#they had a whole other plot and then the chance to argue over that and bring up the timing of the kiss

[sammydem0n64]

The whole plot of Crumbled! (at least the main plot since several characters aren’t. Involved in that. Funny side plots and characters baby!) is how organized crime affects people, inside of it and out. It’s how members of the mob don’t have anything else they can do in life aside from the life of crime, it’s how the general public are harmed by organized crime even if they aren’t being targeted personally, it’s how being a member of this lifestyle can destroy or build your relationships, it’s how no one is pure evil or pure good, it’s the complexity of people while also being about The Horrors.

No one here faces “traditional consequences” to their actions, aside from a few. Hershey doesn’t go to jail, Donna doesn’t die, etc etc. This is a story that doesn’t need those consequences. From day 1 you know these characters are doing horrible things, and at the same time these characters learn and fully comprehend they’re doing bad things. The most they get as “traditional retribution” is how some of their personal relationships are affected. Aside from that, these fuckers dont NEED what the masses would deem a traditional consequence because the entire fucking plot is them going through the horrors because of their actions! Being in the mafia and seeing and doing horrible things while having to just live with it is a pretty damn good “consequence” to me! Melphis doesn’t need to go to jail because “he needs to suffer the consequences of his actions” when every single damn day he suffers‼️

Even if Cheon’s family isn’t destroyed, even if the Oreona family doesn’t ostracize it’s members that are criminals, even if the extremes aren’t reached in these “consequences” there’s still a damn effect!!! But at the end of the day like I said these guys suffer the consequences of their actions constantly so they don’t need jail time or death or anything like that oh my god. And if you think that’s wrong and makes me romanticize, endorse or fucking glorify the mafia because Melphis doesn’t get locked up and only two members of the Oreo Gang die in the end then OHHHHHH GROW UP‼️ GROW UP‼️‼️

#like I said I’m feeling mean . #NOT like anyone has ever explicitly done this to me I haven’t been hit with the glorifying accusations #but walk with me. walk with me guys... sometimes the narrative is about bad people and they don’t need to get torn apart for their actions. #sometimes stories can have bad people and just because you aren’t told up right ‘This is bad!’ means the thing is being glorified #Melphis is not a perfect person he has done wrong. but his ass does not need to face time for his crime for the narrative to be complete #like I said Bro suffers every single day. #and he’s the most sympathetic in this group! But Everyone else follows a similar philosophy #Guo doesn’t need to die because he does wrong Phoenix doesn’t need to die no one here deserves death #The two that do die are even tragic. #You can argue one of them needs to die so everyone can go free and Cheon can get his full revenge but shit man. #She was raised to be a monster. She never had a chance to be a better person because she was raised to take over the mafia and only had that #Her mom feared what would happen if she tried to take her with her when she fled. So she had no other exposure to a normal life #And no one dared try to take her away from her father. They feared the consequences. they all feared what’d happen #and then it was too late. She never had the chance to be a regular person and she died a monster since she had nothing else to her name #that doesn’t excuse her actions obviously but damn. how sad! #and the other one that dies just fucks up Cheon. Because it’s salt in the wound over his whole revenge plot #It’s the final emphasis on how his drive to avenge his parents’ deaths led to more tragic than needed. how even in the end his perfect kill #-(in quotes) was tainted by the blood of someone no one wanted to kill. someone who was flawed and wrong yeah #but people love to see him and his brother as more sympathetic than Cherry. so rip. #shit is just fuck and I don’t need to make them go to jail not every narrative like that needs it #and like I said if you treat my ocs like them not dying brutal deaths or other ‘traditional consequence’ by god eat a lime. #Phew. anyways #demon’s ocs #crumbled! #Look into my twisted mind boy /J

[starlight-library]

IOU | OP81

pairing: ghostface!oscar x ghostface!reader

summary: reader & oscar are best friends but reader would love to get a shot with ghostface. what they don’t know is that their chances are closer than they think…

warnings: [DARK THEMES USED & SMUT] slightly descriptive murder, mention of stalking stalking, mention of blood, breath play, public sex, oral sex (m receiving), dry humping, dom!oscar, sub!reader, degradation, hair pulling (if you squint??), face fucking, deep throating

a/n: once again, dark themes used! please read the warnings above!!! i answered a asked on my main here and decided to make a oneshot of it (yes i quote J's ask cause it was too good). tbh didn't even plan for a plot but here we are! I know my answer and this are vastly different...i don't wanna talk about it. also ghostface!oscar series belongs to @piastrification so homie this one is for YOU!! Also happy belated Valentines day omg. Hope you enjoy 🫶🏽

word count: 4.5K

This week has started out to be one of the worst weeks you’ve had in a very long time. Monday started off with your car breaking down on the way to campus and you completely missed your first class. When you got to campus an irritated Oscar was waiting asking why the hell you didn’t call him. “Even though I was in class, I would’ve left and gotten you,” he told you. You weren’t in the mood to argue so you just apologized and told him you’d call him next time which seemed to ease his irritation slightly. Seemed he also had a pretty shitty Monday.

Tuesday brought your shitty manager everyone hates at your job to end a relatively quiet day. It was the typical bullshit but still didn’t mean you had to enjoy it. You spent the whole drive home on the phone with Oscar screaming your head off about all the things your manager had done. The micro-managing of your work, the snarky remarks, the extra work so he can just fuck off in the back, god you could not stand this manager at all. Oscar listened like he always did. “You don’t deserve that,” you could hear the frown in his voice, “honestly he shouldn’t even be a manager. I could take care of him for you.” You laughed. You thanked Oscar for the offer but you had already decided that your manager would be your next victim. It would be tricky considering everyone in the store knew how much you two despised each other but it would get done.

You ended up with a stomach bug on Wednesday. You woke up around four in the morning with a jump and just made it to the bathroom before you got sick. You stayed in there for a good hour before there was nothing left in your system and you dragged yourself back to bed. You somehow coherently managed to message your professors you’d be missing class due to illness and texted Oscar that you’d be out sick today before promptly falling asleep. You woke to a knock on your front door and dragged yourself out of bed. You made a face seeing Oscar standing outside with a bag. “What are you doing?” You ask.

“Taking care of you. Can I come in?”

“What if you catch it? What about classes?”

You watch Oscar simply pull a KN95 mask out of his pocket. You narrowed your eyes as he slipped it on. You didn’t need to see his face to see the cheeky smile he was giving. His eyes twinkled slightly with humor as he gently turned you around and guided you back inside your place as he listed the things he brought over and how he can afford missing one day to make sure you eat and rest, a habit you tend to struggle with. He really was a good best friend.

Thursday is really when you hit your limit. Arriving on campus you and Oscar head to class though neither of you really paid attention. You two spent most of the time texting each other even though you guys were sitting right next to each other. When class ended the two of you headed to the closest campus cafeteria before parting ways. You got on the line to grab the food while Oscar secured you two seats since it was roughly lunch time and everyone would be out and about.

Carrying the two to-go containers after paying you make your way to the back left corner. It’s usually where you and Oscar sat and enjoyed just people watching and gossiping about other students but you slowed your walking. Oscar was looking up at someone. Fucking Brittany. One of the sororities girls. Sorority president actually. Brittany was in a nice blouse, a skirt, some fucking heeled boots. Her blonde hair was thrown up into a messy bun and she was leaning forward slightly while smiling wide at Oscar.

Jealousy hit you like a truck. You grip the to-go containers tighter while standing frozen in your spot watching them. You wanted to march over and tell her to fuck off. Grab your stupid bun and slam her head into the table until she’s bleeding out. Or maybe take the plastic forks that rested on top of the to-go containers and gauge her eyes out for having the audacity to even look at Oscar. Alas, you refrained from it all. Instead you just tilted your chin up and made your way over with a tight smile. “I’m back!” You announce to Oscar. The both turn to face you and Oscar visibly relaxes slightly but Brittany is giving you a once over clearly unimpressed. You turn and blink, feigning surprise. “Oh! Brittany. Hi,” you keep your tone light and friendly, “what brings you here?”

“Oh, I was just talking to Oscar,” Brittany smiles, “we’re partners for our history project.” You could give two shits less what it was as you spy Brittany’s hand moving to Oscar’s upper arm and resting there with ease. Something so subtle but could come off as flirty and you wanted to cut her hand off. How dare she think she can touch Oscar like that? “…and wanted to see if he wanted to come to the frat party Saturday night,” she concludes.

“Oh, isn’t that sweet of you. Can he bring a plus one?” You ask putting the containers down, sliding one over to Oscar.

“If he wants…” Brittany glances at Oscar with a smile then back at you, “but we need to know to make sure they’re on the list. Even then…it depends on the mood if everyone gets in.”

“Then it seems kinda stupid for a list, don’t you think so?” Oscar asks finally. Brittany laughs. It wasn’t even that funny. You realize now that she’s flirting with Oscar. Well. This just won’t do. Not like you care anyway. Oscar is your best friend. Sure you love him but it’s platonic -or so you tell yourself- so it shouldn’t bother you but it does. It does bother you because Brittany was the queen heartbreaker. She used guys until she got bored. Until they got attached and couldn’t offer anything else after giving her everything. You were not about to have Oscar be a pawn in her fucking game. You had missed the remark Brittany gave as you sat down, your heart pounding in your ears.

“…let me know!” Brittany calls out as she’s already walking away.

“Ugh. As if,” Oscar murmurs and turns his attention to you. “Hey,” he starts softly. Bring your gaze to him and you blink, “you okay?”

“Yeah,” you manage a smile, “I’m fine. Did you see the shoes she was wearing?” You ask to divert the subject as now you might have something fun to do this weekend.

* * *

Personally, you never understood the hype of sororities and managed to curb every single one who tried to recruit you. It was just a bunch of girls with money and tried to make it sound like it wasn’t a cult but it most certainly was if you got in. Moving into the house, what they expected you to wear, how to act in public, who can and cannot date, for fuck sakes they monitored your social media post and if they didn’t approve of something you posted they would either make you take it down or probably kick you out. You much preferred your freedom over dealing with that bullshit.

Luck had shined down on you when you heard some of the girls mention Brittany couldn’t go to the bar tonight because she was under the weather and just ‘had to get better for tomorrow in case her special guest came’. It was a miracle that you didn’t march over here and slaughter Brittany right then and there but you bide your time. You had to be careful.

Now, slipping the mask on, you give it a five minutes after everyone else leaves before slipping through the back door. Standing quietly, you listen to the water running and slowly making your way through the house. Climbing the stairs you follow the noise until you’re outside the bathroom. You hear Brittany singing and you silently open the door. Steam hits your face and it takes everything not to cough from the sudden heat. Stepping in you watch Brittany’s silhouette run her fingers through her hair. Gripping the hilt of your knife, you inch forward. When Brittany turns you stab the knife through the shower curtain and straight in her heart. Twisting, you step forward until Brittany is pinned against the wall as she weakly has a hold of your wrist trying to pull the knife out her screams being drowned out by the shower and her choking on her own blood. You pull out before stabbing again to ensure that there was no chance she would be able to survive. When her attempts falter, you pull the knife out. Cleaning the knife off, you slip out of the house the way you came smirking knowing the rest of them wouldn’t have hot water for a long time.

Carefully you pack everything into your backpack you left in the woods by the house before securely zipping it. Slinging a strap over your shoulder, you start to head back to your apartment. You emerge from the treeline right into an alleyway and into town which is bustling with college kids. Perks of living in a college town. You just turn left and make your way back to your apartment which is a bit further uptown and you notice as the people start to thin out.

You feel eyes burning into the back of your skull. Turning your head over your shoulder, you stop. At the end of the block you see a figure in all black and an identical mask standing there. Normal people would do anything but stare. Call out to the figure, turn away and walk, call the police, something except just stand there silently and face off with this killer. Copycat killer that is. You suppose you’d have fans, sick and twisted probably, but you didn’t expect you’d end up creating a copycat killer. Not that you minded, actually the gesture touched you actually. People had been too stupid to realize it was a copycat but not you.

After all, their first kill happened to be one of your best friends you recently dropped.

You can’t even remember why but you arrived to apologize and found her body on the floor, throat cut. It was a bit messy. The cut wasn’t as clean as you would’ve expected and there was blood everywhere. Even on the poor bitch’s hands. Then you realize that there’s a few stab wounds. Seemed she put up a fight before whoever did it got the kill. Then someone clears their throat and you raise your gaze.

There you saw him.

An identical ghostface mask, black long sleeve shirt, jeans, and sneakers. Personally you preferred boots but to each their own. As much as some little sane part in your head told you to stop judging this person’s choice in shoes and run, you stood there staring because god he was so *distracting*. Honestly, the tight fit long sleeve should be illegal for killers to wear. It clung to him defining each curve of his muscle and you couldn’t help but get turned on because well–they’re a well fit masked killer.

“Did you do this?”

The killer nodded. Silence fell upon the two of you before you finally asked, “why?”

“...Why?” The voice asked. A shiver ran down your spine hearing the low murmur. A voice modulator just like you. Smart and well fit? Shit, “that’s all you can ask? Why? Aren’t you supposed to be running and screaming?”

“Well I find that a bit stupid,” you retort, “you’re right here. Masked or not, you're taller. You have length compared to my short legs. I might have you in agility and you’re a bit messy with your killing. Shaky in the hands.” You tilt your head to the masked figure with a small smirk. You watch the figure tighten his grip on the hilt of the knife before he’s in front of you in about four steps. You gasp as your head is yanked back by your hair, knife against your throat.

“Are you asking to be killed right now?”

“I mean you gonna fuck me before you kill me?”

Ghostface reels their head back slightly. Stupidly, they loosen their grip from the shock. Taking your chance, you grab the first with the knife and twist it away from you. They shout out in pain as you get your hair free and release their wrist before kicking the figure harshly in the stomach. You step on the figure’s chest a bit harshly. Smirking down at him, “expect the unexpected sweetheart. But you never answered me. Why?”

You can hear something faintly. You cannot believe this guy is mumbling. Leaning down slightly, you turn your ear, “I can’t hear you,” you tease.

“I did it for you.”

Now you’re stunned. You lean back slightly, hand over your heart. You don’t dare move though. You expect it to be some sick joke but the laughter never came. You bite your bottom lip having half the mind to suck him off right then and there. You stay strong though. Instead, you move to stand over the figure and bend down and hook a finger under his mask. His hand flies to your wrist and you laugh.

“I’m not gonna take your mask off,” you explain, “Trust me. Right now I am getting extremely horny and I don’t think I can handle you being ugly under the mask. Would just completely kill the mood.” You laugh hearing the figure let out an offended noise, “but aren’t you sweet,” you tilt your finger up and the figure follows, lifting his chin, “don’t be a stranger, yeah? Now, you should get off so I can feign the heartbroken emotional ex- best friend.”

Ghostface is in front of you now. He’s got your chin between his thumb and finger staring down at you and you blink as you come out of your memory. He’s close and you can hear his soft breathing which forces your own breath to hitch. You curl and uncurl your fingers and you hear a small huff behind the mask accompanied by a smirk you assume. “My,” he murmurs softly, “what do we have here. You shouldn’t be walking alone at night like this little one. You never know what lurks in the dark.”

You take a deep breath to keep your voice even. Pressing your thighs together you try so hard to stop the heat that’s starting to spread through your body. You should not be getting this turned on but how could you not? You had a copycat killer who kept killing people that you had issues with somehow and someway. “I–” You start, biting your bottom lip trying to find the words but you’re cut off with a chuckle.

“You’re so worked up for me. I can see it in the clench of your legs, the flush on your cheeks, the way your pupils dilate and the way you bite your lip for me. You don’t even know who I am. I could be a total stranger, who followed you home one night and just never stopped, but I could also be your best friend, that you’ve known for years, who you think you know like the back of your hand. You don’t even know. But I know one thing for certain though- I’m sure your panties, if you’re even fucking wearing any, are already soaked.”

You hate the fact he’s right. Your breathing slightly heavy as your eyes widen as you listen. Shifting, you clench your thighs even tighter as one of your hands slips between your thighs slightly. You can’t see his eyes but you can feel his stare bruning into yours and you actually look away. This hasn’t happened before.

“Look. At. Me.”

Your eyes snap back and your mouth hangs open slightly. You can feel how wet you are every time you shift and by god do you need something here. “What do you want, love?”

“I would very much like to take you up on that offer and suck you off,” you nod your head in the direction of the alleyway.

“Excited, aren’t we?”

“We’ve been at this for months of fucking course I’m excited.”

He grips your jaw tightly, “I’d watch that tone if I were you. I can happily just walk away and leave you here alone.” Your eyes travel downwards and spy his half hard bulge against his jeans and then back up, “I can handle myself and sleep much more satisfied than you probably would with your fingers,” leaning close to your ear, “but I’d be a fool to leave you so desperate without giving you a taste.” Your eyes nearly roll into the back of your head but he lets go of your jaw and spins you around, smacking your ass. You startled with a yelp before quickly scurrying to the alleyway.

Any sane person, seeing the alleyway lead to the woods, probably would have taken the chance to run but not you. You were so desperate to finally fuck this copy cat that you spun around as he rounded the corner. You gasped as your back slams against the brick wall feeling pain through your shoulder for only a brief moment as your hands fly to Ghostface’s wrist as he holds you there by your throat. Oddly enough your calm even though he could easily choke you as your breathing becomes a bit more jaded. Lifting his mask slightly you stare at the slightly chapped but pink lips as you drop your bag. They look so familiar, why?

You can’t really think longer on it as he moves his hand up to your jaw tightly and his lips are on your neck as you gasp for air. He wedges his knee between your legs and immediately you roll your hips whining loudly. You let your eyes drift close as the figure litters your neck in kisses along with marks. You let the figure tilt your head so he can litter the otherside in matching marks. Your nails dig into his wrist earning a hiss against your neck. When he pulls back your eyes stare at his lips and you’re so tempted for a taste. You find yourself starting to lean in before he’s pushing you onto your knees. Blinking, you're now eye level with his obvious bulge and glance up at him fixing his mask.

Dropping your gaze, your hands get straight to work. Undoing his jeans you pull the zipper down before pulling his pants down just enough. You hold your breath seeing the outline of his cock because oh it looks so much bigger than you’ve had which…was very few. There was only one way to really find the truth. You let your fingers dance across the waistband of his boxers before you tug, cock basically popping free. You lean back with wide eyes because it is bigger than you’ve had. It’s actually the biggest you’ve ever had. The length was maybe just an inch or two over average which was impressive enough but it was the girth that really made your mouth water and the precum leaking out just makes you drool.

Gently wrapping a hand around his cock, the figure’s breath hitches as he bucks his hip. You give a few experimental tugs not really for a reaction but more so to get a feel of him in your hand. Big. Girthy. Heavy. God, how pent up was he? You feel fingers through your head as you continue to cautiously jerk him off before licking the tip. The reaction pulled out of the figure was a low satisfied groan and it encourages you to take the tip of his cock into your mouth. You swirl your tongue around the tip before sucking, alternating between the two before you finally you’re ready.

If you had known how big he was you would’ve been a bit more…prepared. You weren’t naive enough to think you could take all of him down your throat. God no. Maybe with some training and patience later if the figure would let you but you didn’t have either of those things or really time on your side. Still, you had to make sure to keep the figures interested in you- even if he’s killed for you already. Better safe than sorry, right?

Hollowing your cheeks out and flattening your tongue on the underside of his cock, you start to suck him off. Bobbing your head you can’t help but feel a bit of a rush go to your head as the figure above lets out another loud ground. You glance up to see the figure’s neck as his head is tilted back. You're absolutely drenched watching him and find yourself slipping a hand into your own pants and moan around him as you rub your clit. That catches his attention as his head snaps down to look at you.

“Naughty girl. You’re so turned on from sucking me off that you have to touch yourself?” It earns a strangled whine, “such a pathetic slut.”

