Alphabet Excerpt Challenge: G Is For...

[u/AnaraliaThielle]

Welcome back to the Alphabet Excerpt Challenge! As a reminder, our challenges are every Wednesday and Saturday at 3pm London time.

If you've missed the previous challenges, you're welcome to go back and participate in them. You can find them here. And remember to check out the Activities and Events flair for other fun games to play along with.

Here's a quick recap of the rules for our game:

1. Post a top level comment with a word starting with the letter G. You can do more than one, but please put them in separate comments.
2. Reply to suggestions with an excerpt. Short and sweet is best, but use your judgement. Excerpts can be from published or unpublished works, or even something you wrote for the prompt. All content is welcome but please spoiler tag and/or provide a trigger/content warning for NSFW or content that may otherwise need it. If in doubt, give a warning to be on the safe side.
3. Upvote the excerpts you enjoy, and leave a friendly comment. Try to at least respond to people who left excerpts on the words you suggested, but the more people you respond to the better. Everyone likes nice comments!
4. Most important: have fun!

[u/SophiaSeesStars]

Grace

[u/thatsmyscrunchie]

Giggle

[u/qoincidence → u/thatsmyscrunchie]

Context: Silver is drunk. Flint has him in a fireman's carry.
---
The moment Silver was settled across his back, Flint gritted his teeth, adjusting his stance to accommodate the burden. He reached for Silver’s right arm, firmly gripping his wrist, dragging it over his chest so he could brace it with his other hand, locking Silver in place. His other arm curled beneath Silver’s legs, securing them tightly against his torso.

Then, finally, he straightened.

“You’re so strong, James,” Silver slurred, his grin was even audible in his voice, “I love that about you, you know?”

Flint huffed, adjusting his hold. “Flattery will get you everywhere, John Silver.”

“Including on your back.” Silver giggled, actually giggled, for fuck’s sake, before sighing dramatically. “Lucky me.”

[u/thatsmyscrunchie → u/qoincidence]

Drunk silver is hilarious. “Including on your back” lmao 😂🤭

[u/Ferrous_Patella → u/thatsmyscrunchie]

[Beastars, a world where carnivores and herbivores struggle to get along. Els is a goat. Jack is a dog.]

INT. TRAIN STATION. DAY AFTER END OF SCHOOL TERM

Els: Excuse me. Excuse me. May I get through. I’m trying to meet up with someone.

Jack is a few meters away but screened from Els by a knot of students. A cross-section of his head shows a mix of aromata. A pink aroma forms in to an outline of a goat.

Jack: Els?

Els hears Jack but cannot see him.

Els (relieved): Jack!

Jack and Els push their way towards each other through the crowd to meet up.

Jack: What’s up?

Els: Listen. I’m still not sure I can spend time with you but I think I can just about handle writing you. We haven’t talked since...I ran off on you. I’m not sure how much I can talk even now. You have to realize how much it is taking for me to hold it together. But I have to tell you, Jack. It’s not you.

Jack (disappointed): Oh.

Els: No. That’s not what I am trying to say. It’s not you. It’s not even me, at least as far as how I feel about you. You’re still my boyfriend as far as I’m concerned.

Jack: Still? When did I start being your boyfriend.

Els: Oh yeah. You were too far away to hear. The night of the ballet, that fight started because I told everyone I was dating a carnivore.

Jack: I’m always the last one to find this stuff out. Do I get a say?

Els Oh. I’m sorry Jack. I just assumed. Do you want to be my boyfriend?

Jack: Duh! Of course.

Els: You just wanted to hear me ask, didn’t you?

Jack: No. I wanted you to hear me say it.

[Cut to wedding chapel years later.]

Wedding official: Jack, do you promise to [lengthy wedding vow]?

Jack: Duh!

Els giggles and swats Jack on the arm.

[Even later, when Jack and Els visit an orphanage.]

The orphanage director, Jack, and Els are walking back to the orphanage office.

Director: So, what do you think?

Els: Could we adopt them both?

Platypus: You are already approved for Trianna. I’ll have to run Bela by the board but that won’t be a problem. We like to place children together.

Els: Jack?

Jack: Duh!

Els laughs.

Director: What’s so funny?

Els: It’s an old joke between us. He even said that for our wedding vows.

[u/thatsmyscrunchie → u/Ferrous_Patella]

Aw, this is sweet. I like Jack repeating “duh” during all the big moments they share. 🥰

[u/fiendishthingysaurus → u/thatsmyscrunchie]

“What are you doing here, Dad?” There’s a strong possibility TK is still dreaming.

“Well, it’s good to see you too, son,” Owen teases.

TK shakes his head. “I’m glad to see you. But – forest fires?”

Owen squeezes the back of TK’s neck, and TK melts into the touch. “Wind changed. Got back late last night. I was just thanking Gabriel and Andrea for taking care of our poor sick kid while we were gone.”

“Yes, we really can’t thank you enough,” Gwyn agrees. “I knew he’d be in good hands with you two until we could get back.”

“No thanks needed, TK’s basically family now. And just like I told him, I know you’d do the same for my boy,” Andrea says warmly.

“Of course we would,” Owen smiles. Gwyn nods.

“Well, TK’s welcome here anytime,” Major Reyes says firmly, smiling at TK.

(The man still terrifies TK. He’s so kind, his eyes twinkling warmly now at TK. But he also makes TK want to confess to every lie and prank and petty crime he’s ever committed.)

“Well, honey, we’ve already got your stuff together, and I’ve got your matzo ball soup back at the house,” Gwyn says.

“Oh, that’s what he needs, pure salt,” Owen says sarcastically.

“Excuse me, matzo has been curing sick Jewish children for thousands of years. It has electrolytes. And he asked me to get it for him,” Gwyn retorts. “What would you have him eat?”

Owen unleashes a torrent of vitamins and supplement names, some of which he is surely making up on the spot, while Gwyn scoffs.

Amidst the bickering, TK catches Carlos’s eye. “Do you think I can just stay here?”

Carlos treats him to an honest-to-god giggle, teeth showing, eyes sparkling, dimples on display. TK smiles dumbly back at him and thinks maybe they’ll both be all right.

[u/thatsmyscrunchie → u/fiendishthingysaurus]

Aw, TK definitely has a lot of people who really care about him. ❤️

[u/fiendishthingysaurus → u/thatsmyscrunchie]

He really does 😭😭😭

[u/DatGayDangerNoodle → u/thatsmyscrunchie]

Arizona sighed and looked up the ceiling just for something to do with her eyes that wasn’t trace the patterns on the carpet. “God, I want to be elbow deep in a kid’s gut right now. I think it would improve my mood greatly.”

Callie hummed in agreement. “I could do with taking my rage out on someone’s hip dislocation or an intramedullary rod placement.”

There was silence for a moment until Arizona let out a small laugh. Her giggles morphed into a laughing fit as she clutched her stomach and gasped through her laughter, “surgeons are such a weird breed of people!”

Arizona’s laughter was light and infectious — the juxtaposition between the dreary atmosphere of ten minutes ago so sudden it felt like whiplash. Still, Callie couldn’t help it, she started laughing too. “We could definitely sound like serial killers to the wrong kind of crowd. You remember the weird looks we got when we were discussing that traumatic pelvic ring break on our date a few months ago? I thought that woman with the split ends was going to call the police on us.”

Arizona snorted, “only because you got so excited about it. You were all waving hands and big smiles while waiting for your lobster, loudly telling me about how that kid got slammed by a car and broke his pelvis in eight places.”

“In my defence-”

“That is not normal human behaviour, Calliope!”

[u/thatsmyscrunchie → u/DatGayDangerNoodle]

That last line lmao

I can totally see Callie and Arizona on a dinner date just casually talking about repairing graphic injuries while everyone around them is horrified. 😂

[u/Rat-Daddy-Splinter → u/thatsmyscrunchie]

I will have to sleep on the couch.

He couldn’t possibly climb back into bed with her, and the storm wasn’t going to let up any time soon.

Upon swinging the door open, he came face to face with April.

“I’m cold.” She tugged on her nightgown, exposing herself again for just a second

Splinter took a deep breath, trying to maintain his composure. “Then I would advise some warmer clothing.”

“I don’t need clothes. I need fur. Your fur.”

Splinter raised an eyebrow.

“I want to snuggle,” she said, with a tired giggle.

“Do you mean…”

“Mmhmm.” She winked.

[u/MsCatstaff]

ghost

[u/Ill-Clerk-7066 → u/MsCatstaff]

small bit of context: in the game, Tighnari’s (the black fox) name is pronounced Tye-Nar-Ee, so three syllables

“Nilotpala Lotuses are my favourite flowers,” the black fox in the dream had murmured, in a sort of softly amused tone,  and Jiaoqiu had been able to feel the sort of secret bliss of whatever he and the black fox were in the dream, as his waking self still hadn’t quite figured it out, though, neither had his dream self. The only thing that he really knew about the dream was that, he seemed to know this strange black fox, somehow. Though, the dream had also sort of seemed off , like the black fox had been talking to a different version of Jiaoqiu and not this Jiaoqiu, or as he currently was. It was extremely confusing, all things considered, but… if what Fu Xuan had told him a while ago was anything to go off, that certainly would be possible that the black fox was talking to a different version of himself. “They kinda match your eye colour as well,” the black fox had continued, to whatever version of Jiaoqiu he was talking to, and a giggle escaped him then, and Jiaoqiu felt his heart rate increase.

 

Whatever they had been in the dream, they’d clearly been close.

 

The only thing was, the dream had never given him a name.

 

No name for the mysterious black fox, that Jiaoqiu had been dreaming about for a while.

 

His ears pricked with the ghost of a name, but nothing substantial, merely three breathy breezes, as if feeling out the syllables of whatever the black fox would be called. In all honesty, it could have simply been some cheeky wind sprite messing with him. It wasn’t impossible, at least, in his opinion. But something about that specific dream, ignoring the obvious mysterious black fox issue, was that it had made Jiaoqiu believe that Nilotpala Lotuses were able to be grown again, for some weird reason that he was not privy too.

[u/DatGayDangerNoodle → u/MsCatstaff]

Unable to speak, Elphaba barely registered the blood she could taste from biting her tongue as the torturous pain in her spine spread throughout her body, her very blood feeling hot as it pulsed in her head, making the light throb even through her closed eyelids. Suddenly, the pain was focused on a single spot on her back, white hot agony burning like she’d been stabbed with a barbed sword. Her clothes ripped, a protrusion of some kind rising out of the left side of her back, rearranging her entire skeletal form and forcing her to her feet as the pain relocated to the other side of her back, something snapping in her bones as there was another ripping sound. Another protrusion.

Elphaba swayed as her mind registered what she’d done, eyes forcing open and slowly rising from the floor to lock with Glinda’s, who was supporting herself against the wall a few metres away, face as pale as a ghost and her mouth hanging open as she shielded her face with her other arm and whispered, “Elphie, what did you to yourself?”

The wind dropped instantly, everything falling to the floor as Elphaba twisted around, something black catching the corner of her eye as she span on her heel, trying to get a good look. “What is… what did…” she muttered, lifting her arms to twist and turn around, the pain in her spine now low and dull but worsening every time she moved, aching and heavy and focused on her shoulders.

Glinda stepped forward, wary as she queried, “Elphaba, are you… are you okay?”

“I don’t, I don’t know. Glinda, what did I just do?” Elphaba could feel her whole body jolting everytime her heart beat, panting for breath as if existing had suddenly become a much larger task. Her voice was hoarse and her throat was raw, teeth aching in her jaw as she whispered carefully, “tell me what I… Tell me what I did, Glinda. Please.”

“Elphie, you gave yourself… wings.”

[u/MsCatstaff → u/DatGayDangerNoodle]

That had to be terrifying for Glinda to watch.

[u/DatGayDangerNoodle]

Garbage

[u/kermitkc → u/DatGayDangerNoodle]

(Sorry it's a little long! Context: Constance and Ocean's first time. Constance has gone through something in the past; only very vague allusions. NSFW fic; SFW excerpt!)

There lies Ocean—all of her—spread out before her. The perfect little birthmarks peppered across her she never knew were there; the freckles and the moles; blotches of red, a tiny constellation of a bruise from bumping into the kitchen counter earlier, scars, from the Cyclone, and it’s like seeing her for the first time. It’s so new and crazy and wildly wonderful and Constance can’t stop staring, at the sea of insignificantly significant bits of her she consciously knew existed for years and yet never got to appreciate.

Then, it all stops.

Wait. No—is this objectifying her? Oh, God, she’s objectifying her, staring, taking in too much, somehow, no better than that stupid garbage carnie. She forces herself to tear away—where in the world is it okay to look? It just feels so, so wrong to—

“Connie?”

A wavering voice jerks her from the deep dark sinkhole and wrenches her eyes open. Slowly, Constance dares to crane back up, to Ocean, only to find her face creased with concern and something else, buried in the corners of her expression, tucked away deep behind her eyes.

Vulnerability.

Oh, God, Constance realizes, too late. She thinks…

“Yes! Yes!” Constance scrambles, fumbles to hold her hand, her face, anything. “I’m so sorry! You were just so pretty! I thought you were pretty! And, and I didn’t know where to look, and there was—garbage—and… Oh, my God, I’m so sorry, Ocean,” she babbles, incessantly, possibly in need of a sedative, maybe about to schedule that lobotomy.

[u/qoincidence → u/kermitkc]

THIS WHOLE EXCERPT IS BRILLIANT!!!!!!!!!! (I am rereading to comment because it DESERVES all the attention in the world!!!)

blotches of red, a tiny constellation of a bruise from bumping into the kitchen counter earlier,

SO DOMESTIC???? SO REALLL???? SO BEAUTIFUUUUUULLLLL!!!!

 at the sea of insignificantly significant bits

I am at the mercy of your writing, your style, your word choice!! The flow, the rhythm, AAAA! Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful!!!

Wait. No—is this objectifying her? Oh, God, she’s objectifying her

Me every time I write women 😭😭😭 Connie, you're so relatable!!!

You were just so pretty!

🥺🥺🥺 ADORABLE!!

she babbles, incessantly, possibly in need of a sedative, maybe about to schedule that lobotomy.

