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#no it’s not really possible to let everyone who uses this term to change
oobbbear · 4 months
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I want to post this here too because I’ve seen it happen a few times
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Please understand that there are cultural differences and language differences, if you see this happening let the person clarify what they meant, that person might just not be familiar with words the western side of the internet use
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lovelettersfromluna · 6 months
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The Summoning
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summary: so now you’re fucking your roommate on the regular, what could possibly go wrong? It’s just for the camera, right?
an: You guys!! I’m so so happy with the feedback if received for the first chapter of this fic, I want to give you guys as much camgirl!Ellie as I possibly can. So, as before, let’s keep this short and sweet so we can get into it, love you so so so much (also shout out to everyone’s comments and asks on what they wanted to see for this chapter! Yoi all helped me sm! You all know who you are hehe)
warnings: smut!! 18+, MDNI, camgirl!ellie, roommate!ellie, biker!Ellie (there’s lots of tropes in this one lol), JELOUS!ELLIE, mentions of an older woman but it’s so brief, mentions of alternate love interest, face sitting, fingering, filming of intercourse, use of strap, mentions of the word cock, ANGST!, slight fluff??, lmk if I missed anything!
You can read part 1 here!, and part 3 here!
A soft puff of air blew past your lips as you finished organizing the last shelf of records, your eyes looking down at the remainder vinyls that most definitely wouldn’t fit into any of the space you had.
God you hated the holidays.
Well you didn’t, you loved the colder months. It was so cozy, and welcoming, however you hated it as a retail worker. With the changing of the seasons came your manager with boxes of new vintage records that he explained were in high demand for the customers coming in and out of the city, all of which you had to change out and organize from the last collection you’d had for the summer time.
So the holidays were fine, just not when you were working.
Not to mention, the only thing plaguing your mind these days was a specific brunette who had quite the tongue on her.
After that night, Ellie had you rewatch the video, making sure you were okay with it, and it was okay to post. It was weird, because you’d never really seen yourself that way. You never moan too loud, or put on too much of a show during sex, it just was what it was, and it wasn’t ever really done with an audience in mind. But seeing yourself in Ellie’s lap, her strong hands running up and down your body, working on your pussy like a fucking pro, you had to admit.
You looked damn fucking good on camera.
And you weren’t the only one that thought so. After you gave Ellie the okay to post and edit the video, the response was amazing. Gone where the comments asking where Ellie’s usually girl was, missing the chemistry they had, her whiny moans and pretty body, all of which were replaced by a sea of comments and donations coming in, all on your behalf. They asked Ellie to please keep you around, putting in suggestions of what they wanted to see next, what they wanted to see her do to you, next.
Ellie wasn’t wrong, the crowd fucking loved you.
So? You filmed another video. And another, and another, and another, until you and Ellie had created nearly an entire box set of home movies for her adoring fans, all of which had become your adoring fans practically over night.
And fuck, did Ellie know what she was doing.
Sure, you’d had your fair share of good sex in the past. Your ex was pretty good with her hands, and there was that one girl you were seeing for a few months, she was okay with her strap.
But Ellie? Jesus Christ, you quickly caught onto why Julia acted the way she did after Ellie was done with her.
It was all you could think about, the way that Ellie treated your body when you were filming. The way she never failed to pay attention to every part of you before herself, the way she kissed you, the way her hands ran down your body, the way she simply knew how to pleasure a woman.
And it wasn’t like there was any real harm in any of it, right? In helping your roommate with her line of work? That’s what it was after all. You helped Ellie make her content, and she fucked you until you could barely think straight.
In simpler terms, Ellie knew how to fuck, and she knew how to fuck good. Filming with her only further proved that.
Your eyes scanned the record store once more, a stack of records in your hands as you tried looking for another place where these god forsaken vinyls could go. You were close to simply shoving them underneath the cash register, calling it a night and going home before the drunk tourists eager to visit the city got in your way of getting to your bus stop.
You spotted a spot on top of one of the shelves, which made you huff softly in annoyance. You usually avoided it since you couldn’t reach it, vowing to never put yourself out of your way for a bunch of records no one will want to buy, but there weren’t many and you figured you already had them out, so might as well finish what you started.
As you struggled to push the records up into the tall shelf, you heard the little ding at the front door of your shop over the soft music that you had playing. You couldn’t even bother to turn around, knowing it was most definitely some drunk idiot trying to buy a last minute gift for someone.
“Sorry…we’re…fuck…we’re closed” you huffed out as you struggled even further, the tips of your fingers finally pushing one of the records up and sliding it into place. You didn’t even realize you didn’t hear the usual apology paired with the bell ringing again, signaling that the person had left.
It wasn’t until you felt a hand push into the sliver of skin that was slightly exposed between your jeans and your top, making you shriek loudly and recoil from the persons touch. Once you turned around, you were prepared to smash the stack of records you had over the idiots head who thought it was okay to come in and touch random girls while they worked.
But you only came face to face with those gorgeous green eyes that you seemed to constantly see, even when she wasn’t around.
You let out a soft gasp, reaching forward and landing a not so friendly punch on her leather clad arms, a soft huff leaving your lips as you watched your roommate snort softly at you, trying to stifle a laugh.
“What the hell is wrong with you, Ellie?? I could’ve dropped these” you whine, looking down at the disheveled records before you turned around, going back to trying to pushing them back into their spot.
Ellie sighed softly as she came down from her laughing fit, setting her helmet down on the row of records next to her as she leaned against it. “Shouldn’t you be locking the door once you’re closed? Sounds like a safety hazard to me” she hummed out, clearly trying to get under your skin.
You could practically hear that stupid fucking smirk on her lips, which makes you roll your eyes, even if she was right.
“I had a customer before I started putting these away…I’ll lock up once I’m finished” you explained, still struggling with the second record you had, which makes Ellie chuckle softly.
She pushed herself off of the row she was leaned up against before she stood behind you, her chest pressing against your back, one of her hands resting on your hip, giving it a gentle squeeze, before she reached up with ease and pushed the record in with ease.
You let out a soft huff softly, looking down at her hand on your waist before you turn around, looking up at her and narrowing your eyes at the girl. “Is that really necessary?” You question as you gesture to her hand, which only makes her shrug before bringing her hand down and giving your ass a firm squeeze, “not at all. Gimme those and go grab your stuff, I’m taking you home” she explained before she promptly took the records and put them away on the shelf for you.
You simply stare at her in disbelief, watching as she put away the records with ease. She looked over at you, nodding her head towards the back where she knew you kept your stuff while you were working. “Go on. I don’t wanna get stuck in traffic” she explained, which makes you roll your eyes at her before you stomp off to go and grab your things.
Damn her for being so fucking hot.
Soon, you had your jacket on and your bag was slung over your shoulder. When you walked out to the store front to shut off the lights and the music, Ellie was scrolling through her phone, leaned up against the cashier, seemingly waiting for you. She gave you a soft smile when she noticed you were there, pushing her phone into her pocket. “Ready?” She asked, moving to grab her helmet.
You nodded, returning the soft smile before you grabbed the keys, nodding your head towards the door. “Ready” you confirm.
She followed behind you, waiting for you as you locked up the store before leading her out.
You shivered slightly when you both step out into the cold air, watching as the lights of the city illuminate the street, welcoming everyone who was in need of a night out. You just wanted to get home.
You watched as Ellie walked in front of you, setting her helmet down before she opened up her seat to grab her spare and handing it to you before she put hers on and swung her leg over her bike to get on.
Usually, Ellie didn’t pick you up from work. She was most likely busy filming with Julia, finishing up far too late to meet you at work. Sometimes, she’d be in the area and she’d pick you up, but that wasn’t something that happened quite often for you two.
But, ever since you took Julia’s place, Ellie had been picking you up a lot more often.
You took the helmet from her, putting it on your head before you got onto Ellie’s bike, wrapping your arms around her waist and resting your head along her leather clad back. You heard a soft chuckle muffled by her helmet, her head turning to the side a bit as she felt you cuddle into her from behind.
"Don't need to tell you to hold on tight, do I?" She teased, which earns a soft pinch to her side from you.
Before you know it, Ellie is turning on the engine to her bike, revving it a bit, and you two are speeding down the streets of the city towards your apartment.
The feeling of the cold breeze kissing your exposed skin as Ellie drove you both down the streets made your blood pump. It was fucking stupid, but drives home with her had a way of truly making you feel alive for a bit.
You’d never tell her that, though. It would blow her head up way too much.
Ellie had a tendency to show off in many aspects of her life. One of those manifested whenever she was on her bike. She’d rev her engine when she saw a group of pretty girls, tattooed hands gripping the handles of her bike as she watched them swoon over her. She’d get a kick out of it whenever they’d squeal over her, trying their best to call her back, an attempt at trying to get her to turn around and give them more attention.
You thought it was stupid. It was just Ellie on a bike after all.
Ellie stopped once she reached a red light, her back straightening out a bit as she rested one of her hands on her thighs, patting a mindlessly rhythm into her jean clad leg as she waited for it to turn green so you could both get moving again. Your hands loosened a bit on her waist as you waited as well.
You noticed from the corner of your eye a car pulling up next to you. It’s a sleek black 1969 dodge charger, the lights of the city bouncing off of the shiny paint. It isn’t too flashy, but enough so that anyone can appreciate. You can’t help but gawk a bit at the beautiful car, not at all noticing the window slowly rolling down.
You hear a whistle, which catches both yours and Ellie’s attention. In the car, is an older woman. You took not of her features, noticing how pretty she was, long hair tucked up into a bun, body adorned in what you could only assume was an expensive suit. You notice her lips tugged beneath her teeth as her dark eyes bore holes into your direction, and you can only assume she’s gawking at Ellie, as one usually does when she’s out on her bike. As you look closer, you realize she isn’t looking at Ellie.
She’s looking at you.
And you can’t even deny that your chest doesn’t warm up, because she’s clearly extremely beautiful. Her strong, ring clad hands gripping the steering wheel as her eyes travel down your body. You didn’t think that when you tugged on your favorite pair of jeans and your old brown jacket that same morning that you’d be getting attention from anyone, let alone from a fucking rich milf in the middle of the road.
But you aren’t the only one to notice, because you feel Ellie shift forward, her own hands going back to grip the handle bars of her bike, her head never leaving the direction of the woman who’s shamelessly undressing you with her eyes. You gasp softly underneath your own helmet when the feeling of Ellie revving her bike catches you off guard, ripping you away from the trance the woman has you in. You turn your head to look at Ellie, hands tightening a bit around her waist to prepare your take off.
But Ellie’s head never leaves the woman.
This catches the woman’s attention, and she merely chuckles softly before she sticks her hand out her window and gives Ellie a slight wave, as if to silently tell her she’d back off. The light turns green, and while you think that’s the end of it, you catch a glimpse of the woman sending a wink your way before she zooms off, which prompts Ellie to do soon after, just as fast, knuckles turning white as she gripped her handle bars.
If you weren’t holding on tight enough to Ellie, you’d probably have gone flying.
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When you both get home, you decide not to question the very bizarre interaction you both had with that woman, figuring it was just Ellie being Ellie, and there wasn’t really anything to it anyways.
At least, that’s what you told yourself.
It makes it even stranger that when you both walk through the door, Ellie doesn’t show a single sign of annoyance, which makes you feel like you’re hallucinating even more than you were before. She’s walking into the apartment, tugging off her jacket and tossing it on a nearby chair, and grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge before plopping down onto the couch.
So yeah, you’re probably just tired.
You let out a soft hum as you tug off your own jacket before hanging it up, grabbing Ellie’s and hanging it up as well. She had a bad habit of shedding her layers off as soon as she got through the door.
You stand before Ellie in the living room, her legs spread as she babysits a bottle of water, eyes never leaving yours. You watch as she pats her lap quietly, which forces you to give her a look of disbelief.
Usually, you’d have a witty remark for that sort of gesture from Ellie, which would often times be paired with a pillow to her face. But there’s simply something about the way her legs are spread out on the couch, looking so fucking inviting, that makes you quietly follow her orders, and straddle her lap.
Now, most intimacy was supposed to be saved for the camera, it was an unspoken rule of filming with Ellie, or it was a rule you set for yourself. Apart from warming up before filming, letting Ellie get you nice and wet for her before you got on camera with her, there wasn’t really a reason to have any sort of intimacy with her. Things were supposed to go back to normal when you weren’t on camera, back to how things were as roommates.
But, you’d be lying if you said that’s how it was. You and Ellie had always had an affectionate relationship, one that never went without cuddling, caressing, even crashing in your bed from time to time when she couldn’t sleep. You were no stranger to Ellie’s strong hands on your body, because that was just Ellie. She had a thing for gripping and groping, always wanting her hands to be occupied with something whenever you were near, you assumed that’s how she was with everyone.
There just seemed to be something about getting regularly fucked by Ellie that made the intimacy take a different level, a different course that made things feel…different.
And of course, there’s no harm in that. You watched Ellie kiss Julia goodnight every time she left the house, always taking an extra few minutes to hold her when they were done. If they could do it, why couldn’t you two do it?
Ellie let out a soft hum of approval when you straddled her lap, disregarding the water bottle so that both her hands were free to grip your hips, pulling you closer to her. Your hands went around her neck, toying with the hair at the nape of her neck as she pressed her face against your neck, giving your skin a deep inhale.
“Missed you today…” she mumbled softly against your skin, which makes you roll your eyes playfully, yet still keeping her close. “You saw me this morning before I left” you argue softly, which only earns a soft whine from Ellie, you can feel her lips form a pout against your throat before she presses soft kisses to it.
“So? Still missed you” she explained, her voice low as she spoke. You can’t help but giggle softly, staring down at the girl as she litters your throat with soft kisses.
But this feels way too fucking intimate, even for you and Ellie.
You clear your throat, tugging her hair back a bit to force her to look at you, which makes Ellie groan softly, half in annoyance, and half in pleasure. She loved it whenever you did what you wanted with her.
“We filming tonight?” You ask quickly, a sorry attempt at trying to interrupt this soppy little scene you and her are having.
You see a flash of something ripple through Ellie’s green eyes, something you can’t quite put your finger on, because she’s changing her expression much too quickly, giving you and eager nod as her hands go from gently caressing you, to gripping your ass tightly. This makes you whine softly in her lap.
“Eager to have me…aren’t you baby” she chuckles softly, the shift in her personality clear as her eyes quickly darken with lust. You swallow nervously, always feeling small in front of Ellie whenever she looked at you that way. You feel the way she slowly begins grinding your hips down into her lap, strong hands gripping you and moving you as she pleased. You can only nod, your lips forming a gentle pout before a gentle sigh leaves them.
“Always…” you moan out softly, which makes her smirk up at you proudly. You’d gotten so good at voicing what you wanted these past few weeks, it made warmth pool at Ellie’s core.
She gives your ass a firm spank before she nodded her head towards her room. “Go get the camera, baby” she ordered gently, that delicious tone of dominance lacing her words, you quickly followed her instructions, getting up from her lap and going to her room to get the equipment.
That was another thing, with your new presence in Ellie’s work, came a change of scenery in her videos.
Ellie usually kept her videos and streams exclusive to her bedroom, having the common courtesy to not fuck all over your shared apartment. But now that it was just you two, there was a new sense of freedom when it came to filming with you. It happened one day when Ellie was finger fucking your pussy on the couch, and had the bright idea to grab her camera, because it was just too fucking good to not hit record on.
Once again, another example of intimacy outside of filming.
You returned with all of the filming equipment, never knowing what Ellie had planned for a shoot, so instead opting to bring everything so she could choose from.
Ellie smirks softly as she sits up from her spot on the couch, eyes low and filled with lush as you walk back into the living room. You lift up her camera and her tripod, a confused frown on your lips as you look between the two. “M’not sure what you wanted to film, so I brought both. I can always go back and-“ she’s quickly cutting you off, standing up from the couch and slowly making her way to you before she takes both out of your hands gently, and sets them down on your coffee table.
“We can focus on that, later…I need to make sure you’re ready..” she purred out, making you swallow back a whimper.
Her hands go down to yours, gently gripping your arms before she pushes them to rest around her neck, her own hands wrapping around your waist and pulling you flush to her body.
‘Making sure you were ready’ was just Ellie’s way of saying she wanted a moment with you off camera.
You simply give her a nod, your head already tilting forward as you lean in to press a kiss to her soft lips. Ellie groans in approval, her head tilting to the side a bit as soon as you were pressed against her, deepening the kiss. Her nimble fingers slide down to your ass, giving it a firm squeeze while also using the leverage to pull you closer, pressing your chest firmly against hers. This make you gasp, and as always, she uses that opportunity to slip her tongue into your mouth.
Ellie smirks into the kiss, her tongue exploring your mouth as her hands massage your ass through your jeans.
“Been needy for me, baby? I’ve been needy for you…” she confessed between the feverish kiss. It was slow, and dirty, and so fucking erotic, it had your panties soaked already.
All you could do was nod, desperately pushing your lips back against hers as you tugged at her shirt. “Thought about you all day…” you said mindlessly, which makes Ellie chuckle softly against you.
“Yeah? God…me fuckin too…kept thinking about your pretty cunt all day…fucked my self so many times to the thought of you…” she groaned out. Her words make you moan a bit louder.
You’re so fucked out already, that you can barely register what it is that she just confessed to you.
Ellie hums softly as she breaks the kiss, looking down at you as you stare up at her with lust filled eyes and a needy pout. She tucked a strand of your hair behind your ear, her own swollen lip tugged between her teeth.
“Bet you loved when that woman was staring at you…didn’t you.”
This catches you off guard.
Your eyes widen a bit, shocked over the fact that Ellie was even bringing it up to you, especially when all you wanted was her hands on your cunt, not the image of another woman in your head.
You don’t know why, but your first response is to quickly shake your head.
“What? She wasn’t…I didn’t notice her staring” you try, eyes wide like a deer caught in the headlights. Ellie chuckles softly as she watches you, catching your chin between her thumb and pointer finger as she angles your face up a bit more to stare up at her.
“It’s okay baby…she was very pretty…” she agreed, giving a slow nod before she clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth, head cocking to the side in a teasing manner before she hummed out softly.
“You think she could make you feel as good as I do?” She questioned, blown out pupils surrounded by a sliver of green staring down into your own.
And again, you’re quickly shaking your head, because you know for a fact that there is probably only a handful of people on this planet that can fuck you as good as Ellie can, and that’s being generous to the general population. Ellie fucks good, and anyone who gets to experience that is fucking lucky.
They’re also ruined for anyone else who comes after her.
“Fuck…you know no one can…come on El…need you so bad…” you whine softly, giving Ellie a whiny little pout as you tug at her shirt further, feeling like you’ll explode if you don’t have her hands on you in the next few seconds. Ellie simply chuckles, watching as you whine and pout for her, a sorry attempt at trying to find your way out of the conversation.
“You’re damn right they can’t…such a good girl…” she praises, which makes you whine softly.
Ellie hums softly as she stares down at your body, giving your waist a gentle tap. “Stay here.” She ordered softly before she moved over to set up the camera.
You watch as she sets up the tripod, making it level with the couch, low enough so that it stops right where the back of the couch ends, so that it doesn’t catch your kitchen in the background. She turns it on before she goes behind it, bending down a bit to make sure the angle is good before she nods to herself before she moved to sit down on the couch much like she was earlier, legs spread wide, her dark jeans stretching over her toned thighs. Her arms stretched along the back of the couch, dark eyes boring holes as she watched you.
“Strip” she ordered.
Fuck.
You immediately began slowly stripping for her. Staring with your t shirt, then with your jeans, leaving you in your bra and panties for a moment before you removed those as well, until you were fully naked in front of Ellie, her eyes eating you up like a hungry animal.
“So fuckin pretty…Jesus…” she groaned softly underneath her breath, letting you simply stand there, naked for her, under the dim lighting of your cozy living room.
After a moment passed, she nodded her head towards the camera. “Start recording, and then come over here.” She instructed once again, and she didn’t need to tell you twice.
You slowly walked over to the camera. On the screen, you could see Ellie on the camera, only her body visible, looking so fucking strong and confident. You knew from the angle of the camera alone, that Ellie’s viewers were in for a treat with this one.
And so were you.
When you hit record, you made your way over to Ellie slowly. She hummed softly, eyes staring up at you as you stood over her before she looked down at her lap, as if silently telling you to take a seat. You straddled her lap, the rough material of her jeans on your naked body making you hiss softly.
Ellie hummed, her large hands roaming your body the second you were on her lap. “Fuck…look at you baby..came home to all this?” Her words make you frown in confusion for only a moment, yet you quickly catch onto the fantasy that she’s trying to sell to her viewers.
You give a soft giggle, nodding as you lean in to press a soft kiss to her temple. “Missed you so much…wanted to surprise you..” you purr out softly, a soft whine leaving your lips once Ellie began to slowly grind you down on her lap as she was earlier, yet this time it makes you huff softly, the rough material of her jeans dragging along your sensitive core.
“Aren’t I lucky…coming home to my pretty girl like this…fuck…you’ve been on my mind all fucking day…” she groaned out, her eyebrows furrowing as she looked down at your naked body, a soft hiss leaving her lips as she let her hand come in between you both, catching your slippery clit against her thumb. She watches your facial expression change, a soft moan leaving your lips as you rest your hands on either one of her shoulders, looking down at her hand toying with you.
“So wet already…stand up for me baby” she hummed out softly as she gave your hip a gentle pat. You listened, standing up from her lap, which allowed her to lay down onto the couch, one of her knees bent up as the other leg laid down. She gestured you over to her.
“Come sit on my face princess” she ordered.
Her words alone made you whine, and you wasted no time straddled her face, either side of your legs shielding her face from the camera.
As soon as you were settled, her tongue was out, inviting you down to take a seat as you rested a bit of your wait onto it, your pussy pressing against the warm muscle. You moan out loudly, back arching as you slowly began rocking your hips back and forth on Ellie’s flattened tongue.
The apartment was soon filled with the sounds of your moans, and Ellie’s tongue lapping away at your soaked cunt. It was times like this that Ellie had to depend on you to carry out the vocals, seeing as her mouth was a bit…occupied.
“F-feels so good…missed you so much today…” you moan out shyly, testing the waters with your voice a bit. Ellie groaned below you, her own hips bucking upwards, grinding into nothing as she gave you a quiet gesture to keep going.