You can’t help but moan at that. “Wow. You are so fucking pathetic it’s adorable.” The figure coos and grips your hair to stop you. Shifting, he puts one foot in front of you and smirks, “here why don’t you just hump my leg while you’re at it.” He taunts.

Funny enough you’ll take him up on that. The moment he frees your head you go back to bobbing your head on his cock humming in delight as you hug his leg, settling on his foot and grind your hips down. If your lips weren’t so occupied at the moment you would smirk at the shocked reaction you pull from the figure but you’re lost in your own world. The stretch of your jaw combined with the already dull ache lulls you into a peaceful trance. You completely ignore the spit that’s starting to wet your chin.

You feel the figure’s other hand gently grab your jaw trapping you in place suddenly. You stared up with doe eyes as the figure fucked your face before you felt him hit the back of your throat. You gagged and your hands flew to his thighs for some stability as he repeated the action. “So fucking good. Taking my cock,” the figure grunts out and tears prick your eyes when he stops moving and you gag because he’s so far down your throat. He pulls off just enough for you to gasp and get some air before he’s back in your mouth and fucking your face again. You’re prepared for it this time as you relax your throat and gag less.

Having lulled yourself into such a peaceful you nearly let your eyes slip close. Sliding your hands down, you wrap your arms around Ghostface’s leg as you continue to fuck yourself against his foot while he fucked your mouth. You ended up tuning everything else out except him and listening to him ramble was going to get you off alone. ‘Such a gorgeous cock drunk whore’, ‘you look so pathetic humping my leg while you let me fuck your mouth it should be illegal’, and ‘you’d look so beautiful being my personal cock drunk slut’. It’s the one you made out between all the groans and moans and curses. You felt his tug at your hair as a warning and you finally opened your eyes.

“Fuck–shit–I’m gonna–” He groaned but doesn’t stop his thrusting. He does the opposite as he picks the pace up. That’s all the encouragement you needed. You find your hips onto his foot even harder and faster as you. You feel the familiar coil in your abdomen and you’re trying so hard to reach it. He snaps his hips forward and forces himself down your throat. Your eyes go wide and you gag, choking on his cock as he spills into your throat. You hit his thighs and try to focus on breathing through your nose but even still the rough face fucking before forced deep throating was enough to send you over the edge. You groan and whine as you continue to hump his foot before he pulls you off his cock and slips his foot out from under you.

Sitting there, you gasp for air as your chest heaves. You look up at Ghostface and lick your lips slowly as you debate if you wanna turn over and let him fuck you right now. He would. For sure…probably and he taste good to. But that would be giving too much. You were the original after all. Finding your footing, you stand up and slide your pants down. There’s a choked sound from Ghostface and you glance over at the figure looking away.

“Seriously?” You raise a brow and giggle, “you just fucked my face but you get all bashful about seeing me in my panties.”

“I–well. I mean. No–” This one sucked at lying. Rolling your eyes, you look away as you take your pants off before sliding your panties off. “What are…” Ghostface’s voice trails off as you stuff your soiled panties into his front jeans pocket. “Consider it an IOU,” you say as you hurriedly put your pants back on. You’re grabbing your bag before the figure gets a chance, “this was fun but I have to run. My friend is coming over for a movie night and he’ll be pissed if I’m not there,” you sigh dreamily at the end of the alleyway, “he’s so caring like that. Anyway, bye!” You say before you’re slinging your back over as you take off. You get home and quickly change into some pajama panties (with new panties) and a sweatshirt before finding yourself settled on the couch while flipping through for a movie.

Hearing keys jingle you look up, you smile at your best friend walking in. You two are so close that he has his own copy. Oscar’s in a baggy grey hoodie with some black jeans on as he takes his shoes off before making his way to the back of the couch. He smiles slightly at you and offers dinner but you decline. As he turns for the kitchen, you spy something hanging out of Oscar’s pocket. It looks like a fabric of some sorts. Watching him in the kitchen, you decide to get some water. Quietly getting off the couch you stand in the doorway. Oscar continues to cook himself dinner and you wait until he’s focused on whatever is in the pan to strike. Passing behind him, your eyes drop down and your breathing stops. Black lacy panties with red roses on them. You look up at Oscar who’s glancing at you over his shoulder. His gaze follows yours and he smirks.

“Can I cash that IOU now, darling?”

#starlight library presents; #oscar piastri imagine #oscar piastri smut #op81 x reader #op81 smut #op81 imagine #oscar piastri x reader smut #f1 reader #f1 smut #f1 imagine #ghostface!oscar #ghostface!oscar smut #starlight library fiction #contains dark themes #mentions of murder #mentions of blood #smutty #bit toxic?? #for the love of god read the warning

[heliads]

Hellloooo!!! I don’t wanna add to your workload so if this just piles on, please delete it! 😅😊 I just had an idea for a newt x reader fic where they’re in an established relationship in the Glade and during a bonfire one night the boys all ask newt questions about what it’s like to date reader and how it feels and newt just answers with the upmost sweetness. Reader overhears and fluff ensues!!!!

fluff ensues has got to be one of my favorite plot descriptions. like yeah it absolutely will do that (and no worries, nothing will stop the workload from being! newt just helps make it better <3)

masterlist

Newt is aware that he is a little bit luckier than most. This is a sentiment that he never thought he’d be caught dead believing. Not in the Glade. Not in the Maze. Not anywhere in this surreal mess of a place. Yet it’s on repeat in his head on a day to day basis nonetheless, ticking off the hours like an alarm clock consisting solely of his blessings. 

Newt didn’t think he’d have that much to brag about. No memories means no history he can mention to his equally luckless friends. Still, he’s got one important victory in his life that no one else can even dream of, and that’s the fact that he’s dating Y/N. Yeah, that certainly sets him apart in the world of good things given to kids who can’t quite convince themselves they deserve them. 

Some would say that Newt is being a little dramatic. He would argue that his response is perfectly within reason. One girl has been sent up in all the months that anyone’s been in the Glade, one girl and one girl alone, and she just happened to choose him. Around here, that’s grounds for being nominated for sainthood. 

Newt isn’t going to act like he’s not just over the moon every time he thinks about the whole situation. Against all odds, Y/N fell in love with him. That’s so unreal that Newt has to pinch himself every hour on the hour just to make sure it isn’t a dream. He never tries too hard, though. Just in case. 

He didn’t have many thoughts on love before she came up. There wasn’t really time now, was there? It was just him and the scores of other stragglers making do in their bloody terrible world. You don’t spend much time lingering over potential sweethearts when the closest thing to a Romeo is Gally yelling at everyone in the Glade except his friends.

Not great dating material, to say the least. Even when Y/N came up that one month, though, he still hadn’t fallen for her from the start. He liked her, obviously, she was nice and didn’t test his patience, but he was perfectly content to keep her as a friend, just that. Great expectations have a way of letting you down. Newt’s learned that if you keep your eyes on the ground, stop looking up at the sun and stars, you’ll be able to deal with it a little easier when all your brightest aspirations go away.

He’d done that before and he planned on doing it again. Even as time passed and he realized that his heart had a funny way of speeding up whenever she was nearby, when it occurred to him that his daily routines always had a way of working in chances to see her, Newt forced himself to ignore everything. Maybe he liked the way the morning sunlight always played on Y/N’s face, maybe he could have spent hours wondering over the way her eyes sparkle when she laughs. It was nothing that he could ever commit to treasuring above anything else.

It took several rounds of self-talk and about a dozen different interventions staged by his friends for Newt to get up the courage to tell Y/N how he felt. Hell, it took at least half of those interventions for him to even admit how he felt to himself. Newt had been internalizing for so long that bringing some of those emotions to the forefront of his attention was damned near impossible. Minho, Alby, and a few others, however, were so sick of seeing him ‘mope around like a lovesick fool,’ to quote them specifically, that they were dedicated to the task of getting him in order.

It worked, too. Newt had run through what could have been a hundred speech variations in his head, all mentioning her character or her sense of humor or any one of the millions of things he liked about her best. In the end, he didn’t choose a single one. The second Newt pulled Y/N away from a crowd of their friends for ‘something he needed to say in private,’ every single whirlwind of thoughts storming through his head came to an abrupt stop. He totally blanked out. 

Newt wouldn’t even know that he managed to force any words out at all were it not for the fact that the effects of that interaction are quite obvious. Somehow, Y/N ended up returning his affections, and they’ve been doing pretty well ever since. Newt doesn’t like counting his eggs before they hatch and all that, but he’d go so far as to say that he doesn’t see it ever breaking down for quite some time, if ever. They’re alright. They’re great, and they’re happy, and in a place like this, you take that and run with it for as long as you can. Maybe it’ll ruin itself someday, but Newt plans on pushing that off to the distant future for forever and a day.

In the meantime, Newt gets to think about how lucky he is. Despite the fact that Y/N’s apparently been crushing on him for just as long as he started liking her, and despite the fact that Frypan proclaims on a daily basis that he’s never seen two shanks more alike, Newt still feels like all of this is just one great coincidence. Maybe it was never supposed to happen, but it did, and he’s going to love that and her for as long as he can.

She’s waiting for him now, he thinks. Work is over for the day, and there’s a Bonfire Night happening this evening too, courtesy of the shivering Greenie fresh out of the Box who still can’t seem to keep his shock from showing. The fool to whom this celebration is owed looks like he’s going to keel over, what from the way he keeps half doing a backbend from continually craning his neck up to stare at the Walls, but the rest of them can get drunk and fuck around and generally have a good time. 

Greenies never appreciate their Bonfire Nights enough anyway. It’s up to the rest of the Gladers to show them what it’s like to have fun. Who knows the next time they’ll be able to stop stressing over the ruins of their lives anyway? Newt’s heard half a dozen Gladers proclaim that they only live bonfire to bonfire anyway. They might as well prove it tonight.

Newt meets Y/N on the outskirts of the bonfire just as the dark starts to fall. Dusk kicks up its heels, keeping watch over the revels and hiding the sun, which can never bear to see whatever mistakes they’re going to make next. Y/N holds out a hand to him, one Newt gladly accepts.

“I can’t believe it’s been six months now since I first showed up,” she grins, gesturing towards the Box with her free hand, “Feels like just yesterday.”

Newt snorts. “Time flies when you’re having fun, huh? Trust me, the Greenie Days get faster and faster. I swear I just finished touring the last kid, and now we’ve got another one to keep pestering us with questions.”

Y/N shakes her head, considering this. “Nah, I think this one will be better. He’s too scared to speak above a whisper. If you try, you can just ignore him.”

Newt chuckles. “I’m not supposed to be bullying the Greenies. Alby says I’m meant to set a good example.”

“I saw Alby telling Minho to trip the new kid to see if he’d finally make a sound if he bit the dirt,” Y/N comments, “I don’t think kindness is really in our books.”

Newt arches a brow. “I could see that happening. Did it work?”

“No,” Y/N says, disappointed, “Kid was so scared to move a muscle that he didn’t fall at all. Just kind of stopped walking like he’d hit a wall instead of Minho’s ankle.”

Newt tries to bite back a smile. He’s only half successful. “Shame. That would have been fun to see.”

Y/N laughs. “That’s what I said. Anyways, they’re all over there, near the fire. I think the next strategy is to give the kid some of Gally’s brew in the hopes that it’ll coax something out of him other than his dinner.”

Newt shudders. “Best of luck to him.”

“And to me,” Y/N replies, “I think I’m going to get a glass of my own. See you in a second.”

Newt waves a casual hand in goodbye, watching as his girlfriend weaves through the steadily forming crowds of Gladers in an attempt to track down a drink. He takes a seat near an overturned log, staring into the fire as it disappears into sparks. Six months since Y/N appeared in the Box, so it’s been indeed.

Newt can’t decide whether that feels like a long time or not nearly long enough. Y/N’s changed him in almost every way, that much is obvious. Sometimes, in meeting someone you know will impact you forever, you almost want them to have been around for much longer. Strangers aren’t meant to become your best friends, not until you’ve known them for years and you have scores of memories to share. You want to give them decades in your mind, centuries, as a sign that they’ve been so important to you. Mere months aren’t enough. Surely it should be more.

It isn’t, and maybe that’s for the best. Newt has no memories save for when he came up his own share of months ago. All his friends are new, all his enemies still more recent. Maybe the girl he loves has only been in his life for a short time, but his recorded life is short indeed. Everything is modern. That’s just how it is.

Newt becomes aware of eyes on him and realizes that he might not be the only one reminiscing about when Y/N came up in the maze. A few Gladers have come up by Newt’s side, steadily appearing out of the gloom and smoke to stare at him.

Newt glances at them questioningly, and a few moments later the bravest of them dares to voice their collective thoughts. “What’s it like dating Y/N?” The boy asks, “you know, since she’s the only girl?”

Newt smiles to himself. “It’s great,” he says.

This clearly isn’t the response the other boy wants. “Yeah,” he repeats, “but what’s it like? It’s not like the rest of us have our own girlfriends to compare it with.”

Newt bites back a laugh. “Well,” he begins, noticing out of the corner of his eyes that the other boys draw closer to him expectantly, “it’s like having a best friend, but even better. She’s someone I can talk to at any time, but I don’t have to worry about seeming uncool or weird around her. Y/N knows exactly who I am, the good and the bad, but she’s chosen to be with me anyway. It makes you feel like you can do anything.”

The boy nods, accepting this. “Are you ever worried that she’s going to get tired of you and leave you for someone else?”

“If you’re asking me if I’m worried about competition,” Newt says slowly, “I’d say, don’t think you even have a chance. She’s my girlfriend, you bloody shank, not some object you can steal away. Anyway, obviously I’d like it if she stayed with me a while longer, but I’m not scared, no. I know that we’re happy, and that’s enough.”

The boy’s face flushes scarlet when Newt calls him out, but he seems to have made his peace with it at the end. Newt’s half expecting more questions, but all of a sudden they scatter to the corners of the celebration. A few moments later, the cause of the disturbance becomes obvious:  Y/N herself takes a seat next to him, glass in hand.

“It seems like you had a score of admirers,” she says, lips twitching up into a smile.

Newt groans. “More like your admirers, trust me. They wanted to ask about what it was like to date you. Not something I thought I’d be discussing with the Slicers-in-training, but why not?”

Y/N laughs. “Oh, I know. I have to say, though, it was very sweet. Being with me makes you feel like you can do anything?”

Newt feels his entire face heat up, and he briefly ponders launching himself into the fire to escape it. “I didn’t realize you were eavesdropping. That’s rude, you know.”

Y/N just grins. “I do apologize. It was very sweet, though. I appreciated it.”

Newt rolls his eyes, but he can’t keep a smile off of his face for long. “Does that mean you won’t leave me for some random boy who showed up a few months ago?”

“I’ll consider it,” she assures him, “like you said, though, I wouldn’t worry much. I happen to like being with you quite a bit as well.”

Newt reaches over, wrapping an arm around her shoulders to pull her close. Y/N leans her head on his shoulder, and they stay there for quite some time, watching the embers of the fire curl into ribbons of smoke up in the darkest reaches of the sky. The bonfire dances, their friends shout and clap and laugh all around them, and through it, they keep going. All is well.

tmr tag list: @rogueanschel, @ellobruv, @retvenkos, @neewtmas, @thatfangirl42, @hiya-its-amber, @gods-fools-heroes, @hope92100, @23victoria, @w1shes43, @ilovexavierthrope, @fadedver

#newt #newt imagines #newt x reader #newt oneshot #tmr #tmr imagines #tmr x reader #tmr oneshot #maze runner #maze runner imagines #maze runner x reader #maze runner oneshot #tmr newt #tmr newt imagines #tmr newt x reader #tmr newt oneshot #maze runner newt #maze runner newt imagines #maze runner newt x reader #maze runner newt oneshot

[lady-ashfade]

A Love Watered By Blood

Part one.

Enemies to lovers- Percy Jackson x Fem!Reader.

-£ Plot: No matter how much the two tried peace was never a option. Always insults, and never compliments. it was the middle of the school year, and a new adventure started. Could they be civil when the time comes. Or will the war between them get in the way.

-£words: 3k words.

-£Previous // Next (coming soon)

-£Warning: Fighting, Cursing, Blood, Death, Seeing horrible things, Angsty, happy ending, slow updates, New god, Percy being rude, enemies to lovers, New plot, Slight slow burn

“So,” the trio looked at the restaurant that glowed yellow, a old dinner style with big windows. it screamed 80s movie scene. they could smell the freshly made food coming from inside the diner, making their mouths water.

“This is the best day of my life.” Percy smirked as he looked into the window for the girl they had been searching for. the two beside him just looked at each other with a knowing look, that this was going to be a long couple of weeks.

“Percy,” Grover spoke and leaned his arm on his shorter friend, “don’t be rude. we need her to come along with us and we can’t stand you both fighting this whole trip.” annabeth nodded along and rubbed her forehead thinking of how the two argued often at every chance they got.

Percy looked between the two of his friends and rolled his eyes, “I’m not mean. She’s just rude and I have to defend myself, come on.” He pointed to the dinner, “How can she of all people be a waitress? She has the shortest temper.” they ignored him and walked passed him and into the diner. he let out a groan and followed behind them but his smirk returned quickly.

once they sat at a booth they waited for you to come out or see you. your mother said you were working here tonight. another girl was across from them on the other side helping a elderly couple. “she’s probably in the back.” Grover looked at the kitchen door waiting for you to pop out. annabeth looked at the menu to pass the time, plus she was hungry.

things were quite for a few minutes, them sometimes glancingaround. they couldn’t be patient even if their lives depended on it. Grover was getting hunger by the second that he could almost eat the counter underneath his hands. anything really.

they heard shouting from the kitchen and then the door swing open, a girl stepped out with a old waitress style outfit and her hair pushed out of her face. the group looked and found the girl they had come to see.

percy smirked and got too proud of himself when he spotted you, knowing you would hate him being here. when you looked over to see them your face dropped and your body froze for a minute, then you rolled your eyes and got out your notebook and marched towards them.

they see you throw on the fakest smile and suck your teeth before speaking, “Welcome to The Country Diner, what can I get started for you today?” the fake preppy voice made their ears scratch. you hated how he was looking at you. that same wide smile made you want to grab his neck and wait till he stops breathing.

“Oh, look at that! Our waitress is here,” percy cleared his voice and grabbed his menu, “I really just love that outfit, don’t you guys?” the two glared at him. annabeth kicked him under the table and gave him a warning look.

of course, percy didn’t judge against waitress because his mother was once on. but he knew that you’d never wanted to be caught wearing the outfit.

“y/n, it’s so good to see you.” You look at the satyr you’ve known for a long time. his hair grown longer and bushier, and his face more grown and facial hair started to grow. “hello Grover.” that was genuine. You nodded to annebeth before looking down at the notepad.

“Tell me what you want.”

“We want you to come along with us on a new quest.” she saw your eyes perk up and take a minute to register. huffing you look around you, the other girl who worked with was now out of sight and no manager around.

“And, why me? There is already three of you.” you raised a brow. the three looked at each other wondering who was going to tell you. grover shifted in his seat and slapped his hands on his legs.

“We need you on this quest,” you look at him with your head titled.

“Look, I can’t really take any quests at the moment. I have this test that effects half of my grade, I have money to make-” your voice was cutter off by the satyr. “It’s about your father!” His voice loud and made the couple on the other side turn their heads at the shouting.

shifting your weight you sit on the empty spot in the booth, and unfortunately it was next to Percy but you didn’t care at the moment. “my father would have said something.”

“he wasn’t allowed. you know how he is, I mean you must have felt something?” your eyes found the table as your thoughts brought up the memories of the past few days. your dreams were more vague and darker then normal, each night you saw at least three different people in hard problem. and each night you woke up drench in sweat and tears. you saw everything from their eyes.

he looked at you and at how you were deep in thought, making his theory correct. “what have you been seeing?” You shifted uncomfortably in the booth. looking to the side you check for any of the workers in case. sighing you open up,

“it’s been getting worse, I have at least five a night.” annabeth and grover nod while percy looks confused at what you are saying, he never listened to you or asked.

