#also assume if she wasn't going for whatever reason she would tell me but like. who knows

[pinktinselmonstrosity]

socialising goals for tonight:

stay until the end

that's it i just want to stay the whole time that's my only goal

#not like the afterparty or anything but just from the start of the event to the end. doesn't seem like a big deal but. it is for me lol <3 #and idk how much i should even be worrying but i'm meant to be going with my roommate and her friends #but pres start in less than an hour and my rm just. isn't here? #ik pres are in our building but i have no idea what number and don't particularly fancy going on my own anyway #and like hopefully she'll come back? but i have no idea #also assume if she wasn't going for whatever reason she would tell me but like. who knows #i hate having this few details omg i can't stand it idek when the event starts or who else is really going 🙃 #so if rm isn't here idk what i'm gonna do???? #🧃

[runningfrom2am]

leveling the playing field VII

summary: you didn't meet the requirements for the plinth prize, only to find out that you're not just missing out on that- you're missing out on the opportunity of a lifetime. your friend wants to help, because maybe you can help each other.

pairing: coriolanus snow x fem!reader

wc: 2.5k

tags/warnings: capitol brat!reader, maybe slightly ooc coryo, idk i tried my best. do they love each other or hate each other? who knows (we do, kind of). implications and discussion of abuse, so read with caution!! also a little bit of swearing

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next part

"Mister Snow, Miss Y/L/N."

At the voice of the Dean, you're both shoving off of each other, faster than you believed it was possible for you to move. You slide back across the floor, stumbling to stand up at the same time as Coryo as Dean Highbottom stares you down.

You didn't realize how completely dead to the world you were it was too late. "Uh, Dean Highbottom." You say, noticing he wasn't about to speak anymore, just staring you down with disappointment. "We were just, um-"

"Don't even try." He cuts you off, holding a hand up to you to shut you up. "I knew it was an irresponsible decision to let the two of you work together on something apparently so important. You're both disqualified, effective immediately, and at the very least demerited. If I get it my way, you'll be expelled."

Coriolanus goes completely pale, fully in shock. He was screwed, without the prize he had nothing. It was his prize, they couldn't take that from him over a juvenile mistake.

"No." He looks at you, shocked, as you argue with the Dean. "Whatever you think you saw has nothing to do with Coryo's mentorship- with my mentorship."

He rolls his eyes. "Y/N, my decision is final."

"I don't think it is." You cross your arms. "And we both know why, and unless you want me to tell someone-"

"No." The Dean replies firmly, and you can see he's trying to hide his panic. "Just get back, please. And make it hasty." He waves you off, and the two of you rush along.

"What was that?" Coryo whispers to you once you are out of earshot.

"Nothing." You insist, not so much as looking in his direction now.

"No, that was not nothing, you threatened the Dean."

"What? No, I didn't." You try and lie, but he's smarter than that. Of course he's smarter than that.

"Yes, Y/N, you did. I was right there, I heard-"

"Coriolanus, it's in your best interest to drop it."

"But-"

"Now."

He sighs at the finality behind your statement. "What are we going to do? He told us that we're disqualified."

"We're not disqualified." You chuckle, shaking your head and stopping in the hall next to a reflective window to wipe off the smeared mascara from under your eyes.

"What if they take it out on Lucy Gray? She could be in serious trouble, here." He asks, and reasonably so. If this gets to Dr. Gaul, which he doesn't doubt that it will, it is not a stretch to assume that if they get disqualified, they will find a way to do the same to Lucy Gray.

"Oh, who cares Coryo? She's district." You scoff, cleaning your fingers on the underside of your skirt. You knew that Lucy Gray would be just fine, nothing that you could do would harm her, and you wouldn't want that. You really liked Lucy Gray, but why would he pinball from kissing you like it was his life in the balance to being so concerned for her in a minute?

"She's my tribute! If she doesn't win I am fucked- do you realize that? Do you realize how badly you could have screwed this up for me? My whole life depends on Lucy Gray right now!" At least it wasn't personal, you think at his outburst.

You let out a sigh, managing a small, smug smile. "Coryo, trust me. They won't hurt her- not on our account anyway. Just trust me."

Coriolanus sighs, running a hand over his face and then through his hair. You can't threaten a powerful man like Casca Highbottom with nothing; he's certain that you know something you most definitely should not, but what that could be is lost on Coriolanus. "Okay." He agrees, watching you as you finish cleaning up what's left of your makeup after your breakdown. Seemingly it's gone. To him, if he hadn't seen it, if you hadn't cried in his arms, he wouldn't have known it happened at all.

"But still, don't tell anyone. Yeah?" You add, turning back to face him now.

"Not a word." He promises.

You giggle, reaching up and wiping his mouth with your sleeve. "You've got a little lipstick, there..."

Coryo chuckles, pulling his head back to do it himself, attempting to cover the burning he can feel appearing in his cheeks. How you could go from crying, to kissing him the way you had, to angry and then back to your normal self could give him whiplash if he didn't know you better. Luckily, the idea of you has never scared him.

Lucy Gray hadn't made another appearance after Jessup's death that afternoon, so Coryo had gone home and come back with a couple of blankets and his pillow. He really just ran home, stripped his bed and showered before returning to you. In the morning you had folded everything up for him and tucked it in the bleachers next to you when other people started arriving. Why were you the only mentors who even decided to spend the night? It was laughable how much more you deserved a mentorship than any of them, but this is all the more chance to prove yourself. Your classmates make it so easy. It's not like you wanted them around, so it was a win-win through and through.

Coryo had been shocked that morning when Dr. Gaul arrived, not saying a word to either or you or even so much as sparing him a knowing glance. He had anticipated a very uncomfortable meeting with her following the events of the day before, but no such moment came. The Dean must have decided that keeping that secret was the right move.

It was itching at Coriolanus that you hadn't talked about it either, but he was not about to be the one to bring it up. Maybe he should go talk to Tigris about it- she had been kind enough to come in on her day off today to watch. Not that it mattered to him, though, it didn't. It was an act of comfort, just like the hug. He had asked you what you needed, and you answered with your actions. That was all. That's all it had to be, after all. You both needed to focus, and he needed to not start falling for you now- of all times. Even if deep down he knew this infatuation, if that's the right word, started years ago. The way he used to think it was hunger causing his stomach to lurch when you so much as looked at him, or that was the envy of your family wealth when you would show up to academy events in a dress that fit you so flawlessly it made the room spin around him, voices fading out to nothing. But no, that had always been side effects of hunger. Or at least, that's what he used to think. Until he got to hold you the way he has these last couple weeks, and the way your hair splayed out over his arm when you used him as a pillow last night, curled up on the floor in the academy.

Now, everything is different at the most inconvenient time possible. The worst part, the worst part of it all was that you seemed entirely unphased. That is why this was bothering him. That even though he's been fed, he's still so hungry.

God, you were so bored. You don't ever remember the games being this boring before, but that was when you could snack away on endless trays of hors d'oeuvres and your parents allowed you to drink with other party guests until the games were done by a reasonable hour in the evening. "Finally." You sigh, standing up as Lucy Gray emerges from the tunnel, likely in search of food or water.

Coral and her pack of seemingly mindless followers were making a move on attacking Lamina, which hardly had you lifting your head. "Y/N." Coryo summons you over and you smile, making your way to his side. "She looks like she needs something, but if I send anything the drone will point them right to her."

You hum in agreement, scanning the widescreen of the arena. "They have their own pile of water over there, she could take that if she sees it. And if she's quick." You point, as if somehow you could relay this information to her.