You whined, giving her a slow nod as you kept going.
“You look so pretty…fuck…I love your tongue so much…” you moan out again, which earns another moan from Ellie, sending vibrations onto your sopping cunt. You moan loudly again, one of her hands coming up from around your thigh, to snake up your body and toy with your boobs, massaging the skin, pinching your nipples, her hips still bucking up into nothing with need.
You notice, turning around a bit and catching the way her hips bucked up with need. You whimper softly, reaching a hand behind you to undo her jeans before you push them down her pants, her own clit throbbing against your fingers as you begin rubbing her, watching as her eyes roll back when you begin doing this.
“Feels good? Fuck…you’re so fucking wet…fuuuckk…wanna…wanna cum with you…please” you practically beg, your arm already becoming sore from the uncomfortable position, yet you still paid the upmost attention to her poor needy pussy.
Ellie always prioritized your pleasure, it was time you do the same.
Ellie moaned and groaned against your pussy, her tongue speeding up the closer she got, her pussy grinding into your fingers desperately. You arched your back, eyebrows furrowed as you let your head fall back, the pleasure becoming too much.
You knew she was close, the grip on your thighs was almost deadly, and you were too. It wasn’t long before her hips were sputtering, her arousal soaking your fingers as she came. This alone was enough to make you shriek with pleasure, nearly falling back as your arm nearly gave out from behind you, but Ellie’s strong arms were already on your hips to keep you up, pulling you further up as she lapped at your core, helping you ride out your orgasm.
The thing you hated about filming with Ellie the most? You couldn’t even scream her name when she made you cum.
You breathed hard, your exhausted pussy shying away from Ellie’s tongue as you stared down at her, body back in its upright position, her gorgeous green eyes staring up at yours, cheeks red as she gave your pussy kitty licks.
“You should stay out late more often..” you tease, which earns a soft giggle from both of you.
Ellie gives your pussy one last kiss before she pushes you down her body so you’re straddling her waist, her eyes low and hazy as she stares up at you, gently massaging the skin of your thighs.
You always enjoyed the aftermath with her, the silence that came with it, the come down was almost as good as the sex itself. You were both so fucked out, so utterly satisfied, the warmth that overtook you was almost unbearable. You could stay there forever if you truly wanted to.
But alas, it never lasted long enough.
You felt the familiar tap on your thighs, a silent reminder that Ellie had to indeed get up and stop the camera recording. You roll off of her with wobbly thighs, cuddling into the couch and grabbing a nearby blanket to shield your body from the cold air of your apartment.
You watch with sleepy eyes as Ellie gets up, buttoning up her jeans and turning off the camera before pulling it front the tripod to look back at the footage, making sure it was all recorded correctly.
You hear your moans echoing from the device, which makes you whine softly. You always hated hearing yourself, no matter how hot you and Ellie looked. Ellie chuckles softly, shaking her head as she watched the video for a moment longer before she shut off the camera.
“That improv of yours was pretty damn good…they’re gonna like that” she added, making you giggle softly before giving her a shrug. “I always like playing with your pussy” your words make Ellie groan, and she’s suddenly giving you a look of warning, a smirk playing on her lips to match.
“Don’t play with something you can’t handle sweetheart” she warned you, and you can’t help but roll your eyes, despite the fire you feel from that look alone.
“Please, you wouldn’t know how to fuck me even if you had the chance” you challenge her.
Oh yeah, that was another thing. Ellie still hadn’t properly fucked you yet.
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You huffed softly as you tugged yet another top off of your body. You’d tried on nearly every article of clothing you had in your closet, yet it just wasn’t fucking working. It was times like this, that you simply wanted to burn all of your clothes and never leave your house again.
You were currently getting ready for a date, a girl you’d met at the record store had ended up asking you out on a date while you were showing her to the new age rock section that the store carried.
The first thing that went through your mind when the girl asked, wasn’t how pretty she was, or how nice her fingers looked wrapped around the edge of the thin vinyls in her hand.
No, none of that went through your head. The only thing that went through your head when the girl asked you out was Ellie.
And that scared you.
Because it’s Ellie for gods sake. The girl you’ve been living with for almost three years now, the girl who you watched eat dry cereal from the box instead of making herself a proper meal, the girl who you’ve watched genuinely find family guy funny…
The girl who’d been playing your body like a fucking guitar for almost a month now.
You realized, you needed this date.
So you agreed, giving the girl your number and telling her to text you so you guys could set up a date.
The guilt was eating you alive, because while Ellie would be fucking you with a dildo, her lips firmly on yours, you knew in the back of your head you had a girl waiting to see you at the end of the week.
And it was conflicting because did you even have to tell Ellie? Would it be stupid if you did? Would it be wrong if you didn’t? It was still just Ellie, after all. Sure, she’d seen you naked now, and she’d made you cum more times than you could count, and you her, but she was still your friend. She was still your normal roommate, your Ellie. And there was nothing really holding you back from going on dates.
Right?
You chalked up all your guilt by convincing yourself that Ellie was probably talking to other girls too, actively searching for a girlfriend, or even a permanent filming partner while you temporarily filled that spot.
Because while you guys never formally spoke about it, that’s all you were, temporary.
It worked out perfectly, because Ellie had gone out for the night, texting you and telling you she had some stuff to do, errands to run. It gave you the place all to yourself to get ready. You would’ve felt extremely stupid sneaking out of your own apartment to avoid any awkward interactions with Ellie. Even though you weren’t even sure if it would even be awkward.
You ended up settling on a little black dress, a pair of black boots and a leather bomber jacket, an outfit you had long since ran dry with how many times you wore, but you looked good, and you weren’t going to to stray away from that.
You fluffed out your hair after you finished up your makeup, spraying on your favorite perfume before you grabbed your phone, sending record store girl a quick text, letting her know that you’d be leaving your house now to meet her at the bar that you two had agreed on going to for your first date.
You couldn’t ignore the sour taste in your mouth, and the aching feeling in your belly as you looked around your room, making your final rounds before you left. There was something about the entire ordeal that just felt…dirty. The fact that you were sneaking around, hiding something that you felt needed to be hidden…
Leaving Ellie for the night.
All of it made you feel ill, and the fact that you felt that way made you feel even worse.
But regardless of it all, Ellie was out and it was all in your head. Ellie probably wouldn’t even care if you went out with a girl! She’d be happy for you, she’d send you out of the apartment with an encouraging slap on your ass before telling you to wrap it up before you-
Suddenly, you could hear Ellie opening up the door from the other side of your apartment door. You feel like you’ll freeze up and die in that very moment.
She walks into the house humming a tune you can’t quite find, probably some song that had been stuck in her head. She has her helmet tucked under her arm, and a brown paper bag with the logo of your favorite take out spot slung along her long fingers. She doesn’t notice you at first, because she’s too busy cursing under her breath as she tries to get herself inside, a low groan leaving her lips a she tosses her keys into the entrance bowl, kicking the door shut behind her.
“Babe? You home? I brought dinner” she calls out.
You feel sick to your fucking stomach.
Because it feels too domestic, too romantic, too fucking far for you and Ellie for her to be calling out for you that way, to be ordering your favorite dinner and bringing it home for you. You aren’t even entirely sure what prompted her to do this, and you don’t know who you’re more annoyed with, her for doing it, or you for not being honest with her.
You’re too caught up in your thoughts, because you barely realize that Ellie’s eyes are finally on yours, a confused frown as she stares at you up and down, clearly readying yourself to leave the apartment.
“You…look so pretty. Are we going somewhere?” She questions slowly, her sentence slipping into a tone of worry, as if she’d forgotten about something that you planned for the both of you, her big green eyes frantically searching yours.
You can’t fucking do this anymore.
You inhale deeply, shaking your head as you clear your throat, your fingers tugging at the bottom of your dress as you try to find your voice, find your words to break it to Ellie.
“I um….I have a date tonight” you mumble out softly, barely loud enough for Ellie to hear, hoping that she doesn’t and some miracle snatches this ridiculous conversation away so you don’t have to experience it.
But she does hear you.
Her face goes from worried to annoyed almost instantly, her brows knitted together as her lips form a confused frown. “A date? With who?” She spits out, and the tone is too accusing for you. It makes you wince slightly, your lips forming a frown of your own as you let out a soft sigh.
“Girl I met at the record store” you sigh out, and you hate this, because it feels so far from what you and Ellie are. It feels to reminiscent of a jealous girlfriend cornering you, confused as to why you’d ever leave her when she was there waiting for you, why on earth would you pass her up for anyone else when she gives you everything anyways?
The energy you can feel radiating off of Ellie is the same thing you felt when that woman was looking at you on the road. It feels hostile, and possessive, it feels like she has some claim on you that you aren’t even fully aware of, and it’s the reason you decided to go on the date in the first place, because regardless of not fully knowing what it is that’s happened between you and Ellie.
You know it isn’t good.
Ellie moves to drop the food onto the coffee table, a bit too harshly in your opinion. Her strong hand goes up to run through her brown hair, one hand on her hip as she stares at the floor for a moment. You should’ve just taken that as an opportunity to leave, to avoid all of this. But you don’t.
“It’s…it’s Friday night. We’re supposed to film. We film every Friday” she argues.
Fuck.
You chew your maroon tinted bottom lip, feeling like a kid who’s done something bad and is now facing the repercussions of a disappointed parent. You feel small, and stupid, and you can’t believe you forgot about it. There had been such a blur between the schedule you had with Ellie, with far too many moments of making out with her on the couch, or her fingers finding their way into your pants whenever you were watching a movie together, that the intimacy in your brain was becoming confused with the intimacy that was needed for the camera and the camera only.
And in that moment, you realize that this needs to end.
Because maybe you and Ellie can go back to normal, maybe you can forget about this and she can find someone who is better at this stuff than you are. It’s too confusing, and it’s putting you in a bad position of thinking too deep into things while also missing the bigger picture, and you’re fucking exhausted.
You inhale deeply, opening your mouth to speak, to tell her that this isn’t what you want anymore, that this isn’t for you anymore. You have it all mapped out, how you’re going to finally tell her that this simply can’t go on anymore.
But suddenly, your phone goes off.
You frown, looking down at the glowing device in your hands. It’s a text from record store girl, she’s telling you how she just left her house, and how excited she is to see you tonight. This catches Ellie’s attention too.
She looks down at your phone, her angry and annoyed expression still present on her face.
“Is that her?” She asks. You let out a soft sigh, shaking your head as you try pushing your phone in your jacket pocket. “Ellie I…when I get back I really think we should talk about-“ she quickly cuts you off, her voice a bit louder than it was when she first asked.
“I said…is that her?” Her words are slower, clearer, as if she wants you to hear every goddamn syllable that leaves her mouth. You know she isn’t fucking around, and you simply inhale deeply, taking your phone out of your pocket and looking at the message that was still lingering at the bottom of your Lock Screen.
“Yeah…it is….” You admit, ignoring how fucking stupid you feel for telling Ellie this. You should have left, you should have ignored her and gone on your date and had a good time so you could come home and tell her that she needed to find a new filming partner, because you weren’t cut out for this shit anymore.
She begins taking slow strides towards you, the closer she gets, the more you can smell her cologne. It makes you swallow back a whine, because her scent is the single most euphoric thing to you right now. It haunts you in your sleep, and it makes your mouth water whenever she’s on top of you.
Soon, she’s right in front of you, her green eyes staring down at your outfit, taking in everything that you have on, how pretty your hair and makeup is. Her slender fingers come up to tug at your jacket slightly, a soft puff of air exiting her nose before she speaks. “What’d she tell you? That she’s on her way? So excited to see you?” She questions, her voice low and taunting as her nimble fingers dance along your jacket, ghosting along the fabric of your dress.
“Fuckin idiot…she’s on her way to some shitty bar and I’ve got her girl practically shaking for me..” she hummed out softly.
And it was true. Ellie had hardly touched you, yet your fists were balled at your side, body practically begging for her as her skilled fingers barely gave you what you wanted. The second she was in front of you, your brain was clouded with her, with all the things you wanted from her, all the things you knew she could do to you.
“Had so much planned for us tonight, baby…wanted to finally show you off live..wanted to take care of that pretty body of yours…and you were getting all dolled up for some asshole who probably wouldn’t know how to make you cum even if she got the chance” she explains, her voice low, minty breath fanning across your face, making you whine softly.
“You’ve never dress like this for me before…” she groans out, and it makes your eyes widen a bit. Before you can open your mouth and say anything back, her skinny fingers are grabbing your chin and angling your face up to fully look at her, her green eyes staring down into yours as she licked her bottom lip slowly.
“God I can’t stand you sometimes..” she sighed out softly before she pressed her mouth against yours in a needy kiss. Your hands instantly wrap around her neck, keeping her close as her own arms wrap around your waist, pulling you flush against her body.
It’s as if any and all moral high ground that you had was gone, replaced by only thoughts of Ellie. You let her fill you up, breath life into you as her warm tongue explored your mouth, dominated the kiss and took you on a wild fucking ride that only consisted of a single kiss from her.
Soon, she’s breaking the kiss, and it makes you whine and chase her lips. She chuckles softly, the sound dark and taunting as she stares down at your needy eyes and swollen lips. “Now you’re chasing me…poor thing…” she tuts out, clearly mocking you with a pouty tone.
She slips her hand into your jacket pocket, taking out your phone and looking at the message. She rolls her eyes, pushing the phone in between you two.
“You’re gonna call her, and you’re gonna tell her you aren’t coming” she demands. Your eyes go wide, looking up at Ellie before you quickly shake your head. “What? No! Ellie I can’t! I…can’t I just text her?” Even your own words shock you a bit, because are you seriously staying with Ellie when there was a perfectly willing girl waiting for you at a bar down the street?
If Ellie said so, then yeah. Yeah you were.
Ellie shrugged before she unlocked your phone, having learned your password way back when you two first moved in together. “Fine. I’ll call her” she nodded, her fingers scrolling through your phone to find the girls contact. This makes your eyes go wider, and you quickly snatch your phone from Ellie’s hand, because you know that Ellie will be shameless with it, and it’ll make you look way worse than you already do by flaking so last minute.
“No! No…fine…I’ll do it. Just…please be quiet, Ellie” you plead, giving her a look of warning before you sigh softly, looking down at your phone for a moment before you click the girl contact, set it to call, and put your phone to your ear.
Ellie smiles proudly, pearly teeth gleaming as her hands give your hips a firm squeeze. “That’s my fuckin girl…” she praises. Her words makes your insides flutter, core tightening around nothing as you wait for the girl to answer, a gentle pout on your lips despite the fact that your arms were still wrapped around Ellie, and she still had your body pressed against hers.
After a few rings, she finally answers. Her voice is bright and bubbly and you want to kick yourself for doing this to someone so fucking sweet.
“Hey….look…I’m really sorry but I think I’m going to have to-“ your words are cut off by Ellie’s lips pressing against your neck, wet mouth working against your skin, bitting and sucking, sure to leave marks in the morning. It makes you gasp softly..
Because Ellie never left marks.
It wasn’t something that ever really bothered you. It helped in all honesty, you didn’t really want to be walking around littered in Ellie’s hickies, it would’ve resulted in too many questions from your coworkers and friends, and you really didn’t want to deal with that. It was just an unspoken rule, Ellie didn’t mark you, and you didn’t mark her. That was too far along the lines of being a couple for you.
But clearly, that had all changed tonight.
There was a sense of possessiveness that you could feel when she did it. Teeth and tongue sucking and biting at your soft skin, eager to claim you in any way that she possibly could. Between the feeling of it, and the fact that she was doing it, it made it hard to talk, your eyes rolling back into your head as you bit back a whimper, covering it up with a couch as you tried finding the words in your fuzzy head to speak to the girl.
Ellie smirked against your throat as she listened to you struggle, listened to the muffled words of the confused girl on the other line try to understand what it was you were saying.
You tugged at Ellie’s hair slightly, yet still kept her close as she mouthed your neck. “I…I can’t…look I’m really not feeling well..I…mph…I can’t come out tonight. I’m sorry” you quickly ramble out, knowing you were too close to moaning out Ellie’s name to keep this going on any longer. Before you were able to hear what the girl had to say on the other line, you hang up, turn your phone off and toss it onto the couch.
You moan softly, tilting your head to the side to give Ellie better access to your neck. “I can’t believe you fucking did that…” you moan out as you began shrugging your jacket off, tossing it somewhere in the living room. You felt too hot, too fucking needy, everything was just too much and you struggled to wrap your head around what exactly was even happening.
“Me? I didn’t do anything…you’re the one that cancelled on the poor girl” Ellie teased gently, which earns a swat to her arm from your end.
You sigh softly, tugging her hair back so that she’s pulled away from your neck. You waste no time in crashing your lips against hers, your tongue pushing into her mouth with need as you kiss her feverishly. Ellie groans into the kiss, her hands going down to give your ass a firm squeeze. “Eager are we?” She grunts against your lips.
You huff softly, ignoring her words as you begin pushing her backwards towards her room, your lips never leaving the sloppy kiss. It’s so fucking erotic, and messy, and needy, and there’s so much filling it that you can both clearly feel. You decide to ignore it.
“I decided to stay with you…you better make this worth it” you groan out softly, which only earns a smirk from Ellie as she stares down at you, her heart fluttering at the way you pushed her around, did with her as you pleased.
“I always do, baby” she chuckled softly, and all you want to do is wipe that smug fucking smirk off her beautiful face.
Once you’re in her bedroom, you press your palms against her chest, shoving her back to lay on her bed. She lets out a soft moan, clearly happy with the way that you’re handling her.
You tug your dress up a bit as you move to straddle her, her hands instantly moving to grip your thighs. She lets out a soft hiss, her lust filled eyes eating up the way your dress hugs your curves, pushes up your boobs. For a moment, you see a hint of something flash through her eyes as she watches you, taking in the dress that you wore for a date, wore for someone else.
You don’t ignore it this time, because it’s clearly jealously.
You don’t know whether or not you should say something, or kiss her, or do anything else to get your mind off of it, but you don’t have to. Because as soon as you’re settled down on her lap, you can feel a foreign bulge pressing into your clothed core, and it makes your eyes widen and Ellie smirks and rolls her hips up to grind it into you, and then you realize what the surprise that Ellie had was.
Ellie was finally going to fuck you tonight.
And not with her fingers, or with a sex toy, it would be with her strap. She was going to fuck you, something you’d already assumed wasn’t going to happen between the two of you.
She must have noticed the shocked look on your face, because she chuckles as she continues grinding her cock into you, making you whine softly as you press you hands on her hips to give yourself leverage as you roll your hips to meet her movements.
“Feel that baby? It’s all yours…went out and brought a brand new one just for you…” she explained, revealing what it was that she’d been out doing while you were getting ready for your date.
She was buying new toys to fuck you with, and picking up dinner for after.
You felt like you were dreaming.
All you can do is moan in response, eagerly undoing Ellie’s jeans, wanting nothing more than to feel her fill you up, fucking into you deliciously, giving you what you’d always wanted.
Ellie is quick to grab your wrists, pulling them away from her jeans. “Ahh, not so fast, princess….we’re gonna do this the right way” she hums out softly. You can’t help but pout, a soft huff leaving your lips as you open your mouth to complain, but Ellie is already sitting up, gently pushing you back to lay on her bed properly as she crawls over you.
She hums softly, staring down at your body for a moment, silently taking you in before she pushes your dress up, pressing a soft kiss to your lips as her hands find its spot cupping your clothed pussy.
“Hmm….so wet already…I’m gonna have so much fun taking you, baby…” she groaned against your lips, swallowing up your moans as her slender fingers pressed against your clit, rubbing you slowly, forcing the cotton material of your pantries to go translucent as your arousal soaked them almost entirely.
And your head is spinning as she kisses you, because she’s being so slow, so gentle, treating your body with so much care. And it’s not unlike Ellie to do this, but you just assumed this would have gone differently. You expected her to be rough, fucking into you while telling you how no one could ever fuck her like she does…
But she’s not. She’s so gentle, and soft, and it’s making your heart do dances it’s never done before..
Ellie lets out a soft sigh as she tugs your panties to the side, feeling your velvety folds better now without the fabric constricting her. She rubs you slowly, building you up, getting your sopping little pussy all warmed up for her cock. Soon, her hands leave your core, and she pulls you up to tug your dress off before laying you back down, and tugging off your panties as well, leaving you entirely naked before her.
Ellie hisses softly under her breath as she eyes you, sitting back on her legs as she begins tugging off her own shirt, before she crawls off the bed to tug her jeans off, leaving her completely naked as well, eyes never leaving your body.
“You’re so fucking beautiful…” she mumbles out softly before she crawls back onto you, pressing her naked chest against yours. The feeling makes you moan loudly into her mouth as she kisses you, because you’ve never felt Ellie like this. You’ve never had her body pressed up against yours this way, and it feels like the single most intimate thing you’ve ever felt in your entire life.
Ellie’s hand goes down to her cock, gripping the base before she brings it to your core, running it along your sopping wet folds, against your clit before she slowly feeds you her length, earning a whiny moan from you.
Ellie quickly nods as she kisses you softly, one of her hands giving your waist a squeeze. “I know baby…I know it’s big…you can take me…I know you can” she praises you, and it makes you moan softly into her mouth as she rubs your clit, pushing further into your weeping cunt.
“Ellie…fuck…more…need more” you moan against her, the empty feeling still present as she waits for you to tell her it’s okay to keep going. She groans softly, pushing more of her length into you until she bottoms out completely, her thighs flushed against yours as she waits for you to adjust to her size.
You roll your hips slowly, already feeling yourself leaking around the length, and you give her a nod, staring into her green eyes as your hips buck up into her. “Need you, El…need more of you..” you moan out softly.
And Ellie feels like her head is spinning when you say that.
Her strong hand goes down, gripping your thigh as she slowly fucks into you, moaning as her clit bumps against the back of the strap with her movements.
Her eyes never leaves you, watches as your face contorts in pleasure, moaning loudly for her, arching your back when the tip of her cock rubs against your velvety walls, watching as you fall apart on her length.
Her thrusts are slow, and calculated and she’s staring down at all of you as she fucks into you. You suddenly feel her long fingers wrap around your cheeks, pulling you to look up at her because frankly, you’re having a hard time looking anywhere.
“Eyes on me, baby…need to see you right now…f-fuck…that’s my good fucking girl…taking me so well” she praises, and it makes you moan loudly with her. You grab her wrist, watching as she fucks into you faster, both of you getting closer and closer to what you’ve been needing for who knows how fucking long.