“then you know somethings wrong,” he leaned forward and placed his hands on the table. “The Episkopos has been stolen.”

they watch you freeze again and your eyes start to glare, mind running. “when?” You ask. Annabeth perked up and took over the conversation from Grover.

“A week ago.” You nod your head and place your hand on the edge of the table and slide out from the table. Percy’s eyes glares in confusion, “Where are you going?” looking back at him you give him a death stare.

“You think I want to go on a quest in this outfit? Or without anything?” Crossing your eyes. “Not all of us want to look like they put no effort in.”

“Clearly, I mean look at you.” he snapped back.

Grover sat up quietly and took you by the shoulders before you had the chance tackle him. And you have before. Pulling you to the side he hears you mumbling angrily and fight back against his hold. Once he gets to the end of the counter Grover lets you go and carefully, but ready to hold you if he needs to again.

“We need to leave soon. You know how powerful your fathers mirror is, I’m afraid of what someone might do with it.” The look in his eyes brought you back to reality. you hum and relax you tensed body. “If they are smart enough to use it.” You shrug at the thought of the thief. you pat his shoulder and give him a small smile before walking away to the kitchen door and wondering how in the hell you’re going to get out of working.

“So remind me, what exactly do you “see” when you sleep?” percys asks out loud as his fingers trace the posters on the wall. “you being wiped from experience.” the girl smirks as she places some clothes in a book bag. the boy laughed sarcastically and looks back at her.

“That’s funny, I’d like to say the same thing but you don’t even exist in mine.”

their friends sit on the bed watching the two throw insults knowing that this was what the whole trip would be like. “Can we just stop fighting? You two are so annoying.” annabeth looks at a magazine in her hands bored. “It would save a lot of time.” The satyr agrees with his friend.

“She started it this time.” Percy pointed his finger and then turn his head back around to snoop around your things.

“If you must know, beach boy, I’ve been seeing many things. Oh yes, like death of loved ones, some receiving horrible news, or maybe you want to hear of how I watch someone take their final breaths from their own eyes?” the girl faked beaming with happiness as she put on a happy face. maybe that was mean but he was asking for it. she didn’t want to talk about the things she was cursed in seeing.

the boy turned fully with all the sarcasm and sass leaving his body as he leaned against the dresser. “sorry.” the girl replied with a huffed and continued to stuff her bag full of stuff. a few bills she had been saving under her mattress and anything she thought she’d need.

now Percy hated her to the ends of the earth. everything about her made him annoyed. her breathing. the way she’d tease him. how she looked. how her voice sounded. no one hated her more then him. but seeing all that- he’d never wish that on her or anyone, not even the worst monster.

the room around them looks like a slight punk. posters of bands all over the walls, a few messy clothes laying around and jewelry spread around. a big mirror hung above the dresser with pictures stuck to it, mostly taken in camp.

“okay, after that lovely piece of information we should talk about what we should do.” Grover clapped his hands together once more and looked at each of them.

“The oracle says to go to the temple of the unknown,” Percy steps closer and looked at y/n. “Do you know?”

“It’s called the temple of the unknown for a reason.” She taunted him again and zipped up the bag.

“Well, as his daughter I thought you would know.” He stepped closer to her direction.

“Do you know everything about your dad?” she asked and waits for a moment. he goes to answer but he stops himself because he didn’t. “Exactly.”

the boy when to fight with her but he only made noises and then backed off with his hands flying in the air. he couldn’t do this, she was too much. y/n smiled softly in victory and threw the black bag over her shoulders, “I think I might know something but I’m not for sure..”

the three are now looking at her, “Even when I’m dreaming I knew exactly where I am. The last place I saw was a park in Minnesota, but every place i saw was almost like a road map. I think we should follow it.”

they look at each other to conform. they nod and stay up, “at least we have a plan.”

and it was a really shitty plan.

you stayed in that small town because of the waste of mortals. or in the diner that smelled of food that over powered your scent. now three demi gods and a satyr traveled together, a death wish just waiting to happen.

being a demigod always makes things so much harder.

The group didn’t even make it half way across the state without being attacked by a monster. and usually you could handle it but you had walked into a town filled with them. a nest of some sort.

you had to relay on fleeing and try not to get seen, and for annabeth it was easy. however, you and Percy found it hard when he kept bumping into you. you whispered at him to stop a little too loud, and he glared and whispered(yell) back. and they could only tell you both to stop a few times because you both could you guys caught.

“What is your problem?” Percy yelled at you after you guys finally got away, having to fight some monster and all of you getting a few scratches.and bruises. “Me? What about you. How clumsy can you be to run into me ten times? is your scull just filled with water?” You flicked his head and he hissed in slight pain.

“because you kept stopping for no reason, I had no choice. it was your fault we got caught.” his fingers pointed at you.

“Me? you are the one who squealed when you stumbled back, that was one hundred percent your fault.”

his mouth handing open as his eyes went up and his face turned angrily amused. “sometimes I can’t believe how stupid you sound sometimes. do tell, who trip and made us almost get eaten?”

you had been running away and your foot bent slightly and causing you to slipped, you put your hands out to try and stop yourself. percy was the closest one to you so he helped you up and made sure to get you in front of him in case that happened again. no matter how much he wanted to leave you. he wasn’t that kind of person.

“okay, really? it wasn’t my fault the ground was slippery. we would have more time if you hadn’t-” the yelling of the two drowned out to Grover as he covers his ears and blocked them out.

can’t they just say quite for a day?

“It’s both your faults! both of you did things wrong, and your yelling isn’t helping.” the boy shouted and pulled them both apart.

“please, just shut up! If you don’t have anything nice to say then not speak.” the two looked at him surprised. he didn’t usually do this but only when he got really angry or annoyed.

y/n looked away and kicked a rock on the ground, “sorry.” She mumbled quietly. percy did the same thing, “whatever.” he walked away from them both to cool himself off. he didn’t understand how she could always mess up and get under his skin, it’s like she was made just to annoy him.

after that the group barely spoke to each other. they traveled for a few hours until sundown and looked for a place to stay. luckily, they found a old house that was newly abandoned. when they set up the sleeping area y/n walked out, saying she would keep a eye out for any monsters. they all could see how shut off she was being and how clearly upset she was. and in this situation it was easy to let her be.

Annebeth was curled in the corner with her hands clinging to her dagger. Grover was spread out with his arm spread across his face slightly snoring.

percy tried to sleep.

he toasted and turned but there was something plaguing his mind that kept him awake. how you clung to his arm when he pulled you up. you looked so afraid as the monster nipped at your feet almost getting you, that you had no choice but to ask for help. he’s ever seen you so scared and for some reason, all he could see was the fear in your face when he blinked.

“don’t be a idiot, I’d never ask you for help.” he could hear the words ring in his head if he told you.

pushing the shirt thrown over him to the side he carefully stood up without waking the other two. he walked out the room and went to search for you. if he wasn’t going to get any sleep he might as well help with the lookout.

he found you sitting on the steps with your head leaned against the railing. humming a soft tune to yourself and for a second, he felt peaceful. but he remembered that it was you. cleaning his throat to make his presence know and walked across the porch boards.

turning your head you looked at him. it was a soft look of hate and not the full glare he was expecting. “what do you want?” He sat down on the same step away from you but as far as he could. almost afraid you’d bite him.

“couldn’t sleep.”

you hum in response and slight nod your head. you continued to look at the street and around the place in case something was to sneak up on you. a breath leaves your lungs and you lean back on your hands, pushing yourself back against the stairs above you. you throw you head back up and close your eyes to relax for just a minute.

“you know,” you began as his ears perked up. “I have no clue where the hell we are going.” You admitted with little confidence in yourself.

“it could just all be a trick and I’m leading us down the wrong path. but each time I feel-” you cut yourself off before you go to deep.

percy looked at you with your eyes closed. this was a actual conversation. no insults. he didn’t even feel angry as he stood next to you. for the first time it was a comfortable understanding.

“i know how you feel. when I search for the lighting bolt I knew exactly where I was in my dreams dispute never going to those places.”

he watched your eyes open again and look into his. “sometimes we are shown things. i trust you, for this quest at least. you’re the only one who could help us get there now.” you face grows and small smirk and your eyebrows raise.

tilting your head and sit up slight, “that almost sounds like a compliment.” you teased him. he rolled his eyes playfully and looked away from you, “never in a million years.” he chucked. you looked at him for a second longer then you normally do. this was the first time you saw him smile with you, it was new.

and kinda pretty.

shaking your head at the thought you looked away from him and let the thoughts get pushed back into your head. there was nothing pleasing about him and your brain needed to remember that. your both just to tired to fight and it means nothing. because never in a million years, will you ever be friends with Percy Jackson.

but, maybe you can get along with him for this quest at least.

Taglist: @american-idiot21 @kazurami14 @anonymouslyawesome25 @itzmeme @poemfreak306 @motorsport @mxlI0d1 @daughterofthemoons-stuff (just ask to be added and I will)

#Percy Jackson x reader #percy jackson x you #book percy jackson #Percy jackson x fem!reader #percy jackson and the olympians x reader #enemies to friends to lovers #angst to comfort #Percy jackson angst #chapter one #part one #a love watered by blood

[skeletonapricationday]

Naughty girl

Warnings: Porn w/o plot, fem reader x nanami, deephthroating, face fucking, angry Kento, use if whore.

18+ minors dni

Nanami stared as you bent over the desk, looking for your lost pen. You had it five seconds ago, you kept swearing that up and down. It was frustrating because you were distracting him from his work.

Nanami wasn't a very sexual man. He lived to work and go home, that was it. Simple and sweet. Yet he was still a man at the end of the day. Seeing you bend over in that skirt, scrambling all around his office for your pen. It was troubling. He sighs and stands.

"If I promise to help you look will you leave my office?" He says in a gruff. His deep voice echoing off the walls.

"Yes sir-e!" You say excitedly and innocently. "I swear I used it yesterday to help you with that report. Now its missing, like missing missing." You say with a small pout. That cute quiver of your lip catching his vision. He tilts his head away, trying to ignore you.

"Why can't I just give you one of my pens?" He says exasperated.

"Because you also gave me this pen, so it's my favorite pen. No other pen will feel the same!" You shout confidently and annoyingly.

"If you like that one so much because I gave it to you, why not just let me give you a new one? You make no sense." He says logically, as always. Yet this wasn't about logic. He gave you this pen two years ago, when you finally cracked a thin layer of his hard shell. It was a sign of friendship and good faith, you were not going to give up on this.

"Because-because I want this specific pen okay." You say emrbassed. Not at all willing to admit the true reason to the logic king himself.

He nods slowly, like he wasn't going to bother arguing further. Simply scanning a bookshelf, seeing if you mistakenly placed it there. He swears to himself that the intelligent woman yesterday who helped him fill out that report is the same scatterbrain currently looking for her pen. Obliviously showing her body off in several interesting positions.

You slowly get onto your hands and knees, sticking a hand under the couch. Seeing if you can feel anything underneath. When you don't you arch your hips up further to keep yourself from slipping, as you peep your head underneath. "It's dark and dusty under here. I always thought you had too much OCD to not dust under the couch." You tease playfully. Just trying to joke with the serious man, like normal.

"Shut up and stop looking under there." You here the blank reply from behind you.

"No need to get so defensive. Of course this place isn't going to be sparkly clean, you work too much. Yknow I really respect that about-" You squeak as you're cut off. Your ankle being grapped, forcibly pulled from under the couch.

"Did you not hear me the first time?" He asks, using your ankle to flip you onto your back. "Or do I have to shout." The last half is also a question, yet he says it like a statement. His voice always cold and callous, despite his actual kind nature.

You blush at how strong he was. It was juxtaposition to your strength. Enough cursed energy to be a sorcerer compared to normal humans, but so weak you had to be an assistant. "Nanami...this position is a bit...interesting?" You say softly and confused.

"And your last position wasn't?" He drops your ankle. Giving you a chance to slowly rise up, sitting on your knees emrbassed. "If you're going to wear a skirt, please be self aware." He states simply.

Wait, what did he mean by that. Suddenly your whole face flushes, realizing you've been flaunting your ass. Basically putting yourself on display.

Nanami clears his throat, surprisingly loosening his tie a bit. Rubbing the side of his face annoyed and...flushed.

"Look I'm sorry...I just didn't think about it." You say shyly, biting your bottom lip. As much as you dreamed of Nanami lustfully gazing at your backside, you never meant to accidently do it. In your fantasy it was always purposful, taking advantage of his cold demeanor by turning him on. This was not a fantasy, you're right in front of him.

He stares down at you and sighs. "Come on, up off your knees." He says softly. That sentence makes you discretly clench your thighs. Imagining those words in a different scenario. You look at his offered hand and take it, slowly standing with his help.

"You didn't do it on purpose, it's okay." He's say in a coo, almost like he felt bad.

"What if I did?" You ask, surprising even yourself. You didn't do this on purpose, why did you say that? More importantly, why didn't you stop yourself?

"What?" You hear by your side. Looking at his stern face. Waiting for digust to roll in, hell maybe he'll even shout. Tell you to get out of his office, even worse maybe fire you.

Suddenly he laughs. Gripping onto the side of his desk...laughing. "You have alot of nerve." He says walking over to you. Raising a hand to your face. You expect the sting of a slap, but instead he squishes your cheeks together. "Cause then I'd call you an attention seeking whore." He tsks his tongue and smiles. An annoyed grin, faux politeness despite his harsh words.

"I-uhm- sorry I didn't really mean-" The pressure of his grip grows. Stopping you mid sentence.

"I won't hear any of your excuses." He pushes you against his desk, the table digging into the back of your thighs. A small patch of arousal staining your underwear. "In fact I'll reward you."

"What?" You say confused, knitting your brows. He lets out a small cold huff. Slipping his hand from your chin to down your throat. Softly rubbing the side of your neck.

"If your goal was to provoke me- it worked." His other free hand grabs yours. Pressing it against his thigh. You feel his hot throbbing length struggling not to reveal itself. "Do you know how hard it is trying to keep my dick tucked while helping you look around?" He coos to you. His fingers wrap around yours, causing you to the feel the entirety of his girth. "C'mon don't be shy now."

"Is that really...wow." You say breathlessly. The huge thing in your hand really was his cock. Straining against his professional trousers. "Why didn't you say anything?" You say softly. Gripping it curiously with your fingers, earning a soft groan from him.

"Its not exactly professional to hit on your assistant...also a tad too clichéd." He replies honestly. Running the hand on your neck down to your skirt. Flipping it up and letting out a soft pleased sigh. "I'm not one for business and pleasure but, this damned skirt." He chuckles softly. Rubbing your left thigh, watching it jiggle in response. "God it gets me rock hard."

You shiver at his touch. His hands warm against your thigh, but the heat of your aching cunt is hotter. "Nanami..." You whisper his name out softly.

He tsks his tongue in response. "I got my hand up your skirt, call me Kento." He leans in and kisses your neck softly, nibbling at the soft flesh. His hot breath sending goosebumps. "Kay'?" He whispers into your ear.

You nod softly. Letting out small sounds of pleasure as his lips travel across your throat. "Kento please your hand...it can go further than my thigh."You squeak out. Hoping the muscular man gets the message.

"Oh I know...but you've been naughty. Why would I give you what you want?" He coos backing away from you. Even pulling your hand away from his dick. "It be more punishing to leave you a dripping wet needy mess." He says with a smirk. A thing you never expected to see on his face. The pure unbridled joy he has in teasing you. Getting revenge for your two years of oblivious actions.

He smiles at you and sits back down in his desk chair. Going back to reviewing his documents despite your whines of protest. "Kento please.." You say walking behind his chair. Wrapping your arms around him, hands splayed across his chest. Rubbing the hard planes of muscle. "I don't even have to feel good, I just wanna feel you." You tempt into his ear. Kissing underneath it. He huff in response and expertly pulls your hands off his chest.

"I'd stop now. Bad girls get punished." He speaks sternly. Not at all humoring you. You don't listen and walk to the front of his chair, dropping to your knees, rubbing your face against his thigh. He finally lets go of his document. "Do you really want it that bad?" He coos softly. Like a false sense of security.

You nod against his thigh, looking up at him with a lust addled gaze. He gives you an evil smile, one that sends shivers down your spine. He undoes his belt buckle, tugging his pants and boxers to free himself. His huge length standing proudly at attention. "Go on pretty girl." He says brushing his thumb across your bottom lip. "Give it a taste." He says smiling.

You listen excitedly. Falling right into his trap as your lips curl around his cock. Slowly bobbing your head down after swirling your tongue around his tip. A pleasnt salty bead of precum meeting your tongue. You can only fit half of him in your mouth, even without a gag reflex the pure girth was already stretching your jaw. He throws his head back and groans. "Finally...a way to shut you up." He says happily, almost relaxed.

His hand curls into your hair, gripping it at the base. Successfully pulling your hair out of your way. A part of you was about to mention how sweet it was until. He grips hard and slams your head down, painfully making you take the rest of him down your throat. Your nose pressed against the soft curls of his pubes. A small surprised gag leaves your lips. "Oh darling don't you remember. You've been naughty, and naughty girls get what?" He asks you. He looks down at you amused for a second. Using his hand to pull you up and down on him. Small tears pricking the corners of your eyes. "I forgot, can't talk with your mouth full can you?" He laughs and groans. The two sounds like music to your ears.

This was gonna be a harsh night.

