#so this is as close as you're getting to anything sunday related

[monstriiss]

anyway if you fight drath and you have any kind of blade she WILL impale herself on it, maybe even force you to do it, as a power move and so she can say no takesies backsies

#somebody: threatens drath with a sword #drath: *grabs their wrist and runs herself through* ✨️😌💅 #so this is as close as you're getting to anything sunday related #;; ooc.

[akutasoda]

hii :3 for ur 1k event, can I request a fic or hcs of sunday w a shy s/o which likes physical affection a LOT? fine w fluff or hurt/comfort!! love ur writing <3

feather light touches

synopsis - what happens when someone who loves physical affection meets someone who doesn't?

includes - sunday

warnings - gn!reader, slightly angsty, comfort, fluff, wc - 897

a/n: hii :3 thank you!!!

sunday was a public figure. head of the oak family and at the will of the watchmaker, anybody who had even heard of penacony probably had heard of him. while he did manage most of the affairs of penaconians in his office, he was a well known face - mainly due to him making sure he could accompany his sister to her performances and personally greeting very important guests.

to maintain such a high profile position, sunday had no room to be shy nor anxious when it came to anything. he needed the ability to communicate with and sway anyone to his whims and so he needed to show no signs of weakness. perhaps it was maybe helped by the fact that he did have quite the desperation for control and so to achieve that, he needed everybody to see him as the confident and formidable person he was.

as a result, alot of his relationships were strictly business - in a way every business relation he built up was built up to his benefit, to keep him in control and eventually elevate his status. he needed to be in control to succeed and so he never took up opportunities that made him feel like his control would diminish and leave him scrambling for his power. by extention, sunday wasn't exactly the kind to enjoy physical affection, if anything he despised it. of course there were exceptions to a degree, namely his sister and you.

you were like a complete polar opposite to sunday. he was confident and an influential figure that liked keeping people at arms length, even those he was close too. you were a shy and reserved person who craved nothing more than to be close to those you held dearly. physical affection was very dear to you but unfortunately the shyness was an obstacle that prevented most forms of physical affection - unlike sunday who would take any opportunity to stay away from any kind of physical contact.

sunday didn't mind how shy you were, it didn't really matter to him as he enjoyed your company nonetheless. he didn't mind doing things for you and so if your shyness did prevent you from talking to people he'd gladly step in. your shyness was actually a great comfort to him at the end of a day filled with business dealings, just to spend his evening with you indulging in smalltalk and relaxing without the pressure of being the head of the oak family.

it wouldn't take sunday long to notice how hesitant you could get in private, you always looked like you wanted something but you never said anything and so he didn't know what to do. if something was bothering you, you probably would have told him know no? truth be told, your issue wasn't so much your shyness when it came to physical affection but more with how unsure you were with sunday's willingness to just that.

you knew for a matter of fact that physical touch and affection wasn't exactly sunday's deal, so you're shyness was overcome with worries that he wouldn't understand your love for physical affection. you started fearing that this would be the reason you couldn't stay with sunday, that this would be the breaking point of your relationship. what made it worse was that you never brought it up. you were way to shy about it to bring it up and so you say on the issue.

that was until sunday started picking up more ideas to what was causing your hesitation around him. he noticed how a simple act of hand holding made your face light up even if you didn't mention anything, so unconsciously he started doing that more. sunday realised you were very fond of physical affection and maybe you were just hesitant that he wouldn't appreciate it.

it was true that he was uncomfortable with most kinds of physical affection but maybe he could try and make an exception for you - he really couldn't bare seeing you so pained because you couldn't ask him. simple acts like hand holding, that still made you light up, were bearable with him to start as long as he still wore his gloves but you didn't seem to mind. maybe just maybe he could atart building up his tolerance just for you.

or maybe he couldn't deny you when he realised you built up all your courage just to ask him for a hug. sunday fully understood now, he knew for sure that you lived physical affection but you were simply too shy to ask for such. albeit he probably didn't help you by seeming so off put by physical affection but he just had to prove to you that you were indeed an exception - so long as you still let him get used to more physical contact.

it all seemed worth it in the end to him. seeing your face light up when he offered a hug, a small kiss, or even hand holding made his day, what really made it worth it for him was seeing you becime more comfortable with asking for the physical affection you lived oh so much. it may be foreign and slightly uncomfortable to him but he'd be willing to build up that aspect if it meant helping you in the process.

akutasoda's 1k event

#↪♡akutasoda's 1k event ♡ #—stellaronhvnters. #x reader #x gender neutral reader #honkai star rail x reader #honkai star rail x gender neutral reader #honkai star rail x you #hsr x reader #hsr x gender neutral reader #hsr x you #hsr sunday #honkai star rail sunday #sunday x reader

[tenshikawa]

spending time. yan!penacony

nobility au

Prince Aventurine

You consciously spend the most time with him by far - from the moment you open your eyes, there's breakfast, tea parties, lunches with him alone and dinners with his family. Up till the very moment he escorts you back to your room, leaving you with a kiss on the back of your hand at the door, you spend nearly every waking moment by Aventurine's side. It's undeniably comforting in many ways, knowing that you can rely on a familiar face if anything else.

But on the other hand, it's a little... suffocating. He's absolutely lovely towards you, but there's a certain way he looks at you - like he can't decide whether you'd look better in a birdcage or in a wedding gown.

Dr Veritas Ratio

Though not nearly as important as the prince himself, you're not spared from the pain of compulsory lessons - to get acclimatised to the history and politics of your home-to-be, so you're told. Your lessons are the few times you're apart from Aventurine (though not for lack of him trying to sit in. Ratio tells him he'll be a distraction and threatens to hit him with a book.)

He's a strict but frighteningly effective teacher, and you leave every lesson happy and knowing something new. He can be surprisingly kind too, giving you some leeway if you had a social engagement the night before and hadn't had time to revise.

Until butler Sunday comes looking for you in an urgent summon, citing a situation that relates to you personally. On your way, he tells you that he's never seen the professor so gentle with any of his students before, and that he never spends so much time on anyone personally.

You're not quite sure what to do with this information.

Sunday

You don't spend so much time with him as you do around him - he's a constant, lurking presence, waiting to attend to Aventurine when he's around, or looking after you when the prince gets busy and can't be by your side.

He's more unsettling than his prince is, and a lot more perceptive; but nonetheless, you find yourself making small talk with him sometimes. Sunday appears to gain special joy from fetching and carrying for you: making your favourite teas and cakes or perusing the library with you. Unusual for a butler, Sunday talks a lot, but you're content to listen and he offers you insights on a vast host of topics.

Boothill

A famous bounty hunter slash mercenary, with too-sharp teeth and a too-bright grin. He's charming but kind, and his company brings you some semblance of the days where you could walk the streets without need of a bodyguard. You're not naive enough to get close to him, however - everyone knows bounty hunters have their fair share of secrets, and you're sure so does he. You're not really sure what important things he might be doing in the palace, however, except for finishing all the toast at breakfast and following you around like he has nothing better to do.

Boothill spends most his days lounging around the gardens, shaving an apple with his knife and generally just giving the maids a scare. But when Aventurine can't be by your side, he tends to "just happen" to bump into you, quoting boredom and needing someone to pass the time with him. You let him accompany you to the library then, and tell him about inconsequential things, like the interesting bird you saw outside your window that morning or the new variety of Ratio's threats and insults.

#honkai star rail #hsr #yandere honkai star rail #yandere #cloud writes #yandere hsr #yan!hsr #yandere aventurine #aventurine #yandere boothill #boothill #yandere sunday #sunday #yandere ratio #ratio #yancore #yan!aventurine #yan!boothill #yan!sunday #yan!ratio #veritas ratio

[cillianhead]

Give us thigh riding with Cill or Tommy, please 🙏🏻😮‍💨

Thank you nonny for this wonderful request <3

Lazy Sundays || Cillian Murphy x Reader

warnings: Smut, thigh riding, cursing, sort of exhibitionism (Cillian is on the phone while... reader rides his thigh), choking, Cillian being a little rough with reader, degradation, general adult content!!

18+ Minors DNI

The sun had barely risen when you woke up, and Cillian was nowhere to be found, which was unlike him so early in the morning. You frowned as you sat up, rubbing your sleepy eyes, and softly slipped out of bed to find your husband.

You found him at the bottom of the stairs, grumbling on the phone with someone. You assumed it was something work-related. You quietly padded down the stairs and sat down next to him with a gentle smile, still incredibly sleepy and wanting to go back to bed.

"Hey baby," He mouthed to you silently before grumbling something back to whoever was on the phone was. He wrapped an arm around him, pulling you into his side. You curled around his arm and nuzzled your face into his soft sleeve. "Thanks, Gary... bye, mate." Cillian muttered before hanging up the phone.

"Cillian..." You whispered with a pout. "Let's go back to bed... you promised a lazy Sunday today... and it's too early..." You winged.

"Sleepy girl," He chuckled breathily, leaning in and pecking you on the lips. You hummed happily at the little sliver of love he gave you. "Come on, darling... let's go back to bed." He extended a hand out to you as he stood up and you took it gratefully as you yawned dramatically.

Cillian gave you a gentle smack on your ass as you crawled into bed. "Why'd you do that?!" You whined.

"'Cause I can," He snickered, pulling the both of you under the covers and pulling you close to him, conveniently placing his thigh right in between your legs. "You're so beautiful." His voice was low and gravelly; he was still quite groggy from how early it was in the morning, and the low vibrations made you feel so fucking dizzy.

"Cillian..." You whispered as he slipped off his long sleeve shirt and ushered you to take yours off too.

"Morning sex?" Cillian asked as if you would say no. "Please, baby? Fuckin' had the nicest dream about you last night."

"Oh, yeah?" You grinned, the both of you fully topless and Cillian's thumbs rolling easy circles on your exposed nipples. "What happened in it-"

RING! RING!

"You've gotta be fucking kidding me," Cillian groaned, reluctantly pulling away from you slightly to reach over to his phone that lie on the bedside table. "It's from the same bloke... he's tryin' to arrange a time for an interview." You whined as he started to get out of bed.

"No... stay..." You clung onto him, digging your fingernails into his biceps. "I'll be good... I promise..." You gave him those eyes you knew he couldn't deny.

"Alright, just be quiet..." He said cautiously, laying back down as he brought the phone to his ear. "Hey, Gary... what's up? Somethin' wrong?"

As you zoned out of the conversation, scooting yourself slightly closer to Cillian, trying your best to seem as casual as possible. Cillian hummed as he discussed a time and place and chatted on the phone, not paying mind to the fact your thinly-clothed cunt was beginning to slowly grind itself on his thigh. Biting your lip, keeping in your whines as you looked up at Cillian, feeling incredibly flustered by how nice his thigh felt against your clit. You noticed the stubble that accumulated along his picture-perfect jaw and rolled your eyes into the back of your head as you found the perfect rhythm. He was so perfect; every part of him fit perfectly with you... or inside of you. No one else's thigh could get you off the way his do.

It took Cillian a few moments to realize what was happening, and by then, it was too late to stop you. He raised an eyebrow disapprovingly. You knew he couldn't say anything, which made you smirk. He could just push you off of him, and you'd stop, yet here you were, shuddering with pleasure as he flexed his thigh precisely to enhance the pleasure you were feeling. He kept talking nonchalantly, acting as if his hot wife wasn't fucking herself on his leg, acting as if he didn't have a raging boner that was begging to be touched. The man on the other end of the phone had not even the slightest clue that there was anyone else even in the room with Cillian.

