#y’all really left us on a cliffhanger like that

[feyreswaterybowels]

⭒The Silent One⭒

Azriel x Fem!OC

⭒ Part 1 ⭒ Part 2 ⭒ Part 3 ⭒

Word Count: 3.6k

Summary: Azriel finds the guy that sold Cassandra. Lots of bonding happens with Cassandra, Azriel and other members of the IC. Slight cliffhanger.

Warnings/Tags: mentions/implied rape. Mention past sexual abuse. Slow burn. Violence. Brief victim blaming. Found family. Protective!azriel. Protective!IC. GRAMMER ERRORS—I plan on going back to edit this please don’t judge me too hard I’m gonna have a busy week and just really wanted to get this posted for y’all🩷

Authors Note: all reblogs, likes and comments are welcome, appreciated and encouraged! Let me know if you’d like to be added to the tag list for the next chapter. Regular italics are inner thoughts and bold italics are mental communication.

Azriel stands in the darkness of night watching. Waiting. Body thrumming with anger. Calm cold anger. The kind that got people killed if they didn’t give him what he was looking for.

Only moments after Cassandra’s departure had his shadow returned to him. Telling him where to find this Vale. This horrid male who was taking females away from their family and selling them off—profiting off of them like livestock.

He sees the male, recognizes him from the briefs flash of memory Cassandra let slip at dinner, the one where this mad had choked her, slammed her against the wall just for needing to use the restroom.

The male is loading something up in the back of a wagon, the building behind him dark and dingy. Azriel let his shadows take him closer. Closer. Until he was standing in the alley between this man's house and another. The smell was horrid, small creatures scurrying about looking for their meal for the evening.

The male retreats into the building and Azriel lets a shadow loose to follow him—to be his eyes inside of this building. Inside is just as dark and dingy and piled high to the roof with…stuff. The blue skinned male navigates the maze of boxes and bins and trash with ease. He seems to be the only one here but Azriel knew better so he waits following the man through the seemingly endless maze.

That’s when he hears it, his shoulders going tight, his jaw clenching. Crying—no sobbing. A girl begging to be left alone as the male grabs her and pins her down to the floor.

“Fuck,” he growls. He pounds his fist against the outside of the building, taking chucks of the stone out. It’s loud enough to distract the man, to get him away from that girl as he rushed from the room under the floor, locking the locks and coming out. Looking around wildly for the source of the sound.

Azriel winnows, leaning against the wagon the man had been loading before, whistling to get the man attention. He whirls around, black eyes narrowed in anger, freezing in place when they land on him.

“Shadowsinger?” He grunts, narrowing his eyes at Azriel. “What brings you to these parts?”

Azriel looks him over, the smell of shit, piss and rot was overwhelming even from this distance.

“Vale,” Azriel says, to let the male know he knows who he is, rightfully see the fear in his eyes. “I’m looking for something and I hear you’re the one to help me.”

“I ain’t got nothing you need, pretty boy,” Vale sneers, crossing his arms, looking Azriel over. Trying to come off as tough but it’s actually laugh-able.

“Are you sure?” Azriel asks, pushing off the wagon. Letting his wings spread wide, walking closer, towering over the male. “See, I’ve got this female telling me you bought her from her dad and sold her to a pleasure house. I mean, tell me I’m wrong, man. I’ve just gotta check on these things. It’s a pretty serious accusation and all.”

“That chick’s got the wrong guy. I would never do something like that. These bitches are always trying to get us males in trouble,” Vale said, seeming to relax. Big mistake.

“You think so? Just tell me if you know her man. About this tall, really pretty, tan skin, white hair. Wings.” Azriel growls the last word, the man’s eyes widening again, taking a step back.

“Look, man, it’s not like that. Her dad owed me money, so he gave me her instead cause he couldn’t afford to pay me back, okay? So I didn’t technically buy her,” He stammered out, trying to explain himself.

“Oh,” Azriel said, nodding his head. “Well, I mean, if you didn’t technically buy her then no law was broken.”

“That’s right!” The male nods, sighing in relief. “No law was broken, man. I wouldn’t—I wouldn’t do that—”

“Yeah. I get it,” Azriel nods, shifting. Looking towards the building, then back to the low life in front of him. “And that female inside? Did you buy her? Is she here of her own free will allowing you to rape her daily?”

“Fuck,” Vale whispers, turning and running down the cobble stone road. Azriel stands there watching, a grin stretching his lips as he lets the male think he’s getting away.

“Send Morrigan,” He calls out to Rhys as he watches the male.

“She’s coming.”

Then he's gone again, just as Vale looks over his shoulder to try and spot him, only to smack hard into a body that came out of nowhere. He looks at the shadowsinger towering over him, swallowing thickly.

“What do you want from me?” The male nearly cried out as Azriel grabbed him and pulled him up, slamming his face first into a stone wall. The resounding crunch of his nose breaking is ever satisfying.

“Her name is Cassandra,” Azriel snarls into the man's ear. “She told us what you did to her. What you did to that female you have locked in that disgusting building. We know there’s more girls. We will find them all and when we do, I’ll let each one take a turn with you. Their weapon of choice. And you’ll feel exactly what they felt.”

“Ple-please. Please, just kill me,” The man begged, fighting in Azriel’s grasp but he was no match for Azriel’s strength.

“And what kind of justice would that be? Did you stop when those girls begged you to? Did you give them death with they would have preferred that over you using their bodies?” Azriel asked, scenting the smell of urine as the man pissed himself. “You deserve everything you’ve got coming to you.”

Before the pathetic excuse of a male could beg or plead any more Azriel grabbed the back of his head, smashing it into the wall, letting him fall unconscious to the ground. He left him there binded and hidden by shadows, stalking back to the building where he spotted Morrigan easily.

“Don’t tell me this is where he’s been keeping those poor girl?” She asked when she spotted him approaching.

“Unfortunately, I think it is. She said under his house but he could live here. I’ll question him more. I know there’s at least one female inside,” Azriel explained, guiding Morrigan into the building. Be could get the female on his own but he knew it was safer to have a female companion—after all they’d been through the least he could do was make sure a female was the one to comfort them.

They get to that basement floor, unlocking the various locks and pulling the hatch open. It’s as dark and dingy down here as it was in the rest of the building. Morrigan enters first, taking Azriel’s hand to steady herself on the old wobbly stairs.

“Your wings won’t fit down here,” She said, hushed. He nods at her. “Send a shadow if I call for help.” It’s said jokingly but he knows she’s serious. He’d rip the floor from this building to help her if she needed it.

Mor squinted her eyes in the dimness of the sellar, resisting the urge to plug her nose from the horrid smell.

“Hello? Is anyone down here?” She calls out, looking up from at Azriel when there’s no reply. “Hello, my name is Morrigan. I work for the High Lord. The male keeping you here is—”

Morrigan’s cut off when I body slams into hers, knocking her to the ground. She cries out in surprise when a sharp sting slices across her cheek.

“Stop, hey, stop! I’m here to help!” Mor calls out, trying to catch the hands of the female fae on top of her.

“Mor!” Azriel’s deep voice calls.

“I’ve got it!” Mor calls back, grabbing the girls wrists. “Please, stop! Vale is gone! He can’t hurt you, please, stop!”

The girl stops fighting then still tense where she’s straddling Morrigan’s middle section.

“He’s gone?” She whispers and Mor nods.

“Yes, he’s gone. He can’t hurt you any more. I swear,” She promises. Eyes finally able to take in the sight before her.

A fragile, naked, malnourished body sits atop her. Eyes not only shut but scarred as if they’d been cut—maybe by the same person that took Cassandra’s tongue. But what really got Morrigan, what had her ready to lose the contents of her stomach was the rounded belly attached to that nearly skeleton body. Her eyes welled and she helped the female to shift off of her body.

“Are you pregnant?” Mor whispers, trying to keep her voice from breaking as the female nods.

“Please, don’t let him take this one too,” She cries, reaching out to find Morrigan’s hand, squeezing it tightly. “Promise me I get to keep my baby.”

“I promise, no one is going to take your baby away from you,” Morgan swears, a single tear falling down her cheek. “What’s your name, sweet girl?”

“Neema, my name is Neema,” She answers and Mors eyes widen. The girl Cassandra told them about.

“You and your baby are safe, Neema. We’re gonna take you away from here, okay?” Morrigan says, standing and helping the pregnant female stand as well.

“I have my friend Azriel here too, he will not touch you, he’s only here to make sure no further harm comes to you. He’s handing me a cloak for you to wear,” Morrigan explains so the female doesn’t feel uncomfortable. She nods, allowing Mor to wrap the cloak around her.

“Are there any other females here?” Azriel asks gently, wishing he hadn’t with the way she clenched at the deep mess of it.

“Not—not that I know of. The females come and go. There’s been no others for months…” Neema answers, grasping the fabric tighter around her body.

Azriel and Mor share a look the last females had to have been Cassandra and the other two she mentioned.

“I’ll stay and check the building before I head back,” Azriel informed, consciously softening his voice so as not to scare the female again.

˖ ݁𖥔.☁︎.𖥔 ݁ ˖

Morrigan winnows away with Neema and Azriel searches every inch of the building with his shadows. No signs of any other females. He leaves the building, needing to relieve himself of the horrible stench.

He retrieves the still bound and unconscious male, winnowing him to his dungeon. He strips him, places a gag in his mouth, dumps him into a chair and binds him to it. He would be dealt with later.

The sun would be rising soon and he wanted to be there when they informed Cassandra they found the male and the female—her friend?

He enters Rhys' study, Cassian and Mor there too.

“How is she?” He asks, glancing at Morrigan then his brother.

“Resting,” Rhys answers. “Madja looked her over. Thankfully the baby seems healthy, Madja’s main concern is getting Neema to gain some weight and begin healing herself.”

“We offered her to live amongst the priestesses in the library, she agreed,” Morrigan said, her brown eyes bloodshot and cheeks flushed.

“Good, that’s all good, they’ll help her heal,” Azriel nods his head crossing his arms. “I have the male in my dungeon.”

“Have you gotten any information out of him?” Rhys asks, standing from his desk.

“Not much. He admitted to knowing who Cassandra was, receiving her from her father and holding her. He never admitted to selling her but that information won’t be hard to get out of him,” Azriel explains and Rhys nods in agreement.

“You get whatever information you can out of him and then he’s dead,” Rhys orders, Azriel doesn’t need to confirm he already knew what Rhys decision would be.

“Are we telling Cassandra?” Cassian asks, the first words he’s said the whole time.

“We are. She needs to know he’s here, it may bring her some comfort knowing he’s locked away and Neema is safe. I think you should be the one to talk to her, Azriel,” Rhy says, turning his attention to the shadow singer.

“Me? Not Mor?” Azriel asked, a bit confused.

“Yes, you. She’s comfortable with you. You’re the one that apprehended him. I believe she would prefer to hear it from you,” Rhys nods.

“Okay, I can do that,” Azriel agreed.

“You handle that, I’ve got some business to attend to with the priestesses. We’ll all meet up in a few hours to discuss further action.” Rhys stepped around his desk, patting Azriel’s shoulder when he passed by him.

˖ ݁𖥔.☁︎.𖥔 ݁ ˖

An hour goes by before Azriel tracks Cassandra down. Finding her in the library, flipping through a book where she’s sat in the large window seat that overlooked the city below. A steaming cup of tea next to her.

“I thought you couldn’t read?” Azriel asks, leaning against the door frame, grinning when those green eyes meet his.

“I can’t. I’m looking at the pictures,” She said, holding up the book, some romance book from the looks of the two people in a colorful garden.

“Ah,” Azriel says, walking further into the room. Trying not to focus on the way her eyes track up and down his body the closer he gets. He holds his hand out for the book, flipping it over the read the title, snorting at it. “Secret Garden Romance, huh?”

She shrugs, taking the book back.