#x reader #nanami kento #jjk nanami #nanami x reader #nanami x you #no use of y/n #jjk #jjk x reader #jjk x reader smut #jjk smut #smut #fanfiction #fanfic #jjk fanfic #no plot whatsoever #no plot to be found #lime #lemon

[stealingpotatoes]

just watched mando s3 it’s great that we TOTALLY had a whole season about din coming to grips with being mand’alor & life without grogu and about dueteragonist bo-katan coming to realise she was only trying to lead mand’alor bc of her sister not bc she thought she was the best leader. and the whole season centred around the theme of accepting who you really are even if you’re certain you’re something else and was about how heroes and leaders can come from anywhere, they don’t have to come from a special bloodline (a sorta thesis against the skywalker saga) and about the uniting power of grief and oppression. isn’t it great we had that instead of a season with no plot 

isn’t it great that there were no mando cameos in tbobf and mando season 3 started with him on a bounty, cringefailing at using the darksaber and stabbing himself but he did the job and got paid in a nubian starfighter (he wanted a razor crest but he’s injured so he doesnt argue much) which he then used to find his covert on the canyon planet. then he revealed to the armorer and paz that he had the darksaber which after some time leads to paz duelling din for the saber (without telling the others bc they dont know din has it) and din wins but its revealed he took his helmet off. he’s made apostate IN FRONT OF EVERYONE (EVERYONE!!) with only one IMPOSSIBLE chance of redemption (nobody can go to mandalore anymore!!) and has to leave and now has nothing — no child, no clan. so he does the only thing he can think to and goes to a green planet we’ve never seen before. he lands safely but still injured from his fight with Paz and not fully healed from the original injury he passes out. and the episode ends with a kid running over and telling another kid to call master skywalker

and sure episode 2 was the fanservice episode but its disney! we have to expect a marketable plushie cameo episode — except of course that didn’t mean it wasn’t plot relevant! din wakes up and we realise he’s at luke’s jedi academy and this is great n stuff we finally get to see luke in his prime teaching a whole bunch of students! and we get to see grogu happy and having fun with his kind (which makes din happy but miss his own covert). luke notices din has a saber himself (despite it being well-hidden — luke can sense it) and din admits he can’t use it and that he doesnt think it even belongs to him while luke shows him saber forms (but pretends its for his own training and not din’s bc din refuses to learn). they have a discussion and din reveals he came here bc he got kicked out and has no way to redeem himself bc there are no mines left and even then the planet’s poisonous. luke spouts some jedi stuff asking din if he’s certain and says blind certainty is the enemies of hope and progress or whatever (setting up the larger theme of identity certainty in the season). luke also points out that if they imps r there then they have to have some way of getting around the environment they caused. inspired and knowing grogu is safe here, din is ready to go redeem himself on mandalore. he says he’ll come to see grogu again and luke makes it clear that while attachments can’t get in front of duty, din is always welcome here <3 

episode 3 of course had din go to the ruins of mandalore to redeem himself, inspired by luke’s words about certainty he goes to the ruins of sundari, where he knows there was once living waters (the other option is the one surviving and imperial-controlled city, but he’s not that dumb). also bc the imps only hang around the cities so that must be where it's survivable. there’s some imperials about the edge of the city (not many) and he does have to subtly fight them but he gets spotted. he wins but he’s panicking bc during the fight his breathing system got hit but then he notices a plant growing. and he realises he’s not dying — the air isn’t poisonous anymore or whatever! so he turns off his failing life support and goes to the city. he explores the city and finds many remnants of mandalorian culture there in the small parts that survived. ash-covered murals, mostly-burnt toys, something that could have once been a palace. he finds a memorial to a duchess satine kryze and thinks huh like bo katan? (because of course the show wouldn’t ignore bo’s motivations) anyway after some slow but meaningful exploring (its quietness eerie, unlike the quietness of the previous stealth section) he manages to make his way below the city. he finds the mines, reads the inscription and then goes in. except of course its no longer shallow and he falls and he falls and he realises well fuck he’s gonna die. his life support got hit earlier and he doesnt have his jetpack he’s going to sink. but then in the darkness, a great looming eye opens and before din knows it, SOMETHING is throwing him out that sinking water. it had to have been a freak current right? he was hallucinating. surely a MYTHOSAUR didn’t just save him… those are all dead, only to return with a new age of mandalore! he shakes his head, ignores it, and collects the water with something new to bring to his people

episode 4 reintroduced us to old fan favourite bo katan in her depression girl era bc din shows up to her empty palace ready to help her take back mandalore… only to find her in a depression pit and— oh my god is she drunk??! she drops that her ppl left her bc she didn’t have the darksaber and din’s looking at the depression pit like. right. bc of the darksaber. he briefly tries to convince her to fight him for it but she’s like no you’ll throw the fight it won’t be true comba— oh no! explosion nearby bc looks like din wasn’t as careful as he thought and the imperials followed him to bo’s place so both of them have to fucking skeet outta there and bo’s home’s destroyed so din’s like hey come on let’s go to my people we can take back mandalore with them or smthn. so they head back to the covert, din reveals he’s no longer apostate and that mandalore isnt cursed it’s breathable + you can successfully walk on the surface now. this is however interrupted by a beast showing up and trying to kill some ppl. it almost kills paz’s son but din kills the beast first in his starfighter. anyway back to the conversation (now within the cave) and din’s trying to convince his clan that they can take back mandalore (with bo as leader) but none of them want to follow her or risk what few numbers they have left. dejected, din and bo make to leave again, but paz follows them out and is like ?? din you literally have the darksaber why didn’t you use it to get at least SOME of them to follow you and din’s like i don’t want people to follow me bc of a legend, if they follow me it has to be bc they want to and paz and bo r internally like wow damn. anyway paz then says he’ll always fight w din if needed bc he saved his son but if he wants the people to follow him they should try get some of the other clans to help so it looks less dangerous. so bo and din leave on their quest. also throughout this episode, we’re introduced to some random civilian in the reintegration program. its implied they worked with gideon and that they’re preparing for something, but we don’t get much more than that. 

episode 5 is the bo episode, this is where we explore her character, have her arc, and ya know really cover her motivations (bc disney would NEVER make it so her motivation is invisible unless you’d seen two other tv shows). din and bo head to where her clan is. they just want to see the clan but they end up being dragged into a b-plot about helping the local pacifist duchess (& duke). din tries to say no but bo-katan says smthn abt diplomacy. this quest initially doesn’t seem plot relevant but throughout bo opens up about her own pacifist duchess sister and she comes to realise how much of this quest has been about trying to live up to satine and not bc she thinks herself the best mand’alor. the thing she said abt diplomacy earlier, she reveals, is just a quote from her sister. anyway they’re finally able to go to bo’s old clan and she, now reinvigorated in accepting and knowing who she is and what she wants (no longer depression girl) challenges axe for leadership of the clan. she wins and in a speech is like we’re gonna retake unpoisonous mandalore by uniting the clans!! most agree but theyre like HOW are we supposed to convince the other clans? and it descends into insane yelling UNTIL a low hum and a black-white light falls over the group. silence falls. everyone looks on. high above his head, din is holding the darksaber (proudly!!) and he’s like we’ll unite them with this. but axe has to constantly be chatting shit and getting up from the floor where he got his ass whipped he’s like really???? you wanna follow him???? he doesn’t even have any mandalorian blood in him!!! and bo makes a great speech about blood doesn’t make a good leader what makes a good leader is knowing when to use your power. and then she’s like he is my mand’alor amen and kneels before him. everyone else follows and din awkwardly stands there still not fully accepting his role 

episode 6 was the great prep episode. we start with din and bo helping and getting a new tribe on their side and heading back to Concordia we realise they’ve got this HUGEEEE war camp of mandalorians!! there are so many clans with them now (except one, which din is really missing)!!!!! this episode mostly focuses on mandalorian culture and them training/ planning and din and bo trying to keep the clans from biting each other’s heads off. but this is interrupted when a small group of imperials try to pre-attack them (like they did w bo’s palace) but the mandos all manage to fight back and take them down, which then leads to a whole speech from din and bo about how mandalorians are all fighting but theyre united now in their grief and with this they can fight the empire. the b-plot of the episode comes back to that random civilian from episode 4 and whoomp turns out their plan was to BREAK MOFF GIDEON OUT OF JAIL!! shitttt!!!! oh no!! he’s back now, that’s gonna make their very decent plan to take back mandalore harder but they dont knowww (irony!)

episodes 7 and 8 were the battle of mandalore, woo! it had to be two episodes because it’s a taking whole occupied planet and not a single base, a pretty damn difficult task that definitely can’t be done by two single clans in like 40 minutes! there’s all those mini tiny bases scattered throughout the planet on the ruins (like din encountered in episode 3) AND more importantly there’s the one domed city that the imperials kept alive as their main base — which means they have to be careful, bc they can’t do any sort of aerial assault or great deal of damage to the imperials without also destroying the one surviving place for them to live. so the plan is smaller strike teams to go the bases plopped around the planet as a distraction and to stop reinforcements to the city while the main force surround the city and take it. the first city team (with din and bo) has to open up all the ports and stuff to allow the HUGE armies to get in. unfortunately this is in the main imp base in the centre of the city so they have to get there. (they’d prefer 2 strike teams but they can only spare 1) MOST of the mini-bases r meanwhile being successfully captured. the strike team gets to the centre to de-activate the port shielding n stuff and GASP! IT’S GIDEON!! FROM JAIL!! and he’s surrounded by fucking MANDO STORMTROOPERS and IN BESKAR ARMOUR oh no!! ambush!! he knew they’d have to go here to allow a full-scale assault! the small strike team at sundari also gets captured bc there were some mandotroopers there (they increased security post episode 3). episode 7 ends on a cliffhanger bc all seems lost and the strike team’s surrounded 

episode 8 starts straight off the cliffhanger and oh no they’re all gonna die gasp WHEN BAM fighting noises elsewhere, everyone’s confused, when paz’s voice crackles over din’s comm like hey bro! BC DIN’S CLAN FINALLY SHOWED UP TO HELP AND THEY WERE ABLE TO MAKE THAT SECOND STRIKE TEAM and in the confusion din & bo’s team take out the mandotroopers, gideon gets away. din and paz and the armorer come face to face and paz calls him mand’alor or smthn bc he’s also accepted it and they’re like woo let’s go now we can fight fr!! din heads to help lead the battle ig but bo’s like nah i have to end gideon for what he did to our planet. and din’s like well he’s wearing beskar armour so you’ll need this and gives her his beskar spear WHICH IS SYMBOLIC BC he’s finally giving up his other weapon and is going to solely use the darksaber!! he’s accepted who he is and is going to lead their ppl!! so yeah instead of having din fight gideon, who he already beat once, bo fights him and its incredibly cathartic. at sundari that strike team who got captured is also not looking great but MYTHOSAUR EX MACHINA COMES AND FUCKS UP THE IMPERIALS THERE (its returned!!). so big battle and gideon’s down and the darksaber DOESN’T get destroyed yay! afterwards they all vibe and they go to the forge and the armorer relights it and they proclaim din mand’alor fr and he accepts it and throne. sure he's still a BIT uneasy (mand'alor the reluctant anyone?) but he's not saying NOO now loll. yayyy!! AND THEN final scene is din returns to the jedi academy like hii thanks for ur advice u were right being blindly certain abt stuff is meh and leaves no room for hope. uh could i show grogu mandalore i promise i’ll bring him right back and it ends on din showing grogu the planet finally bc thats cute and fanservice

anyway isn’t it great this is exactly what happened, it’s all canon and definitely not the stealingpotatoes sequels canon continuity rewrite! 

#hot girls finally watch a show and then immediately sit down and make 2.5k words of a rewrite LOL #while having a fever! #mand'alor din djarin #potes wrotes #(ish) #the mandalorian s3 #mandalorian season 3 #IM NOT SAYING I COULD DO BETTER THAN THE ORIGINAL WRITERS like i get they have very different circumstances to me n stuff w execs etc #but i did try to write this while considering what would make good/marketable tv not just what would make a solely good plot #im not gonna be one of those ppl who's never made a tv show but thinks she could do better than seasoned writers/directors lollll #this is lichrally me trying to make my accidental redo continuity work with s3 LMAO #its also messy as hell bc i wrote it in one sitting and its not a proper piece of writing. there r plot holes but i think less than og #actually if there r any problems im blaming my fever <3 #mandalorian s3 rewrite #the sswscc

[ckret2]

Chapter 14 of Human Bill Is A Prisoner And Only Mabel Is Being Nice To Him (real title TBD), and the conclusion of the first big plot arc:

Also featuring: what Pacifica has been up to the past year! Dipper and Mabel arguing about Bill! The hand witch, briefly! Funny pranks that Ford does not think are funny! And other things.

####

Dipper and Mabel waved goodbye as they left the Hand Witch's cave. The witch, her boyfriend, and Mabel's spare right hand on the witch's shoulder waved back.

"Thanks for helping us out on such short notice," Dipper said.

"Oh, any time!" the witch said. "Come back whenever you like! I'll make tea and snacks again."

"Girl, you know I'm always up for more of your..." Mabel flashed the witch a pair of finger guns and a wink, "... finger food!"

Her spare hand made a finger gun back. The witch laughed so hard she wheezed. Her boyfriend leaned down to pat her back.

As Mabel and Dipper wove their way down the Hand Witch's mountain, Mabel said, "It's good to see she's found a relationship. She seems happy! And less desperate."

"I dunno, I'm kind of worried about that guy. What if he's just using her to learn her handomancy secrets?"

"Naaah, I'm not worried about him. He's a really bad apprentice. I think he's just letting her train him as a bonding activity. Like when girls let their boyfriends explain football so they can watch games together." Mabel turned to peer at the dark cave above. "Do you think Alehandra will be lonely without me?"

"Wh—you already named it?"

"Hands come in pairs, Dipper. Maybe she'd like a twin sister." She looked at Dipper's hands. "Or brother."

"Oh no. Uh-uh, I can see where this is going. We've already gotten in enough trouble with that stuff."

Mabel's phone buzzed. They must have gotten near enough town to get reception again. She pulled out her phone, saw a text from Soos, and swiped it open. "Mabel, this is Ford..."

"Speaking of growing extra hands," Dipper said. "Mabel... I think this whole thing is a bad idea. I mean—worse than it was originally. Getting Bill magic hair growth formula is one thing, but, growing extra limbs? I don't know what he could do with that, but he could do something."

Mabel's thumbs hovered over the screen, paralyzed as she tried to figure out what to tell Ford and Dipper at the same time.

The truth was, she'd had the same worry as Dipper. She lowered her phone. "Yeah, okay, maybe he could possibly do something with it hypothetically—but clearly the whole reason he asked for it was for the hair growth part! Because he's bald. So maybe he just... doesn't care about the rest? If we get only enough Hairy Fairy to regrow his hair and use it all up, then he won't have a chance to use it for anything evil, right?"

"Unless he's not even interested in regrowing his hair." Dipper pulled off his backpack and rummaging through it until he found the advertisement Ford had given him. "Look, everything in this ad lines up with what Bill told us about Hairy Fairy's history. If he knew that much, he definitely could know it can grow extra limbs. He might have even known it was coming back on the market before he saw the commercial! What if the only reason he burned off his hair was to manipulate us into getting this formula?"

"What would he do with a bunch of extra body parts?" Mabel asked. "He's clumsy enough with the ones he already has. I kinda think more would make him weaker."

"I don't know, but—I didn't know what he wanted a 'puppet' for, either, and see how that turned out?"

Mabel bit her lip, looking at Dipper's face—and then looked down at her phone, rereading the last sentence of Ford's text. "I'm worried he might be up to something nefarious."

She couldn't have this conversation in two places at once. She typed a quick reply to Ford—"It's too complicated to explain in text! I'll tell you when Dipper and I get home. (It's NOT dangerous, don't worry!) ❤️"—and stuffed her phone in her pocket. "Okay," she said. "Look. Sure, it makes sense to be extra paranoid with Bill—especially when we saw him finish his big master plan last summer—but honestly? I kinda don't think he's that good. Think about how many times Grunkle Ford says he tried and failed to get into our universe! I don't think he's a big alien super-genius with a careful zillion-year plan; I think he's just some guy that needed to try a zillion years just to get one plan to work. And that's... kind of lame. What can a guy like that do with hair formula?"

Dipper absorbed that. "Wow. Yeah, actually, when you put it that way, that—that isn't very impressive." He grimaced. "But—okay, even if he didn't have a complicated escape plan, what if he saw the hair formula and thought of one that he needs extra arms for—?"

"Dipper, we can 'but what if' Bill forever!" She flung out her hands in frustration. "If we second-guess everything he says, we'll start wondering stuff like 'what if he wants us to distrust him so he can reverse-psychology us into doing the thing he actually wants?' It'll drive us crazy! And letting Bill drive us crazy won't make us safer! We can't spend another summer being paranoid about Evil Bill Tricks!"

"Okay yeah, you have a point, but—why is the solution 'do what he wants'? Why isn't it 'tell him no, and cover our ears whenever he tries to say he wants something so we don't even know what he wants and he can't manipulate us'?"

Mabel's mind flashed back to the sad ghost under the zodiac blanket, huddled in a dusty corner. She looked at her feet and kicked a clump of grass self-consciously. "Because... he's sad and it's making me sad."

Dipper groaned. "Mabel."

"I know—"

"Mabel, he could be acting sad on purpose—"

"I know he could, I know, I KNOW!" Mabel let out all her accumulated Bill-induced frustration in a scream that startled several birds out of a nearby tree. She jumped furiously on the clump of grass. "He probably thinks I'm a big soft sucker! He's the worst and I hate him so much!"

"YES!" Dipper aimed a kick at the grass clump. "He's the worst ever! It's his fault we're even having this argument!"

"This summer was supposed to be different!"

"No apocalypses, no murder attempts, and no demon triangles!"

"No triangles at ALL! I don't even like geometry!"

When they'd collaboratively destroyed the grass clump, they fell silent, breathing heavily, staring at the upturned dirt. "I needed that," Mabel said. After a moment, she knelt down and tried to set the mangled grass back upright. The grass did nothing to deserve this.

Dipper leaned against a tree. "So. Are we giving up on the hair stuff?"

Mabel carefully patted a mound of dirt around what was left of the base of the grass. "I... still wanna go through with it."

Dipper had used up all his frustration on the grass. He sighed. "If you're gonna get that stuff for Bill no matter what I say, then... why are you trying to talk me into it?"

"Because I'm not going to do it. Not unless you agree."

"You... what?"

"Dipper, I feel like this is the right thing to do—but that's why I need to know what you think. The last time we didn't talk things out, the world almost ended! We always make better decisions together than we do apart. If I can't say anything that makes you think it's worth the risk, then—I'll give up. I'll tell Bill we couldn't get the stuff, and offer to get him a discount wig after Summerween, and... that's it." Mabel shrugged. "I'm scared too. I keep wondering stuff like 'what if he gives himself leg stilts and climbs out the chimney? What if he grows seven fingers and can finally overpower Ford?' But that's stupid."

She looked up at Dipper. "I want to make sure that if we give up, it's because there really is a danger. I don't want to refuse to help somebody suffering just because we're scared of him."

Dipper slid down to sit on the grass and watch Mabel give the grass clump first aid. Once Mabel was satisfied enough to sit back and wipe her hands off on her skirt, Dipper said, "Yeah. I am scared of him. He's tricked me with some misleading wording before, and I don't want it to happen again. I want to say I'm just being logical, but... right now, maybe I'm doing more feeling than thinking, too." He shrugged. "The truth is, I can't think of anything he could do with the hair growth formula that isn't so ridiculous, even I don't believe it's possible."

Mabel nodded. "Are you scared enough to say 'no'? If you are, we'll quit."

"No, I'm not." Dipper heaved a sigh. "I guess... let's do it. But I want to be as careful as possible. We'll get just barely enough to regrow his hair, one of us will apply the formula so he can't misuse it—"

"I can do that," Mabel said. "I've already slathered like a whole bucket of yellow paint on his face."

"Okay. And I'll watch the whole time as backup, in case he tries anything."

"Barty can watch from the vents as the backup-backup, too!"

"Good idea."

"Boom! Flawless plan!" Mabel grinned. "Now let's go see Pacifica!"

####

The address Pacifica had given them led to a small fenced-in pasture outside town.

Over the main gate was a sign that read "Platinum Alpaca Estates".

In the pasture, a half dozen pink-collar-wearing alpacas placidly grazed.

And standing in front of it all—wearing immaculately tailored lavender overalls, a set of white rhinestone-studded boots and cowboy hat, and a nervous smile—was Pacifica.

Dipper and Mabel gaped.

Dipper said, "What the— What is—"

"Pacifica what."

Pacifica held up her hands. "Okay wait, just let me explain! After my family lost our mansion last year, I could only keep one horse? Which was devastating! I needed to fill the void of hoofed mammals in my life somehow."

Mabel leaned over the fence. "So you got alpacas?"

"I was actually inspired by the llama sweater you gave me." Pacifica gave Mabel a small, crooked smile. "It reminded me that I've always secretly thought alpacas are cute, and I really like alpaca wool goods, so I thought... you know... what if I try it out?" She opened the gate, gesturing for the twins to follow her toward a small barn. "And I actually really love it! These are like, my babies. And I'm talking with some fashion brands about maybe selling them some luxury wool?"

She led them into the barn, and then into a small office being cooled by a window A/C unit. Several wool garments, protected in glass cases, were proudly displayed on the walls with labels underneath: "First Sweater", "First Scarf", "First Blanket"—

"Hey!" Mabel pointed at the familiar blanket, creamy white with the anti-Bill zodiac in ochre yellow. "That's the one I made! Did the yarn you sent me to make it come from your alpacas?"

"It did! You're the first person to make anything with their wool."

"Whoa."

"I actually want to use my symbol from the circle as our brand. I'm waiting to hear from my copyright lawyer about who I need to talk to for the rights to the image—if it's you or your great-uncle, or if it's still with the tribe that left the valley like a thousand years ago, or if it's public domain," Pacifica said. "It's a vague enough shape, I think it could look like either a llama or an alpaca, right?"

Mabel considered what Bill had said about Pacifica's symbol, considered the small alpaca herd visible through the office window, and said, "I have it on good authority that it's supposed to be an alpaca."

