he is quick and can jump pretty high. Ace kinda complains always about Nahal "cheating" because of his wings, which makes Nahal confront him every time. He is wary of Floyd but that doesn't mean he also lectures him, and runs away from him afterwards. Jamil is with the one he gets along the best, but is a bit tired of Nahal putting on a fight so easily if gets offended haha. A bit of a chaos, but they have fun.

Gilmo is in the board game club. He is also an upperclassman in the club for Azul and Idia (even if Idia is now on the same grade) so he usually does as he pleases. He likes card games the most and teaches others about the different variants, or what you can do with them. He is a bit too eager about making bets for everything, but he is not allowed. He is fond of Azul and Idia, but he spends more time with Ortho. Ortho is the one that shows him the latest game that Idia enjoys, and Gil is always surprised about how advanced they look. Nobody has won him a card game yet. Monopoly games are a big event on the club, but they never finished one haha.

Rossain is part of the Movie Appreciation Club and is an actual actor. Vil doesn't like his egoistical side, but recognizes his talent, so prefered to take him under his wing and show him the right way and not let it waste. Because of this, Ross respects Vil a lot even if he still envies him for what he accomplished already, but maintains a bit of a “student/teacher” relationship. Vil is able to make Rossain listen to him and usually asks him for some favours, and Rossain complains but he actually does as he is asked. Whenever Rossain may get in trouble because of his complicated behaviour, Vil threatens him to kick him out of the actor team and leave him for the support one, which Ross always whines about. Also, Rossain likes to appear more intellectual and smart than what he truly is, so he doesn’t understand the indie movies Vil makes them watch on projects. Ross is totally Vil’s minion after a couple months at the club for sure. Could be worse, Vil appreciates Rossain deep down.

DeShawn, of course, is in the Magical Shift club. Seems pretty obvious for a guy like him after all, but even being in a sport that is quite ruthless, DeShawn is known for his too violent way of playing, which makes him get scolded easily by Ruggie on Leona’s behalf, when he actually doesn’t mean to get on problems, he just doesn’t think too much. When he plays with the team, it is one of the few times he is having fun for real, and his mood is much better than the rest of the time. In fact, he is not that bad of a teammate, but it’s hard that he listens to others and convinces him not to risk too much. That’s sometimes good, and sometimes not that good. DeShawn also thinks Leona is a very cool guy and respects him as a leader, while Leona doesn’t mind much, but likes to be admired that way. He is competitive against Epel and doesn't underestimate him, so you can call them somewhat friends. Actually a cooperative club, but ruthless.

Malik is in the Mountain lovers club! He was on the basketball one but got bored and changed it the moment Jade found it. He prefers a much more relaxed club, and the activities that offer him are actually pretty enjoyable for him. The hikes on the mountain and the green nature reminds him more of his hometown, so he thinks he will stay in this one for long. Pretty chill with Jade, actually, doesn’t mind his love for mushrooms and doesn’t mind that he is interested in pretty plain stuff that they found on the walks. Malik explains to Jade the different plants he recognizes and Jade explains to him the contrast with his own birthplace. Malik sometimes scares away the animals they found, but it’s not his intention. A weird duo that actually gets along pretty well.

Virginie is in the equestrian club, if you guessed right. He took horse riding classes when he was a kid so it seemed like a club where he could have a base on from the beginning. Despite his refined and unbothered look, and taking into account he doesn’t like physical work, Virginie knows a lot about horses and the cares of them, and seems to like when first years listen to his advice about the discipline. He is not the best at races honestly, but he is almost the best at dressage. Riddle kind of admires this, but Sebek is not very interested. Virginie gets along the best with Silver.

Finally, Cornelius is in the science club. He is aware that it is a bit of a polifacetic club, where one does not only execute some experiments and create potions, but they also raise their own ingredients and make better formulas for different stuff. For him, it is quite funny, because he is interested in the oldest way of alchemy. What can he create? Will he discover something? If he applies other methods, would the result be different? He does not pretend to go blindly or chaotically about it, like maybe Rook can be seen (since he seems to need supervision everytime), Cornelius is genuinely curious about every possibility, and compares different methods to see how things had advanced since he was a kid. Trey is also scared of this, but one can rationate with him, most of the time at least. Everyone at the club believes Cornelius knows how to create an homunculus, and someday he will be successful. He is fond of his fellow clubmates and always invites Trey and Rook to try and prove his new hipotesis.