“I asked the house for a book with a lot of pictures, this is what I got,” She said, a small sweet breathy laugh escaped her lips and he couldn’t help his own smile.

“Did you end up getting some sleep?” He asks, watching her set the book down and grab the warm mug.

“I slept but not great,” She shrugs. “I can’t stop thinking about my sisters.”

“We’re gonna do everything we can to find them, I promise you that,” Azriel said, not even waiting for a beat. He would find her sisters and he’d beat the shit out of her father too.

“You know I took my older sister's place. It was supposed to be her he sold off but the way she had cried when he told her. I couldn’t let him do that to her so I told him to take me…I didn’t really know what he meant when he was selling me. I thought I’d be a servant like the ones we had when I was a kid or something. I never thought…” She trailed off, taking a deep breath.

“You’re not to blame for what happened to you. You were protecting your sister. You did a very selfless thing. You're safe now and your sisters will be, too,” Azriel said, resting his elbows on his knees as he leaned towards her.

“Well, what about you?” Cassandra asked, gently changing the subject. “Did you ever get any sleep?”

Azriel sighed with a head shake. “No, actually. That’s kind of why I came to talk to you.”

Cassandra fixed him with a curious look, leaning forward as if to give him her full attention for whatever he needed to say. He looked into those glowing green eyes, filled with curious concern.

“We found that male. Vale. We found him,” Azriel said, watching the vast range of emotions flash through those emerald eyes.

“He’s here?” Is what she asks, fear tinging her voice. Azriel straightens his back.

“He will not touch you,” he declared, holding her gaze. “He won’t even come near you.”

I’ll fucking kill him if he does. He thinks but doesn’t add it out loud.

“He can’t get out of…wherever he is?” She asks, and he wants to reach out so badly to comfort her. The ache in his chest drawing him to her.

“No. He’s being held in a very secure place. I promise you’re safe here. You’re safe with us.” Azriel promises. You’re safe with me.

“Were there any females with him?” She asks and Azriel nods.

“The girl you told us about, Neema. She was the only one there—it had been only her for months.”

He watches as her eyes fill with tears, offering his hand for her to hold. She takes it, thumb tracing his scars unconsciously.

“Just her…alone with him for months. Gods, is she…I feel like okay isn’t the right word for what I want to ask,” She says, sadness written all over her face.

“She will be okay,” Azriel said. “She’s in bad shape. Pregnant, malnourished but we have an amazing healer and a library below the mountain. Many priestesses live there. Many of them have experienced similar traumas. They’ll help her heal.”

She looked thoughtful for a moment. He wasn’t sure what was going through her head as she sat there silently, grasping his hand and tracing his scars.

“I want him to die.” It’s fierce. Heated. Emotional. And it does something to Azriel’s heart, to his brain. He squeezes her hand. “I want him to feel everything we felt. To know the fear he put us through. I want him to suffer and then I want him to die.”

“He will die. I swear to the Mother. I’ll get every drop of information from him and when it’s time his death will be painful and slow,” Azriel swore, gently swiping a tear from her cheek.

˖ ݁𖥔.☁︎.𖥔 ݁ ˖

The next day is a day Cassandra would remember forever. She hadn't slept much the night before but Morrigan had practically begged her to have lunch.

Cassandra wasn’t entirely sure she was ready for a day out in the city but she felt safe with Morrigan. She nearly asked if Azriel could come too until she learned he would be spending the day collecting information from Kamari and Vale.

Morrigan picked out her outfit for the day and it was one of her favorites she’s worn since being here. A flowy silk top that tucked into a dark pair of slacks that raised high on my hips. They emphasized her longer legs in a way she had never noticed before. She had also pinned Cassandra’s hair up and out of her face.

She liked the way Azriel smiled at her when he saw her dressed this way. She blushed but was quickly rushed away by Morrigan, shouting something about wanting you to herself for the day for girl time.

Their first stop was a place she called the River House. A beautiful home that her mother would have loved. Morrigan had only had them stop here briefly to grab a few tote bags, wanting to shop while they were out but promised to bring her back and give her a proper tour of the house.

The city was even more beautiful when you were in it. The sun was shining bright in an endless blue sky. Better than any dreams she had ever had about it.

They went to bakeries, where Cassandra single handedly filled half a tote with various pastries.

Then a clothing shop where Morrigan helped her pick out some new clothes. A few everyday pieces. A gorgeous gown she wasn’t sure where she would wear it but Morrigan swore she would need it sooner or later. And then the softest, satin, dark blue nightgown—it had reminded her of the stones that glowed atop Azriel’s hands. Morrigan herself had picked out quite a few outfits and gowns of her own and a lace set that looked like something the girls in the pleasure houses would wear but she paid no mind to it—she was sure it would look gorgeous on Morrigan wherever she planned to wear it to.

Then they went to a place near the river for lunch, the glistening river was the perfect view while they ate.

“Do you feel like you’re settling in okay?” Morrigan asked, sipping on some kind of iced fruit tea while they waited for their food.

“I’m still…adjusting. I enjoy the company of everyone. I feel like I can trust you all. It’s just odd.” Cassandra says, taking a drink of her tea that was just slightly too sweet but she wasn’t complaining.

“What’s odd?” Morrigan asks gently.

“Trusting strangers more than I’ve ever trusted anyone else,” She says it like a confession, like she should be ashamed for feeling that way.

“I don’t think that’s odd,” Morrigan shrugged. “You’re around people like you, people you can relate to and get to know. It’s easy to feel safe with us in turn, causing your trust. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

Cassandra smiles at Morrigan.

Their food comes soon after and they talk the whole time. Morrigan gives her the rundown of how Rhys, Azriel and Cassian all knew one another. She explained more about their titles and what each one of them did as a member of the inner circle. She told her about so much that Cassandra could believe she’d spent her whole live knowing practically none of it.

When they go to a bookstore Cassandra looks at a few before putting them back. Morrigan grabs them and tells her they’ll teach her to read—that she’ll love these books and so many more.

And when they finally get back to the House of a Wind it’s late. She's exhausted from carrying around nearly overflowing tote bags and eating more muffins then she can count.

A top the house where they have to land they’re greeted by the three males. Their solemn faces wiping the smile off your face. She caught Azriel’s eyes, sees the look of pure death there—a look that she just knows means he wants to kill someone.

And just like that, her perfect day with Morrigan took a turn straight down hill.

Tag List: @aelinwya @starlightandsouls @fullmoon-94 @aetherl0l @caticorn61 @lilah-asteria @blackgirlmagicforever @div94 @purple-writer8 @little-missbookyworm @saltedcoffeescotch @namelesssav @slytherintaco @whatsupb @little-missbookyworm

#azriel playing games with that male in the beginning lives rent free in my head #I just know he enjoys fucking with guys like that #thinking they could be all buddy buddy making them feel safe then bam he fucks them up #az and Cassandra got a bit of bonding in #as did Cassandra and Morrigan #besties for the resties #acotar #azriel #azriel fanfic #azriel x reader #acotar fanfiction #slow burn

[mamachasesmayhem]

Cardinal Rule • You Should Be the Angel On My Shoulder

Master | Four | Six

Pairing: Jake Seresin x oc Lexi Knox

Warnings: flashback to Jake and Lexi’s first hookup! Smut incomingggggg. Slight cliffhanger at the end (sorry not sorry), Jake has a slightly asshole moment

Austin, TX

Summer break between sophomore and junior year

You’d think Lexi would have stayed in her native Kentucky between semesters, but you’d be wrong.

Her relationship with her parents was rocky at best when she left for school, but her “abhorrent behavior” at the Kentucky Derby that first spring with Jake and Joey really cemented the end of it.

Lexi had been beside herself with excitement to share her love of Thunder Over Louisville and all the Derby Day excitement with the Seresins. You couldn’t wipe the smile off of Jake’s face as he watched the elite pilots display their tricks over the city and confidently stated “that’s gonna be me one day.”

The celebration flowed into the night and the three found themselves on Fourth Street until the early hours of the following day. Jake, while protective of the girls, enjoyed watching them have a small taste of the freedom adulthood brought and played chaperone with a smile. Joey would find her way into trouble with or without him, and he preferred to keep her chaos where he could see it.

Instead of sitting in the swanky box her family owned, Lexi had chosen to throw caution to the wind, joining her friends on the track and gambling with no rhyme or reason. She was still clad in an expensive (and ridiculous) hat and a fancy sundress, but her association with “the track sitters” disgusted her parents. The Derby wasn’t a place to be seen having fun, it was purely a place to be seen. Refusing to allow their daughter to tarnish their family image, they simply excommunicated her instead.

When the time came to pack her things and return home at the end of the year, Lexi followed Joey west. The Seresins welcomed her with open arms, wide smiles, and a promise that she always had a place at their home.

It was strange at first, Lexi was completely dumbfounded by how much love and comfort filled the house. She was used to walking on eggshells and always behaving in a way that would put cotillion lessons to use. The first time she heard LouAnne Seresin freely yell cuss words, she about had a heart attack. Surely something had to be very wrong, wives don’t speak like that where she grew up.

“Well, shit fire, Marshall! You should warn a girl instead sneakin’ up on and scarin’ the hell outta her!” She had screeched before falling into a fit of laughter at her husband’s antics. He’d slipped up behind her while she was making breakfast and pinched her butt.

Joey groaned from the table. “Gross, y’all are gonna make me lose my appetite.”

“Can’t help it, Joey girl. You’ll understand one day,” Marshall winked in her direction before kissing his wife’s head and joining the girls at the table.

That summer had been Lexi’s introduction into what a healthy, loving relationship looked like. Still, they had to be the exception to the rule. There was no way that was the norm for marriages.

After that, it became an unspoken rule for Lexi to return to the Seresin ranch during any and all school breaks when the girls weren’t tied up with cheer.

The girls had been part of the back to back national championship winning team the first two years at school, but after a huge fallout with one of their teammates, they both decided it was for the best for them to leave the team. It wasn’t worth the drama and they were both ready to shift their focus to their majors, knowing they would require more dedication than their previous years.

A creak from the stairs breaks Lexi out of her reverie and she turns her head to find a familiar blonde one coming into view.

“Did everyone losing their mind over Junior Miss Kentucky send you into hiding, your royal highness?” Jake teases.

Lexi groans. “I regret ever letting you and your sister find that out. Where is the hellion anyway?”

“I don’t wanna talk about it,” Jake grumbles.

“Taking the ostrich approach won’t change the fact that she’s dating Bradley, Jake.”

“I know, I know. What makes it worse is he’s not even a bad guy when it comes to her and I kind of hate it.”

Jake joins her where she’s perched on the windowsill of the barn overlook, eyes tracing the darkening fields of the ranch. “I can’t believe I managed to score getting leave over the fourth, this is my parents biggest weekend of the year and it’s always been my favorite party.”

“It really is fantastic. I’m shocked you’re sitting here with me instead of getting your legendary firework show all set up, though.” Lexi teases.

“Eh, handing it over to the Larson kid was the right call. He needs to learn how to do it right since I can’t guarantee I’ll be here every year,” he replies with a tinge of sadness in his voice.

“Everyone’s proud of you, know you? The constant bragging about you from literally any person I talk to is slightly nauseating,” Lexi punctuates her words by bumping her shoulder against his to indicate her teasing.

“What about you, Lou? You proud of me?” He bumps her back.

Immensely, she wants to say, but refrains. “Eh, ask me again when you’re flying Thunder, Tex.”

Her phone pings with a notification, cutting through the tension growing between them. She opens it, finding a Snapchat from her on again, off again boyfriend Nathan. It’s a video with a view from the floor of her favorite up and coming band performing on Fourth Street.

“Rat bastard,” she grumbles, irritated he went when he promised he wouldn’t go without her.

Jake catches a peek over her shoulder and grimaces. “He really went without you?”