"Sounds good," Cillian hummed. "Alright, yeah... see you then." And when he tossed his phone to the side (not before turning it completely off), he looked at you with a fire blazing in his eyes. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" "I... don't know... what... you're talking about..." You said through tiny gasps.

"Yeah?" He quipped as he jolted his thigh right up into your pussy, causing you to let out a loud mewl. "Why the fuck is there a wet patch on me leg then? Hmmm?"

"Don't know... Cillian..."

He shook his head in disbelief before curling his fingers around your throat and pushing you down into the sheets until he was hovering above you, his hand still choking you firmly. "Such a spoilt whore," Cillian growled as he slipped your soaking panties down until you were entirely bare before him. "You couldn't even wait five minutes for me to get off the bloody phone."

"J-Just... I'm so horny..." You whined, voice high pitched, and your body writhed for any sort of touch as he held your thighs open. Your glistening hole was on display for him. It felt shameful and humiliating the way he was looking at you. Despite the fact he had seen you in every angle there was to be seen and had seen your vagina countless times, it still felt painfully vulnerable when he had you spread out like this. "Please..."

"I know," He soothed, running a finger down the smooth skin of your inner thighs. "You just can't help it..." He cooed, and you smiled at how sweet he was being. "Y'just so dumb and pathetic, aren't you? Can't think about anything except gettin' fucked when I'm around... know you can't help it, yer just a girl..." He whispered into your ear, and you were revelling in his words and gentleness until he placed a harsh and hard smack right on your poor clit.

"Fuck!" You cried, arching your back. "Why'd you do that?!"

"Don't pretend to be innocent, Y/N," Cillian muttered as he switched the position so you were straddled on top of his thigh. "Go on, ride my thigh." He demanded.

"But..." You slid your hands up his other thigh to where his cock fought with his trousers to be free. "I want you... inside of me..." "Too bad, eh?" Cillian smirked, crossing his arms over his chest. "Yer not getting any help either, gonna have to do it all yourself... like a big girl." Cillian leaned back, a smug grin on his hauntingly beautiful face.

So slowly, feeling awfully embarrassed, you pressed your naked sex against his hairy thigh and began rocking yourself in slow motions. You closed your eyes, holding onto Cillian's waist for balance as you picked up the pace, moaning desperately for release.

"Look at the mess you're making," Cillian scolded with a 'tsk tsk', eyes fixed on the way you rubbed yourself on his thigh. "Gushin' all over me leg, you look so cute."

"Let me cum on your thigh..." You whined quietly, head hung low with shame as you felt your impending high coming closer and closer. "Please." "You're gonna cum already?" Cillian laughed condescendingly. "Go on then, give me a show."

You nodded and mumbled a sweet little 'thank you' before grounding your pussy even harder and faster into his sticky thigh until you found yourself trembling on top of him. His hands now reached out to you, guiding your hips along for you while you let yourself be swallowed whole by your orgasm. He knew you were too limp to do it yourself and even once you were done he kept rocking you back and forth with his hands, moving you like a puppet until you were begging for him to stop.

"Please... Cillian..." You cried, trying to raise your hips up to stop the torturous friction. "Please... it's too much." "Nuh-uh... want one more from ya... then I'll consider giving you my cock."

You squeezed your thighs tightly around his, clit aching from the sore friction and how overstimulating it was. Cillian was mesmerized by the way you looked, too busy watching the way his thigh grew wetter and wetter and the way your hips looked in his hands. It was the most beautiful sight to be seen... and with the added sound of your sweet moans of his name... he felt like he could cream his pants without even laying a hand on his cock.

"That's it, angel girl," He praised, bucking his thigh up into you harshly. "You look so pretty, so perfect, getting me all wet."

"Gonna cum... again..." You choked out, eyelids squeezed shut as you began convulsing.

"There we go, give it to me," He cooed, voice low and intoxicating. "Fuckin' hell," He could feel your cum leak out onto his thigh, it was almost a bit ridiculous how wet you got from him and how much of a mess you made. "Good girl... good girl... that's right."

You collapsed on top of him once he finally set you free. You panted, crawling up so your head was by his, and you kissed him gently. "Thank you... thank you... Cillian..." You whispered, all dazed and sleepy since it was still early in the morning.

"Not done with you yet," Cillian whispered, running his lips along your sensitive neck. "I think you've been good enough for a treat."

Your ears perked up at that and suddenly your eyes were no longer drooping. You sat up like an excited dog and looked at him with your head tilted. "What is it?"

"Gonna let you suck me cock," He grunted, slipping the band of his Calvin Klein briefs down until his hard cock laid flat on his stomach, oozing precum from his pinkish head. Your lips parted as you drooled at the sight and wrapped your fingers around his thick shaft. You were practically making heart eyes at it. "Don't act all shy on me now, love... go on... I know you know how to suck me off... now go on and do it, and I'll cum down your pretty throat."

-----

i listened to cry by cigarettes after sex on repeat while listening to this. i hope you enjoyed! it's short but i like it :-)

#cillian murphy #cillian murphy smut #cillian murphy x reader #cillian x reader #tommy shelby #thomas shelby #peaky blinders #cillian x fem!reader #cillian murphy fanfic #peaky blinders imagine #cillian murphy oneshot #cillian x y/n #cillian murphy fanfiction #jackson rippner #raymond leon #jonathan crane

[illdowhatiwantthanks]

Masterlist & Request Guidelines

I'm in a hardcore fanfic-writing fixation rn so please, please feel free to request anything. Masterlist and Request Guidelines below.

MASTERLIST

Olivia Benson (Law & Order: SVU)

Can You Stay?

Alex Blake (Criminal Minds)

What You Want (18+)

Inside Your Head

Alex Cabot (Law & Order: SVU)

Alex Cabot x Reader Headcanons

After General Anesthesia

Alex Cabot x Casey Novak x Reader SFW Headcanons

What You Give

Carol Danvers (Marvel)

Forgetting

Rosa Diaz (Brooklyn Nine-Nine)

A Hard Day

Jennifer Jareau (Criminal Minds)

The Dogs

The Intruder

Casey Novak (Law & Order: SVU)

Clueless

Someone Will See

First Time (18+)

Sunday Mornings

She Likes You Anyway

Empty House (18+)

You're Safe Now

Home for the Holidays

Take Me Out to the Ball Game (18+)

I Need You To

Your Brother's Wedding

Casey Novak x Reader Headcanons

After General Anesthesia

Panic! At the DA's Office

Alex Cabot x Casey Novak x Reader SFW Headcanons

May the Fourth Be With You

Changes

Maggie Pierce (Grey's Anatomy)

Just as Friends

Emily Prentiss (Criminal Minds)

Coming Out

Let Me Keep You Safe (18+)

Emily Prentiss x Reader Headcanons

Shelter from the Storm

Don't Lie to Me

The Surprise (Part 1)

The Lentil & The Blueberry (The Surprise, Part 2) (18+)

The Kidney Bean & The Grape (The Surprise, Part 3)

The Kumquat (The Surprise, Part 4)

The Fig & The Lime (The Surprise, Part 5)

The Peapod (The Surprise, Part 6)

Burning (18+)

The Lemon & The Apple (The Surprise, Part 7) (18+)

The Avocado & The Turnip (The Surprise, Part 8)

The Bell Pepper & The Big Tomato (The Surprise, Part 9)

Tracing You

The Banana (The Surprise, Part 10)

The Carrot (The Surprise, Part 11) (18+)

Tiny (x daughter!reader)

The Spaghetti Squash (The Surprise, Part 12)

The Mango (The Surprise, Part 13)

The Corn Cob (The Surprise, Part 14)

The Rutabaga (The Surprise, Part 15)

Arizona Robbins (Grey's Anatomy)

N/A

Natasha Romanoff (Marvel)

N/A

Amelia Shepherd (Grey's Anatomy)

Sick Call

Aces

Tea for Two

Strap Up (18+)

Postpartum (18+)

Playing It Safe (18+)

You're Mine (18+)

The R Word

Left Unsaid (18+)

Callie Torres (Grey's Anatomy)

N/A

Cristina Yang (Grey's Anatomy)

N/A

REQUEST GUIDELINES

If you have requests for characters outside of the above, please feel free to send them on anyway! The above are just characters I've written for before. If I'm familiar with the character/source material and the request meets my parameters, I'll be happy to give it a shot!

PARAMETERS:

I only write x reader. I don't really enjoy writing about already-existing relationships or character ships.

I only write for people with v*lvas. I absolutely welcome non-binary/gender non-conforming characters/readers. Just be aware that, where smut is concerned, I only feel confident writing about humans with v*ginas.

I don't feel comfortable writing dark!characters or smut that's degrading. Kinks and other smut-related requests I take on a case-by-case basis. But I absolutely will not write anything that even gets close to the line of non-consensual. No shade to you if the above are things you enjoy reading/writing, they're just personally not for me.

Autistic readers are so welcome! I love reading and writing x autistic!reader fics!

I do feel comfortable writing about the aftermath of trauma (sexual or otherwise), most mental illnesses, etc. I enjoy a good hurt/comfort fic and, as someone who's dealt with both of the above, I know it can be very comforting to read something that makes you feel like you're cared for and safe.

I also really enjoy writing headcanons, so feel free to request those as well! The same rules apply for headcanons that apply for fics.

Send those requests on, bbs!

#fanfic #fanfic writers #fanfic requests #x reader #x reader fics #x autistic reader #autistic writers #law and order svu #svu #criminal minds #grey's anatomy

[onyourowndaisymae]

strawberries

mammon hears you're missing something from the human world. so, he decides to fetch it for you.

content + warnings: just some cute (implied) x reader, can be read as platonic, normal mammon tsundere shenanigans, fluff

word count: 952

[longer oc version coming soon?]

mammon doesn't particularly think he's a nosy person. if you're having a conversation within earshot, then surely you're comfortable with someone nearby listening in. and when it comes to matters involving you-- well, surely your first man deserves to know more about you than anyone else, right?

while casually "passing by" (and definitely not stopping outside the door to the kitchen to listen in when he hears your voice get all soft and sentimental), mammon hears you talking to beel. you're talking about something you used to eat as a kid, laughing as you share how you used to make yourself sick on summer nights eating your fill. you paint a picture with your words of yourself several decades previous, with sweet red juice dripping down your chin, leafy tops discarded in the yard as you played long into the sunset. beel eventually has to ask you to stop-- he's actively eating his own meal, but your descriptions are so colorful that his stomach howls with want anyways.

mammon's lost in thought by the time he wanders off. what were these splendorous fruits you spoke so highly of? did they have a devildom equivalent? he didn't even catch its name...

part of him wants to grab these magical fruits and use them to turn a profit. since the exchange program had been initially proposed, a small but growing faction of demons had become obsessed with anything relating to the human realm. food, clothes, entertainment, etc-- all of it was heralded as exciting and mystifying. but the other part of him wants to see if you really liked them as much as you said. he wants to hear the stories directly from you, not overheard in the hallway, on how much you loved these little fruits.

a plan begins to form in his head. he'd be flying by the seat of his pants, but...

"they're a summer-y red human fruit. y'know, with the juice that gets all over ya?"

two teenage employees stare at mammon, trying to understand what the hell he's describing. he's speaking cryptically, like he doesn't even know what he's looking for.

"sir, can you be more specific?" the employee with flaming red hair asks.

"you said a summer fruit?" the other employee, an older blonde girl, asks. "like, maybe... watermelon chunks?"

"I don't know, maybe?" mammon's face is just as befuddled as before.