Suddenly, Ellie’s hand leaves your face and instead, grabs your hand, bringing it above your head as she interlocks your fingers. Her gaze is so intense, and the grip on your hand is so tight, you feel tears prickling at the ends of your eyes because whatever the hell is happening is too goddamn intense, it’s taking over you completely, and it’s making it all too much.
“Ellie…Ellie I…I…” you choke out between little moans and whines, your eyes growing glossy as you stare up at her, and Ellie is already nodding despite your lack of words, because she understands, she feels it too, and you don’t even have to say it.
“Come on baby…give it to me…fuck…cum with my angel…please” she’s practically begging, her own moans cutting off her words as she fucks you faster, the grip on your hand almost lethal as she stares down at you, tugging her bottom lip into her mouth.
And you feel it, how could you not? Your orgasm washes over you almost painfully, making you close your eyes shut as your back arches, squeezing Ellie’s hand as you cum hard on her cock. It’s too much, too intimate, too fucking intense, and you feel like you’ll explode just from the feeling of it.
Ellie has no other choice but to smash her lips against yours when she sees it, she can practically feel the way you grip her cock with your pussy and it’s the catalyst that sends her into her own sea of pleasure, euphoria swallowing her up and almost drowning her as she kisses you with everything she’s feeling, pouring it all out into you as her hips slowly fuck into you, riding out both yours and her orgasm.
The come down is hard, because she’s on top of you, and it’s quiet apart from the heavy breathing between you and hear, and her head is resting on her chest…
And all Ellie can think about, is how utterly fucked she is..
Because she’s in love with you
4K notes · View notes
sykostyles · 2 months
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let you love me 1.0
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wc: 3.3k summary: in which y/n is a 26 year old bakery owner and she can't quite get this whole "love" thing right; settling on finding solace in being alone. One day, Jackson Cole: an egotistical, but oh so charismatic professional quarterback comes along and swears he can change her mind.. and for a while he does. nearly two years of breaking down her walls.. but they seem to argue about one thing a lot. y/n's "negativity". she swears she's not trying ro be a pessimist.. it just works out better for her if she keeps her expectations low. But what happens when she meets a handsome stranger, who wants nothing more than to see her smile? Will she push everything away again or will she finally accept the love she deserves? or ; tldr sunshine!harry x grumpy! afab reader part two, three, extra
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a/n: firstly, I need to thank @freedomfireflies for being so kind, and accepting, and encouraging.. and so many other wonderful adjectives.. but seriously, thank you for giving me the courage to just take the plunge and write the damn thing. anddd for being my beta reader!! getting mother fireflies' stamp of approval has to mean its worthy for everyone else to see.. right? welcome to my first story! please do tell if you enjoyed! (there will be more to this, I'm working on it now <3)
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cw: this story contains suggestive and explicit language, minor descriptions of violence, and verbal abuse. please do not continue if these topics upset you!
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You knew you shouldn’t have gotten your hopes up. You weren’t sure why you thought this time would be any different. Because he was somebody? Because he had a title? Or was it because he showed a genuine interest in you? Was it because he made the effort unlike most of your previous partners? You weren’t sure. The only thing you were sure of? This time, it hurt. A lot.
You curse yourself as you walk hastily back to get back to your car at the far end of the parking lot. Jackson had a lot of nerve asking you to bring him his practice bag all the way from your apartment, to then basically dump you in the stadium corridor. As you’re rounding the final corner to finally escape the thickening air in the stadium, you’re completely lost in your thoughts, thinking back to the conversation you had just left behind..
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“Hey, baby, thanks for bringing that. Coach was about to have my ass again.” Jackson breathes out as he sees you round the corner near the locker rooms. He takes the bag from your grasp, and places his other hand on the small of your back, pulling you into his front. Your hands instinctively reach for the nape of his neck; nimble fingers tangle in his wet hair at the base.
“Oh, but of course! Who would I be to not close up my shop early, again. Run all the way home to get your bag, again. Run all the way here just to step in and save the day for my big, strong man? Again.” You giggle, leaning up for a kiss. 
That’s how it’s always been. Y/N is as sarcastic and as teasing as they come. She explains it as “playful bullying” and swears she doesn’t mean anything by it. She has genuine feelings in there somewhere, but she thinks nobody but her needs to know that. She just chooses to portray her affection in rather questionable ways.. In speaking terms, if she’s not being “mean” to you, she doesn’t like you. But she’s tried so hard to get better at it. She swears.
“Do you really have to do that now?” Jackson asks, tilting his head out of the way, dodging your kiss. You look up at him with shocked eyes.
“Do what? Save your ass? As you so graciously put it.” You say, rolling your eyes, attempting to kiss your boyfriend for a second time.
“No, Y/N, that.” He says, trying to pull from your grasp, rejecting you yet again.
“Jackson, I’m not following. Use your words.” you say, turning his head to force him to keep eye contact.
He wasn’t running from this when you spent forty minutes of your evening bringing him his bag for the umpteenth time in your relationship. Not to mention the possible business you're missing out on by closing early. Again.
“Oh my god, you’re still doing it! You’re talking to me like I’m stupid.” he says, stepping back again, attempting to free himself from your hold.
You stand there, stunned. 
“He really is like all the others..” flashes in your mind.
“In what world is me teasing you about bringing you your practice bag, again, insinuating that you’re stupid?” You ask, reaching up to cup his face. “Forgetful? Maybe.” Your thumb making its way across the apple of his cheek
“See, you can't even make one single statement without attacking my character, even when you’re trying to explain yourself.”
“I’m not trying to explain myself, Jackson, I’m trying to understand what you’re talking about. And I’m not attacking your character, Jacky, I’m just teasing you. You know that.”
“You’re always like this. I can’t deal with this right now.” He says, grabbing your wrist, pulling your touch from his face.
“Can’t deal with what? Jackson, I haven’t done anything. Are you having a bad day or something? You were fine this morn– ” You start to say, tugging your wrist from his grasp.
“Just– Go home. I can’t deal with you right now, okay? I have a practice to get to.” He says, turning to walk into the locker room, but is stopped dead in his tracks..
“Jackson Wyatt Cole, you are not just going to walk away from this right now! You can’t just spout this nonsense and then turn into a child when asked to explain yourself. Now, either explain yourself or find someone else to bring you your bag the next time you forget it.” You seethe. 
His head ticks to the side before he slowly turns to face you. Seeing the face you’d grown to love over the last nearly two years shouldn’t scare you, but in this moment you did not recognize him.
“You have got to be the definition of ungrateful.” Oh, he wants to do this now?
“For the greater part of two years I have given you everything and you still think you can talk to me like that?” Jackson starts to raise his voice, noticing the growing audience in the locker room hallway, and the curious gazes from all directions. Please don’t do this now..
“You’re always so mean to me. You know that?” I swear I don’t mean to be.. 
“You make me question every choice I make.” I’m just an overthinker, I don’t mean anything by it..
“Even the other girlfriends and wives ask how I deal with your attitude." Okay, ouch. 
“You don’t think before you speak, it makes you look so rude.” That one’s true.. I’m trying, I promise..  
“You’re so unbelievably condescending when someone tries to make friends with you.” I’m sorry.. I swear I don't mean anything by it.. 
“You think you’re right in every instance, including now. You could have just given me my bag, gotten a kiss and been on your way. But no, you’re here, holding me up, by being a right bitch. So, maybe I should find someone else, because all I can see right now is someone I’m not sure I want to waste my time and effort on anymore.” Okay.. wow. Um. Alright.. Lay it all out in front of your teammates, why don’t you?
You just let him sit there and berate you. Like a child.
That was it. He’d broken through that exterior. That rock solid exterior that you’d spend years building up. It all came tumbling down with just a few words from someone you thought you loved; someone you thought finally loved you. This is what it always came down to when you argued; your inability to see how great things were around you, always settling on the negative sides of things. Always responding with snarky comments, never meeting anyone elses enthusiasm, etc. Normally, you’d be able to hold your own and fight back, but he was using your insecurities and anxieties against you, with an audience nonetheless! How did harmless teasing turn into this?
“I’m.. s-sorry, Jacky.” You finally choked out, tears threatening to spill over. You wanted to stand here and keep arguing. “I’m not any of those things!” You want to yell. But deep down, you know that you are. Not by your own choice though. Through years of failed relationships and tainted family ties, you had become this person. You became this angry, pessimistic, shell of a girl who really only wanted to love, and to be loved, but you had no idea how to really do either of those things. 
You never intended to turn out this way; it just happened. 
And it just makes it easier in situations like this.. 
Right?
“Go home, Y/N. We’ll talk later.’ Jackson sighs, leaving you in the corridor.
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Rounding that corner in the parking lot, you don’t even spare a glance and end up walking right into the broad chest of a man. Hands reach up and grasp your shoulders, keeping you from toppling over. Your hands shoot up, grabbing the lapels of his jacket.
“Woah there, love. I gotcha.” you hear. 
Looking up, you’re met with the loveliest emerald eyes you’d ever seen. A smile, that should be illegal to be that bright.. And the jawline? Don’t even get me started! But, with your current state, you couldn’t have cared less in that moment what he looked like. 
You slowly straightened up, dropping your grasp on his jacket.
“Sorry.” you stated, your eyes looking anywhere but his face. “You can let go now.” 
“My apologies, Love.” The man says, letting his hold on your shoulders go. He studies you for a moment, glancing over the features of your face. Taking in your flushed cheeks, teary and swollen eyes, and your all but quivering bottom lip.
You roll your eyes at his use of the moniker again. 
“Don’t call me that.” You mutter, glancing around, noticing the band of guys trailing behind this stranger.
He chuckles, “Well, what should I call you? M’ Harry, by the way.” He asks, reaching inside his jacket, he grabs a tissue and holds it out towards you. 
“Does it matter?” You bite out, ignoring his gesture. “I’m kind of in a hurry, here. So if you don’t mind.” You say, starting to walk around him. “This is exactly what Jackson was talking about.” you think to yourself. 
But you deter none, and continue your journey to your car. Once inside, the tears just flow. 
Jackson was supposed to be different. He’s the one who sought you out after all. 
He met you when he was picking up a cake his dad ordered for his mothers birthday.
He was smitten ever since. 
Made all the efforts to make you feel special. Stopped in your bakery every single day to bring you coffee from your favorite shop down the street. Flowers were delivered constantly; especially since you mentioned that yellow tulips were your favorite.
“I don’t really date anymore.” You admitted when he’d asked you to let him take you out for the thousandth time. 
“Too many bad experiences?” He questions.
“Yeah, you could say that.” You frowned, thinking back on a few of them.
Eventually, he slowly started to break down your walls and swore he’d change your mind. Even went so far as to listen to your worries and promised to face them with you.. 
But here he was, using them against you; just like everyone else did. 
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What you didn’t know, the moment you were out of sight, the man that you had left standing there turned to his assistant on his right, 
“Ryan, was that the woman arguing with Cole?”
“Indeed, sir. Would you like her banned from stadium grounds for speaking to you like that?” Ryan asks, pulling his phone from his jacket.
“On the contrary, Ryan.” I intend to put a smile back on her face. “Please, get me her information.”
“Right away, Mr. Styles.”
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Getting back to your apartment was a task in and of itself, considering it's hard to see when you’re bawling your eyes out. Walking in, you’re immediately met with the dread of Jackson eventually coming home. 
You shed yourself of your jacket, and set your keys down on the counter. Glancing around the kitchen, you stop your gaze on the vase of flowers that was delivered to you just two mornings ago. Approaching the counter, you pick up the card stuck to the front of the vase.
“Saw these and thought of you. Hope they brighten your day a little. Have a great day, my love. -Jackson”
What had happened in the last two days?
What had happened since this morning? 
You sat there immediately picking apart every interaction you’ve had with him over the time span.. You thought everything was fine. He usually loved your playful banter. He never complained before about your snide tongue when it came to him. He claimed it was one of his favorite things about you.. 
What changed since this morning?
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“Okay, tough guy, I get it, you’re the boss.” You chuckle, swinging your legs over the side of the bed. Although you don’t make it very far before you’re tugged right back down, being caged in by the man above you, sending you into a fit of giggles
“Oh, princess, I don't think you do.” Jackson says, sliding his hand up your side before settling on the side of your neck.
“Princess? Wouldn’t that mean you’d have to be a prince?”
“Does that bother you?” He questions.
“Well, considering you’re more of a frog than a prince, I don’t think it’s very accurate”
“What did you just call me?” He asks, wrapping his fingers lightly around the front of your throat. A sly smile forms on his face at the feeling of your breath hitching beneath his fingertips.
“A frog. Do you want me to spell it for you, baby?” You quip, smirking as you feel him increase the pressure on the sides of your throat.
“You’re going to forget how to spell your own name by the time I'm done with you, brat.”
“Mm, is that a threat or a promise, tough guy?” You challenge, reaching up to tangle your hands in his hair.
“I’ll let you decide, princess.” He says, claiming your lips in a searing kiss.
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Normally he could go back and forth with you without a thought. Did he not find it playful anymore? Was he repulsed by you now? Did he really want to find someone else? 
He was fine this morning! 
You were driving yourself crazy. You weren’t sure you wanted to fight anymore. Not just fight with him, but fight for him. You sat back and thought more about what exactly he’d said to you. “Even the other wives and girlfriends ask how I deal with your attitude.”
So were you the topic of conversation a lot? Was your inability to act like the other (mostly) fake girlfriends and wives a problem? 
Were you really that big of a problem? 
You knew you could be a handful, but you never thought it would be like this.
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Luckily for you, your bakery still has an apartment unit upstairs. Your old bed was currently calling your name, so, you made a drastic decision at that moment and you were going to stick to it. 
You were going to remove yourself from the situation before it could get turned into anything else. It was time to run. Not that you were going to run far, just away from whatever this was turning into, no matter how much it hurt in this moment  
Eventually, you stood and walked to your shared bedroom. You grabbed your carry-on suitcase, which was always packed for the times you were given no notice about accompanying Jackson to an away game, and you retreated back into the living room.
You grabbed a notebook and a pen from Jackson’s office, and had a seat at the kitchen island. Just as you were about to start writing what you were thinking, the front door swung open and in walked Jackson. 
“H-hey.” you squeaked out, dropping your pen on the counter.
“Mm, hey.” he responds, dropping his bag on the counter next to you. He walks towards the fridge, grabbing a bottle of water and walking back to be across from you at the island. 
“What’s that?” he asks, nodding his chin towards the open notebook in front of you, seeing “Jackson,” written at the top. “You writing me an apology letter?”
You scoffed, “I’m sorry?”
“Well that’s a start. Keep going.” He grins.
“I’m not, that’s no-“ you start, but his anger bubbles over and he’s already interrupting you, waving his hand in the air to silence you.
“You’re going to sit there and tell me that you’re not going to apologize to me? For causing a scene in front of my teammates? In front of Coach? The owner? The other girlfriends?” 
“Is that what this is about? What other people think of me? You’re always bringing up what the other girlfriends think.” Tears begin welling in the corners of your eyes, once again.
It is true that you’re nothing like the other girlfriends and wives of the players. Most of them are that cookie cutter, instagram influencer type. Meanwhile, your instagram is full of cakes, and cookies, and other endless pastries. The ones you spend 70% of your life perfecting to sell in your bakery. So what you tend you keep to yourself? It’s better than hanging around the Brittany’s and the Madison’s (no hate, ya'lls names just got a bad rep) all the time and hearing gossip about people you don’t know, or care about. You keep it curtly polite in public and mind your business in private. What’s so wrong with that?
“Some of them think you’re rude.”
“Some of them need to get a sense of humor.” You mumble, fidgeting in your seat.
“This is exactly what I’m talking about. You have no idea how irritating you are. It’s like you constantly have to have the last word.” He all but yells, pointer finger in your face. “And don’t get me started on the constant need for reassurance. You have no idea how exhausting that is. You’re just so.. negat-“
“That’s enough. You’re actually insane.” You interrupted, standing to leave. 
He was just trying to dig the knife in at this point. The thoughts of the argument in the stadium corridor long gone.
Jackson notices your carry-on settled by your feet. “What’re you doing with that?” he asks, standing from his seat.
“Isn’t it obvious?” you say, grabbing the handle “You said yourself you thought finding someone else was a good idea, so i’m doing the hard part for you. Now you can go get one of those other professional girlfriends that you seem to want so bad.” 
With every word you said, he slowly got closer to you, each word irritating him further. Once he reaches you, his hands grip your shoulders, spinning you to face him.
“I don’t know where you seem to get off,” he starts, grasping your chin in a firm hold, “but this attitude of yours stops today. Do I make myself clear? I’ve given you everything. The least you could do is act a little grateful.” He states, dropping his hold on your chin. He maneuvers himself around you, grabbing the handle of your carry-on, but you don’t let go.
“I’m through being talked to this way.” You say, yanking your carry-on towards you. “You knew how I was from the beginning. If you didn’t like the way I was, you shouldn’t have pursued me.”
“You don’t have anywhere to go. You’re too.. rough to be loved by anyone else. I’m the best thing you’ve got.” He says pulling the suitcase back towards him. “I’ll just have to shape you into the person you should be.”
You’re just having a full on tug of war game at this point. “Do you even hear yourself? The person I should be? What is that supposed to mean?”
“More.. obedient. You constantly embarrass me with your attitude in front of people. Important people, might I add.”
“Jackson, you really are insane. You think that just because you’re some big shot quarterback that you have any right to treat me this way?”
“Treat you what way? The same way you treat me?” He sneers, moving closer to tower over you.
“If you think me teasing you about forgetting your fucking practice bag all the time is the same as using my genuine fears and anxieties against me then you really are insane. Keep the suitcase then.” You say, letting go as he’s pulling it again.
You’d find a way to replace everything you’d be leaving behind.
“If you walk out that door, you’re done; we’re done.” Jackson says as he’s hot on your trail.
“Is that a promise?” You ask before slamming the door behind you.
You were startled by the sound of shattering glass. Knowing Jackson, he’d just sent the vase of flowers that adorned the counter straight into the door as you slammed it shut.
Assuming this, only solidified your decision further. 
You were done. 
With relationships. 
For good.
Right?
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a/n 2.0: thank you for reading this far! I honestly can't believe all of these words came from the thing inside my skull! I swear that thing is broken more often than not.. but seriously! thank you for reading! please go give my dear @freedomfireflies some love from me as well <3
please like &/or reblog if you enjoyed!
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inkblotsinkblots-alt · 2 months
Text
My experience with [band]
My experience with [band] and [band]'s management starts in April 2022. I had emailed the band's business email that used to be in their bio in December 2021, and in April 2022 I got a response. I had been asked if I was available within the next couple of weeks to come down to Brighton and do a photo shoot with the band. Management really liked my work, and wanted to work with me. I was asked to provide my rates and any expenses that would incur. I had asked if I would be at least credited for these images on social media (tagged etc ...), and management said that they could not commit to that at that time. This photo shoot did not happen.
I worked with [band] for the first and only time in January 2023 and photographed / videoed their set.
I was completely blindsided by the fact that this could’ve been a huge opportunity for me, and it could change my career completely. When I got the email inviting me to work with the band, I screamed and actually worried my parents for a few minutes. I agreed to terms that I shouldn’t have (not a full written agreement, but various statements in emails). In hindsight I had no clue what some of them meant (and I think the band’s management knew that).
There was no formal contract, only emails. The band would own my photos 'in perpetuity' and when I asked what that meant, they (management) said that 'the band have the freedom to use them however they please'. Making money off of my photos, and putting them on merch that they would then sell out of, was not mentioned. I was under the impression they would only be using the photos on social media as I did not get any clarification, even though I asked for it. I wanted to press for a more detailed answer, but I was afraid that I'd lose the job.
This was never about the money that I'd potentially make from having my photos on merch, it's that I didn't even know it was happening. I was also 'allowed' to upload '3-4' photos to my social media from the gig, even though they were my photos. I was stupid enough to agree with this. Again, I felt as though if I challenged this I would lose the job.
At the end of the show in January 2023 I was promised at least a couple of shows on the upcoming tour, as '[I was] great to work with. Such a pleasure.' I have no evidence that I was offered shows during that tour as it was said to me in person. I was then let down at the beginning of March (after multiple follow up emails) with 'I don't think there is the additional need for your services also' when I asked about discussing the tour. I was devastated.
I was offered photo passes* to subsequent Manchester gigs and I took them as they had no strings attached, and the band would not own my images (that's why you've seen a lot of them on my socials).
I met a bunch of well-known creators, musicians and photographers while working with [band] and they were all so very sweet. Some of which I am still in contact with today, and some I am good friends with. I am very grateful for this.
I fully support Shelby, she is so incredibly brave for talking about her experiences, and it's because of her bravery that I felt confident enough to share my experience - although very different in nature.
I fully believe that [band]’s management wanted to take advantage of fans who wanted to photograph [band]’s gigs. And pay them as little as possible with no consistency in pay between photographers or how many photos they were allowed to post. (This is my own opinion)
I am not the only one that has had a negative experience with [band] and their management as a photographer / creative, but those are not my stories to tell and if they want to comment then they will. Please don't speculate on who these people are or harass them on social media, they have every right to not want to talk about their experiences. Please respect everyone involved.
Massive love, take care of yourselves.
am
(*Photo passes are offered to press photographers and non-touring photographers. They shoot the first three songs from the photo pit and then leave. Either to go into the crowd for the rest of the gig, or leave the gig entirely.)
please do not edit this post or reblog, do not take screenshots and post this on twitter or any other social media platform, thank you.
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wip · 2 months
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Please make it possible to hide users' posts without blocking them. Like, in cases where a person hasn't done anything wrong to be blocked, but you just don't like their posts.
Answer: Hello, @deithwen!
As it turns out, we’ve received this feature request a lot over the years. Usually, it comes in as wanting the ability to “mute” other blogs on Tumblr. While we would love to build it, we’ve balked at it a bit because of its technical and product complexity. Let us explain what that means:
In terms of technical complexity, our current blocking feature is closest to how “muting” would work. Our current blocking feature may seem simple, but it’s very complex because of how big Tumblr is. Every time we fetch a list of blogs for you or anyone on Tumblr, we have to also fetch the list of who you’re blocking, and who’s blocking you, and filter out anyone with that block relationship. This mapping of who’s-blocking-who is stored in a directional way right now, so the “cost” of loading that list gets higher the more people you’re blocking and the more people who are blocking you. If you’re blocking 1,000 blogs, we have to check that list a lot. If you’re being blocked by 1,000 blogs, that’s another big list to check against.