“Looks like it,” Lexi huffs defeatedly.

They sit in silence as Jake works up the courage to ask the question that’s been burning in the back of his mind for months now.

“Hey, Lou?”

“Yeah?”

“Can I ask you a question and you give me an honest answer?”

“When have I ever not answered honestly?”

She makes a valid point, she’s always been blunt and never sugar coats a thing.

“Why you thinkin’ ‘bout somebody that ain’t thinkin’ ‘bout you?” He asks, his accent more pronounced after the few beers he’s had.

“Huh?” Lexi asks, confused.

"What's so great about him to keep you hangin around? I don’t get it.” His reply is shy, and it might be the first time Lexi’s ever seen him that way.

She shrugs and looks down. "I dunno. It's not like I love him or anything. He's convenient, the sex doesn't suck, and he can be sweet when he wants to be. It’s not like I plan on marrying him anyway.”

"Oh, c'mon honey. We both know you deserve better than that,” Jake continues, tucking a knuckle under her chin and tilts her face until she’s looking at him again.

"You met my parents, my dad more specifically. I'm used to having a little demon in my ear, constantly telling me I'm not worth anything on my own. It's nice to have the occasional reminder that I can feel something other than self loathing. I don't have the convenience of a little angel on my shoulder reminding me that I deserve to be treated well, Jake."

She tries to turn her head to look away again, but Jake shifts to grip her jaw and pull her into a world stopping kiss. Without hesitation, Lexi’s lips part for Jake’s tongue and he brings his free hand to her hair. Just as his fingers tighten at the base of her neck, the fireworks start popping in the background and Jake pulls away with a smug smile on his face.

"What about now? That make you feel something?" Jake asks, thumb stroking under her ear.

For the first time since they met two years ago, Lexi doesn’t have a smart comeback. She just nods and stammers out “uh huh.”

Jake bites his lip to tamp down the elation he feels over the fact he made the most brilliant girl he’s ever met a little dumb with just a kiss. “You want an angel on your shoulder? I’ll do you one better. You should be the angel on my shoulder, think that over.”

Fireworks pop in the sky and electricity crackles between Jake and Lexi. He’d let his stubble grow out a little while on leave and his eyes glimmered with the desire he’d been desperately trying to hide for years now. But he didn’t have to conceal it right now, he got to let it sit front and center on his mind while Lexi stared up at him with kiss swollen lips.

She wordlessly turns, places her feet on the loft floors, and stands. Jake panics for a second, thinking he went too far this time. An apology builds in his chest but dies on his lips when she reaches her hand out to him.

Lexi’s favorite place in the entire world was right here in the loft, so LouAnne always kept outdoor furniture and cushy blankets (stored in a basket that somehow managed to keep spiders out) in the loft.

It paid off more than ever at this very moment. Jake slipped his hand into Lexi’s and she pulled him toward the couch.

With a shove to his chest, Jake falls backward onto the couch and Lexi is quick to climb on his lap. When she leans in to kiss him, her head bumps against the brim of his Stetson. Before he has the chance to remove it himself, Lexi takes it off of his head and plops it on her own.

Jake raises an eyebrow in question, tipping the too big hat back to see her eyes better.

Lexi grins down at him. “I know the rule.”

“Lou, I hope you know you don’t have to do anythin-” Jake starts.

His hands are settled firmly on her hips where she’s straddling him. She rolls them forward slightly, causing both of them to inhale sharply when the seam of her overalls catches on his belt buckle.

“When have you ever seen me do something I don’t want to?” She asks, threading her fingers in his slightly overgrown hair.

Jake pretends to think hard. “Never. Unless you count not causing bodily harm to that bitch on the team. That was not something you wanted to do,” he runs his nose along her neck and grins when he feels her shudder.

“You gonna shut up and kiss me yet?” She teases, squirming in his lap.

He gently grabs his beloved Stetson from the top of her head and places it topside down on the side table to his left. Before Lexi could blink, Jake turns and has her back pinned to the couch. A wide smirk crosses his face as he takes in the sight beneath him.

Long, dark hair fanned against the worn leather. A red flush staining her cheeks and chest. Gray blue eyes wide, staring up at him with excitement.

Jake’s heart swells and he immediately distracts himself from the feeling by lightly tracing his fingers up and down her legs, easily lost in the feel of the skin that had been tanned by the Texas sun.

Lexington Knox was an enigma, and he’d been enthralled with her since day one.

Gorgeous, smart as a whip, fiercely independent.

He flirted his ass off when she’d pop up during FaceTime calls and the few times he’d seen her while visiting Joey, loving the rush it gave him to know there was no chance of it going anywhere. It started as a game, the two of them exchanging horrendous pickup lines and over the top compliments to see who could make the younger Seresin blush fastest. It had evolved as they got to know each other and realized Lexi was a much more permanent fixture in the Seresins' lives than anyone had expected. Eventually, he looked past the facade and saw the girl it was hiding.

Lonely, insecure, jaded.

He met the people that shattered her and was impressed with how strong she turned out to be. One thing was for sure, though: she didn’t need any help being put back together.

Even though the southern mama’s boy craved the idea of tethering her to his side, he knew better. Someone with that much fire in their soul and desire to be their own person would never be happy to have their identity tied to someone else’s. As much as he hated the fact that he couldn’t truly have her, Jake could never hold it against her. He was the same, after all. They were kindred spirits and everyone knew it. His wild soul belonged in the air, just as hers belonged wherever the hell it wanted to be. He wouldn’t be happy spending his life following someone else’s dreams, there’s no way he’d ask her to do just that.

He’d spent the last two years fighting the pull he felt for Lexi, but he lost his grip today. She looked so perfect in her overalls and cowboy boots, like she had been on the ranch her entire life, and he couldn’t bear the sad look in her eyes for another second. So tonight, he broke. He’d take whatever she gave him with zero care for whatever fallout might follow.

Nails scratching across his scalp snapped him out of his trance. He turns and nips at the warm flesh of her upper thigh then soothes the sting with gentle kisses. He repeats the process on each leg until his nose comes into contact with the hem of those damned overalls.

“As sexy as you look in these, I just have this feelin’ they’ll look even better off.” Jake grins up at her as his fingers make quick work of the snaps holding the denim together.

“You’ve had me half hard all day, walkin’ around while lookin’ like somethin’ right outta one of my wet dreams. But you knew that, didn’t ya, pretty girl?” Jake mused aloud as he slipped the boots off of her feet and pulled her to stand. He kneeled and sat back on his heels as he stripped her down to the tiny swimsuit she’d been teasing him with all day.

She looked down at him with a wicked grin on her face. “Maybe, maybe not. As good at that youth sized tshirt looks on you, I think you’re a little overdressed.”

With that, she reached down and grabbed a fistful of his shirt and pulled until he stood at his full height. She gently tugged at the soft material and Jake complied, his shirt on the floor by their feet in a flash. His hands traced down her sides and over her hips before gripping the backs of her thighs and lifting.

He dropped back down onto the couch and grinned when he felt Lexi shiver against him. It was too hot outside for her to be cold, so there was no doubt it was her visceral reaction to his skin against hers. Jake’s lips found her quickly and he sucked in a harsh breath when she reached for his belt buckle.

“Fuck. Knew you’d look gorgeous on top of me,” he groaned into her neck.

“You always talk this much, Tex? Maybe put that mouth to-OHSHIT!” She whined as his teeth sank into the swell of her breast.

“You were saying?” Jake asked between wet kisses across her chest.

“Huh? What? Nope,” she stuttered out, sinking her hands in his hair once again.

Jake brought her lips to his in a frantic kiss, all tongue and teeth and heavy breaths as the minutes passed. His hands slid under the band of her bikini top and his thumbs brushed across her nipples as she unbuttoned his pants in a hurry.

“Jake. Please,” she panted.

He stilled immediately. “You’re sure you wanna do this?”

Lexi pulled one of his hands free, causing Jake to panic until she guided it between them. “You tell me.”

“Fuck,” Jake growled when he felt the soaked material of her bottoms.

“That’s what I thought. Condom?” She asked, her eyes locked on his.

Jake shifted his weight and pushed his hips up as he reached for his wallet, the angle making Lexi’s head fall back on a moan. While his hands worked to retrieve and open the condom, hers were pushing his jeans down until his dick was freed.

She reached down and palmed the length of him, causing her to gasp. “Of fucking course you’d have a dick as big as your ego.”

Jake huffs a laugh as he rolls the latex on. “I give off small dick energy or somethin’ Louie girl?” He hooks his thumb in her bottoms, pulls them to the side, and runs two fingers through the slick pooling between them. “Think you can take it, darlin’?”

“Guess we’re about to find out.”

“You and that damn mouth, honey,” he smirks as he lines himself up. “I’m gonna love hearing the way you say my name and only my name.”

He lands a soft slap to her ass, encouraging her to move, and his eyes almost roll back when she moans and sinks down an inch.

“Holy fuck,” she whines.

“My Louie girl likes it a little rough, huh?” Jake teases, tangling his hand in her hair and pulling until she’s looking at him again.

“Uhhh, uh huh.”

“Shit, honey. Ready for more?” Jake asks, fighting every cell in his body to stay still and not push his hips up into her.

She takes a deep breath before sliding her palms up his chest. With a firm grip on his broad shoulders, she rises up slightly and takes a little more.

“Atta girl. You’re doing so well, stretching just right for me. Relax a little, angel. Let me in.” Jake’s gentle commands and praises with every roll of her hips spurred her on until she was flush with his lap.

Lexi felt like every nerve ending in her body was on high alert. The way Jake’s chest hair brushed against her nipples with every deep inhale had her squirming. His rough hands on her hips were so warm, she was convinced he was searing the imprints of his palms on her skin. And the way she just felt him twitch inside her? She would store that in her memory forever.

“Tell me when you’re ready for me, darlin’. You feel like heaven wrapped around me, but I can wait for you.” Jake’s gravelly promise was barely above a whisper, but the conviction in his voice was loud and clear.

The buckle of Jake’s open belt pressed against her inner thigh, surely leaving an imprint. The thought made her clench on reflex and Jake’s lip pulled up into a snarl, and rumble escaped from deep in his chest.

“Feel good, flyboy?” She teases while she still has the ability to do so.

“Fucking hell, Lexi. I’m trying to behave here and you’re making it quite difficult.”

She leans down to nip at his earlobe. “Then don’t behave,” she whispers.

The thin string tying Jake to rationality snapped and he slipped his hands to her round ass. He lifts her like she weighs nothing and then sharply thrusts up into her. He repeats the process, pulling out further and pushing back in quicker each time until she’s putty in his hands.

“Damn, honey. You’re a fuckin’ dream, bouncing on my cock like this. Gonna dream of this sweet pussy stuffed with my cock all the fuckin’ time. Feels better than I could ever imagine.” Jake’s praises have her melting into him.

“Oh god, Jake. Feel so good. Ohhhh my god,” she moans, leaning back to place her palms on Jake’s firm thighs and causing her body to arch further towards him.

“That’s it, gorgeous. Put those perfect tits in my face.” Jake leans forward and captures a nipple in his mouth, laving his tongue over the taut bud.

“Jake! Shit, I’m close. What the fuck,” Lexi pants out, stunned she’s already teetering on the edge of a shocking orgasm.

“Mmm, I’m halfway there. My name rolling off your tongue does sound incredible, but you can still form other words so I’m not doing enough,” Jake grunts out between sharp thrusts.

Jake leans forward, wraps his arms around her back, and pulls her into his chest. With every possible inch of their skin touching, Jake binds his arm across her back and picks up speed.

Lexi’s eyes roll back at the sound of Jake’s skin clapping against her own, only for them to snap back open when the thumb of his free hand finds her clit and traces firm circles over the pressure point nobody else has been able to find.