"here," the ginger proposes. "how about we go get some samples and have him taste everything? maybe he'll be able to figure it out then."

mammon is left standing alone as the young girls dart off towards another market stall, whispering and plotting as they scurry together. he feels like an idiot, truly. damn you. damn you and your pretty words, your smile, the way you make him feel so in love with you that he's willing to brave a human world market by himself on a busy sunday just to make you happy. his cheeks feel warm just thinking about it.

the girls return as quick at they left, a little basket of fruit donated by some nearby stalls to help the poor confused man nearby find fruit for his beloved (a bit dramatic of a marketing pitch-- but they're not exactly wrong). they eagerly beckon him to try all of what they brought. after all, helping someone is much more interesting than, say, doing the more boring tasks in their job description.

watermelon are nice, but the moment he see the actual size of the whole fruit, he knows he's got the wrong one. cherries are too tart. he can't imagine you gleefully popping them into mouth as a child without choking and dying on a pit (humans are so fragile). raspberries are close, but he isn't quite convinced...

then he sees them pull out a fruit with the leafy green top-- if only he'd remembered that earlier-- and he knows he's found what he needed.

"what are these called?" he asks.

"strawberries?"

there's a sense of awe in your voice as you look down at the little container. your favorite childhood snack is staring back at you, and they look just as wonderful as ever. mammon's face is red as he shrugs noncommittally.

"yeah, well, whatever. those lousy witches gave 'em to me while i was up in the human realm. i figured you'd know what to do with 'em."

he's lying. you could tell he would before he even opened his mouth, but you don't mind. the berries are vibrant and pretty under the kitchen lights.

"would you like to share them with me?"

"huh?"

his confusion only makes you laugh. you take your time washing them off, telling him the stories of how much you loved eating strawberries and running around your back yard at night. you have a feeling he knows these already. but he listens intently, arms crossed as he leans back against the counter and watches you, sprinkling in some commentary now and again about how human children are strange. there's a soft look on his face as he watches you work.

finally, you back to the counter and sprinkle a light dusting of sugar on the strawberry, then hold it up for him to try. his fingers brush against yours, but you make a noise and open your mouth-- you want him to do the same. he gets red again, eyes darting around for a good several moments, before hesitantly leaning in to take a bite.

a dribble of juice trails from the corner of his lips. you smile, chest warm, and thank him for caring so much about you. his sheepish smile only makes the strawberry taste that much sweeter as you take a bite yourself.

#the post-series writers block is kicking my ass already #this is not my best piece but. i like it enough anyways #obey me #obey me shall we date #obey me swd #obey me nightbringer #obey me nb #otome #obey me mammon #obey me mammon x reader

[worriedvision]

Right place, wrong time - Sunday

Gender neutral reader, angst lol. Soulmate au.

--

Reading the words on your arm, you immediately knew who your soulmate was based on the fact there was only one man who took the job of "judging" peoples actions - how, you didn't exactly know. You did, however, know he was a very important man. Being a bodyguard working under Gallagher, you doubted your skills in relation to being worthy of association with Sunday.

Gallagher was a supportive dad to you - when he sensed you were off, he made you a drink on the house and had a conversation with you. When you show him your arm, he lets out a hearty laugh before beginning to pour himself a drink.

"It wouldn't hurt to strike a conversation, right?" He asks. "He probably also knows your first words, and he'll most likely believe you when you explain the arm."

"But what happens afterwards? It's not like he knows who I am, and he isn't really supposed to. It's kind of the point of these confession booths..." You trail off, taking a sip of the drink you have in hand. It is an odd mint taste - almost synthetic, this could be due to a herb thats also been thrown into the mix. It's...strangely clarifying, yet still you are left with questions.

Gallagher prepares a shot for you, almost like he knew this was going to happen, and he slides it over. Turns out, he decided to hydrate you with this shot. You down the show before rolling your eyes.

"Could you give me a glass of water next time?" You ask, Gallagher smirking as he pours some water for you.

"Here ya go, kiddo."

---

"Welcome to the confession booth. Please state the purpose of your confession, starting with the most pressing sin." Sunday asks, how looking down at your arm as you see the words glowing as he states them.

"This may sound strange...but you appear to be my soulmate, but I don't know what I can do with this information." You scratch the back of your head, Sunday pausing in thought.

"...I suppose this was going to happen at some point." He sighs out longingly. "Given my position, I'm afraid my responsibilities do not allow me the opportunity to indulge too much in relationships."

"I knew that - I'm surprised you didn't tell me to get out by now." You laugh, Sunday pausing once again.

"...I suppose you know more about me than I do if you. How about we spend this time we have to find out about you?" Sunday asks, a smile evident in his voice.

With a smile, you reminisce about general information about yourself - your career, your favourite things, your family, anything Sunday asked about you'd answer. Sunday seems to enjoy the conversation, throwing in his little parts here and there as well.

By the end of the conversation, you both round things off with a laugh before you both remember you likely won't see each other again. Hell, he's never seen you!

"I'm sorry fate has tied us together. Please proceed in your life knowing that in another life, perhaps we would have been very close." Sundays smile drops. "I'd like to ask your name, however due to anonymity I am not allowed to ask this. I wish you the best - if you find a special someone, don't wait for me."

You open your mouth to tell him off for telling you to move on, but then you realise you're asking him to prioritise you in the future.

So, you leave without another word, leaving Sunday to stew in his misery as you go to Gallagher to cry about it.

#sunday x reader #sunday x gender neutral reader #angst #soulmate au #sunday hsr #sunday honkai star rail #gallagher

[luna-andra]

The Shadows Return | Simon 'Ghost' Riley x OC Retired AU | Chapter 5: Apologies

Summary: Ghost has to make up for lost time somehow, and figure out what the hell is going on in his backwater village

Author's Note: Already working on chapter 6, this story is starting to ramp up!

Content warning: slow burn, eventual smut, 18+ only, fluff, mentions of mental health

If this is the first time you're seeing this, Chapter 1 is here. You can find the rest on my masterlist! Next chapter

Word count: 5.8k

Johnny only caught the tail end of their conversation. Andra sounded pissed. Oh yeah, she really gave the door something to fear with how hard it slammed. Johnny turned to Simon’s direction, “What happened?”

His glare could cut a man. “Nothing.”

Johnny went to open his mouth but said nothing. He came back to the front for something work related, and he really didn’t want to get in the middle of whatever went down between the two.

He knows Simon has been reclusive the past several days. Or has it been a few weeks now? Either way, this was feeling like one of his inevitable episodes. The kind that makes him shut everyone out, starting with the people less close to him. Johnny gauged it that way, and he knew if it came down to Simon shunning him out, then it’s getting bad.

Johnny put down the tablet on the countertop beside Simon’s arm. “Thomas completed the diagnostics on the red sedan, call ‘em for me will ya’?”

A comprehensive grunt was all the acknowledgement Johnny was going to get out of Simon right now. He pivoted on his foot and headed straight back into the garage. A minute later, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket.

Thank you for helping me out these past few months.

Johnny’s lips fell into a thin line on his face. Does this message have anything to do with what went down in the lobby? He didn’t like how finite her words sounded, like she was bidding the both of them farewell out of her life.

Andra took a while to respond back to Johnny, giving him time to focus on the brake pad change he needed to finish up. He wiped his hands clean before picking up his phone.

Sort of.

Okay, yes.

I don’t want you to feel obligated to keep in contact with me now that everything is gonna go back to the way it was.

Johnny sighed, shaking his head softly as his fingers flew across the screen. You’re OUR friend now, you’re not getting rid of us that easily, lass. He made sure to put ‘our’ in big letters.

This would pass. Johnny knew that, Simon would come around once he’s had his fill of solitude, but Andra didn’t see it that way. Understandably so, she had every right to be upset. She’s given Simon a level of grace and patience that would only come from a caregiver. Johnny has noticed the way she would shake her head and sigh after reading the short, one-worded messages she would get from Simon, and to be frank, Johnny couldn’t excuse his best friend’s behavior any longer. 

He could feel a pair of glaring eyes burning into the back of his neck from his supervisor, so Johnny shoved the phone back into his pocket and returned to work.

Simon was being a real prick.

-----

It was Andra’s first Sunday morning with her truck. After she picked it up from the shop, she drove it around for a few hours, having to blow off the irritation she felt after that interaction with Ghost.

It was running, alright. She made it drive out to a neighboring village and then back home. Even when she came home, the spurn of Ghost treating her that way kept nagging at her like a mosquito bite on the back of her neck. It shouldn’t have bothered her for days on end, but it did.

But today was Sunday, and Andra was determined to start the week off on a better note. Fixed truck, crop rotation was only a few weeks away from a new season, she had much to look forward to. Along with an empty seat at the stand.

She thought until a familiar truck drove up her driveway.

Andra finished tethering her trailer to her truck and went out to meet Johnny at the front. “Hey, what are you doing here?”

Johnny shut the door and hit the lock button on the key fob, setting off the short chirp of the horn. “What does it look like? You didn’t think I was gonna stop comin’ just because you got your truck back, did you?” He clicked his teeth and shook his head with faux disappointment and a smirk. “Besides, I like havin’ more money in my pocket from not goin’ out to the pub to drink it away, our Sunday mornings have been keepin’ me sober.”

She couldn’t help the smile escaping her. “That’s good to hear. I’m almost done loading everything, just help me with the table and chairs.”

“You got it.”

Autumn never fails to bring the gloomy overcast for majority of the season. And with the temperatures dropping enough, it allowed for Ghost to wear a light hoodie to keep the misty sprinkles of rain off of him. He tried to ignore the out-of-place energy that worked hard to veil over him. It was one thing to wear the mask in the shop, or when he was at least around Johnny, but going to the farmer’s market made him feel severely out of place.

He took one more second before grabbing the paper-wrapped parcel and left his truck, then followed the sporadic groups of people heading towards the vending stalls.

To think he had driven past this parking lot several times on Sundays and never thought to shop here. Ghost didn’t even like doing his own grocery shopping, that’s why he spends so much money on grocery deliveries. And purchasing anything else felt like a waste on him, unless it was ammunition and new guns.

As he neared the rows and rows of stalls, the chatter of customers and sellers became coherent. If people were looking at him, he paid no attention to the curious and apprehensive eyes. He was looking for Andra, gripping the now faintly damp parcel a little tighter. After wandering through the second row, Ghost spotted the forest green truck chockfull of crates of vegetables, parked in reverse and the tailgate open to the little figure with chestnut brown hair, loosely curled.

Her hair has grown.

That’s what happens when you don’t see someone for a while, Ghost sniped at himself.

He rounded the corner and strode closer to her stall, customers in his path giving him a wide berth, and caught sight of her lost in concentration as she packaged a customer’s brown paper bag. Her warm smile of farewell did something to his stomach. It was his turn to approach her.

Andra lifted her head long enough to see him, and her face relaxed from the smile she had. “Hi, stranger.”

Whatever he had prepared to tell her, it went off like a land mine and left him with nothing. There was a passive-aggressive tone in her voice, not that he blamed her. He basically cut her off with nothing to justify as to why. Guess this was part of seeking forgiveness.

“Surprised to see you here.” She kept prepping more brown bags as she waited for his response. “Or were you looking for Johnny?”

“No, he’s probably trying to slip out of his date’s bed.”

Her eyebrows lifted. “So you knew about his date with the girl from the chip shop, too? Glad to know he didn’t get the cutoff I did.”

His eyes looked down at her moving hands. “I deserved that.”

Andra stopped concentrating on the bags and rested a hand on her hip the way a fed-up mother would. “You deserve a lot of things, Ghost, but I don’t have it in me to be cruel.” Her eyes caught a glimpse of what Ghost was clutching to before she looked back down. “Found something you like at one of the vendors?”