In technical terms, this is a “many-to-many” relationship, which is almost always incredibly difficult to manage while not degrading the experience of using a platform like Tumblr. The more people who are blocking, the harder it is to store those lists in a way that’s easy to check, but we’re working on making it smoother. The vast majority of people don’t block many others, if at all, so it’s never been a huge problem. But the outliers who block thousands of others (or are blocked by thousands of others) can degrade performance for everyone over enough time.
Adding muting would throw on top of that yet another list of blogs to check, increasing the complexity of something that’s already pretty complex. It helps that muting would be one-directional and not bi-directional (as in, it doesn’t matter who’s muting you), but, as that list of muted blogs grows, your experience may degrade further. So we’d need to solve for that, which is definitely doable. It would just take time—and lots of it.
And, as a product, Tumblr is already pretty confusing to people trying to figure out what “blocking” means already, as well as our other filtering options. Up until fairly recently, blocking was almost entirely one-directional, the opposite way you’d expect: blocking made it so the blocked person couldn’t see you, not that you couldn’t see them. We’ve been updating blocking to work both ways instead, which is more common on social media these days. Similarly, the options to filter tags versus content cause a lot of confusion because they don’t work the same way as each other.
So if we wanted to add another filtering option to that mix, “muting” blogs, we’d need to be conscious of how all of those options work together—and are confusing in context with each other. We should really clean up that experience to be more streamlined and simple, not more complex. And I didn’t even mention the oddity of how different settings apply to your primary blog versus your sideblogs if you have more than one blog!
Taken together, it is a great idea for us to clean all of this up, improve our existing options here, and add “muting” for even more control and granularity. Sadly, however, it just isn’t high enough on our list of priorities to tackle anytime soon. We don’t want to simply tack on muting for the sake of doing it—we want to do a better job than that. I hope that makes sense!
Thanks for your question. It was an important one to address. If anything should change here, you will get news through the usual channels: here at WIP, or at @changes. 
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liilacpeach · 4 months
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Vice Dorm Leaders Relationship Headcanons
✧...
It's fluff time (again)
GN reader
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Jade
✧...
Entertainment is one of Jade's biggest goals, above even the money he usually uses his efforts for, so from the moment he realized that you would be able to bring that to him, it becomes noticeable to you from time to time two pairs of heterochromatic eyes standing out in the shadows. Definitely as far away from a romantic beginning as possible, it also lacks romance in the way your conversations revolve around him trying to get a reaction from you. This starts to change when his hobby becomes the subject of one of your "debates", unlike his usual calmer temperament, he ends up becoming a little more expressive when it comes to his tastes, however questionable they may be, so when you pay attention to what he says, not giving the disgusted reaction he wanted, his interest goes from what you could bring to him, to you as a person. You become company instead of a way for him to pass his time, even if that doesn't mean he'll stop teasing you, but you can see a warmth in his eyes as he does it, different from before.
He finds himself wanting to know more about you, not just to facilitate future negotiations or fun, instead of just discovering your weaknesses he also wonders about your tastes, thoughts, how you feel. He doesn't care what people think of him, that's a fact, but sometimes he has doubts about how you see him, even though he knows that he may be asking himself that because he likes you, to protect his own emotions, he prefers to occupy himself with making you admit what you really think of him, whether his feelings would be reciprocated, instead of thinking about his own feelings for you, even if he likes you, he already has the habit of trying to be one step ahead of everyone in terms of knowledge. It's hard to say if he confessed to you or if he made you confess without even realizing what happened. Also because of his focus on controlling information, for a long time you will only be able to see what he wants to show, when he opens up more it wouldn't be anything so direct either, but he would leave some clues here and there about how he feels.
Although questionable, one of the ways that Jade lets you see how much he cares is by studying you, your different reactions and what causes them, it was his goals to learn these from the beginning, but now with a more romantic touch. He can't hide a seemingly evil smile from onlookers point of view when he realizes how much his range of options has increased. This study usually results in him learning your preferences to know what tactics he could use to make his gestures more meaningful to you. He tests each theory, then suddenly your hand and forehead are kissed by him one day, in the next one, you receive an invitation to a meal at Mostro Lounge, once again he does you a favor. He tries to pretend it's just out of curiosity, but for anyone who knows him, also knows that these actions have a meaning beyond that.
Because he doesn't care about other people's opinions, it's very difficult to see Jade show any embarrassed reaction, no matter how small, it's not entirely impossible, despite it being subtle. For him who takes pride in knowing your next moves before you can do anything, if you manage to surprise him, his normally colder heart warms up a little. Taking initiative and being the person who initiates any physical touch also works, although rarely, but generally the most efficient method is the one that involves his hobby. From you offering to accompany him on mountain hiking, to you mentioning to him a species of mushrooms that you believe he has never seen before, or remembering what he said about this subject when others normally don't pay attention. It's possible, even if it's hard to see, that he would show his happiness with a genuine smile instead of a scary one, telling you what he really likes about you, not just to try to make you embarrassed as a result or squeezing your hand a little tighter if he was holding it.
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Ruggie
✧...
Maybe he would have already tried to give you a birthday present to get something in return or offered help so he could negotiate with you in the future, but if you want to offer help without any conditions, he will deny it. For you to provide support, it would have to be more discreet, asking for super simple favours in return that don't involve money, pretending that these are important to you, or helping him from behind the scenes. He is very intelligent, so he would eventually realize your true intentions at one time or another, but even after he finds out, he is confused about why he doesn't want you to stop, even though he is worried that one day he will have to return the favors if you charge him for it, he really doesn't want it to stop, both for the help and also because he knows how much he enjoys talking to you.
He would try to do more things for you as you got closer and his feelings became more romantic in nature, but that doesn't mean it would happen in a direct way, at least at first. Because of how he hides his emotions to protect himself, as he deals with several different students, but also because of his inferiority complex about being a hyena beastmen, he doesn't know if he would "offend" you if he showed any interest, even if he would never admit it was for that reason. He ends up using the same tactics as you at the beginning, subtly helping you, trying to keep you from noticing or asking for ridiculously simple favors in return. It takes time for him to confess his feelings for you, but it happens at one time or another, even if he maintains his mischievous attitude, it is visible how he becomes more shy around you, noticeable even to his laziest senior, who gives the last necessary push, so indirectly that not even Ruggie realized it. From the moment you two are together, he tells you everything with ease, since you are now part of his group of people that are important to him, trusting you completely.
In addition to supporting you in whatever you need, another way Ruggie shows affection is through physical touch. All of his actions are practically calculated so as not to owe anyone a favor, in a scenario like this it's hard to believe that he is used to showing vulnerability, except to a smaller group of people, so as he starts to trust you more, he also shows that he wants a greater physical proximity to you, even letting you touch one of his insecurities, his ears, as it is proof of his hyena-like physical features, it shows how much he considers you. After a while you wouldn't even need to take initiative anymore, since it would be obvious when he wants that special attention, because he surrounds you and stares at you all day, even if he tries to avoid being noticed, normally he can't hide it.
Ruggie takes a long time to trust someone, so when he finally ends up allowing someone he doesn't consider family to join this group of his special people, after being very selective, he is completely lost. Used to not letting real emotions show, it's difficult to notice when he's embarrassed about something, but it happens more often than you might think, especially when you help him or during the most innocent physical touch. Even if your cooking skills can't reach even Lilia's (as difficult as that is to happen) he would eat with a huge smile, he would try to hide it for the rest of the day, but some happy laughs escape when he remembers the meal you prepared for him, especially if they were donuts. Even the privilege of touching his ears, he pretends to be a reward for you, but his red face and smile say otherwise.
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Jamil
✧...
It's meaningful to him that he met you organically and without any influence from Kalim, even if it was a strong bump as he walked quickly, worried as always. For Jamil, that all daily activities, from hobbies to even acquaintances, happened because of the space that Kalim takes in his life, meeting you spontaneously one day, despite it being uncomfortable for someone who plans and loves to have control in any situation , it was also somewhat satisfying for him, yet his presentation was short and calculated, as he immediately had to go back to what he was doing before talking to you. He continues to wear the mask while interacting with you, but he can't deny that he has fun, as he finally has a place where he doesn't have to remember who he is and the responsibilities that come with it.
For a long time he keeps his feelings to himself, even though he knows he feels something more for you because of how much he daydreams thinking about what he would do if he could say what he really thinks. He ends up confessing after you mention that he received an invitation to go to a party from Kalim. Just like the rest of emotions, he keeps to himself as much as he can until it all comes out at once, this wasn't much different, it was in the botanical garden that the words started to come out due to the shock of perhaps losing your company out of pure fear of doing something, not an ounce of regret after it happens, since even with his efforts to do otherwise, you saw who he really is and the title he was forced to carry, to his surprise, you accepted him, even before he achieved the freedom he so desires. You would have to be perceptive and try to think beyond what he says, since he tries to disguise even the things he likes, with the trust he acquires for you and the time you spend together, it naturally becomes easier to see what he really thinks about everything.
He knows what it's like to not have the time and freedom to do everything he likes because of the obligations he has, so he subconsciously tries to lighten your responsibilities, but not because he thinks you're incapable or irresponsible, he does it because he wants to ease the weight on your shoulders, he understands what it's like to not have time for yourself, so he doesn't want you to go through the same situation. Besides trying to fit you into his busy schedule, another way to see how much he cares is by paying attention to how he plans everything just to have a moment alone with you, instead of saving that time to spend alone as he would prefer before, now when he thinks about a relaxing time, you are automatically included in what he would consider calming, so he ends up calling you. He also tries to demonstrate his skills more while you are around, rather than holding back.
Jamil feels embarrassed easily, even if he tries not to show it, but prominent among the options of what to do to please him is reinforcing his independence. Throughout his life he has had to repress his own desires, so when you make it clear that you value his thoughts and emotions and want to listen to them before any decision involving him, even if he didn't take the initiative to tell you if you asked him, it would be an important moment for him, regardless of how many times it happened. Another way to make him more shy is to praise his skills honestly, he is already used to having to give fake praise, so he easily recognizes when someone is being genuine, in seconds you would no longer be able to see his face, which would be being covered with his hood.
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Trey
✧...
Because of his role, he ends up meeting a lot of new people frequently, including you, but you stand out because you offer help instead of just asking for it, despite the students habit of questioning whether each action has ulterior motives, no one is made of steel, and even though he tries to diminish it to outsiders, the weight of his responsibilities is huge, so along with his down-to-earth personality, his tiredness also influences his temptation to accept the extra help. He gets used to your presence, to the point that if you're absent, even if it's just a few minutes late, it's enough for him to feel more worried. As the days go by, your name is practically replaced by the title of cook's assistant in the conversations of other students, who begin to wonder if the relationship between the two of you is not so platonic, due to the way he looks at you and the amount of time you two spend together.
For Trey, who avoids conflicts and negative emotions to the point of reaching catastrophic results, this habit is also perpetuated in positive emotions. Because he is reserved and patient, he justifies his actions to himself by stating that just spending time with you is already enough for him, that he has a long way to go before he decides to care about these things. He insists on holding back even when it is visible in his eyes that he is capable of having ambition, wanting something more, or the hint of jealousy that he feels every time your attention shifts from him to your friends while you two are together, since secretly he puts a lot of effort into having that free space in his schedule to see you. Regardless of whether his emotions started slowly overflowing, or if you had to take control of the situation, already in the relationship it is easy to see his effort to express himself more, even if the negative side still appears less than the others in your conversations as you get to know each other better.
As expected, one of the ways Trey shows affection is like a grandmother, feeding those he loves, but beyond that he tries to be romantic in other more conventional ways, even if it ends up being super awkward, because he gets totally lost. Despite his dedication, it's hilarious how his attitudes are more romantic when he's not trying, from making you breakfast, offering to help carry whatever you're holding, opening doors for you, giving your hands a massage at the end of classes while holding them, even planning the dates he could have with you every time he visits a new place that he imagines to your liking. Practically the opposite of when he tries to do something, mainly because the results involve him getting stuck, not getting a decent compliment out of his mouth, almost falling over himself, and the list goes on from bad to worse. Because of his failed attempts, he tries to show how much he cares when he shows you anything other than the image of a normal person that he normally tries to maintain, from pranks, to showing how tired his responsibilities make him.
Trey doesn't show his emotions so easily, even when he's embarrassed in a lot of different situations, by spending more time with him you realize the meaning behind his hand on the back of his head or the way he smiles differently than usual. He underestimates himself and hides the areas in which he stands out to be an ordinary student, so much so that he left it to be misunderstood by others that his magic could only change the flavor of things, despite what he could actually do. Trey is another one who becomes more shy when others see through his intentions and praise the skills he has, drawing attention to what he would like to hide for convenience or because he finds it shameful. But what could be more meaningful for him would be receiving any care from you, since a large part of his responsibilities involve taking care of others, so that he has an easier school life, even when he starts giving you this special attention, but now for other purposes, helping you because he really cares about your well-being, it is still surprising for him to receive any small percentage of those efforts back, your efforts to help him could have been happening from the beginning, but it is much more meaningful to him now that he's sure it's genuine.
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Lilia
✧...
Being as friendly and spontaneous as he is, it doesn't take long for you to end up talking, even if it's more one-sided pranks than you talking to each other at first. Because he has to protect someone as his duty and objective, he pays attention to every detail, and by chance you became one of his favorites, he stops to pay attention more, trying to interact with you daily because it's fun for him. At first it's more superficial, because despite being outgoing, he keeps his feelings private to himself, but the closer you get, the more he lets you see not only the teasing and jokes, but also the thinking behind them. Even though he's old, he's been busy taking care of practically three children, so it takes a while to realize his own emotions, when you realize the pranks went from him just appearing out of nowhere for a rose to appear in your hand, or how the scares he tries to give to you went from two magenta eyes suddenly appearing in front of you, to your favorite food appearing in your hand (since this is fluff and not angst, he bought it rather than preparing it, so your survival is guaranteed). He doesn't even realize that he is increasingly using what he has learned about you to take better care of you, nor does he see how this is different from how he treats others.
He thinks and feels much more than he lets on, even if he is attracted to you romantically, he may try to hide it, whether due to the responsibilities he carries, such as raising his children, but also his concern about not letting his position harm you. His focus goes from avoiding possible problems and heartbreaks to enjoying the time he has with you as much as he can, it's not the first time he's had to feel the concept of one living less time than the other, but it takes longer for him to change his mind about not getting so close to you, not only because of past experiences, but also because of the impression that with you he has the option of not showing the depth of his emotions, unlike while raising a child. He is completely capable of never saying how he really feels about you beyond pranks to protect you, so he would need you to take initiative to change that. Any negative emotions and experiences are kept secret from you by Lilia for a long time even though you are already in a relationship, as he feels pressured to make the time you two have together as perfect as possible, because it is shorter and he values it a lot, but it's nothing that your dedication to know more about him can't overcome, because even if he tries to avoid it, his weakness is to give in to your wishes, because deep down he would like to show more of himself to you, but also because he cares about what you want.
With his special combination of archaic and present knowledge, any attempt at romance coming from him ends up being this mix of an elderly couple's marriage and a common teenage couple. You receive flowers and letters, but you are also invited to play video games with him or spontaneously go out at night with him, to visit different places that are impossible to believe they exist since they are so beautiful, the places of which you two visit the most are the ones that have a great view of the sky, especially to see the moon at night. Even pranks have gained even more adorable factors, now being not just the surprise itself but also the kisses on the cheek that come with it.
Having lived such a long life, it is harder to bring up new things or tricks to make him more shy, but it is still possible through a little study. Researching the way people in his homeland express affection and putting some of it into practice with him, seeing the way he acts and trying to copy some of his pranks to scare him, even if they don't work, and trying to find out what he likes by asking others, brings the element of surprise necessary for you to see another side of him. Also when you try to cook something healthy, or offer to help him cook so you can spend more time with him, it makes him smile more every second that passes by on the clock, his face a little pinker thinking about the memories he has created with you.
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Rook
✧...
Why he started talking to you is unknown, not only to the other students, but also to yourself. Was it beauty? Personality? Any specific talents? It's difficult to pinpoint exactly what created the first drops of curiosity that would later become a great interest in you, even he didn't really understand why, but it was probably the combination of all your traits that was responsible for leaving him intrigued. Even if he is curious, he keeps his distance for a while with only an idealized version of you in his mind, due to his tendency to admire people from afar, but as he gets to know you better instead of being disappointed, he is surprised at how much he finds reality even better than he imagined.
Even though he talks a lot, Rook doesn't reveal much about himself, even to those close to him. Admiration for you is easy for him to admit, but opening up and explaining how his emotions from idolizing you ended up moving towards a more romantic side as the two of you started interacting more, is much harder to come by. In theory, he would do well with romance because of the poetic way he sees love, but revealing other sides of himself is crucial in a relationship and he is very hesitant about it. As much as he usually doesn't hold back words, whether good or bad, those that reveal something more don't come out so easily, they just reverberate in his thoughts while his eyes follow you more and more. Even after reaching the point where his feelings are practically completely visible, it still takes a lot of patience and persistence to hear anything more personal than beautiful words, over time they become more expository of what is behind them, even if they keep being really poetic.
Him telling you his feelings is already a great romantic gesture in itself, due to his desire to keep almost everything private, but for Rook who is so devoted to those he admires, other ways of expressing the affection he has for you end being even more dramatic than expected. From taking you out on a boat at night under an ocean of stars, offering to do a painting with you as a model, telling you everything he liked about you almost daily, even what you didn't like about yourself. Of all the ways he could be romantic, the way he uses the most is words, so even if you were already doing something special, like an outdoor picnic, he would still say words that were more beautiful than the flowers around you both.
When Rook finds it necessary or gets emotional, just like when he saw Neige, he ends up revealing more about himself, so seeing a slight blush on his cheeks is difficult because of how alert he is, but not impossible. To achieve this feat there are two ways available, one is to distract him using the help of someone he admires to surprise him if you wanted to prepare something bigger, or another efficient method is to simply act in a way he is not used to seeing. Since he tries to memorize your mannerisms, when he sees an unexpected side of you, completely out of what would be expected out of your personality, it would get a reaction out of him, even though he normally doesn't sound like that, he is honest, even though he tries to control how much this affected him, he won't try so hard to hide from you.
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81folklore · 6 months
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older - CL16
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pairings: charles leclerc x male!singer!reader (fc: luke hemmings)
summary: singer yn ln releases a love song with his boyfriend, and the public are not prepared for who it is about
authors note: this has been on my mind for SO LONG. i honestly dont like how many fics ive been doing on the same people (charles, lando etc) but whenever i go to start a new one on my list for someone else i think of something that i have to do😭 also in this reader is not a part of 5sos but close friends with the 3, wfttwtaf is readers album and older is exclusivly the readers song
authors note 2: i wanted to quickly clarify i am NOT speculating that charles or luke are gay/queer and this is not my intentions. luke obviously sings older and i find it easier to visualise it this way, while the reader in this is male, this could also be read as gn!reader. this is FICTION please do not tkae this as me speculating anything
authors note 3: i didnt really know what i was doing with this so its kind of all over the place and very rushed :/ but then again when arent my smau all over the place?? also can you tell i hate writing comments by the way i just dont😭
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we started this song together back in 2020 and picked it back up at the end of 2022
'Older' was originally a voice memo of a 50’s-style love song that we wrote together, then forgot about. when thinking of concepts for my debut album i stumbled across the memo and fell in love with it all over again, but i put it aside yet again as to me, it deserved more than the album
the song has changed a lot from the original voice memo, but the meaning has stayed the same throughout. despite all the beauty, the ups and downs of a long-term relationship over many years, there’s inevitably going to be the worst moment of your love because one of you is going to lose each other
capturing those feelings in a song was tricky but ultimately we wrote from the heart and i think it shows in the song itself
this has always been a song between us, so having him play on this song was very importnt to me and im glad he said yes
older is now yours
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im very pleased to announce a very special one off show at the Royal Albert Hall in London this November 18th. I will be playing a bunch of tracks from my debut album and may be joined to play some others aswell! Tickets on sale this monday at 10 am BST. Lots of love always, yn x
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thank you for an incredible night at the royal albert hall
looking back at the best night of my life, i need to thank each and every one of you who allowed this dream to come true, i will never be able to thank you guys enough
performing in my dream venue, with my favorite people in the world was something i never thought was possible and yet here i am, writing this still on my high from last night
thank you to my friends; michael, ashton and calum who took the time to come to london and perform their songs with me, thank you for always loving me and agreeing to my crazy ideas
to my team and everyone who worked to make this night as special as it could be, thank you. thank you for making my htoughts a reality and making this night as wonderful as possible
thank you to the staff who worked throughout the show to make sure everyone was safe, well and looked after. you truly do not get as much credit as you deserve and i apreciate the hard work you put in to keep everyone happy
thank you to those who joined me, i wish each and every one of you who wanted to could have been there. thank you for singing along and listening to me pour my heart and soul into my music
thank you for letting me do this x
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user55: not the pcd hitting already☹️
user1: and im supposed to pretend i didnt see yn and 5sos perform os/co??
user89: CHARLES?? YN IS DATING CHARLES??
user91: AND HE CAME ON STAGE?? AND THEY PERFORMED OLDER??
user50: i cant believe i saw this all happen live
user47: THANK YOU TO WHOEVER WAS RUNING THE GRAINY LIVESTREAM I OWE YOU MY LIFE🧎🧎🏻‍♀️🧎🏻‍♀️
ashtonirwin: thank you for everything yn. youre a real life angel
user16: NO CHARLES MENTION??
user9: BESTIE HE HAS A WHOLE POST
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after having time to process this show, I feel so overcome with gratefulness. my music means so much to me and seeing so many people resonate with it in a live space was so special for me.
charlie, my life would literally fall apart without you and this would have never happened without you giving me the confidence to do so, i hold so much love and admiration for you
thank you for joining me on such a special night and performing our song with me, thank you for sticking with me through it all and thank you for allowing me to share this part of my life with you
i sometimes wonder where i would be if i didnt find you, if i wasnt blessed with your love. i try to think about the times before you, before us, but both feel impossible to do after feeling your love
life with you is so special and i promise to always cherish and love you
merci de m'avoir laissé vieillir avec toi, merci de m'avoir laissé t'adorer, merci de m'avoir choisi (thank you for letting me get old with you, thank you for letting me adore you, thank you for choosing me)
yn x
tagged: charles_leclerc
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charles_leclerc: mon ange, je t'aimerai toujours (my angel, I will always love you)
charles_leclerc: je suis tellement privilégiée d'être celle que tu aimes🤍🤍 (I'm so privileged to be the one you love)
yourusername: vieillir avec toi ne semble pas si effrayant🖤🖤 (growing old with you doesn't seem so scary)
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glorysbox · 7 months
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I would love to see a continuation of those bihan fics you have but after he's gotten his son. Like how would he act afterwards?