His lips find her shoulder and he alternates between sucking kisses and pressing bite marks into her skin. “C’mon angel, let go for me. I know you want to. Give it to me, honey. You can do it.”

The filthy encouragement combined with the speed of his thrust and the pressure against her clit are just what she needs, but she holds on a little longer. “Come with me. Please, Jake.”

“Oh fuck, how could I say no to you? Sound so pretty beggin’ for me. You gonna come for me?” He coos.

“Come with you. Jake, please.”

“You’re almost there, honey. But I’m not gonna stop until you’re crying, until my name is the only thing on your lips and your mind. Give it to me,” he growls. His thrusts are lethal. Just the right speed and power behind them.

“Jake! I can’t. Can’t. Ugghh-hold it. Please. Please, Jake!

Just as he predicted, she’s crying his name and begging him to come with her. “Ok, sweetheart. Let go now, I’m right behind you.”

She shatters in his lap, a throaty “Jake” punched from her lungs. Jake follows immediately after, a deep and gravelly groan of her name passes his lips. “Lexi. Honey. Fuuuuuuck.”

He falls back against the coach, breathless and sated, with Lexi collapsed against his chest. They spend the next few minutes catching their breath before redressing and hoping they don’t look entirely debauched.

“I can’t believe you left marks!” Lexi yells and slaps his stomach upon seeing the love bites he left across her chest.

He smiles smugly, admiring his handiwork. “Why not? It works out in my favor. You either cover up what only I should see or you show them off, letting everyone know you’re mine.”

Lexi sighs heavily before she replies. “I’m not yours, Jake. I don’t belong to anyone and I never will. This doesn’t change anything.”

“You really expect me to go back to Florida and not dream about this? You want me to pretend this never happened?” Jake is taken aback by her abrasive approach and unfiltered honesty. It hurt like hell, if he was honest with himself.

“I never said either of those things. But your sister means too much to me to even chance losing her. Nobody can know.” She replies, heart in her throat.

“Umm. Ok, ouch. I’d never ask you to choose if that became a problem, but I get it. We’ll play by your rules, Lexi Lou.”

For now, he thought, as he watched her dress and escape to find Joey.

Lexi’s eyelids felt like lead as she attempted to open them. She took a mental note of her physical state. She had soreness in her joints and severe pain in her left arm, suggesting a fracture somewhere around her elbow. Fuck, that one’s gonna suck. Her leg is numb from the way she’d been positioned on her right side and the cuffs were digging into her wrists.

“Well, I’ve landed myself in a real pickle here,” she murmurs to herself.

She looks up to see a large man in a chair by the door and she suddenly recalls what happened.

She accidentally missed their first official date. Surely he’s thinking she played him. He’ll never want to try anything now, and it breaks her heart a little bit.

“Should have let him pick me up, dammit” she mutters to herself.

Someone will realize she’s missing soon, right?

…right?

As she attempted to shift into a more comfortable position to hopefully nap in, her thoughts were on Jake and her team.

God did she hope they found and found her soon.

Honestly, @roosterforme, @trickphotography2, @bradshawssugarbaby, @sorchathered & @aviatorobsessed are the only reason that I managed to crank this one out! Thank you for loving Jake and Lexi and and believing in me! I love you soooooo much and couldn’t be more thankful for you and your patience with me while I write this part, I hope you enjoyed 🫣

@bobgasm @eli2447 @buckysteveloki-me @taytaylala12 @els-marvelvsp @shinycupcakebaker @lgg5989 @bookchik26 @lavenderdaydream @redbarn1995 @hangmansgbaby @sarahsmi13s @roosterforme @aviatorobsessed @callsigncurse @teacupsandtopgun @trickphotography2 @thedroneranger @sweetwhispersofchaos @capoteera @hardballoonlove @buckysdollforlife @kmc1989 @seresinhangmanjake @shanimallina87 @dizzybee03 @hisredheadedgoddess28 @lynnevanss @na-ta-sh-aa @whatislovevavy @dingochef @dempy @dckweed @just-in-case-iloveyou @tgmreader @djs8891 @ladyofdreaming @soulmates8 @eternalsams @permanentlyexhaustedpigeon88 @midnightmagpiemama @mynameismckenziemae @jessicab1991 @bradshawssugarbaby @penwieldingdreamer

#Spotify #jake seresin #jake hangman seresin #mama mayhem writes #top gun maverick #dagger au #jake seresin fluff #jake seresin smut #cardinal rule #Jake x Lexi #jake seresin x oc #jake seresin fanfic #jake seresin fanfiction #lexi knox

[lurkingshan]

Step by Step Episode 11 (OF DOOM)

Warning: I really, really did not like this episode. If you’re trying to keep positive vibes you should scroll on by, friends! 

Welp. I told a few friends last week that my biggest disappointment would be if, after missing the mark on the emotional payoff of the slow burn and speed running the relationship, the show chose to break them up and do a time jump rather than staying with them in the present time and working through the conflicts they set up. And here we are! I wish I’d been wrong about where this was heading. Shouts to @waitmyturtles and @neuroticbookworm for holding me down while this show fell apart on me, I’ve been all in a tizzy about it, because I really loved it for awhile there.

This episode, yet again, felt like a disjointed mess. After last week’s cliffhanger, the idea of Pat resigning to get away from the predatory office gossip fell away within a few quick scenes. Instead the tension disappeared as the plot brought them into a bubble with only their most supportive colleagues and we swerved into a retread of the Put nonsense and a new plot about Jeng and Pat fighting to save the digital marketing team via the power of Put’s quasi-celebrity and Instagram likes. Or something. I honestly couldn’t tell you the details of what they were trying to accomplish, I was too distracted by my incredulity to pay close attention to this very sudden fake problem that they were obviously going to conquer (that, my friends, is what we call conflict with no stakes). Meanwhile, the show suddenly wants me to care about Jaab and Jen again - enough to devote a big portion of the penultimate episode’s runtime to them, what a choice - after doing fuck all with that plot for six weeks. It’s a no from me. 

It doesn’t matter anyway, because soon enough we’re time skipping again! After resolving the work challenge subplot we speed past another three months of Pat and Jeng’s relationship without addressing any of their issues, and I guess I’m supposed to be at peace with being a full nine months into their relationship with no onscreen emotional advancement? But I gotta be honest, y’all. I am not. You just don’t do this with a slow burn romance narrative. You can’t spend 80% of your runtime building to something that you have no intention of paying off, and no amount of thinking about what else this show is trying to say is going to convince me they did proper justice to the relationship. I already broke down why I didn’t think the episode 10 culmination got us there, and nothing that happened in this episode changed my opinion.

And all of this is leading to yet another time jump - two entire years this time - after the big reveal that Jeng doesn’t believe in Pat at all and literally bought his success, Evil Daddy knew it all along and waited for a choice moment to deploy the info for maximum damage while twirling his villain mustache, and Pat is finally quitting for real and dumping Jeng for good measure.

And ya know what? GOOD FOR PAT. I was completely on his side in this decision. If there’s one bright spot in this episode (other than Chot, always Chot) it’s Pat getting himself together enough to realize he deserves better than the bullshit he’s been getting from Put and Jeng and walking on out. So Jeng and Pat are now broken up, but I never got invested in their relationship in the first place, because we barely saw it, let alone got the chance to live in and feel it. I wasn’t even upset while watching this breakup scene - it left me emotionally indifferent. Which is maybe the worst thing I can say about a dramatic climax in a story.

I guess next week we’ll meet Jeng and Pat again two years in the future and get some kind of happy ending. I’m gonna stick around for the finale and cross my fingers that we get all the epilogue fluff we have definitely earned, but sadly, this show has lost me.

#step by step #thai bl #shan shouts into the void

[buthowboutno]

totally not late 15k hits post

hmm? what’s that? we hit 15k hits on ATWLP?? like, yesterday, right? mhmm? yes?

We’re just gonna totally gloss over how I’ve left y’all on a cliffhanger for the past two weeks but uhhh HERE’S SOME CONTENT PSPSPS I PROMISE THE NEXT CHAPTER IS COMING OUT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE (my gf was visiting, i was too busy fawning over her to type xoxo.)

I would just like to say again that my readers are so fucking insane and talented and you guys have really been SUCH a huge support for every step of the way. It only took like three chapters to gain 5k hits!!! That’s absolutely /wild/. 

So anyways, to the stinkies that have been here since the beginning and the ones that have joined us recently, i love y’all so so much and here’s to the second half of this truly monstrous fic.

Beneath the cut: Donnie’s POV from the end of Chapter 15.

QuarkedUp: not dogging on the newbies but she may or may not have caused us to have to redo our entire experiment

BootyShaker9000: You? Not being outright facetious to someone?

BootyShaker9000: Who are you and what have you done with the short nerd?

BootyShaker9000: Follow up question, will you keep them forever?

QuarkedUp: I hate you

Donnie snorted at your text as it popped up on the screen. He caught May smirking at him through the corner of his eye while he typed a response.

“What, am I not entertaining enough company?” she asked, taking a sip of her cocoa and keeping eye contact with Donnie over the rim of her mug. May had pointedly left the matching set alone for you and Donnie.

Donnie had appreciated that with words he couldn’t begin to form yet.

“I fear there’s no way to answer this without getting on someone’s bad side,” Donnie said.

May snorted, setting her mug down and reaching for the tupperware Donnie had brought over. Mikey had made more lavender sugar cookies that he insisted that Donnie take over to you that night, nevermind the fact that you were coming over later tomorrow.

Donnie might have… left out that detail when Mikey had asked him.

“Ah, well, don’t let me get in between you and your partner,” May teased. She bit into a cookie and hummed appreciatively.

Donnie’s cheeks felt warm as he began typing again. He would never get used to May calling you his partner. Between her and Splinter, Donnie’s mind had been rife with intrusive thoughts about you.

Thoughts about grabbing your hand with his when you placed it on his knee, about sticking his face in his hoodies when you finally returned them.

Thoughts about…

Nope! Lock it down, Donatello.

BootyShaker9000: You do not.

BootyShaker9000: Would you like me to make you something to drink?

QuarkedUp: oh yes pl

BootyShaker9000: Have we reached the point in society where we just aren’t finishing words anymore?

BootyShaker9000: May and I just finished off the last of the hot cocoa, but I can make you a green tea?

Donnie got up from his beanbag and walked over to the little area where the kettle was set up, flicking it on and searching through the little drawers for the tea you liked.

“I’m so glad the two of you use the mugs I bought,” May said as Donnie pulled out the matching pair to his mug. Donnie gave May a soft smile before turning back around to retrieve the honey.

“We use them every time I come over. I think their excessive abuse of caffeine is the last thing keeping your roomie tethered to reality, if I’m being honest,” Donnie said. Not that he, admittedly, was much better. You had forced him to start limiting his Redbull intake to just two cans a day if you couldn’t have your third or fourth cup of coffee.

‘Turnabout’s fair play,’ as you had told him.

‘I’m an engineered weapon of war,’ Donnie said back, ‘I can handle a little caffeine.’

How rude of you to care about his well-being.

May cackled, reaching into the tupperware for another cookie, “That’s what they get for being an engineer. Us art majors just go insane in the poetic way.”

Donnie huffed a laugh through his nose, “How very Plath of you.”

“I think that’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me,” May said. Donnie walked back over to retrieve his mug and took a long sip while he opened up his chat with you.

No new messages.

Weird.

BootyShaker9000: Sweetums?

“Has your roommate texted you in the last five minutes?” Donnie asked, setting his mug back down and tapping at his tech gauntlet to check your location.

“You’re… really overprotective, aren’t you?” May asked, but pulled out her phone all the same. With a few swipes she looked back up at Donnie, “Nothing since this morning.”

“Some might say I’m paranoid within reason,” Donnie said, focusing his full attention to his tech gauntlet. He tapped on your icon showing your location and pulled up your health stats. Heart rate slightly elevated, but nothing else too concerning, “My concern is backed up with years of empirical data and, for lack of better words, gut feeling.”