It feels like you did when you see her head lock in the direction of the pile of bottles, hand instinctually patting over her pocket. "She's checking if she still has it." You whisper to Coryo, breath fanning over his neck. He just nods, knowing this isn't a topic anyone could hear you discuss. "Looks like she doesn't want water, she wants them out. Smart." You add quietly, eyes locked on the screen.

"Sounds like you." He replies, making you smile to yourself.

The two of you watch on baited breaths as she waits for the right moment, and she finds the perfect one. She takes off toward the bottles, quickly and quietly just as you whisper for her to go, now.

"Watch, if she's really smart, she'll take one, then dump the rest." You say, watching as she just grabs one before darting to the middle, hiding under the rubble in the center while the others are still preoccupied. "Oh. Well, that's an interesting approach." You cross your arms, standing up straight again. At least this was at least exciting.

"Remind me why we didn't throw you in with them?" Coryo asks, raising an eyebrow at you.

"You kinda did, didn't you?" You laugh quietly, pretending to hit his shoulder.

"That's fair." He agrees, focussing once more on the screen, trying to keep track of Lucy Gray. She goes out of sight from any of the cameras underneath the debris, before emerging a few moments later and running over to the remaining water bottles.

"As you predicted..." Coryo sighs, gesturing to the screen you were already watching as she begins to dump the other bottles, placing the one she just had next to them.

"She just has to hurry." You reply, resisting the urge to gloat over your accurate call. And again, you were right because it isn't long after Lamina's now dead body falls to the ground and the other tributes finally notice Lucy Gray's presence, chasing her back into the tunnels. You're hoping the map you drew up for her was helpful, and that she can hide. If she dies down there, you won't know.

You give Coryo a high-five with both hands, feeling glares on you from the other mentors about the waste of their tributes water. They're just mad that they got stuck with tributes dumber than Lucy Gray, and you can't fault them for that. "Cake with the cream." The blonde grins at you, mocking Lucy Gray's accent.

"Snow lands on top." You smile back in confirmation, his hands wrapping into yours and shaking them happily. "Now we just have to hope that..."

You trail off, not getting the chance to finish as you see one of the other tributes stumble out of the tunnels and toward the lone water bottle Lucy Gray left. "Who do we have here?" Lucky's narration interrupts your thought process. "Ah, it's Ill Dill. Tuberculosis on legs." The shock of his statement has you dropping your jaw, laughing and earning you a glare from your classmate who was designated her mentor. It wasn't funny, truly, but just the shock of him saying that. Regardless, you hadn't seen her since day one, and even before then, she was incredibly sick. Never a threat, hardly a thought.

Coryo sees this shift in your demeanor, looking back to the screen as well and slowly dropping your hands. The tribute, Dill, you think, takes a sip, and the two of you hold your breath as she lays down next to the uncapped bottle, ceasing all movement after only a few moments with blood dripping from her nose onto the cement beneath her.

You glance nervously around the room, making sure no one is making the same connections you are, knowing what you know. So far, no one seems alarmed, but Dr. Gaul has apparently left- which is shocking to you. Regardless, Dill was knocking on death's door anyway, you're surprised she came out at all. You place your hand on Coryo's shoulder trying to be reassuring, as if to say no one knows.

It's at that moment where Reaper comes out, calling out for his district partner. She remains unmoving even as he runs to her side, trying to shake her awake. Cue the buzzer; that's one less tribute between Lucy Gray and you getting your dream job.

Your heart stops as he eyes the bottle next to her, your hand gripping tighter onto Coryo's shoulder. You're both waiting for the other shoe to drop, Reaper knows that something isn't right. Luckily for the two of you, he ignores it. He lifts the dead girl up, looking around before carrying her to Lamina's side under the beam. Followed by Marcus, then Jessup, then Bobbin.

"What's he doing?" You ask quietly among other whispers which you are sure that if you could hear them clearly would echo your sentiments.

"I don't know..." Coryo replies, slightly shaking his head as the boy moves away from his line of bodies and over to the wall.

You have to fight the urge to laugh when he rips the flag down from the wall, causing all sorts of chaos to break out in your theatre. "He just tore down the flag..." You hear Lucky say, and as you look around at the chaos it caused, it makes you want to cheer for the boy. He had been looking at the flag when you tried to speak to him just before the bombing- had he known?

He lays the large red fabric over the row of bodies, turning to look directly into the camera everyone is fixated on. You get chills as if he's staring at you directly. Personally. "Are you gonna punish me now?" He shouts, making people jump in the now, suddenly silent room. "Are you going to punish m-?"

He's cut off abruptly by the face of Dr. Gaul, in an apparent emergency broadcast. So that's where she went. Coryo sits up straighter to listen in, and you can feel him tense under your palm.

"I am devastated to announce that due to injuries sustained in the rebel bombing of the arena, another one of our academy students, the son of our President, Felix Ravenstill has died." You gasp, lifting a hand to cover your mouth as chatter erupts in the room. You never loved Felix, far from it, but it seemed to you that your classmates were dropping like flies. That would make anyone a little on edge. "We cannot allow the rebels to continually get away with such violent, senseless acts. This is why we have to retaliate, with something very special for our tributes in the arena. Even if that means there will be no winner." You don't hear what else she says as Coriolanus is abruptly pushing his chair back as he stands.

"Hey, what are you doing?" You ask as he starts to back away, eyes still locked on the screen. You reach out and grab his hand. "Coryo?"

"Where's your bag?" He asks, ignoring your question.

"Uh, over there." You point to your now unoccupied seat.

"Okay, I'm going to take it. I'll be back. Stay here." He prompts you, squeezing your hand for just a second before going and grabbing your bag, leaving in a flash.

"Alrighty then." You mumble to yourself, taking over his spot.

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#tbosas #thg series #president snow #tbosas fic #tbosas x reader #coriolanus x you #coriolanus x reader #coriolanus snow x reader #coriolanus snow #coryo snow #hg #the hunger games #thg fanfic #thg fanfiction #hunger games #thg

[libraryofloveletters]

I Spy With My Little Eye

Dominik Szoboszlai x Fem!Reader

Warnings: dom is so cheesy but he also disappeared and you're like ??, a bit plot heavy, so many random tasks, reader thinks dom has lost his mind, major sweetness at the end.

Word Count: 970

Author's Note: dedicated to my fellow dom enthusiast @curiousthyme <3

--

This Christmas was different. Dom made you work for your gift rather than giving it to you; following the clues through the neighbourhood to your final gift.

There was some time before Christmas and Dominik suggested a trip to Germany, the place you two called home for quite a bit of time while he played with Leipzig. You still had your place there as you bounced back and forth between there and Liverpool for work so you two were staying there for a few days.

You felt the mattress dip, your boyfriend's warm hand on your forehead. His lips by your ear, "I've got some errands to run, sweetheart. I'll be back later." he whispers, kissing your head.

A mumble and you feel around, patting his cheek before rolling over and going back to sleep.

It wasn't until an hour later than you got up, finding Dom's side of the bed still empty. There was a note on the pillow, you assumed it was just him reiterating what he had told you before he left, knowing you'd be too sleepy to really listen to him.

You unfolded the page, reading the words he had scribbled down.

check your favourite hiding spot for a gift - xoxo D.

The sun peeked through the curtains, you forced yourself out of bed to go into the living room. The ottoman sat on the rug, you smiled to yourself. Dom never used the ottoman, in fact he hated the thing; it was ugly and clunky but you liked it for some reason so he left it. Plus he knew you used it as a hiding spot because he often forgot it was there.