(pregnancy talk, bihan lowkey/highkey has mommy and daddy issues)
bihan loves you, in his own way.
i can see him having a "marriage" (for lack of a better term), essentially letting everyone know publicly and officially who you belong to. if you bother him enough, he'd probably give you a wedding—though small, most likely only having the people he trusted (like cyrax and sektor) and maybe some of the people you'd request like family or close close friends. you'd really have to convince him, though…
he'd definitely start kissing you more. he loves the feeling of your lips on his; finds himself seeking the warmth of your lips and body on his more than he'd like to admit. bihan would definitely be opening up to you (physically), allowing you to cling to him in private or acquiescing to your pleads to be in the room with him while he's doing paperwork or foreseeing future battles with his second in commands.
bi-han would be wanting to see you often, going as far as making you sleep in his quarters instead of your own. you're barely halfway through your pregnancy by the time he's ordered you to stay with him in bed. at first, i don't think he'd been to receptive to any cuddling. but if you complain enough, he'll give in.
he's protective; the grandmaster of the lin kuei does have many enemies after all. (really, they'd never be able to breach the temple of the lin kuei. he uses it as an excuse to be with you constantly and oversee you during pregnancy. he doesn't want to lose you like he'd lost his mother or his brother.)
when it comes to the labor + aftermath… he doesn't really leave your side, ever. he's there when you give birth. he insists on being the one to cut the umbilical cord (with a blade made of ice). in the meantime, all of his responsibilities are passed down to sektor and cyrax, leaving him with more than enough time to nag you about the way you handle his son. he's often telling you how to do what since he "cared for kuai liang while he was a child", which means he knows more than you. (he doesn't)
surprisingly enough… he's "sweet" with his son, especially as he gets older. i think bihan's father wasn't the best to him (which i believe is why he let him die and acted the way he did in mk1). knowing how it feels to be treated less than favorably by his father, he would never repeat the cycle onto his own child. this doesn't mean he'll allow his son to be soft, though. expect your son to go through a LOT of training in the future to be a formidable grandmaster himself.
your relationship with him definitely undergoes many changes, too. you used to consider him much higher than you, but as the years go on, you start to see him as more of an equal. he does the same, considering you his equal way earlier than you him. you're not allowed to call him grandmaster anymore, only "husband" or "bihan" (he will still pull the obey your grandmaster card on you to get what he wants, though)
and yes, bihan wants another son too. he wants his first son to have a brother as soon as possible (which strangely parallels his own life… he'd never admit it to anyone but you, but he finds himself missing his little brother at times.)
you're expected to be a good mother as well. he expects you to be like his mother—who he thinks did a great job at raising him. you'll have to be tough and no nonsense, and willing to discipline your children to teach them lessons at a young age. he'll definitely get on your ass if he finds you coddling his son far too much and making him "weak". if you have a daughter though… imagine his protectiveness times one trillion. seriously. she'll probably be just as spoiled as you are. and yes, you are spoiled. the members of the lin kuei basically treat you as an extension of bihan. and he always makes sure you get what you want.
he was comfortable having just you to defend and protect, knowing that his sons also could protect you… but with a daughter thrown in the mix, expect the both of you to never be let out of his sight. he would be soooo annoying about it!! god forbid he has to go somewhere without you—you're stuck listening to sektor ramble on and on about whatever silly scientific experiments while he babysits you and her.
you'd probably catch him more than a few times being uncharacteristically sweet to your daughter—especially if she resembles you or resembles his mother. he'd definitely soften up with her (not in front of anyone but your family, however.)
still, bihan is a cold man. literally and figuratively. don't expect him to talk much about his family life or his feelings. he does demand to know everything about yours, though...
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br-disaster · 2 months
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Nie Mingjue's Fatal Journey crying scenes appreciation post
There's no way I wouldn't make this post, but it ended up way longer than I intended.
Fighting with Huaisang
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When is this man not tearing up?
This fight is so important for Huaisang's character development and the movie's themes, with Huaisang being ready to challenge and question the Nie ways and Mingjue doing his best to uphold those traditions and keep the peace through the only way he knows how.
But it's still hard to be challenged like this and to face the possibility that everything you've ever known might not be right, actually.
And this gif specifically is from the moment Huaisang questions if Mingjue even knows what they're there to fight and what this supposed great evil that will come to Qinghe if they fail to balance their blades even is. Mingjue has no answer, of course, I suppose he was only taught this and never had reason to question it.
But Huaisang is also talking about the disciples they already 'lost' at this point of the movie, and he says something along the lines of " You don't know anything, you only know how to bring them here to die" and that does it. Because it's both "you can't follow these rules blindly when they rely on sacrificing people" and "you've changed and I don't trust your judgement on these matters anymore".
And as he says it, Mingjue looks at their disciples and he sees the puppets for a moment. And Huaisang just questioned if the other disciples were really attacked by puppets.
So that's a big moment and Huaisang is right, of course, but he doesn't have a confirmation that this is the result of Mingjue's health deterioration yet, so he keeps pushing. And Mingjue doesn't really have a counter argument because he knows what's going on with him, but it must be very scary to hear it from the person you care about the most and realize just how much you're being affected.
(Actually, Mingjue has one counter argument and that is "Well, I am at least trying to do something while you're painting and living a carefree life", and he's not wrong either. Huaisang is right and rightfully harsh, but this is the first time he's being confronted with these difficult choices and all their family history. He can reflect on and question it, but his brother has been meking those hard decisions since he was 14, when did he ever had a break to question and change things?)
Which leads us to
The Talk
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After seeing his brother sacrifice himself for him at the bridge, and then seeing Mingjue be so vulnerable and lost, that anger from their fight is gone. They can meet in the middle with "You are right, I wasn't thinking straight, this is not a long term solution and I've failed at changing our ways" and "It's not your fault, you did everything you could but you're not responsible for this situation" and it's very beautiful and heartbreaking.
Mingjue is so remorseful, both because he has condemned Huaisang to die with him and because he feels like he failed everyone and everything (even if he doesn't seem to know what he could have done differently to avoid all this).
And Huaisang's reaction in this scene is so calm it made me think this Huaisang is somewhat used to his brother displaying vulnerability around him. This isn't book NMJ with all his victories, this isn't a man who never let the Unclean Realm be conquered and who could afford to keep Huaisang far away from the war. This is a man who was attacked and subdued in his own home, who had to send Huaisang to the hands of the people who killed their father.
This Huaisang doesn't have reasons to see Mingjue as this unmovable force, he has seen Mingjue hurt and threatened and fearful; and he's now seeing him remorseful and defeated.
(I'm sure Mingjue telling Huaisang about the fact that he's dying and admiting his mistakes and insecurities is something new, especially considering their previous fight, but this Huaisang doesn't take it as a shock, because he knows his brother is only human and there's only so much he can handle. He even, like, explicitly says this)
And so he assumes this calm, reassuring and empathetic posture, because that's what his brother is asking for. And it's the most beautiful thing, Huaisang has so much love for him, so much empathy. And this is Mingjue's reaction to his brother's reassurance that it's okay if they have to die there:
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I'm sure Huaisang is still processing Mingjue's "I only forced you to practice because I'll die soon", but he's so good at reassuring his brother.
Because Mingjue just told him "I am dying and I'll go as a failure" and Huaisang insisted "None of this is your fault and you did everything you could and more, and if I have to die here with you today, I don't regret a thing, and you shouldn't either".
There's no despair or anger that his brother is only telling him this now, there's only understanding and acceptance and so much love and they really knew what they were doing with this movie.
His people love him
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Mingjue is so moved. He just admitted to Huaisang that he's not in peace with his accomplishments, or lack thereof; that he feels ashamed to face his ancestors, having done so little.
So I truly believe Mingjue doesn't consider himself worthy of this much trust and support. (And I can't ignore how this is tied to the Nightless City situation, where he led the men who trusted him with their lives to a dangerous situation and couldn't save any of them).
As we see in the confrontation at Jinlintai, that technically happens after this movie, that is still a very sensitive topic.
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And here he has his loyal disciples saying they will follow him yet again, despite his previous 'failures'; just like Huaisang was ready to die with him. They have so much trust in him, and the way he's nodding a little here, just like he was nodding when Huaisang reminded him of everything he's done for their sect since their father died, is like he's convincing himself of it. That he can do this and he can do this right this time.
And yet
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He fails again. And I don't even think he knows it was him who killed those disciples, like some people say. He doesn't need to because it doesn't matter. His men, who followed him till the end of the world, are dead again. And so is the hope he had of doing this one right thing before he dies.
Yes, he supressed the saber spirit like he had to, but they're still dead, all of them.
He falls apart, how could he not?
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At some point I'm sure Huaisang his holding all his weight because he just gives up. There's only so much loss one can handle and that's way too much.
And look at the way Huaisang is watching him as he realizes something inside Mingjue shattered forever.
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There's so much pain in this scene, it looks physically taxing and I hope people gave Wang Yizhou a break after he shot this. I know it's his job and he's phenomenal at it, but this has to mess with your head a little.
And hey, it's a Huaisang crying scene as well. CQL Huaisang only really cries twice. First he watches his brother have a mental breakdown in his arms after unknowingly killing his own disciples; and then as he watches his brother qi deviate and die, while unable to do anything to either stop or comfort him.
(And a lot of people said there's no hesitation on Huaisang's part when he rushes to his brother's aid when Mingjue is hurt on this post's notes, and that's true for book Huaisang too, because he runs towards Mingjue as he is qi deviating, gets hurt in the process, and still keeps calling for him, which makes CQL's decision to have JGY holding him back kind of cruel, tbh, there's not a Huaisang who would run from a hurting Mingjue regardless of the risks
But at least we have this scene.)
And that's it, I guess. There's nothing uplifting to say about this, really. He just went through a lot and kept shouldering everything until he couldn't anymore. I just wish book NMJ had gotten to receive the same love and comfort and acceptance from NHS before he died, I wish he had been able to tell his brother what was actually happening, but thats kind of the purpose of this movie, so I'm just very grateful that it exists.
It's like that post says, it didn't change anything but the love was there, you know? That's how this movie feels for me.
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genshin-scenarios · 6 months
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android au - detective droids
Summary: In a modern-futuristic world, it is possible to create androids that are so advanced, they’re more or less human. There will be 5 android au posts total, each focusing on a different group! 
The Sumeru collection was created specially for detective and investigation workplaces.
Characters: Tighnari, Alhaitham, Kaveh, Cyno
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Tighnari specializes in evidence collection on sites and processes them in the lab. You have no idea why they made him so pretty (don’t the designers know that it might distract you from work?), but paired with his underlying snark and the little smiles he only sends to you, you’re quite sure you have a favorite droid to visit during your breaks.
As a field agent, you’re no stranger to minor injuries and a few scrapes here and there, but Tighnari always chides you about being more careful. He often ends up treating you and patching up the androids when nurses weren’t around, tail swishing absentmindedly as he focuses on applying salves to your skin. 
Tighnari is rather careful when it comes to you - or perhaps more gentle might be the better word, considering how he just pushes the others around, giving them a ‘told you so’ while rolling his eyes. You don’t realize this, but his gaze always drifts to you at these times, ears picking up on the little giggle that escapes your lips.
His ears and tail increase his sensitivity to his surroundings, meaning Tighnari notices details about a crime scene that regular people wouldn’t. The same goes for changes in his co-workers, be it burnt-out employees or ones that seem to have their loyalties switched… he never admits it, but Tighnari sends this information to Cyno or Alhaitham if he suspects it might bring harm to the agency, in terms of catching double-agents.
Once, the final straw was when he saw said double-agent trying to approach you. You were on a rather sensitive case and had tight lips, which led to them trying to attach a bugging device on your attire. Thankfully, Tighnari was quick to remove it, telling you that there was dust on your coat.
…Level headed as he is, Tighnari is quite protective of those he considers his close friends. He’s quite popular around the workplace anyways, so he does use this to keep tabs on people. No one said his work ended with just forensics, right?
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A data collection droid, Alhaitham is often known as a ‘witness’ of sorts that records everything he deems useful to a case. Due to his personality however, sometimes he just stands there and judges people, silently making comprehensive notes about their speech, body language, and any suspicions he may have.
These transcripts then go to you. Alhaitham highlights what is most relevant and enjoys seeing what you think before sharing his own theories. Some people say that the both of you sound like masterminds cooking up a concerning plan in the office, catching snippets of your conversation that sound like: 
‘you did say he bought copious amounts of gasoline…’ ‘so it’s legal to blow up the factory?’ ‘i’ll check through my database, but i’m sure we can find a loophole’
People that aren’t close to Alhaitham might think he’s stoic and a stickler for the rules, but you’re more than aware of the chaotic-neutral methods he has a penchant for. In a sense, data collection really suited Alhaitham, who enjoyed seeing people squirm at the idea that he could psychoanalyze their deepest darkest thoughts. 
As much of a dramatic he is, Alhaitham doesn’t tolerate uncooperative people or those that lash out against your team. Once, you were interviewing people for a case when an aggressive bystander attempted to attack you, only for Alhaitham to surprise everyone by knocking him out with one blow.
He says he controlled his strength, so there wouldn’t be any lasting injuries… but suffice to say the rest of your interviewees were very obedient after that.
Alhaitham also enjoys annoying (pissing off) certain people as a way to get ‘extra data’. You let it slide only because you’re aware he always has a reason for his actions. 
At one point you asked Alhaitham why he manages to get along well with you, despite usually keeping to himself at the office. He merely shrugs, saying that it’s only natural to have good relations with someone he’s often partnered with.
That, and… if he was with you, he wouldn’t be accused of slacking off.
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Kaveh often works as an informant or undercover agent. His job relies more on his ability to pass off as a human, and his empathetic nature helps with that whenever he’s on the field. You’re his partner on these missions, either watching from the hidden cameras in his system or working by his side. 
Kaveh does get a little annoyed however if people attempt to flirt with you during these, even if you were letting them because it was a way to gain information. He reasons that because he’s an android, he should do those tasks instead - Kaveh doesn’t want to burden you with that kind of work if possible. You’re the same; you may not be a saint, but it’s easy to want to treat Kaveh well.
Kaveh also has a legendary reputation as an escape artist. He claims it was just a stroke of luck, but he undoubtedly is good at navigating through even the most fortified buildings and picking the best spots to place explosives to knock it down.
He often gets embarrassed when people praise his skill, but only you’re aware of the work that Kaveh puts in, memorizing blueprints and guessing where hidden floors may be. Seeing him get the recognition he deserves always fills you with pride.
Once, you were on a mission alone and trapped within the workings of an underground fortress. To say that Kaveh appearing out of nowhere felt like an angel came to save you wouldn’t be too far off. With worry plastered on his face as he checked if you were alright, he quickly led you through the building with the distractions he had in place. Kaveh explains that once he heard backup was needed at your location, he’d quickly volunteered himself for the task.
‘Ah… not that I’m expecting your thanks for anything like that! …Um, I’m about to deactivate the lights, so could you hold onto my hand? I’ll lead us to the exit.’
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Cyno is an android designed for combat. Oftentimes he’s dispatched as a hitman or to guard important places and people. This time around, he’s been assigned to protect you.
Seeing as you’re being targeted by an unknown mastermind, the agency appointed Cyno to stay with you 24/7. He tries his best to simply be a ‘shadow’ at first so that you wouldn’t have to adjust your lifestyle for him, but after a while you told Cyno that you didn’t mind.
‘After all, I can just treat it as having a bodyguard or friend!’
Cyno can come off as intimidating to people, so he’s surprised by how friendly you are to him; asking him if he’d like to join in the activities you were doing, or what he likes to do in his free time.
Nowadays it’s hard to imagine going around without seeing him nearby, and once he even pretended to be your boyfriend when your acquaintances asked why you were always together.
‘Are you sure you’re alright with that? Your friends will think I really am dating you.’ ‘Well… I can’t really complain about having such a reliable “boyfriend”, can I?’ 
It becomes easier once you settle on this as a cover story, though Cyno doesn’t really do anything extra with the role besides holding the door more often and giving you fleeting smiles, unsure if he really looked the part with how serious his expression is otherwise. People think it’s cute. You find it more endearing when you pass by a collectives shop, and notice he’s glancing at the TCG cards on display.
One day, perhaps you’d order a custom card based on Cyno? From your chats with his friends, you think he might find it amusing at the very least.
Because of how he is with you, you forget that Cyno is normally feared amongst the enemies of their agency. He rarely misses his mark, nor does his targets escape his judgment without a price.
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sourbinnie · 10 months
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☆ pretender.mp3 ☆
♡ genre ¿? ♡ -> angst ♡ pair ¿? ♡ -> ot8!skz + 9th member!reader (gender neutral) ♡ plot ¿? ♡ -> a night to remember starring your mom & dad (in the worst way possible) ♡ warnings ¿? ♡ -> family issues (toxic parents) ♡ request ¿? ♡ -> yes!
a/n -> i'm not writing from personal experience but i've seen a lot of people not have the best relationship with their parents. it's not easy to stand up to people you love and you want that love back too right? so it's not you to blame. please know that families are not always blood, sometimes they're chosen and the best experiences come from those who actually care and show you that they are there. if this one's too personal or too triggering, feel free to skip it! i love you all, my dms are always open.
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it wasn't a good idea from the start. you have always been on a tightrope with your parents but you couldn't really deny their request since they invited everyone when they were backstage and your bandmates kindly agreed. so now everyone was ready to actually meet them and to have a pleasant evening but you expected the worst. everyone saw how your attitude completely changed when you were in your family home, well if you could call it that.
it was never easy to be on the same level as your parents, for them to understand you. at first they didn't even want you to become an idol since you were risking so much by it but they eventually came to terms with it. right now though you could say you didn't have a relationship with them, your teenage years have gone to waste because of them leaving you in a fragile state. 
it was like you didn't connect anymore to what was going on. they might express and say that they're proud of how far you've gone but when you stumbled and you fell, they didn't catch you. now that they're back in your life (since you didn't see them for so long during your trainee and debut days) and showing up to events to support you, you felt odd. maybe you just weren't used to it and things would get eventually better but you couldn't help but doubt everything in your mind as you sat there and saw the boys interacting with your parents. 
you could feel someone sitting next to you and as you turned to see who it was, it happened to be felix. it was no secret that you had a fake smile the entire time and that your interactions were kinda weird. so you weren't really surprised when one of them noticed it. 
"your parents aren't like this always aren't they?" he asked and you nodded as you took a sip from your drink. considering everything you went through and all the things that they made you live, you could not really lie. you didn't want to pretend everything was alright 'cause you truly didn't feel like you could. you also didn't want to act like my parents were monsters but they weren't really nice people either.
"i just feel so weird being here right now." you mumbled and felix did try to comprehend you but at the end of the day couldn't. your past wasn't something you talked about with the boys and you were sure no one would have agreed to come here tonight if they actually knew the story behind your sadness.
"lighten up kiddo, you've always been this way!" your dad said which caught you off guard since you were sure that he was having a different conversation with someone else seconds ago. you didn't expect him to interrupt what you were gonna say to felix but also you knew this is where the weird comments would start.
"oh our (y/n), never bring the mood up" your mother said and it physically made you cringe but you let it pass. the night had just started yet you wanted it to be over already. it's not like anyone else noticed that you were suffering because of these things they were saying (or that's what you thought).
as the night progressed, you could hear compliments left and right. how much they admired the work and the effort that your members put in, how they were absolutely stunning to look at and just the best of the best when it came to everything. you couldn't recall the last time that they admired you like that and you had to hold back the tears because it was all too much. 
and then it finally arrived, what you were expecting and in front of your friends, your actual family. 
"our (y/n) always wanted to become an idol. we don't know how it happened but now they're here and that's what matters." ouch, they really called you talentless like you just got lucky by chance and they selected you out of pity or something.
"i truly think (y/n) is a crucial part of the team." chan said to lighten up the mood and give you a little smile on the process which you responded to by just shaking your head. he didn't need to defend you, it was fine, you were used to this kind of bullshit. "we wouldn't be where we are if it wasn't for them being with us."
"hard to believe, you're all talented young men!" your dad added leaving you out once again. it was inevitable that everyone was feeling kind of uncomfortable, it was like the attitude your parents were showing before was just a mask and these were the actual people behind it.
"(y/n)'s talent is immeasurable and their kindness is what i like about them the most." changbin said, trying to change the subject so that they would say something positive for you. it wasn't gonna happen, you already knew but you always had hope in your heart that maybe something nice would come out of it.
"well you should've seen them growing up, it wasn't easy." your mom commented and if the humiliating wasn't enough, it just kept going. 
"i'm sure most of us weren't easy teenagers to deal with." minho said and he looked completely done with everything. you knew how protective he was towards you but you also didn't expect him to jump on the train trying to defend you from your parents.
"yeah well it was probably very different to what we had to deal with. (y/n) was a difficult kid and now they're better but sometimes we wish they would open up more." wow you wonder why you didn't do it. with parents like that, better keep everything to yourself right?
you shook your head and grabbed your things to go outside. you weren't gonna say anything, you couldn't, you were never the type of person to confront. at the end of the day nothing was gonna change as much as you grew as a person or as a musician, they would never take you seriously. you didn't expect all of them to follow you but they did as you let your tears slide down your face. your relationship was never gonna mend, it was broken before you could fix it.
"i'm sorry. i should've told you all before we even came here, it was so awkward too." you said in between tears and sobs. you wanted nothing more than for the car that brought you here to arrive and drop you in the dorms. jisung reached for you as he hugged, holding you tightly as you let everything out.