“I can refer you to some resources on campus for your anxiety, you know,” May said. She looked concerned, but Donnie just waved her off.

“Still not a student, but thank you.”

Donnie’s gauntlet started beeping obnoxiously, startling both of them. Donnie’s heart stopped when he saw the familiar notification on the screen.

“Something happened,” Donnie said, engaging his jetpack and taking off immediately through the open window. He didn’t wait a second to give May any explanation. How could he? How could he waste any second that should be spent making sure that you were okay?

He hovered above your last known location, finding nothing but the faint scent of your body wash and acetone that you had undoubtedly spilled earlier in your lab. Donnie dropped down to the ground and tried to trace where your smell was coming from. His eyes locked on his your hoodie that was folded neatly and placed on the edge of the sidewalk.

Donnie practically fell to his knees as he grabbed it. Your phone fell out of the front pocket as he did so with a note taped to the screen. Donnie’s hands shook as he picked it up off of the ground, thumbing the piece of paper open so he could read the messy scrawl.

Othello Von Ryan,

For old time’s sake, I’ll be frank. We have your partner and you have significant funds. There doesn’t need to be any hassle tonight, just so long as you follow every instruction.

Load $20,000 worth of Bitcoin onto a USB and go to the address sent to your phone. Bring no one. Leave your weapons behind. If you try anything, we will not hesitate to cut our losses and move on.

Consider our graciousness for your years of theft to be a gift for the happy couple.

–Purple Dragons

Donnie felt a eerie calm wash over him. It was like he had retreated into the back of his own skull, only merciless logic and cold fury guiding his next actions.

He pocketed your phone and rose from the ground with the hoodie in hand. He ran his thumb over the soft fabric, his mind completely focused while he pressed call on his phone.

“Leo? I’m going to need you to listen very carefully.”

#ATWLP #donnie x reader #rottmnt donnie #rottmnt donnie x reader #donatello x reader

[tulipjeanohare]

The Road to Nowhere

premise: And we’re back with another chapter! The group has Eddie out of Hawkins and harm’s way, now they have to find their way to his new home away from home. Finally, a little alone time for him and Dustin’s sister. Angst abound! 

pairing: eddie munson x dustin's sister!reader

word count: pairing: 2205

warnings:  very brief use of marijuana

notes:  I left this chapter with a bit of a cliffhanger because I want to make this oh so juicy for all of us. We all deserve a little Eddie kiss every now and then, right? Thank y’all so much for the love on the first two chapters, I’ve had so much fun writing this entire thing. Let me know what you think of this chapter!

Read Part One Part Two  Part Four

There were far too many people crammed in the car for the amount of time they’d be driving but you couldn’t talk Max or Dustin out of tagging along. You’d tried though; that long speech about how dangerous it was for them to come with you didn’t really hold so much weight anymore. So, Eddie was still shoved on the floor of the backseat which couldn’t have been comfortable for anyone let alone someone who had just had a weeks long stay in the hospital. But he didn’t seem too bothered by it. For the most part he’d rested his head back on the door and closed his eyes, every now and then Dustin or Max would bug him about something but that seemed to calm his nerves. He’d stopped fiddling with the rings on his fingers about an hour into the drive.

But now Steve and Robin were arguing in the front over who was right about the next turn they needed to make. Nancy had the map all spread out on her lap while Robin excitedly pointed to where she thought the right turn off was only for Steve to then chime in, one hand guiding the wheel while he tapped at a different line on the map.

“You think we’ll actually make it to our destination before they kill each other,” you whispered down to Eddie.

One eye popped open to look up at you, the corner of his mouth upturned into a smile. “You’re the one who let them drive.”

“I had to ensure the precious cargo was safe,” you scowled down at him. “Besides, they’re both wrong about what road is the right one…I’ll let them argue a little longer.”

That elicited a full laugh from him which made everyone’s ears perk up. “Inside joke,” you smiled, waving your hand back to the road ahead. “Eyes on the road Harrington, we don’t need a car accident right now.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” he grumbled, hands both back on the wheel now. “No backstreet driving.”

And just like that the arguing in the front continued.

Miles and miles of tree lines passed by you before you finally piped up about which road was actually the right turn to take. Steve was shooting daggers at you through the rearview mirror and repeatedly saying “you’re kidding me, you’re actually kidding me” under his breath while Nancy let out an exasperated sigh. Robin opened her mouth four or five times to say something back to you but couldn’t quite get the right comeback out. You could feel Dustin’s body shaking with laughter against yours when Eddie whispered, “totally worth it,” from below.

You shot him a wink without thinking anything of it, “we’re almost there I promise.”

“Good, I think you could kick me in the shin and I wouldn’t feel it at this point,” he said.

At that Max kicked her foot out from where she’d tucked it underneath her and grinned, “wanna try that theory out?”

“No, no no,” Steve shouted from the front seat. “Absolutely not!”

Max sighed and crossed her legs under herself once more, mumbling something about ‘no fun’ under her breath.

About twenty more minutes down the road took you to exactly where your college friend had instructed you the place would be. Once the dust settled from the dirt road behind you it was in perfect view. Perched on a little hill a ways from the main house was a beat up old RV, surrounded by acres and acres of green grass and not another house in sight.

Eddie watched you smile out the window as the car rolled to a stop. He wanted to see what you saw but he wasn’t kidding about his legs being dead asleep at this point. Pins and needles stung each leg up and down as he attempted to pull himself up enough to peek out the window. You shoved the door open and quickly slid yourself out before reaching for his wrist like before and tugging him out behind you.

A hand on your shoulder steadied him for a second as he righted himself.

“She’s not much but it was all I could do on such short notice,” you smiled, hopeful that this wasn’t going to be a bust.

There it was. Eddie’s new home and hide out for the foreseeable future. A gloriously rundown Winnebago RV with a hideous orange and brown paint job. The blinds along the front side were tattered and lopsided. The screen door had a massive rip down the center but the main door was sturdy as could be. He gave it a yank and hopped up the stairs for a more thorough look at his humble abode. You could see him through the window pacing here and there giving it a once over.

“I’m gonna mend that screen before we leave,” you started, fiddling nervously with your hands. “And new blinds are on the list I gave Steve and the group to pick up.”

He popped his head out the door, a smile plastered across his face, “Y/N, this is great,” his voice was even and so soothingly pleased. “A good scrubs all she needs.”

“Really,” you beamed up at him, making him go a little weak in the knees. 

And just when you thought that smile of his couldn’t get any bigger somehow it did. He extended his hand for you to take and guided you up the few stairs into the RV like he was walking you into some extravagant ball. “This place isn’t maybe what you’re used to but it’s as close to my home as you could’ve gotten,” he started. “And you didn’t have to do any of this so I’m, uh, really…thank you.”

“You’re welcome Eddie Munson,” you looked him in the eyes, those big brown eyes. And for a second you almost let yourself lean in to kiss him right on the lips, like he’d done back in the hospital. But the moment was gone when Steve bound up the stairs to let you know they were heading into town to grab everything from the list.

You purse your lips into a thin line, “thanks Steve,” you replied without turning to him.

“Come on,” Eddie smiled down at you before looking up at the hatch to the roof. “Let’s check out the view from this bad boy.”

It wasn’t the easiest climb up you’d ever made but eventually you were both standing atop the old hunk of junk looking out over the massive field. A hand went up to your brow to shield your eyes from the late sun still peeking through the old trees. 

“Hey,” Steve’s voice carried from below, half in the car and half out to yell up at you. “Be careful, I don’t want to come back here to one of you with a broken neck.”

You sarcastically waved him off, “I think I can manage…just get what we need and make it snappy!”

He rolled his eyes before mumbling something under his breath and getting back in the driver’s seat.

By the time you’d turned back to look at Eddie he was sitting down, resting back on his elbows with his feet kicked out in front of him. He truly looked right at home in that moment and it gave you the slightest bit of relief.

For the time being he didn’t have to worry about running.

“This seat taken,” you asked, the toe of your shoe pointing to the spot next to him.

That big smile of his spread across his face like a cat with a mouse in its mouth, “s’all yours.”

The clearing was quiet except for the occasional bug that zoomed past one of you, early risers for spring. Your bare legs sprawled out in front of you to match Eddie and you couldn’t help but stare at all the scars all over them from that night in the upside down. To be honest you hadn’t paid much attention to them in the last week or so because you’d been so focused on helping your brother get his friend out of police custody. Some of them were bright red still while others were a deep bruised purple.

Eddie watched from beside you as you chewed at the inside of your cheek, eyes focused intently on your legs. He had some of the same scars on his legs too and his arms and his stomach. Reminders of the hell you’d all endured to defeat Vecna which, at this point, seemed impossible. Hawkins was burning from the ground up as you two sat there in the country air and those scars were reminders of the battle still to come.

A tap of his boot to yours pulled you from your thoughts, “they’re not so bad…it’s like a badge of honor at this point.”

“Yeah,” you sighed. “I’ll tell all my friends back at school all about the demon bats in the alternate dimension that attacked my friends and I.”

An unfamiliar giggle bubbled up from Eddie’s chest and before you knew it he was in hysterics. He let his body fall back onto the warm roof of the camper and held his sides as he fully laughed at the ridiculousness of everything you’d all been through. “Shit, that hurts,” he groaned through a laugh, wincing.

“Maybe this will help,” you leaned back enough to pull the small joint from the front pocket of your jeans, holding it out to him between two fingers.

“Henderson,” he grinned, taking it from your hand with all the excitement of a kid on Christmas morning. “You really are full of surprises.”

You couldn’t help but grin, “it’s from your stash…I don’t want to know why it took Dustin all of five seconds to find it.”

He opened his mouth to reply but then thought better of it and opted to pull out a lighter from his pocket and attempted to light up. But turns out drowning it in Lover’s Lake along with the rest of him had all but killed it.

“Jesus H Christ,” he mumbled, the joint still between his lips. “Not one goddamn thing can go ri-”

And before he could finish his rant you’d stuck a lit lighter in front of his lips. “Didn’t figure you’d still have a lighter on you after the shit you’ve been through in the last week.”

“Dustin and I stopped by your trailer before we broke you out and packed up some of your stuff,” you answered him before he could open his mouth. “I found that shitty little lunchbox full of your stash and grabbed the joint and the little baggie still in there…I hid it in your bag.”

It was the most thoughtful thing anyone had done for him in, well, ever. Not just thinking to bring him his pot stash but to go out of your way to pack clothes for him. Hell, you’d cooked this entire plan up yourself he was sure. You’d told him that Dustin had begged you to help him but he knew better. There was very little he remembered after the bats took him down but he did remember your teary eyes watching him closely as you’d helped Steve, Robin and Nancy haul him out of the upside down. Sure he was a dead man. 

“Want a hit,” he asked, the cloud of smoke he’d been holding slipping through his lips.

You looked at the joint between his index finger and thumb then up at him, “you’re the worst influence,” then you reached over and took it from him taking two quick drags from it.

“Looks like it’s your first time,” he teased, taking it back from you.

That made you smile.

“Did you really think all I was doing at school was getting an education,” you giggled.

The two of you sat like that for a while; passing the joint back and forth between you as the sun slipped lower and lower in the sky. It was so peaceful out here you wished you didn’t have to go back to Hawkins with the group. You had no idea what you were going to be greeted with when you returned. The ash falling from the sky had gone on for miles as you drove before you finally hit a point where the sky was normal again. So, you didn’t want to rush this.

“How did you manage this,” Eddie broke the silence.

A quick shrug and another puff of smoke spilled from your lips, “like I said, a friend from school mentioned this shit can last semester. His parents are total hippies so they don’t give a shit who's staying out here. I just told him I had a friend who was trying to get away from a bad situation…he’s a sucker for a sob story.”