#twst #twisted wonderland #twst oc #twisted wonderland oc #twisted wonderland original character #twst clubs #Kero Tricarenia #Kero asks #Ermine Leveret #Ermine asks #Nahal Beckett #Nahal asks #Gilmo Sykalo #Gilmo asks #Cane twins #Rossain Cane #DeShawn Cane #Cane twins asks #Malik Tigra #Malik asks #Virginie Bijou #Virginie asks #Cornelius Caudrum #Cornelius asks #I love clubs so much srsly #the groups are very funny to picture

[mashi-sims]

6 Popular tropes that fit #Cooliver

1. Friends to Lovers. Duh

This is the most obvious one, and I wanted to start with this one because if Cooper and Oliver ever become canon, this is what their relationship would be.

In my head, Friends to Lovers is always problematic because it’s easy to lose a beautiful friendship to a mediocre romantic relationship, as has happened to many LGBT couples on TV, but if done correctly, it warms my heart and makes sparks of joy fly all around.

The journey of their friendship not only as a partnership but as a mutual beneficence that helps them both grow and develop as their individual selves, helping each other find their own path, confidence in themselves, inspiration and motivation to fulfill their dreams, ultimately becoming better individuals aiming to transform into the best versions of themselves they can be, *voice intensifies* all while being together and offering each other’s company and support, becoming accustomed to being next to one and other and not being able to imagine a life without the other, slowly developing emotional ties that make them consider if a different kind of love exists, and them exploring it and realizing that, in fact, THERE IS. That type of slow build that transforms into a romantic relationship because they both agree they are each other’s most treasured person and they want to stay in each other’s lives forever, that’s some GOOD STUFF.

2. Fake Dating

The reason why I believe a good fake dating au can get so popular, is because it can offer a pretty natural transition between “Not having any kind of feelings”/”Being unaware of their feelings” to “Oh, my gosh I am in love with this person what do I do”, and it can be so heart-wrenching it’s addictive.

In a beautiful world, Oliver is totally in love with Cooper and he just doesn’t know it yet, and there’s where this trope comes in handy.

There’s a number of reasons why two characters may start fake dating; getting someone off their backs, making someone jealous/angry, needing a date for a special occasion, or getting some odd financial benefit from it, if you’re willing to take it as far as getting married and having to pretend to be actually married so nobody know their marriage is a scam.

They agree to start fake dating or to start introducing each other to other people as their boyfriends, because Cooper wants these interested girls (and boys) in his money to go away, or because Oliver is the only single one at his ballet and he doesn’t want to go to after-show celebration alone, and after one or many fake dating moments, they start realizing they don’t need to act or pretend to act a certain way at all, because there’s stuff they’d normally do with or say to each other, or at least the trust or the reliance is already there. 

Think about the inevitable time where they do have to stop acting like fake boyfriends and they start missing it, or when they mid-date realize there’s something real between all that pretending and now they don’t know what to do about it, imagine the conversation they’d have when they realize they can’t go back to being friends anymore.

3. N Things

This one is more like a writing strategy than an actual trope, but it still works. We’ve all read the “4 times they almost kissed, and one time they did” or the “3 times they said I love you to someone else, and one time they said it to each other”

Okay, now hear me out- how about, “3 times Oliver said Cooper wasn’t his boyfriend, and one he didn’t have to”, or “5 times Oliver said he wasn’t gay, and one time he couldn’t”? I’m down for that.

The heart of this trope is the repeatability of a certain joke, a comment or an unfortunate event and that’s obvious it’ll turn itself around, and it’s that one moment that finally comes which makes you want to dance under the rain.

To me, the amount of times Oliver’s had to tell other people that he isn’t gay or that Cooper’s not his bf (Cooper also said it once) is the perfect starter to this “n things” strategy.

Come on, American Housewife! You’re making it too easy for me to expect that one moment when it all turns around!

4. Babysitters

Neither of these boys is ever shown to be a kid-person nor to have a soft spot for babies, or anything like that! Like, at all! Their whole characters are based around the facts that they are both money-driven, superficial, and self-absorbed (although in the process of becoming better than that), and we barely ever get to see them pouring their hearts out or letting their guard down.

Therefore, imagine a day where Oliver is forced to babysit Violet (or another baby if there comes to be another one), and he’d undeniably be annoyed at the situation because this baby/toddler has ruined his plans, but Cooper obviously stays and helps him out because where else would he be?

It’s the times driving them both crazy when they don’t know how to make a baby stop crying, or when they’re deciding who should change the diaper because neither of them wants to; it’s the time when they’re both a mess because some chaos happened with the food or the paint while they were trying to come up with an activity.