Pushing the top open, there's a box wrapped up with ribbon and a note tucked under it. The note was opened first.

get ready and head to Julie's for the next note - xoxo D.

You had no idea what he was up to but you folded the page again, taking the lid off of the box to find a dress you had been telling him about for weeks. You haven't been able to find it in stores or online. You're not sure how he did it but you're sure he used his 'connections' as he called it to find it for you.

As the note said, you went through your morning routine and got ready, your coat wrapped around you and boots on as you headed out and into the snow.

The bell rings on the cafe door, the smell of baked goods welcomes you back home. "Y/n!" Julie beamed, you weren't expecting to see her in, especially not on a Saturday morning.

"Hey!" You smiled.

"Here you go," she passed you your usual coffee order and an envelope. You reach for your purse to pay her but she shakes her head, "Dom paid."

You smile, opening the envelope and reading the note.

meet me where we had our first kiss - xoxo D.

It takes you a moment to think back, it feels like a million years ago but then it hits you, the park.

You thank Julie for the coffee and you're off again, making your way through the snow, cursing Dom in your head for choosing a snowy day to do whatever it was that this was. It's a short walk to the park, specifically to the park rangers' office; yes you had your first kiss outside of their office. You were on a walk and it started pouring rain, Dom pulled you there to keep you out of the rain and kissed you for the first time there.

It was more romantic in the morning, but thinking about it now made you giggle.

You looked around for your boyfriend, hoping this would be the last of the walking as your legs were killing you.

Someone pats your shoulder, a park ranger. "Are you y/n?"

"Yeah," you nod, the man hands you yet another envelope. You're a bit annoyed, knowing you'd probably have to walk some more but you open it.

follow the ranger. no more walking, I promise - xo D.

It's as if he read your mind. "Lead the way," you tell the man, he nods and leads you over to one of their little cars.

You knew this path, it led to the gazebo at the edge of the park that overlooked the water. You get out of the car, thanking the man as you walk over to the gazebo. There are candles and flowers everywhere. As you make your way closer, you're expecting to see Dom but you don't.

A bit confused, you look around but then feel someone tap your shoulder; Dominik is on one knee behind you when you turn around.

"Dom.." You look at the man, your jaw hangs open slightly.

"Y/n," he smiles, "the last 5 years have been the best of my life, as cheesy as it sounds. You've been through the good and the bad, stuck to my side no matter what and I can't thank you enough for that. I hope you know how much you mean to me and will always mean to me so," he smiled at you again, opening the small box in his hand.

"Will you do me the honour and marry me?"

You're in shock, nodding but then you remember you actually have to answer him. "Yes!" You lean down, hands on his face as you kiss him. Dom stands, still kissing you for a moment before he pulls away, slipping the ring onto your finger.

Your boyfriend- fiancé, pulls you back into a hug, kissing you as he picks you up, giving you a good squeeze.

"I know you've always wanted a Christmas proposal but not on Christmas." He laughs, forehead pressed to yours.

You smile, tears in your eyes as your hand presses to his face. "It was perfect, perhaps less walking would have been better but still," you giggled, Dom kissed you once more, hugging you.

#holiday extravaganza blurbs 23 #dominik szoboszlai #dominik szoboszlai x reader #dominik szoboszlai x you #dominik szoboszlai x y/n #football x reader #football x you #football x y/n #football imagine #football blurb

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

WIBTA for ghosting someone in RP?

This is a very chronically online problem, I'm aware, but I could use Tumblr's input. This is kinda long, so tl;Dr at the end.

So I (ftm), Z (nb), and O (f) (ages unimportant, but we're all adults) have a server for a shared fandom of ours. There are other people on the server too, but they're relatively unimportant to the problem.

One of the major channels to note was an rp channel. Things started off peachy keen! Everyone was having a grand old time! However, little problems started to pop up. O began introducing some ocs to the rp group chat, which, while outlandish for the setting (her ocs were ghosts from 1500's Minecraft Germany or whatever? I'm still not entirely clear since she's bad at continuity). And while I'm not against more out there ocs, the issue was how she used them, constantly trying to solve problems instantly. They felt more like MacGuffin's than characters. But whatever, she's our friend so we didn't really care.

Then, the racism incident happened.

It's a cool name, but sorta makes it sound more important than it was. Basically O had "monster form" at the end of each of her characters names, since apparently they had human forms too. Well, in an argument, a character referred to the group of ocs as monsters (since, how else would you refer to all of em at once?), and in one of her ocs replies they said smth like "oh btw thanks for the racist remark".

IMMEDIATELY in the ooc chat, Z and I both go "hey man, we're not playing the racism game", which... caused O to leave the server temporarily. Fun.

The relevance of the racism incident is to show why we can't just talk to her ooc about the upcoming issues.

((Very offhandedly she also keeps trying to pressure Z specifically into rping? Even though Z has made it clear many times this month that they are busy with the holidays??))

Anyways, time passes and O keeps wanting to tack on useless shit to her characters (both canon and ocs) for literally no reason. From "Bruno esk powers" to "shapeshifting genitals", it just felt like feature creep.

Eventually this comes to a head when she asks if her 32 year old character could be a WWII veteran.

You know. In the text chat based rp where characters use hashtags and emotes and talk about Twitter.

After a small back and forth between Z and O in the ooc chat, Z just kinda, gave up. Part of the reason they made the server was to transfer their previous rp writings to a server they own, so they don't have to worry about it getting deleted. (Before anyone assumes Z is just being strict, trust me. Z had been very accommodating with letting me and O make inputs and have our characters make an impact. This wasn't an issue of O's lack of control, but rather lack of care about the setting.)

Z admitted in a group chat with just me and their partner that they basically are just going to give up on their previous rp, and just let O do whatever she wants.

This really, and I mean REALLY, ticked me off.

Now, I will not start a ruckus about it on the server itself since I know Z hates confrontation, but now I've just settled on to give O the cold shoulder in rp, not replying to her ocs, barely interacting with her canon characters, etc.

I feel like in character I have a valid reason to ignore her (her ocs made one of my ocs upset, and my other characters are upset for him), but I can't tell if this would be too mean?

ALSO quick little note I forgot to mention above, but it's basically just the three of us in the rp chat, so with Z busy for the holidays, I'm the only other person who O would be able to rp with, if that impacts the vote.

TL;DR - Someone in a rp server is being a right ass and we cannot talk to her about it without potentially starting a huge fight, now I want to ignore her in rp. WIBTA

What are these acronyms?

#aita #am i the asshole

[thebisexualdogdad]

Can I request an imagine of male reader being apart of the new avengers and having a huge crush on Kate Bishop but always being shy around her. But when Kate's friends like Yelena Belova She Hulk Kamala Khan find out that she also has a crush on him they try to get them together. Can you make it full of fluff and a bit of a smut at the end, please

Kate Bishop x Male!reader

It was no secret that you had a crush on Kate.

Before joining the new avengers you were known as being a confident and outgoing mutant with superhuman strength but for whatever reason all of that bravado disappeared as soon as you were around her and you turned into this shy and nervous mess.

You try to impress Kate when you can; lifting cars and other large vehicles with ease, punching holes straight through concrete walls or jumping off the top of buildings and landing in front of her doing a cheesy superhero pose.

"Hey Kate, didn't see you there," you'd say as if there wasn't a small hand shaped crater in the ground now from where you landed.

You can barely look her in the eyes when she's inches away from your face wrapping up the bruises on your knuckles after a mission, she'd smile making one of her cheesy jokes and you'd have to fight the urge to kiss her.