“Just a friend,” he questioned, the joint resting between his lips now.

You shot him a look, “that’s what you’re worried about now?”

“Oh come on,” he replied, sitting straighter now. “You mean to tell me you weren’t about to kiss me before Steve so rudely interrupted us earlier?”

The heat rose in your cheeks so fast you were sure they were on fire.

#eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x fem!reader #stranger things x reader #eddie munson fic #eddie munson fan fiction #eddie munson fanfic #stranger things fic #stranger things fan fiction #stranger things fanfic #eddie munson x you #eddie munson x y/n #joseph quinn #robin buckley #dustin henderson #stranger things fluff #stranger things angst #st fanfic #st fluff #st angst #eddie munson x henderson!reader #eddie munson angst #eddie munson fluff #stranger things 4 #fanfiction #fanfic

[animerunner]

New odd defense of Dana is going to kill off the characters: Let Dana write what she wants

Which there are a lot of issues with that

I am begging y’all to learn that just because people like to write angst doesn’t mean we like to write non happy endings or tragedies.

Plus Dana’s not the only writer in the room. She has people that she bounces off of.

And that’s not even starting on the rep issues.

Like if Dana really had wanted to keep us in a bad mood she would have gone with plan a and left us on a cliffhanger at the end of S2

#the owl house #the owl house theory #Dana terrace

[chidoroki]

182 Days of TPN - Day 25

Chapter 25: “Inspection, Part 2”

There is a whole lot of details in this chapter cover and while I won’t list out every little thing (because that could be an entire post itself), I would feel worse if I didn’t mention it at all. Demizu’s artwork is something to behold y’all.. every day I’m thankful we had someone as talented as her to bring this wonderful story and its characters to life. I love her drawing style so much.

I once again forgot that shortly after arriving, Isabella does this laugh. Probably because the panel differs from the anime so much that I can never remember. The anime is hilarious though, look at it giving NE little dots for eyes.

The fact she can say such a thing right to their faces like that without an ounce of guilt.. you’re terrifying ma’am.

I’m certainly repeating myself from her bday post when I say that nothing she says here is really a lie. Paired with everything I rambled on about back in ch20 about the mom offer, it’s truly fascinating that the moms & sisters are labeled as the enemies only because the plot told them to be. Villains can be so complex and vary from one another in so many ways.. and when you can understand their motives, ideals and emotions to the point where you actually feel sympathetic and start to cheer for them a little, that’s the scariest thing about them. (all the children realize her words are true and Emma voices this for them towards the end of the story aka: during the chapter that breaks my heart).

Of course she knew Don & Gilda were involved with the trio as well, but you’re damn lucky she considers you all special enough to not be shipped out. Half because it further guarantees her own safety as she produces more high quality merchandise for the farm, while the other half of the reason is that she cares.

I do love that NE essentially came up with this plan telepathically, but what would’ve happened if roles were switched? I don’t think Norman would be able to hold back Isabella at all, but Emma might have been a bit quicker to use the rope to investigate the wall perhaps? Even then, if Isabella snapped Norman’s legs like twigs, would it have been Emma who gets shipped out instead? Or was Norman the ideal shipment regardless? I don’t recall if the shipment being set in stone was ever brought up and if so from where, but seeing how Emma is our main protagonist, it’s safe to assume Norman could’ve been doomed regardless. I can chat about this series all I want but I’m in no way the most knowledgeable about it, that’s for sure pfftt.

PAIN! Literal fucking pain and agony! Damn it all, I hate how perfect I can still hear her leg break but that just means the anime did a real well job with it.

Ma’am now isn’t the time to be laughing! This is a rare moment where I actually despise you!

Favorite panel/moment:

No doubt one of the best jaw-dropping cliffhangers of this series. You would think the full trio would have this unbreakable protagonist plot-armor, especially with them always reminding us that they plan to escape with everyone, yet here we are fearing for this boy’s life with not much time to spare. Such a bittersweet-sweet moment for sure. Obviously bitter due to the danger Norman’s now in but sweet because of how on edge the shipment situation makes us feel as well. And sweet again because.. damn Isabella, she’s on a roll today huh? Pulling checkmates left and right.

End of volume 3.

#the promised neverland #tpn manga #182daysoftpn #chidoroki used chatter

[ponds-of-ink]

Random Pony Art: “Want to Save Your Men..?”

Hey, remember that post I made a few hours ago where I said I had a song stuck in my head?

Welll.. It got so stuck in my head that I decided to do a pony piece along with making (and technically remaking) an OC or two.

If you’re interested, I’ll have a quick story explaining these two down below. All I can say is y’all can thank a certain moment from Epic the Musical for this one.. Even though I’m giving this a pretty very different direction because it personally sounds more interesting for this particular context.

The pegasus on the left is Cookie Cutter, a high-flying adventurer with a band of fellow ponies. His friends thought it would be a good idea to camp near the abode of the unicorn on the right– Better known as Hazy Hush. They pretty much get lured into a fake-fire trap through one of her siren-like illusions, forcing Cookie to go on a rescue mission.

All goes pretty well once he enters her house. They introduce themselves over dinner, have a tense but decent round of negotiations, then head outside to the backyard. The only problem is: Hush is looking very grumpy. And that’s not a good sign for anyone trying to negotiate with some that can create illusions out of thin air.

Unfortunately, before Cookie can ask what’s the matter, Hazy Hush gets an idea. She gathers all the necessary information from her talks with this stallion, then pretty much says: “Hey, you want your men out of that fire pit? How’s about you get ‘roasted’ alive for your taste in mares, you absolute softie?”

..Yes, I’m not joking. I’d even sketch this part out, but it’s getting late on my end.

Hazy just uses her abilities to craft a mare that matches what Cookie mentioned somewhere in that conversation. To his friends’ surprise, this really short specter floats in and clings to Cookie’s arm. This Shetland-sized, very battered down, almost “Pinkie Pie with a straight mane looking” thing. A really sad looking figment of the imagination that poor Cutter momentarily embraces.

..Except this isn’t just a figment. Unbeknownst to Hazy, she unintentionally recreated Cookie’s crush back home. A secret one, given the old “can’t marry outside your circle” thing that’s most likely still in place there.

So now Cookie’s stuck with a huge pile of regret in multiple areas. On top of that, he now has a choice: Does he admit to his friends about the mare and face potential scrutiny after freeing his friends? Or does he deny this vision, reject the offer, and leave his friends behind?

..Too bad the song that inspired this thing ends on a cliffhanger, or else I’d have that answer straight away. It would be funny to imagine it being the former option, but his friends are more confused about why he didn’t say anything about this mare before they left. Oh, well. Guess it’s up to interpretation.. for now.

#little pony #pony oc #song post #pond’s art #pond’s sketch #pond rambles #unicorn oc #pegasus oc #cookie cutter #hazy hush #yes that’s their names

[fannyspammy]

I made my parents watch agent carter so they could be mad about the ending with me but I played myself cuz now I’m just mad about the ending again >:(

#agent carter reboot pls #we need answers #this should not be allowed #y’all really left us on a cliffhanger like that #we need a season 3 #I need more jack thompson content #I need more peggysous content #pls marvel I beg you #agent carter #Peggy carter #Daniel Sousa #jack thompson #Edwin Jarvis #ana jarvis #Howard stark #Whitney frost #jason wilkes

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 297: We’re Bustin’ Outta This Joint

Previously on BnHA: Horikoshi did his best to undo all of the good vibes from the Girl Power arc by killing off Midnight. It sucks and I still don’t like it, but it is what it is. Unfortunately, Not Killing Off Your One Female Teacher Character With Any Character Development was worth 30% of his grade for the semester, so it brought his average down all the way to a C-, and so he and his report card will just have to live with that. Meanwhile Ochako did some rescuing, and the other U.A. kids lay around unconscious and/or traumatized. The chapter ended with an abrupt cut to Tartarus, where AFO is apparently just chilling and waiting for the Nearly High Ends to come bust him free. What kind of a cliffhanger is that to leave your fans hanging on for three whole weeks. Who’s suffering more here, the characters or the readers.

Today on BnHA: Horikoshi is all “okay I know you all want to know what happens to Deku and Shouto and the rest, but have you considered finding out what happens to Overhaul and Muscular and Moonfish and New Girl Character instead?” Fandom is all, “you had us at New Girl Character.” Seiji’s dad is all, “I’m just going to say a bunch of stuff to help make sure none of the readers feel conflicted about cheering on a bunch of mass murderers escaping from prison.” Tomura is all, “dammit AFO why are you still here.” AFO is all, “shhh, Tomura, go back to sleep.” Tomura is all, “wtf but you’re literally hijacking my body and continuing to shred it to bits while we break into BnHA Alcatraz to recruit your own personal Suicide Squad.” AFO is all, “:).” Real!AFO is all, “HERE I AM, EVERYONE, SORRY TO KEEP YOU WAITING.” And then the chapter ends. Geez.

oh shit lol it’s a whole big fucking page all about Tartarus

my very first thought was “that’s a long-ass fucking bridge”, and then I went to go google “longest bridges”, and Wikipedia was all “son there are literally a hundred and fifty bridges in the real world longer than 5km, and the longest one is actually 165km”, and I was all “oh shit I really don’t know jack shit about bridges.” then I looked at the list for a few more minutes and realized that the super-long bridges were all built over land, and that the longest bridge over water is only 38km. which is way more reasonable, but also still really fucking long though?? ngl I would freak the fuck out on that bridge. what does any of this have to do with Tartarus you ask?? absolutely nothing, I literally forgot I was reading a chapter for a sec lol uh

anyway, my parting thought on the bridge is that it kind of defeats the whole purpose of having a giant island fortress prison, but whatever. moving on

and the six levels thing is straight out of One Piece lol. something tells me BnHA’s prison break arc isn’t going to be quite as fun. hmm

so now we’re cutting to “the Bronze Gate”, which is the main entrance off of the bridge, and some goat-looking motherfucker is out here trying to become my new favorite character. bro

SON OF A BITCH WHAT’S WITH THE BULLETS FLYING IN THE BACKGROUND. DON’T TELL ME THEY’RE SHOOTING AT GYGES. THEY CAN’T KILL OFF MY FRESHEST HOMIE GYGES. SURELY THEY WOULDN’T

ooh and now, giant robots!

giant robots with machine guns. “I’m very sorry I killed off Midnight, makeste” you know what, fuck you Horikoshi. thinking you can buy my affections back so easily

does Gyges have six arms??? look how fucking calm he is announcing the code red security lockdown, holy shit. GYGES

NOOOO

NO NOT BRIAREUS. THIS DAY EXACTS A HEAVY TOLL

YO, WHAT

he came there himself?? so much for making the Noumus do his dirty work. and based on the speech bubble shape and font, this is still AFO talking

uh oh what’s happening

is he using Decay or is his arm just sort of crumbling to pieces because he hasn’t had time to heal up yet? if it’s the former this prison break is going to set a record for shortest arc yet isn’t it

now we’re cutting to B10 which is apparently the lowest level. but do they mean lowest as in the least security, or lowest as in the deepest underground, a.k.a. the most security? idk it’s confusing and I think they should be more specific. is it B like in basement?? are there six levels or ten?? stupid Tartarus

anyway so the guards are talking about how Gigantomachia is scheduled to arrive tomorrow morning. heh. will there even be a Tartarus tomorrow morning

(ETA: WELL, UH.)

wow they’re talking about just killing him outright. damn

I kinda feel like “prison guard” is one of those jobs that just sort of naturally attracts shitty people. anyways yeah, Seiji your dad is a real piece of work

and he’s even doubling down on it after the other guy repeatedly keeps trying to hush him up. dude we get it, you’re an asshole

ooh and now we’re getting an interesting look at the various prisoners, some of whom look suspiciously familiar!