"So, wait," Dipper said. "What does this have to do with your modeling job?"

"The ranch isn't turning a profit yet. I'm still in talks with the brands that want our wool, and in the meantime I've got to hire more people to help. I don't know the hard stuff about taking care of alpacas, I just kind of brush their wool and make friends with them while my employees do the hard stuff."

Dipper snorted.

"Hey! I'm learning! But I've only been doing this a few months." Pacifica sank down into her desk chair, propping her chin in her hands. "Almost all my allowance and side gig income is going toward my alpacas. My parents don't want to invest in my startup!" She pouted. "They said if I want to act like a rancher instead of a socialite, it'll be on my own dime."

"So that's why you're working two summer jobs?" Dipper said. "Oh, man. I should have known something was up. I thought it was weird when you said your parents wouldn't pay for a spring and summer wardrobe."

"Yeah, I spent my spring wardrobe budget on this barn," Pacifica said. "I figure I'm investing in my future wardrobe, you know?"

Mabel planted her hands on Pacifica's desk. "Pacifica, I can see how important this is. I've run a business myself—I appreciate the pressure you're under. But, how about this: we could help each other! If you get us a tiiiny bit of that formula, I'll come over once a week for the rest of summer to help out with your alpacas. For free!"

Pacifica blinked. "What?"

"And that way, even if you do get in trouble and lose your Hairy Fairy job, you'll still have someone to help you out!"

Dipper's eyes widened. "Um—Pacifica, could you give us a moment?" He grabbed Mabel's elbow and tugged her out of the office.

"What is it?"

Dipper whispered, "Are you sure you wanna make that kind of commitment for the rest of summer? For Bill's sake?"

"Dipperrr, it's like working in a petting zoo!" She gestured toward the office window. "Look at how soft they are!"

"Oh, boy."

"And maybe I could get some luxury alpaca wool! I'm gonna have the fanciest sweaters."

Dipper grimaced, but decided Mabel would probably have looked for an excuse to spend time around the alpacas regardless of the situation. "Okay. Have at her." He nodded back toward the office.

When Mabel and Dipper came back in, Pacifica was sitting up straighter, hands laced on her desk, a miniature businesswoman entertaining a business proposal. "I appreciate the offer," Pacifica said. "But I don't think a few hours of labor a week balance out the profits I could make at my modeling job. It just doesn't make financial sense. I'm sorry, Mabel. I've got to think of my alpacas."

"I understand. But—I've got to think of my not-friend. If you could just see..." She trailed off as a thought occurred to her. "Dipper! Let me get in your backpack."

"Um, okay—?"

Mabel rummaged around in the main pouch. "I'm sure we left it... Ha!" She slapped down a ziplock bag containing the lock of Bill's hair that they'd collected to make his poppet. "This... is the person I'm trying to help." She crossed her arms triumphantly. "Okay, not the person, but it's his hair anyway."

Pacifica's brows shot up. "Oh, wow." She opened the bag and carefully extracted a few strands to examine. "This is the most golden golden hair I've ever seen. And look at it. Little oily, could use a good conditioner, damaged roots, but otherwise amazing health, no split ends..." Pacifica looked at Mabel, pointed at the baggie, and asked, "Virgin?"

Mabel laughed nervously. "I have no idea and I never ever want to find out."

"No! I mean is this the natural color and texture, or has it been treated?"

"Oh. I'm pretty sure it just came like that?" She looked at Dipper.

Dipper shrugged. "I mean, probably? I doubt he hit up a salon before coming to the Mystery Shack."

"And... you say he had a bad haircut?" Pacifica asked. "What does he look like now?"

Gently, Mabel said, "Bald."

Pacifica let out the softest gasp. "Okay. I get it. I'll help. And also send over a couple of conditioner samplers, because whoever your friend is, he has not been taking care of his hair lately. Natural beauty can only carry him so far. I'll have the conditioners overnighted to your shack."

"Great!" A wide smile broke out across Mabel's face. "Thank you so much, Pacifica! And the formula, too?"

"Actually, I can give you that right now." Pacifica pulled a small green Hairy Fairy bottle from one of her overall pockets.

Mabel gasped in delight. Dipper said, "Wait, you had that the whole time?"

"When we escaped the country club, I accidentally still had the bottle we'd used for the live demonstration in my pocket," Pacifica said. "I was going to replace it tomorrow morning before anyone goes looking for it; I'll just give you guys a few drops and make up the difference with a little alpaca shampoo. Hopefully, nobody will notice the difference."

Mabel said, "Pacifica, you're the best!"

"I know." Pacifica leaned across the desk to put a hand on Mabel's shoulder. "Just promise me one thing."

"Sure! What?"

"I won't be able to do this a second time," Pacifica said. "So you'd better make sure your friend takes care of his hair."

####

Bill squinted at the chocolate chip-sized dollop of lotion at the bottom of the quart-sized plastic food container. "Gotta hand it to you, Shooting Star. This is the funniest way you could have transported the formula."

"We forgot to bring anything to put it in." Mabel snapped on a pair of yellow dish gloves and pointed at the kitchen floor. "Okay! Sit down so I can reach and let me work my magic."

"What, don't think I can handle it myself?" But he sat down even as he protested. He'd already removed his cardboard triangle helmet—which now sat, battered and bent, on the kitchen table—and had washed off his paint/makeup as well as he could without requesting shower access.

Mabels scooped the dollop of lotion onto one gloved finger, then massaged it across her fingertips. "I'm your official makeup artist now! I've gotta do it. Besides, you missed a chunk of hair when you were removing it, you'd probably miss a chunk when you were putting it back on."

"Eh, fair enough. Okay kid, do your worst."

As Mabel coated Bill's scalp, the chemical burns he'd given himself while removing his hair vanished, replaced with new healthy skin—and Dipper quietly lamented, once again, that this stuff was being marketed to grow hair and not regrow limbs. He'd have to document it thoroughly in his journal later.

Dipper was sitting at the bottom of the attic stairs, watching the proceedings in the kitchen, armed with Mabel's grappling gun to use as a projectile weapon if Bill dared try anything. But Bill just sat there, legs crossed with his feet on his thighs and his hands palm-up on his knees like he was meditating, not even turning his head as Mabel worked.

Mabel jerked her hands back in surprise as a fresh layer of golden hair sprang out of Bill's scalp—then quickly reached in again, massaging the lotion into all the strands and coaxing them out until they were all around shoulder length, the same as they'd started. "There! Ta-da! Good as new!"

As the hair crawled down Bill's temples, tickled his ears, brushed his cheeks, he squeezed his eyes shut as tight as he could and clenched his jaw, straining hard to keep from moving. His open hands curled into fists. Dipper raised the grappling hook. But when Bill turned to face Mabel, he was all grins again, and if Dipper hadn't known to look for it he wouldn't have noticed the anxious tic in Bill's eyebrow. "Well? How do I look?"

"Gorgeous! If the real Goldilocks saw you, she'd have to change her name in shame."

"Ha! That's what I like to hear!" Bill un-pretzeled his legs and stood up. "And you did it without giving me any spare eyebrows, too." So he did know about the side-effects.

"Oh, pfff, yeah, I'm not lowering my guard around that stuff again. The first time I opened a bottle, I got some on me and grew an extra hand!"

"No! Really?" Bill gave Mabel's gloved hands a skeptical look. "Where's it now?"

"I donated it to the Hand Witch."

"Ahh, pity. You could've had some fun with your temporary crown."

"'Crown'?"

"Most fingers in the household?"

Mabel's eyes bugged out, and then a manic smile took over her face, as if her brain had just been flooded with more glee than her face could process. She yanked off the gloves, hastily rubbed them on her left wrist, and shouted, "GRUNKLE FOOORD!" She sprinted through the entryway and took the turn down the hallway so fast she ran a couple steps up on the wall before landing back on the floor. "Grunkle Ford, guess what!"

Dipper almost followed her—until he caught Bill moving in the corner of his eye, bending down to pick up the discarded gloves. Dipper raised the grappling hook. What was Bill planning to do with them—use the remainder to mutate himself? Save them to use later? Eat them—?

Bill dropped the gloves in the plastic container the lotion had come in, sealed the lid, and dropped them in the kitchen waste bin. Under his breath, he muttered, "The last thing I need is the pig sniffing this and growing an extra snout." He paused. "Wait. That would be funny."

From the other side of the house, Ford's voice bellowed, "BILL!"

Bill's head snapped around to face the kitchen doorway—and for the first time he glanced at Dipper sitting on the stairs. "Hey. What do you bet he didn't even let Mabel explain before deciding this is my fault?"

"Uh..."

Mabel and Ford's approach could be tracked through Mabel's hasty explanation: "Grunkle Ford, it's just a prank! I'm okay, see? I'm gonna donate Mirhanda to the Hand Witch, it'll be fine—"

The moment Ford saw Bill, he made a beeline for him and seized him by his t-shirt collar. "What did you do to her?! Answer me, Cipher!"

"I didn't! I'm innocent! I plea the fifth! I've been falsely accused! I was framed! Mercy!" The sincerity of his pleas was somewhat undermined by the fact that he couldn't stop laughing the whole time Ford was trying to menace him. His too-wide gleeful smile looked a lot like Mabel's.

####

"Okay, Pacifica," the director said. "This commercial is for the teen market, so we want you to talk to the camera like you're talking to your peers, all right? And by that, I don't mean your real peers. I mean the slightly less rich girls who would do anything you asked to be considered one of your peers."

"Don't worry, I've got this," Pacifica said. She positioned herself on her stool, hands laced over her knees, and said, "Ready when you are."

"And... action!"

Pacifica gave the camera her best haughty-but-not-too-haughty look, the one that said maybe if you say something interesting to me I'll double your social standing for fun, and launched into her memorized lines: "Hey, I'm Pacifica Northwest—you all know me, most of you probably want to be me. Listen, girls: have you ever tried to go short and it just didn't work out? Maybe that pixie cut makes your ears look weird, maybe those bangs are not for you. If you wish you looked as great as me, I have just the thing for you..."

Everything continued as normal, until Harry's Hairy Fairy Formula was applied to her hair... and nothing happened. Pacifica stumbled over a word, and then kept going, as if maybe no one would notice if she didn't draw attention to it. As she was wrapping up her monologue, her hair finally... slowly started growing... and stopped at half its usual length. Pacifica bit her lip.

"Pacifica!"

She winced and turned toward her boss, feigning a look of innocent surprise. "Yes, Mr. Haroldson?"

"What did you put in your hair! You know you're not supposed to have any product in your hair on shoot days!"

"Nothinggg! I've been following my hair care instructions perfectly! And I had it rinsed just before the shoot like always!"

"Well—what's the problem, then?" Mr. Haroldson turned to the hazmat-suited hairdresser holding the formula bottle.

"I don't know." He took off his mask. "This is the same sample bottle we used at the country club demonstration, it should be fine..." He took a sniff of it, and grimaced. "What...? That's not our usual fragrance, is it?" Mr. Haroldson leaned over to sniff as well.

She'd been found out. She was doomed. Her poker face collapsed like a house of cards. "Okay fine I took a few drops for a friend and maybe replaced it with a little bit of shampoo, so what!" She pointed at Mr. Haroldson. "What are you gonna do about it, huh? Fire me? Go ahead, see if I care! I can get a million better modeling jobs in a week!"

Mr. Haroldson's expression darkened in rage—and then he said, "Pacifica, you're a genius!"

"Huh?"

"Watering it down! Of course! We can sell unaltered bottles to hook new customers and then stretch out our supply by giving repeat customers the weak stuff—we'll tell them that it's less effective if they're overusing it! We can keep up that scam for years, it's not like the FDA is regulating this stuff! Why, we could even make a whole new product!" He turned to wave at an assistant, "Call R&D, get R&D on the phone—we'll make a formula designed to grow short hair. We can call it... Pixie Dust Pixie Cuts! It's all thanks to you, Pacifica!" He beamed at her.

She beamed back.

He said, "You're not getting credit or a raise though."

"Pshhh, obviously. I know how this industry works."

"All right, back to work." He pointed at the director. "Crack open a new bottle and let's wrap this up ASAP. I've got to schedule some meetings about the new product line."

####

"Well, he didn't grow himself eight arms," Dipper said, sitting cross-legged on his bed. He was going over a map of Gravity Falls he'd taken from the gift shop, circling locations of potential paranormal activity he wanted to investigate over the summer. Bill-tainted places got an additional triangle. "And I took out the kitchen trash to make sure Bill couldn't go back for the formula later. I guess he wasn't up to anything after all." He paused. "... Unless he wanted the formula in our trash, and now it's multiplying the garbage or getting picked up by some sleeper agent outside the shack—"

"Stooop," Mabel said. She was carefully coloring in a green bottle of Harry's Hairy Fairy Formula in Dipper's journal; Dipper had started entrusting his journal's art duties to Mabel whenever they went on a joint investigation. "We can't start thinking like that! Remember, our therapist told us that paranoia is a natural coping mechanism for dealing with scary situations, but trusting people is healthy and a sign of healing!" She set down the journal so she could emphasize the word "healing" with jazz hands.

"I think that's supposed to apply to trusting normal people."

"Yeah, but still." The journal flipped a few pages as she picked it back up, and her eyes were caught by scribbles in bright highlighter yellow. "Hey, what's this new stuff? Did you make up a secret code to keep notes in? Can I learn?"

"Ugh. No, Bill did that. I left my journal out and he wrote a bunch of secret messages. It's probably telling me how I'm going to die or the names of all the girls who will reject me or something."

"Pff, probably. Have you shown Grunkle Ford? Maybe he knows it."

"Not yet. He's been too busy."

"Right..." And now, she was sure, he was probably mad at her personally for worrying him with the hand prank.

Mabel flipped through a few more pages, looking at the bright yellow notes. She glanced toward the window, scanning the trees outside. She sighed and got up, leaving Dipper's journal on her bed.

"What's up?"

"Now you've got me worrying about sleeper agents. I'm gonna make sure the gloves are still in the trash."

When she'd confirmed all the garbage was right where it was supposed to be and came back in the shack, she spotted Bill in the living room. He was scrunched up on one side of the sofa as close to the doorway as he could get, watching TV. He glanced over as she shut the front door and flashed a grin. "Hey, Shooting Star. What're you up to?"

Ah, great. They were on casual chit-chat terms now. She edged toward the doorway but stayed outside the living room—sorry, not staying long—and said, "Oh, you know, just—looking at... the outdoors." Before he could dig further, she changed the topic. "So! How's that hair working out for you?"

"Ah." His smile wilted and his glance drifted back toward the TV. (He seemed to be watching the local news. Mabel decided he must've been really bored.) "Well, hair's still the worst thing that's ever grown on me and I still see a human in the mirror—but at least it's a human with a vaguely triangular silhouette. I can live with being back where I started."

"Sorry we couldn't come up with a real solution." As glad as she was to finish her obligation to Bill, she hated that all her efforts hadn't even really helped. Some problem-solver she was.

"Yeah, well. You can't build a pyramid out of meat. You did the best you could." Bill turned to fully face Mabel. "But, hey—listen." He had one eye squeezed shut but the other one stared her down with the intensity of a spotlight, paralyzing her in place. "Even if it's not perfect, I appreciate the effort you put in."

"Hey, it's no big deal. Crafts are my whole thing! It was kinda fun."

"No, I'm serious," Bill said. "I know I'm the town bogeyman, and everyone's only putting up with me until they find the easiest way to obliterate me. But you did a lot more than just 'put up with me.' And, well—don't tell the others I said this," he rolled his eye toward the hall to the rest of the house, and lowered his voice, "but... it's been a long time since anybody's treated me with a little kindness. Longer than you can imagine. I think I'd forgotten what it feels like. Even if I don't have much time left to enjoy it—I'm grateful for the reminder, kid."

Mabel's eyes widened. "Bill, that..." A lump formed in her throat. How long had it been? As big a jerk as he was—centuries? Millennia?

She darted into the living room, squeezed Bill in a hug before he could protest, and then bolted up the stairs two at a time.

And Bill thought to himself, got her.

Humans were so easy. Once you figured out what they wanted to believe in, you could make them do anything you wanted.

Mabel wanted to believe that everyone everywhere yearned to be friends with everyone else, and that the only thing holding them back was the defensive walls they built around their emotions. Mabel wanted to see people's walls come down. Mabel wanted every social problem to be simple enough that even a child could solve it if they were earnest and honest enough.

Mabel shouldn't have let Bill watch Color Critters. It told him too much about the kind of world she idealized. He had that kid completely figured out—

There was a loud pounding as Mabel leaped back down the stairs three at a time. "On your feet!" She grabbed Bill's hands and tugged him off the sofa, then wrapped a measuring tape around his hips.

He twisted around in bewilderment as she circled him, now measuring his chest. "What—?"

"Face forward! Arms out from your sides!" She measured his shoulder span, then grabbed one arm to measure the length. "I'll be back later. I've got work to do. Do not come upstairs!"

Bill leaned out the doorway to watch her bunny-hop back up to the attic.

Okay, he had that kid mostly figured out.

Well, the odd quirks just made her a little more interesting than the average human. The important thing was that, whether she knew it or not, she wanted Bill to be her friend. She wanted to be the horse girl who tamed the hostile bronco, the beauty who saved the beast. She wanted monsters to swear their loyalty to cute spunky protagonists, and she thought she was a protagonist.

The "reformed bad boy" was outside of the usual characters he played—he was better as the ancient teacher, the playful trickster, the divine messenger—but it was an easy enough role, and it gave him plenty of room to misbehave while staying in character. It's so hard to change my old ways—but maybe it would be easier if you give me another chance, if you help me, if you do this one little thing for me...

There was a fun little quirk of human psychology that was so well-known they'd even given their own name to it: the Foot-In-The-Door Technique. Once you get a human to do you one small, tiny little favor, they'll be more likely to do you another, bigger favor later. Borrow a dollar today and they'll be more likely to let you borrow a hundred dollars next week. Ask them to drive you to the auto shop and you'll have a better chance of asking them to help you move. Get them to bring you a little hair solution, and... well, Bill would just have to wait and see what he wanted next.

As long as everything Bill asked for was harmless, there was nothing the warier members of the household could do to intervene without making themselves look like the unreasonable ones. And by the time Bill started asking for anything dangerous, he'd have Mabel eating out of the palm of his hand, and she'd have no idea until it was too late that she didn't mean a thing to him—

####

Bill stared dumbly in the mirror at the yellow yarn hoodie. "H—Did you just make this?" With his arms at his sides, from the shoulders down, it looked like a decapitated triangle. 

"I used velvet yarn for your brick pattern," Mabel said. "It makes the lines stand out more! And I cut one of Dipper's bow ties in half to make the hood's drawstring so you can tie it into a bow!"

Wordlessly, Bill tied the bow—it hung in the center of his chest—and then he pulled the hood on, tugging it low over his forehead, completing the triangle. Mabel had put an eye on the hood. She'd even remembered Bill's eyelashes.

"I thought, hey—if the mask was too much, and the hair is too little, maybe a hoodie's just right," Mabel said. "I don't usually make sweaters for people—sweater curse, blarrr, you know—but, this one time, I thought it was important." She gave Bill a nervous smile. "So... what do you think? Do you like it?"

Bill stared at his reflection. It was hideous, misshapen, and alien, but it was almost himself.

He looked at Mabel. He got down on his knees. He put a hand on her shoulder. He said, "I will kill one enemy of yours, for free, no questions asked, in any way you want."

Mabel blinked. "Please don't do that."

"When I take over the universe I'm giving you your own galaxy."

"I don't—I don't want a galaxy. What would I do with a whole galaxy?"

"A solar system. A planet? Everyone wants their own planet!"

Mabel shook her head.

"Then what do you want?" What the heck do human children like. "Can I show you a magic trick?"

Mabel considered that.