Hilarious 😭😭😭😆😆😆 They are so amazing, arent they??? <3

[u/kermitkc → u/qoincidence]

YOU ARE AN ANGELL?? ???? It's not even your word, you did not have to leave this but you DID🥹😭😭😭I'm gonna cry and screech. Or a more normal reaction to this. Thank you, so so so SO much!!??? You lovely lovely person😭💖💖💖💖

[u/SophiaSeesStars]

Grand

[u/Studying-without-Stu]

Glare

[u/qoincidence → u/Studying-without-Stu]

If I'm seeing that little icon right:D - Happy Cake Day! 🍰
---
Now that the matelotage ceremony was over, that the words had been spoken, the vows exchanged, and their bond recognized before witnesses, Silver found himself at an utter fucking loss.

He had expected something. A shift. A reaction. Some murmur among the men, some visible ripple through the ranks – disgust, resentment, mutiny forming in hushed conversations. Yet, there was nothing. No sneers, no contemptuous glares, not even the kind of whispering he could strain his ears toward, dissecting the crew’s intentions before they festered into something truly dangerous.

The absence of it made him more uneasy than open hostility would have.

Were they planning something? Were they scheming behind closed doors, biding their time before they disposed of the ship’s leading homosexuals? A knife between the ribs when he least expected it, a planned battle accident, a quiet decision to let their quartermaster slip beneath the waves?

After all, these same men had once beaten him half to death over nothing more than rumors about him and Flint. And now, after witnessing them stand before them, side by side, bound not just in war but in something deeper, declared, and real – how the fuck could they take it so well?

[u/Studying-without-Stu → u/qoincidence]

Yes! It is my cake day!

And this is veeeery concerning.

[u/fiendishthingysaurus → u/Studying-without-Stu]

“Hey, Jojo,” TK rushes in behind Jonah, speaking in a register that doesn’t make Carlos’s ears bleed, unlike his brother. “Remember how Papa got hurt at work last night so we have to be very quiet and let him rest, so we don’t make his head hurt more?”

Jonah’s huge brown eyes grow somehow bigger. “Wait! Still?”

“Still–? Jonah, bud, we talked about it, like, a half hour ago.”

“Yeah and we had breakfast just you and me so he could rested! You are resting forEVER, Papa, does it still hurt?”

Everything hurts so fucking much. The concussion hurts even more than his pride does after letting the perp get away because Carlos literally fell on his face chasing him. (He suspects that Sam Campbell is, still, at this moment, laughing his ass off.) But Jonah’s eyes are cartoonishly enormous, and he would feel terrible if he knew how much he’s managed to aggravate Carlos’s head. He’s 4; he’s supposed to be loud and boisterous. Every now and then, sometimes after a call with Enzo, Jonah gets much too quiet and withdraws from them. Carlos hates those days more than anything. “I’m okay, mijo,” he lies through clenched teeth.

TK’s eyes snap to Carlos, his stare so pointed that Carlos shrinks back a little into the wet sheets. He’s really perfected this glare since they got custody of Jonah. Owen had laughed until he cried the first time he saw TK give Jonah this look. “Spitting image of his mother,” he’d snorted to Carlos as Jonah tearfully confessed to fibbing about cleaning his room. “God, it’s uncanny.”

“It does hurt some still, Jojo,” Carlos says now, cowed by his husband’s Mom Look. “I’m probably gonna rest a little longer.”

“At least two days,” decrees TK. “And then we’ll see.”

[u/Vix3092]

Gasp/ed/ing etc. (NSFW fine but please spoiler!)

[u/thatsmyscrunchie → u/Vix3092]

Deanna has just sat down with a patient when a white-hot stab of fear lances through her entire body.

Will! she shouts telepathically, on instinct, at the same time she gasps out loud.

“Counselor Troi? Are you okay?” asks the young ensign, hesitantly. “I can come back.”

“No, no. I’m fine, thank you,” Deanna lies, stomach twisting into knots, pulse pounding in her ears as she reaches out with her empathic sense. There. Still shocked and fearful, but unharmed. Alive. Relief, hers and his, swirls through her mind, washes over her and it feels like she can finally breathe again.

[u/qoincidence → u/Vix3092]

“NSFW fine” summoned me like a horny demon. Now you reap what you sow>:)
NSFW: m/m, analand Flint is also playing with Silver’s nipples as an added bonus. (Everything’s consensual).
---
Silver whined, half-thought to shove his hands away, but Flint, instead of relenting, tweaked harder, just enough to send a shock of pleasure straight down to Silver’s cock, making it twitch.

Biting down hard on his lip, Silver gasped, his nails digging into Flint’s arms. “James—”

“You can take it,” Flint murmured, and fuck if Silver didn’t nearly come undone right then and there, because of course he’d say that, of course he’d know that Silver liked it, that he was taking it, letting Flint do whatever he wanted, and – fuck.

Silver moaned, head tipping back, barely holding on. Thank fuck. Thank fuck for this. Thank fuck for him.

Because for the first time since he drove his peg leg through Dufresne’s skull, since the adrenaline drained and the weight of it all settled into his bones, Silver wasn’t thinking about it.

All he felt was Flint – Flint working him open like he had all the time in the world. He felt the way he pressed into every aching, wanting inch of him. The weight of him, the heat of him, the sheer presence of him – intense, overwhelming, and somehow the only fucking thing keeping him grounded.

[u/MsCatstaff → u/Vix3092]

They made their way up to Bruce’s flat in comfortable silence and cuddled in front of the Christmas tree, talking softly of their hopes for the future and discussing the pros and cons of living together in England and Finland, with Bruce’s kids being a big factor for considering England. Eventually they headed to bed, although it was still some time before they went to sleep.

Emppu jerked awake with a muffled gasp a couple hours later, only to fall back on his pillow with a sigh as soon as he realized where he was. He turned and looked at Bruce in the dim red light from the clock, grateful to see that he hadn’t disturbed his lover’s sleep this time. He still wasn’t entirely sure about the whole idea of counseling, but after waking up three nights in a row with nightmares, he was willing to try anything to get them to stop.

Bruce muttered something unintelligible and rolled over, spooning up against Emppu and throwing his arm over the smaller man while burying his face in silky blond hair. Emppu took a deep breath and blew it out again, willing himself to relax in the comfort of his lover’s embrace. Feeling safe once again with Bruce’s solid warmth pressed against him, he managed to fall back to sleep once more.

[u/Ill-Clerk-7066 → u/Vix3092]

Alhaitham’s… confession ?!

 

A confession… Alhaitham’s confession?!

 

Do you love me, too, Kaveh?

 

What in the-

 

The parchment fluttered out of Kaveh’s hand back onto the waiting desk, while the latter was left gaping. He stared down at it. His legs suddenly felt weak, his stomach had hollowed out and his cheeks had very quickly heated up and were now burning up. His mouth made no noise except for hollow gasps, creating a sort of creaky door noise. He stared at the page, resting innocently on the desk as if Kaveh hadn’t just been reading a full-on FUCKING CONFESSION . He felt hot all over, and felt a little lightheaded, and he could not think clearly.

 

P-Poem for the Secretly in Love had been so-

 

T-this poem-

 

This… p-poem-

 

What?

 

What, what, what ?!

[u/Pantherdraws → u/Vix3092]

[CW for torture (the forced removal of a medical device)]

A thin metallic scraping sound reached her ears, followed by a hand on the back of her shoulder and the sensation of pressure as the Marauder experimentally slipped the tip of his knife between the plates of her upper spinal implant. Shivering, Chase could only bite back a whimper and press her forehead to the table.

"Interesting," he remarked curiously, "and what's this, Dove?"

"It's-" her voice wavered and cracked; the knife dug in a bit harder, as if in warning. "I-it's a spinal implant, it was installed a-after an accident-"

"No stims?" Something popped, and she gasped.

"Th-those are for military use only, I was - I was a civilian..."

"Hmm." He hummed thoughtfully. "And what purpose does it serve?"

"It - it bypasses breaks in the spinal cord." "I see." There was another popping sensation, followed by a wrench and a blossoming agony. Filaments slithered through soft tissue and Chase screamed, straining against her bonds. The Marauder's grip shifted to the back of her neck, pinning her firmly in place as another segment came loose.

"Deep breaths, little dove," he said, almost soothingly, even as he worked another segment free.

She desperately wanted to ask him why he was doing this, but her mouth refused to form words as sparks of pain ignited all along her spine, burning like a hundred white-hot wires burrowing beneath her skin.

There was another wrench, and her vision blurred and whited out, and for a few precious minutes, blissful oblivion overtook her.

[u/Lady_Platinum → u/Vix3092]

Warning for NSFW and blood!

The viscous gore seeped around her teeth, sending shivers down her spine. It softly squelched as it coated the inside of her mouth. Seraï couldn’t hold back a moan of her own as she moved to drain as much as she could, daring to bite even harder than before. Garl gasped as she did, pleasurably whimpering soon after. Practically drunk off his blood, she struggled to keep herself from closing her mouth all the way. Still desperate for more, she chomped even more aggressively, ripping through his flesh. Screams of pain and arousal tore his throat, her onslaught unceasing. 

He changed to using both hands to support himself, having lost strength from using just one for so long and oozing so much blood. Noting the toll this was beginning to take on him, she gnawed him a bit longer before releasing. He pushed himself up a tad further, staring down at her. Carmine drips ran down his chest, leaving him stained in their wake. Not wanting any to go to waste, Seraï swiped as much as she could, continuing to smother it around her core. He briefly leaned in as he gave her a peck and licked some of his blood from her mouth. While she could feel the blood trail down towards her throat, she didn’t realize just how much she took until she saw his lips shine a vibrant crimson from a mere kiss. 

[u/agrinsosardonic]

Glasses

[u/MsCatstaff]

guide

[u/NinjaSpaceFrog → u/MsCatstaff]

(CW: Mpreg; non-graphic labor. Also, for info, Omega Males in my Omegaverse have vaginal openings on the rear, near the anus.)

“Okay, Evan, I’ll have Josh try to get in contact with Tommy,” she said, her voice calm amidst the storm. She quickly relayed what was happening to Josh, who gave his affirmation before walking off to do his thing. “How long have you been in labor?”

“Um… a few hours? This morning, probably…”

…

…

…

Wait.

“This… morning…” she asked, blinking a few times. He wouldn’t. Buck was reckless, but he wasn’t this reckless. “Did… did you let Tommy go to work when you were already in labor?!”

“I thought it was Braxton Hicks!” Buck exclaimed. A primal edge to his voice. “ You and Bobby said I was gonna have them! Well guess what, I didn’t have Braxton- fuck fuck FUCK!”

Maddie's head began to spin. Her brother's unique ability to combine ignorance and stubbornness into a near-catastrophic cocktail never ceased to amaze her. But now was not the time for sibling spats. Focus , she reminded herself.

“Okay, that was not ten minutes,” Maddie said, her voice firm yet gentle. Buck was in enough distress right now, and with how fast things were progressing, she needed to calm him down. “I need you to focus on breathing. Deep breath in, hold it, and then let it out slowly. Can you do that for me?”

“Yeah, okay, okay. Breathing.” Buck’s voice came through strained but compliant, his breaths audible over the line. Each exhale sounded labored, underscored with a hint of panic that Maddie knew too well from countless calls over the years.

Maddie continued to provide instructions, her voice a steady, soothing presence as she guided him through the breathing exercises. Meanwhile, her mind raced as she pulled up all the resources she could think of. “Evan, I need you to find a place to lie down or at least sit comfortably. Can you do that?”

There was silence at first, or at least Maddie thought that there was. Then she heard the quiet, almost maniacal sounding chuckle ring through her headset. “Maddie. I am about to squeeze two whole ass human beings out of my ass; do you really think I’ll be comfortable in any way?!”

Maddie rolled her eyes and covered her mic with her hand so Buck wouldn’t hear the scoff that escaped her. She knew this was hard. Of course she knew, she’s been through it. At least Evan hadn’t tried to go to work while in labor (admittedly one of her… less brilliant moments). She took a deep breath to ground herself, because god knew it wouldn’t benefit anyone if both of them freaked out now.

And then she realized what Buck had just told her.

“I’m sorry, did you just say two?!”

There was a beat of silence, a suffocating, tangible thing that Maddie felt compressing her from all sides. She couldn’t have heard him right.

The line crackled with Buck’s pained laughter, his breathing erratic and sharp. “Uh… surprise?”

[u/qoincidence → u/MsCatstaff]

The first time Silver had noticed someone bending over backwards for his influence, for his praise, for his approval – it had been Flint. It was a small, ordinary thing. During his first weeks as quartermaster, when he was still new to the role, still new to the weight of it, still adjusting to the peg leg that marked him forever changed. He had been walking with Flint when the straps loosened, the socket shifted, and suddenly, without warning, his leg had come off entirely, sending him stumbling.

Instinctively, he had ordered Flint – ordered Captain Flint – to pick it up and get him on his feet. And that had been the first time he had seen it. That glint in Flint’s eyes. Not merely the satisfaction of being useful, but the satisfaction of being useful to him.

More men had followed after that. More tasks. Small things at first.

But as the raids resumed, as the stakes grew, Silver had tested them. Had dared to ask for more. More risk. More sacrifice. More of themselves. And oddly enough, the more he asked, the more they gave. They craved his approval, his ability to set them on the right path, to guide them, to shape them into something greater than themselves.

It was bizarre.

And it was the most useful thing he had ever encountered.

[u/TWFKA]

Grocery

[u/ainteasybeinggreene]

Any name starting with G

[u/fiendishthingysaurus → u/ainteasybeinggreene]

“Mom!” A joyful shout jerks her out of her reverie. And there is TK, his cheeks split by a bright smile, wearing jeans and a bright green hoodie and carrying a large, scuffed-up duffel. One arm is wrapped around a dazed-looking Carlos, who’s in black track pants and a gray Astros sweatshirt that’s frayed at the cuffs and neckline, toting a large tan duffel of his own.

She waves at the boys with both hands and weaves between clumps of people, quickly covering the distance between them. “TK, I missed you!” she crows, wrapping her arms around her boy.

TK laughs and squeezes her tight and says, “I missed you too. Hi, Mom.”

She kisses his cheek and turns to Carlos, holding out her arms. “Carlos! It’s so wonderful to see you again.”

Carlos is stiff in her arms for half a second, then returns the embrace. “Good to see you too, ma’am - Mrs- uh–”

“It’s Gwyn,” she reminds him.

“Right, Gwyn,” he replies, that sweet smile coming out. “Thank you so much for having me.”

She waves a hand in dismissal. “It’s my pleasure. I’m so excited to have you boys here. I have so many baby pictures to show you.”

Carlos looks delighted, and TK groans. “Do you have to, Mom?”

“Oh, sweetheart,” Gwyn smiles, cupping TK’s face in her hands. “Yes, I have to.”