Then it’s Oliver slowly coming down with baby fever as he’s trying make them laugh or when he’s walking around the room trying to make them fall asleep, and Cooper is in awe because he had never seen that side of his friend, and he had never expected it to look so damn cute, and Oliver had never expected Cooper to stay with him for a whole day just taking care of a baby.

It’s at the end of the day when they’re tired as hell but they agree that they had fun and that they’re glad they had each other to help out, and although they don’t say it, maybe it wasn’t so bad their original plans didn’t end up working out.

5. Hurt/Comfort

This is not a trope for everyone, you may love it, you may hate it, you may be indifferent, or you may be like me; somewhere in the middle but with some strong opinions. If done right, it can be a beautiful addition to the story of two characters in process of falling in love. If done wrong, it can victimize the characters in unnecessary ways or show them in a light that doesn’t suit them, thus making them feel out of character, which is every true fan’s worst nightmare.

Although, let’s focus on the small things; like characters holding on to their emotions for too long until they really can’t do it anymore, and they need somebody to help them out, even if they resist it, because in the end they’ll acknowledge they’re thankful for having them, and it also makes their relationship inevitably grow and develop, because there’s something really special about having someone you can truly be yourself with and knowing that they’ll stay, and they’ll help you through everything and make you feel like you’re going to be okay, even (and especially) during your worst moments.

(Although really toned down,) we’ve already seen this kind of comfort between the two; like when Cooper found out Oliver lied about his vacations, and he told him he didn’t need to lie to him out of all people, and that he could come on vacation with him whenever he wanted, or when Cooper’s parents ditched him and he confided in Oliver, who believed he had become tired of hanging out with him, and Cooper had to reassure him that wasn’t the case; those were small moments where we got to see them somewhat upset and being comforted by the other, and that’s when it feels like their friendship is strong and real.

The reason why I believe this trope fits them so much is because they are barely shown in a vulnerable state that allows them to have a sad plot where they’d need to be comforted, and it’s during times like these where you can really see their relationship grow.

Also, I want to point out that it’s not about romanticizing or sexualizing sadness, at all! It’s about using these moments to slowly build and give consistency to the relationship- don’t even get me started on how much I hate seeing and reading characters making out after having a breakdown.

6. Mutual Pining

Some people like to suffer, okay? Some of us like a good tragedy, and there’s nothing more tragic than two characters who are deeply in love with each other, but they’ve resigned to keeping it hidden deep down because they’re convinced the other doesn’t feel the same and they don’t want to lose them nor their friendship, even if it means having to live with a painful secret for the rest of their lives.

When you start having feelings for another person, you may be brave enough to let them now or try and see where things go, because you have nothing to lose, right? But what happens when it’s your best friend you have feelings for? There’s a lot there to lose if do things go wrong, and there’s no certainty that they won’t, so you might as well leave things as they are, because nothing would be more painful than to lose the person you love the most for making things weird because they don’t feel the same way...

And it’s completely frustrating to see two characters with the same internal monologue, because you know what IT COULD BE, but THEY don’t know that- and I love it.

There’s a million different ways this trope can play out, and it’s always so interesting to see where things go after both characters have resigned to never let the other one know how they feel, and then we get to see these destructive actions like dating other people because they think their feelings are unrequited, but they have no idea the other is in deep pain because of seeing the person they love with someone else... yes, a good tragedy!

Anyway, thank you for reading this rant and feel free to add to the list or make any of these come to life.

#Cooliver #American Housewife #A little rant I couldn't get out of my head

[prodtrouver]

Perfect Red || p.js

Perfect Red • park jisung

Who knew the shade of red would look so attractive on a person? So attractive, it drove him mad. The shade of red has never looked so stunning before. Whereas Jisung has a major crush on you and the effect of your gracious look only made him long for you even more.

Pairing: Sociology Classmate!Park Jisung x fem!reader

Other characters: Dreamies, mention of Stray Kids’ Lee Felix, Itzy’s Ryujin and Lia

Genre: fluff, a little crack, maybe a little angst if you look closely, classmates to friends, friends to lovers,

Warnings: a lot of teasing, a few cuss words, a little tension

Word Count:  2,091

A/n: that shade of red lipstick looks stunning on Jisung, so whoever the creator is- pls give them a raise

A/n: I'm ALIVEEEEE

Park Jisung was never fond of looks nor talking to many people. The boy would often listen attentively, or doodle random things on his notebook, or just stare into space. He only talks to his friends, the Dreamies, what people call them.