“Actually,” his hand placed the wrapped parcel onto the table and slid it towards Andra. “It’s for you.”

Andra's expression shifted to curiosity. “Is it some kind of peace offering?” She picked up the rectangular parcel, probably knew what it already was given the shape and the weight of it.

“You could say that.” Ghost watched with apprehension as she meticulously peeled back the wrapping, sliding out what she discovered was a hardback cover of the next book in the series she was reading.

Her eyebrows relaxed; a softness overwhelmed her eyes. “You got your hands on a hardback?” she tilted the book to see the pages. “With the sprayed edge?” Her fingers traced the pattern of sigils and swirls decorating the pages. “This is a special edition…” Andra looked back up to him, her expression had his insides tangling. “I haven’t even seen one of these.”

Ghost didn’t know what to do with his hands, so they stayed by his side clenching and relaxing over and over. “The cranky, old stager that runs Raven & Crow helped me get my hands on it.” He wasn’t going to bring up how much of a pain in the ass the geezer was for him, nor was he going to bring up how the old man knew immediately who he was trying to get this for. He told Ghost a lovely young woman was coming in frequently looking for the sequel, but by the time she showed up, the one or two copies he ordered were gone. The payoff was well worth it.

Andra held the book to her chest like a schoolgirl clutching a textbook, tapping her index finger on its back. “I’ll have to think on your apology.” Ghost was about to nod when she gave him a smirk. “Okay I forgive you.”

His shoulders fell and he let out a gentle laugh. “That’s wonderful to hear.” There was a couple of people behind him that formed a line, agitated with how long they have been waiting. “I’ll let you get back to your business –“

“I have an hour here left,” Andra spoke up before he could move. “If you want, I have another chair that you can pull up. That’s if you don’t have anything else to do…”

Ghost stepped aside to let customers walk up. “I was going to find things to keep myself busy. I’ll help you bag, but I can’t guarantee I’ll be as useful as Johnny.”

Andra laughed hard at that. “You give him way too much credit.”

It had been years, more like decades by now, since Ghost had done any sort of grocery bagging. It brought him back to his first part-time job at the corner convenience store he had during his last few years of secondary school. The money always found its way into his mom’s wallet or purse when she wasn’t looking since she never accepted it from him directly. It was unfortunate when his dad got a hold of it, using it for booze and drugs instead of the water and heat bills. It was even more unfortunate when the old man ended up with a bloody nose for leaving them cold.

Ghost enjoyed watching Andra work in her element. This was her expertise, and everyone delighted in her energy. It even had Ghost grinning beneath his mask. There were a few patrons that gave Ghost double take looks as if they wanted to say something but didn’t.

He found himself scanning the faces of her patrons and passersby that took a glance at stalls here and there. Old faces, young faces, faces of children, faces shrouded by umbrellas or hooded jackets. And a face that he swore he’s seen more than once, coming around again and again in the time he decided to sit down with Andra beneath the canopy. The person’s behavior and body language made him tense.

Andra’s patient explanation about difference between the various species of squash and tomatoes pulled him away from the man that caught Ghost staring him down.

“The B grade-lookin’ veggies go in that crate,” Andra pointed behind her. “I take them for myself, or in this case I’m gonna take them to the ranch for the breeder’s animals.” There was excitement in her voice. “I’m gonna visit my new goats.”

His eyes went back to the spot the man last was, only to find someone else in his place buying from another vendor.

“I remember you saying something about them.” Ghost recalled, suddenly feeling shame since it was on the day she was picking up her truck. “Are you taking them home?”

Andra shook her head. “No, they have a few more weeks with their mama.”

Ghost looked at her with mild surprise. “There’s multiple?”

“Just two, they’re twins.” Andra said goodbye to the last customer for the day and started to pack up. “Would you like to come with me to meet them? Since it sounds like you have time in that busy schedule of yours.”

Ghost didn’t miss the nibble Andra took at her lower lip. “I can fit some time in.” He quipped back.

-----

The book looked like it belonged on her shelves. Andra grinned to herself as she angled it just the right way to stand out, giving the book its own moment of fame amongst her collection. A really smooth apology gift, in her opinion. Andra was simply happy that Ghost came back around.

Even though Ghost didn’t explain his sudden absence, Andra had a feeling that this was one of those times Johnny had warned her about. She just wasn’t prepared for how much it would impact her. At least he seems to be doing good; the bags underneath his eyes weren’t as dark as the last time she saw him.

Andra locked up the house with a happy Sammy in tow, letting her roam free off of a leash. She was bringing Sammy along to meet the new goats, part of the process of making sure the animals weren’t going to be a threat to each other and getting used to each other’s scents.

Ghost had transferred the crate of B-grade veggies to the bed of his truck on his own accord. Andra was about to ask when he started, “You mind if we take my truck?” He scratched the back of his masked head sheepishly. “I only ask because I got more leg room in mine…”

Andra held back a giggle as she approached the passenger door. “Not at all, as long as you’re okay with Sammy in the back.” He gave her a nod of the head, leading Sammy to the back of the opened tailgate and shutting it once she hopped up. “I’ll punch in the address in your Maps.” She slid in for what started to feel like an all-too familiar truck, and realized she didn’t have to adjust the seat like she’s done before. Andra tried hiding the grimace from the blossoming thought of another woman being in his truck.

She realized how ridiculous that was when he easily passed an open phone to her. Not even to his navigation app, but the home screen with the default earth background still on it. Before opening the navigator, she opened the camera and angled the phone to catch a shot of her and Ghost on the screen. “Hey.”

Ghost glanced in confusion, and blinked after he heard the sound of the fake camera shutter. He shook his head with a soft laugh and started the truck. “I trust you with my phone for the first time and you’re over there snappin’ pictures.”

Andra’s fingers tapped against the screen as she typed in the address. The navigator started and Andra placed the phone on the dock Ghost had set up on the dashboard. “Who told you it was a good idea to do that?”

Ghost shifted the truck’s gear to drive and made a U-turn to drive towards the shared road, the navigator chiming away its directions. The ETA displayed a twenty-minute drive, and Andra comfortably filled the silence with conversation.

He missed how magnetic her energy is, making his guilt come back with a vengeance. But listening to her talk about how business is going, how the truck has been running better than it was before, and how she was preparing for the winter season made all of that melt away.

If Andra wasn’t holding it against him, he needed to put it to rest.

“And what about you?” Andra turned to Ghost. “Anything interesting with you?”

Her sudden pivot to him threw him off. “No, just work.”

She sat up in her seat, her eyes still fixated on him. “Just work? You don’t have any hobbies, or places you like to go to mull things over?”

Ghost just shook his head. He didn’t really know what to say. Okay, that was a lie, but he didn’t want to go in depth with how he got too close to her, how her jasmine and vanilla scent wouldn’t leave him, the same way her scent was now filling the cabin of his truck once more. He didn’t want to explain how feeling her silky skin took days, weeks, to leave the calloused pads of his hands, and how it took all of his will to pull away from her.

Andra continued. “Or how about a night out at one of the pubs to find yourself a pretty lady to share the company with only to regret it in the morning?”

He fought the urge to roll his eyes. “I’m not Johnny. And what about you?” He challenged. “Found a lad to take you out on the town?”

She laughed at that. “No, there’s no one coming to pick me up and bringing me back before eleven.”

Ghost’s hands gripped the steering wheel a little too hard. So, who’s black sedan was driving down the road then? His motion sensors had alerted him of a car he’s never seen before a few times throughout the time span they weren’t in contact with one another. He thought about looking up the license plate a few times, but let it go out of respect for Andra’s privacy.

That hesitation went right out the window with this new development brought to him.

Andra shifted in her seat, relaxing further into the drive. “I guess we’re alike in some ways.”

“How do you reckon?”

“Too busy focused with work to let anyone else into our lives.” There was a tone of sadness in her voice she was trying to hide. “But I have a feeling you’ve grown too comfortable with being alone.”

Ghost felt like she was peering into him, and he didn’t know how to feel about that.

Andra took a second to speak again. “Did you distance yourself from me because of…” she couldn’t finish her question, but she didn’t have to for Ghost to know what she was alluding to.

Every muscle in his body tensed, and his mouth went dry.

“Your destination is on the right.”

The navigator interrupted the tension between the two of them. Ghost turned into the gravel road, passing underneath the wrought iron gate that displayed Blue Crescent Ranch.

Ghost parked a distance away from the other vehicle on the property and killed the engine. Andra looked straight ahead as she murmured, “You don’t have to answer that, sorry I brought it up.” Before she could open the passenger door, Ghost reached across her and stopped her, his hand gripping hers.

Andra’s head twisted to face him, her honey eyes wide with question. Fuck, that look did things to him. “It wasn’t your fault.” That wasn’t necessarily a lie; he wouldn’t blame her for his self-destructive tendencies. “I needed some time alone.”

Her eyes darted back and forth, looking into his eyes as if she was trying to delve deeper into a place she shouldn’t be. But she nodded. “Okay.” That single word was charged with so much trust and understanding, it twisted his heart.

Ghost removed his hand from hers, pulling himself back from the extreme close proximity he had put them in. “Let’s go meet your goats.”

A smile returned to her lovely face. “Okay.”

 Andra couldn’t say enough good things about Jasmine. She had met her at the farmer’s market – shocker – a few years ago and stayed in touch with her here and there after she had bought the chickens off of her. In truth, Andra wanted to be close friends with her, but both of their jobs kept them busy enough to not have any time to catch up very often.

Such was her life about all of the cool and wonderful people that have come and gone in the past years.

-----

A gorgeous, umber, brown-skinned Jasmine strolled out from her lovely cottage home to meet her guests, sporting fitted blue jeans and a long-sleeve plaid shirt and boots, her dark kinky hair wisping in the gentle breeze. Her jade green eyes crinkled with her smile as she went in for a warm hug, and Andra accepted her graciously, taking in her scent of orange and bergamot on her hair. “So good to see you again,” Jasmine greeted, her accent just as rich as Ghost’s.

She pulled away and acknowledged Sammy’s bubbly presence, giving her a good rub down and cooing praises. After the happy canine had her fill, she found Ghost lingering behind Andra like her shadow.

Before Jasmine could ask, Andra reached out to Ghost, summoning him to her side. “Jasmine, this is my neighbor, Simon, but we call him Ghost.” Something about saying Ghost’s first name made her stomach flip, and by judging his body language, it must have done something to him, too.

Jasmine extended her hand out politely, and Ghost shook. “A pleasure to meet you.”

“Likewise.”

Jasmine turned to Andra and waved for the two of them to follow her, walking on a path that led them to the acres of rolling, green fields. “Ready to meet your kids?”

Andra beamed a wide smile. “I’ve been thinking about them all week! How did mama do during labor?”

“She did so good!” Jasmine turned to Andra once she walked beside her. “I had those kids delivered in the middle of the night. She started contractions early in the day, I had everything prepped for a week now.”

Andra crooned an ‘aww’, the smile on her face growing brighter. Talk of the goats made the conversation in the truck fade away, and it felt like Ghost was putting it on the back burner as well as he started asking Jasmine about her ranch.

Jasmine had inherited Blue Crescent Ranch from her family and cared for her aging father while running everything. It was massive, and from the look of it she had several employees to help her take care of all of the animals. Goats, sheep, cows, horses, alpacas, and some emus.

They arrived at a cowshed that was housing the mother goat and her kids. “I am letting them bond before they go out and meet the rest of the goats, so that means Sammy is going to meet them before the rest of the flock.”