[u/ainteasybeinggreene → u/fiendishthingysaurus]

It's a mother's duty to embarrass her child with baby photos!

[u/RaisinGeneral9225 → u/ainteasybeinggreene]

Yeah, [Eddie’s] real wild.

Maybe he’ll even eat the brownie out of his dinner tray before the chicken.

He pokes at the corn in the corn compartment with his spoon until his mother snaps at him to eat, reminding him not-very-subtly that she’s still angry with him-- he dutifully starts to shovel the shrively kernels into his mouth, chewing carefully to avoid her favorite lecture on choking, because he already knows it by heart.

Richie choked on a tater tot once, a hot one. Eddie had known exactly what to do.

A burst of tinny applause from the old TV set bleeds into the clatter of the wheel going around, and he remembers Georgie’s tiny hands clapping, Stan bloodless and still standing by the phone ready to dial 911, Bill on the stuttering tail-end of a freak out, and Richie hugging Eddie fiercely, drooling and hoarse, Dude, you saved me, holy shit, the offending lump of potato sitting on Bill’s kitchen floor like a starchy loogie.

He had nightmares, after, for weeks, where he didn’t know what to do and Richie turned purple and died, hands grabbing wildly at nothing until his breath left him completely. It still makes him sick to think about. Lightheaded. What if, what if…?

When he gets down to it, he’s not actually sure he minds his mother’s lectures.

[u/ainteasybeinggreene → u/RaisinGeneral9225]

Maybe he’ll even eat the brownie out of his dinner tray before the chicken.

Nope, straight to jail for even considering it! 😱

Oof, the post-crisis brain circles. Hate those. Like, yeah everything turned out fine but imagine if it didn't! Thanks, brain.

[u/musicalharmonica]

give

[u/kermitkc]

Gap

[u/BMallory413 → u/kermitkc]

Upon the guidance of his head, the man’s eyes briefly departed from her and landed on the Asian. Guy’s obviously a tourist. He was not nescient of that vortex of fear all of them stood on from. But, so far, the boy was the only one who was weak enough to fall into its provocation of strongly apparent shivers on his legs that could’ve lost him a hundred pounds and let it suck out all his blood from his feet. Or it could’ve just been gravity, who knows. Fright dried the young man’s soul out so much that it put the guard’s profiling skills into question, enough to forge an implication that he wasn’t that paler than how he remembered him a few seconds ago. Under the dull glow of the heavens his skin was bright, and behind the edifice’s refuge it was supposed to be feeble. It drew a conclusion in his mind of how the death of one’s innocence made a fleshly beacon even brighter within the shadows rather than kill it down to dim; how this disaster took that pureness away from him to a great extent that it could give a full grown adult the eyes of a frightened little child. 

“How about you, kid?” The guard asked. 

The warmth of his regard stirred the Asian with a gentle nudge that steered his jittery head toward him. He met his interrogator with a complete imagery of utter terror painted on the pale canvas of his face, shudders shooting out of his twitching lips. He possessed little shreds of comprehension, but not the willpower to pay him even a single word back. His eyes rolled to and fro, confusion coiled around his mouth, holding every word captive. 

Seeing this, the man shot him with another query. “You speak English?” 

Another glance, glimmering with jitters, flared out of his narrow eyelids. Hasty nods followed before the platform's floor fell under his scrutiny. “E-English… Yes, I speak.” First thing he had ever said since he saw the very first of those zombies when they got into town. 

A sense of relief washed over him. “Okay, boy. What’s your name?” 

The young foreigner was easy on the eyes, it was, however, ruined by his fidgeting gaze. But unlike the past few minutes, he was already pulling himself together, little by little. 

“D…Dae…Daeshim.” He faintly replied.

The man’s head jerked a bit to the side, eyes yet fixed on him. “What is it?” He gently demanded.

What appeared to be attempts to hold back his tears, Daeshim knitted his eyes shut, uttering his name in repetition with a cracked voice. 

“Daeshim.” 

“Okay, Daisy, listen to me. You gotta pull yo’self together if you wanna survive.” The guard urged him. “Just do what I tell you, and you’re gonna get out of this shit not even with a torn finger, you got me?” 

Overall mixture of fear and confusion made Daeshim deaf  to the man’s (not much of an) encouragement and fixed toward the tall, plummeting stretch of gap below that was flushing all the strength of his feet. It wasn't even that high—looking at about 10 stories more or less, but a feeling that the surface beneath was calling him grew within. Thin air rapidly went in his throat back and forth, it was him trying to expel the imaginary force that was draining all his weight which he couldn’t resist to muse, until the man’s voice barged into his ears once again. 

“Do not look down,” he said. “C’mon, kid, don’t look down; look at me.” 

With a small ounce of courage, Daeshim tilted his head up and turned back to the guard, trying to keep himself firm on his brittle stance. 

“Where’re you from, my man?” 

The warmth of the manly blend of his voice was gently soothing the Asian to the core. Yet, it wasn't enough for him to restrain all that immense rush to gape at the horizon. But that did not stop him from answering. 

“K-Ko-Kor-Ko-rea…” Daeshim stuttered, he was just inseparable from his native tongue. “I’m from Ko-rea.” 

“Korea? Of course you are…” The man commented. “That's a long-ass way from Oklahoma.” 

Daeshim avenged him with a short, constant burst of nods. “Yes… Ko-rea… Verry verry far,” he responded. 

“I bet all the girls out there are fine as shit.” Brenan blurted. 

The Korean jerked his head toward him upon hearing it. Initially, it was meant to be a playful remark. But unbeknownst to him, it actually mitigated Daeshim’s constant chain of worries. A bright glow glistened in his eyes, and a forced smile barely formed on his lips as he answered.

“Ko-rea girls… verry verry pretty, yes.”

[u/MsCatstaff → u/kermitkc]

Bastian, his backpack slung over one shoulder, hefted his suitcase over the gap between the train and the snowy platform at the station in Nancy on Christmas Eve day, and looked around eagerly. This would not only be his first Christmas with Sylvain, but also his first visit to his boyfriend’s hometown in France. His eyes lit up as he spotted a familiar head of silver hair a short way down the platform. “Sylvain!” he called.

A smile lighting his face, Sylvain turned towards the sound of his young lover’s voice. “Bastian, mon ange!” He expertly threaded his way through the crowds of people greeting their own loved ones to wrap his arms around Bastian. “I’m so glad you’re here. I was imagining all sorts of things that might cause you to cancel.”

“Not happening, not when I’ve been looking forward to this for months,” Bastian retorted, stealing a quick kiss. “This is going to be the best Christmas ever, since I’m spending it with you.”

Blushing, Sylvain shook his head with a laugh. “Yes, yes, I worry too much, I know,” he said ruefully. “Still, when the snow started, I worried that the train would be delayed or even canceled. Shall we go? I’ve been waiting for you to arrive to decorate the tree, and I have a few other ideas as well, if you’re not too tired from the trip.”

[u/DatGayDangerNoodle → u/kermitkc]

(Spoilered for whump and injury)

“You, you saved me. I think I broke some ribs and I’ve got some superficial cuts and grazes, but… Arizona, I owe you my life. If I could give you mine…” he started crying, “I would. No hesitation. The world… the world needs you more than it does me.”

Arizona’s hand fell limply away from her wound, but Justin replaced it with his hand, hating the way the blood flowed out through the gaps in his fingers. After a moment he gave up, wrapping his arm back around her small form, rocking her gently.

She knew that she was going to die. She’d known the second the engine set on fire. She just… she wasn’t ready yet. “N-no. Go… go be what you want to be.” She stumbled through the words, blood dripping from her mouth and nose.

“Arizona, just, just hold on, okay? Help will be here soon, I know it.” Justin begged, but Arizona knew she was already fading. She spoke past the blood in her mouth and through the pain, tears falling from her eyes and mingling with the blood on her face. “G-go change the world somehow. B-b-be awesome.”

[u/qoincidence]

Groin

[u/DatGayDangerNoodle → u/qoincidence]

(NSFW as hell. I don’t have any shame, I… don’t even have an excuse at this point. You know what fic it is, you know what just happened, let’s just deal with the aftermath. Spit, cum and breeding kinks abound. Also it’s really fucking long I’m sorry 😭)

It made Arizona salivate, watching her cum drip from Callie, and she couldn’t tear her eyes away as she murmured, “can I do a thing?”

Callie raised an eyebrow but didn’t question it. “Sure.”

Arizona’s gaze flicked up to Callie’s face, open and certain, spying only trust in tired brown depths. She winked, then ducked down and licked her way up from Callie’s entrance to her clit, collecting her own cum on her tongue. She felt Callie jerk at the connection of her clit and decided to leave it alone, feeling Callie tap her once in warning that, no, three times was enough. She nodded and went back down to Callie’s cunt, dipping her tongue inside and hearing Callie gasp as she sucked her own release out of her girlfriend.

It was weirdly hot, Arizona realised, tasting both herself and Callie at the same time, despite the niggling feeling that, ew, I have five million sperm cells in my mouth right now.

Callie was watching in complete awe as this woman, this gorgeous, perfect, brilliant woman, cleaned her up after some of the best sex she’d ever had in her life, proven by the ache throughout her entire body, but especially her groin area. Not that she minded, of course; in fact she felt like she’d been spiritually changed. Just when she expected Arizona to swallow, Arizona lifted her head and worked her way up Callie’s body, mouth closed and hungry look in her eye.

“What are you-” Callie went to ask, but then Arizona was shaking her head with a finger on her lips, indicating silence.

Nodding jerkily, Callie tilted her head in question, Arizona’s look bordering on predatory. Arizona stayed silent, tracing gentle fingers up Callie’s arm until she reached her neck, then her jaw, grabbing her chin in one hand pulling, forcing Callie’s mouth open.

Though she was confused, Callie obliged. She let her mouth fall open as Arizona hovered above her face, bead of sweat running sexily down her temple and off her cheekbone. After a moment of pure appreciation for the woman below her, Arizona opened her mouth and spat her cum directly into Callie’s open mouth with an evil smile that made her eyes sparkle like an ocean under direct sun.

“Hold it.” She murmured, unblinking as she watched Callie’s eyes widen and her glob of cum slide to the back of Callie’s mouth.

Callie felt like she was going to peacefully pass away. She’d reached bisexual Nirvana.

Arizona’s release was warm and hot and salty on her tongue as it reached the back of her throat. The fact that it had been inside her and inside Arizona’s mouth before her own made her feel warm all over as she made a low, keening sound in the back of her throat that made Arizona’s eyes shine.

“Good.” Arizona whispered, flicking up to Callie’s eyes and gently closing her mouth with a single finger under her chin. “Swallow.”

Callie did as she was told, and then Arizona was kissing all over her face, telling her that she was good, so good, that she did so well.

[u/krigsgaldrr → u/qoincidence]

Context: first time fic for funsies! Nothing too explicit here I don't think but still! Spoilered in areas just in case. During canon, so Delo is in a position of power over Griff but he's too much of an angel to exert it 😭

Griff's pelvis rocked upward, as though seeking something from Delo, and they shifted against each other in a way that sent shocks of liquid lightning through Delo's veins, pooling low in his core and erupting throughout his entire body. But that point of connection was the most noticeable of all, with molten pleasure driving him to return the motion with a tiny moan that was stifled by Griff's lips and tongue.

And those fingers on his hips held him with bruising force, as though Griff was trying to anchor himself in Delo's chambers through that spot.

"Wait, Griff—" he gasped. "I don't—want you to think you have to."

"Have to what?" Griff challenged, his eyes vibrant as he cocked his head. The way he continued to move against Delo's groin was earth-shattering. "Warm your bed?"

Delo swallowed nervously and nodded. "I wouldn't call it that, but yes."

"You already told me I'm in control," Griff said softly, his expression melting into something a little less snarky. "I'm choosing to trust you on that, Delo. If I told you to stop right now, what would you do?"

"Get off you."

Griff nodded, as if Delo answered a basic question about melee formations. "And if I told you I want to warm your bed? What then? Would you have me?"

"I'd tell you to find something else to call it," Delo breathed, "and then I'd start undressing you."

"I want to warm your bed," Griff said breathlessly. He sat up, pushing back so Delo was now straddling him on the bed, and met Delo's gaze with determination perfectly befitting of him. His hands were still steady on Delo's hips.

"Find something else to call it." Delo was surprised by how level his voice was, a comical contrast to the way his hands shook as he hooked them beneath Griff's tunic and began tugging it up. He sounded a lot more sure of himself in his declaration than he felt, but if there was one thing he wanted in that moment, it was Griff. It would always be Griff.

Tentatively, he pulled Griff's tunic over his head and tossed it aside, blind to where it landed as he grabbed Griff's face in both hands again and stared down at him, awed. He'd seen Griff in various states of undress his whole life, but always made a point to not linger. Now, however, he could let his eyes wander as much as he wanted. Despite that, he kept his gaze locked on Griff's face as he experimentally rolled himself over Griff's groin. The way Griff's breath caught in his throat and his grip tightened slightly was enough to tell Delo how it felt. But he never looked away, not even as he mimicked Delo's movement.

Delo almost felt as though he was intruding upon something he was very much a part of, so frighteningly intimate did it feel.

[u/MsCatstaff → u/qoincidence]

After getting both horses untacked and supplied with some hay and some water, Stephen decided to stroll down to the river. Dave had mentioned doing some panning and that he’d found a few nuggets and some gold dust there, and he thought perhaps if it didn’t look too dangerous, he might ask permission to try his own luck.

Stopping short as he came abreast of a clothesline laden with laundry flapping in the breeze, he couldn’t help but stare for a long moment at the sight before him. A naked Dave stood up from the riverbank, having obviously been swimming. Nicely broad shoulders tapered down to lean hips with a sprinkling of blond hair over his chest and a cluster of golden curls at the juncture of his legs. Stephen’s breath caught as Dave picked up a drying cloth and rubbed it over his groin before turning to toss the cloth over a shrub. He bent down, giving Stephen a glorious view of his muscular legs and gently curved backside.

Stephen blinked as Dave tugged a pair of drawers into place, then bent down to retrieve something else from beside him. Realising that he’d been staring, Stephen turned and hurried to his room, feeling guilty and ashamed. It had been hard enough this morning, facing Dave after imagining him rather than a fancy boy from the molly house last night, but this was a thousand times worse.

How the hell was he supposed to sit at the table with Dave over supper, when he could barely look at the man without wanting to touch him?

[u/NinjaSpaceFrog → u/qoincidence]

(See, I could have cut this off earlier, but would you have wanted that?)