He wouldn’t pay attention to anyone else. If he was assigned to a group where he barely knows anyone, he would distant himself, only cooperating with them from time to time...

The day you transferred was the day everyone suddenly grew fond of you. Many went to approach you, asking you a lot of things about yourself. You already have a lot of friends even you are very new to the school.

That was until you came not so long ago.

Unknowingly and unwillingly, Jisung kept on looking at you. He notices how your jet black hair sometimes falls off your ear whenever you brush it back. He notices how your eyes sparkle at a silly joke someone made. He notices how you dress nicely every day, either jeans, shorts, or skirts.

“Jisunggie is staring again~~” He felt his seatmate nudge his shoulder. The younger glares at him, not believing once again that he was staring at her.

“Shut up, Chenle. I was not staring.” Jisung grips the pencil in his grasp. Chenle only hums, shrugging his shoulders and an evident teasing smile on his lips.

“As if, Pwark. You’re staring at her far too much these days, it’s quite obvious you have grown an interest in her.” Chenle raises his brows, up and down. Jisung would be lying if he said he doesn’t want to stab them.

“Shut up, I don’t have an interest in her.” Jisung pushes the older away from him, only earning his dolphin laugh.

His laugh echoing in the room, not being minded by the students for it is normal. Jisung puffs his cheeks, stealing another glance at you. He freezes, noticing your eyes on him.

“Not interested in her, hmmm,” Chenle whispers, earning another hit from Jisung.

You wave at him, cracking a sweet smile. Jisung could feel his heartbeat pounding quickly, probably almost ready to jump out of his chest and run towards you for your claim of his love.

His cheeks only become warmer, and his hands were getting sweaty, he looks away suddenly.

He quickly steals another glance, becoming confused when he sees the prominent frown on your face before you look away.

What was that for? Did he do something wrong?

It was another day, Sociology only happens in Wednesdays and Thursdays. It was surely a disappointment for Jisung that he could only see you twice a week, lucky if he sees you in the halls.

“Jisung has a crush~ interesting!” Jeno cheers, waving his soda can in the air. Jisung covers his face, embarrassed by his Hyungs.

“Tell us who it is!” Donghyuck says, slightly slapping the shoulder of Chenle. Jisung glares at Chenle, only for the older to stick his tongue out at the latter.

“Fuck you,” Jisung lets out, earning a gasp from Jaemin and laughter from the other boys.

“Aw~ our youngster has grown up. Look, there she is.” Renjun points on the right, the boys immediately turning their heads to look at the entrance of the cafeteria.

Jisung has never felt so stunned in his whole life of being alive. He felt his breath suddenly taken away by your gorgeous look and your stunning summer outfit.

Your off-shoulder floral white crop top complimented your long jet black hair. Your blue denim shorts have small floral patches that match your top. You looked stunning, and it made Jisung have the urge to just approach you.

However, he was also being driven crazy.

Your lips, your god damn red lips.

Since when did you start wearing lipstick? The shade of red looked brilliant on you. It made your soft and plump lips stand out, almost kissable to say the most.

Jisung licks his lips, curious about how your soft lips would feel in his. Will it be warm? What will your lips taste like? Will your lips feel soft as it looks?

“I’m going back to my classroom.” Jisung wraps his bag around his shoulder, not wanting to be more tempted than he already was.

Seeing your lips move, hearing your honey voice only drove him mad even more. He looks away before you could look at him.

He slams his big hands on the table, making a loud bang which made the boys jump from their seats.

“Jesus- what’s wrong with you?” Mark asks, his bread in his mouth, his voice came out muffled.

It was Thursday, the second day of Sociology, also the second time you would see Jisung in your class.

Having the urge to pull you close to him, wrap his arms around your waist, and deeply kiss you were swimming around his head.

You pull out the lipstick from your drawer, having second thoughts of wearing it after that day. Thoughts of confessing to him flood your head, should you just give up?

His crush on you was only getting bigger and bigger every day he sees you. He was afraid, if he sees you wearing that red lipstick, even more, he would kiss you in an instant.

If only you have the actual courage to talk to him. You always notice he looks away after you look at him.

“Again with that lipstick?” Your turn your head towards the door, seeing your best friend, Felix.

He wasn’t fond of lipstick at all, in a matter of fact, he doesn’t like it on you. He would often say you look better without it, not having the idea it could please your crush on Jisung.

“Shut up- maybe, all I want is to get noticed by my crush.” You say, earning a snicker from Felix instead.