You spend a lot of time at her apartment which Lucky loves because he has another person around to play with and gets to go on extra long walks through the city with you and Kate.

The two of you both blush whenever a stranger assumes you're a couple and compliments you on being a cute little family.

Kate thinks it's adorable whenever you fall asleep cuddling Lucky on her couch, her phone is full of photos of you and him.

Kamala is always telling people how great of a couple you and Kate would be.

"Well obviously Y/N Y/L/N likes Kate Bishop but does Kate Bishop like Y/N Y/L/N back," Yelena asks as Kamala goes on yet another rant about how she wishes you would ask Kate out already.

"Let's ask her," Jen grins as Kate enters the avengers bullpen.

"Why are you all looking at me like that? Did a bird shit on me again? You guys need to tell me when a bird shits on me you can't just let me go around all day with a big white stain on the back of my suit like last time it's not funny," Kate huffs and starts looking over her clothes for evidence of any bird excrement which Yelena snickers at remembering the bird shit incident.

"Kate do you have feelings for Y/N?" Kamala blurts out blankly.

"Uhhhh" Kate gulps quickly stopping her actions and her face goes red.

"She does!" Jen cheers happily.

"Guys suit up, alien attack downtown," you say running into the bullpen from the training room.

"Oh thank god," Kate mutters under her breath, leaving the bullpen to grab her bow and arrows.

"So we are totally setting them up right?" Kamala says as Jen transforms into she-hulk.

"Obviously," Yelena replies.

A few days later they pull a bait and switch on you guys, telling you and Kate to meet them at a pizza place for a team dinner.

The two of you are so busy talking you don't even notice it's been three hours and your friends never showed up.

"Huh that's weird, you think something happened?" Kate asks.

"I haven't gotten any Avengers worthy notifications from the police scanner we rigged," you say, grabbing another garlic knot.

"I'm going to call Yelena," Kate says, pulling out her phone.

"How's your date Kate Bishop?" Yelena asks as soon as she picks up.

"My what?" Kate responds confused.

"Your date with Y/N Y/L/N, Kamala Khan says we did something called parent trap you," she states.

"So you guys aren't showing up??"

"Nope, good bye."

"They aren't coming are they," you say as Kate puts her phone away.

"Apparently we are on a date," Kate chuckles awkwardly.

"... we are?" You ask.

"This is so embarrassing I'm sorry, they found out I liked you and I guess this was their way of trying to set us up and-" she rambles.

"You like me?" You question, cutting her off.

"Of course I do."

"Kate, I like you too," you confess.

"So… we are on a date then?"

"Guess we are," you smile.

You finish up your date and walk her home, standing on her doorstep talking for another hour.

"Oh wow it's after midnight," Kate laughs looking at the time on her phone.

"I should probably be heading home but maybe I can take you out again this weekend? Maybe on a date we actually plan ourselves this time?" You suggest.

"I would love that but I think you should kiss me before we end this date," she smiles.

"I can certainly do that," you chuckle, leaning in and kissing her like you've wanted to for the last year.

You expected it to be a short and sweet kiss but Kate's hands goes to your neck bringing you as close to her as humanly possible.

You get lost in each other as your kiss quickly heats up and you discover she's been waiting for this as long as you have.

"I've changed my mind, I don't want this date to end yet," she says breathing heavily from your intense kiss, "come inside."

"Are you sure?" You question.

"I've never been more sure of anything," she tells you.

You nod and she fumbles around with her keys excitedly trying to open her front door.

Lucky is fast asleep in his bed as you two stumble through her apartment, clothes being shed as she quietly shuts her bedroom door behind you.

The next morning you wake up with Kate in your arms, Lucky scratching at the door and whining to let you know he needs to go out.

Kate stretches and wipes the sleep from her eyes, about to get up and walk him.

"Stay in bed," you say kissing her forehead, "I'll walk Lucky and get donuts on my way back."

"Hmm did you say donuts? This is officially the best date ever."

#marvel imagine #kate bishop imagine #kate bishop x reader #x male reader #fic

[12thbiologist]

I just got into the southern reach trilogy. Have listened to the audiobook of the first book and have now started actually reading it. But anyway, I had a thought. (May contain typos and non sensical statememts written at 00h30

The moaning creature is described in a later book at looking boar-like, right? And we know the Psychologist is able to hyponotise the others into seeing the abnormal things as normal.

When the boar attacks, the phrases 'it's face becoming stranger and stranger... inner torment... its head pulled willfully to the left... great cry of anguish'

And with the moaning creature:

This close the sound was more guttural, filled with confused anguish and rage

...

It was coming so fast, too fast. I could tell I wasn’t going to make it, couldn’t possibly make it, not at that angle... But then the way was clear, and from almost right behind I heard a high keening, and the feeling of the space, the air, suddenly filled, and the sound of something massive trying to brake, trying to change direction, and being pulled into the reeds on the opposite side of the trail by its own momentum.

But anyway, I'm wondering if the boar was maybe the moaning creature but they just couldn't *tell* it was the moaning creature because of prior hypnosis (i know the Psychologist didn't have time during the charge to hypnotise, but surely they had been hypnotised to see things as normal before that? After all, the biologist see the tower as stone until she gets the spores in her face.)

And, if the boar and the moaning creatuee are the same, whether it wasn't her brightness that allowed her to escape the moaning creature but rather it was whatever had caused the 'boar' to veer aside. Just, the imagery of the charges seem so similar to me.

OOH FASCINATING!!!! i have not seen this idea posed anywhere else but i really love it and i think it fits well. the moaning creature is not described as looking boar-like (the biologist never actually sees it), but i dont think that makes this any less viable. the vibes feel EXTREMELY similiar!!

its important to remember that before the biologist is exposed to the brightness, all of her narration and thoughts are completely unreliable and change at the whims of the psychologist. the psychologist can also give commands that are completely forgotten, but still followed. there are a couple times where the biologist thinks things that are completely out of character for her, so its evidence of the psychologist's tampering. i think the situation with the boar could be one of these times! the biologist thinks:

"There was no time for the psychologist to prepare any hypnotic suggestion designed to keep us focused and in control; in fact all she could offer was 'Don't get close to it! Don't let it touch you!'"

which is odd, to me, since it makes it seem like the biologist wanted to be hypnotically suggested AND its just wrong! the psychologist had plenty of time to suggest, the boar was coming towards them for long enough that the anthropologist started giggling. so probably a minute, at least. the psychologist suggests more complicated commands in less time later in the book, and she has no reason to assume it would take longer. so why is the biologist thinking of this?

maybe because the psychologist DID suggest to them, but didnt want them to catch onto the danger of what it actually is and especially didnt want them to open fire and anger it! i'd imagine the command was something like "You see a boar in front of you. You are too afraid to fire any weapons and are intimidated by it. You wish I had commanded you to focus. You won't remember any of this," or something. the psychologist may have had reasons to believe the moaning creature was extremely dangerous/infectious, so she probably wanted to avoid a real combat with it!

as for why the boar veers to the side and why the biologist is able to escape the moaning creature... i'm not sure! what the boar is experiencing sounds a lot like the brightness:

"Inner torment ... I had the startling impression of some presence in the way the gaze seemed turned inward ... A kind of electricity sparked in it's eyes that I could not credit as real."

the moaning creature, presumably, is the transformed form of the man the biologist finds in nasty shell form later on. maybe he was still in the beginning his transformation here (under the boar vision), so he has enough sense to veer away from an expedition team? but thats really just a guess.

i absolutely love this, 100% incorporating it into my canon of the story now. really really good find!!!! welcome to the southern reach fandom, you already found something awesome \o/ !

edit: aha! i was wrong! the moaning creature IS described as looking hog-like, in acceptance! i'll admit, its been a while since i read acceptance so i totally forgot about that. adds even more credence to this!