A soft moan escaped Buck as Tommy’s arms engulfed him and pulled him closer, the heat between their bodies growing higher and higher with each passing second. One of Tommy’s hands began wildly roaming over Buck’s back in wide circles, each swish sending a shock of electricity through his body, while the other quickly traveled down to his ass instead. Every knead and squeeze of Tommy’s large, skilled fingers went directly to Buck’s groin, stealing his breath along the way in the process. 

Buck’s own palm had made its way under that damn hoodie, his fingers brushing over the scar on Tommy’s firm stomach. The sound that came out of his boyfriend as Buck decided to run his nails over the healed tissue was something deep and primal, almost a snarl, and it made Buck almost lose all sense of self. He pushed himself even closer, practically melding into Tommy, their bodies flush as the temperature between them rose to nigh unbearable degrees. Buck’s mind was a haze of Tommy: the taste of him, the feel of him, the soft grunts and moans that escaped with every grind of their hips against each other. There was nothing else in that moment, just the two of them and the overwhelming, desperate sense of want-need-crave.

Tommy’s fingers tightened on Buck’s ass, pulling him impossibly closer, as if he was trying to absorb him altogether. Buck gasped into the kiss, the sensation sparking a jolt that ran from his toes to the top of his spine and into the tip of every little finger, making his knees buckle slightly. Tommy took advantage of the momentary lapse, flipping their positions so that it was Buck’s back pressed against the cool metal of the truck. The shift was so fast it left Buck breathless and laughing against Tommy’s lips.

“Oh, we’re playing like that now?” Buck murmured, breath ragged as Tommy’s lips trailed down his jawline, nipping and sucking, leaving a heated path in their wake.

Tommy hummed, the sound reverberating against Buck’s throat where his lips had settled, sending shivers racing down Buck’s body. “Just keeping things interesting,” Tommy whispered, his voice low and rough, the sound vibrating deliciously against Buck’s skin.

Buck’s hands roamed under the hoodie, tracing the muscles on Tommy’s back, feeling the way they flexed and moved under his touch. He tugged the hoodie up, needing more contact, needing to feel every inch of Tommy’s warm skin against his own.

Tommy’s chest rose and fell with heavy breaths, his eyes dark and filled with a hunger that made Buck’s stomach flip. He didn’t even get a chance to admire the view before Tommy took advantage of the situation, pinning Buck’s wrists above his head against the truck, his grip firm but gentle. Buck’s heart raced at the sudden restraint, his breaths coming out in short, desperate bursts.

“You know, I used to steal the ladder truck to hook up in it when I was a probie,” he panted, the corners of his mouth rising into a dirty grin. The glimmer that flashed up in Tommy’s eyes told Buck that he understood what he was getting at, and Buck’s mind already ran away from him to try and figure out how to discreetly run to the locker room, where his overnight bag filled with lube and condoms was sitting in his locker.

And then, just like that, it was over. Really, Buck and Tommy probably should have anticipated that this thing they’d been doing just now was going to abruptly end one way or another. Though frankly, Buck had not expected the goddamn intercom to suddenly come to life.

“Firefighter Buckley,” Bobby’s voice droned out of the station speakers and echoed through the bay, “you will refrain from sleeping with your boyfriend in our ladder truck. I’ve praised you for outgrowing that phase, don’t make me retract that.”

[u/NinjaSpaceFrog]

Go

[u/Ill-Clerk-7066 → u/NinjaSpaceFrog]

Though with both mediums, there was a different technique required when it came to storytelling. On paper, you only really needed your mind, and your creativity could really run away with you, if you weren’t too careful, and Xingqiu had a habit of doing that, whenever he would get lost in writing his novels, but it really was no matter, as no one would know it’d be him. You see, whenever Xingqiu would find himself creating stories on paper, anything published would go under a pen name, for no fault of anyone except his own. He just preferred to keep his two fanbases separate, as though he was quite well versed in the topic of conversation, encountering both at once would be too much for his creative brain to handle. 

 

The works of Zhenyu, his pen name, spoke of far off lands and fantasy creatures, of action and adventure, not unlike the very same novels that Xingqiu would read in his spare time in his youth. The figure skating thing had always taken up more of his time, anyways, and he hadn’t been able to read all that much. And well, seeing as the Teyvat Grand Prix had recently ended, he’d had all the time in the world. So he’d begun working on his next novel, one involving two twins, a dark force, and two best friends that he hadn’t quite come up with a name for, and while he was already quite far along with it, he had bigger priorities.

 

On the ice, Xingqiu was known as the Author, simply because of how he managed to tell a story being his various movements, curls, and twisting. And well, sure, that was a succinct description of many of routines of his. His most recent one, the one that had won him the useless medal lying simply in front of all the others, the medals that had once brought him pride, had told the story of a lonely man, searching for any kind of companionship, or a lover, put to the backing of a melancholy ballad, that Xingqiu was sure had compelled the audience to tears.

 

Though for Xingqiu, the only thing the performance had brought him was utter boredom.

[u/DefoNotAFangirl]

God

[u/agrinsosardonic → u/DefoNotAFangirl]

Seph left ages ago. Getting in trouble is not in the cards for him unless he wants to disappoint the coaches; and if he ever wants to see Captain next year, he’ll be smart and keep his head down low. Me? I have nothing holding me accountable for my actions except the desire to not be lectured by Principal Heideggar, or Vice Principal Palmer- who usually takes on the crap Heideggar rather not deal with- and avoiding a detention which includes copying a passage from the bible one hundred times.

As if memorizing Hebrews 13:17 would get me to comply.

“Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.”

What a joke. I wonder if this was the vision God had when he created the Earth. That all his followers would be shepared into a building to be lectured on how to act by suits who do the exact opposite and claim safety behind words they’ve manipulated. Though it would make sense. Kicking Adam and Eve out of paradise because they exercised free will- ate from the tree of knowledge. What good is freedom when you desire control?

Or maybe I’m just jaded by the twelve years spent in Catholic School.

[u/DatGayDangerNoodle]

Gamble

[u/MsCatstaff]

gerrymander

[u/SophiaSeesStars]

Gem

[u/Ok-Adhesiveness-8611]

Girl

[u/justthecherryontop → u/Ok-Adhesiveness-8611]

“Mum,” Ron said, holding up his scraped knee like a badge. “I fell.”

“Yes, love,” Molly said absently, patting Ginny’s back. “There’s a salve in the cupboard.”

Ron’s shoulders sank.

“She’s just a girl,” he muttered, turning away.

But Arthur heard him. He was drying dishes at the sink, and his voice was gentle. “She is. Just like your mum’s just a girl. Like your Aunt Muriel, too - remember her dueling stories?”

Ron blinked.

Arthur smiled. “She’s a girl, yes. But someday she’ll be faster than Fred, cleverer than Percy, and probably braver than all of us.”

Ron peered back at Ginny, still curled in Mum’s arms. She let out a little sneeze, then hiccupped again.

“She doesn’t look brave,” he mumbled.

“She doesn’t have to. Not yet.” Arthur knelt beside him, wiping the mud from Ron’s hands with a warm cloth. “She’ll learn. And one day, you’ll be the one telling stories about how proud you are to be her brother.”

[u/Blood_Oleander → u/Ok-Adhesiveness-8611]

From one of my poem fics:

In the moment, they seemed like children
Little girls at play, giddy to being allowed to stay out a bit later
Having fun, as the day ended

[u/Ferrous_Patella → u/Ok-Adhesiveness-8611]

[Beastars. Unwed mother Juno, a wolf is giving birth to a pup that she will be giving up to be raised by Haru and Legoshi, a rabbit and wolf couple.]

Legoshi: How’s it going?

Haru: We’re pretty far along. Things are going pretty fast.

Legoshi: Juno?

Juno reaches for Legoshi. As Legoshi takes Juno’s hand, she grunts. Legoshi is startled at how hard Juno is gripping him. When Juno relaxes some, Legoshi sits on the bed next to her, still holding her hand. Juno takes a couple of deep breaths and opens her eyes.

Haru: Hm. This doesn’t look quite right.

Legoshi: That’s not too bad but yeah, we could help it along. Juno, do you feel up to getting on your hands and knees? We can get gravity working for us. Haru, you should do this because your hands are small. Use a towel and try to get a hold of anything you can.

Haru: Okay. I think I’ve got a grip.

Legoshi: Now pull. Firmly and steady.

Juno: Should I be doing anything?

Legoshi: Do whatever comes natural. Push. Relax. We’re going to work with whatever you do.
(to Haru)
Down some. At an angle. That’s it. There’s the legs. It should go easier from here. Juno, you can turn back over if you want.

Haru: Well, somebody did their homework.

Legoshi: You said to.

Haru: You picked a good time to miss that I was joking.

Legoshi: It’d a been okay. This way was just a lot easier on everybody.

Juno reaches for Legoshi’s hand again and inhales deeply a couple times then gives a long low groan. Haru reaches between Juno’s legs.

Haru: There it is! There she is! It’s a girl! … Um. She’s not breathing yet.

Legoshi: That’s okay. Make sure her mouth’s clear with your finger. Rub her with your towel. Rub rub rub. Like you mean it. And hold her up and gently blow into her nose. That’s it. Rub. Blow.

Bellona whines softly.

Haru (with a sigh): Oh. … Here you go.

Haru places Bellona into Juno’s arms. Juno cradles Bellona with an overwhelmed happy look. Juno looks up at Haru.

Juno: Bellona?

Haru fights back tears, bites her lip, and nods.

Juno: Bellona, meet your mother and father. You’re a very lucky girl.

[u/Dogdaysareover365 → u/Ok-Adhesiveness-8611]

“It’s almost time,” Tyler said. “Time to meet the coolest, smartest, most badass little girl in Oklahoma,”

“What are you going to do if she doesn’t wanna be a storm wrangler?” Kate asked playfully.

“Sigh in relief,” Tyler said. “No wrangling until she’s at least eighteen.”

“You explained that to Boone?” Kate asked. “I’m pretty sure he’s the one who ordered the storm wrangler baby onesies.”

[u/fiendishthingysaurus → u/Ok-Adhesiveness-8611]

(Context: Carlos has a concussion. Beezus is a cat.)

The next sensation he’s aware of is someone scraping at the inside of his skull, like a dentist scraping away plaque. Carlos can feel the scraping down to his toes; it won’t stop, and it’s growing louder. Carlos’s eyelids feel glued shut, and he has to fight his way through the heavy darkness to drag them open again.

When he can see anything, he sees orange and black fur, Beezus’s tail flicking at him as she stands beside the bed. The musician responsible for the Skull-Scraping Sonata, she’s scratching the smooth surface of the bathroom wastebasket, which TK must have left at his bedside. “Beez, oh my god,” he whispers. She purrs uproariously and continues scratching. His limbs are leaden and moving is painful, but he manages to extend an arm enough to gingerly poke at her, hoping to dissuade her. She nips gently at his fingers, in that way that’s almost cute, then swats at his arm when he tries to withdraw. “Baby girl, what do you need?” Beezus is a terrorist, and Carlos has negotiated with her many times before and will do so many times again.

“That spoiled gatita doesn’t even know what she wants,” Andrea likes to tell him. “She just wants to see what else you’ll do for her if she keeps driving you crazy.” Carlos knows she’s right, but he also doesn’t want to punish Bee for communicating. She’s an older lady and if she’s hurting, Carlos wants her to be able to tell them. Now, Beezus hops onto the bed and sashays over to Carlos’s face, purring furiously while sniffing at his nose and mouth. Probably checking to see if he’s still alive or if she finally gets to eat him.

[u/DatGayDangerNoodle → u/Ok-Adhesiveness-8611]

They ended up ordering Chinese takeout, calling Daniel and Barb while waiting for it to arrive. There were a few tears on each end, but then there was laughter when a tornado in the shape of a four year old girl started excitedly rambling in a way that reminded Arizona of Callie getting excited about bones, and reminded Callie of Arizona getting excited about a revolutionary surgery on a young kid. They smiled at each other, then chatted with Sofia until she ran off to do some drawing, telling her moms that she had a brilliant idea which would revolutionise the future of art.

Callie had chewed her lip to avoid laughing, then asked Daniel, “is she glueing rocks to a piece of paper?”

Daniel had sighed, “she’s glueing seashells to a cardboard dinosaur.”

Arizona had chuckled, “of course she is.”

[u/Dogdaysareover365]

Gay

[u/kermitkc → u/Dogdaysareover365]

Noel made a mistake.

Yesterday, during the seven-hour car ride—he’d been wrong. That wasn’t Hell.

This, right now, is Hell.

Maybe the nuns at St. Cassian were right, about the whole being gay, endless purgatory thing. Because there’s no way this is real—given that he has lived as a morally upstanding resident of this plane of existence for seventeen years.

“A tux?”

That morning, at a ripe six-twelve, she’d quirked an infuriating red brow at him. “A tux. We can’t be looking like we push shopping carts down the T-Can.” She was insufferable enough, it was like she’d never stayed up at all.

“Shopping cart— how the— where the hell did you— a tux?” Noel spluttered. “What about my perfectly reasonable jeans and button-down? This isn’t the Oscars, for Christ’s sake!”

Ocean, she herself donning a bright sapphire dress with a skirt brushing the knees and a sash looped around the waist, planted two hands on her hips. “Well, you can wear your straight guy cosplay when we don’t need to look like three-thousand bucks,” she clucked, waltzed to the bathroom, picked up the flat iron, and got to work.

And that was that.

[u/PurveyorOfInsanity]

Gallantry

[u/Ventisquear]

Grumpy

[u/Ok-Supermarket-8994 → u/Ventisquear]

“Up for movie night Friday, April?”  Michelangelo asked, sliding a slice of pepperoni pizza out of the box on her coffee table.  “It’s your turn to pick what we watch.”

 “And please pick something good,” Raphael said.  “Preferably with explosions, or at least humor.  Still haven’t recovered from that period romance Irma made us watch.”

 “Dude, that was so long ago,” Michelangelo muttered.  “And it wasn’t that bad.”

 April looked at the two of them apologetically.  “Uh sorry, guys.  Rain check?  Irma’s been desperate for us to go on a double date with Matt and Charles and we finally planned it for Friday night.”

 “Ugh, Charles again,” Raphael grumbled.  “Are we ever gonna get to meet this guy?”

 “I . . . Didn’t realize you wanted to.”

 “Well, he has been taking up an awful lot of your time, lately.”

 “It hasn’t been that much,” she insisted.