####

"Grunkle Stan, Grunkle Ford!" Mabel ran into the kitchen, pushing Waddles in front of her, breathless with excitement. "Look what I can do!" She held a clear plastic spoon at arm's length, peered through it at Waddles like it was a magnifying glass, and slowly lifted the spoon up. Waddles floated up into the air as well. He snorted in mild bafflement.

Stan's jaw dropped. Ford said, "Ohhh, boy."

Mabel beamed at them both.

####

(This chapter isn't quite as edited as I usually do, because I've been sick this past week but wanted to get it out anyway. Apologies for that and I'd appreciate if you noticed any typos or disjointed sentences! And I'd doubly appreciate any nice comments, I've been having a hell of a week.)

#bill cipher #human bill cipher #gravity falls #mabel pines #fanfic #gravity falls fic #my writing #my art #bill goldilocks cipher

[bluebellhairpin]

Erwin Smith X Wife!Reader

Summary: The aftermath of your first murder opens a whole new door on your sexual escapades with your husband. He is more than eager to help you figure out if you like it or not. (word count; 3.4K < )

Warnings: 18+ MINORS DNI. NSFW - Porn with almost no plot. DEAD DOVE DO NOT EAT (if you don't like it, don't read it) Cannibalistic themes (Both in the literal sense and as a love metaphor). Sexual themes and Smut (Oral - receiving. Blood kink (menstrual specifically). (Unprotected sex + penetrative sex but focuses on the oral more.)) Reader; has female anatomy, has periods.

Listening to: 'Dinner & Diatribes' by Hozier - "I'd suffer Hell if you'd tell me... Scarcely can speak for my thinking of what you'd do to me tonight."

Part 1 || AO3 Link || Masterlist || Ko-Fi

“Then I examined my own heart. And there you were. Never, I fear, to be removed.” - Jane Austen, 'Emma'

You didn’t realize quite how serious Erwin was. You didn’t even know how you thought about it. You didn’t really think much about it anyway. 

Admittedly, despite how lust-filled your mind was in the moment (and perhaps the memory was tainted? But who were you to argue) you couldn’t help the feelings that swelled in your lower belly at the thought of your husband between your legs for something so unusual. 

Something so many thought was untouchable, or dirty. 

At the time he seemed very enthusiastic about it - his words rang through your head still days after. It was like your heart was clutching to them like they were the last pearls in a jewelry box. 

“The things I would do for a chance to be between your legs while you bleed life right into my mouth.” 

You realized that it must’ve been pure coincidence that it hadn’t come up before. 

Sure, certain aspects would probably have produced more questions that, at the time, he would’ve been unable to answer. But now you knew his habits, his tendencies, the unnatural appetite he had towards human flesh - now he knew you supported them, he had no reason to hold back. He had no reason to hide just how carnal his desire for you ran. 

So he didn’t.

The kitchen island where the sink was, allowed you to look out over the dining room and patio outside. Erwin was out again tonight, so the dishes you washed up were all your own from the day - despite how quiet it was, your mind was loud. 

You were wondering why killing that cashier wasn’t bothering you more. First murders were meant to be the most memorable. Perhaps your lack of reaction -  the numbness you felt where grief or shock should be - maybe that was your reaction. 

But you held no pity or remorse for the woman who still lay unbutchered in your freezer downstairs. You believed whole-heartedly that she deserved it. 

With the last plate put on the drying rack, you pulled the plug from the sink and watched the bubbles fade away. You knew exactly where your next stop was. It wasn’t even seven, but bed had been calling you all day - if only to curl up somewhere warm to alleviate the aches and pains that came with the first few days of your dreaded period. 

The lock on the front door clicked, and with a shudder it opened and closed again to welcome your husband home. He was early. Again. 

Oh how you enjoyed his company. You always had, he knew just when you needed the peace of quiet, when you needed space for yourself, he knew when you needed a warm body pressed against your own, and he knew when you needed to be sedated with a warm womb of cum. He could read you like a book - he had a vast collection of those, but if you asked he’d say his favorite always had been you. 

With his shoes, jacket, and briefcase put aside, he walked over with a tired smile and a quiet greeting. Erwin came up beside you, ignoring your wet hands as he took one in his while the other found its home around your waist. 

“How has your evening been?” he asked, mouth firmly pressed to your temple in some sort of kiss between words. 

“Slow,” you sighed, leaning into his side, “Lower back has been a pain.” You could almost hear how Erwin’s eyebrows creased in concern. 

“What for?” he said, leaning back partially to get a good look at your face. “You know I prefer you doing strenuous things with me around, then you don’t hurt yourself.” 

You tsked him, shaking your head with a light smile. 

“Honey it’s always like that when I’m on my period.” You could see it on his face, how he processed what you’d said. How his eyes darkened and his grip of your waist drew you in slightly closer. 

“Oh?” 

His voice was soft, curious, but the look in his eye told you it was nothing but innocent. He was far too sly for that. Far too devious. Had a far too large bloodlust. The way his eyes were flicking lower wasn’t telling you that he wanted a kiss - no, he was eyeing a place much lower. 

And, currently much messier. 

“I know that look.” you said, and your hand curled up around the still-fresh collar of his dress shirt. “Didn’t know what it was about less than a week ago, but now…” 

Your words trailed off, quiet. An unspoken understanding went though you both - he of hunger, you of curiosity. What would it feel like to have your husband feeding himself full of the blood that slipped out from your cunt? 

You felt yourself shift, an ache started to build between your legs, and your breathing became more apparent as your chest pressed against his. Erwin’s arm snaked around your waist, a firm hold taken in order to safely turn and cart you away without having to separate. Nothing was even happening yet and you knew exactly how much he didn’t want to part from you - you felt quite the same way. 

It didn’t take long for Erwin’s mouth to attach to your neck after you’d been laid on your bed. Your legs had already spread to accommodate his hips, and the slow - barely there - drag of his clothed crotch on yours. 

He was filled with as much lust as he was hunger. Erwin could feel it, deep in the very marrow of his bones that he’d need all night for his feelings to fade. The more he thought about it happening - how willing you were to let him do what he most truly desired - the more his need grew. And his need to return the favor grew too. 

Erwin would bleed himself dry to fill your cup, carve the flesh right off his bones to make sure you were never hungry again. But that would have to wait. You had much to do together before that time came. 

As he felt you whimper under his tongue, while his teeth slowly sunk in and out of your shoulders and neck, his hands wandered. He felt light headed at the thought of what lay waiting for him beneath your clothing. The mild summer air had left you in almost scraps of clothes even though you’d been inside all day, he had to steady his breathing just so he didn’t tear them completely apart. 

He knew you liked these shorts. 

Erwin’s hands found their way under your shirt, slowly pushing the fabric up over your stomach and chest until you had to raise your arms to let him take it off completely. He - unfortunately - had to break away from your delicious skin to do so, however - fortunately - the sight he was left with made his cock swell again. 

It wasn’t something he’d never seen before, he’d seen all of you many times, almost had the sight committed to memory. But this was different. The way he saw your chest rise and fall, eyes half-lidded, and body completely trembling under him. He could see how badly you needed him, it was spoken without words. 

The blood running through your veins, the breath in your lungs - he felt like he could see your very heart beating in your chest and it drove him wild. 

He couldn’t help but lean down and claim your lips in a long, deep kiss. You groaned into his mouth when he rutted into your covered cunt again, and he broke away to see your lips swollen and glossy. 

“Are you ready for this?” he asked. “Because sweetheart once I start on you, I doubt I’ll want to stop until you stop bleeding.” His voice was soft, but even he could hear the edge added by his own desperation to get started. However the way you were looking at him - something wasn’t quite right. “Does it make you uncomfortable?” 

“No.” you replied, breathless. 

“But something’s wrong.” he took your chin in his hand, gently trailing his thumb across your lower lip. “Tell me.” he said, casting a spell to demand your words to fall right into his palm. 

“It’s so…” you started, shifting under him - still from arousal - but trying to find the right words while your brain was covered in a fog. “Are you sure you want to do this? It’s not - it’s so - you don’t have to.”

“But you want me to, don’t you?” he asked. His other hand moved, trailing down your body to press down on a spot just above your clothed slit. “I can feel it. Right here.” Oh his lips he felt your breath leave your mouth in a hushed huff, and felt how your hips chased his hand as he pulled it away. 

“Yes, I - I really would like to try. Just this once. You don’t have to again.” 

“Honey, remember who you’re talking to.” He said, making sure you were looking into his eyes as he spoke. “I already know that once this is over I will be completely filled with longing for the chance to do it again. To me your womb is always ripe for the taking.” With his words his hands both took hold of your hips, slipping under the cloth, ready and waiting. “I’ll ask once more. Are you ready for this?” 

You looked up at him with a soft smile, and Erwin knew that look in your eyes - the one that could be filled with cartoonish pink hearts, almost unfit for such a scene as this. 

“Yes.”  

You found out very quickly that Erwin left very little room for you to move. 

On a normal day, he would eat you out and urge you to do with him as you pleased. You could hump his mouth and grind into his nose as much as you wished, often he begged for it. Right now, however, that was not the case. 

You couldn’t even do so much as start to lift your hips off the sheets. Erwin’s arm lay slung over your hips, pressing you into the mattress in a show of strength you’d only seen him muster when working as a butcher, brutally and in your basement. 

With a curl of his fingers inside your cunt, you keened once more with your heels digging into the crisp fabric adorning Erwin’s back. You tried to move, to rut further for more, however it only made Erwin stop. He pulled away, and your head lifted off your pillow to look down at him. 

“Try that one more time and I’ll give you a real reason not to.” You then thought of how alike Erwin could’ve been to a predatory animal hunched over a carcass. 

He was all dark eyes and ruffled hair, with a string of your slick and blood threading his chin to your pussy. From you he truly was taking what he wanted, and he wasn’t even going to let you stop him from having his way. It almost frightened you, how easily he was holding you down. But he had never done it before - how he must have held back in times like these. Now though he was letting go - all for the taste your blood brought. 

It made your chest heave, and your cunt clench onto his fingers. That made him grin - because of course there was no way he wouldn’t notice how tightly you were gripping his digits - and his once pearly white teeth were stained pink and red, yet to be licked clean by a greedy tongue. 

“Of course you’d like that. What a dirty thing you are. You never cease to surprise me.” he said, then lent down to lick you from where his fingers nestled in your heat up to your clit, long and slow. “But I don’t want to hurt you, not right now. So don’t move.” 

You swallowed, nodding. Your head fell back and he returned to his meal. Between his thrusting fingers and the way his lips suckled on your clit, you wondered just how far he could go while devouring you. How far he would go. Even how far you’d let him. 

You couldn’t lie and say none of it appealed to you. Maybe you were more fucked up than Erwin was, with how a strong rush of heat went to your core at the thought of him stripping your bones clean of their marrow with his need. His fingers curled to just the right spot to push your high ever closer, and you had a moment of clarity before it all came crashing down. 

How romantic it was that your husband was so truly consumed by his love that he had to physically feast on parts of you in order to sedate himself. 

After a moment, as your eyes slowly stopped fluttering behind your eyelids, Erwin’s hand slid around your waist to rest on your back, and as he moved himself to kneel on the bed he pulled you up and into his lap. Your legs were pulled so your knees pressed against each side of his hips, your thighs spread wide over his own. His other hand was still snug inside your cunt, slowly scissoring, pushing and pulling, teasing enough in your post-orgasm bliss to leave you open-mouthed and moaning into his neck. 

If he kept it up, your lips would be drooling all over his collar as much as your slick drooled all over his thighs. 

With a squelch of your cunt, you caught Erwin’s eyes casting themselves lower, and he pulled back. His eyes were fixed on the hand that had crept out from between your legs, and the way his lips parted in awe made you curious. What could render him so speechless? 

There, sitting really quite innocently in the space just below Erwin’s pointer and middle finger, was a clot. 

They weren’t unfamiliar to you. Lumps of tissue and blood that passed each month like clockwork had left you curious too - you knew what they were and they never worried you, it left you in awe at the way your body worked more than it disgusted you. However Erwin was being unreadable. It made you start to shift away. 

“Don’t.” Erwin said, grip on you vice-tight in warning. So you chose to wait. To watch and see what he would do next. 

He took the lump between his fingers, prodding it, spreading it over his palm. Inspecting it with curious fingers and eyes. When his hand stilled, your eyes flicked back up to his face, watching as his eyes softened to a dark wonder, and as his tongue wet his bottom lip. 

He brought his hand to his mouth, licking it clean - clot, tissue, blood and all. His eyes closed, rolling into the back of his skull. It made a strange lump form in your throat, and your core clench with some sick sense of want. But how sick could it be if you both wanted it that bad? 

His now mostly clean and wet hand met your body again. Both hands found a place on your ribs just below the sides of your breasts and trailed down. His eyes opened, meeting yours, but you couldn’t help but watch as his jaw moved, cleaning over his teeth as if sucking the last of you to his tongue and down his throat. 

His throat which was now stained inside and out with your blood. 

Something about it made you sigh wistfully, relaxing to his touch and threading almost limp arms around his shoulders. Waiting to be cleaned and put to bed. Unlike you, Erwin could always read you - he knew what you were thinking, and the smile on his face told you clearly that you weren’t on the same page as him. 

“Do you think we’re finished?” Erwin asked, pushing his crotch into yours, uncaring about the mess of slick and blood he was getting over his once pristine slacks. “I’m not planning on stopping until we’re both spent, and as you can feel, I’m nowhere near done yet.” His hands found home on your hips and pulled your spread legs closer so your core was flush to his hard cock. 

“Erwin…” you said, breathless as one hand found the soft hairs on the back of his neck. His nose bumped into your cheek, mouth landing on yours for one soft moment when your voice trailed off. 

“What is it?” he asked. His voice was soft, despite the hard and slow back and forth his hands guided your hips. It made your heart swell as your breathing hitched and you pressed yourself closer still - to his cock, his chest, his hands and face, anywhere he’d let you be. 

“I’m aching for you.” you replied, shifting in his lap and working your hands down to start tugging his shirt out from where it was tucked into his pants. You mouthed at his jaw and neck, tasting all sorts of yourself on your tongue. His arm pressed you closer, wordlessly stilling your movements. ‘Calm’ he spoke, ‘be with me here, in this moment’. 

“Tell me what you want from me.” he said, taking your cheek in his palm, “Anything. I am all yours.” 

“I just need you.” you said. Like a key to a lock, his hold loosened, and your hands returned to their previous venture - getting as much of Erwin's clothes off as quickly as possible. While your fingers wandered, your mouth returned to licking his throat clean of your slick mess. “Fill me. Use me. Lay me here and do what you like, just don’t leave me empty.” 

You could feel his groan resonate from his chest to yours, the hardness pressed to your pussy jumped. In a moment he kissed you, sharing a taste of him, you, and a twang of iron. 

“Whatever you wish for sweetheart,” he murmured to your lips, shifting as he spoke and kissed you so he could add a third - undressing - to his growing list of things to do all at once, “I’ll give you everything and more.” 

Somehow, among the mess of his lips on yours, he shed his clothes and had laid you back down onto the bed. He seemed almost content, despite you writhing beneath him for more, to just get his cock wet grinding into your cunt with your legs wrapped snug around his hips. 

“Erwin please, stop teasing.” He pulled away from your mouth as you spoke, a hand resting beside your head while the other stilled your thigh. 

“I know, I know, just,” He said, taking in a deep breath when his eyes dropped lower, “I’m going to need a second.” 

You followed, taking in how his cock was tainted with his pre and your slick - and a sheen of pinky-red that bled into his dirty blond pubes. From how angry and hard Erwin’s cock was, and the flush on his cheeks, you could put two and two together. 

“Are you gonna cum that fast just because there’s blood down there?” 

“‘t’s your blood.” he replied, eyes screwed shut as he took in a deep breath and opened them again - seemingly recomposed. 

“Still.” You smiled, reaching a hand up to coyly curl your fingers at the longer hairs near his ear. 

“Don’t.” He warned, catching on to your internal plot to tease him further, brows furrowed and bottom lip sticking out in an almost-pout. You licked your bottom lip, getting a flavor of salt and metal, before kissing him again. 

“I think I will.” You said, squeezing your legs around him, nudging his cock closer to your waiting pussy. “You being so turned on by it is kinda turning me on.” 

Erwin only scoffed - mumbling something about how perfect you were - before kissing you again, deeply, and shifting his lower body so his tip caught on your clit before sliding lower. He entered slowly, letting you stretch around his girth, even though with all the fluids down there making it easier than usual. He seemed to be wanting to take his time, and despite how needy you were before it felt too good to complain. 

You were more than happy to lay back and let him have his way with you, and he was more than willing to let you. 

#cw blood #erwin smith x reader #erwin x reader #erwin smith x you #aot x reader #attack on titan x reader #snk x reader #erwin smith smut #erwin smut #aot smut

[lilianade-comics]

Did you ever have any more ideas for the AU where Dani was wandering around the ghost zone looking for Danny and had spellbound Vlad into helping? It was such a good inspiration for daydreams, for me, especially how Dani and Vlad interacted while she slowly grew on him. Probably because he’d be deep in denial to the point he wouldn’t notice why he was becoming more comfortable around her and not bothering to be as snappish, other than thinking he was just tired.

How do you think they’d reunite after the incident where Vlad frames himself to find Dani? I can’t imagine Dani would never want to see him again, so she might try to sneak back to places where she was with him, or summon him in secret. Vlad, once getting over the surprise she still wants to talk and what remained of his ego, might have no problem with interacting with Dani as long as she kept it private. And would Dani eventually want to reintroduce Vlad and Danny once she becomes more open with him? It seems like she might, to have a more honest relationship with her brother. To which Vlad would Definitely Not agree, his reputation could not survive it getting around that he actually was attached to this girl. That’s something they might butt heads about.

I think that after they separate, that's when Pariah Dark ramps up the conflict as the main villain (I don't really have many details fleshed out for the wider plot of the AU beyond Dani's personal quest, but I imagine that Pariah probably likes to eat the living people unfortunate enough to find themselves in the ghost realm, or the ones he can get his hands on at least, as Vlad mentioned is a thing that sometimes happens in that AU comic I did.)

Because Pariah's no doubt gotten wind of the whole "living girl is actively running around his kingdom looking for That Little Pest Danny Phantom and has also apparently magically bound his most Aggravating Rival" situation, he's out looking for Dani. I think Vlad winds up getting apprehended after leaving Dani to Danny (he can't catch a break in this AU) and after getting confronted by the Ghost King himself Vlad no doubt vehemently denies ever having gotten himself bound by a child, and he swears up and down that there is NO living girl in the realm, and clearly Pariah needs to invest in better spies, etc.

Through circumstances not fully fleshed out yet, this likely ends up turning into a "Vlad wrestles with his conscience and his ego and finally gives up and escapes Pariah & returns to Dani in an attempt to persuade her to leave the ghost realm before the Ghost King eats her" kind of deal. Because Vlad cares about her! Which is highly unusual for him and he doesn't really like it! Having feelings is stressing him out!

Vlad definitely tries to do this secretly, but Dani gets her brother involved anyway. The context of how Vlad and Dani are actually friendly with each other takes a lot of explaining. (Danny probably laughs for about thirty straight minutes when his sister recounts the magic binding part of the story. Vlad looks ready to throttle him but doesn't, miraculously.)

Danny and Vlad argue viciously over the whole thing, for obvious reasons. Danny is probably against Dani leaving; he's dealt with Pariah before and he's confident his crew can protect her. (Danny probably knows of some really good hiding places where she'd be safe, after all, he was never eaten by Pariah so clearly they have a chance!) He's mostly accepted that Dani is his long lost sister at this point, and he's not about to lose her so suddenly. Vlad is NOT amused, mostly because he's rapidly succumbing to parental brain rot and the children are refusing to listen to him. His whole reputation is actively crumbling around him, lol.