“How about actually talk to him? I thought you enjoy talking to people.” Felix leans on your door frame, staring at you. You sigh, removing the cover of the small white cylinder. The shade of red which you like covers the sponge. Felix let out a sigh, watching you put on the lipstick on your lips.

“You do you, boo.” His deep voice makes you look at him, watching the boy leave your room. You get up from your seat, fixing your black skirt.

The usual compliments and greetings threw at you as soon as you enter the campus. A few friends greet you a wonderful morning until you enter the classroom, immediately glancing at Jisung. You see the blank look on his face, his eyes kept on you.

You exit your room, letting Felix drive you to campus.

You make your way on your seat, preparing the things you need for your classes. You look around, laughing at the loud jokes and silly laughs of the students inside the room.

“y/n!” You turn your head, looking at the boy who shouted your name. You saw Jisung pushing him off his chair instead. The boy let out a dolphin laugh as he gives you a gesture to walk to them.

“Yah! Zhong Chenle!” Jisung cries, making the boy laugh harder. You get up from your seat, walking towards them. The confused look on your face, the soft smile on your red lips, Jisung’s adoration for you grew even more.

“Do you like someone?” Chenle suddenly asks, laughing when he sees the shocked look on your face.

“He’s tall, currently has brown hair, has pretty lips and I wish he would just look at me longer.” Jisung’s disappointed look was replaced with a confused one. He looks at you, only to see you staring at him.

You glance at Jisung who was staring at you, his stare looked unreadable. It looked serious, blank yet his eyes look like they’re saying something.

“Yes, I do. I do like someone, why do you ask?” You show a sweet soft smile, not wanting to make your crush on Jisung obvious.

Jisung lets out a sigh, a soft groan, and the look on his face cries disappointment, and this did not go unnoticed by you.

Suspicions arise in your head. Your heart doing flips, your stomach starting to get full with knots of anxiety, your head was flooded with thoughts.

“I’m just curious, tell me a few hints!” Chenle stayed all smiley, laughs manages to escape his lips.

The boy beside him already radiates gloominess and disappointment. You look at Jisung, his attention on the floor. Chenle’s smile became wider, witnessing what is called a silly crush.

“I better go, I still have things to do.” You say, walking away, afraid if you stay longer, you’ll end up saying your love for him.

Jisung looks at your lips, you were wearing that red lipstick again. That god damn red lipstick, how he wishes he could ruin your pretty lipstick with a kiss.

Your eyes just staring directly at each other until he felt his heart beating loudly again. He immediately looks away, missing the disappointed look on your face.

“What happened there?” Chenle asks, an obvious smirk on his lips. Jisung looks at him, Chenle laughs when he saw the desperate look on Jisung’s face.

“How I wish I could ruin her gorgeous red lipstick,” Jisung muttered, a very loud dolphin laugh comes out from Chenle.

“Put that lipstick on! It looks amazing on you!” Lia Says, brushing the sponge on your lips. The shade of red complimented your eye makeup. The rhinestones under your eyes made the girls’ hearts flutter.

“You look beautiful! This will surely catch his attention!” Ryujin says, laughing as she puts on the last clip on your hair. You let out a chuckle,

Jisung watches people dance to the music being played. The boys having their fun while he was just watching people have fun. He wishes you were here, talking casually with him, keeping him company, maybe even confess his adoration and love for you.

“Why are you alone?” His face sparkles a bit, looking at his side to see you there. The slightly surprised look on your face, your red eye makeup with rhinestones, your casual red outfit, and above all, those red lips on you.

‘I’m just attending the party to have fun, not catch his attention. I don’t even know if he will be there at all!”

Damn, you love that shade. He was starting to wonder if you know its effect on him.

“The boys have their fun. How about you?” He kept his attention on you, unable to remove them from you. You sit down beside him, letting out a muffled laugh.

“My girls also have their fun.” You say, watching your friends dance the party away. Jisung looks at your lips, trying to control himself from smashing his lips on yours, however, that was replaced with temptation when you suddenly smiled at him.

Your smile disappeared from your lips when Jisung suddenly grabs your hand. He gets up from his seat, immediately dragging you to a vacant room. He closes the door, turning around to look at you.

He leans closer, soon letting your lips meet. Your lips were exactly what he thought it would feel. Soft, warm, and satisfying, his urge has disappeared but the need for the claim was still there. He breaks the kiss, a smile on his face when he faces you.

“Do you know what effect you are doing to me right now?” He asks, confusing you, “Do you know how much urge I need to control because of you? Do you know how much those red lips of yours affect me?”