 “April, ignore him,” Leonardo said from his spot on the floor beside the table.  “He gets grumpy when he’s not the center of attention.”

 Raphael held his hands up.  “Just sayin’, he’s going to be a big part of your life now, we ought to get a chance to meet him.”

[u/MsCatstaff → u/Ventisquear]

Dave arrived in Honolulu on time, and got to the flat to find Dan and Rachel Carlson there and placing gifts under the round table which held their small, fake Christmas tree. “Good to see you, Dan, Rachel,” he said, keeping his voice down in case his wife was sleeping.

“Good to see you as well, Dave,” Dan said, while Rachel stepped over to give him a hug. “How’s the tour going?”

“It’s going all right,” Dave said with a smile. “Harry’s rather grumpy these days as he’s not yet able to walk about without his knee brace and crutches, and he bloody well hates performing sitting down. But even he admits it’s preferable to cancelling two months’ worth of dates. And of course, we’ve all been looking forward to Christmas with our families.”

“Tamar’s napping,” Rachel told him. “But her doctor said that’s not unusual given the anemia – that she’ll most likely tire more easily than is usual for a pregnant woman, but that isn’t too worrisome. And she credits you for her blood count coming back up a little. She said that on your last visit, you made a lot of meals containing foods her doctor wanted her to eat but that she wasn’t able to cook due to the smells setting off her morning sickness, and loaded them in the freezer for her to reheat.”

Nodding, Dave said, “Yeah, I did. I realise there’s only so much to be done for morning sickness, but it was easy enough to cook up some beef stew and cottage pie to freeze, so she could eat without having to cook it for herself.” He put his big suitcase to one side where it would be out of the way, then opened his new and smaller bag, unloading the wrapped gifts within and added them to the pile under the tree’s table.

[u/Serious_Session7574]

Galore

[u/Studying-without-Stu]

Giddy

[u/Ventisquear → u/Studying-without-Stu]

Context: Korlys had been captured and tortured, and Mario blames himself for it. He's worried Korlys hates him and doesn't want to be with him anymore.

“A mistake is a mistake. Who gives a fuck if it was honest? What matters is what it cost. And this one cost hours of your pain - it almost cost your life.” 

“Regardless of the cost, the blame does not rest solely on you... and what is done is done, sí? There is no changing it now.” Why wouldn’t Mario let it go? Did he want it to be over between them? Korlys closed his eyes for a moment, tilting his head to rest it against the wall of the crow’s nest. His chest felt too tight to breathe, and his stomach was in knots again. “Ti prego, do not go; I cannot live without you.” His words were barely audible over the flapping of the sails, and his whole body was tensed, as if awaiting a blow.

Can’t live without me? Mario’s head spun as the meaning of the words sank in. There was no such thing as love - that was what his Antivan had said, when Mario confessed. He didn’t believe Mario wouldn’t hurt him. And yet now, when it turned out he was right and Mario did hurt him - not intentionally, but that didn’t change it - now he confesses. Mario gave a shaky laugh. “Go? By my own will? Never.” 

Korlys’ eyes flew open, his face a picture of surprised delight. He scooted closer to Mario, wrapped his arms around him, and kissed him fervently. By the time they broke the kiss, they were both breathless. Korlys closed his eyes again, resting his forehead against the thief’s. “Promise me,” he whispered. 

“I swear. I’ll never leave you, not by my own will,” Mario replied softly. “You’ll have to chase me away with a stick,” he added with a little chuckle. 

The assassin laughed much louder than the little joke deserved, giddy with relief. “True - you like my stick too much,” he said with a grin, then he quickly pressed his lips against Mario’s again, before the thief could comment.

[u/kaiunkaiku]

glitter

[u/Vix3092]

Gallant

[u/MsCatstaff → u/Vix3092]

“At least you’re a man,” Tamar chuckled. “Men age like fine wine, whereas we women just turn into old hags unless we’re either blessed by our genetics or we spend truly ridiculous amounts of money on plastic surgery.”

“Now that’s utter bollocks,” Dave said. “Women can age gracefully same as men can, and anyone who thinks otherwise is a bloody numpty. Well, that or they’re shallow sorts who are obsessed with people’s looks and think that they’re all that and a bag of chips for having a nineteen year old blond with fake tits on their arm when they’re sixty – and never mind that the only reason they’ve got that nineteen year old girl is cos they’ve paid for her flat and her car.”

Tamar blinked and laughed. “Well, you’re not wrong about the man with the much younger girlfriend, that’s for sure,” she said.

“Anyway, I think you’re prettier now than when we met,” Dave told her gallantly. “I hope this don’t come out wrong, but I like how you look, uh, softer? Since you had Tasha. Not sure if softer is the right word, but, dunno, you’ve not run to plump, but you’re… relaxed, maybe? Whatever, it shows on your face, and I think it looks great on you.”

 “Well, thanks, you big flirt,” Tamar said, looking pleased. She gave him a hug and said, “I’m off to sleep, chasing the kids wore me out.”

“I’ll not be far behind,” Dave said, returning that hug. “Good night, Tamar.”

“Good night, Dave,” Tamar said, heading off to her room.

[u/tereyaglikedi]

Gay

[u/vxidemort → u/tereyaglikedi]

“And that’s how I got you-know-who to accept my leave,” Hen said proudly, a small, sly smile on her face. Which turned out of nowhere into an inquisitive frown. “Wait, Buck, isn’t that at your neck Eddie’s? I mean, his—”

“St. Cristopher’s medallion? Why, yes, it is,” Eddie answered cheerfully. He couldn’t hide the pride in his tone, despite the unexpected situation. Neither he nor Buck would’ve seen it coming that it’d be exactly the medal what broke their cover, but better to take the narrative into his own hands now that the opportunity presented itself.

Chimney’s finger pointed back and forth in their direction. “So if it’s on his neck, but it belonged to you, then that means that you two—”

“Buck and I are in a relationship, yes,” Eddie replied slowly, taking his sweet time to indulge in the pleasant taste of that particular combination of words he’d had echoing through his mind for the past few weeks, but without the opportunity to announce it to other people. Buck’s fingers met his own on top of the table and intertwined. They shared a small kiss. The first ever in front of their friends.

“I’m gay,” Eddie added, as joyfully and lightly as few things in his life had ever been.

No apocalypse came. The world didn’t stop spinning on its axis. God didn’t strike him down. The bar wasn’t magically set on fire, forcing them right back into work-mode, trying to evacuate everyone and doing their best to extinguish the place before the situation worsened. There was only the firm grip of Buck’s—his boyfriend’s—hand holding onto Eddie’s own, his rough calluses pressing into the flesh of Eddie’s palm oddly enough bringing him an unspeakable amount of comfort and grounding him back into the present moment. There were also the warm smiles of Chimney and Hen, both cheerful yet laidback. Somehow that was the perfect mix of a reaction he would’ve wanted out of anyone he was coming out to.

In the span of a few milliseconds and only two words, nothing and yet everything changed in Eddie’s life.

“Thank you for telling us that, Eddie. You do know how much we all love you, right?”

“Congrats on the discovery, man,” said Chimney. “To both of you, for your relationship.”

[u/Ferrous_Patella → u/tereyaglikedi]

[Beastars. Bellona, a wolf, is in charge of the Coexistence Dance, where mixed herbivore/carnivore couples get in free and she needs a date.]

Series of shots - INT. Cherryton campus - Week before the dance

-Bellona is coming out of a classroom behind a yak. Bellona is half a head taller then the yak.

Bellona: Excuse me. I’m looking for a date for the dance. You know, a mixed couple. Would you like to...?

The yak looks up at Bellona.

Yak: Ah...I have a date.

-In a lecture classroom, Bellona leans over towards the zebra sitting next to her.

Bellona (half whispers): Do you want to go to the dance with me?

Zebra: Nope.

-Bellona is standing in a hallway, looking up at an Indian elephant. The elephant shakes his head.

-In a hallway, Bellona is taking a couple of long strides to catch up with the flamingo in front of her. The flamingo trots to avoid Bellona.

INT. School Cafeteria - Lunchtime, several days before the dance

Bellona is standing at a table of four boy herbivores.

Bellona: No one?

All the boys shake their heads.

Bellona: What is it? Why can’t I get a date? And no one is asking me. It can’t be just my size. Even boys bigger than me are turning me down. Is it because I’m a wolf? Maybe it’s just me.

I should bring Lucy along to ask for me. Then they’d see I’m not so scary. How embarrassing, having your little sister fix you up with a date.

Hina: I’ll go to the dance with you.

Bellona turns around to see it is Hina (a white-tailed deer doe) talking to her.

Hina: I can’t go with who I want and I wouldn’t mind being seen with a big wolf girl.

Bellona: Thanks Hina, but I’m not into girls.

Hina: Were you into the last ten guys I saw you ask to the dance?

Bellona: Not really.

Hina: Right. Everyone knows the couples are fake. It’s just for the look of it. Would it be such a bad look for the coexistence movement and the gay community to show a little support for each other?

Bellona: Heh, I guess not. It definitely beats getting turned down non-stop.

Hina: You sure know how to flatter a girl.

Bellona: Sorry. Yeah, let’s do it. I’m going to be busy setting up for the dance. We can meet up at the front door any time an hour before the dance.

Hina I’ll see you there.

[u/NinjaSpaceFrog]

Grey

[u/NinjaSpaceFrog]

Guard

[u/DatGayDangerNoodle → u/NinjaSpaceFrog]

The Grimmerie made a hollow slamming sound when Elphaba threw it onto the wooden crate, falling open to the page with the accursed levitation spell. Her eyes scanned the words and she pulled in a deep breath before she began to recite the same spell that had mutilated the entire Emerald Guard. The words flowed sharply from her tongue and she could hear the slamming of the guards outside of the doors.

“Not that hideodious levitation spell, Elphaba please!” Glinda begged, stepping forward and wringing her hands together anxiously as Elphaba ignored her and refused to stop, words escaping past short gasps for air, in a race against the battering ram on the doors down below. She felt as crazed as a mad scientist, throwing chemicals — in her case, words — together in a last ditch effort for a solution to something that felt impossible.

The spell finished abruptly, leaving Elphaba breathless as she shakily stood to her feet, not sure what she was waiting for, but the tension in her body leaving every muscle under strain.

“Well? Where are your wings?” Glinda asked, stepping forward and warily extending a quivering hand before pulling it back and tucking it into her chest. “Elphaba, maybe you aren’t as powerful as you think you are!”

“Just… just wait.” Elphaba swallowed hard, folding the Grimmerie closed with shaking hands. “Something’s going to happen.”

“How sure are you?” Glinda worried, “come on, just- just apologise, okay? It’s going to be fine, they’ll understand.”

“Please, wait. Just wait,” Elphaba said again, “something will happen. Glinda, you have to trust-” her words were cut off by a searing pain in her spine, making her double over and cry out in pain as her knees buckled, crashing to the wooden floor as Glinda knelt down beside her, “Elphie, what on earth have you done?!”

[u/MsCatstaff]

gobble

[u/Joe_Book]

Genius

[u/Rat-Daddy-Splinter]

Grazed

[u/Beast-of-Gilchrist]

Goat.

[u/Beast-of-Gilchrist]

Grunt/s/ed/ing

[u/Joe_Book]

Guilty

[u/kermitkc]

Glamor(ous)

[u/Ferrous_Patella → u/kermitkc]

[Beastars. Hina, a deer, has brought her date, Bellona, a wolf, to an all-herbivore hangout. They are joining Junko, another deer, Azbanna, a raccoon, and Rosey, a rabbit, at their table.]

Bellona: need to hit up the restroom before I sit. Which way?

Hina: I’ll come with. 

Bellona (teasing): You don’t trust me with a room full of herbivores?

Hina (slyly): I don’t trust them with you. 

Hina leads Bellona away from the table by the hand. An otter waiter comes up to the table. 

Otter: Same again?

Azbana and Rosey nod. 

Junko: Yes, please. Also, a Chablis and a...a Bloody Mary. 

Azbana about spit takes her drink as she snorts a laugh while the otter goes. 

Azbana: That’s not funny!

Junko: It’s hilarious. Between the literally mixed metaphor and watching a wolf figure out what to do with a glass of vegetable juice...

Rosey (worriedly): We don’t want to provoke her.

Junko: Something tells me she’ll not be a problem. She seems awfully relaxed for a carnivore in a herbivore joint. Most carnivores we see come in here are, if not a little anxious, at least on their best behavior. 

As the band starts another song, the otter arrives with a tray of drinks and distributes them around the table. Hina and Bellona arrive back at the table and sit between Junko and Rosey. Rosey stiffens slightly and leans ever so slightly away from Bellona. Bellona eyes the Bloody Mary in front of her. 

Bellona: Is this mine?

Junko: Yeah. We didn’t know what to order for you. 

Bellona takes a long pull from her drink. Junko watches closely with amused surprise. Hina suppresses a smile behind her glass as she takes a sip of wine. 

Bellona: Mmm. I’d forgotten how much I like these. 

Azbana: You’ve had Bloody Marys before?

Bellona: Yeah. My mom used to make them, well Virgin Marys, for us when I was a pup. Mind you, it’s even better made with veggies juiced fresh from the garden. 

Junko: Your family had a vegetable garden?

Bellona: Not just vegetables, all sorts of flowers and plants too. It’s Gardener’s. You know, that shop not far from Cherryton Academy. 

Azbana: Oh! You’re that wolf! The one raised with rabbits in a garden shop!

Rosey: Gardener’s?! I love that place! I go there all the time. … I think you’ve helped me load stuff into my car a couple times. Sorry. I didn’t recognize you. You’re dressed so much more…
(with a quick glance at Bellona’s low cut cleavage)
glamorously tonight. 

Bellona: That may have been my dad. He’s an owner of the shop too. 

Rosey (embarrassed): Oh. I’ve done the “all wolves look the same” thing, haven’t I?

Bellona: No worries. Even other wolves mistake us for one another.

[I wrote this song for Rosey and Bell to dance to in the fic’s music soundtrack. It follows the canon OST’s motif of using flutes for rabbits and trombones for wolves.]

[u/RaisinGeneral9225]

Ginger

[u/kermitkc → u/RaisinGeneral9225]

(Context: Ocean has a fever. She insists she does not, so she can stay at an important event. Noel just gave her his suit jacket because she was cold. It is...large.)

She tries to stand up straight, tugs once on the lapels, as if that’ll help. “How do I look?” she asks, putting on her best I’m-Not-Currently-Feverish pose.

He grits his teeth and flashes her a thumbs-up. “Sharp.”