Again, details are all incomplete right now, but the vibes, you know? Vlad is a proud, lonely warlord who thirsts for power and attention and now he's been reduced to worrying about some dumb little girl who he "hates." She humiliated and bound him and he should be excited that Pariah is plotting to cook her on a spit. Instead, he's stuck allying himself with a bunch of fool teenagers who he also hates, all in a wild attempt to keep her safe. Rest in Peace, Vlad, because you're not coming back from this one with that reputation intact!

#danny phantom #asks #cheese melt

[the-wayside]

I'm at the laptop with not my first alcohol beverage but definitely my bougie-est - a salted caramel espresso martini.

I am once again bountiful of unnecessary opinions, my drum a lonely beat. This is not a complete rundown, an initial pass shall we say.

Firstly, the issue with this episode is a ripple effect. Tharn was involved in multiple plot points and in multiple capacities. So getting the breathing space was hard to come by, but I'm going to focus on the culmination and why it worked for me.

The groundwork. The veil/tether that Tharn has been holding onto is made of gossamer. His front, made of paper. His yearning was a whole moment last episode (thank you, Babe, your face is a blessing). But Way, all of the arguing--exactly. Phaya and Tharn with other people and Phaya and Tharn together in their bubble are two very different things as we know.

I will tell you the exact moment I knew it had flipped. Tharn standing with Phaya's art, the deep expressions of his creativity, his passion and Phaya admitting his fear and the steps he had taken to overcome it and Tharn saying I'm trying too. He's trying to get to a place where he isn't terrified to love Phaya because he does have these feelings which he goes on to inadvertently admit with tears in his eyes.

What I find so beautiful about them is that it isn't explosive. To have loved someone in a previous life (lives), it's like coming home and recognizing on a deeper level, it's you. Phaya voices it in his own way, that he feels like he has longed and liked Tharn longer than he can remember. Sometimes the world doesn't end with a bang but with a whimper. One man shooting his shot with his beloved reincarnated soulmate who *chooses* to lean in and kiss him.

Tharn and Phaya don't function like they do alone with other people. It's honestly so interesting to see the walls, esp. Tharn puts up. He's so secretive and squirrely about Phaya that if someone hears a lick of emotion from him the whole deck of cards will come falling down. And I still feel in my bones that Dr Chalothorn's presence fucks with people. Like a poison, he seeps in everywhere. It hypes Phaya up because he's so scared Tharn will disappear like smoke and Tharn, in his denial/not as in tune with his true self, can't understand.

So I see the tenseness in Tharn but also how it unspools as he spends an evening with Phaya's family. How naturally he could fit, how easy it would be to be with Phaya. He is in a constant state of war and when Phaya says, I'll take care of it. I will carry your burden, your heart and keep it safe. Karma, past lives, it's ephemeral. Phaya. Phaya is real. Doesn't Tharn deserve something real for once in his life? To take one chance in a sea of doing exactly what he's told? Him allowing himself to allow Phaya in...*emosh*

And I love intimate scenes because you can't bullshit with them. If the emotion is off, it won't land. It won't feel honest. When I tell you the DETAILS had me chomping, I was full fang into it.

Tharn being covered by Phaya and his hand over Phaya's wing tattoo. Phaya is the freaking bird god. He is covering Tharn and protecting him with his wings (tattoo) being exposed to the rest of the world (side note: feral for the camera angles because Billy *covers* Babe) and Tharn is embracing and stroking them intimately. Like *growls*.

The straddle of showing desire versus intimacy versus delicacy over Tharn's first time. It's not awkward but the details, Phaya's hand is tucked under Tharn's chin and he checks in with him wordlessly before he touches the curve of his hip, slope of his rear (Babe, thank you again, your body is *nonsensical hand gestures*). It's the unspoken question and answer that flows between them. Tharn biting his finger when he's entered. You don't see it, you don't need to. It plays out perfectly. All of Phaya's feelings and care go into how slowly and carefully he cherishes his/their first time.

It's not an explosion of feelings but a steady confirmation of them and I--. Rawr. With them, it was never gonna be about the high heat horny bang, god how we love her. They're beyond that. They're an epic, spanning continents, destruction and death in their wake. Them being together is taking a breath and coming home. Being afraid but being taken care of anyway.

I just really, really loved how they did this; however, I do think it got a bit mishmashed in the convergence of plotlines but no one's perfect and I'm having a great time.

#the sign the series #look motherfuckers i feel what i feel #i sneezed six times during the writing of the first three sentences fuck #you don't understand i will bite someone about this #i am so deep in my feels

[redrobin-detective]

Robin Robin what do you mean Sam killed Danny did she just yeeted him in the ghost machine Robin Robin please I need answers

Ask and you shall receive but be warned the answers may not be what you are looking for. (IE they are dumb).

So there's technically two canonical versions of Danny's accident, the OG and Memory Blank (s2e1).

The OG happened sometime late summer/early fall of the trio going into high school. The group has been friends for some time (its part canon/part fanon that Danny and Tucker were initially friends with Sam joining later on) and were comfortable enough Dan felt ok letting them over to see his parents' "failed" ghost portal. Sam was intrigued, Danny uninterested on the surface level but secretly curious. Sam encourages him to looks inside, he presses the conveniently placed on button inside and boom, ghost boy.

This recap is made light of in the season 2 opener Memory Blank (my beloathed) while fanon reallllllly runs with Sam's guilt and grief over sorta/almost killing her friend. But I digress, the episode kicks off with Sam and Danny arguing leading her to wishing she had never met Danny out loud. The wish granting ghost, Desiree, overhears and makes it so. Because of this, Danny never had his accident and was completely human with no knowledge of Sam.

This is where the episode upsets me. Sam is upset about losing her friendship with Danny (and Tucker to a lesser extent but they make it creepy 🙄) but its framed as Sam being desperate to get Danny his powers back. If you almost killed your friend in the past and magically got a do over, would you really put him through that again??? There is no real external pressure to make Danny become Phantom again aside from Desiree continuing to grant monkey's paw wishes. Amity Park looks much like it always has, seemingly unaffected by the lack of Phantom. Hell, the portal is still not working so there's a chance there are no other ghosts in town to cause mischief and mayhem. All we see is Desiree who hardly is the worst villain for someone, preferably an adult, to deal with.

Aside from the fact its a cartoon series called Danny Phantom there is no reason for Sam to do this again. And yet she persists in badgering Danny - who does not know her at all - into doing something he has no understanding of the consequences. The lack of informed consent was something that bothered me all the way back when I was 12 watching it live. So Sam makes Danny recreate the accident, making him Phantom again (this time with a logo that Sam slapped on without telling him bc she thought it looked cool. Again!!!! No discussion or anything). We get a few deeply uncomfortable segments of Danny relearning his powers before he magically remembers everything and its back to the status quo except now he's got a logo.

The literal whole point of the episode was to give him a marketable symbol to make him more like a "proper superhero". Sam's selfishness (a character flaw we see woven throughout the series but never meaningfully explored), the lack of consent, the stupid ass plot all combine to create what I think is a travesty of an episode.

I have gotten off topic but, yes, in both cases Sam's curiosity and overbearing nature combined with Danny's more passive personality and sense of wonder to pssp pssp pssp him into the death machine. There has been some excellent fic exploring (in an actual, realistic, interesting way) of the trio coping with Sam's casual suggestion leading to complete biological rewiring, a changed life trajectory, trauma and injury.

#in this house we hate memory blank #I'm not against the idea of Danny losing his powers! #but make it less cringey and about Sam getting her pet superhero back #and more about Danny owning up to taking charge of himself to choosing to make this step #show Amity ravaged by ghosts making life a living hell #give Danny a reason to step inside the portal and to make the choice his own #Sam tries to stop him to not have to watch him die again only for it to be his choice #anyway lmao yea Sam totally killed Danny

[sirpuddingcup]

Before I get into it

SPOILERS FOR THE END AND THE DEATH VOLUME 3

Holy shit this book is great! It genuinely is everything I wanted and more. Volume 3 ties everything up so well that even though I knew the plot outline already just from lore it had me gripped from cover to cover. An emotional and bloody ending to the to the galaxy spanning series.

First off I really enjoyed getting the little updates on what some of the other players are doing while it all goes down. Bobby G and his endless strategy meetings as he tries to figure out how to get to Terra. Lorgar pulling a jonestown as he arrogantly misinterprets prophecies. Perturabo wallowing in self pity as he destroys his room like an angry teenager (the image of him pouting in his broken chair as the room lies devastated around him gives me life). Finally Eldrad and the others arguing over shoulda woulda coulda as they realize this is way worse than they thought. It was nice to check in with everyone before we dive into the trauma of it all.

Speaking of trauma let's talk about the black rage! We see sanguineous's mangled corpse in the lupercal court as the psychic shock sends the entire ninth legion (minus Zephon) into a berserk rage. I really can't think of a better word for it than traumatic. After all they've been through together during the siege to have the blood angels turn into actual monsters against their will is just twisting the knife for the loyalists. From Rans desperate fight for survival against a man he idolizes to Amit waking up dazed and confused at the end of a trail of corpses ("why do the bodys end here?" "That's as far as you got" kills me), it's safe to say nobody is having a good time.

Scratch that you know who is having a pretty good time? Rogal Dorn. Fresh out of the desert of endless boredom Rogal finally gets to let loose a little as he fights his way to Valdor. I love their dynamic and I wish we got more of them hanging out("damn you!"(frustrated) "damn you too."(affectionate)).

We check in with Fo and the genocide crew which ends predictably. I saw him completing the Terminus sanction then getting killed trying to escape a mile away. I did not see him making a fucking clone body and replace Xanthus! I love me a devious old scientist causing problems on purpose! I really hope he comes back in a big way.

The library crew didn't do a whole lot other than Ariman being a creepy magic man. It is buck wild that the archivist turned out to be Lilean Chase at the beginning of her career she goes on to found the fucking Cognitae so get it girl I guess.

The did my boy Loken so dirty in the end but fuck me was it good. They planted seeds earlier on talking about how a demon is made, a reaction in the warp to a traumatic event in real space, how in the warp effect can come before cause. But fuck me I wasn't expecting this. After the dust settles and Loken almost convinces Abaddon to give reconciliation a chance Erebus (fuck Erebus) stabs him in the back dooming the galaxy to endless civil war. And why did he do this? Because Samus is the man beside you, Samus right behind you, Samus is the guy she told you not to worry about, look out it's fucking Samus! The abrupt murder of Loken gives birth to the Demon Samus kicking all of this shit into motion. It truly is all Erebus's fault.

I saved the best for last. The showdown on the vengeful spirit. This is where Horus really gets tho shine. I haven't loved his character like this since the first couple of books. He's a fucking mess and I love it this is the man who's daddy issues burned the galaxy to the ground, and as someone who has a difficult relationship with my father fuck me I get it. Dan Abnet is so good at making fights feel intimate, Horus isn't a one dimensional avatar of evil hes a son confronting his abusive father. Horus doesn't want to kill his father he wants to be better than him, and not just stronger but a better person. He needs the Emperor to acknowledge that he had hurt Horus. Horus loved his father and wanted to reach out him on an emotional level so badly, but the Emperor was simply no longer able to do that. When the Emperor purged himself of the infant god the dark king his kindness and empathy went with it ( going on to create the star child). This emperor is nothing but power and cold fury. He enters the room having already written Horus off as dead. It's such a tragedy from top to bottom because we know from Malcador in his all knowing position on the golden throne, that there is a version of this confrontation where they both walk out alive. That does not happen.

The actual physical fight is nothing to write home about besides the fact that different people see it happening in different ways Dusk sees it as a clumsy slugfest between two lumbering giants while LE2 saw it as the greatest display of skill he had ever seen. In truth it was both. The psychic battle had them tossing each other across time and space and fighting through the sites of each other's greatest sins. They use the settings to try and undermine each other emotionally holy shit. Then the do the next logical step AND HAVE A FUCKING TAROT DECK YU-GI-OH DUEL! I need an imperial tarot card game right now GW take my fucking money. It ends with the cards predicting the fall of cadia (the despoiler unlocking the silver door) and the emperor loses. It has become obvious by this point that the Emperor can't beat Horus. Horus outclasses him in every way but Horus doesn't want to kill his father he wants acknowledgement. So what we get is several desperate attempts by the emperor and several others to fight back as Horus beats his father bloody. But nothing works until Oll and John show up having magically teleported much closer than they ment to. They stand right in front of Horus. Horus is bemused at best giving John just enough time to use the word he learned from the tower of Babel directly in Horus's smug face. The resulting blast nearly kills everyone in the room, but it's the first thing so far to actually damage Horus. While her recovers John makes a run for it but Oll goes to the Emperor gives him the athame (stone knife used to commit the first murder) and tries to wake him up. Only for Horus to wake up first and turn poor Oll to a fine red mist.

Finally Horus stands there triumphant and who is there but his own favorite son Loken. Loken is the only one who tries to reason with Horus to make him see the the chaos gods are using and manipulating him. It was a great touch to frame Horus pov in 2nd person as if someone is telling Horus his thoughts. Loken convinces Horus that he's not really in control anymore and the only way Horus can take back control is to give up the power that the gods gave him. The moment he does back on Terra Keeler uses the power of millions of praying souls to relight the astronomicon and and give the Emperor a font of power to tap into. The emperor rises as if from the dead. Horus at first tries to pull the power back but the gods hold onto it as punishment for spurning them. Then Horus looks at the Emperor empowered as an avatar of humanities faith and he finally understands. The gods panic and try to force their power back into him and Horus begs his father to kill him now while he can resist. Then it happens a father murders his son. The emperor tells Horus "I forgive you and I'll wait for you". Excuse me Dan Abnet what exactly does that mean? Horus returned? Ghost Horus? Reincarnated? What the fuck? From there it's mostly just wrapping up they teleport home and we get the last gasp of Malcador as they place the Emperor on the golden throne.

If you read this thank you this was mostly for me because I needed an outlet for my feelings and I don't want to bother my friends to much with Warhammer. It's been a wild ride and I can't wait to see where it goes from here (especially the third Bequin book).

#i said i would so here it is #warhammer 40k #warhammer #warhammer 40000 #40k #warhammer 30k #wh40k #space marines #primarch #imperum #the end and the death

[king-crawler]

Recently when I tried to figure out why Turbo went, well Turbo I realized something. At first I came to the conclusion that it was because of his code, but then I remembered the plot of the movie and completely scrapped it (though there might still be some merit with it). Then i thought that “hey, this fucker has been surrounded by picters of himself since he was plugged in, hes the star of the show, so of course he would get a huge ego out of it, said ego also being his subsequent down fall, but why diden't Felix also fall in the same trap? he was the hero of his game too”. And I think it's because he wasn't alone. Now I'm not gonna overshadow the twins. They're there too but considering how Turbo treated them in the little screen time we got to see them together I doubt that they were on good terms, they might have been in the games early days but I digress.

Felix, unlike Turbo, had friends within his game, a small community to look out for him just as he does for them. They made him pies, dedicated parties to him, cherished him, but Turbo?. Who was gonna bake him pies? Who was gonna throw parties for him? Who was gonna cherish him? The Twins? FUCK no. And i think that's what tipped him over the edge, his ego made him push oway his friends and coworkers just to get a sliver of stardom. And when he had all the attention ripped oway from him by another racing game had to have been his last straw (you saw the face he pulled in the flashback. God, just imagine seeing one of your neighbors destroy their own career live, in broad daylight too, must have been horrifying). I love a good character that just dooms themselves to the narrative with their own actions (Turbo was a whore for the limelight).

Going a bit of topic here but “going Turbo” wouldn't work if it was any other main character in the movie, “going Ralph” just doesn't work. Could be because “Turbo” isn't really a name, it's a word, the name of his game, “Turbo Time”. So my proposal is that whenever there is an au where say, Calhoun game jumps (for whatever reason) they call it solo mission. “You're not going on a solo mission are you?” sounds more riveting, to me, and in character for Calhoun. Perhaps that was the last thing she said to her men before she left. For Vanellope id imagen something like “going on a sugar rush” and something about crashing. Because when the sugar rush ends you typically crash.

And that gave me another thought, how many “Turbos” are there out there? How many characters went outside their game or against their script on working hours. How many of these incidents were considered bugs or glitches (how many were turned into creepypastas). It feels like a huge liability risk and the only instances of us hearing about it is with Turbo, which I find strange. Is it like a silent rule? That no one is allowed to leave their game and that's it? That's a super thin line, like yeah you can argue that its there to keep them alive but who told them that? And the second movie doesn't help that, it's just, eurghhh, i don't like the second movieeeee… But it does give the homeless game characters a chance to find a potential new home. There's so much out there in the wilde wilde internet to explore and find new potential in, to not be tied to the arcade has to be a bit liberating for some :)

Sorry for the sudden rant, I just got a kick and could not not write this down.

DONT BE SORRY !! GO OFF!!!! THESE ARE REALLY COOL DISCUSSION POINTS

The whole turbo vs Felix thing really stuck out to me. Turbo Living in a game with only 2 other people who hate him ? While Felix gets praise and attention from dozens? No wonder Turbo went haywire 👀 like do you think he envied Felix ………

#long post #TRUE #going on a ‘solo mission’ and ‘a sugar rush’ really tickle my brain #also I saw your ask about your oc SHES SOO EPIC #they better add jolly delightning to the roster #ask #turbo #wreck it ralph

[look-how-they-massacred-them]

Preliminary Poll

The Ghost Gang (Inky, Blinky, Pinky, and Clyde)

Submission reason:

Okay so. the ghost gang were set up to be super intresting in ghostly adventures because in the first episode Blinky manages to weasel their way out of being eaten by pac man by agreeing to help him in his fight against Betrayus and the ghost army by giving insider info and stuff. Good start. Their motivations are established, they want their bodies to be returned so they can be alive again, and Pac and the President can do that for them as long as they continue working as double agents.This has a lot of potential. Early season one sets up their dynamic well. They all want to do the right thing but are struggling with various character flaws preventing their true redemption: Clyde wants to be a good person but is easily bullied and bossed around by others, who override any objections he may have and force him to get involved in the plot no matter what side that may be. Pinky is doing all of this for purely selfish reasons: She is in love with Pac. She will sabatoge and harrass any of the ghosts to get her way. This is also how Pac cements his teamship with them, by falsely professing his love for her so she'll sabatoge his execution. This can also backfire against Pac though, as Pinky is also easily jealous against any other girl who shows even remote interest in him, and can be easily mislead into believing pac is cheating on her even if it's a misunderstanding. It's a whole thing and is very annoying Inky is indifferent to both sides, he just wants to be on the winning team, and wants to do the least work. He also ends up being the most vocal against working with pac, but mostly because he is indifferent at best to Pinky's love life and is most likely to be accidentally eaten by Pac, as it quickly becomes a running joke in the show. Blinky seems to be the most logical in this regard, judging which stance he should take based on the opinions and status of the rest of the ghost gang, pac and co, or betrayus and the other villains, and what would work best in the moment. He will argue with the other ghost gang members if there's room for discussion/debate, but will submit if there is any true urgency to the situation or if Pinky yells loud enough. They never actually settle into a concrete flaw for him though. Early episodes seem to think his problem is that he is perfectly fine with working for Betrayus if it benefits him, but this is diminished in later episodes due to the fact they greatly reduced his role in season 2. So early on, this worked great. Pinky got an episode where she and pac's friend Cyli had to work together to save him and Pinky learned to be less selfish, good development. The ghost gang as a whole have an episode where they have to give up a chance of getting their bodies back in order to save Pac. But the thing is, the writers just can't commit to it. They're the GHOST gang, so they can't ever have their bodies back lest they become functionally unrecognizable to the brand (which may play into why we never actually learn much about their lives before they died). And if they get redeemed without ever being offered their bodies, people will get mad that they aren't being rewarded for their loyalty. So they're stuck always having to tow the line, getting occasional episodes where they inch closer to their much needed developments, but never actually being able to reach them. Clyde needs to learn to stand up for what's morally right, but is never put into a position where he does so on purpose and is rewarded for it. Inky has an episode where his morals vs his selfish desires literally splits him into two beings, but this is not fully explored at all and so Inky is never actually confronted about his flakiness.