"you don't have to say you're sorry. you didn't do anything wrong and we should've never accepted if you didn't feel confident and comfortable about it." chan said as he looked at you, he felt like he let you down but it was from that. you were so happy to have band members that looked after you in such a way, that cared about you so deeply and would stand up to your biggest fears.
it was hard saying that your biggest fear was your parents' opinion. you could act like you didn't care, like it was so easy to ignore it but you knew deep down all you ever wanted was for them to accept you. to love you for who you are and not who they had a vision of you being.
"i already called for them to pick us up." minho said as he grabbed your hand and squeezed it. 
so you guys stayed there in the cold night, holding you and whispering sweet nothings as they tried to calm you down. it was for sure a night to remember for all of them but especially for you, the embarrassment was immeasurable but the scars will always remain. 
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yuurei20 · 5 months
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(This was originally an ask received through Twitter)
"Back in GloMas (on JP), I think I remember there being a lot of madness surrounding Idia being close to Yuu. I think it’s because he referred to them as ‘Yuu’ rather than ‘Yuu-shi’, but I still don’t quite get it??"
Yes! Honorifics as a whole have already discussed more in-depth here, but Idia does drop his honorific for the prefect once in Glorious Masquerade.
Quick overview for those who may not know: when you don’t use an honorific with someone (-chan / -kun / -sama / etc), this is called yobisute (呼び捨て), written with the kanji for “to call” and “to throw away,” and the word might just not exist in English. It means “to refer to someone without an honorific."
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Twst uses honorifics (and yobisute) to track the evolving relationships between the characters.
Deuce, for example, has a line about how he used to yobisute his teachers (i.e. he refused to add “-sensei” to their names) in middle school. To compensate for his past rudeness, Deuce now refers to every single upperclassman by “lastname-senpai.”
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There is even a cute scene during New Year’s where Deuce greets Jamil by calling him Viper-senpai, but after Jamil feeds him an egg salad sandwich he changes—just once—to Jamil-senpai.
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Epel is another character whose use of honorifics is significant: Epel is under order from Vil to always use honorifics with everyone. During Book 5 we see him using “-kun” with Deuce, up until Deuce refuses to let Epel fight the bullies trying to steal their blastcycle.
Deuce says that he is the one who took Epel out of the school and so he will be taking responsibility for his actions, and we get Epel’s first “Deuce” yobisute.
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Cater might be the character who weaponizes honorifics the most.
He seems to be using honorifics as an over-familiarity-buffer-zone, as he is actively trying to avoid becoming too close to those around him (re: “Cay-Cay doesn’t really do long-term friends or found family").
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There is one exception to Cater’s rule of honorifics: Trey.
During Book 1 Cater refers to him as “Trey-kun” for the majority of the story, until Riddle’s overblot makes things serious enough for him to drop it and call him “Trey” (even during these scenes, however, he keeps his honorifics for others).
The novel even comments on this directly, saying, "Usually, Cater does not ever yobisute anyone. When he calls to Trey, he always adds ‘kun’ to his name. This is probably one of his skills as a good-natured person. When Cater uses Trey’s name like this, it is only when he is really serious. Only when it is important."
This is all to say that, depending upon the character, yobisute can be a huge deal. It isn’t a black-and-white rule, of course—it varies by each character and their personality.
Kalim, for example, refers to everyone with yobisute, possibly because his status back home meant that he was simply never taught to defer to anyone, and/or because he legitimately considers himself to be close, personal friends with everyone he meets.
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Idia is one of those characters like Cater and Deuce for whom yobisute is a big deal. There is exactly one person he refers to without any form of honorific, and that person is Ortho. Much like how he uses his tablet to avoid talking to people face-to-face, he is possibly, intentionally keeping up an over-familiarity-wall like Cater. 
The English-language adaptation has translated his honorific of “-shi” as “Mr.,” but it’s actually gender-neutral, which may be why the English-language game’s continuity is so inconsistent, and why the moment of Idia referring to the prefect without an honorific did not make it to EN: while the honorific disappears and reappears in English, he actually uses it to refer to the prefect in Book 6, and it is otherwise in 100% of all of Idia’s dialogue in the original game.
With one exception: Glorious Masquerade.
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This is why JP lost its collective mind when it happened (the fan-art is delightful, like this short comic of the characters pointing at Idia and chanting "yobisute"), because it was something Idia had never done before and has never done again, and it was with the prefect!
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(This was revealed to be a proof-reading error that was corrected in the 2023 re-release, with "-shi" added to the prefect's name in Idia's dialogue.)
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Yobisute is usually very significant in the game, like during Book 6 where Azul, who uses the “-san” honorific with literally everyone except Jade and Floyd, uses yobisute with Riddle when he is in danger, and when Riddle uses it with Leona just before his overblot in Book 2.
Which means it will be interesting to see if Idia is going to continue with this yobisute-ing of the prefect outside of Glorious Masquerade! (which would be great for confirmation that it wasn't just a proof-reading error ww)
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hopeyarts · 14 days
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THE ONE CHANGE THAT COULD’VE MADE WISH BETTER AS A MOVIE (RANT POST)
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If Wish ended with King Magnifico getting true love’s kiss from Queen Amaya, then he and Asha actually talk about their views more and come to terms and forgive each other…
I wouldn’t find a single problem with the story.
Disney’s biggest mistake about this movie was making him turn into a ‘classic villain’ and locking him up by the end of it. I get that the audience wanted a true Disney villain, and the company tried to provide that but they also DIDN’T really provide that until the third half of the movie.
But in this case with the film that they gave us (take away all the concepts and deleted scenes), this guy was sympathetic at best. Now I’m not going to baby his character and treat him like an absolute angel, but what I will say is that he deserved to be redeemed.
He’s not a villain. At most, he was a douchebag (I mean that in the nicest way possible). But that doesn’t take away the fact that he was also a genuinely benevolent king. His paranoia and need for power got the better of him, but that doesn’t make him a bad person. The forbidden evil book only influenced the darkest parts of himself, and unfortunately it was his need for power. Originally it was to keep the kingdom safe from a false threat, then the book shifted it into a need for power to just… keep himself in full power over everyone, in the worst way possible. Kinda bland, but whatever.
With this redeemable ending, this would’ve given our main character Asha an arc. She could’ve learned that it’s okay to not get what you want and that you have the ability to MOVE ON. She can realize she doesn’t have to be chained to a lost desire, and can give herself the option to improve their lives and listen to others. Like with her father— Tomás died from an illness even after she wished for him to get better. That’s her lost desire. That moment in her life drove her to make sure that her family, for example her Saba, wouldn’t feel that hurt like she had. That’s why she wanted Sabino’s wish granted so much. Yes, it was selfish from an audience viewpoint when she simply asked for King Magnifico to grant Sabino’s wish. We cannot deny that. And for what it’s worth I actually like this scene, but not when it reaches the ending of the movie. I LIKE the idea that Asha is selfish from the beginning, and THEN turns into someone who is selfless. We see her focus on Sabino’s wish at first, because she wants him to be happy, then that focus turns towards the entire community. I like that idea, but the execution was not it BECAUSE Disney decided to not redeem King Magnifico. That’s how this whole thing backfires on Asha as a character. It makes her look selfish for the ENTIRE movie. I love her (honest to God I do), but I have to admit that she seemed a slight bit selfish and naive, even if her intentions were good. And no, this selfishness doesn’t make her a villain. We see Disney protagonists be selfish, but then they learn to be selfless. So I’d never demonize her. To do that, I’d have to throw away all understanding of this movie and the character motivations, and even my willingness to look at something in another person’s perspective. She’s only a teenager after all.
Sorry, that was a little bit of a rant there. Disney just makes me frustrated.
Asha’s not a bad person, and neither is King Magnifico. They just didn’t think their options through.
Now if we were to give King Magnifico this redemption, he can’t go without a lesson learnt as well. He could learn the same thing as Asha: that you can choose to move on and not let a lost desire keep you stuck in the past. What he did for his people was right, but the execution was not. Yes, he kept them safe and sound… but he took a part of their hearts.
Remember that a wish is the ‘one that drives your heart’ or according to Magnifico, ‘They are a part of your heart. The very BEST part.’ (I can make a post about how the wishes given up were good intentioned. Some were vague, but they were the BEST good of a person’s heart. Although one thing I find humorously stupid is how someone’s wish is to find a nanny for their kids. Like damn- are your kids that bad? 😭 I’m sorry, I find it a little funny.)
So what is living a life safely but without passion? The answer to that is that it’s NOT living.
“A life without passion isn’t living at all. It is merely existing.” - Leo Buscaglia
This shouldn’t villainize movie King Magnifico, because he did this to protect his people and his kingdom. And the reason behind this is because of his past. So he could’ve learned that not everything is out to get him and that he can choose to move on and IMPROVE. Especially the system with wish granting.
I feel like I made this too long. But all in all, the story would’ve been perfect (in my eyes) if King Magnifico was redeemed at the end, and he and Asha could’ve learnt a shared lesson about moving on. And even still, your dreams can come true in unexpected ways.
Again, I like both Asha and King Magnifico. They are quite similar in terms of motivations and being plagued by their past lost desires. They thought they had to take matters into their own hands, and they didn’t think their options through. One however was rewarded for this, meanwhile the other was villainized for it. And no, I don’t blame that on Asha.
Additionally, I’d like to add that I like Wish. So don’t think I’m saying any of this because I ‘hate the movie’. I really don’t. If I turn off my brain and distract myself with the songs and art, I can get through the movie just fine. I just recognize that the story isn’t portraying what Disney intended, and I can only blame the executives. Not the writers, not the artists or animators, and certainly not the cast members. They did what they could with what Disney executives gave them, and I can only appreciate their hard work into trying to create a story for a 100th anniversary.
Thanks for reading all the way through! 💖
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crustaceousfaggot · 9 months
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So... Idk maybe this was obvious to everyone and there's no point in me bringing it up. But can we talk about Ballister's armor?
The plate that the knights wear is standardized. It's their uniform. All the knights we see in the film are wearing the same armor and use the same swords. They're standard issue. With a couple exceptions.
Ambrosius gets much flashier armor, with the obvious gold and white colour scheme and the lion (?) design on his chest plate. He also has large lions on the sides of his pauldrons with embedded sapphire eyes, which - wow, talk about ostentatious. This is presumably because of his connections to Gloreth - his blood is special enough that he gets an entirely different and considerably flashier set of armor. Is it a family heirloom? Was it commissioned specifically for him? We'll never know. But the Institute designated this little boy Special enough to be exempt from the dress code in order to demonstrate his status as the Specialist Boy.
Todd gets a slightly altered version of the uniform, with black bottoms instead of grey, and larger pauldrons. If we assume Ambrosius gets fancy armour because of his family connections, then that seems to imply Todd also has some ancestry notable enough to set him aside slightly from the rest of the knights. Not anywhere near as famed as Gloreth of course, but maybe a notable general or war hero or something along those lines. That would explain some of the ego. Whatever.
Both of them seem to still be using the standardized swords though.
And then there's Ballister. With his black armor.
In the book I just sort of assumed he chose that armor in order to compliment the whole aesthetic he's got going on. But in the movie that is explicitly not true. They gave him that armor, to signify in the most literal and inconspicuous way possible that he is the black sheep. He does not belong and he never will, no matter how hard he tries, because the Institute will make sure everyone who sees him immediately recognizes him as other. Street trash who has been graciously permitted into their ranks, but will never be allowed to wear the untainted, pure colours of their order, the divine white and gold. It was decided for him, before he even became a knight, that no matter what he did he would never escape that shadow. That he was let in, not born in. Allowed to exist. Always on their terms.
He doesn't even get to use their swords. He gets a black sword to match his armor, one which (by the looks of it) is significantly lower-tech than the standard issue swords, at least until it was tampered with.
The Queen could have stopped this, but she didn't, which indicates to me more than ever that, to her, Ballister was first and foremost a token. A gesture meant to inspire loyalty and goodwill from her subjects, to prove that she was willing to change. Slowly. And only so long as people remembered who really had the power. Am I saying she was evil or whatever? No. We haven't seen enough of her as a ruler to make those kinds of judgements. But to me she represents a very milquetoast, left-of-center, "Equal-rights-for-everyone-so-long-as-it-doesn't-negatively-affect-me-or-my-standing-in-any-way" kind of leader.
There was no way he could have ever been one of them. Never. And they made sure knew it.
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devilat-thedoor · 7 months
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Hands to Yourself Pt10
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Lovers🤍🤍
SURPRIIIIIIIISEEEEEEE
Guess who finally got her shit together and finished Part 10???? No but seriously, I can’t even begin to express my gratitude for how patient everyone has been waiting on this. I’ve been off my game lately. okokok I won’t ramble, but I love you all! hope it was worth the wait💖
Word Count: 11.1k
Pairing: Jake Kiszka x f!reader
Warnings: 18+ Minors DNI. Smut(Fingering, Unprotected Sex, Dirty Talk) Talks of pregnancy. (If I miss anything, please let me know!)
“Gimme some good news, Dr. Brooks.” You pleaded with a whine, “Is this cast coming off today?” You sat on the edge of the exam table, wiggling your arm at him. This was your third visit with the doctor since you’d been released from the hospital. The first was a week after your discharge, just to ensure your ribs were still healing well. Then another week after that, you went in to have the stitches removed before an ultrasound. “Jake won’t take me car shopping until I have full use of both hands…”
He chuckled softly, “He’s only thinking in terms of your safety, Y/N.” He took your arm, fiddling with your fingers, “Okay, I’m gonna cut this cast off and we’ll get an x-ray to see how the bones are looking.” Dr. Brooks laid the table flat, instructing you to lay down, and lifted your shirt. He pressed lightly on your ribcage, prodding his fingers around, “How’s the pregnancy? You went for an ultrasound the last time you were in… Sit up, I wanna hear your lungs.”
You obeyed, pulling your shirt back down to sit up, “It’s good, I think. I don’t really get sick anymore unless I eat pizza or spaghetti.” You placed a palm over your belly, “He does not like tomato sauce…I’ll be 14 weeks on thursday. I think I’m kind of showing?” You pulled the shirt taught over your stomach, showcasing the barely-there bump.
“It’s definitely possible. I’ve known mothers to start showing in their 12th week and some that don’t show until they’re well over 5 months.” He held the stethoscope to your back, “Deep breath for me, Y/N.” You felt him move it to another spot, pressing it into your shirt and telling you to breathe again, “Everything sounds great… So you said ‘he.’ It’s a boy?” He was scribbling something down on his clipboard.
“We don’t know for sure yet, but I have a strong feeling.” You rubbed your hands over your leggings, “I’ve been having these really vivid…dreams. Umm. It’s always a boy in them, so…” Your eyes fell to the floor.
The doctor looked down at you, studying your body language, “Y/N, have you scheduled an appointment with the trauma therapist I recommended?” He wheeled his stool in front of you and sat down, “Jake told me about the nightmares during your last check in. You should really consider going to see Dr. Lucera. She’ll help you understand why you’re having these dreams and present you with ways to deal with the PTSD.” He ripped a corner from one of his papers, wrote something down on it, and placed it in your shaking hand, “Call her office and make an appointment. I promise, it will help.”
You took the scrap of paper from him, “Okay. Yeah, I’ll try.” Ready for a subject change, you waved your arm in front of him again, “Is It time?” You raised your eyebrows at him.
“It’s time.” Dr. Brooks stood from the stool with a smile and walked towards the door, “I’ll be right back. Do you want me to send him in?” You gave him an enthusiastic nod as he exited the exam room, pulling the door shut after him.
Minutes later, Jake was coming into the room, “How’s everything looking, my love?” He stood by you, leaving a kiss to your forehead.
“He’s finally taking the cast off.” You grinned up at him, “You know what that means, baby…”
“It means you’re getting x-ray to see if you need a new cast.” He stated matter-of-factly, “Dr. Brooks already briefed me, Y/N.” He plucked the paper from your fingers, looking it over, “And we’re gonna schedule an appointment with the therapist he recommended when we get home.”
You tried to grab it back before he jammed it into his pocket, “No. I’m throwing that in the garbage. I don’t need help with anything, I’m handling it.”
“You’re not, though, love.” He caught your hand as you dug into his pocket, “Ignoring it and pretending it’s not happening isn’t handling it. Frankly, I think it’s making it worse.” He moved in front of you, bending a bit to meet you face to face, “Let’s compromise, baby… If you promise me that you’ll try one appointment, just one, we can leave here today and start car shopping. Cast or no cast.”
You negotiated a counteroffer, “I’ll make the appointment before I leave this room today, BUT…” You leaned in until your noses were almost touching, “I get to go back to work on monday.” He backed up, shaking his head, but you grabbed his shirt and pulled him back towards you, “Jake, it’s been well over a month. I gave you time like you asked, more than what was needed.”
Before he could respond, your doctor was coming in with a nurse, wheeling a cart with medical instruments, “Alright, Y/N, I’m going to give you a quick rundown of how this works… Have you ever had a cast removed before?” You shook your head as you looked at the tools on the cart. He took note of your nervous energy in the way you grasped tightly onto Jake’s hand, “There is nothing to be worried about, I assure you.” Dr. Brooks picked up the saw, holding it against his hand, “This is a vibrating saw, it cuts through the fiberglass but it cannot and will not cut your skin.” He clicked the button on and let it run over his palm.
You squeezed Jake’s hand harder with a faint gasp at the whirring sound. “Baby, it’s fine, look.” He held his free hand out for Dr. Brooks and allowed the man to put the tool against his skin, “See, it just tickles a bit, no pain, no cuts.” He pulled his palm back for you to see.
“Okay…” You nodded your head, giving your attention back to the doctor.
He placed the saw back on the cart and picked something else up, “Once we get through the brunt of it, we’ll use these shears to cut through all the padding.” He put them down and picked up the last thing to hold in front of you, “Then, once we have a clear channel, we’ll use the spreader to crack it open and slide it off so that we can see how you’re healing under there. Sound good?”
Taking a deep breath, you held your arm out, “Yes, just get the damn thing off…”
After your appointment, Jake was going to take you car shopping like he agreed but you weren’t really up to it, “Can we just go home, actually? Make lunch and watch a movie?”
“Of course, love.” He eyed you from the driver’s seat, “Are you feeling okay?”
“Yeah, I just didn’t really sleep too well last night… I’m a little tired.” You were lying, but you didn’t want to tell him that the mere thought of getting behind a wheel made you anxious beyond belief. Thankfully he didn’t question any further, just made the drive home with a gentle hold on your freshly freed hand.
_________________________________________________
After getting home, you changed into shorts and a tank top to clean the house a bit before settling at the kitchen table for lunch. You couldn’t help but notice the way Jake kept watching you, studying you. Every time your gaze would lift from your food, you’d find his eyes on you. He watched you squeeze your hand around your wrist, rolling it a bit, “Does it hurt?”
“No, it just feels weird.” You stared down at your left hand, flexing your fingers and knuckles, “Mobility was limited, all I could really move were my fingers and even that was just barely. I think I just need to get used to moving it around.”
“Well… Just don’t push it. Dr. Brooks said the bone may not be as strong as it was.” Jake put his fork down, picking up a napkin to wipe his mouth, “I still can’t believe you got scared when he brought the saw out.” He laughed as he reached for his cup.
“Fuck off, I wasn’t even scared, Jake.” You threw your napkin at him, sharing his laughter, and stood from the table, grabbing your empty plate and his, “Are you still hungry, baby?” As you moved past him to put the dishes in the sink, he grabbed your waist, pulling you down into his lap, “Jacob!” You yelped as one of the plates crashed to the floor, shattering to pieces.
He took the remaining one from your hand and put it back on the table with a playful smirk, “I want dessert…” His hand went to the back of your head, pulling you in for a kiss. You wanted to yell at him for making you drop the plate but his lips were moving so madly against your own that you couldn’t focus on anything else. Suddenly, he was standing up and lifting you with him to sit you on the edge of the table. His lips went to your jaw, trailing their way down as he yanked the strap of your shirt to the side to kiss along your shoulder..
Your legs parted on their own, giving him the space to stand between them, “Baby, what is- Oh…” Your hands shot his shoulders as he grasped your hips, grinding his erection into you, “Would this have anything to do with how you’ve been staring at me?”
He bit down on your collarbone, drawing a gasp from you, “You look so fucking beautiful…” He pulled the other strap down, letting your tank top fall below your breasts, “My dick has been hard since you sat down to eat…Are they getting bigger?” He was cupping your tits, squeezing them gently.
“Well, I’m pregnant…so probably.” You giggled at his amazed expression.
Jake pulled the tank top over your head before dropping back into his chair and scooting it closer to the table, “Pregnant with my baby…” He leaned forward, pressing his lips to your belly, “Still can’t believe it sometimes. I made him…” He was staring at the teeny bump, brushing his knuckles against your skin.
You hooked your finger under his chin, lifting his eyes to you, “I don’t think you can take all the credit on this one, baby. It was a group effort.” You smiled down at him, poking the tip of his nose, “I can tell you exactly when we made him…or- at least when I think we made him.”
“When? How do you know?” He grabbed your hand, interlocking your fingers, and laid his head on your thigh as he gazed at you.
“My OB helped me kind of calculate it at my last appointment. It was confusing, but she gave me a general time frame of the conception date.” You pushed the hair from his face, cupping his cheek, “The cookout… That morning, in the bathroom. Do you remember?”
He turned his head, placing a kiss to the inside of your thigh, “Of course I remember.” He continued leaving wet kisses across your flesh, “I can remember just about every time I’ve been here…” He pressed his index finger to the front of your shorts, applying pressure to your clit, “You were too stressed, in a panic, and it was driving me mad.”
“Baby…” You whined as he drew circles over the fabric.
A smirk crept over his lips, “I had you in front of the mirror, the prettiest sounds falling from your lips… But you had to be quiet and you just couldn’t.” Jake withdrew his hand to hook his fingers into your waistband. You lifted your hips from the tabletop so he could pull the shorts down and drop them to the floor, “I had to put my fingers in your mouth to keep you silent and you bit me.” He brought his hand to your lips, tapping them, and you opened your mouth to let his fingers in, rolling your tongue around them, “Hmm. I remember how wet you got, watching me fuck you in the reflection.” He took his hand back and resumed the tortuous swirls on your clit, “Almost as wet as you are now, love…” He gathered your arousal, pinching his thumb and two fingers together to admire it before pushing his fingers into you.