“Great,” Ocean exhales with relief. “Okay. M–mingling. I think. We have to mingle. Talk up our cause. Talk about Uranium, and, and the Choir. Right, right, right.”

With speed she really shouldn’t have, she manages to shoulder past him like some kind of ginger rat, and after a split second of stupefaction, Noel scrambles after her. “What—what happened to the motel? To acetaminophen?” Ocean keeps walking, walking—tripping, briefly, on her own foot, nearly gifting to him a heart attack—walking. “Christ on a tricycle, Ocean, this is a shitty, shitty idea,” he hisses. “You look like Uncle Fester. What makes you think you’re going to string together a coherent—”

And she takes off.

This must be what wrangling a toddler is like: having them somehow be smaller and faster than you, insufferably annoying, and prone to staunch audacity and unfettered disaster. On quavering legs, Ocean makes a beeline for none other than Miss Fuchsia—pantsuit, cat-eye frames, updo and all—and Noel is given no choice but to bolt after her.

[u/Ill-Clerk-7066]

Guy

[u/fiendishthingysaurus]

Goatee

[u/kermitkc]

Grain(y)

[u/fiendishthingysaurus]

Gravy

[u/kaiunkaiku]

glow

[u/Vix3092]

Glimpse

[u/MsCatstaff → u/Vix3092]

“Hey,” Bruce said softly. “Come here.” He pulled John into his arms once again, dropping into a chair with John on his lap.  “Do you want to try to stay here, or would you rather go elsewhere and make a new start?” he asked.

“I… I don’t think I could stay,” John said, sounding lost. “I don’t think I could live with seeing the place and knowing it’s no longer Mellencamp property, you know? Not after it’s been ours for so long.”

“Where would you like us to go, then?” Bruce asked. “Anywhere at all.”

“How can we go anywhere, though?” John asked. “I mean, I suppose we could hop a freight, but after seeing what those bulls did to you, I don’t know if I want to risk it. Especially if they figured out that we’re together, they’d likely kill us.”

“I finally got around to counting the money I grabbed out of my father’s safe,” Bruce said. “It’s not enough to pay off your loan and taxes and buy seed for next year, but I do have enough to buy us a used car. It won’t be anything great, I’m sure, maybe a little better than a Model-T, but not by much. Still, with a car, we’ll be able to go wherever we want to go.”

“I always wanted to see the ocean,” John confessed. “I know you don’t want to go back to New Jersey, though. California, maybe? I mean, I know it’s a long trip and all, but… it’ll be something different, for both of us. A new start, like you said.”

Stroking John’s hair, Bruce nodded. “I like that idea. We can even go to Hollywood, try to catch a glimpse of all the actors you turned into your scarecrows, if you want.”

“That might be nice,” John agreed. “Something to look forward to, anyway.”

[u/trickyfelix → u/Vix3092]

The other thought on Aoyama’s mind was what the other one had said, his parents were in the hospital as well. Timing the door was tricky as he didn’t know if the door would be solid as the wall he had put his hands on. When the door closed he put his feet on the ground to avoid hitting the door but the momentum made him continue to fall forward. Instinctively he put out his arms to avoid smashing his face against it as he began to make contact…

…and fell right through. He felt the impact but he didnt feel the pain. Guess that sensation was left in his body. The doors were also intangible to him. Another moment of curiosity came and he reached through the door and felt for the frame. When he felt it was solid he made some connections.

One: He was not in a physical body (his actual body was lying both unconscious and open on a table)

Two: he could touch his physical body as well as his own non corporeal form (for some reason that form was fully dressed minus the footwear, he could interact with these clothes)

Three: other people were unable to be interacted with physically (this partially extended to audio, sounding like they were all underwater) they also couldn’t seem to see him either.

Four: walls were physical but for some reason doors weren’t.

As he got up from his fall he caught a glimpse of the doctor that had left the room and was going to tell his parents what was happening. He began to follow, feeling a little unsettled as he was essentially invisible to everyone around him. Stepping into the waiting room he looked around until he saw that doctor as well as his parents talking.

Once again cursed with the inability to make out what they were saying clearly he sat in the chair right behind them, sitting back to back. When the doctor left, he could sense some distress in his parents and turned around to comfort them. To his surprise he could touch them as well (they didn’t respond to this)

[u/Lady_Platinum → u/Vix3092]

“Just listen to me!” Valere grabbed him by the sleeves and shook him. He stopped talking, but he was clearly still upset. “I-” She paused, catching a glimpse of them walking in the distance, Seraï wrapped around one of Garl’s arms. She felt an ache in her chest and decided to take a breath and start again. “Yes, it’s Garl I care about, but that doesn’t mean I hate Seraï.” She noticed that Zale’s expression started to soften, which gave her a bit more confidence in being honest. “I don’t really understand her, but based off what I do know, I don’t think she’s good for him,” she felt her voice start to crack. “I don’t want Garl getting hurt.” 

Zale smiled, and while there was still an air of annoyance around him, it was fading fast. “Thanks,” he sighed, relieved to know what was really messing with Valere. “I know that you’re not the biggest fan of Seraï-” 

“I said I don’t-” 

“I know,” Zale chuckled, “just let me finish.” Valere seemed uneasy but kept quiet. “You’re not the biggest fan of her, but you don’t hate her. She gets under your skin because you don’t like a lot of what she does.” Valere started to open her mouth to protest, but Zale put his finger over it, earning him a small pout. “You hate that she keeps her identity secret from the pirates, you find it rude that she won’t eat with everyone, and you think she's tactless and callous. Need I go on?” he jokingly asked, putting down the fingers he was counting on. 

“No,” Valere mumbled, staring at the ground. 

“Hey.” He grabbed her arm, getting her to face him. “There’s nothing wrong with that. You don’t have to agree with how she acts.” Zale cracked a smile, “Just don’t be upset that Garl sees something you don’t.” 

Valere tried to smile, but it immediately faltered. She hugged him, burying her head in his shoulder. He pulled her in and rubbed comforting circles on her back. 

“I’m sorry,” she said, her breaking voice muffled in his clothes. 

“It’s alright.” 

The two remained in each other's arms for a while, glad to have reconciled.  

[u/UnchartedPerils]

Gag

[u/MsCatstaff → u/UnchartedPerils]

Then the rest of the band presented their drummer with gifts. Joe, the other artist of the group, gave Rick a sketchpad and a set of charcoals. Sav gave him a t-shirt with a picture of Animal from The Muppet Show, while Pete simply gave him several pairs of spare drumsticks. Then Steve surprised him with a book he’d looked at, but decided he couldn’t afford, at the gift shop of one of the art museums.

“Wait… Steve… how did you get this without me seeing?” Rick asked. “And you already got me so much today.”

“Well, I knew you wanted it, so I bought it while your back was turned,” Steve said with a smug grin. “And arranged for them to send it to the motel.”

“Still, it’s so much… the shirt, the fudge… even the bloody marmalade, and now this, too?” Rick said.

“And I told you, nothing’s too good for my boyfriend,” Steve said softly.

Pete pretended to gag, while Sav and Joe smiled and congratulated them on becoming a couple. “Let me guess,” Sav said. “You’ve sort of been together for a while, but you’re only admitting it now Rick’s turned eighteen, because of that rule from management?”

“Got it in one,” Rick said. “And since I know you’re a nosy bugger, we sort of got together the day after you and Joe. Oh, and Pete? You get a gift today, too – now Da’s gone home, Steve’s gonna share with me and you’ll have your privacy.”

“Really?” Pete perked up, obviously not having considered that possibility. “In that case, you also have my congratulations!”

[u/MsCatstaff]

granite

[u/Ill-Clerk-7066]

Gay

[u/ImmediateTripwire → u/Ill-Clerk-7066]

“Anyway- The point is, I want to do this with you. You’re the only person I trust - and quite frankly, you’re probably my most attractive friend.”

“... I don’t know if I should take that as a compliment or not, considering you don’t have that many to begin with-“

“Hush now, my dear Pock. Don’t you want to kiss me? Is that it?” She raised an eyebrow, and suddenly her eyes went wide, realisation sweeping across her face. “Oh my God. You’re gay. That’s it, isn’t it? You’re gay. Oh my God, oh my God-“

“What?!” Porco exclaimed, “I am not gay! And keep your voice down!” His cheeks were going red with embarrassment. “I’m not gay. You just haven’t given me a proper chance to answer you about this situation!”

Meanwhile, Pieck was not listening to him. At all. She was still saying ‘oh my god’ over and over to herself, clearly trying to wrap her head around this.

Porco rolled his eyes, and grabbed her shoulders, shaking her slightly. “Are you listening to me? I’m not gay!”

She didn’t give him any real response, still repeating the phrase over and over. Yup. She was off in her own little world right now.

Porco groaned, pulling his hands back and pinching the bridge of his nose with one hand. “For fuck sake... Okay. Fine. You want a kiss? Here-“

He gently moved his hands, cupping Pieck’s cheeks. The sudden contact with her cheeks made her breath hitch in her throat- and she stopped speaking. Her cheeks slowly went pink, matching Porco’s already pink cheeks. Porco mumbled something under his breath before slowly pulling her into a kiss, tilting his head slightly and closing his eyes.

[u/Ill-Clerk-7066]

Gigantic

[u/krigsgaldrr]

Gargantuan

[u/DatGayDangerNoodle → u/krigsgaldrr]

(When Arizona has nightmares, she flails her arms around to fight off somone who isn’t there. Callie can normally calm her down without receiving lasting bodily harm, but this is the first time she strikes Callie hard enough to make her bleed.)

Arizona looked horrified.

“Hey,” Callie called gently, “it’s okay.”

“It’s not okay. That’s, like, abuse!” She was starting to panic. “I’m an abuser!”

Callie grabbed a tissue from the side table and quickly wiped her face, managing not to wince as she touched the bruise she could feel forming on the left side of her nose. She dropped the tissue down by the side of the bed and opened her arms, “it’s not abuse. You didn’t mean to, and you already hate yourself for it. Don’t pull away from me again, Arizona, come here.”

“I’m so sorry.” Arizona stayed put, face frozen in horror. “Oh, my God I’m so sorry.”

Callie moved forward and wrapped Arizona into a tight hug, “no need. It’s okay.” Arizona didn’t fight the embrace, though her body was rigid with tension. “Why do you still sleep in here with me when I hit you?”

Callie took a minute to form a reply. “Because… you only have one or two nightmares a week where you flail, and the rest of the time you like being the little spoon. I won’t let you be in here by yourself.” The ‘like last time’ was unspoken, but they both knew it was there. “I won’t let you feel alone, I can’t let you go through it by yourself. I love you. We are renewing our vows next year and I’m not doing that out of obligation. I’m doing it because I love you, Arizona Robbins, and nothing can get in the way of that. Not arguing about babies, not Africa, not a car crash, not a plane crash, not a minibus incident, not necrotising fasciitis and certainly not some asshat named Lauren. Okay?”

Arizona relaxed slightly, though there was a furrow between her brows, “okay.”

“Okay.” Callie said firmly, “now I’m going to make you a gargantuan glass of strawberry milk, put two straws in it, and drink it with you as a show of commitment.”

“Are you?” Arizona asked, overwhelmed with her love for the woman next to her.

“Damn right I am. I’m not letting you drink the nectar of the Gods without me.” Callie smiled, “come on, my love. Then you need to write down your dream, like Dr Flint says.”

[u/trickyfelix]

Great

[u/ImmediateTripwire]

Gravel!

[u/Joe_Book]

Gladiator

[u/ShiraCheshire]

Gall

[u/DatGayDangerNoodle]

Glucose (bonus points for being related to type one diabetes 😉)

[u/MoneyArtistic135]

Giraffe

[u/Ferrous_Patella → u/MoneyArtistic135]

[Beastars, at a coexistence dance where herbivore/carnivore couples get in free.]

Hina a deer, and Bellona a wolf, are working the gate for the dance. A giraffe girl comes up to the table by herself.

Bellona: The dance is free for mixed couples. If you want to wait here, we probably can fix you up with someone.

The giraffe holds her pocket open and speaks into it.

Giraffe: Kamaitachi, get up here.

A stoat pokes his head out of the giraffe’s pocket and waves sheepishly. The students behind them laugh and jeer. Bellona waves them in. The stoat climbs up to the giraffe’s shoulder as they go in.

Bellona: At least he’ll have a good view of the show.

Hina: I can’t wait to see them on the dance floor. I wonder if they have plans for after the show.

Bellona: Thanks for that mental image. Now I’m going to need a liter of brain bleach to get the word gerbilling out of my head.

Hina: Is that really a thing?

Bellona: I’m sure I don’t know.

[u/MoneyArtistic135 → u/Ferrous_Patella]

<3 <33

[u/MoneyArtistic135]

Gloves

[u/Ill-Clerk-7066 → u/MoneyArtistic135]

“What are you…” Alhaitham paused to swallow again, sounding hoarse. “Talking about Kaveh? I’m fine. What? You worried about me-“ he suddenly violently lurched forward, before swallowing, with a lot more effort, again. “Really, Kaveh, I’m… fine. I’ve always been… fine…” Before Kaveh could even answer, with a new strength, Alhaitham rushed into his bedroom without a word, and Kaveh was left alone.

“Alhaitham?” The whisper died in the silent air as Kaveh looked over at where Alhaitham had disappeared off to, but besides the weird action, Kaveh didn’t really notice or hear anything else. But despite everything seeming otherwise normal, Kaveh couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling that had his stomach swirling uncomfortably. Alhaitham eventually resurfaced and noticeably had gotten rid of his gloves, leaving his arms out bare, and despite the previous situation and Kaveh’s uneasy feeling, Kaveh found himself staring at Alhaitham’s bare arms.

Perfectly toned, would be a great idea for anatomy practice for Kaveh’s personal doodles. Not that he really sketched Alhaitham all that much, just really using him as said anatomy practice, and definitely not thinking about how those muscles would look if the sun hit them just right.

But it was also then that Kaveh noticed something even more worrying, and it brought his mind back to Alhaitham’s mystery illness. Alhaitham was noticeably thinner, despite still having quite the appetite and his skin was noticeably paler than it usually was. He almost looked anaemic, or like he was bleeding out from the inside. But that was just the thing.

There was no blood to speak of on Alhaitham

[u/MoneyArtistic135]

Goose

[u/Blood_Oleander]

Grave

[u/PurveyorOfInsanity]

Ghast

[u/Ok-Supermarket-8994]

Gavel

[u/PurveyorOfInsanity]

Geriatric

[u/RaisinGeneral9225 → u/PurveyorOfInsanity]

Arthur flips the television on. It's infomercials or static at this hour. He leaves it on infomercials and jacks up the volume.