#annihilation #southern reach trilogy #transmission received

[imagopirateversion]

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales; Why It Shouldn’t Exist

Or how I invested time and energy into an analysis of a relatively dead franchise instead of doing it for my actual media analysis university course.

An essay by: a bitter and obsessed PotC fan since they were 7, with a lot of free time.

Lads, this is going to be long. You have been warned.

The Beginning

At the very beginning of the movie, we see a young Henry Turner looking for his dad.

Now, we're not talking about characterization problems or how likely it is that a ten-year-old child would risk his life to look for a man he technically only saw once; we're talking about plot problems, actual logical fallacies. My questions are:

How? The Flying Dutchman is a legendary ship, impossible to be found unless She wants to be found. The only reason we see Her in Dead Man's Chest is because Davy Jones himself is looking for Jack to collect his debt, and in that occasion the Dutchman's captain wasn't even doing what he was supposed to do, so he was most definitely in the living world. Will otherwise, he's doing the job Calypso gave him, so he's constantly in between. Is the movie trying to convince me that a kid was able to do something no one in the history of piracy was ever able to do? And even if he did, why hasn't anyone explained me how? He simply looks at a map and throws himself on the bottom of the ocean. How did he know The Dutchman was there? How did he know it would've come to surface?

Where is his mom? We got to know Elizabeth in the first three movies; we know she's a smart woman and we can assume she's an attentive mother. She didn't notice her son preparing himself for a trip in the middle of the ocean to go look for his dad? Was she distracted? Was she outsmarted by a 10ish-year-old? Or is she just not contemplated in this scenario?

Why does Will look like that? Will is doing his job, so... why does he look like he's slowly corrupting? That kind of corruption is the punishment Calypso reserves to The Dutchman's crew when the captain fails her, which isn't the case. Did they forget about it? Was the idea of putting algae on Orlando Bloom's face just impossible to resist to?

Alright, this isn't actually from this movie but it's bothering me, so I have to write it; also, it would make this whole movie unnecessary, so it's somehow related to it. Why (and I can't stress this enough) can't Elizabeth be on the Dutchman? Why can't they do the job together? Is it because she's not a pirate? I'm pretty sure se actually is. Is it because she's a woman? Last time I checked she was the KING. She wants to stay with Will forever, Will wants to stay with her forever, they can literally live forever on the same ship. Why aren't they?

Whatever the Hell Happened to Jack Sparrow

Imagine creating a character that is so iconic whenever you ask a person who was a kid in the early 2000 to imagine a pirate, they imagine said character.

Now imagine fourteen years pass and you decide to ruin that character by making him the most hideous, annoying, idiotic person in the whole saga, and we're talking about a saga that has Philip the Missionary in it. Why? Jack Sparrow is THE anti-hero. Never on the right side, but never on the wrong one. You can tell he's doing something morally questionable, but you still find yourself rooting for him. He's stupid enough to make you laugh, but he's secretly clever enough to always get away with it. Now he's just... drunk. And that's not even an excuse for this horrendous new characterization, because he was always drunk. The guy FORGOT HE WAS ROBBING A BANK, the same guy just one movie earlier was able to escape from the King of England's palace and steal a lady's earring (by pretending to be a literal slut) in the process. He just switched from the iconic drunk bi bestie everyone loves to my cringe uncle that drinks too much at Christmas parties and makes everyone uncomfortable. Please, if the risk is ruining an entire generation's beloved character, either don't make the movie or find a better explanation than "Bad luck dogs you day and night".

The Pearl in The Bottle

So... what you're telling me is that Jack Sparrow, the guy who was able to defeat Hector Barbossa, Davy Jones and Blackbeard thanks to his slyness, and who loves his Black Pearl more than anything else in the world, had said ship in a bottle in his pockets for FIVE YEARS... and he never thought about breaking the bottle to free Her. That's what you're telling me. This is the pivotal point upon which the entire Jack's plot hinges. I... I don't even know what to say. Was this supposed to be funny?

What an Incredibly Lucky Coincidence

A guy needs a treasure to save his father. To find it, he needs the help of a notorious and legendary pirate. He looks for him everywhere, sailing on dozens of ships just so he has the remote chance to stumble across the pirate. The last ship he's been on has sinked, he's the only survivor. He's been found in the middle of the ocean and someone brought him to the nearest city. Which city? I mean, the one that has both the pirate he was looking for and a lady who's the only person in the whole planet who's able to find the treasure he was looking for! And, oh my... he finds the both of them! In that same city! Without even LOOKING FOR THEM! A hell of a coincidence, if you ask me. Also known as lazy writing.

What's Wrong With the Guards?

Now, I know Pirates of the Caribbean isn't exactly known for its accurate historical reconstructions, but why are the guards in this movie acting like they're some sort of hellhounds ready to kill anyone in sight? Even pirates and traitors as Jack and Henry were supposed to stand trial before being sentenced to death. It would've probably been an unjust and barbaric trial, but there should've been one. We literally saw it, in the previous movie. Why's Jack been sentenced to death for simply existing here? He gave pirate vibes and they decided that was enough?

Paul McCartney

This is not an actual point of the analysis, I just wanted to remind people that Paul McCartney is in this movie and that's the only valid reason to watch it.

Salazar

I am confused. Once again, I have questions.

El Matador Del Mar was so good at his job he had almost defeated piracy. "The last ones joined together to try and defeat me". The last what? Pirates? There were no pirates left? This happened when Jack was young, so a lot of time before the first movie, right? Where were, I don't know... Blackbeard? Davy Jones? Barbossa? All the other Pirate Lords? I might be wrong, but I guess Salazar didn't kill them, did he? Why weren't they there during that "last battle" in which "the last ones joined together"?

The Devil's Triangle. I just don't understand what's the logic behind it. So, this is a cursed place. Whoever enters there, can't get out. One would think it means that if you get there, you die; and Salazar does die, but he somehow also becomes a ghost whose only purpose is to find Jack Sparrow and have his revenge. So, do people become ghosts when they get in The Devil's Triangle? We have to assume people have gotten stuck in there before; otherwise, there wouldn't be legends around the place. So why isn't it like full of spirits ready to haunt people? Why are Salazar and his crew the only ones?

Poseidon or Calypso?

What's the Trident of Poseidon? Does Poseidon exist? Isn't Calypso the Goddess of the sea? Breaking the Trident, you break all the curses of the sea, so the Trident must be more powerful than Calypso, which leads to a question. Where is she? She IS the sea, right? So she must have known someone was about to find the Trident and brake all curses, including her one. She just decided it was okay? It really feels like someone decided to suddenly change the world's mythology without giving explanations.

The Compass

This is possibly the most blatant plot hole in the whole saga. Probably the most blatant plot hole I've ever witnessed, and man, I watched all the Harry Potter movies. In Dead Man's Chest, Jack meets Tia Dalma in her "shop" and he tells her he's looking for the Davy Jones' key. She asks him "The compass you bartered from me, it cannot lead you to this?", making another pivotal point of Dead Men Tell No Tales factually senseless.

That man couldn't have given his compass to Jack, because that wasn't his compass.