You rested your feet on his knees, “You bit me back- Mmm. Your tee- shit…Your teeth marks were there for d-days.” His fingers were petting at the sweetest spot inside of you, causing your head to drop back with a lilting moan, “I love it when you mark me like that.”
“God, those noises you make…” His mouth was on your inner thigh again, nibbling his way closer to your core, “Fucking angelic, my love.” He opened his mouth, ready to grace you with his tongue but you stopped him.
You grabbed his face, “Jake, please. I wanna feel you.”
“Patience, baby.” He kissed your palm, keeping eye contact with you while fucking you with his fingers.
You sunk your teeth into your lip with a groan, “Just- think of the sounds I’ll make when you’re inside of me.” You knew you had him when his hand started to slow, inevitably stopping. Smirking down at him, you took his hand from you and pulled him to stand from the chair, “You weren’t lying…” You felt for his dick over his pants, feeling just how hard he really was.
“I told you… You’re so beautiful, all the time.” His breath hitched as you dipped below his waistband, grasping him in your hand, “But today- fuck, Y/N… Today you just- There was something different.” Jake squeezed his eyes shut, unable to concentrate on anything other than the way you stroked him.
“Something different, huh? Well, there’s only one thing different about me.” You used your free hand to grab his shirt and pull him closer, speaking into his ear, “Do you like me pregnant, Jake? The fact that my belly is growing…my tits…and it’s all your doing.” You nipped his ear lobe and felt him twitch against your palm.
He grabbed your wrist and removed your hand from his pants in a haste, “I can’t- I gotta- fuck.” Jake stuttered as he pulled his pants down, just enough to free his length, “I gotta have you now, baby.” He was desperate, one hand on your leg while he used the other to guide himself to your entrance.
You held his hips, watching as he slid himself through your folds, “Just do it, baby. Please.” You could feel your arousal gathering into a small puddle beneath you as you oozed with just as much desperation as him. You pulled on him, luring him just where both of you needed, “Fuck me, Jake.” It came out as a pathetic, needy whine but he couldn’t resist.
“I’ll give you anything you want, I swear to god, Y/N… Just keep talking to me like that, tell me what you want, pretty baby.” He finally pushed into you, his brows knitted as he held his breath.
“I want you to kiss me…” You released a soft sigh as he stretched you. His hand weaved into your hair as he leaned in with no hesitation, but you stopped him before his lips could meet yours, “Nuh uh.” You held your index finger over his mouth and he stared in confusion, “Kiss me…here.” You grazed your fingers over your collarbone and he dove in. Starting at your right shoulder, he trailed soft, suckling kisses the whole way to the left, stopping to dip his tongue into the hollow of your neck while giving deep, languid strokes with his cock, “That’s good, baby. Keep fucking me just like that.” You gripped his jaw, pulling his lips to yours in a hungry kiss as you whimpered into his mouth.
He broke away with a strangled groan, letting his head hang, “You fit around me so fucking well-.” He pushed your knees up to let your feet rest on the edge of the table, spreading you open, “So perfect together, baby… You and me…look at us.”
You dropped your gaze to where your bodies met, watching him fill you up over and over, “Touch me. Please just fucking touch me, Jakey.” You spoke through a slew of gasps and moans. Grabbing one of his hands, you pulled his thumb into your mouth, coating it in your spit, “Touch me here.” You guided his hand to your cunt, promoting him to follow your orders. You leaned back on your hands, watching him expertly strum at your clit, “Fuuuuck…That’s- I’m close.” Your eyes started to roll until he stopped moving, making you look up at his face, “Baby…”
Jake had himself buried completely inside of you, nudging your cervix with the tip of his cock. He remained motionless except for his thumb, still spoiling your clit, “Shhh. Stop whining. You think I don’t know how to pull you apart?” He kept his eyes trained on his thumb as he spoke, his voice a calm whisper, “I know your body so well, love… I could break you down to a molecular level and put you back together blindfolded.” His voice was like warm honey; thick and sweet, dripping over your body and drowning you, “You say the word and I’ll make you cum like *snap* that, sweet girl, you know I will.”
You were clenching around him fiercely, admiring how his face contorted with every fluttering pulse. You had no doubt that the second you gave a signal, he’d throw you straight into that endless freefall and you were ready for it, “Jake, now..” You needed it, demanded it.
He took his hand from your pussy and brought it up to curl around your throat, squeezing carefully as he pulled your mouth to meet his, “I told you I’d give you anything you want…” He kept a light hold on your neck, brushing his nose against yours as he drew his hips back. He bent his knees slightly and gave a single, sharp, perfectly angled thrust, watching as your jaw dropped open, “I fucking told you, baby.”
You fought to keep your eyes on his. Your mouth hung agape with a soundless cry as his fingers tightened on your pressure points, forcing your eyes into the back of your head. Your whole body convulsed, laced with zaps of blinding electricity. Your hands frantically grabbed for his hips, pulling on him, wanting him as deep as he could get, as a night sky exploded behind your eyelids. A black backdrop, spotted with tiny, bright specks, luring you into oblivion. He released your neck, allowing you to draw in a deep breath before gasping out, “God, Jake-”
He slowed his thrusts, giving you a moment to come down, “I need one more, my love. Just one.” Jake snaked his arms around your back, pressing your chest flat against his as you nodded silently. He began moving again, slipping into you with no resistance as soft, melodic whimpers poured from your lips, “C’mon, baby, you’re already there.” He watched your face scrunch up, your brows pinched, as you repeatedly opened and closed your mouth, unable to form words.
Your fingers searched for the hem of his shirt, ripping it over his head. You wanted him close, wanted to feel his sweat-sticky skin melded with yours, “I- oh…oh shhh-” You held onto him tightly, nails dragging across his back, “Jake, please… Oh pleasepleaseplease!” It was the last coherent thing you could muster before biting down on his shoulder as your second orgasm hit harder than the first.
“That’s it… That’s-fuck.” He stilled, a shiver rippling through his body as his own climax consumed him. He pulled himself out of you, stroking his length against your clit and letting the first bit of cum paint your pussy before slamming back into you. He lifted your trembling body from the table and sat back in the chair, keeping himself tucked safely inside of you as he hugged you to him and peppered sweet pecks to your skin. Once your aching lungs settled, you pulled back enough to look down between your bodies. Your fingers mindlessly swept over your clit, dragging through the mix of release, before you sucked them into your mouth. Jake’s eyes held onto yours as you lapped his cum from your digits with a mellow hum, “Goddamn, woman…” His hand balled into your locks as he pulled your fingers from your mouth to replace them with his tongue. He licked at your lips, rolling his tongue against your own to taste the both of you as he finally began to soften.
Your head fell to his shoulder as you closed your eyes, “If I wasn’t already pregnant, I definitely would be now.” You stayed there for a while, his hands gently rubbing your back while you listened to his calm breaths, “I’m gonna get up, baby…” You warned before slipping off of his sensitive dick.
He hissed, dropping his head back as you slowly stood from his lap, “Careful. I gotta clean this mess up.” He pushed you to the side, making sure your feet avoided the ceramic shards littering the hardwood, “Sorry, about the plate, love.”
You smiled at him, brushing the hair from his forehead, “Gives me an excuse to buy a new set of dishes.”
“Anything you want.” He stood up, tucking himself into his pants, “Go have a shower, I’m gonna take care of this.” His eyes raked over your naked body as he grasped your hips. You thought he was gonna kiss you but instead, he smirked, staring at your chest, “They’re definitely getting bigger.”
“You’re annoying.” You pushed him away with a laugh, “Clean your mess up, Jacob.” You pointed at the floor behind him before turning around and stalking out of the kitchen. Deciding on a warm bath, you headed straight for the guest bathroom with a plush towel and the small bluetooth speaker. As you waited for the tub to fill, you unlocked your phone to pick a playlist and found a text from Odessa.
Odessa 1:36pm: I miss you!!! Don’t wanna invite you over for another movie night…but we should do something soon pleeease!
You missed her too, missed everyone really. The time you and Jake spent together was great, no doubt, but it had been too long since everyone was together and you were dying for a family night. After sinking into the bubbly water, you texted Dess back.
You 2:25pm: I miss you too❤️ are you free tonight? I think I’m gonna invite the guys over for dinner. I’ll get rid of Jake for a bit and you can come early and help me cook
Odessa 2:27pm: Absolutely! When should I be there, babe?
You 2:28pm: Around 5. Can’t wait to see you!
“Baaaaabe!” You yelled for Jake after dropping your phone on the towel beside the bathtub, “Come heeeeere!”
He came rushing into the bathroom with the dustpan in his hand, “What? Why are you screaming?”
Sitting up, you rested your arms on the side of the tub, laying your chin atop of them, “Tell your brothers to come over for dinner tonight. I miss them.” You held your hand out, wiggling your fingers at him, “Round them up, take ‘em out for a drink or two, and just be back here by seven.”
He took your hand and knelt down, giving you a peck, “And you just decided this yourself?”
“I did. Dess is gonna come over early to help me cook and you need some time out with the guys.” Cupping his cheek, you pulled him in for another kiss, “Just don’t get so drunk that you can’t eat……dinner…” You bit your tongue between your teeth with a smile as he shook his head at you.
“You’re greedy…” Jake dropped your hand as he stood up and started to leave the room, “I’ll call Josh.” He stepped out, leaving the door wide open.
_____________________________________________
“Danny said he’ll drop Odessa off and pick me up, Josh and Sam are gonna meet us at the bar.” Jake was pulling his old tan boots on when a knock sounded on the door, “That’s probably her.” He turned around to open the door, revealing Odessa standing on the porch.
She squealed, pushing past him and straight to you, “You look so much better since the last time I saw you, babe!” She wrapped her arms around you, squeezing hard.
“I feel so much better!” You squeezed her back, keeping her in your embrace until Jake cleared his throat behind her. Releasing her, you looked up at him, “Have fun, baby!” As you turned to pull Odessa further into the house, he stopped you.
“Come back here.” His tone held a certain authority that had you scurrying back to him without question. His arm circled your back, hauling you flush against him, as he whispered over your mouth, “I think I deserve a proper goodbye, don’t you?”
“Hmmm…I don’t know that I can give you a proper goodbye in front of Dess.” You fell into him with a grin, letting your arms hang loosely around his neck, “I love you, Jakey.” You giggled as you kissed him, “Have fun, home by seven.” You gave him a pointed look before peeling out of his hold and grabbing your friend to go to the kitchen. “You want something to drink, hun?” You pulled a stool out at the island for her to sit down.
“Can I ask for wine? Do you even have wine? I don't know what the rules are for pregnant friends…” She took a seat, folding her hands in front of herself as she watched you move around the kitchen.
You laughed, pulling a glass from the cabinet, “There are no rules and of course I have wine. You know who I live with, right?” You grabbed two bottles from the small wine rack, holding them up for her to see, “White or red?”
She pointed to the white and waited patiently as you put the red back and poured her a glass before handing it to her, “Thank you, babe!” Odessa took a long sip from the cup and placed it on the island, “You got the cast off, where is your ring?” Of course she’d be the first to notice…
“Shit…Jake’s been wearing it on one of his necklace chains for safekeeping.” You looked down at your hand, “We were busy today, I guess we both forgot about it.” Lifting your shoulders, you shrugged, biting back the smile as you thought about just how busy you’d been a few hours earlier, “Remind to get it off of him when they get back.”
She eyed you with a knowing look, a smirk tilting her lip, “Yeah, okay…So, what are we cooking?”
“How do you feel about pasta?” You opened the fridge and began pulling out different ingredients, “I was thinking a simple Cacio e Pepe, maybe some bruschetta and a salad?”
“Oooh, that sounds so good!” She stood up and came around the island, “What do you want me to do? Gimme some direction.”
“Do you want to start chopping these? I’m gonna go grab the speaker to play some music.” You placed a cucumber and a few different peppers in front of her and grabbed a knife from the block, “Dice the peppers into big chunks and just slice the cucumber.” You handed her the knife and scampered out of the kitchen. When you returned, you couldn’t help but laugh at the way she haphazardly chopped the veggies.
“What?!” Odessa dropped the knife on the cutting board with a huff, “Danny does most of the cooking at home! I’m trying my best.”
“Oh hush, hun. You’re doing great, just keep going.” You watched as she resumed her task and clicked the power button on the speaker, allowing it to connect to your phone, “What do you wanna listen to? Any preference?”
She grabbed the dish towel to wipe her hands off, “Actually, can I send you this playlist I made a few days ago?” She took her phone from her pocket after you nodded in approval and sent the playlist, “It’s good, I promise! Just full of songs that my mom used to listen to all the time that really stuck with me.”
Opening it up, you pressed the shuffle button without looking through the songs and let it play, “God, I love this song!” You started singing as you walked to the counter behind Odessa to retrieve the pasta dough that had been resting, “Does she speak eloquently? And would she have your baby? I’m sure she’d make a really excellent mother!”
“Hell yeah, babe!” Your friend was swaying her hips as she chopped, joining in to sing with you, “And every time you speak her name, does she know how you told me you’d hold me until you died?”
It wasn’t long before the both of you were having a full blown concert performance in your kitchen, using wooden spoons as drumsticks and a rolling pin as a guitar while you sang at the top of your lungs.
And I’m here to remind you of the mess you left when you went away
It’s not fair to deny me of the cross I bear that you gave to me
You, you, you oughta know!!!
The song faded out as you both keeled over with laughter, gasping to catch your breath, “Oh my god!” Odessa was wiping the tears from beneath her eyes as she straightened up and tried to stop laughing, “That was fucking amazing, I really needed that!”
You came up behind her and wrapped your arms around her, “Fuck, Dess… I needed that too!” You hugged her tight as she gripped onto your arms and leaned into you, “I love you, Dess…I haven’t thanked you enough for everything you’ve done for me.”
“Awwwe, Y/N, stop. You’re gonna make me cry.” She turned around to face you with a genuine smile, “I would do anything for you, babe. I love you so much…” She paused, her voice taking on a less cheerful tone, “I’ll never forgive myself for bringing Sage into you and Jake’s life.”
“Odessa, it-.”
“Just let me get this out, please. It’s been weighing on me.” She cut you off and you silently nodded for her to continue, “I knew she had her issues, but I swear, I never expected her to try anything with Jake… The day she met him, in Atlanta, I made it clear that he wasn’t available. Hell, he made it crystal clear the way he ignored her desperate attempts at flirting.” She shook her head with a sigh, “She kept going on about him on our drive back and I told her, again, that you guys had been together forever and she needed to just forget about him, and I thought she did. She didn’t bring him up once to me after that and then at the bar that night, when I introduced her to you, I really thought she was over it. She didn’t even look at him once.” You listened intently, wanting to hear her point of view, “I wanted you two to be friends so bad. She was my best friend, but you and I were getting closer and I just thought you two could love each other as much as I loved you both…But she started changing and I didn’t realize it at first and maybe if I had-” Odessa leaned back against the counter, trying to blink away tears, “Maybe I could’ve prevented all of the shit she- I’m so sorry, Y/N.” Her cries echoed through the kitchen as she put her head into her hands.
You could feel your own tears forming as you reached out to hug her again, “Do not blame yourself, Dess. None of it is your fault. She’s manipulative, conniving…just a twisted fucking person. I was the one who let her get close to me.” You released her and stepped back, “I saw the red flags, ignored my gut feelings, and at the end of the day, that’s on me. But nobody is to blame for the psycho shit she did except her. She made her choices and she should have to fucking pay for them.” You took a deep breath, suddenly feeling angry.
Odessa used her sleeve to wipe her cheeks with a sniffle, “Yeah…I wanted to ask how she isn’t…like…in prison?”
“Haaa. Because she literally manipulates everyone. I don’t know how she does it, but she’s good.” You were chewing on your lip, thinking back on the last visit from Detective Walsh, “Do you remember the detectives that came to the hospital? The one was an asshole.”
She took a few seconds to think before nodding her head, “Oh god, yeah. They talked to me in the waiting room and the one with the mustache, he was super patient and listened well. The other guy hardly let me get a word in. He would ask a question and then fill my mouth with his own answers before I could say anything.”
“Yeah, well, his hostility came from the fact that he was fucking Sage.” You said it with a grim chuckle, “Detective Walsh came by a few weeks ago and told us that his partner got suspended after they found out. But get this…Sage said that the other detective forced her to do everything and now there’s an entire separate investigation going on that paints her as a victim.” Your head dropped back as you trained your eyes on the light above you, your voice a whisper, “It’s like she’s always one step ahead…I just wish there was a way to beat her at her own game.”
“I mean, she admitted to stalking you, taking those videos and pictures… Shouldn’t that be enough to prove she’s guilty of something?” She crossed her arms over her chest as she stared at you.
“There’s no proof that she admitted to it. She said it to us, yeah, but it’s just ‘hearsay.’” You held your fingers up with air quotes as you picked your head up to look at her again, “Detective Walsh said it’s a he said/she said and that without tangible evidence, it’s inadmissible.” You shrugged your shoulders in defeat.
Odessa’s brows were drawn together in thought for a moment, “But what if you can get her to admit it?” She was thinking hard and you waited for her to elaborate, “You said she’s always one step ahead, but everyone has a weakness, Y/N…And I think we know what her weakness is, or who anyways.” She spoke carefully, unsure of how you would react to her suggestion.
“No. Absolutely not. Jake has been through way too much at her hands.” You were shaking your head profusely, “I wanna see her get what she deserves more than anybody, but I will not use him to speed the process up.”
“Okay. Hey, forget I even suggested it, babe.” She grasped your face in her hands, brightening her tone, “How about we get back to dinner?”
You looked at the digital clock on the stove, “Shit… They’re gonna be back in an hour and I do not have time to roll and cut the pasta.” You picked up the bowl of dough from the countertop, poking it with your fingers, “We’re just gonna have to scrap it and use store bought.” You flipped the bowl over and let the dough ball drop into the trashcan before going to the pantry for the boxed pasta, “Alright, get in the fridge and grab the arugula, the parmesan wedge and the cherry tomatoes.” Grabbing a large pot from a cabinet below the counter, you began filling it up with water to place on the stove.
Odessa came back to the island with everything you told her to retrieve, “Now what?”
“Uhhh… Hang on.” You climbed up on the counter to get your big, wooden salad bowl from on top of the refrigerator, “Here. Put the arugula in here, the peppers, cucumbers, slice the tomatoes in half and throw them in and then shave some parm strips into it.” You hopped down and gave her the bowl then grabbed the cheese grater for her, “I’m gonna make a dressing while I wait on this water to boil, turn the music up!” You pointed at the speaker that was still playing her playlist.
“Yes, chef!” She was quick to follow your orders, dropping everything into the bowl as she finished cutting the veggies.
You whirled through the kitchen, reaching for a mixing bowl and snatching a whisk from a drawer, before stopping to mix up a vinaigrette. Cutting a lemon in half, you squeezed the juice into your bowl and added some cracked black pepper and a pinch of salt, then a bit of dijon mustard and some garlic and whisked it rapidly. Once you were satisfied with how everything was mixed, you picked up the olive oil and began drizzling it into the bowl while constantly stirring, allowing it to emulsify. You ran your finger along the utensil and licked the dressing off to taste it, “Dess, taste this and tell me what you think. Is it too much lemon?” You held the whisk up for her to try it.
She dragged her finger over the metal and pulled it into her mouth, “Mmm!” Her eyes were wide as she tasted the vinaigrette, “That’s so fucking good!” She picked up a slice of cucumber and dipped it into the dressing before tossing it into her mouth, “I need that recipe, babe…”
You giggled as she mumbled past the food, “I’ll write it down for you later. Once you have the salad finished, drizzle this over top and give it a good toss.” You passed the bowl to her and went to tend to the boiling water. After dropping the noodles into the pot, you spent a few minutes to whip up a quick garlic bread and get it in the oven to bake.
Everything was coming together smoothly and you and Odessa were singing along to the music and setting the table with minutes to spare before the guys got in. You placed the main dish in the center of the table, with the salad and garlic bread on either side of it, while she gathered silverware. Once it was all set, you both took a break to dance around the kitchen while the music played, Keep Your Hands to Yourself by Georgia Satellites.
My honey, my baby, don’t put my love upon no shelf
She said, ‘Don’t hand me no lines, and keep your hands to yourself’
You and Odessa were laughing through the lyrics as you twirled each other around the room and didn’t hear the boys come in until Jake opened his mouth, “What the fuck is going on?” He couldn’t contain his smile as he watched you shake your hips. He was coming across the kitchen, arms extended as he grasped your waist to pull you in, “Food smells good, love…” He was half shouting over the music and your own voice as you kept singing.
He leaned in for a kiss but you planted a hand on his chest while wagging a finger in his face with a wicked smile, “I said, honey, I’ll live with ya for the rest of my life… She said, no huggee, no kissee until you make me a wife!” You pinched the ring that hung on his necklace between your fingers and held it in front of his face, “My honey, my baby…Don’t put my love upon no shelf-.” You were cut off by Jake circling his arms around you and lifting you from the floor. You let out a squeal, wrapping your arms around his neck as he spun you.
He let you back onto your feet and pulled his necklace off to remove the ring and slide it into its rightful place on your finger, “Can I have a kiss now?” 
“I guess so…” Your fist balled into his shirt to yank him against you and you let his lips find yours, “Mmm. You taste like bourbon.” Your tongue dragged across your lip and you’re sure Jake must’ve seen the fire that ignited in your eyes as he responded.
“You want me to just send everyone home so I can eat?” His voice was low, but not low enough to evade Sam’s ears, “I’m famished…”
“You guys are gross!” He was talking with a full mouth and you looked past Jake to see him standing with a piece of garlic bread in his hand.
You rolled your eyes at, “Sammy… You couldn’t wait for everyone to sit down?” You turned the music down as you padded over to him, “We worked too hard on this for you to just stick your grubby fingers in everything, go wash your hands.” You pointed to the sink.
He scoffed, rolling his eyes at you, “Y’know, I’m not your kid. You can’t boss me around like that.” It was a moot point, proved by the way he stalked past you to the sink and scrubbed his hands as you’d instructed.
“Hey, mama!” Josh tapped your shoulder and pulled you into a suffocating hug, “Dinner looks great, thanks for inviting us.” He placed a soft kiss to your cheek before releasing you and looking over your body, “You look good, Y/N.”