Blinky has at least three or four character flaws that could be explored but the writers just kinda stop paying attention to him at all. Pinky needs to get over herself and reach a state where not being romantically involved with pac is acceptable for her, but she only ever gets as far as reluctantly accepting cyli as being pacs platonic friend and then continuing to be passive aggressive towards her anyways.

As it went on, they became less and less involved, and more of the episodes had them just warning Pac about things he was already aware of, and many attempts to help him further being more or less unsuccessful.

It gets so, so bad in season 2. They make a Blinky centric episode where they imply he may have known Pac's missing parents before the war and yet it's never actually acknowledged. It could have been such a great development considering how much the ghost gang had begun to stagnate at that point. It also makes it clear that Blinky has clear moral boundaries that he refuses to cross, which is ALSO a really good development. But... the episode was actually just a vague Kung Fu Panda ripoff where Pac learns to use his roundness or whatever, and the episode wasn't actually supposed to be a Blinky development episode at all, and so NOTHING that happens in the episode is EVER mentioned again.

By the mid point of season 2, the ghost gang is imploding. Clyde has devolved into useless comic relief, with none of the intelligence he exhibited in the first season and his pacifistic nature treated as nothing but a gag. Blinky starts going several episodes without getting a single line, having exactly one line of dialogue in exactly three episodes and having more than one line of dialogue in another three episodes out of this 26 EPISODE SEASON. As an indirect result of Blinky's lack of dialogue, Inky is forced to juggle both his own as well as Blinky's roles, making his character inconsistent.

Pinky in particular gets it VERY bad, because, since she was the one to have dedicated episodic character arcs, she starts straight up regressing. She finds out Betrayus and co plan to psychologically torment Pac by pretending to be his missing parents and she says nothing because Pac had the audacity to be happy during the holidays which meant he MUST be seeing someone else behind her back. In the very last episode of the series, she sabotages a budding relationship between Pac and Elli and does not even admit it when Pac is severely depressed. CLYDE ends up the one revealing the scheme, and that can't even be boiled down to his own character arc about doing the right thing because HE DID IT BY ACCIDENT!!!! Inky and Blinky have no significant role in this episode because both of their last lines were in the halloween/christmas episodes respectively so all they do is kind of look on and be there.

And then the show got cancelled.

There is so much miscellaneous complaints that I could go on for ages about. The episode where they split up two for two that should have been major since they usually act as one unit but it barely gets glanced over because it was done solely to avoid having to make new models for inky and blinky in the 8bit world if they weren't even going to do anything that episode. The episode where Pac forces the ghost gang to get involved with his school life drama and never gets called out for it despite the fact that he literally threatened to eat them over something that was out of their jurisdiction. The fact that the Wizard of Oz parody episode gave it's version of Blinky a more complete arc than the show proper did.

When people think about problems related to PMATGA they usually instantly think of the fart jokes and the fact that it was cancelled before getting a proper ending but. Man I am so angry about what happened to the ghost gang they really deserved better. Like the way it was shaping up towards the end it seemed to be approaching the idea of the ghost gang never getting their bodies back at all. Which would have been sad since the early episodes leaned heavily into their redemption which just gives the whole thing just an air of tragedy to it.

Like man, the ghost gang are like four out of five of the original Pac Man characters. You'd think they'd actually focus on them.

Propaganda:

The first two episodes are actually pretty good as far as ghost gang goes so. I'd recommend that. You get to see them wearing little executioner hoods. They feel bad about having to go betray their new friends. It's fun.

#look how they massacred them poll #look how they massacred my boy #look how they massacred my girl #pac man #pacman #pac man and the ghostly adventures #pacman and the ghostly adventures #inky #blinky #pinky #clyde

[secretswiftymarvelfan]

Burnin’ Up - Firefighter!Chris AU Drabble: Home Sweet Home

A/N: just a little drabble from my favourite emergency services pair 🥰 is not linked to the series plot so you don’t have to worry about spoilers if you haven’t read the series yet! It’s also not set at any particular time so doesn’t follow on from the events of part 17 (in my mind this takes place after the events of the entire series if that helps!)

Summary: Chris comes home after an evening with his crew to find a nice surprise waiting for him

Word Count: no clue but it’s short!!

Warnings: Language! Fluff! Allusion to Smut! (But no actual Smut) Written on Phone and not edited!

Dividers by @firefly-graphics

Series Masterlist / Masterlist

Chris could barely surpress a yawn as he fished out his keys from his pocket and as quietly as he could. It wasn’t ridiculously late by any means, just barely gone 11pm, but when he had texted you to say he was on his was home from the bar you’d replied saying you were heading to bed.

Stepping inside he dropped his keys in the little dish that was on the side before toeing off his shoes. He then let out a quiet groan as he stretched upwards, he was more than ready to crawl up into bed with you.

He hadn’t wanted to go out tonight but he crew had invited him and you had convinced him to go. He’d argued that he wanted to spend the evening with you because time together could get pretty rare, but you argued that a chance to go out with his crew was also pretty rare and that while you were currently in-between cases there would be other opportunities this week. He’d still be reluctant but you told him he wouldn’t regret going out with them, and he didn’t not at all, he just didn’t have the energy to carry on any later.

Chris made his way towards the kitchen to grab a glass of water, giving Dodger a quick pat on the head as he passed. He was surprised to find dodger on his bed downstairs, he’d assumed that you would have invited him upstairs.

Once Chris had drunk a whole glass of water, hoping it would be enough to starve off any hangover tomorrow, he made his way upstairs to finally crawl into bed with you.

To his surprise however the bedroom light was on, the frown of confusion on his face soon turned to shock when he say you lying in bed in nothing but navy blue lingerie.

“Welcome home” you smirk, your head resting in your hand.

“I-I- what-you-fuck” Chris stuttered as he tried to form words to describe how stunning you looked.

“When you said you were coming home early I thought you’d regret going out, so I thought I’d make sure the night ended on a high” you explained as you stand up and saunter across the room to him.

“Oh its definitely ending on a high” Chris smirks, finally able to form words, as he reaches out to run his fingers over the lace “and as much as I love this… can I take it off you?”

The sexy smile falls off your face, your expression turning into pure relief “please do, this shit is uncomfortable I don’t get how people do it” you complain pulling as the bra trying to make it more comfortable.

Chris tips his head back with a loud laugh “your wish is my command” he chuckles as he dips his head down to capture your lips as he backs you towards the bed, his tiredness from before completely gone.

Sharing is caring so please reblog if you enjoyed this and maybe even leave a comment to make my day!

Series Masterlist / Masterlist

I don’t have a tag list but follow @secretswiftymarvelfanlibrary​ and turn on post notifications to stay up to date!

#niamhwrites #burnin’ up series #firefighter!chris #firefighter!au #chris evans #chris evans x reader #chris evans x you #chris evans x y/n #chris x y/n #chris x reader #chris x you #chris evans fanfiction

[twig-tea]

My Ride Re-Watch Self-Reflection

This is going to be self-indulgent and long, apologies in advance!

Something you need to know about how I watch shows: I care the most about character arc. I prioritize character arc over plot holes, pacing, and possibly even politics. This is not an endorsement for watching shows this way AT ALL and it certainly isn't a moral judgment on any viewers that do or don't do this, it's just how my brain is wired (and it's not an objective judgment on shows, either! Not every character actually needs to grow--even though typing that out is giving me hives lolol). So when a character does something that I think is either out of character or unearned by the narrative, I get annoyed; if they don't change or they keep making the same mistakes I lose interest; and if a character arc is awesome, I forgive a lot of things that can make shows unwatchable to other people.

I watched My Ride as it aired in 2022 and I was so in love with that series, it was poised to become a favourite. I was so burnt out on series that had a misunderstanding leads to breakup in the second-last ep, and this show has sidestepped that with the conversation about Khai by having Mork insist on talking right away! Plus Tawan, through the entire fiasco with Por, was always direct, he didn't run from Por and he didn't ignore his own suspicions or jump to conclusions, he sought Por out to ask directly: "Are you mad at me?" "Did I do something wrong?" "Are you seeing someone else?" I loved both Tawan and Mork so much, they clearly deserved one another and deserved happiness.

And then at the end of ep 9/start of ep10, Tawan sees Mork hug Fern and runs away, quits his job before he finishes his certification and internship?! And Mork is the one who the narrative seems to think has to prove his commitment to their not-yet-a-relationship when he's been the one committed this whole time? I had 2gether flashbacks and I did not like it. I didn't like either side couple's resolution, I didn't like that Tawan had regressed in a way that didn't feel (to me, at the time) earned, and I didn't like that Mork didn't have any (again, to me at the time) character growth.

So I never rewatched it. I remembered the first 9 eps fondly, loved so much of what the show had in it, especially Cheep and Dej and the characters of Mork and Tawan, and recommended it when it came up, but always hesitated to put it on a favourites list, and I struggled with the ending and how I felt about it--at least partially because I suspected it was a me thing rather than a show thing. And then, after La Pluie, I realized this screenwriter was good and trusts their audience and I should give it another chance and maybe pay more attention. Plus the re-airing was perfectly timed to start. So I've been (mostly) quietly watching again, and whew I'm so glad I did.

I still don't love the side couples, lets get that out of the way lol [if you don't want to think about these storylines, skip this and the following paragraph]. I think Boss is neurodivergent-coded and you don't get "over" neurodivergence through force of will (at least, not without burnout). Thinking about this couple through the lens of Semantic Error, which you could argue is very similar on paper, Toy tries to pull Boss out of his carefully constructed world, while Jaeyoung tries to make space for himself in Sangwoo's world while doing his best to follow Sangwoo's rules (though he definitely pushes--but contrast Jaeyong moving a single pen to Toy throwing whole shelves of books to the ground). If My Ride had shown that Toy didn't need Boss to completely change, and had them find a way of working through Boss' and Toy's needs to find a new normal together, I would have been much more comfortable with this story. On rewatch, I will say that Toy's initial bribery attempt was not as bad as I remembered, but that man needs to keep his hands off those bookshelves, and the show needs to stop scaring Boss in order to give Toy one redeeming thing to do, as @callipigio said that was not cute.

As for the hets, the only thing I picked up on rewatch that I didn't appreciate the first time was that despite her confidence, Nadia was also not used to being chosen by the men in her life, and so when she saw Mayom had options after coming back from Japan, she assumed he would choose anyone else and that's why she was so upset. And so, the reveal that he got this attention because he was trying to meet her expectations, and that he was thinking of her in Japan and bought her a souvenir, showed he did put her first and did choose her. I just wish Nadia had suffered longer by seeing Mayom being appreciated for the hot, talented, and kind man he is, and had visibly learned something or changed in any way because of it. I don't think she has a satisfying character arc and so I didn't like this story. [again: this is just my taste! Not every story needs to contain personal growth! I am not advocating for this to be seen as a moral judgment! It just means this story was not satisfying for my brain because of it.]

Ok, Mork and Tawan time. This time, on rewatch, I picked up on hints they dropped earlier; that Mork struggled more than I noticed the first time with his bisexual awakening; that Mork didn't like how he hadn't gone to college or university, but he had been willing to make that sacrifice for Fern. How Tawan really missed his family and wanted to eventually practice medicine in Chiang Mai. How Tawan only ran from Mork and Fern after Mork described their relationship as work buddies [he not only calls them friends, he backtracks and says "not even really a friend, I know him from work"! And as @sparklyeyedhimbo pointed out in their rewatch, Mork had literally asked Tawan to co-parent just the day before, so the messages were extremely mixed]. All of this feeds into what happens in eps 9-10.

[Mork you were like this even when you were just "workplace associates", stop this foolishness]

Firstly, the timeline of ep 9-10 struck me on this rewatch in a way it didn't when watching the first time. If I'm not wrong, Tawan was already mostly burned out; his heartache led him to use up his accumulated vacation to go home to Chiang Mai, but then came back after just a few days because Mork missed him; then went to see Mork while he was still on vacation, got shocked by the existence of Mork's kid, spent a day or couple of days with them, then made study materials for Mork and Khai (likely because he knew he wouldn't have much time in the future) and then got surprised again by seeing Fern--this would I think still be during the week of his vacation? At that point, he just wanted to go back home to once again lick his wounds but his vacation was over and he had none left (he told us he used it all when talking to his parents at dinner). So in that context, actually, quitting as an instinct makes a bit more sense--I've actually been there, at one point I was going to burn out and put in my notice, and my boss stepped in and told me to take leave instead. I'm really glad his advisor was able to do the same thing my boss did for me, and talk him out of quitting but encouraging him to take leave instead so that he could go home without messing up his future.

And in paying better attention, I realized this time around that for Tawan, going back home rather than confonting Mork both made sense and was good for his character arc. Before this, he'd clearly not been visiting home at least partly because he kept taking shifts for friends, and partly to make time for Por; so after giving up some of his time in Chiang Mai to be with Mork, it makes sense he'd want to be there when he thought he might have read Mork wrong after all. And Tawan pushing and pushing Por to get answers blew up so badly in his face last time, that retreating rather than confronting Mork actually does make sense in context. Also, like Tawan said to Nadia, he was tired of not being put first, and when Mork didn't go after him outside the garage after Fern called him back, Mork had put Fern first in that moment. And up until then the only confessions Tawan (and the audience) has gotten from Mork were in Mork's imagination; he'd flirted but not actually said anything concrete aloud. So Tawan needing something more from Mork to prove that Mork actually does feel the way he's been implying, and he would put Tawan first, is fair and fits what took place in the show, actually--my past self was I think applying an unfair lens on this as a point of convenient dramatic tension. Finally, I realized on this rewatch that Tawan leaving without saying anything, after he knew Mork panicked last time and specifically told him not to do that, could be read as Tawan being a little bit selfish, actually, (which as @bengiyo said these two characters could use more of), and leaving to be chased after could be seen as Tawan (at least subconsciously) indulging a self-indulgent impulse. Having thought that through I now appreciate it as an action of his character arc rather than resenting it.

And now we get to Mork's character arc. Because Mork is already the best boy, so what could his character possibly stand to learn?

This was my thinking on first watch, but on rewatch I think he demonstrates that he grew in a few ways. First, he goes through the self-realization and acceptance of loving another man. I didn't give that journey enough credit the first time around.

Secondly, he re-orients himself after a breakup from a relationship that spanned multiple years. I know a lot of people saw the petrol/gas analog by Dej as learning to love men instead of women, but I saw it as learning to love Tawan rather than Fern--because they are two different people, and they have different things they need from you, and he has all of these learned patterns from his relationship with Fern that he has to unlearn, including putting her feelings first. Going back to the moment when Mork doesn't go after Tawan, if you accept my reading of Uncle Dej's advice, Mork's choice not to go after Tawan but instead to stay with Fern is contextualized through this conversation as Mork falling into old habits and putting Fern's wants and needs over all others including his own. He then corrects this by not agreeing to get back together with her, but not until promising to always be her smile--in other words, he's still struggling with reorienting himself in terms of who Mork is in relation to Fern when not her boyfriend. [This also makes Dej's pointed comment about gas being cheaper than petrol a pointed jab at Fern and her demands of Mork's money specifically, which the petty part of me enjoys.]

Mork also faced his fear of heights for Tawan, though he did that before he even acknowledged he had feelings, so I'm not sure I'm counting that as anything other than Mork continuing to be the best. But when, on the mountain, Mork finally says aloud the thing he's been daydreaming about for at this point months, this is definitely character growth and feeds into my first part about Mork struggling with his feelings for a man. I realized on this rewatch that Mork always talks about his feelings for Tawan as a hypothetical or a question--"Do I like him?" "Could we be together?" "If I do like him, what should I do?" He doesn't state his feelings as a statement except in his imagination (I think--may need to rewatch again to confirm), until the confession on the mountain. So, as @lurkingshan pointed out in her post, My Ride also makes the same point as La Pluie that clear, verbal communication is key to a relationship.

Mork also gets to be a teensy bit more selfish near the end, which I didn't really clock the first watch-through. When Tawan explains why he thought about quitting and how he wanted to relocate to Chiang Mai so that he could help take care of his mother, Mork's wheels started turning and he began planning for their future together up North--again this is not new, Mork planned his future with Fern and her goals in mind so it makes sense he'd be planning his future with Tawan in the same way. Because Mork is best. But! This time he includes in his future plans his goal to get a degree and open a garage of his own. I love this, it's such a small victory but I think it's important for his character that the thing he's seemingly regretted most about his choices (giving up on his own chance to go to school) and that he did for someone he loved (putting them through school) is now something he's doing for himself (as well as for his shared future with his partner). And this also reflects Mork internalizing Dej's point about how he's got to recalibrate--because what Tawan needs from Mork is not the same thing as what Fern needed from him, and these different circumstances allow him to adjust his future plans and fit in his own dreams. Love that for him.

I love that we get the timeskip to see a glimpse into their future, beyond it just being so sweet, it allows us to see the ways in which they've fit together, and how their relationship is not perfect--Tawan forgets their anniversary, Mork is trying to establish himself in a small community that probably does not open easily to outsiders--but it's balanced in that they support each other to make up for one another's weaknesses (Mork doesn't actually care and is happy to be the one who remembers these things; Tawan is happy to pay for the restaurant).

I didn't say anything about the Tawan/Por relationship above because I didn't really catch anything new on rewatch, from the get-go I thought it was so well done. Por is believably self-absorbed and Tawan really does such a good job of trying to do everything right. He talks to him directly and listen to his own instincts, but is surrounded by people (Por, Nadia, Mork) who tell him to let it go and ignore the signs. I continue to love to hate Por. This thread is a little unresolved because Por comes sniffing back around Tawan's ward, but we didn't really need to see Tawan reject Por, which I appreciated as the show writing him off as not a threat. I did pick up more on the glimpses of the kindness that La Pluie shows its female characters in how Fern is treated; Fern is shown to be selfish and materialistic, but also legitimately struggling with their life as-is, and by showing her trying to get Mork back, at least it gives her the credit of letting her realize what she was missing when it was gone. I'm glad La Pluie went further with keeping Nara complex and human.

Finally, I have to shout out how much love this show has for queer community and found family. Cheep and Dej give Mork and Tawan and even Fueang a safe haven to come to when they're hurt and confused, and they give so much advice. Everyone else has said it (I know @chickenstrangers mentions how special it is in their rewatch but I'm sure others have too) but it's worth repeating how much of a difference this makes for these characters.

Fueang and Mork also give one another advice and support, and I think it works well in the show that actually both Fueang and Mork can mostly just give support and some generic advice, but they can't speak from experience the way Cheep and Dej can. Still, the motorcycle gang support Fueang, and then Mork, in getting their respective partners. Tawan's sister knows exactly what is going on and gives Mork a challenge to make sure he's good enough for her brother. Fueang and the gang also show up in Chiang Mai because they're so sure their bro is going to mess up his confession, and then they cheer on the kiss when it does go well.

Mork taking on Khai as his own child when his brother failed to step up is also a beautiful reflection of the love and care his uncles gave to him and modeled for him; he clearly sees them as parental figures and was able to imagine himself as a parent to Khai because of it--and he never questions whether his getting together with a man would have a bad influence on his nephew/adopted son, the way we see Jim struggle with this in Moonlight Chicken, for example. More queer elders in stories please and thank you!

I feel so much less conflicted about this show now that I've gone through this exercise. Feel free to tell me if you think I got too far in my head and overanalyzed lol I'm always open to being told I'm now adding things that aren't there. I just really needed to deconstruct why I had issues last time and what changed for me when I paid more attention. Also, this experience makes me want to binge Step by Step to see if it makes a difference in how I feel about the ending to that show...but I don't think I'm ready for that yet.

And if you read all that, you're awesome.

#my ride the series #my ride rewatch 2023 #typed so i can stop thinking it