So either Salazar is lying while telling his tale or they forgot about that line in the second movie. Anyway, let's pretend that line doesn't exist; even if that captain gave Jack his compass in that exact moment, why would it be the key to free Salazar, exactly? How is the compass in any way related to The Devil's Triangle or to Salazar? In the movie, they try to explain it with a sentence: “if you betray it, your greatest fear comes true”. So, is Salazar Jack's greatest fear? I really doesn't seem right, Jack almost didn't remember Salazar when Henry mentioned him. To Jack, he's only a guy he outsmarted decades earlier. Also, Jack technically already gave the compass away, twice: to Elizabeth in Dead Man's Chest, to make her find the chest, and to Beckett in At World's End, when they're negotiating.

That's... That's Just Body Shaming, Mate

Let's talk about her. So, the woman's ugly. It can happen that a woman is ugly. Was it necessary to build an entire scene around some blatant body shaming? This scene wants to mimic the similar scene in Dead Man's Chest: Jack's on an island, running from the main villain, and he's forced to do things he doesn't want to do until someone saves him, then it was Will, now it's Hector.

Except in Dead Man's Chest it was LITERAL CANNIBALISM he was facing, and yet he looked LESS TERRIFIED and DISGUSTED. What's exactly the message here? Lads, is marrying an ugly woman worse than cannibalism? I don't know... that was just bad.

Justice for Hector Barbossa

If you know me (you probably don't, but if you do) then you know about my obsession with Hector Barbossa. I truly believe he's the best written character in the saga, and he's in my top five of the characters I love the most in all media. I watched The Curse of the Black Pearl when I was seven and I am autistic, so I had all the time to develop a literal relationship with these characters in my head. As much as Geoffrey Rush's interpretation was impeccable, as always, it really hurt to watch Hector in this movie. He just doesn't sound like him. First of all, why isn't he on the Queen Anne's Revenge? Why's he letting someone else sail around on his ships? He would've never. Why's he just sitting on a throne and shooting musicians instead of, I don't know... being a pirate? Being a pirate is the only thing that matters to him. He says it at the end of On Stranger Tides, and he even says it in this movie, to the witch. "I'm a pirate. Always will be".

So, why isn't he pirating? What happened to him? And what about the pact with the witch? He made her curse all his enemies; that's honestly the most out-of-character thing he could've done.

Seriously, watch this movie, and then The Curse of the Black Pearl and tell me he sounds like he's the same character. Then there’s his death... was it necessary? And I don't mean if it was necessary to the plot (it wasn't), but the way he died, did it make sense? He takes the sword and sacrifices himself to kill Salazar, but WHY? Salazar was back a mortal. They could've brought him to surface and then shoot him. What was the point of his death, Disney? I will never forgive you.

I would've preferred if they never showed him again. He's alive and living his best life in Tortuga, if you ask me.

How does Carina Smyth exist?

Let's do the math. Carina Smyth has approximately the same age as Henry Turner, who was born around nine moths after the end of At World's End. At the end of that movie, Barbossa once again stole the Black Pearl (he's iconic we stan a legend), so we have to assume it is during that time (between the At World's End and On Stranger Tides) that he conceives Carina. He stays with this woman during the whole pregnancy, bacause he says he was there when she died. So nine months, at least, right? Except; Jack makes it clear that he and Barbossa met Carina's mom, Margaret, together.

When, exactly, did this happen? It can't be between On Stranger Tides and Dead Men Tell No Tales, because Hector himself says only five years passed between the two, and Carina doesn't look like a five-year-old;

it can't be between At World's End and On Stranger Tides, because we know Jack and Barbossa weren't together, and Hector was too busy losing a leg and planning his revenge by working for the King of England; it can't be during At World's End, because Barbossa was too busy rescuing Jack and then slaying (literally and metaphorically) Beckett's men to save piracy; it can't be during Dead Man's Chest, because he was dead; it can't be during The Curse of the Black Pearl, nor during the ten years before it, because he was... he was a skeleton, I hardly believe he could reproduce, despite what’s written in some fanficions; it can't be before, of course, because Carina would be too old. The only chance, but it's a stretch, is that Hector and Jack met this Margaret Smyth years and years before, and that at a certain point (while he was still busy slaying, losing a leg or planning his revenge), for some reason he decided to come back to her and accidentally had a daughter. That would mean that Jack remembered Margaret Smyth's name DECADES after he met her.

The Post-Credit Scene: What?

WHY'S DAVY JONES BACK? The Trident technically broke all the curses of the sea. He is THE cursed man of the sea. AND HE'S DEAD. The only answer I was able to give me, is that the moment the Trident broke the curses, the curse that said if you stab his heart he dies was also broken, so he technically didn't die, but it makes even less sense, because if the curses just aren't real anymore, then a man shouldn't be able to... carve out his heart and put it in a chest, right? (Which by the way, makes Will Turner being alive senseless as well). Even if so, Davy should've come back as a human.

My conclusion is that this movie should not exist, and we, as a community, should pretend it was never made. Hector is alive. Bye.

Imago

#potc #pirates of the caribbean #potc analysis #dead men tell no tales #analysis #media analysis #pirates #jack sparrow #hector barbossa #carina smyth #henry turner #elizabeth swann #will turner #calypso #davy jones #salazar

[louellaby]

FORGET-ME-NOT

REPLACED!MC AU

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

W A R N I N G

May contain bad grammar, limited vocabulary, and OOC characters. Please mind that English is not my first language, and it takes a lot of courage for me to post due to my anxiety and paranoia.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

PROLOGUE | CHAPTER I | CHAPTER II | CHAPTER III | LOUE'S LETTER | CHAPTER IV | CHAPTER V | LOUE'S LETTER | CHAPTER VI | CHAPTER VII | CHAPTER VIII | CHAPTER IX | CHAPTER X | LOUE'S LETTER | EPILOGUE

P R O L O G U E

「 The Mysterious Acceptance Letter 」

U N K N O W N

Greetings, Lady Soley.

Y O U

Uhm... hello?

Who is this?

U N K N O W N

That is not important at the moment. We have other matters to discuss, you see.

Y O U

Uh, no, we don't!

I don't know who you are, nor how you got my number, so I'm not saying anything to you.

U N K N O W N

Well, it can't be helped then.

Am I right to assume you've received a letter this afternoon?

Your maids must have delivered it to you the moment you stepped in the property.

Y O U

Are you saying that it was you who sent it?

U N K N O W N

That is somewhat correct, yes, but it wasn't mine to write.

You see, my master has decided you would be a great candidate for the exchange program at our academy. The letter would send you here within a week, so please be prepared by then.

Please bring whatever you may need for the entire year. In fact, it's recommended.

Y O U

Wait, wait, wait!

What are you talking about?

You're not making sense here, you know!

How was I selected for a school when I hadn't even registered for anything?

And just who do you think you are telling me what to do?

I am not going anywhere a stranger tells me to.

Goodbye now, and you're blocked.

————————————————————————

Loud stomping of a young lady could be heard through the halls of their mansion despite the carpeted flooring. Everyone knew what she was feeling and decided to keep their distance from her until she reached her destination: the office.

"My Lady, I believe it is past your bedtime," the butler who only arrived at the doors himself called out to the girl who huffed upon seeing him. "Do you have business with the Lord?"

"He's my father, Heath. I don't need any reason, nor permission to see him whenever I want to." She replied, placing her hands on both handles of the doors. "I certainly need no scolding from you. Remind yourself of your position in this household."

Without another word, the lady opened the doors herself and entered without waiting for the butler's response. He quietly sighed when he was sure no one was around and whispered, "Yes, of course."

————————————————————————

"Father!" The girl pushed open another set of doors that blocked her way, entering the room within the office that was filled with books and papers. "I knew you'd be up this late again!"