“You say that everytime you see me, Joshy.” You reached up to fluff his curls a bit, a habit you’d picked up over the past few weeks since he’d been around more often, “But I still appreciate it.”
He swatted your hand away with a gentle smile, “I know, but there’s something today…Something about your aura, maybe? I don’t know, I can’t place it.” He was studying you like he was trying to figure it out.
“Yanno, I said the same thing earlier.” Jake came up beside his twin with a smirk, “It’s something different…” His eyes flicked down to your chest and back up.
“Okay, yeah. Let’s eat?” You could feel your face getting hot as you headed for the table, stopping to give Danny a hug.
Your face pressed into his chest as he squeezed you, “It’s good to see you doing better, Y/N. You do look good.”
“She looks better than good. She’s hot as hell.” Odessa raised her third glass of wine to you from her seat at the table that she claimed 20 minutes earlier.
Sammy was behind you, his hands on your shoulders, “I don’t know what you’re all seeing… She looks a little rough to me. Kinda stinky too.”
You jabbed your elbow into his stomach, “Well then you probably don’t wanna eat my stinky food… Guess you’ll just have to order a pizza.” You turned around to stare up at him with a smile before forcing him into a hug, “I missed you, Sammy.”
He instinctively embraced you, his arms wrapping tightly around your shoulders, “I missed you too. But can we eat? It smells so good.” He pulled back with a grin as you nodded and gestured to the table.
“My love.” Jake held his hand out for you to take and led you to the table, pulling your chair out. Everybody else took their seats, Jake at the head of the table, Danny opposite him as usual. You and Josh were on either side of Jake, Sam beside you and Odessa beside Josh, her hand grasped in Danny’s.
They all took turns spooning food onto their plates. Jake made sure your plate was filled before he even thought about putting food on his own, “Baby, that’s too much.” You grabbed his wrist, stopping him from scooping another helping of pasta, “I was snacking while I cooked, I’m not that hungry.” He gave you a certain look. One that said he knew you were lying as he tilted his brows in question. You shook your head, dismissing whatever he was thinking, “I’m okay, baby. Promise. Just a little nauseous.” You whispered quietly to keep it between the two of you.
“You want me to make you some tea?” He took your hand, bringing it to his lips, “Tell me how to make it go away, love.” His lips brushed over your knuckles and you smiled at the way he still sent butterflies through your gut.
“Maybe just some water?” Your eyes followed him as he got up and went to the fridge to get you a bottle of water and came back, “Thank you, lover.” You leaned over the table to give him a kiss before settling back into your chair.
Conversations carried on as everyone ate and after a while, you all ended up scattered through the house. You sat on the couch, curled up to Sam as he rambled to Daniel about a science project they had in high school. Josh was thumbing through the shelf of vinyls, grumbling about how none of it was what he wanted to listen to. You giggled to yourself, watching him toss his hands around as he talked to himself.
“Josh, honey, what are you looking for?” You pushed off of Sam to stand up from the couch.
“Bob Dylan!” He threw his hands above his head with a growl, “Where is the Bob fucking Dylan?!”
Kneeling down beside Josh, you scanned through the vinyls yourself, “You know what, Jake might have some records in his office, come look?” You started the trek towards the back of the house with him on your heels. You noticed Jake and Odessa conversing in the kitchen as you passed and wondered what they were talking about. Pushing the door to the spare bedroom open, you stepped aside for Josh to enter and pointed to the record cabinet, “He always hoards a bunch in there. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to fight for my BB King albums… He likes to think that all the best stuff belongs to him.” 
“That’s because it does.” Jake was standing in the doorway with a sweet smile, “What are you guys doing?” His arm wrapped around your waist, pulling you against him.
Josh was coming towards you, carrying a few albums, “Needed Dylan.” He held the vinyls up to his twin and stalked past him, heading back to the living room with everyone else.
“Baby, we’re gonna need to find a place for all of your stuff here.” You gestured around the room.
Jake walked further into the room, pulling you with him, “Maybe we just need a bigger house.” He sat in his leather chair, yanking you down onto his lap, “How do you feel about moving? Finding something with more space? I’ve been thinking about it and I just don’t think this place is gonna be big enough.”
You tangled your fingers with his, thinking it over, “This is home, Jake.” You held eye contact with him, “This is where we’ve built our life, where we really started… I don’t wanna just pack up and move on, leaving all the memories.” A grin cracked across your face as you spoke, “I want to make more memories. With our baby… I want to make him bacon and eggs in our kitchen and give him bubble baths with toys in the clawfoot tub.” He brought your hand to his mouth, holding your knuckles against his lips while he listened, “I want to sit him on our sink to put a bandaid over his knee when he gets his first booboo and fall asleep on the couch with him during nap time… Uncle Sammy and Uncle Danny will teach him how to swim in our pool and pyromaniac Uncle Joshy will teach him how to start a fire in the pit for the best s’mores.” Your voice cracked a bit as you started to get emotional, “If we need more room, we can build an addition. We can build ten hundred additions, I don’t care… But I don’t want to leave, Jake.”
He was blinking quickly, trying to hide the tears that threatened his eyes, “You’re right. This is home.” He nodded as his grin started to match yours, “We’ll make room, build an addition, it doesn’t matter. We’ll stay here forever if that’s what you want, my love. I’ll start packing shit up tomorrow and we can get to planning his room.” He brushed his fingers over your legs as you both looked around the room, dreaming up possible colors and themes.
Silence fell over the two of you for a bit until you tilted your head to look at him, “Hey. What were you and Dess talking about in the kitchen?”
The question caught him off guard and he hesitated before answering, “Uhh, it was nothing…” Jake paused, but he realized you weren’t going to let it go until he gave you an answer, “It was- I just never really apologized to her for some things I said while you were in the hospital.”
“What did you say to her?”
“It’s not important anymore.” He tucked the hair behind your ear, giving you your favorite, warm smile, but you could still see it in his eyes; He was fighting with something that he didn’t want to tell you. “Should we head back out there?”
Deciding not to press any harder in the moment, you nodded and stood from his lap, “We left all the children with Daniel, he’s probably ripping his hair out.”
You both rejoined the group and it wasn’t much longer before Jake was shooing everyone out the door, “Y/N is tired, it’s past her bedtime.” He chuckled as he pried Sam out of the hug he had you wrapped in, “Get out, Sammy. It’s time to go home.” Everybody took their turns to hug you and say their goodbyes before leaving. He closed the front door and locked the deadbolt before turning back to face you, “I’ve been waiting to get you to myself…”
“So… The funny thing is- I’m actually tired.” You scrunched your nose at him as you spun around to head to the bedroom, “You need to shower.” You stated it plainly before disappearing down the hallway. You changed into a pair of sweats and an old t-shirt and climbed into bed. Jake passed the doorway on his way to the bathroom. He showered fast to join you in bed as quickly as he could, “You didn’t have to rush, baby.” You rolled over to face him as he slipped beneath the comforter.
His hair was still wet, soaking into his pillow as he laid down, “I didn’t want you to fall asleep without me…” He lifted his arm, allowing you to snuggle into him.
You drew circles over his abdomen with your index finger, “Jake, you don’t have to keep worrying about the dreams… I’ll call that therapist tomorrow.” You felt him hum in approval and press a kiss to the top of your head. The darkness and the quiet of the night lured Jake to sleep quickly and you listened to his gentle breaths, waiting for the calm to take you as well while pondering how to fix the trauma on your own. Unfortunately, the only answer you could come up with was going to the source and she was the last thing you wanted to deal with…
_____________________________________________
No matter how hard you tried, you couldn’t fall asleep. It wasn’t Jake’s snoring or the dreams keeping you awake this time, it was the deep rumble in your stomach. You tried to ignore it, but it was persistent. You looked over at Jake, making sure he was definitely sleeping, before carefully sliding out of the bed. You padded into the kitchen, keeping your footsteps light on the hardwood, and flipped on the light above the sink before heading into the pantry. Unsure of what you even wanted, you started piling things into your arms. Peanut butter, a bag of pretzels, a pack of chicken ramen; everything made your stomach growl harshly. You left the pantry and placed your findings on the island to go to the fridge and gather more random items. A bag of carrots, a variety of cheeses and a few other things, later, and you were hoisting yourself up on the island. Crossing your legs beneath you, you leaned over to pull a drawer open, grabbing yourself a spoon. You spun the lid off the peanut butter, taking a heaping spoonful and giving it a few licks before reaching for the carrots. Dragging a baby carrot through the creamy peanut butter, you chomped on it, crunching loudly with a delighted hum. You moved on, indulging in different food combinations, each one oddly better than the last.
You had a slice of mango on top of a cool ranch dorito, mid bite, when the kitchen illuminated with the overhead light, “Y/N, what are you doing?” Jake was rubbing his eyes as he took in the scattering of food surrounding you, “It’s after two in the morning, love.”
“I couldn’t sleep…” You mumbled in defense, plopping the rest of the fruit and chip into your mouth, “He was hungry, daddy.” You poked your lip out as you rubbed your belly.
He tried to fight the smile creeping over his lips as he crossed the room to you, “Well, when his cravings make momma sick, I don’t wanna hear it.” Jake leaned on the counter, observing the weird buffet, “Are you really eating all of this?” He reached for the pile of pretzels sitting beside you.
“Baby, I wouldn’t-.”
His hand recoiled, a look of disgust on his face, “Why are they wet?!” He wiped his hand over your sweatpants.
You giggled sheepishly, “We don’t like pretzels anymore, just the salt.”
“You’re just sucking the salt- Why not just eat table salt, Y/N?” He was gazing at you like you were from another planet.
“First of all, that’s gross. The pretzel salt has a pretzel taste, table salt is only good with tequila, Jacob.” You picked your small paring knife up and cut another sliver of mango, “You have to try this, baby…” Placing the slice on a paper towel, you drizzled it with sriracha and honey before stabbing it with a fork and offering it to Jake.
“I’m not eating that.” He was shaking his head vigorously, “You shouldn’t eat that. You really are gonna make yourself sick.”
Pulling the fork to your mouth, you took a bite of the fruit, “Oh hush. I feel fine and this is delicious.” You took the rest from the fork, doing a little happy shimmy as you chewed, “It’s even better with a dorito…oooh! and cream cheese with lemons is also really good, babe.” You reached for the last slice of lemon on the countertop but he snatched it from your fingers and put it back down.
His mouth dropped into a grimace, “Alright, that’s enough. It’s bedtime.” He grabbed your legs, pulling you to the edge of the island and helping you down, “I’ll clean up. Go brush your teeth and then straight to bed.” Jake pointed to the kitchen doorway, shooing you off.
“God, you’re such a buzzkill, dad…” You rolled your eyes before turning away, earning yourself a light tap on the ass, “Hurry up, I’m tired.” You rounded the doorway and headed for the bathroom to follow Jake’s instructions. When you entered the bedroom, he was already tucked back into bed, waiting for you, “You put the fridge stuff away and left everything else, didn’t you?”
He held his hand out for you with a sleepy smile, “It’s almost three now. I’ll clean the rest up tomorrow.” Once you slipped your fingers over his palm, he pulled you down on top of him, hugging you to his body, “I love you, baby. You know that, right?” His voice was quiet, meant only for you and no other thing, living or not, in the universe, “This life that we’ve built- that we’re building… I still can’t believe we’re starting a family, Y/N.”
“We already have a family, Jake, we’re just expanding it with a little piece of us.” You snuggled into him, pressing your nose into his cheek, “He’s gonna have the best uncles and grandparents and, most importantly, the absolute greatest daddy in the world.” You squeezed your arms around him as you kissed his jaw, “I can’t wait to see all the things you teach him, baby… Do they make tiny SG’s for little baby hands?”
“I don’t think they do, my love.” He placed a lingering kiss on your forehead with a chuckle, “He might not want anything to do with music, maybe he’ll wanna be a chef like his momma, take over the family business.” Turning his head, he stared up at the ceiling, deep in his thoughts.
You watched Jake’s smile grow, lighting up his eyes, and it made your heart swell but your anxiety was still poking at your brain, “What are the chances we don’t completely fuck this up, Jake?” You rolled off of him and onto your back, now staring at the ceiling as well, “What if I’m like…the worst mom? What if I get everything wrong?” 
“Hey.” He rolled over, cupping your cheek to make you look at him, “We’re in this together. It’s new for both of us and we’re bound to make mistakes.” His hand went to your waist, pulling you against his chest, “I have no doubt that you’ll be an amazing mom, baby.” There was a pause before he added, “And on the very slight chance that we do fuck this up, we can always do better with the second one.”
“The second one?” You went wide-eyed as you tilted your head to look at him, catching his dimple as he tried to hide his smirk, “Okay, Jakey… I need some sleep before we get into that conversation.” He rolled away to turn the lamp off and came right back to his place, holding you against him once more. You snaked an arm over him before giving his lips one single peck, “I love you too, by the way.”
_____________________________________________
You sat at the small table in the corner, checking the time on your phone. You hated lying to Jake, hated that he had no clue what you were doing. When you couldn’t sleep, most of your tossing and turning in bed was accompanied by thoughts of the conversation you had with Odessa. But what if you can get her to admit it? You weren’t willing to use Jake. There was no way you could involve him in anything to do with her… So when you woke up and texted Sage to meet you today, you knew you needed an excuse to give Jake. “Baby, I’m just gonna get a ride into the city, I wanna grab a coffee and pick a few things up.” It wasn’t entirely a lie, you were sitting in a cafe right now, sipping a coffee. It just wasn’t the whole truth. He tried to argue, tried to tell you he would drive you, but you declined, telling him that you just wanted some time to yourself. He relented, watching you from the porch as you walked down the driveway and got into the back of an Uber. Now you waited. Would she show up? You checked the time again before opening up the text thread and reading back over your message.
You 8:05am: I’m giving you one chance to talk. I’ll be at the coffee shop at 10. You know which one. I’ll wait until 10:15.
It was 10:11pm when you put your phone down and looked up to see her coming through the door. She paused to look for you before slinking between other tables to get to yours.
She sat across from you, a weary look on her face and a rush in her words, “Why am I here, Y/N?” She was looking around the area, searching for something.
“If you’re looking for Jake, he’s not here.” You sat back in your chair, crossing your arms over your chest, “As for why you’re here, I just want to talk.”
She scoffed, almost like she was annoyed, “Talk about what? You have a restraining order against me, I could get in trouble for being here.”
“Of all the fucking damage you caused… That’s what you’re worried about?” Your disbelief was evident, “Why won’t you stop?” You stared at her, waiting for an answer, but she refused to meet your eyes, “After everything you’ve done, you owe me an explanation. Why us? Why me, Sage?”
“Because you don’t deserve him.” She finally lifted her head to look at you, tapping her fingers on the table, “You made it easy.” Her face showed no signs of remorse, “All I had to do was flirt, feed you a few lines… You were hooked the minute you saw me.”
“I don’t deserve him?” You sat up, resting your elbows on the table to really look at her, “You think you deserve him, Sage? Think you can make him happier?” You cocked an eyebrow at her, tilting your head.
A humorless laugh dripped from her mouth, “At least he would be enough for me, Y/N. I don’t need the attention of all of his brothers or people I meet in bars. I only need him.”
Now it was your turn to laugh, “Wow, you won’t let that one go, huh?” You picked up your coffee, taking a sip as you shook your head, “You know I didn’t sleep with either of them. I’m sure you’d have the proof if I did, but you don’t… You’ve been lingering in the background for months, just hoping to catch me doing whatever it was you suspected.” You leaned in close, dropping your voice low, “And when there was nothing to show for your psycho stalking, when you realized that nothing could come between me and Jake… You snapped. You wanted me gone so that you could slither your way in. Am I getting warmer?” You could tell the smirk on your face was eating away at her.
“He left after the Josh video, though, didn’t he? How did you sweet talk your way out of that one?” She leaned in as well, clenching her jaw.
“I didn’t need to sweet talk, honey. The truth presented itself on that one. Solid try, though.” You knew you’d successfully gotten under her skin and you were ready to end the conversation with one final blow. Sliding your chair out, you stood up, looking down on her, “Despite your efforts, I have a baby to worry about now.” You lifted your left hand to examine your ring, “Oh! And a wedding to plan.” You held your hand in front of her face, “You’re the least of my worries now, Sage…but I have a feeling that I’m still the most of yours.” Grabbing your coffee from the table, you flashed her a smile and walked by her to leave. She was pissed, seething with rage, but that was exactly what you wanted. She was right where you needed her, all you had to do was wait for her to take the bait.
Sage POV
You? Worried about her? Jake doesn’t want her… She’ll never be good enough for him, you just have to make him see that. But through all of your attempts, she still manages to wiggle her way out of everything. Manages to keep him in her grasp. He doesn’t want to marry her. She just has him believing that her baby is his, but you know better. Turning in your seat, you looked out the large window, watching her climb into the backseat of what must be an Uber. You watched the car pull away from the curb, an unkempt anger bubbling through your veins, until you felt a light tap on your shoulder. You whipped your head around to see him. Jake. Your Jake. He looked sexy…Always so sexy, “Jake… What is this?” You looked around, waiting for her to come back at any second, but then his fingers were on your chin, guiding your eyes back to him.
“She left, Sage. I have to be quick, she thinks I’m at home.” He spoke softly as he dropped his hand and took a seat across from you, “I’ve been trying to get away to see you for weeks…”
Something didn’t feel right… You craned your neck, scoping out the cafe again, “What is happening? Why are you here?” Slowly, your gaze came back to him, awaiting an answer.
He reached across the table, placing his hand on top of yours, and you thought you felt it trembling, but his steady voice distracted you, “I can’t be with her anymore, I don’t love her…” His voice. Oh god, his voice was like the greatest melody ever created, “I haven’t loved her for a long time, Sage.”
Why was he admitting this to you now? What was the catch? “At the hospital, you- What you said…” You thought back to his exact words, cringing at the way he screamed at you, “You said I was demented.” Your gaze went back to the window as you watched the cars go by, but your focus remained on the feeling of his hand over yours.
“I know. I had to. Everyone was there.” He paused until you brought your eyes back to him, “She was dying… I-” His voice cracked and he cleared his throat before continuing, “It would’ve looked bad if I just left her at a time like that.” He was shaking his head like his thoughts were troubling him, “It’s still hard… To leave her, I mean. She’s almost completely healed, but the baby-”
You cut him off, gripping his hand tightly in yours, “Jake, that baby isn’t yours!” You tried to keep your voice to a whisper to not draw attention to your corner, “I know in my heart it isn’t and we can find proof.”
He pried his hand from you to push his hair out of his face with a sigh, “I don’t know. She swears it’s mine, Sage. She wouldn’t lie, would she?”
“That’s all she does, babe. Just lie and manipulate and she’s not gonna stop until somebody makes her…” You took a deep breath, studying his face, his eyes, his body. Searching for any indication that he wasn’t being genuine with you before you confessed everything to him. His brown eyes were sad, you could see the pain he was fighting in them. He hated his life with her. She made him miserable. Only you could free him from it, “Jake, I need to tell you something…”
.
.
.
.
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sapphicseasapphire · 2 months
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is wind ever exposed to some of the propaganda against his kind in legend's time? does it make him self conscious?
also did the mer aquil war happen at all in the 3rd timeline?
Hello! These are excellent questions, thank you!
Under the cut because long.
Wind… is a bit of a complicated case, I think! He grew up in the middle of a war, but was sheltered from any kind of violence or aggression- he lived amongst people (Mer and Aquili alike) who wanted peace, on a little island full of refugees. He doesn’t even realize that he’s CURRENTLY living with propaganda. He’s CURRENTLY hiding, and has been ever since he was a baby.
The Aquili on Outset are called Sea Monsters. They always have been- Wind didn’t even know that his people were called Aquili until he met Legend. But the term was never used out of malice- it was just that no one knew any better. It was a piece of Mer propaganda that stuck, and at least on their little island of peacekeepers, the Aquili never knew anything else.
(I must say that they were never treated poorly by the Mer- or by anyone else, for that matter. Calling themselves Sea Monsters had nothing to do with their value as citizens of Outset and they were not looked down upon at all. “Sea Monster” was an accepted term… but then again, they don’t knew their origins. If they did, they’d probably be upset to be called monsters).
Wind knows not to go too deep into the ocean- not to swim out too far. Even if he doesn’t realize it, he lives in fear of the Mer- of his own people- that still reside beneath the waves. Everyone on Outset maintains a “Hylian” form to blend in when travelers visit their island- no one knows that they aren’t “normal” people. He’s hiding every single day of his life. And he doesn’t even realize it.
I say all of this because I want to make it clear that Wind DOES face the consequences of this war. He’s been dealing with it under the table for his entire life, but that doesn’t make him equipped to handle it when he comes face to face with Legend- who hates him for what he is, for what his people had done to him in an entirely different timeline. Or, in the War of Eras, Ravio- who fears him for the monster he has not become.
Wind has lived his whole life in acceptance of who he is. He’s comfortable in his own skin no matter what form he takes, “Hylian” or Aquili. He switches between the two all the time, he thinks it’s fun. And he likes getting a reaction out of others.
That… changed. When he met Legend. As his adventure with the Cryptid Chain continues and he learns more about the conflict (from Legend’s perspective), he becomes less and less comfortable in his Aquili form. As Legend gives him the cold shoulder and avoids him, Wind starts to get more and more self conscious, until he appears as “Hylian” literally every minute of every day. Legend… has some things to work on, let’s just say.
Since the Cryptid Chain will never go underwater, they are unlikely to come across any Mer outside of Outset. The Zora in Legend’s era might cause some problems for Wind, but other than that, the only prejudice he’d face is from Legend (and Ravio, maybe, but Ravio isn’t nearly as bitter).
Now, I don’t think it’s entirely fair to call Legend a bad person for this. He’s been through a lot, and he’s suffered at the hands of the Aquili scavengers in his own era. But is it right for him to take that out on Wind? Absolutely not. And this tension between them doesn’t last long- it’s really really hard to hate Wind. Also… Legend’s pretty bitter towards literally everyone. So really, it’s more of a Legend issue than a Wind issue.
And LASTLY, yes, the war happens in all of the timelines! It’s just that unless there are Mer and Aquili from the Child Era (there aren’t any in my story), you’re not gonna be hearing about it! The Zora stay OUT of it, and they defend their waters from Mer and Aquili both, wanting the conflict as far from their Domain as possible.
I hope this answered your question? I know I rambled way too long haha.
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