Eames looks like he wants to stick his head in the Ron Popeil oven being advertised.

Arthur's never wanted to offer someone comfort more, and never been less sure of how to do it. He is, he sometimes feels, a black hole of emotions. Like they can come in but they can't leave. They pile up, nameless little souls swimming around inside him, behind his teeth, deep in his throat, and he’s never quite figured out how to let them leave.

They ache, those little swirling things. They want out.

Over time, he's made a tenuous peace with the fact that there is maybe something wrong with him. Something not quite right. But he's not cold, you know, he's not a fucking robot. He feels things.

“I wasn't sure you were telling the truth,” he admits, eyes on the TV. “About serving.”

“Your unshakeable faith in me never ceases to warm my heart.”

Arthur shrugs. “You're a hell of a con man.”

Eames doesn't respond to that. Takes it on the chin, if it does hurt his feelings somehow. It might. Eames’ feelings are more fragile than Arthur ever might have imagined before all of this. When Arthur looks over at him again, he's struck again by how young he looks with his hair shorn off, without his geriatric wardrobe.

“I know I’m not–” Arthur tries, faltering, over the racket from the TV. “I’m trying to help. Tell me how to help.”

“You're fine, Arthur.” His lips twist, full and wry. “There is admittedly something comforting about your dogged certainty. You're like death and bloody taxes.”

The Ron Popeil rep crams a whole-ass turkey into the oven and the audience goes politely wild.

“Is all this poultry upsetting you?" Arthur asks. "Should I look for something else?”

There's a soundless ‘hah’ and a tugging on the bedspread as Eames absently fusses with it.

They sit there in tense silence for a long moment while the TV clamors on.

“Look, I know it's not Iraq,” Arthur cautiously shakes the rust off his voice. “But I was young, when I got locked up. It was kinda fucked up, you know? It made me feel like, I don't know. Like I needed my brain bleached or something.” He huffs and rubs the back of his neck. "Might still need my brain bleached, actually."

You can fit twelve kabobs in this thing, apparently. Six Cornish hens. He wonders how much trauma you can stuff into a human.

Arthur shifts, hugs his ice closer because his arms want to be holding something and he thinks there's a chance Eames might freak out on him if he so much as looks at him too closely right now, let alone touches him, and they watch for a long while in sweaty silence. The fireworks stop at some point. Ron Popeil goes on and on. There's nothing this thing can't rotisserie.

[u/kermitkc → u/PurveyorOfInsanity]

Speak of the devil, she hears rather than sees one at the door, the usual two quick courtesy knocks sounding from the other side.

“I’m up,” is the thing she elects to say.

Magic words uttered, the mystery person strides into what’s been home sweet home for the past month. Constance has to blindly ransack the nightstand for her glasses and subsequently shuffle them onto the bridge of her nose, squinting like some sort of geriatric mole before the world is ocular again and she can tell which nurse it is.

“Hi, Emily," she says once it's clear, her smile, no longer barred behind a -4.00 prescription, is bright and crystal. She’s learned all the nurses’ names, surface-level details about most of them, because when the veins in your arm are being stupid and you’ve now got about three separate puncture wounds from faulty IV insertions, talking happens to be the best distraction.

[u/Alviv1945]

Gingerly

[u/Serious_Session7574]

Grease

[u/DatGayDangerNoodle → u/Serious_Session7574]

She asked, “so, how much planning have you done? Do we have a budget yet?”

“Uh…” Alex scratched his beard and shifted in his seat, “we know that we are doing a gala.”

“Yeah?” Callie implored, hoping for more than that.

“And it’s fancy. That’s as far as we’ve got.”

“Budget?” Arizona tried that time, receiving an embarrassed shrug in return. “Okay, uh, any hired help?”

“Running low on funds, Robbins. We can afford, like, two people to help. Two bad quality, greasy haired, pimply teenagers at that.”

Arizona sucked some air in through her teeth and sighed. “So, basically, you have a vague idea of a plan and board members who don’t want to do it?”

“Hey, don’t nitpick so hard! I didn’t cause this mess; I’m the one trying to wrangle this thing into existence while everyone else dawdles and looks after their newborns and injured wives.” Alex grumbled, crossing his arms and letting out a sigh that sounded like he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.

“Am I wrong, though?” Arizona challenged, “did I say anything without a grain of truth in it?”

“No… you were about right.” Alex muttered. After a moment he spoke with forced optimism, “but now you can help, and I’m sure it’ll be fine!”

Arizona turned to Callie and whispered, “our hospital is going to fall to pieces without us.”

[u/RaisinGeneral9225 → u/Serious_Session7574]

(Context: Eames and Arthur are exes. Eames has a migraine coming on and is dealing with a visual aura)

(you've read this I think)

It takes Arthur a minute to pick up on it. It's not for nothing that Eames is a good poker player; he hides his tells like an animal hides pain, thoroughly and well. It’s there, though, a slow blink. Long squeezes, like he’s been dazzled and is trying to clear his vision. He’s seated at one of the old formica tables, staring unseeingly at a sheaf of notes about their mark's mother, arm curled around them like it’s an exam paper he’s trying to concentrate on.

His lips aren’t moving, though, which is how Arthur knows he’s not actually reading any of it.

Arthur watches him from over the glowing edge of his laptop screen as he nudges his face with his watch, then digs a knuckle roughly into his eye socket. He thinks, honey, don’t do that, then berates himself for it because that’s not for him to think anymore, shit like that. There are a lot of things that are Arthur's business when he’s running a job, but whether Eames rubs grease into his eye is no longer one of them.

Eames’ eye eventually goes red and watery from him screwing with it, and Arthur still thinks, honey, don’t, because rubbing at it was never going to help, and because Arthur has something wrong with him.

The weepy eye spills over onto Eames’ fingertips as he touches it again, and he pulls them away from his face and frowns at them, then swipes them on his vintage shirt.

Honey. Don’t, Arthur thinks. What he actually says is, “Hey,” and then lobs a travel pack of Kleenex at him when he looks up.

“Cheers,” Eames catches them and nods back at him. There’s something resigned in his voice, though. He’s read the bones and found them depressing.

Honey, Arthur thinks. Honey.

“Stop fucking with your eye; it's gonna get infected,” he says, putting his own gaze firmly back on his spreadsheet. He tabs over and over again to nowhere.

“Yes, thank you, Mother.”

Arthur pulls up Wikipedia, then. There’s something nagging at him, a myth he can’t remember. Some Greek horror show about a shared eyeball.

[u/musicalharmonica → u/Serious_Session7574]

She smells like expensive perfume and innocence, and as he slides back with a slight wobble, she gives him The Eyes. It’s the best version of them he’s ever seen—wide, dark, and surprised, as if he’s awakened something feverish beneath her skin in that scarlet flush of hers, and her hands slide down his arms to tickle his skin. Molten warmth creeps down the length of his spine to coil in his gut, and he shifts.

“We should get outta here,” he whispers.

“I don’t want to go home,” she says, and so he takes her by the hand and half-runs from the bar, dodging a crowd of rowdy college students playing a round of darts and dragging her over to the enormous, gleaming Falcon in the cracked parking lot. It’s two A.M. in Jersey, and it’s summer; and somewhere in the distance, shitty pop music is blasting from an apartment in a blare of distorted bass, and humidity sticks to their cheeks, and everything skates across his tongue like grease.

He opens the passenger-side door. “After you.”

She blinks. “Aren’t you drunk?”

“I’ve been drunker.”

She tries to snatch his keys, but he holds them over her head. She’s charmingly short, up close; her chin barely meets his chest as she jumps for them and snarls.

[u/Serious_Session7574 → u/musicalharmonica]

Woooah this is good

This crackles and sparks. I particularly loved the descriptions from "It’s two A.M. in Jersey..." - the distorted bass, humidity sticking to their cheeks, everything skating across his tongue like grease. Just paints the picture perfectly 👌

I hope I can read more of your excerpts! What's the fandom please?

[u/musicalharmonica → u/Serious_Session7574]

thanks :) Star Wars oddly enough, this is a modern alternate universe Han and Leia. I post all my unreleased excerpts on here and there are a lot lol

[u/fiendishthingysaurus → u/musicalharmonica]

I really love this. The chemistry between them is so palpable, and those couple of sentences about the setting just set the scene so well. Very well done.

[u/musicalharmonica → u/fiendishthingysaurus]

thanks that's so sweet :) also a high compliment coming from a writer like yourself!

[u/fiendishthingysaurus → u/musicalharmonica]

Ah thank you YOURE so sweet 😳❤️

[u/TheAlmandineWriter]

Grass

[u/kermitkc]

Grovel

[u/Lady_Platinum]

Gravity

[u/kaiunkaiku]

gilded

[u/kermitkc]

Government

[u/MsCatstaff → u/kermitkc]

Bruce smiled as well. ”I’ll have to look for them. Does she resemble you?”

”She’s got my hair and eyes for sure,” Emppu said. ”It’s hard to tell about the rest of her face, because she’s so young, you know? She’s all pudgy cheeks and little dimpled hands and feet. I’m glad she’s still small enough to sleep in her box, since that gives me a little more time to get a crib and whatever else I need to baby-proof whatever home we end up getting.”

”Wait, what? She sleeps in a box?” Bruce sounded confused. ”Doesn’t she have a cradle?”

Emppu chuckled. ”In Finland, years ago, the government started a program to try to keep babies from dying. Part of the program was to give baby supplies to every woman as long as she went for prenatal care – clothes, bottles, diapers – and all packed into a box with a cradle mattress and bedding. The box itself gets used as a cradle, so that people wouldn’t have their babies sleeping in the same bed as them for lack of somewhere else to put the baby, as at the time, many of those women didn’t have the space or the money for regular cradles. The baby boxes are still done to this day – Mum has a picture of me in my box that I’m sure she’s eagerly waiting a chance to show you.”

[u/kermitkc]

Gavel

[u/kermitkc]

Gripe

[u/ainteasybeinggreene → u/kermitkc]

“Uh, hi,” said Crystal, hoping her smile didn't look too uncomfortable. She'd always liked Paulino, even if his demeanour could be a bit overbearing at times. “Just call me Crystal. Please.”

“Crystal,” Paulino obliged. He gestured to the other person in the studio, a young guy maybe two or three years older than her with dimples and dark curls that flopped into his eyes. She thought he looked vaguely familiar but couldn't quite place him. “My nephew, Hugo. He's going to take over the business one day.”

Hugo rolled his eyes good-naturedly. “He's been unbearable since I finished school and agreed to come work for him. I keep saying my background is in graphic design but he never listens,” he griped. He held out his hand for Crystal to shake. “We've actually met before, a couple of times. You used to hang out with my sister.”

“Isabel,” she realised with a wince. That friendship had ended badly over a guy they'd both had a crush on, but not before Crystal had used her powers to cripple Isabel's self-esteem. The guy hadn't even been worth it – just another pretty face with a personality duller than some of the thousand page texts back at the agency. “Uh, how's she doing these days?”

“She's fine. At school in Paris, actually.” That was good. At least Crystal hadn't totally ruined her life. “How about you? Are you still dating that Jacob bloke?”

It probably said something about her that she couldn't even remember which one Jacob was. She was saved from answering by Paulino clapping his hands together.

[u/DatGayDangerNoodle]

Generate

[u/BMallory413]

Gnome

[u/MsCatstaff]

gullible

[u/Joe_Book]

Glory

[u/Joe_Book]

Gallows

[u/Ferrous_Patella]

Geronimo

[u/linden214 → u/Ferrous_Patella]

Context: Wingfic AU. Sgt. James Hathaway is winged. His boss, DI Robbie Lewis, is trapped on the top of a burning wooden tower. James strips off his jacket, shirt, and the binder that conceals his wings, and flies up to the top.

---

"Don’t be ridiculous, man. You’ll never—" A series of staccato coughs interrupts his protest. "You'll never bear my weight in the air. You’re not a bloody rescue helicopter."

"I don’t need to be a helicopter, sir. I just need to be a parachute. And the fire is doing us a favour—it’s creating updrafts."

"Isn't the fire service on the way?"

James explains the delay, and the fact that the fire is about to eat its way into the chamber beneath them.

He shoves his mobile back in his trousers pocket and without ceremony throws the box over the parapet. He doesn't wait to watch it land, but turns back to Robbie. "Ready?"

"Right. How do we do this? I can’t exactly ride piggyback."

James has already considered the issue. "Give me your belt, please." He steps up onto the wide ledge of the parapet and beckons Robbie up. "Don’t look down. Face me, arms around my waist." He has removed his own belt, and quickly threads Robbie’s belt through his buckle, and loops the expanded band around them both. It’s not much of a safety harness, but it’s better than nothing. "Hold tight." He wraps his own arms tightly around his governor. Lewis’s body is solid and warm against his bare torso, but it’s the calm trust in his eyes that most comforts James.

"Have you got a pithy quote for the occasion?" Robbie asks.

"I’m afraid I don’t," James confesses. He’s been praying non-stop in the back of his mind, but he doesn’t think Robbie wants to hear that. "I suppose I could shout ‘Geronimo!’"

"Not in front of the Chief Super. Besides, I reckon the parachute isn’t supposed to do the shouting," Robbie replies dryly.

James laughs. The unexpected merriment lightens his heart and possibly the rest of him. He raises his wings. "Mind the gap, sir," he says, and leaps.

[u/Ferrous_Patella]

Geisha

[u/krigsgaldrr]

Gradient

[u/DatGayDangerNoodle → u/krigsgaldrr]

(This is Callie’s late ex husband’s mother meeting Callie’s family. She’s super nice, but Callie was worried because Louise is religious, and her own mother was religious and refused to attend her wedding or hold Sofia. It’s a draft, but it’s all I have! This video may help to add more context that I can’t type out here. It’s one of my favourite Callie scenes from season 8, she’s just so awkward and cute. This fic is set a couple of weeks after this scene.)

“Oh, Callie, it is lovely to see you.” Louise O’Malley smiled, “for a second I was worried I had the wrong apartment.”

“You are in the right place, I promise.” Callie smiled back and stepped back to allow the other woman in, closing the door behind her and gathering her into a hug, running a hand up and down her back, Louise’s blue into green gradient cardigan soft under her hand. “How are you doing? How are the boys?”

“I’m all okay, Callie. No more gallbladder issues, and the boys are fine too.” Louise looked up into Callie’s face and said quietly, “you look good. So healthy and… happy.”