"Soley?" An exhausted groan came from behind a stack of books resting on top of a wide desk. The man who sat there had dark circles under his eyes, and the wrinkles on his worn-out face were visible. Even then, he smiled like nothing was wrong when he saw his only daughter marching her way towards him. "How can I help my sweet little buttercup?"

Soley slammed the letter she received onto the desk and pouted. "I want to know where this letter came from. Find the sender and threaten them to not bother me anymore!"

The man looked at his daughter with a puzzled expression. His mind was working a little slower than normal due to fatigue, but he did his best to keep up with his daughter's nonsense. "I'm sorry, what? I didn't know you received a letter. From whom is it?"

"That's what I want to know, Father! I also got a message from an unknown number! You didn't apply me into any academies without my knowledge, now did you?" Soley placed her phone on the desk with the chat from the unknown number open and clear for her father to see.

As the man read through the messages and the contents of the letter, someone else entered the room with a tray of tea and desserts in hand. "My apologies if I disturbed you, my lord, but I have your snacks ready. I also have your favourites, my lady, if you're staying a while."

The girl huffed as she crossed her arms. She only came there for information, but she knew she wouldn't get it in such a short time considering the state of her father.

Not that she cared about that.

"Fine, serve me the tea and sweets, Heath," she sighed and plopped herself onto the soft couch that rested on the side of the room. "I'm not leaving until I get the information I need."

Her father looked up from the letter and eyed his daughter with an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, darling, but this could take a few days— maybe even longer."

"I don't have that much time, Father! I can't keep myself occupied with this nonsense, I have a party I need to prepare for! The stranger said that I only have a week left before I get whisked away!"

"And how would that actually go, my lady?"

All eyes darted towards the butler, who poured tea into the girl's cup. Soley narrowed her eyes at him, but he just looked at her with a slight smile, clearly hiding a laugh. "What do you mean, Heath...?"

"It is exactly as I asked," he answered, "How would they go taking you away without our knowledge? You are heavily protected by your talented guards the whole day through, and your room is kept guarded from the outside. No one would be able to take you away with ease."

"Well, there's telepor.... ta... tion...."

The silence after her argument increased the heat on the girl's face. She realised what she said and felt absolutely embarrassed. Teleportation? How absurd!There's no such thing as that, and the butler was right! No one could successfully take her by force. Not with her being fully guarded 24/7.

With a red face and gritted teeth, Soley got up from the couch, took both her phone and the letter with her and stomped her way out of the office, leaving the two men watch her back as she disappeared from their sight.

She didn't know she'd be reassured just like that when she only wanted information about the sender.

"Good evening, lady Soley," The night guards in front of her room greeted her as she approached the doors that they opened for her. "We wish you sweet dreams."

Heath is right. I'm protected.

No one can get me, and magic doesn't exist.

The girl threw herself on her bed and looked at the open letter she hovered above her face.

————————————————————————

Greetings to Lady Soley Day,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to attend the Royal Academy of Diavolo, or RAD, as we call it, as an exchange student for our current programme amongst all three worlds.

You are expected to stay for an entire year, fully protected by the Seven Rulers of the Devildom, along with the ambassador from the Human Realm. Safety would never be a concern, we assure you.

Attached to this letter is a summoning circle that will be activated in a week's time. Please prepare everything you would need for your stay.

We are looking forward to seeing you!

Sincerely,

RAD Student Council

————————————————————————

Now that she actually read it herself, the letter sounded stupid and unrealistic. She embarrassed herself in front of her father for this reason?

Little did she know, a group of demons, angels and humans down, down under, was already preparing for her arrival.

Just seven days left.

CHAPTER I 」

Hello, everyone! Loue here.

Thank you so much for reading and getting this far! I really hope you enjoyed it...! This is my very first post, and very first fanfic, so I'm here just sweating profusely because of how nervous I am.

Also, this is my first time posting on Tumblr, and I'm doing everything on my phone, so I'm still not familiar with stuff around here. Please bear with me.

Until next time! (´｡• ᵕ •｡`) ♡

#obey me #obey me shall we date #obey me replaced mc au #obey me angst #Forget-Me-Not

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

Hello! Any advice about writing Lily? I’m hopefully writing the co-writing summer challenge with her as one of the main characters, so any advice would be appreciated!

You mean Lily Evans?

Well, the thing is, @therealvinelle and I have... pretty much made that character up. I'll fully admit to it because what we're given in canon is hilariously small in comparison to James (given a lot more screentime and defining traits)

We're told that Lily was a favorite of Slughorn's (which per a post that has yet to be written was a... alarming scene in HBP, let me tell you) and that she was talented in Potions. She had a good wand for Charms. Those who talk about her say she was nice, perhaps had a bit of a temper, and then quickly pivot to James.

This was the invisible woman.

What this means is that you can pretty much do whatever you want and no one will cry foul at you. So long as you're consistent and have an idea of who you think she is, you should be good.

But I can tell you how @therealvinelle and I characterize her.

She's Scarily Intelligent and Ingenious

What we do know about her canonically is that she was the driving force of the protections surrounding not only Harry and the Dursleys. We're never told what she did, exactly, but we're told it's her handiwork and we see its effects.

No one can attack the Dursley's home or presumably cause harm to its inhabitants while there. Voldemort is unable to even touch Harry's skin without melting like the Wicked Witch of the West.

These protections cannot be replicated on any other safehouse including Grimmauld Place, the Burrow, or any other place the Order has an interest in protecting.

To get around the protections, Voldemort has to create a homunculus using Harry's own blood (note this was not his first choice which was the Philosopher's Stone and had he not had this issue he may have tried a different 'enemy')

This is someone who managed this at 21 with no education after Hogwarts, who is locked in a house with very few books, and presumably does so under the nose of Dumbledore as well as her husband.

Depending where you lean headcanon wise/explanation wise, Lily also is responsible for deflecting the killing curse for Harry: something no one else had ever done beforehand or after (Harry resurrecting continually for unexplained reasons).

As a result, we tend to write her as an intensely thoughtful and innovative person who spends a long time thinking things through and searching for solutions to problems. We also write her as a very pragmatic person, the kind who would consider the solution of sacrificing herself for the protection of her son and family and then go through with it.

No One Realizes She's Brilliant

Lily is noted as being good at Potions in the same breath as James being good at Transfiguration. Now, James did become an animagi at thirteen, that's nothing to sneeze at and per canon is impressive, however it's not the protections placed on Harry.

The most credit Lily is given is from Dumbledore who... praises her as a woman who sacrificed herself for her child and nothing else. She's not noted as the greatest witch of her generation the way Hermione is or talked about much at all.

What we're looking at is someone who did well enough in school, probably better grades than Harry, but no one really recognized her for what she was (probably because she wasn't a memorizer/rote learner the way Hogwarts encourages).

As a result, @therealvinelle and I tend to see her as suffering intense imposter syndrome. She assumes everyone knows what she knows or that, when dismissed or contradicted (particularly by someone like Dumbledore), that there must be something she didn't consider that they must know of.

She's Well Liked But No One's Close to Her

Given the canonical reactions and the fact that she's cited as having no close friends beyond Severus (who she severed ties with), it seems that she was very amiable and well liked but that she put up walls and was a very difficult person to get to know without anyone realizing as much.

She's one of those people you meet who you think is charming but then realize later after you've walked away that you don't know a single personal thing about them. (If, of course, they realize this at all, which the entire world does not).

This is likely to hide vulnerabilities and perhaps in reaction to being Muggleborn in a wizard's world.