Ghost stood at the entrance of the cowshed. “I’ll let you have the first moments with ‘em.” He crossed his arms over his chest as he leaned against the doorway.

Andra nodded and handed him her phone for him to hold on to, then kept following Jasmine to the back stall. Jasmine’s voice was low, “So, your ‘neighbor’?”

Her cheeks warmed at the insinuation. “Yes, my neighbor.”

“And when did you start talking to your neighbor who happens to wear a mask?” Jasmine’s eyebrow shot up.

Andra looked over her shoulder to make sure they were out of earshot and found Ghost occupied on a phone call. “We met in the summer, he found me off the side of the road after my truck died on me, and fate had it that he’s a mechanic and he helped me get it fixed.”

“Right,” Jasmine nodded as if she’s processing this information, “And why the mask?”

Andra leaned against the wooden post she stopped beside. “He’s ex-military, I don’t really know why.”

“Have you ever seen his face?”

Boy, she was getting the full interview right now, and it had been so long since she thought about what she felt about his decision to hide behind a mask. It was unsettling for the very first time they met, but when Johnny treated it with just as much normality as if it were a N-95 mask, Andra never pushed the subject with Ghost.

“No.” Andra answered, trepidation apparent in Jasmine’s eyes as if what Andra was saying was completely insane. It probably was. “But I respect it.”

Jasmine blinked. “So I have no description to go by but a man in a skull mask if you ever go missing.”

Andra nudged her. “He’s nice. He’s never given me a reason to feel in danger and I’m friends with his best friend who served in the forces with him.”

“I think I’ll stop asking questions while I’m ahead.” Jasmine started walking again, and Andra followed. “Here they are.”

Andra squealed as she saw the two little black baby goats nursing on their sleep-deprived mother, little tails wagging faster than Sammy’s ever could. Sammy’s nose pressed against the bars of the enclosure, sniffling curiously.

They were adorable. Both of them were jet black, one of them had a tuff of white on the end of its tail.

“Both of them are boys,” Jasmine began to open the stall while Andra commanded Sammy to stay, “Did you want to come in?”

Andra was so ready to meet them. She had to gain the trust from mama first before she could get close to the kids, and it took a minute before mama allowed them to hop onto her lap. She sat on the clean bed of hay with the babies, giggling in immense joy as they sniffed and licked her.

Ghost met up with them after attending to his phone call to find Andra snuggling the baby goats. She caught his silhouette in her peripheral and looked up with a wide smile. “Aren’t they precious?”

Andra swore he was smiling beneath that balaclava. “You got names for them yet?”

Her focus returned to the wily kids competing for her attention, thankfully she had two hands to pet both of them. “Oh yeah, I got names for them already.” Andra picked up the jet black kid to showcase him to Ghost. “This one will be Phantom,” then she picked up the other in the same fashion, “And this one is Shadow.”

Did his eye twitch? It made her mischievous grin harder to hold back. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”

“You had things to say about me naming my chicken Ted, so I figured I’d take a page out of your playbook.”

Jasmine was holding back her laughter and turned away.

Andra was too consumed by the copious amounts of affection the animals were giving her to realize what Ghost was doing until it was too late. “Andra.”

Her head shot up at the sound of Ghost saying her name to find him holding up a phone in a similar angle that she had done not too long ago, crouching down to make sure he had her in the frame. “Say payback.”

Ghost took the photo, and her mouth went slack in surprise. “Is that my phone!?”

Sammy trotted happily up the steps of the front porch and sat with a windshield-wiper tail on full blast, patiently waiting for Andra to open the front door. The energetic dog darted inside seconds after Andra swung the door open and left it open behind her. The two of them lingered on the front porch, Andra leaning against the threshold and Ghost standing close with his hands fisted in his jacket pockets.

“Thank you for coming along with me.” Andra started. “It was good seeing you again.”

“It was a pleasure.” Ghost looked out to the gray skies, the sprinkle of rain continuing its descent like it had been the whole morning. “I hope I didn’t make your friend uncomfortable.” He turned back to Andra to gauge her reaction.

“Oh no, she’s really lovely.” Andra’s lips turned up into a grin. “She’s just looking out for me.”

Ghost nodded. “I get why she was asking if you knew what I look like underneath the,” he pointed a finger to his masked face.

Now it was Andra’s turn to look away, nibbling at her lower lip from learning that he still heard what they said. “I just told her that... I respect it, and I honestly don’t mind.” His eyes were intense when she looked back at him, and her insides turned hot. “Is that weird?”

He let out an amused huff. “Completely bizarre.”

Andra shifted her weight onto her other foot, standing straight now and looking up to meet his gaze. “I respect your choice to remain hidden.” Her hands began to feel warm and clammy. “I had made the assumption in my mind that you pretty much wore it through your time in service, and – I don’t know...”

Andra struggled to manifest the thoughts into words even though this was something she has thought of before, but Ghost waited patiently, giving her his full attention to what she had to say. “Maybe it’s a physical metaphor of not being able to put that all behind you. As if the shadows have returned.”

Ghost looked extremely uncomfortable from her deduction. “The shadows haven’t returned, they just never left.” It sounded like he was struggling to keep his voice from faltering, and instead his response came out gruff.

Andra’s heart dropped to her stomach. His shadows were comparatively darker than hers, but they both had shadows all the same. She recognized that conviction in his words, believing so firmly that he’s still damaged and haunted by things that won’t stay buried. Her eyes softened once her gaze returned to his. “I hope this doesn’t mean you’re gonna disappear on me again.”

The pleading in her gaze pierced him in the chest. “I’ll do better.”

Her face turned up with a glimmer of faith. “I’ll accept that.”

“I’ll do you one better.” Ghost removed his hands from his pockets, palming his phone in one. “If you’re not doing anything Saturday morning, I would like to take you somewhere.”

Andra held herself back from looking too eager. “Are you asking me out on a date?”

“Doesn’t have to be a date. Just a little morning excursion if weather permits.”

Ghost really was trying, and it swelled something fierce in her heart. “Then I accept this invitation for our not-date.”

“I’ll see you Saturday morning, then.” Ghost left her front porch and hurried off to his truck to avoid getting rained on. Andra watched his truck drive back down the gravel path and make the left turn onto their shared road.

Her phone started to buzz in her pocket, Jasmine was calling to finish the conversation they had started. “Hey, no I’m free I just said bye to Ghost – oh my God, you’re impossible.”

-----

Ghost booted up his laptop after receiving Laswell’s brief message letting him know she sent over any information she could dig up with the license plate number he had given her. He had called her when they were at the Blue Crescent Ranch and while Andra was fawning over her goats. Shadow and Phantom... that woman. Ghost muttered a curse to himself after looking over the registration documents.

It was a dead end.

The license plates were registered under a 65-year-old woman, and the make and model of the vehicle did not match the black sedan that were sporting the plates.

Ghost sighed and leaned back in the chair, staring at the screen as he pulled off his balaclava. This new development put his defenses on high alert. There shouldn’t have been any reason for a person driving with stolen plates to be coming down their road as frequently as this one has been. Shouldn’t have stolen plates at all. A one-time occurrence wouldn’t be enough for him to look into it, but after reviewing every motion sensor alert, this car had traveled down the road and back a total of seven times since July. A week after Andra had gotten her truck from the shop.

It was now September.

Ghost detested himself for feeling some kind of relief when Andra first had told him she wasn’t seeing anyone. He still felt that way, but the distress of this unknown person superseded that. He also remembered that Andra didn’t have any form of security on her property.

He would have to rectify that. She would most likely agree with him that it would be rational to set up at least a few cameras around the outside of her house, and maybe he could convince her to set one up near her mailbox as well. There were a couple of spare cameras he had in storage from when he first set up his own security system back when he moved in.

Johnny, much to his chagrin, had helped him set up the cameras. He had set up his own at his flat, but it seemed like he only checks his doorbell camera every time he gets packages delivered as of late. He wasn’t as concerned about being hunted down the way Ghost was; the 141 had faked his death a year before they had actually completed their contract. It seemed like no matter how many times Ghost had faked his death, it felt like someone out there still knew that he would never stay dead.

Christ... Ghost rubbed his burning eyes and closed the laptop. What was he doing? He recalled what Price told him the day they were on their flight back home. Let Simon have a life now. It was clear what he meant; put away the mask, live a civilian life, find a nice woman, or man, to warm his bed.

Ghost wouldn’t allow himself the luxury of living, he managed to sabotage any connection that wasn’t Johnny, Price, or Gaz. He was certain Andra would have told Ghost to jog off after the cold shoulder he had given her.

Until she hadn’t.

And then she had to go and showcase how much she just might understand his issues. Her metaphors of shadows made his knees feel like they were ready to give out. It was like he was out in an open field with no cover, and she had him in her sights of a scope. Vulnerable.

Ghost picked up his phone sitting beside the closed laptop and found himself looking at the photo she had taken in the truck. He saw her cheery smile on the screen, reaching up all the way to her eyes. With his unexpecting glance in her direction in the background. There was an iridescence about her eyes, it had him looking for what felt like several minutes. He didn’t want to think about what those eyes looked like the day she left the auto shop.

A message from Andra startled his train of thought. What’s the dress code for our morning rendezvous?

The corner of his mouth turned up slightly as he responded. Wear sensible shoes for walking.

----------

Like and reblog if you're enjoying this! Any interactions are appreciated ✨

#simon ghost riley #simon riley x oc #call of duty #call of duty mw2 #cod mw2 #ghost cod #simon riley smut #ghost smut #slow burn #retired au #cod mwii #john soap mactavish #soap mactavish #soap call of duty #ghost x oc #simon riley

[pandorkful]

Replaying Lunar on stream has been kinda wild, like man there are some things I either missed 20 years ago or completely forgot about.

Like how rotten these punk kids are! I feel like a mortified chaperone leading a field trip that's gone completely off the rails, half the time I'm reading out their dialog. Kyle and Nash are definitely the worst offenders, but Jessica's earned herself a slap on the wrist a couple times too.

Nall can be annoyingly childish, but he's not dipped into the abhorrent social behavior nearly as much. Mia and Alex remain on good terms with me, by being blessedly quiet most of the time.

I miss Ramus, he was my good boy! The one braincell that held the party together! He gets a bad rap for some misogynistic comments he makes, but those get completely blown out of the water by Kyle's toxic 90's "it's funny to hate women" masculinity. And to be honest, Ramus' two points of character flaw effectively cancel themselves out:

Whines that Luna shouldn't come on the adventure because "girls just keep guys from having fun." (A very mild and childish form of misogyny. )

Later hires a squad of bunnygirls to work in his store, proving that maybe he's grown and learned that his prior protestations were unfounded. (And his employees adore him, so he's definitely not mistreating them!)

And then there's Luna. Dear sweet, angry and tormented Luna. She also earned a few slaps on the wrist due to some carelessly judemental comments, but was mostly well behaved while she was with us.

Some of her dialog was written to be nagging, but I chose to interpret those moment as raw anger and it really adds to her character I think. She has every right to be angry, growing up in the worst village on Lunar!! Surrounded by weirdos who shipped her with her brother-by-adoption from the moment she showed up!!!

Oof, that's a plot quirk that I didn't pick up on the first time I played the game. WD did a decent job trying to bury it, but there are a few moments of "I miss OUR parents, Alex" that really had me feeling the Folger's holiday awkwardness.