“Or do you need to know the temptation I need to control whenever I see that shade of red on your lips?” Jisung asks, getting no answer from you. Your crush doing this completely killed you, it was insane. Jisung walks towards you, taking your face in his palms.

“I have this crush on you, and your red lipstick has been driving me mad,” Jisung says, your eyes were wide, shocked by the confession of your crush. You crack a small smile, you rest your head on his chest as you wrap your arms around his waist.

“Then wearing that to catch your attention did work. You just never approached me.” You pout, looking at Jisung but the boy only shyly smiles. He kisses your forehead,

“Does his mean we are boyfriend and girlfriend now?” He asks, making you laugh. You nod, pecking his lips.

“Yes, we are now boyfriend and girlfriend.”

#Park Jisung #nct dream jisung #jisung #NCT Dream Scenarios #nct dream #nct scenarios #nct fluff #nct #nct dream fluff #nct dream drabbles #Zhong Chenle #jaemin #lee jeno #lee haechan #nct renjun #jisung fluff #park jisung fluff #park jisung imagines

[pencilofawesomeness]

Fics I Absolutely Adore and Would Recommend to Anyone

I’ve been meaning to do this for a long, long time, because I love reading fanworks and they deserve a lot of love and I love sharing things that I love. 

Obviously this isn’t everything, and if it’s not on this list that doesn’t mean I don’t love it, it just means I forgot at this moment. I will be adding to the list and I remember things or come across it again. (Trying to sort through my bookmarks and subscriptions is like trying to catch a fish bare-handed.) I’m also gonna shy away from the one-shots, even though I adore fun one-shots, just for the sake of organization. The list would be super long otherwise, and those are best sorted by fandom. Here... Here are just some brilliant works I want to rant about. 

Disclaimer: I say “recommend” because I would recommend these works, any time any place, but do keep in mind the story’s rating and tags and stuff. Not everything is kid-friendly.

There is absolutely no hierarchy to the list below. They are added as I add.

Fairy Dance of Death

by Catsy ( @fairydanceofdeath​ )

Fandom: Sword Art Online Word Count: 660,282 Status: ongoing

「AU reboot of the entire SAO storyline, beginning from the premise that Kayaba Akihiko was obsessed with magic and Norse Mythology rather than swords and pure melee. As a result, he created the Death Game of Alfheim Online rather than the floating castle of Aincrad—a world in which player-killing is not a crime, and the nine player races are in competition with each other to reach the top of the World Tree. Multi-POV epic following the stories of multiple canon characters throughout the game.」

If Catsy wrote the SAO light novels and anime, SAO would be among the legendary series. Fairy Dance of Death has this amazingly simple premise of making Alfheim Online, the video game from the original series’ less-than-stellar second part, the game that the main cast becomes trapped in. However, it’s so much more. They took the characters and made them characters, and everyone gets ample spotlight—even background characters that normally wouldn’t receive a second thought. It’s masterful work, and to boot, there is a lovely frame of in-game mystery and player conflict. The organization is phenomenal and I aspire to world-build the way they did. Not to mention that stakes are so much higher and this series has ripped my heart to shreds more than once. 

It has also brought me great joy, and even when I was in the dumps and didn’t want to read anything, a FDOD update made me pick up my phone and read when I otherwise wouldn’t have. It has a really special place in my heart. It updates once in a blue moon, but that’s okay. 

Even if you have never seen a single piece of Sword Art Online, Fairy Dance of Death is still a great read. In fact, it’s the Better Version of SAO, if we’re all being honest, so I would especially recommend it if you hadn’t seen the original. Or if you have. The characters are given so much love and detail, to the point where Fairy Dance of Death’s characterizations are More Canon to me than Kawahara Reki’s work. It is just a beautiful piece of fiction, and it makes you question the depravity of man on levels that SAO shied away from. 

Poisoned Dreams

by StrangeDiamond

Fandom: Genshin Impact Word Count: 82,852 Status: Complete, with a complete sequel and more to come

「 Every night now, Diluc dreams of death. Usually Kaeya's. In between these nightmares his life is falling apart. It doesn't take Kaeya long to realize that this is something much more insidious than simple bad dreams. His brother's life and sanity are on the line and there is nothing Kaeya won't do to save him. Bonus chapter added.」

In a growing fandom from a new game, StrangeDiamond swooped in and characterized these bad boys so well I think it’s canon. It really breathes life into the video game lore, and it’s an A+ depiction of awkward sibling re-bonding post-Terrible-Happenings. Poisoned Dreams can be read alone with a basic understanding of Genshin storybuilding, but StrangeDiamond has an entire group of fics and oneshots set in the same headcanon, and they integrate them really well and subtly together. Not to mention that the narrative style is really clever with making you question what is real and what is dream (a big point in this story) and the inner voices of the point-of-view characters are very compelling. 