for starters, that’s definitely Moonfish in the upper left corner, I’m like 99% sure. not quite clear who that is across from him in the upper right, but it’s been a hot minute since we saw Muscular, so maybe?

and could that be Overhaul in the panel beneath him?? they’re not showing his face so I assume it’s someone we’d recognize, and he’s the only currently-incarcerated villain with that haircut as far as I can recall. though it seems weird that he’s not restrained more given his quirk. I thought Horikoshi mentioned in Ultra Analysis that he’d gotten it back somehow. eh well we will wait for answers

I don’t recognize the person to his left either (though she has an oddly familiar look to her?). but the person on the bottom right, next to Kurogiri... is it Stain?? the hair and body language are sure giving off Stain vibes. if someone had told the me from two years ago that I’d actually be excited to see Stain again I would have said you were full of shit. and yet here we are. these sure are interesting times

anyway so now the Code Red intruder alarm is blaring. and I gotta say, that one scene sure was effective at killing any sympathy I might have been inclined to feel for these guards lol. bring on the imminent massacre

“what horrible timing” lol yes. it’s almost as if they planned it that way

uh oh

is he omae wa shindeiruing. watch your six, Mr. Prison Guard

oh shit

WHAT DID I SAY. WHAT DID I FUCKING SAY. but nooo, you all were all, “but a bridge is more convenient!” VERY WELL THEN, LIE IN THE BED THAT YOU HAVE MADE

anyway so it’s the High Ends lol. I mean we already knew it was them. let’s just get on with it

omfg Tomura ARE YOU RIDING ONE

WHAT ARE YOU, A NAZGUL. WHY IS THIS MY FAVORITE THING

and it looks like it actually is Tomura again, too (as opposed to AFOmura)

-- is he using Decay on himself?? is that what it is?? or no wait, is this just more of the weird side effect shit that’s been happening since he Awakened. actually yeah never mind that’s clearly what it is

y’all this man is out here having a full blown argument with himself

so this is equal parts compelling and hilarious to me right now lol. like I feel so bad for Tomura, but I also lowkey want to see how far this escalates. like do you think he’d go as far as to punch himself in the face. where will this journey lead us

fucking look at this shit

other people have already mentioned this, but with this scene especially it makes me really curious how they’re going to show this in the anime. will it be AFO’s voice coming out of Tomura’s mouth? or Tomura’s voice using AFO’s speech patterns? more importantly, will it be cool and dramatic, or will it actually wind up being hilarious? or both?? never count out both

also he’s looking pretty good there in that bottom panel with his one eye just barely visible. that doesn’t have anything to do with anything, but here I am, pointing it out

also also, lol at Tomura being all, “the fuck do you mean, ‘rest’, you’re the one that dragged my body out here to raid a fucking prison,” and AFO being all, “oh yeah, lol, true true, but I meant rest after that.” yes, this man clearly has nothing but the purest intentions, Tomura. trustworthy af

this fucking guy. Tomura is your bullshit radar finally operational yet?? can you see yet that it was always his intention to use you right from the very start?? oh man I am starting to get fidgety now listening to this

so Tomura’s saying he doesn’t just want to be used as a chess piece. and AFO is all, “well okay but what if it’s a VERY NICE AND IMPORTANT chess piece.” bro DID HE STUTTER

-- AHH BUT NEVER MIND THAT, HERE IT IS, THIS IS WHERE THE FUN STARTS OMG

GO ON AND ACQUIRE THEM THEN! omg. why am I so fucking excited. it seriously makes no sense. like seriously, ‘hooray, our old buddies, Overhaul and Stain!!’ -- come again now?? who is this person that I have become

meanwhile AFO is making all this fuss and I really don’t understand it though

why would you need to plow directly through the building. why can’t you just use doors like a normal person. it’s not like they can lock you out, like hello, you can literally turn anything you touch into dust, what’s with all the melodrama

anyway so he’s apparently hitting the prison with some sort of EMP attack now and shutting down all their systems

omg the suspense is killing me. this is going to be so badass once it’s animated, but right now all I keep thinking is “YES, GREAT, CAN WE PLEASE JUST MOVE IT ALONG”

the doors are opening ahhhhhhh come on come on come on let’s go let’s get to the excitement already

now the guards are running over to try and regain control. but, like

yeah that’s pretty much how I’m expecting the rest of this to go basically

so now they’re shooting at the dust cloud lol. well if there’s one thing movies have taught me, it’s that bad guys who wait inside clouds of dust while panicked cops blindly rain bullets at them until they run out of ammo are basically invincible lol. soooooo

OHHHHH SHIT

AHAHAHAHAHAHA. THEY ARE SO FUCKED LOL, SHIT

YEP, AND HERE’S ANOTHER ONE

is this the first time we’ve seen Moonfish’s face? I feel like we might have caught a glimpse of it before on an omake page or something. either way, it wasn’t anything I actually needed to see again. thanks...?? I guess??

okay but seriously, are we supposed to actually know who this badass lady is?? like I don’t know her but I feel like I know her, you feel?

(ETA: lol there are already like 60 different theories about how she’s related to every single character in the series. will be interesting to see if anything comes of this. although we did just get three “this villain was secretly related to [insert character(s) here] all along” reveals just in the last arc, so idk, it might be better if we pass on it this time lol.)

girl who are you. please stick around. for the love of god don’t let this man kill you off too

????

wait so is this Overhaul? boy sure has seen better days huh. but the floppy sleeves... yeah, it’s gotta be him

anyway so then the only ones missing are Stain and Kurogiri, yes?? omg. and one page left to go

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH

NO ONE WILL BE ABLE TO CONVINCE ME HE COULDN’T HAVE DONE THIS SHIT RIGHT FROM THE VERY BEGINNING. FUCKING TIME-BIDING DRAMA QUEEN

AND HE’S JUST FLOATING HIS LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEM ALONG BEHIND HIM SOB. THIS FUCKING GUY

AND IS HE JUST ABSENTMINDEDLY DRAGGING SOME POOR SCHLUB’S CORPSE ALONG BESIDE HIM LIKE A SLEEPY TODDLER CARRYING THEIR TEDDY BEAR. I FUCKING CAN’T. REST IN PEACE, FRIEND. GIVE MY REGARDS TO GOOD OLD BRIAREUS

so that’s it! and we still don’t have any idea what AFO is actually planning to do now, after all of that. are they going to merge bodies?? or is he going to try to switch with him?? either way Tomura’s body has to be part of the plan somehow since he keeps making so much of a fuss over it. flkhglkhlk. dammit I need answers lol

#bnha 297 #shigaraki tomura #all for one #overhaul #muscular #moonfish #bnha #boku no hero academia #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #bnha manga spoilers #makeste reads bnha #horikoshi where is gyges!! #your silence is defeaning #first midnight and now this #I am beside myself #r.i.p.

[pot-of-terv]

Disclaimer: This starts soft but very quickly goes to a place I did NOT expect it to go so, just, be prepared. I guess there were some things my muse just couldn’t leave untouched :_D There’s also an additional drawing in there somewhere among the text. The ending is kind of a cliffhanger (dun dun duuun... part three is coming!!) but it’s happy (hurt/comfort y’all, MY BRAND)!

Also I have to say- oh my goodness this ended up having over 2,000 words and I’ve never written a fic this long! This feels pretty amazing but also, very scary, because as you know I’m a Finn so English is not my first language and this far I’ve stuck to just writing itty bitty things. Writing a story with multiple parts is also new to me, so wow, actually, thank you PuzzleJune for making me challenge myself in fresh and exciting ways 🥺

tw: breakdown

PuzzleJune2021, Week Two: Space (Quiet)

It is mesmerising. Intoxicating, even, Atem muses as he reaches up to rub his own sleep-soft face, eyes never leaving the still sleeping figure beside him. He shifts to lay on his side, slowly, with deliberate movements, trying to not disturb the quiet of the early morning.

Watching him sleep like this... I can feel the bed move when he moves and his warmth whenever he's close enough. I never had that before, he thinks and his heart clenches. I have it now.

Yuugi snorts in his sleep and Atem can't help but smile. That boy... no, that young man, has been through so much, too much, and yet he still sleeps so soundly. It's nothing short of incredible and the pharaoh wonders if he's ever met anyone more deserving of respect and admiration. Their journey thus far has only lasted for a couple of years and during that short time, the former spirit of the Millenium Puzzle has had the first-row seat to witnessing Yuugi's strength, his growth - how he slowly but surely had begun to trust himself.

Atem turns his gaze away from Yuugi and mulls over that thought. It hurts him somewhere deep in his core to remember how little worth Yuugi had seen in himself during those first months after Atem's consciousness awakened. He touches his chest where his heart is and leaves his hand there, feeling the slow rhythm beating under his palm.

That feeling of self-doubt could as well be his own, for he did think he was Yuugi for a while back then. It's a troubling realisation and he frowns at the ceiling. Despite not having any memories, how many of those insecurities had been Atem's own that he subconsciously reflected towards Yuugi's heart and by doing so unknowingly meddled with Yuugi's self-image as a whole? Objectively he knows that his emergence helped Yuugi gain confidence even though he didn't remember those first few times Atem took his place, but subjectively...? Atem's brows knit tighter together and he balls the hand that rests on his chest into a fist.

To call these thoughts troubling is an understatement. Suddenly Atem feels uncomfortably restless, he can't keep still, he needs space, he has to move. But moving would mean leaving the warm blankets and the even warmer form next to him and risk waking him in the process.

His chest feels so tight and it aches in a way Atem hasn't felt in millennia and he squeezes his eyes shut, holds his breath and with one swift movement pushes the blankets off of himself, sits up and rolls to the side to plant his feet onto the floor. The wood is cool under the bare soles of his feet and that sudden feeling makes him pause for a moment. He releases the breath he was holding.

It's almost funny how he already feels better. He glances over his shoulder to see if he had woken Yuugi up but the other youth seems undisturbed, still fast asleep. Relieved, Atem stands up... and doesn't know what to do. It's still practically night time and the house is silent. Mama Mutou and Grandpa will be getting up in one to two hours and Yuugi much later than that if his previous findings are to be trusted. Normally he would happily snooze the morning away with Yuugi but he doesn't want to go back to bed, the restlessness still buzzing under his skin even though that unpleasant tightness in his chest has ebbed and is now just a nuisance instead of actual, painful anxiety.

He turns around to face the bed so he can take another look at Yuugi, properly. A glance wasn't enough. Will never be enough, he realises all of a sudden. I want to be looking at Yuugi, and only Yuugi, forever. How can his heart feel so big and full but so small at the same time?

Atem is overwhelmed, not yet used to the absolute link between his feelings and his physical senses, and he lifts his hand once more to his chest, almost desperately grasping his shirt and pressing his fist against his heart, to feel the beat of it, and the warmth of his body.

He has this body now and he should be so, so thankful for it, but at this moment he can only feel guilt. He loves Yuugi but has still put him through so much and he knows, oh how he knows, that the trip to Egypt broke him. Atem had felt Yuugi mourn him weeks beforehand, felt his grief he so valiantly tried to conceal - too bad their bond at that point was the strongest it had ever been and Atem knew. It took everything in him to keep on going, to keep on telling himself that this was the right thing to do, this was how he could repay Yuugi's kindness and let him go on with his life, let him be free. He had heard the modern phrase “if you love them let them go”, and wouldn't that have been so grand? To prove his love in such a poetic, profound way?

All that in spite of Yuugi's feelings screaming at him that to be separated was the last thing he wanted.

Atem chuckles, a bitter taste in his mouth. Despite having shared such an extraordinary bond, communication had never been their strongest point, duels usually excluded, and talking about their feelings was not an exception. Still isn’t. They both had just kept on doing what they thought was the best for the other and in the process ended up wounding each other in ways that Atem isn't sure he can ever truly understand. Yesterday he had come down to the kitchen to find Yuugi folding laundry, eyes puffy and red, yet when he talked he sounded so happy. Atem had left it at that because there's nothing he could do when confronted by that smile that can put even the Sun in shade.