Tbh, the main thing WD did to hide the lede was avoid publishing that Luna and Alex have the same surname (something that later game localizers didn't bother hiding,) and calling Luna a foundling as often as possible. Idk, maybe it's just me, but if you grow up from infanthood together, nursed by the same woman, and call the adults raising you "mom and dad".... you're siblings. It doesn't matter that you're not related by blood, you experienced the sibling relationship dynamic and therefore it is still incestuous to date eachother. Ew.

More worryingly, there's the argument that the Noah's didn't raise Luna as their daughter, but just as a "foundling." What does that entail? A cold, emotionally neglectful distance. An orphan kept close at hand only for her miraculous ability to keep their "real" kid from crying 24/7. (According to one early tie-in manga.) That's worse, I hate that. Though.... that would explain a lot of Luna's anger and frustration.

Does the second scenario make a romantic relationship between Luna and Alex okay? No. If anything, it makes it even worse.

It's too bad there's basically no mental health support on Lunar, because all these kids need intensive counseling of one sort or another.

Last night was the first appearance of Tempest and Fresca, two kids that I always forget, like, exist in the game. They're introduced like they matter, but, well... if you stick with my streams, we'll probably uncover why I'm so lukewarm on those characters either this upcoming Sunday or the Sunday after that (depending on whether Myght's tower is as annoying as I remember it being or not.)

For all my grousing, I still love the cast of Lunar so much. They are an absolute mess, in a way I don't see from other rpgs of that era or any other era if I'm honest. An endearing mess. I could just use a little less of some of the worst stuff that was mostly left behind in the 90's and early 00's.

On the other hand, sometimes it's good to be reminded of the things society has grown past. Because nostalgia can be a very dangerous thing.

(Also, I really need to work on writing out my Queer Lunar Thesis. Because I've got a queer reading for every one of these characters. Maybe even Tempest and Fresca? We'll have to get through their story before I can make up my mind on them. It'll be hilarious if they turn out to be the only hetero cis characters on the moon.)

#lunar silver star story complete #lunar rambles

[johnica-weeks]

A week for Brian and Roger's canon pairings!

🗓 When? From Wednesday 12th to Sunday 16th April

🔍 Where? On Tumblr and AO3!

✨️ Tumblr hashtag: #BrianRogerShipsWeek23

📚 AO3 collection: Brian_RogerShipsWeek23

How? This event is open to all kind of content creators! Writing, fan-arts, video edits, meta and photo appreciation, moodboards, music covers...

RULES under the prompts!

Each day will be dedicated to a specific CANON pairing that involved Roger and Brian in a meaningful and official way in their real lives. This means no crack ships such as Queen x Queen, Queen x Roadie, Queen x OC, etc.*

Only Roger x Dominique/Debbie/Sarina and Brian x Chrissie/Anita!*

PROMPTS:

Day 1: Roger and Dominique (12th April)

Language barrier

Surprisingly powerful

Take me anywhere, I'll follow you

When I look and I find I still love you

Day 2: Brian and Chrissie (13th April)

Hair, hair, so much hair!

Opposites attract

Please, I really need you to hold me right now.

White Queen, how my heart did ache

Day 3: Roger and Debbie (14th April)

Under the sunshine

Growing family

Baby you got a fire in you

If I could only reach you, if I could make you smile

Day 4: Brian and Anita (15th April)

I love to do everything at your side.

You're really stubborn!

Vegetarian dinner

Baby I know what my poor heart needs

Day 5: Roger and Sarina (16th April)

This would be a great tattoo!

It's not a matter of age

Touring with Q+AL

Incredible how you can see right through me

RULES:

💕 *Poly ships are allowed as long as they include at least two people from the canon ships (random examples Roger x Dominique x Crystal OT3, Brian x Anita x Roger x Debbie OT4, Brian x Anita x OC OT3 etc.)

👑 Looking forward more crack ships that involve Brian and Roger or for Queen events without shipping? Soon there will be Poly Week > @queenpolyweek and Gen Weekend! So check out @queen-fandom-calendar for all related events!

💕 Genderbends are allowed, and any Alternative Universe as well! (A/B/O, different historical period, non famous, fantasy, Soulmates, etc!)

🔥 NSFW works ARE ALLOWED. Be careful to tag everything properly and do not engage with adult content if you're a minor.

💕 The invite is to write fics that celebrate these couples and the love they brought to Brian and Roger's lives. Angst is allowed, but since most of the already existing fics regarding these couples (specially Brian-centric) are already angsty, about cheating and/or marriage issues, the main suggestion for this event is to focus instead on the positive and good aspects of them. Romance, good endings, rekindling a relationship or building a family, touring together, acceptation, having fun...

What can you do:

Like all Ship Weeks, this is a fandom event to share love and creativity related to a particular couple, so be sure to engage with the entries and support all the artists and writers that chose to join! Reblog, leave likes/kudos and comment on the artworks to keep the fandom alive! 💜💖💕💜💖💕

If a work is not tagged appropriately, you can reach out to me via DM and I’ll warn the author. If anything makes you uncomfortable, simply close the work! Do not engage by leaving nasty comments or messaging the author!

If you need a hand, HERE'S a useful guide for tagging your works.

And HERE'S a guide on how to post anonymously on AO3!

📖 As a reader:

Positive interactions are always much welcomed, don't be shy! Support the authors by leaving likes, a comment (even a little one!) and sharing their work through recs and reblogs. On AO3 you don’t need an account to leave Kudos and Comments! (Unless the author has willingly prevented guests to comment). To leave a comment on AO3 as guest you simply have to choose a temporary mail and set your email to get a notification for an eventual reply.

‼️ IMPORTANT ‼️

During the event, if any of you/your entries gets hateful comments or messages towards you, your entries, any of the ships, the event or other creators, please DELETE the hateful comment/message right away with no interactions and let me know! This is no place for haters, just for creativity and love.

If you see a hateful comment on other works do not engage, instead leave a positive comment to the same work and support the author! 💜

I hope you're all going to have fun and write beautiful stories for the event! As usual, if you have any doubt or question reach out to this blog's askbox! 🥰 Don't forget to share!

#BrianRogerShipsWeek23 #brian and roger ships week 2023 #queen fanfics #queen fandom #roger taylor fanfic #brian may fanfic #branita #brian may x Anita dobson #brissie #brian may x Chrissie mullen #rogerique #domtay #roger taylor x dominique beyrand #saroger #roger taylor x sarina potgeier #roger taylor x debbie leng #chrissie mullen fanfic #anita dobson fanfic #Dominique beyrand fanfic #debbie leng fanfic #sarina Taylor fanfic #queen fandom events #queen ship weeks #canon ships

[daydream-cement]

Hi! If you're still looking for prompts/requests to do with Fern X Larissa, I would love to see maybe the two of them walking around Jericho on a date or something and getting heckled because they're outcasts?

Also this might be a weird question but do you have a Kofi or a tip jar or something like that?

Freaks

Larissa Weems x OC (Fern Rogers)

Authors Note: This was an adorable little idea! Song for this oneshot would be Spurs by Madeline Edwards.

For those that don’t know, I have Buy Me A Coffee. So if you would like to buy me a coffee and support what I do, that is greatly appreciated.

“Sunday we could go over to Burlington. I’ve heard they have a new exhibit at the Fleming Art Museum…” Larissa suggested, after you asked what they should do for the weekend. You had been dating for a few weeks and everything was fresh and new. You were excited to do anything together.

“I saw something about that in the paper. The Dark Goddess photographs or the Rockwell Kent drawings?” You respond. It was the beginning of December and snow had yet to fall. It was probably a little too cold for a walk, but you and Larissa were enjoying a stroll through Jericho anyway.

You pulled yourself against her arm, happy to enjoy the warmth she exuded. Both of your hands gripped her bicep while her spare hand still carried a coffee from the Weathervane. While she didn’t enjoy public displays of affection, she couldn’t deny she loved having you close, “Dark Goddess, but I wouldn’t be apposed to Rockwell. You know when he was-“

Larissa’s sentence was stopped short when she noticed two men blocking your path. Their glares made their malicious intent evident. Your hands grasp at Larissa’s arm, communicating your nervousness at their presence.

Larissa didn’t seem phased. She continued walking, pulling you along with her. When Larissa attempted to move around them, that’s when they became confrontational, “Where do you think you’re going?”

The taller and skinner of the two spoke up, his glare focused on Larissa, “You’re a couple of them freaks from that school, aren’t you?”

You glance up at Larissa wondering what she would say to them. It wasn’t like her to tolerate slander against any outcast. Her lips remained pursed and she stayed silent.

“We teach at the school.” You state, lifting your chin to display a heightened level of confidence. You didn’t want to let them see you waver.

They seemed to ignore your words, continuing a discussion between themselves. They wanted you to hear their bigoted words. The stout man spoke up, “It’s a shame these freaks end up being attractive. That’s how they trick normies into making more of them. Happened to the sheriff, I heard.”

Their words made you cringe in disgust. How could someone speak such vitriolic words?

“I don’t know. The little one looks normal enough. What’s your power, freak?” They finally turn their attention to you and silence permeates the air between you. Now they wanted you to speak. You could see the clouds of breath that manifested in the space between you all.

You knew you had the opportunity to walk away, but you couldn’t bring yourself to do it, instead you chose words that would upset them and Larissa as well. You kept your voice steady and monotone, even though you were nervous to fight back, “The ability to do your mom.”

It was so childish, you knew that well, but these men weren’t interested in having a discussion about outcast/normie relations. No, they just wanted to make you both feel small and lesser. You saw no problem in your words.

“Fern.” Larissa pulled her arm away, not enough to break your grip, but enough to get your attention. Her tone was a warning. It was too late. You said what you said.

“He asked.” You remained steady in your words, not letting Larissa shake you either. The men had obviously been taken aback and were thrown by you taking a bit of power back from them. You watched them glance at each other, looking for the other to come up with something to say.

Instead of finding something to say back to you, the stout one led the way, pushing past you. The tall one moved past Larissa, choosing to spill her coffee which slashed on her shoes. Larissa was quiet in her reaction, but you heard her words, “Oh, my new shoes…”

You feigned like you were picking up her cup, but your hand reached into the dormant grass nearby. You focused past Larissa’s legs onto the moving feet of the men. Much to your delight, you watched the grass near them churn and move. Roots moved from the ground grasping at their shoes, just enough to trip them, sending them tumbling to the ground. The roots then slithered back into the ground to enjoy their dormancy. Larissa didn’t see what you did, but did spin around to see the two men on the pavement, trying to salvage the rest of their dignity.

“Must have been uneven pavement,” You shrug and pick up the now empty coffee cup and lid, “Come on. I’ll buy you a new coffee.”

You loop your arm through Larissa’s, pulling her along with you, but her eyes remained on the men, scanning the pavement. Larissa tried hiding a satisfied smile. She noticed that the concrete looked perfectly fine, leading her to doubt your reasoning. She shook the feeling, trying to forget about the men.

Her hands came to rest on your bicep now, bringing up your words from earlier, “Ability to do your mom? What are you? 12?”

#larissa weems #fern rogers #wednesday netflix #fanfic #gwendoline christie #stately sequoia #oneshot #larissa weems x oc #the cedars have eyes #violet and rose

[tiktokitssinoclock]

Studying Struggles- The Moon Boys

SFW// Minors and ageless blogs, DNI // You will be blocked

Summary:

Being a university student can come with its challenges, but the boys are more than willing to help you combat them.