One Word to Change the World

by AgentMalkere 

Fandom: Fairy Tail Collective Word Count: 43,988 (30 parts) Status: probably never coming back

「 In just one universe, Ultear called out to her mother instead of turning away and the fate of Fairy Tail and the world was irrevocably altered. These are glimpses of a world where a single word made all the difference.

In other words, welcome to the Butterfly Effect - Fairy Tail style. 」

It’s a really cute canon-divergent, and while the series makes no attempt to re-write Fairy Tail, it addresses the major events and just snippets in between. It does a good job at giving the vast cast ample spotlight, but it’s also an easy read. It’s special to me because it was the series that made me really pay attention to Bickslow in particular, and I respect that.

Vigilantis Pretium Libertatis

by aradian_nights 

Fandom: Attack on Titan Word Count: 399,226 Status: Complete

「 Five years ago, an accident freed Eren Jaeger, Mikasa Ackerman, and Armin Arlelt from an experiment that forced the most extraordinary powers onto them. After five years of separation, of being raised apart to be heroes by a set of three very different adults, they meet again. As they uncover the truth behind their captivity they realize being free and being heroes are sadly nothing but an illusion. 」

This wrecked me.

I still remember when I read it. It was the beginning of 2018, and I had the flu and a lot of time on my hands, so I binge-read this. It was simultaneously the best and the worst thing I have ever done, because I resonated with it so deeply there were times I was just staring up at the ceiling wondering what was real. I empathized with the characters to a level I rarely achieve, and I empathize easily. I laughed. I cried. It was amazing.

I refer to this story in conversation to this day. It handled themes published authors have only dreamed of achieving. Heck, if Dani (the author) took out the names of the AoT cast and replaced it with new ones, it could be its own stand alone novel. It is worldbuilding from the ground up, and any fandom knowledge you take in with you is used against you like a knife leveraged against your throat. Yet, no one is out of character. It’s phenomenal. I would say more, but this is something I daren’t spoil for anybody, because you must be as wrecked as I was. Vigilantis Pretium Libertatis is a level of writing I achieve to gain as a writer myself. It is a masterpiece in every sense of the word.

Life in Glass Houses

by blueskyscribe ( @blueskyscribe​ )

Fandom: Transformers (Transformers Prime, Transformers: Shattered Glass) Word Count: 119,900 Status: Ongoing (maybe, I hope)

「 No one would have thought Bumblebee and Knock Out were capable of getting along, but when they're stuck in a strange new world and their only hope of survival is cooperation . . . Yeah, they're probably doomed. 」

I could be biased because Knock Out and Bumblebee are two of my favorite characters, but it really is brilliant. Two enemies, stuck together—but not in an overly cliché way. It’s the right amount of cliché, with heaps moral conflict and inner conflict and sometimes just beating each other with a broom when no one is looking. It’s also a fascinating look into what makes a character the way they are in relation to the morals they possess, and how stalwart those morals can be. I can’t help but think of this story whenever I see or write a “role reverse” or mirror-verse AU. It does an excellent job at making all of the characters engaging and their own character, despite being in a mirror-verse.

Yesterday Upon the Stair

by PitViperOfDoom ( @pitviperofdoom​ )

Fandom: My Hero Academia Word Count: 424,070 Status: Complete

「 Midoriya Izuku has always been written off as weird. As if it's not bad enough to be the quirkless weakling, he has to be the weird quirkless weakling on top of it.

But truthfully, the "weird" part is the only part that's accurate. He's determined not to be a weakling, and in spite of what it says on paper, he's not actually quirkless. Even before meeting All-Might and taking on the power of One For All, Izuku isn't quirkless.

Not that anyone would believe it if he told them. 」

As a person who normally doesn’t read these kind of minor canon divergences, especially at the time of reading, I frickin’ love this fic. In fact, I think YUTS gave me a deep appreciation for canon divergence fics. It’s MHA in all of its glory but it’s so much more, and even the parts that rehash canon give new light to the characters and their points of view. 