Slowly he realises that he's been staring at his partner for such a long time that it must be bordering on creepy. How did he get here from that warmth he first woke up to, from that love he so deeply feels for Yuugi? Why hasn’t he thought about these things before? It's like all he has in his head are questions with no answers to calm his mind. It's only been a week since... since it all should've ended, but didn't, all because of Atem's selfishness. Selfishness... and love. His own heart had broken when his life points counted down to zero and he saw the utter hopelessness he felt surface in his heart reflected right back at him on Yuugi's face. The memory of it is still so strong that he has to grit his teeth together to keep his jaw from trembling.

He hadn’t been able to stand that expression, to stand the knowledge that he was the cause of it. He wasn’t good enough. He wasn’t good enough. The pride he had felt toward Yuugi's skill was completely overshadowed by the grief that hit him in waves, his legs feeling like lead as he slowly walked to Yuugi, his own voice distant to his ears as he offered words of consolation and praise. Empty words, they were, he knew it then and he knows it now. How could he ever leave this person who had gone through so much for him, because of him, who had loved him so fully, who had risked it all to be there for him in his quest to regain his memories even when knowing that the price for that would be too steep to consider if Yuugi ever stopped to do that?

Atem had never wanted to leave. He had learned to live again, to have friends, and grow as a person, no matter how minuscule that growth might have been. Yuugi had been him and then Yuugi had become his world. There's no other way to explain it. As much as Atem had longed for his memories, for those people he loved and lost all those thousands of years ago, he couldn't bear the thought of losing another family. Even when the prize would be to regain his first one. 

But he had to. He had thought he had to.

Yet when he was just about to take the last step, he had faltered. Had wondered - does it have to be this way? What if there's another choice he could make?

And the gods had answered him. He didn't have to beg, he didn't have to fight, he just had to ask.

Just ask.

It had been so simple, in the end, so effortless. Of course, Atem asked for that third choice - or didn't really even ask, he didn't dare, he wished for it, his heart on the verge of breaking a second time. He had been painfully aware of his friends behind him, holding their breaths, waiting for the end. Atem felt their feelings wrap around him like a cloak and he bore the weight of it, accepted it, as he couldn't quite believe that it would be that easy to stay. So he had wished.

And that wish had been granted.

And now he is here.

Standing in the middle of the floor in Yuugi's room while Yuugi sleeps, hands closed into fists, both grasping his shirt now, holding back tears that threaten to spill forth. Wondering why did he even put Yuugi through all that, when in the end, it was for nothing? Oh, he thinks, oh, how it hurts. His own shortcomings, his own pain, the pain that he had caused others. Especially the pain that he had caused Yuugi. He hadn’t deserved it, he never deserved something so cruel and insincere as Atem's decision to leave had been.

A sob wrangles itself up and out of his mouth, he's not able to stop it in time and that breaks his resolve. He sways on his feet as tears force their way out and streak his cheeks, fall into his shirt and seep into the fabric as he hiccups and tries half-heartedly to stop it. He shouldn't be crying, not after everything he’s done. He doesn’t deserve to feel so sorry for himself - he should be the one to take responsibility, to carry that burden without a hitch. But, the thing is… at this moment, he’s no longer the prince-then-pharaoh from 3000 years ago. He’s no longer the amnesiac spirit occupying the Puzzle. He’s not the King of Games.

At this moment, he’s just a 16-year-old boy who is desperately trying to deal with every responsibility he’s imagined are only his to bear and failing spectacularly. So he cries, and cries, and he can no longer see with how blurry his eyes have gone. He prays Yuugi won't wake up to it, he just has to suffer through it and he'll be fine. Crying is fine, actually. He would laugh at himself if he could - aren't tears an actual luxury, after all? He wasn't able to cry his own tears with his own body before, but now he can.

There's a hand on his shoulder and Atem's heart drops into his stomach - oh no, now he's woken up - then another on the other side, then a tug, and Atem follows blindly. He's guided back to the bed and coaxed to sit down where a warm body presses against him and he's enveloped in an embrace.

Atem finds that he can't talk, he tries to draw breath to get the words out but sobs are the only thing he can produce and finally, he hears a voice call his name. It's so soft and warm and loving that Atem somehow feels worse and buries his head into Yuugi’s shoulder, his chest heaving and he almost wails from the struggle of it.

“Shh, other me. Cry it out. It helps. I know.”

He listens to Yuugi and does just that. It’s not easy to give up the reins but with Yuugi by his side, he finds the will to allow himself to succumb. He clutches his partner's shirt, holds him and is held in return, and lets himself cry. Lets his tears come like he's never done before and faced with the force of them, he feels like there's no end to it.

But there is an end. After a period of time that feels like an eternity, his sobs subside, his tears slow down, and he feels like he can finally loosen his hold of Yuugi's shirt to let blood flow into his fingers again. His nose feels snotty and he's sure there's no dry spot left on his partner's clothes and somehow that thought makes him laugh.

“See? All better now,” Yuugi murmurs against his temple and presses his lips there. That sign of affection almost makes Atem's eyes well up but he squeezes them shut, refusing to start crying all over again. He feels drained and empty and he's pretty sure he should be ashamed. He had woken Yuugi up and made him comfort him without asking but all he can feel is gratitude. Gratitude and love and endless adoration.

“Aibou,” he sniffles, voice congested and raw. He means to thank him but his throat closes up, yet Yuugi seems to catch his meaning.

“No need,” the shorter of the two says and Atem can feel his smile against his skin, “it's okay. You're okay, we're okay, everything's okay.”

Atem wants to argue but finds no energy for it. And - as he thinks about it, he realises that Yuugi is right.

They're okay.

He wraps his arms properly around Yuugi and squeezes, sighing softly. His mind is comfortably quiet now and he presses his ear against Yuugi's chest, listening to the beat of his heart (his heart's heart?) and feeling his own fall smoothly into the same rhythm. It's natural, it's right.

“I think,” he manages to croak out, “that we need to talk.”

Yuugi holds him closer and nods before pressing his face into Atem’s hair.

“Yeah,” he replies, sounding relieved, “we sure do, other me.”

#ygo dm #yugioh #puzzleshipping #puzzlespace #puzzlejune2021 #puzzlejune #puzzlequiet #atem #yuugi #tervdraws #tervdrabbles #fanart #fanfic #this bad boy can fit so many headcanons and projection in it #i am in the possession of the crybaby beam and i'm not afraid to use it (for real though. my agenda is to Normalize Boys Crying) #(no i will not be taking criticism)

[pianostarinwonderland]

Okok gathered my thoughts now somehow, so here’s my thoughts (ish) on the last chapter of Pomefiore!

Poor Vil man, he’s tired from his OB yet . Performance.

Epel even said “hey can I be the star” LMAO THIS GUY HAHAHAHA

Vil voice) no

So VDC yayyyy

SO GLAD TO KNOW THAT THERE WAS A FULL VERSION HEEHOO

Damn, I did not expect cameos from the other dorms ....... I wish to say I died over Azul’s cameo but to be honest, there was so much going on that I couldn’t even bother with him :’< sorry Zuzu

Ok, Leona says something interesting: he says that he suspects something happened in the stadium (from how he acted, it seems that he suspects an overblot occurred) and mentions that it was strange that vids of the rehearsals and onwards were gone, but backup videos showing what happened in the stadium are automatically uploaded to the cloud anyway, and he’ll leave that to Ignihyde. What a mood lmao

Ngl I’m glad that we don’t interact with Malleus much in this update for petty reasons

And then the winners

Lmao is it a thing for performers to be able to vote as well? I thought that wasn’t allowed. Oh well

Man, this was the part that really hit me like a ton of bricks: RSA winning. I guess that it’s a way of saying that “yes heroes win in the end” but it’s still kinda sad because we watched everyone, especially Vil, work so hard. But well, life is like that.

Everyone feeling emotional though;; Kalim ahhdhsjjdjsjd I thought he was gonna be the mature one who comforts Epel BUT HE CRIES LOUDER AHHAAHHAHAHAHA this boi I love him

Vil having tears in his eyes was so ;;; I’m glad Chemi did the whole ‘character with tear textures in their eyes’ because I wouldn’t have been ready otherwise lmao

Can I just say, I’m so glad that they show the boys crying over their loss? I always appreciate it when media does show boys crying because it combats the whole toxic masculinity thing.

AND THEN THE ROOK BEING A NEIGE FAN THING AHAHDHSJDSNSKAJDB OH GOD

Jamil even thinks that the album Rook brought with him to the VDC training camp was pics of Neige

Though some people are sus that he’s lying, and even Vil says that too, saying that he’s never seen Rook going awooga for Neige

Man Rook, give us your lore in ch6 pspspspspspsps

EVERYONE SINGING HEIGH HO DHSHHDJSJJD everyone’s reactions are so funny, like Ace’s face just screams “why”, Deuce kinda goes along with it, Kalim and Rook happily sing along, Jamil is mumbling the words, Epel is just lost (hey, can I just say Rook’s and Epel’s voices really went well together?), AND OMG VIL’S SMILING FACE WHEN HE SANG 🥺🥺🥺 that was so so so so cute and precious y’all are sLEEPING on it

Man, the cheering fand are deafening

OK RSA HEADMASTER, I did not expect him at all

I thought he looked like Dumbledore lmaoooo but people connected him to Yensid

His name is Ambrose the 63rd, and he suspected that the stage was reconstructed with magic. Now he’s sus of Crowley (bless the man)

Then oh yes, Mickey

I gotta reread again because did Grim finally see Mickey??

Anyway, idk what the convo between MC and Mickey was, but yayyy we finally got a pic of him!!

THEN THE SHOT OF THE CARRIAGE AND OB GRIM OH GOD OH FUCK WTF TWST WHAT IS THIS OH DEAR GOD

And then oh shit where’s Grim

I love that MC went all around the school looking for him 🥺

But then . Lmao yes, Grim found the OB stone under the stage

But fucking hell . Those eyes .

I was genuinely startled when I saw them because I wasn’t expecting him to get like that so soon.

I was expecting it to be like, ch6 hfjsjsjsjsj but oh nooo he— oh shit, did he just attack us??

TWST WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS YOU CAN’T JUST LEAVE US ON A CLIFFHANGER

Shot of Ignihyde now, lmao of course Idia left to go back to his room

Then Ortho says he got an email from Olympus corp (oh hot) then Idia is all like “I can’t go anywhere”

IGNIHYDE LORE IGNIHYDE LORE IGNIHYDE LORE PLEASEEEEEEE GOD

I’ve been waiting for Igni lore for nearly a year now. .

Uwehhhhhh

And that’s a wrap on ch5!

General thoughts: I couldn’t process this update very well because of NRC losing to RSA? By one vote tooooo

Not that I’m hating Rook for it, and if anything, I like that they kept him in character in regards to that because Rook will go for what he found beautiful. But it also brings up a lot of questions between him and Neige now.

But as for the whole chapter, the pacing felt off. It went off to a great start, but towards Vil’s overblot, it felt rather rushed. I’m also slightly miffed that they pretty much sidelined Epel after the late December update, which contributed as well to the pacing of the chapter. There’s a lot of contradicting ideas in the story and some even felt like they were brought up but never expounded upon? Maybe I’ll read the tls from the beginning and see if I need a refresh on the first half so I can connect it better with the second half, but right now, each part feels disconnected.

Aside from that, I like chapter 5! I love the developing dynamic between Vil and Epel, I love the amount of lore they gave, just mmmmmmm food

Now, it’s time for us to wait for the next announcement to be given out on January 31! What will it be, Valentines event? Who are the cards? Please let Floyd shine Twst.

#twisted wonderland #twst #twst spoilers #pomefiore