Word Count:

1.0K

Warnings/Triggers:

Brief mentions of an unhealthy eating schedule (non-ED related; only in Jake Lockley's section)

Unrelated, but to my Cubans and potentially other hispanics out there, DON'T FREAK OUT when I mention habichuelas y arroz LMAO. My fam is Puerto Rican and we eat them all the time, but I only recently learned from a Cuban friend that whenever I talk about habichuelas y arroz, she thinks I'm mixing green beans and rice. I'm actually talking about delicious stewed beans (with papas y jamon ofc) and rice. That's all, just wanted you to know that I'm not a green bean heathen <3

Steven Grant

Your tendency to agree to anything that's asked of you makes being a student exceedingly difficult

Coworkers will ask you to pick up the odd shift or two and you'll hopelessly accept, managing to take notes on a chapter or two for your problem class after a lunch rush or during your breaks

Your friends might ask you to be a designated driver for their night at the club and you just can't say no, knowing damn well you'll have to study from the moment you get home until your alarm starts going off to get ready for work

It's always one thing after the next, it seems, and although you don't like to admit it to yourself, it can get utterly exhausting

That changes a little once you move in with the boys, however

Steven makes an effort to remember even your most minute mentions exams, and when they start coming up, he makes an effort to help you get the most out of your studies

He'll try his best to keep his cluttered flat a little more organized, keeping his books mostly on their shelves and making sure his desk is relatively clear

Requests for you to join your friends on nights out diminish, but for some odd reason when you are invited, its conveniently on weekends where you're free

After catching Steven steal a peek at your pocket calendar before sending a text, however, you quickly piece together why

He even beats you to the phone when someone from work calls, quickly hitting decline before you can even protest

"Come on, love. You and I both know it's not good for you to pick up any more shifts this week."

He's just supportive through and through, making sure you're not overwhelming yourself while also cheering you on

As soon as exam season is over, he treats you to a weekend of nothing but eating take out and catching up on your favorite shows, too

Marc Spector

You're by no means a stupid person, however, you are quite unorganized

Every week there's a deadline that comes out of nowhere, whether it be for a research paper worth 30% of your grade or an exam that you simply can't afford to do bad on

You typically do enough to pull through in the end, but you're always mentally spent and by the time you're recovered, the cycle repeats again

Marc almost immediately catches onto this, and one night when you close your laptop after barely submitting a presentation on time, he decides he can't let you go on like that

He helps you pull up the syllabi for all your courses and painstakingly comb through the due dates, neatly filling out the calendar you'd neglected to use all semester until everything is written down

"See how I broke everything up across the week? It's so you can get stuff done early and stop killing yourself every Sunday."

He makes you promise to try to follow the schedule you guys made and, while you weren't a fan of the idea of jumping back into your school work so soon after another hectic weekend, you begrudgingly agreed

Marc didn't let your efforts go unrecognized

When you were making slow but steady progress on a book report, you almost don't realize Marc had placed your favorite drink from a local cafe next to you until he was pressing a kiss to the top of your head

After you finally finished drilling through flashcards for a quiz, he was at your side in an instant with your coat in his hand

"Let's go on a walk for a little while, you could use a break."

By the time Friday night had rolled around, you turned in your report and found yourself with nothing left to do

Marc simply smirked at the shocked expression on your face as you flipped through the planner to double check, returning his attention to the dinner he was cooking

"Good job, habibti. Now you can sleep in with me all weekend."

Jake Lockley

Typically, you've got a pretty good hold on balancing all of your school responsibilities with the demands of day-to-day life

You're on top of your studying and homework assignments while also juggling a social life and household chores

The one thing that slips through the cracks, however, is food

Your kitchen gets deserted overnight, the contents of your fridge replaced with meal replacement shakes

Jake notices this especially when a big exam or assignment is coming up- its as if you've subconsciously knocked nutrition down on the hierarchy of importance

He doesn't like that- not one bit

So he puts an end to it

During your next stressful bought, he made it his personal mission to make sure you were eating real food for every meal

Even when you offered up polite protests of "Jake, you don't have to do all that" or "I'll be fine, I promise", they always fell on deaf ears

"Nourishing your body is just as important as nourishing your mind, mi vida. Eat."

And that's how it went from then on

Sometimes you'll be hunched over your computer, nearly done reteaching yourself how to calculate pH, when he leaves a plate of scrambled eggs at your side

Other times you'd be so busy plowing through practice problems, you almost don't notice the hot cup of coffee and sandwich waiting for you

When the night runs late and you start nodding off in your seat, he'll close the laptop in front of you and drag a chair over to join you, the two of you having a late meal of habichuelas and rice

That's how it continues until your last final is finally taken and you can relax

You always offer different ways to make up for it, like doing all the cooking for a month in return, but all he ever wants is quality time with you

#steven grant #steven grant x reader #marc spector #marc spector x reader #jake lockley #jake lockley x reader #moon knight #moon boys

[blackjack-15]

I KNEW NAT WAS PREGNANT i did not know she knew she was but i knew it!

RICHIE NO HONEY

"is that it?" *boink* "yeah" the bear is a comedy. full stop.

ebra you can do it baby i believe in you and i love you

and carmy's still cooking, still working. him and ebra.

oh syd's mum isn't there. she's not there is she she's dead or she's left or something

that was an Adorable story and i wanna see Syd imitate her mum who is definitely dead

oh candles. yeah. so why did she talk about her in the present tense to marcus? hiding it? hiding means there's prolly some trauma, and her mum wouldn't have been that old if she was the same age as her dad (he said they were both twenty when they started dating) so i'm gonna say sickness. might have been sudden, might have been prolonged, but sickness took her is my guess

"carm?" oh. i think i know who thiiiiiis issss

"claire. hi." yes, yes i did know who this is. that's not an enthusiastic reaction from carmy, but to be absolutely fair, he's rarely enthusiastic.

he is however very nervous here -- defensive posture, his face is red, tense jaw, etc. not sure these two were friends when they knew each other -- not saying they were enemies or anything, i'm just not getting the sense that they hung out much

mmm. based on this convo with syd and her dad? he's never been to The Beef in his LIFE. it would come up that they've closed down his Usual Sunday Place to do this if he had. adding that to the list of chekov's guns yet to be fired, and it's gonna be a friggin chekov's cannon ball depending on when that fuse is finally lit

"i have a partner!" "and you trust him" "yes!" gosh dangit. the subtext is text all right but like....conflict is coming

"i'm older than her now" oh land her mum died young then. and she does not believe her dad when he says she's just as wonderful as her mum was

i'm really hoping richie is gonna take a shower. that cannot be healthy

kay still talking with claire! great that doesn't make me nervous about this season at all!

"you wanted to fix [the broken arm]?" "i wanted to understand it" a very valid viewpoint, not knocking it.

but it does show the difference between them -- carmy, like in the party with the kids, like when he's checking in with richie and natalie and syd and tina, wants to help people, wants to fix stuff for them. claire wants to understand how things work -- two different approaches, two different foci.

oh. mm.

okay. okay. okay.

first off, carmy's "i should really listen to myself" about telling that kid not to become a chef? further proof if you ask me that carmy will end up stepping back from professional kitchens in some way

but

if someone so obviously does not want to be doing what they're doing -- if someone says they should not be a chef, for example, and then says that they're opening a restaurant? the first question most people would ask is: "why are you doing that then"

what claire says is "you're doing the thing!" which. i don't actually have words for that response. what in the brain-dead -- i don't care if that's what you remember of him from school or being kids or whatever, how on earth is that the response?

"because you're the bear. and i remember you." spit bucket please!

who the eff says that in a grocery store to someone holding frozen veal stock

he has absolutely no idea how to take that, wow.

in fact, yeah, i don't think carmy has any idea how to deal with personal attention like that, and he needs people to be fairly direct b/c he's sort of oblivious when it comes to how people think/act around him specifically -- he seems to understand People as a General Concept pretty well, just not as they relate to him -- which speaks to abominable self-esteem and i'm going to guess that when he says "i never had any girlfriends" it's not because a few girls (it was probably only two or three, especially being as Carmy as he is, but still) weren't interested in him, it's because he absolutely did not notice, God bless him and keep him

"i'll just get your contact information" oh here it issss here's the thing i know about

and they were so careful to have him recite his number earlier so we'd know what it is

"01....0....2." it's a VERY deliberate choice to give her the wrong number. this isn't a spur of the moment choice, he thought this through. and when she repeats it back and he has the chance to say "oh no 01 sorry", he just says "yup", no hesitation. they're emphasizing to the view that he's okay leaving it there, that this is done on purpose, that he's lying and that he knows he's lying

now there are a multitude of reasons for him doing this. if you think he does actually want contact with her, then it could be he doesn't believe she actually would want to talk to him, he doesn't have any idea how to handle her and is running, etc.

you could even say that this is classic Carmy repression -- he's not letting himself do something he wants to do because he's repressing the desire for it. that one's probably the strongest argument -- really the only valid argument -- on that side

but.

i think that the reason to have this in this episode specifically? is because he and syd have that conversation about the three-star call in this episode

remember what he says? first 10 seconds feels like a panic attack, b/c you know you'll have to keep it up. your brain skips any sort of joy or celebration, and settles instead on dread. that's carmy's experience with getting an honor few get in the culinary world, and it shows that he's actually not happy in being a Chef-with-a-capital-C. this episode fairly beats that into the viewer, honestly

i think it's the same thing here. he knows if he gives her his number that he'll have to keep it up. his brain skips any sort of happiness and settles on dread. and -- finally taking his own advice here, probably because he just mentioned he should take his own advice, carmy is quite introspective, he's just a little Blocked when it comes to his own emotions -- he decides that it's not worth it. the panic and the dread and the sheer effort it would take to maintain this is not worth it

this conversation is not shot like it's easy. carmy's leaning on the side of the freezer like he needs something to physically prop himself up. the lighting is great for claire, who's comfortable, but it washes carmy out, makes him look even more tired.

full disclosure, i don't know anything more than the fact that she goes behind his back (!!! i will have words!!) in the coming episodes sometime to get his real number, that's the extent of my knowledge.

but even without knowing that, watching this conversation? this isn't a full-fledged chekov's gun, this is at most a chekov's water pistol. she's gonna be here, but she's not gonna be omnipresent. her presence -- which i'm guessing will work largely as a distraction, pulling carmy away from The Bear, as well as being a Specter of the Past -- will cause conflict, rather than build a relationship. shot in the dark work, but given that we're shown how Carmy has a problem going all-or-nothing, and last season he went overboard on the "all" part of that, i'm guessing this season she'll be used to demonstrate the "nothing" part of his personality

which will cause problems and conflict, yes, and also provide an opportunity for the other chefs in the kitchen to grow into the roles they'll need to fill in carmy's eventual (permanent) exit from the kitchen. i get the feeling that the sign for "sorry" introduced here is gonna get quite a bit of airtime

this is long and rambly, but yeah! that's episode 2 -- two very relaxed season openers, i'll note -- we've got 8 to go, and i can feel the un-caged bear getting restless enough to start causing a ruckus....

#the bear #liveblogging #2X02 #that's the last post for tonight! my best friend is off the plane so i shall go chat with her probably and then sleep! #really enjoying this and i just know that the Conflict and Chaos that so marks the bear as a show is gonna start #so that was claire! interesting meeting her! she seems kinda like a nothingburger rn but oh. i know she's gonna get Worse #it's the only thing i know so i'm looking forward to the context to see if it makes it better or worse or different #no idea if i'm watching tomorrow since NYE but we shall see! i like this two-eps-a-day sort of thing i should finish by end of next week #possibly earlier but we shall see #once again block the liveblogging tag if this is awful for you! liveblogging just helps me parse the show #and there's a whole lot to parse

[destinyc1020]

Confessions, I wish there were more dark skinned females leads in Hollywood. It’s disheartening that in 2023 the only representation we had was in the 90s and early 00s. What makes matters worse is the those films and tv shows meant nothing because black creatives own nothing in Hollywood. I think Tyler Perry is the only black creative that owns a studio. I’m aware this is toned deaf due to the strike, but the Tiana casting for live action really put me in a bad mood lol. Ppl were fan casting Zendaya lol.