I had read Viper’s work before and saw Yesterday Upon the Stair filling my inbox, and then I finally watched My Hero Academia. It was one of the first MHA fics I read and it still has a very special place in my heart. I recommend this series to people who don’t even watch MHA; in fact, there are some who might prefer the darker tones and themes of heroism vs apathy to the main series. Not to mention the writing style is phenomenal, and I aspire to be that good. It made me laugh. It made me cry. Yes, tears streaming down my face crying. It is the best ghost story I have ever read.

the Vantage Point Universe

by Aggie2011 ( @aggie2011whoop​ )

Fandom: The Avengers (MCU) Collective Word Count: 1,032,651 (35 parts) Status: Ongoing (just slowed down)

「 Six months after the Loki incident, Clint isn't adjusting well. When an enemy from his days in the Army comes back to haunt him, he'll be forced to face a part of his past - and to move past Loki, if he has a hope of finding his place with the Avengers. (First of a universe created to center around Clint Barton) 」

// description taken from first installment

Have you enjoyed the MCU, especially the first-era Avengers phase, but like me, were disappointed in the fact that Hawkeye was barely there? The VP universe is for you. 

I honestly have a hard time remembering what was canon and what was VP. And if it’s not canon, it should be. The VP universe gave so much life to Clint and to Natasha and to all of SHIELD and even the rest of the Avengers. It’s just...so good. It’s completely immersive. It focuses a lot on Hawkeye and Black Widow from before the Avengers team-up, as well as after, and it all flows together so beautifully. Not to mention that I can be reading a mission that happened pre-series, so I know that they are going to live with all of their limbs, and I still sit there on the edge of my seat the whole time.

The OCs, minor as they are, that are created for this are also wonderfully done. I can’t believe Dan and Phil don’t exist in canon. Every character, canon or no, is engaging and dynamic, it is a pleasure to follow each point of view. The emotional turmoil is also handled very well, and the VP universe carries the MCU trend of humanizing its heroes and takes it so much further. 

Ghosts of the Future

by Evan Stanley ( @evanstanleyportfolio​ )

Fandom: Sonic the Hedgehog Word Count: comic (18 issues) Status: ongoing

「 About 200 years in the future, Silver the Hedgehog is an average kid living in San Francisco... except for his strange and terrible dreams of a dying Blue Hedgehog, a Black Hedgehog, and mysterious gems called "Chaos Emeralds". What will he do, when these "figments of his imagination" appear before him in his real life? 」

// description taken from first installment

Okay so this is the only one that isn’t an Ao3 story, but rather a comic on DeviantArt. However, it is still one of my favorite stories. Even though it takes the commonalities of Sonic canon and turns them on its head, GotF really treats the characters well. There are enough familiar world elements to create intrigue, but it is set in a completely different take of the future, so there is ample opportunity for world building and being able to engage with a completely new thing. I wish SEGA put as much love in the series (namely the games, because the comics are *chef’s kiss*) and all of its possibilities as creators like Evan Stanley do.

The friendship and family relationships in GotF are so diverse and all so fantastic to witness. It’s a keynote example of the new hero and the old veterans, and both parties are active and trying their best.

Do not be alarmed by the starting art style. Sure, it’s rough around the edges at first, but then it gets better, and then it gets gorgeous, and then you’re left there so stunned that it looks like just life canon art. And then you could be like me, blinking slowly as my small brain finally connected that this Evan Stanley is in fact the Evan Stanley. GotF is an amazing fanwork, but she also draws and writes for the Official Canon comics (the IDW ones now) and that work is also phenomenal and should be supported. 

Whirlwind

by Lynse ( @ladylynse​ )

Fandom: Danny Phantom, American Dragon: Jake Long, Miraculous Ladybug, Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja Word Count: 75,556 Status: Complete

「 Jake should be used to ominous predictions by now. Randy should know better than to blindly follow McFist. Adrien should think twice before sneaking away. And Danny really should've expected something like this when he got that phone call from Jake. (Secret Quartet fic) 」

I have to start by saying that I adore all of Lynse’s fics, and I chose this one simply because it is one of my favorites. But it’s all fantastic, one hundred percent. I also love Mirrored, the sort-of prequel to this fic, but Whirlwind just has the chaotic pure bean energy that each of the shows bring and it foils against each other so perfectly. This is the epitome of the Secret Quartet crossover, truly.

All fandoms and all characters get ample love, and the way the reader gets to see just how badly the characters’ assumptions are going is positively wonderful. It’s so easy to fall into the “I know what’s happening and so do the characters” trap, but Lynse leaps over it gracefully and lands in greatness. The fic had me smiling like a maniac one minute, and feeling sorry for my babies the next. Wonderful. Simply fantastic!