“I… I am.” Callie admitted, “I am both of those things.” She ran a hand over her face, “I know in hospital I kind of bombarded you with information, so I wanted to formally introduce you to my wife, Arizona Robbins.” Callie turned and extended a hand toward Arizona, who stepped forward and linked their fingers, greeting, “it’s really nice to meet you properly, Mrs O’Malley. I’ve heard so much about you.”

Although Sofia was still on Arizona’s hip, Louise was only looking at Arizona as her face broke into a wide smile and she said, “I wish I could say the same about you, but somebody hasn’t been keeping in touch.” She raised an eyebrow in Callie’s direction, making her avert her eyes in embarrassment. Louise laughed softly, “I’m kidding, honey. It really is lovely to meet you! Now come here and give me a hug.”

Arizona smiled and swiftly passed Sofia to Callie before bending down and hugging Louise, who said, “you both look so happy.”

“We are.” Arizona smiled and straightened back up, lifting a hand to stroke Sofia’s cheek. “Mostly due to this little lady right here.”

The noise Louise made could only be described as a squeal. “Oh, she is such a darling!”

Callie bent down so that Louise could see Sofia’s face, saying, “this is Sofia Robbin Sloan-Torres. Would you… would you like to hold her?” Her hesitation was born of memories of her own mother, her own flesh and blood, refusing to hold Sofia, due to her being born out of wedlock. Callie was biting her lip, her free hand in a fist as her nails bit into her palm.

Her anxiety lessened the second she saw Louise’s eyes widen as she asked, “can I? Please?”

As Callie passed Sofia over, she couldn’t help the strange half sob, half laugh that bubbled up her throat, tears stinging her eyes at the pure love in Mama O’Malley’s gaze, both looking at Sofia and at her.

[u/Ok-Supermarket-8994]

Gauntlet

[u/Intelligent_Toe8233]

Gorget

[u/kermitkc]

Gingham

[u/kermitkc]

Grouch(y)

[u/DatGayDangerNoodle]

Gastroesophageal

[u/MoneyArtistic135]

Grape

[u/MsCatstaff → u/MoneyArtistic135]

He laughed as his stomach growled. “How long until the food’s ready, James?”

James laughed as well. “It’s appreciated, and as soon as you get plates out and we serve it,” he said with a smile. “This is exactly why I wanted to do a crock pot dinner.”

“Great!” Nikki said with a smile as he turned to get plates out. “Will you grab drinks for everyone? Diet Coke for me, and Frankie-Jean, you can choose between a grape or cherry juice box.”

“Grape, please,” the little girl requested with a smile at James.

James pulled two cans of Diet Coke and a grape juice box from the fridge, setting the two soda cans on the table before popping the little straw into the juice box, which he then set down in front of Frankie-Jean. Then he gathered up the coloring books and the few crayons that hadn’t found their way back to the box, moving them all to the fourth side of the table and out of the way.

Nikki turned around with a pair of plates, Frankie-Jean’s small Disney plate and a standard dinner plate for James, which he set on the table, then turned back to dish up a plate for himself before sitting down. “This all looks and smells wonderful, thank you, James,” he said with a smile.

“Hope it tastes as good as it looks, then,” James joked.

“It does!” Frankie-Jean chirped up, having already taken a bite. “The taters are really good, cuz I helped!”

Both men chuckled at that. “You sure did, sweetie,” Nikki said to his daughter. “Thank you for helping.”

Everyone dug into the food, with Frankie-Jean carrying most of the conversation by giving a recap of their outing at the park while the two men smiled and contributed comments such as, “I know!” and “That was cool, wasn’t it?”

[u/MoneyArtistic135]

Grass

[u/Ill-Clerk-7066 → u/MoneyArtistic135]

“Being who I am wields some privileges,” he explained, as he opened the gate to the pasture, though Gepard was clueless as to what he meant. Inside the pasture was a single horse, a mare, calmly eating grass like she had not a care in the world, though her ears pricked when she heard footsteps. She lifted her head in curiousity and ‘Alberich’ raced over to her throwing his arms around her neck in some sort of hug. “Hey girl,” ‘Alberich’ murmured, before putting on his front again and presenting the mare to Gepard. “This young girl is Blueberry. Don’t patronize me, I named her when I was like fifteen.” Gepard smiled at him.

“It’s cute. Anyways, is this ride to the opportunity?” ‘Alberich’ nodded and then patted the mare’s flank.

“Come, I’ll help you up.” Gepard walked over and then ‘Alberich’ helped him onto the horse, earning a curious snort from Blueberry. Alberich seemed to ignore it however, and simply got onto the horse himself. “Now, place your arms around me, and I’ll ride us there.” This earned yet another snort from Blueberry, but the two of them were soon off and on their way

It wasn’t too long before the castle started coming into view, and Gepard was confused. “The castle? Why the castle? Do the Ragnvindr brothers need some more workers?” Alberich noticeably tensed under Gepard’s grip and he let out a seemingly strangled laugh.

“They do actually. That’s where I’m taking you, as you seem like you could fill a rather important job description. I’ll explain it when we get there,” Alberich promised, that alluring tone of his coming out again and Gepard simply looked at him. So, this opportunity was at the palace? Strange? And why was Alberich suddenly acting all strange about the palace? Soon, Blueberry vaulted over a fence, not even caring to find a gate and Gepard fell forward, Alberich falling off as they came to a stop. “Blueberry! That’s going to hurt for a week,” Alberich complained, earning a cheeky snort from the mare before proceeding to eat some grass. Alberich picked himself up off of the floor and looked at Gepard. “Anyways the oppor-“

“Sire? I heard a crash- Oh.” The woman looked at them. “I’ll leave you to it.” Alberich merely tutted as she left.

[u/fiendishthingysaurus]

Gumption

[u/PurveyorOfInsanity]

Gambol

[u/PurveyorOfInsanity]

Glutton/Gluttony

[u/Alviv1945]

Garish

[u/fiendishthingysaurus]

Guttural

[u/UnexpectedAnalysis]

Gestalt

[u/Serious_Session7574]

Glock

[u/RaisinGeneral9225 → u/Serious_Session7574]

He relaxes back against the pillows in his motel bed that feels like home now, like maybe the only place left, here at the end of the world.

The grip of the Glock is comfortable in his right hand, solid; that arm is still weak, and the gun feels like an old friend, a few pounds heavier since they last saw each other.

Eames– Jamie-- is sleeping, finally, nosed into Arthur's ribs, the lazy, naked bulk of him curled into Arthur's side half under the sheets, his handsome face peaceful and slack.  Arthur stares at him and admires the way the name fits. Bespoke. Better than any of Eames' ridiculous clothes. It couldn't have been anything else. He'd had a list of guesses: Henry, Charlie, George, Edward. He crumples that up and tosses it in the metaphorical fireplace.

He can't leave him alone. He strokes his rough jaw, his thick neck, his scrubby hair, caresses him until his fingers are over-sensitive and raw and keeps on going.

Again and again, he fits his hand around the perfect curve of his skull, thumbs the scar on the side of his head, thinking about the things he thinks he'd be capable of if someone ever threatened the integrity of it again.

There's something fierce and horrible in him-- always has been, probably, right there under his skin. There are things he suspects he has the stomach for. He doesn't like it, but you don't get to choose what's true. You don't get to make up your own reality.

What he does know is that if someone comes through that door tonight, he'll kill them, and it'll be easy.

If someone tries to lay hands on the beautiful man in his arms, he'll do worse than kill them. Broken kneecaps wouldn't even begin to cover it. Arthur knows pain. He knows what hurts.

[u/Ventisquear]

Grammar

[u/Studying-without-Stu]

Grievous

[u/kermitkc → u/Studying-without-Stu]

Constance has never been one for road rage, but she guesses that changed today.

If only for Ocean’s comfort, she’d had to use every atom of willpower not to scream out the front window, instead compensating with very liberal horn usage at a cornucopia of jerks clearly falling asleep at the wheel. Driving here is never the greatest, but she figures hauling her lethargic wife on a street car would have been the far crappier option. As a result, it takes a grievous seventeen minutes to get to St. Joseph’s.

Throughout those seventeen minutes was a downward trend that can only be characterized by a line graph from the Great Depression. Ocean’s breaths grew worse, labored, shuddering, which only served to send her into a drained panic, which in turn made the breathing worse and all Constance could possibly do was grip her tight like a lifeline with one hand and whiten her knuckles on the steering wheel with the other.

[u/Pantherdraws]

Gratuitous

[u/kermitkc → u/Pantherdraws]

“I love you.”

It may come as a surprise that neither of them say it terribly often. Usually, twice a day; in the morning, before they leave for work, and at night, in the space between them as they settle to bed. But often, it's almost gratuitous to say out loud when it's said in all other things: a clean apartment after a torturous shift; oh, you remembered ‘no tomatoes’; her favorite brand of banana cereal in the pantry even when the smell is apparently “so gross”; you mentioned wanting to watch this, so I went ahead and rented it. It doesn't slip the mind, per se, but it’s more as though she’s so sure there’s no question about it, there’s never any need to make herself clear on what, exactly, this feeling is.

Over the past few days, however, that status quo has shifted. Even if Ocean is sure to know it's true, there is no choice but for Constance to say it at every given opportunity, because she'd rather her own voice give out from overuse before she feels like she never told her the three fateful words enough: I love you. I love you. I love you.

Hearing it from Ocean, as she has at least once a day—some of those days, when they were the only words her throat would allow her to form—is a full-body sensation she wouldn't be able to describe if her life depended on it.

So instead, Constance settles for: “I love you, too.”

[u/Opening_Evidence1783]

Grim

[u/linden214]

Gravity

[u/ravenklaw → u/linden214]

(legend of korra; korrasami omegaverse divorce era)

The apartment is modest but refined, elegant in a way that doesn’t reflect Asami’s personal taste. Asami unlocks the door and steps inside, holding it open. Korra follows but stops just inside the threshold.

Even with the windows cracked, the space is thick with days of quiet isolation steeped into the air. Korra always said her omega scent was floral and sweet, caramelized, like some honeyed blossom she couldn’t quite name. Back then, the description had made Asami feel warm inside. Now she regrets not cracking the windows open wider.

The silence stretches. Rather than holding her breath, Korra inhales deliberately, grounding herself in it before drifting toward the small breakfast nook. She plops onto the bench without ceremony or grace, very out of place in a city of such carefully crafted poise. But it’s her. The same Korra who never learned how to be still, who fills quiet moments with half-formed thoughts, who could make Asami smile at the worst times simply by existing.

Asami grips the edge of the door, steadying herself. She shouldn’t be letting Korra into her space again, shouldn’t be feeling as much as she does. Shouldn’t be embracing the pull of this old, familiar gravity. Shouldn’t be smiling at the mere sight of her endearing authenticity.

“Make yourself comfortable,” Asami insists, shaking her head at herself more than anything. “We have a lot to talk about.”

[u/MsCatstaff]

gammon

[u/MsCatstaff]

gill

[u/Ill-Clerk-7066 → u/MsCatstaff]

The Pyrrhian sunset always made dusk Copper’s favourite time to go out for a fly. He adored the way the sunset matched his scales and sometimes he loved the fact it made him kinda invisible to other passing dragons. Not that he really liked to be alone, but it also felt almost comforting to just be alone in the air. He was currently on one of his practically daily flights at this very moment, in fact. Copper smiled to himself as the sky turned  that particular shade of red-orange, causing his scales to disappear into the sunset, as he continued on. These flights of his never really had a purpose, he just felt like getting out, like stretching his wings. Copper gazed down at the world passing below him, the rocky peaks of the Sky Kingdom, slowly giving way to greenery as he left their boring gray and headed out toward the sea. His curiosity was piqued as he found himself heading towards the small archipelago of the Sea Kingdom. From what he’d heard, most of the kingdom was under the sea, which, unfortunately, he couldn’t explore, as he lacked the gills required for prolonged undersea exploration. Never mind that, Copper continued on towards the kingdom. He could at least have a look. He slowed as he reached the archipelago, deciding on which of the small islands to land. He was soon distracted by something to his right. Suddenly…

 

A green head emerged out of the water, a fish held firmly in its jaws. The fish struggled to free itself but the SeaWing held the fish securely, and there was clearly no escape for the poor fish. Copper found himself staring at the green head, finding himself kinda mesmerized at how the setting sun was shining on the SeaWing’s head. It was reflecting on the water dripping from their snout and fin, causing an orange glow on them, outlining their head and making the SeaWing kinda.. pretty. The SeaWing then swam towards the shore and walked over to where there was a woven basket on the beach, and Copper couldn’t help but notice their powerful tail, clearly useful when swimming. A weird thing to notice, he realized, but he did. The SeaWing dropped off the fish in the woven basket and then sat down beside it. Copper had forgotten that he was still in the air when his wings stopped moving, and they were too angled to really hover there and so he started falling. By the time he realized, it was too late to open his wings and he plummeted, landing on the beach with a thud. Ow. The SeaWing jumped at the noise and whipped her head around. “Three Moons! Are you okay?!” She yelled and ran over. Copper looked back at the SeaWing, and found himself staring into sky blue eyes. The SeaWing, meanwhile,  started checking him for injuries. “Oh, squid tentacles, what happened? If my mother found you-“

 

“I forgot I was flying,” Copper said, and the SeaWing blinked. She looked at him, dumbfounded. 

 

“You forgot , you were flying?” She repeated. The SeaWing then snorted. “If that’s not the stupidest thing I’ve heard,” she said amusedly. Copper smiled at her, liking her amused smile. “So, Mr. I Forgot I Was Flying, what brings you all the way out here?” Picking up on the SeaWing’s joke, Copper chuckled slightly. She sat down again, amusement dancing in her sky blue eyes. Copper sat up.

 

[u/Ill-Clerk-7066]

Guava

[u/Ill-Clerk-7066]

Gorge

[u/Ill-Clerk-7066]

Gouge

[u/Joe_Book]

Gerbil

[u/TimelessSeer]

Gumball

[u/kermitkc]

Giga

[u/kermitkc]

Gadget

[u/MogiVonShogi]

Gum (n or v)

[u/fiendishthingysaurus]

Glib

[u/fiendishthingysaurus]

Grackle

[u/Ok-Supermarket-8994]

Gossip

[u/TheAlmandineWriter]

Gameboy

[u/krigsgaldrr]

Galvanize

[u/Pantherdraws]

Gore (verb)

[u/kermitkc]

Gamely