I’m aware that she would never take it cause she only takes roles that are for whites women lol, but the fact not dark skinned actress is ever gonna get to that level she’s gotten to (rightly deserved due to Disney, marvel and fashion) her career is a dime in a dozen. Even Halle berry in her peak never got to a level commercially like her white counterparts. She found solace career wise in black films and producing.

Zendaya is outperforming her white peers but it’s crazy how for black creatives we are only allowed one but in the music industry there’s a plethora of black women of different shades and shapes thriving. I really hope I don’t come across bitter or that I don’t like Zendaya success cause ppl do love to use her as a scapegoat ( the Keke scandal last year is an example). It’s just crazy that as we become technologically advanced, the lack of opportunity is sparse and the talent is there. Like there’s no black lady bird film?

That’s my confession/rant lol.

Happy Sunday!

First off anon.... Thanks so much for your confession. 🙏🏾

I'm almost getting emotional because I've felt the same way for a long time, and I can relate to just about everything you said in your ask... 🥺

I'll try to keep it semi-brief... To me, I feel like there ARE talented young, dark-skinned, black women in Hollywood.... but like you said, they're just not being given the same amount (or even same type) of roles as other women in the industry who are of lighter hues. 😔

For some reason, Hollywood has no issue with hiring darker black women once they hit 45 and up... We have Viola, Angela, Octavia, etc, all doing massively well (imo), and being cast in all types of lead and supporting roles in mainstream films....

But for SOME reason, when it comes to casting darker YOUNG black women (especially American) in roles, it's almost like Hollywood forgets that younger darker skinned black women under 35 even exist! 🤔

I've been noticing the pattern for a few years.

And no, I know you don't mean anything negative about Zendaya.... Zendaya has an AWESOME career.... and she basically started from the ground up (no Nepo or rich parents for her!), she worked hard, she's ambitious, she spreads out her work to include ambassadorships/modeling/TV/film, she honed her craft, she didn't overstep her boundaries or immediately go after lead roles on the big screen before she could handle it.... etc.. Like, she's done AMAAZING in Hollywood, and has really started to build an empire (imo) if that's the route she eventually wants to go in. 👏🏾

The only other black young woman in HW who I would say is even somewhat close to what Z is doing is probably Keke..... but even Keke isn't on the same level as Z. Honestly, I don't think there's any young darker-skinned actress out here in the industry who's doing it like Zendaya. Shhhhtt..... even the white actresses aren't doing it like Zendaya right now lol 😆 So, it's def rare....

But you're right.... it's almost like Hollywood forgets that young black women darker than a paper bag even exist. 🤷🏾‍♀️ When they ONLY use light skinned young actresses for black representation, the black women who AREN'T lighter than a paper bag, or biracial, etc can start to feel left out and not represented at all. 😔

Don't get me wrong, SOME representation is better than none lol 😆 👀

But imo, Hollywood can definitely do better. I would LOVE to see a wholesome Lady Bird type of film, but for black women. 😃

I'm VERY excited about the new "Color Purple" musical film coming out, but if the musical is anything like the original film, that's yet ANOTHER film featuring black actresses that (yet again!) have to deal with trauma, suffering, angst, and struggle.... 🥴 Why can't we get some HAPPY stories for a change? 😅 Do ppl just love watching us struggle onscreen or smthg?

Anyway, let me stop rambling coz I've already said way too much as is. 😞

BTW, Oprah owns Harpo Studios I believe? 🤔 So Tyler isn't the only one IIRC.

#confession corner sunday #confession corner

[seikilos-stele]

At one time, I was a prolific writer, now I’m a busy commentator who flings an idea now and then when people seek me out. The one thing that did not change in either role was that I could not work on more than two projects at the same time -possibly three-otherwise, they would begin to influence each other. Perhaps I have a limited attention span.

Today, I opened my in-box to no less then ten of your potential projects, and at least four WIP.

That was today. In actuality, I believe that you have about seven WIP that have been active in the last ten days. I want to know a few things about both the ability and the methodology for managing this many projects.

First, I want to note that while all the WIP & finished projects are of the same Fandom, essentially, that is all they have in common. We have potential TV episodes, AU, OC, Angst, Hope, Illness and so forth. No easy bridges for immediate crossovers.

So what is the trick?

Do you keep each fic logged into your head so that you can pick them up at any moment? Do keep the detailed outlines close at hand, so you can review before you begin?

I can imagine that working on one fic my possibly inspire ideas for another WIP, or do all others remain outside your scope when actively writing? Do you ever conflate multiple WIP (bleed characteristics from one fic to another)

Do the 5X a character did this or that always begin as a group concept, or have you ever looked at prompts a say, “Hey! These ideas all share a them” and decide to combine them.

Finally, one of my absolute favorite collections of yours was the NighThrawn fics. At some point you broke them up up. Were they created originally to be a related collection?

I hope I’m not distracting the creative machine, too much!

Ooh!! No worries, I'm not doing anything creative at the moment 😆 I'm annoying my brother by practicing Louis Armstrong songs over his silent films. (Ain't Misbehavin'....fits really well with Sangue Bleu...somehow).

Um, let's see. I'd say that some days a fic really gets you. The long one I just wrote on Sunday, the 18K oneshot about a political prisoner coming home from the war and making friends with an "enemy" kid -- that's the sort of idea that comes at the right time, when you're in just the right mood, and you can breeze through it in just a few hours. It's like the stars align and everything goes perfect.

But most of the time I just really want to write and I like to have a full stable of ideas to choose from. Like, it's easier if you can just pull up a list, scan through it, and pick one. You can write 1K, and then when you get sick of it, you can pick a different idea and keep going. Spit out another 1K, switch ideas, do another...

I don't keep them logged in my head, I 100% forget all about them as soon as I switch to a different fic 💀 The only reason I get anything done is because Google Docs always suggests your most recent documents to you when you open it up in the morning. As soon as it stops suggesting a doc I basically forget about it forever. I definitely need the outlines to refresh my memory, and I've sometimes had to stop working on fics because I wrote my outline down in two different spots and can't find it or remember where I was going. Very bad memory for that stuff.

Hmm, as for conflating multiple WIPs, or ideas bleeding over, definitely yeah. Sometimes a seed will be planted in WIP 1, develop a little in WIP 2, get more interesting in WIP 3, and then become fully realized in WIP 4. To go back to the political prisoner fic, you've seen how that works. It's like:

What if this character was a political prisoner, and he got rescued, and then later he moved back to his hometown and met--

Oh shit BUT WHAT IF that traumatic incident I mentioned in Chapter 2 actually also involved Character B!

OOH and then what if Character A and B were both rescued by C--

Wait a second back to Idea 1, what if B and his wife were there at the end, and they--

OOH WAIT I really want to write that idea with the kid, back in his hometown, let me just--

Hey hang on a second I could totally finish Idea 1

And why have I never addressed A's abandonment issues? I'll mention that right now, in Fic #1, but I really need to add it to Idea #4 and write that as its own oneshot...

And for now, 6/7 are written, so that's not a bad record. I hope to do the last one soon. It was the same with Thrawn fics, you'd be halfway through a oneshot with a set plot when you suddenly think of a cool touch that you'd love to explore more, so you finish that fic and immediately start another one, where you go really in-depth. Or you think, "I would love it if this horrible whumpy trauma happened, but I really can't justify it with this plot. I should construct a whole DIFFERENT plot so I can write this scene!"

Hmm. I don't think I've actually done a 5 Times fic that started out as separate ficlets. I wish I did that more. It would work better. Usually, I come up with the 5 Times title and then wrack my brains trying to contrive six entirely different scenarios that are still interesting to read.

For the NightThrawn fics -- well, I got really into Thrawn/Pellaeon, but I didn't feel totally at ease with their voices and personalities. So I had a word generator spit out 30 prompts for me, and I wrote one quick and easy Thrawn/Pellaeon fic per day for a whole month. A little while later I realized how few NightThrawn fics there were, and it really upset me because NightThrawn was THE pairing for me after reading Thrawn 2017. I was totally flabbergasted that people shipped him with Eli! So I applied the same treatment, I grabbed a list of 15 random words and started writing. 15, not 30, because I had to prioritize a collab with NadiaYar. (Well, I mean, I love writing with Nadia. Any collab with her takes priority over whatever random time-waster I'm fiddling with for fun XD)

I think I originally posted them as separate ficlets -- then changed my mind and re-uploaded them as a single multichapter collection. And changed my mind again, and re-uploaded them all as separate ficlets XD Back then, too, I was always juggling WIPs. I remember the 30-day Prawn ficlets were coming out at the same time as Signal Lost // Contact Regained, so every day I was writing about 1K for Prawn and then racing to SLCR to complete my daily chapter and maintain my posting schedule. That got really frantic toward the end. I had a good head start but I ended up taking a month or two off SLCR entirely before I regained interest and wrote the ending.

OK I think that's all XD Thanks for asking, I'm really glad to see the Asker's Studio is back. It was a really bright moment for the Thrawn fandom imo and you made a lot of fic writers happy with questions like this. Your brand of insightful commentary and questioning isn't common in fandom these days -- and I'm sure it was NEVER "common", but even less so now, as fandom becomes more mainstream. So thanks again, and I can't wait to see who else you asked, and read their answers.

#my asks

[bekkathyst]

Announcements + Info!

Whoo, the past couple of days have been intense as we get ready to leave, but I finally am all decided on what we're doing here.

Older/Discounted Items:

I was going to post some this weekend, but as my workload is a little bit heavier than I anticipated (we have immigration-related paperwork to do that is a bit more time-sensitive than originally thought) I've ultimately decided that the discounted pieces will be available once we get back from France. This way I have a bit more time to get things ready and organized before we leave. I was also kindly reminded by Antonio today that though we're moving to our new house on July 1st, we still have this apartment until the end of July, so what we'll likely do is keep the older inventory here an extra week or two to hopefully sell some and ship it from here before we finish moving everything. Might make it a bit easier for us :)

France Show Requests/Personalized Mystery Boxes:

I've been so excited to share that tonight I will be listing on the website an option to purchase a spot for a personalized "mystery box" for us to put together for you when we're at the Sainte-Marie mineral show in France. You will be able to choose your budget for your box (though the minimum amount will be $100) and in the notes specify what you're looking for. We will fill as many of your requests as possible! Of course, there won't be a 100% guarantee that we'll find super specific things but general categories should be easy to fill, and in the very unlikely case that we can't find anything you're looking for, we will refund the box or just leave it as a shop credit (whatever you'd prefer). There is more information in the listing, and once I'm done putting them in the shop, I will post the link here.

We are leaving this Tuesday the 20th and will return on Sunday night. While we are at the France show, we will be selling directly from there. I will make a post here on Tumblr where you can just put a general request for the types of items you'd like me to try to look for, for these sales. This way I can hopefully also fill requests of people who don't have the budget for the personalized boxes.

Shipping Update:

I do still have a small batch of orders that I need to drop off at the post office on Monday. The post office hours in my town are so limited, and I couldn't finish before they closed at noon today. If you asked to ship, your order will be dropped off on Monday - before we leave for France.

Any other questions or concerns, please feel free to ask!

#original #announcement