As a result, she's also an intensely lonely person for all she doesn't admit as much even to herself. James ends up her closest connection but their relationship is strained by being in hiding and ultimately having conflicting personalities.

The Snape Thing

This is where uh... there are opinions from other parts of fandom. This one you're on your own for in explaining why Lily left Snape and then dated James and how it makes sense for her as a person (whether you like it or not is a different story, but if you want a consistent character there should be a reason both of these things happen).

I won't get into this here as it's not really the post for it but it's something you'll have to understand if you want to write her consistently as a character (even if it's an AU where that event doesn't happen)

TL;DR

The best advice I can give is to read @therealvinelle or my fics featuring her as a character.

You got anything, @therealvinelle?

#writing #lily evans #writing advice #vinelle #therealvinelle

[rollinouttahere-writes]

Now that it’s confirmed that Kid is yandere for Lucky I now think it is HILARIOUS to assume that Kid went after Shanks for the simple reason that he too also likes Lucky and Kid wants to weed out the competition and he thought “The bigger the better! She’ll totally like me if she sees how strong I am and how well I can protect her!! No one will wanna go near her!!!” Completely underestimating how delusional/down bad ALL of them are for her.

But if anyone ask Kid why he’s going after Shanks he’ll tell em “It’s for the glory!!! I want the title!!!” And Killers in the background like, “Ya Kid… Whatever you say Kid! Everyone TOTALLY believes that one Kid!” while making faces at Heat and Wire.

Killer every time Kid opens his mouth and starts on some elaborate lie/rant as to why he’s going after Shanks:

Lucky lets it happen cause the problem will eventually take care of itself if it goes down gladiator ring style.

Killer and the rest of the crew have to endure listening to him make up excuses for every interaction between them and the Straw Hats. It's not for Lucky, he definitely just wants to eliminate them that's it! Same for Shanks!

That aside, I'm going to use this as an opportunity to talk more about Lucky and Kid's relationship because I want to.

Fun fact, their connection was established in chapter one of Lucky Break, but I'm not sure anyone noticed it. In the prologue, it's explicitly stated that Lucky was holding her backpack when she fell into the One Piece world. In chapter one, there is no mention of it. This wasn't a fuck up on my part, this was intentional.

When she is trying not to drown, she lets go of the backpack and it floats away. Eventually, someone on the Punk Victoria finds it and decides to grab it because there might be something interesting in it, and there was.

In the backpack are the following: a cellphone, a flashlight, a wallet, a snack bar, and some face masks and gloves.

Kid can't figure out what the cellphone and flashlight are supposed to be, and is very frustrated by this. Examining the wallet reveals some weird money and cards he doesn't recognize, but the most important thing in it is the ID. He first lays eyes on the picture, and he burns the face into his memory. If anyone can explain what the weird shit is that he found, it's going to be this woman.

He always has her ID on him on the off chance they run into each other, everything else is kept safe on the ship. Because he has Lucky's ID, he is one of the very few people outside of the Straw Hats that knows her real name.

Kid is the only yandere that was obsessed before he met her. He was so hung up on finding her that by the time they did meet, he fell hard and fast.

The first time he sees Lucky in person, it takes a minute because the scar throws him off, but when he takes out the ID to compare and says her name and she reacts to it? It's all over. He needs her on his ship now, and he won't take no for an answer. He's waited too long to get an explanation on what those weird things are he found. Lucky is definitely frightened by his rough demeanor, but she's hopeful that she'll be let go after explaining what the things he found were.

I'm sure none of y'all need me to tell you that's not what happens. Kid may have some answers, however confusing, but the obsession isn't gone. He still wants to keep her.

On the scale I mentioned previously when discussing Kaku, Kid is all the way over on the 'OH GOD NO' side. He's unfriendly, unnecessarily cruel, and is one of the few yanderes that would be willing to hurt Lucky if it meant keeping her. It's not his first option by any means, but it isn't off the table either and he lets her know that. Yet he's somehow surprised when she's afraid of him.

He can be nice in his own ways, but he's bad at it. If he sees Lucky shivering, he'll throw his coat at her while yelling at her to 'stop shivering it looks pathetic'.

While he would say that he doesn't care if she likes him or not so long as he has her, he's lying. If she genuinely never grew fond of him it would bother him deeply.

#lucky break #eustass kid #rebeccawinters

[skyeeuphixia]

𝚜𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚝 𝚒𝚐𝚗𝚘𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎 // 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚘𝚗𝚎

lip gallagher x northside OC (Daisy) summary: in which lip could never see himself falling for a girl from the northside 

part one of ?

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warnings: swearing, smoking word count: 3098

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Lip had no idea why a girl from the northside attended a shitty public school in the southside. And quite frankly, he couldn't care less. He had enough shit going on in his life, he didn't need to add thinking about some entitled priss onto that list.  She smiled constantly, and never seemed to get upset or let the intimidating southside area scare her. She was a privileged girl, anyone would assume so, and for that reason, Lip decided that he didn't like her. 

After all, "All northsiders are the same"

Lip had gone freshman and sophomore year without interacting with the girl once and so far, in junior year, he had maintained it. It wasn't like he was actively trying to ignore her. But he wasn't exactly displeased their paths had never met. All he knew of the girl was that she was from the northside and her name. Daisy. 

And he planned to keep it that way. Lip didn't care for people, his friends at school consisted of his brother Ian and Mandy Milkovich. He was too good for all the other incompetent assholes in their school, so not knowing the northside priss didn't drastically affect him and his day. 

That was until his plan got screwed over. 

⋆ ★

It wasn't a secret that Ian and Lip shared everything with each other, but there was one thing Ian didn't feel the need to mention. He and Daisy were friends. They don't know how it happened, but they were both late to their respective classes and had, quite literally, bumped into each other in the hall, which somehow resulted in a friendship. 

However, although they had been friends for quite some time now, Ian didn't actually know that much about her, she was quite a private person. 

Ian, Mandy and Lip were doing what they usually did at lunch, smoking in the boy's bathroom, laughing and spending the 30 minutes of learning free time they get together by chatting and not taking life seriously. 

"Hey Lip, do you think you could do me a favour?" Ian asks, after the laughter that occurred after a joke that Lip had cracked died down. 

"Depends what it is," The older boy replies, taking a long drag from his joint. 

"I have this friend in your year, she needs help with chemistry,"

"What does she need?"

"An A, she's got a C at the moment."

"Who is it?"

"Daisy Bennett," Ian replied almost hesitantly, he wasn't ignorant to the rumours and opinions people held of his friend, and he didn't know Mandy's or Lip's view on the girl, all he had heard was Mandy mention she liked the girl's pristine black combat boots, Mandy's being a size too small and covered in scuffs and mud. 

"Wait, Little Miss Priss? Why would you be friends with her?"

"Did she bribe you with her daddy's money?" Mandy piped in, smirking at the younger boy.

"No," Ian snapped back at them, "We just bumped into each other once and, I don't know we clicked, listen she's a nice girl and she needs some help with something, if you don't do it for her do it for me,"

Lip looked at his younger brother for a few moments, Ian never had that many friends, he got on with people, but he wouldn't call anyone, other than Lip and Mandy, his friends, so who knew what was so special about this girl. He was protective of his brother, and part of him just wanted to meet her so that he could make sure she wasn't going to hurt him. 

"Fine whatever, tell her to be at ours at 6, also whatever I normally charge, she pays double,"

"What why?" 

"She's from the northside Ian! I'm sure she could spare a few bucks to give to some southside lowlifes!"

Once Lip finishes speaking, the dull sound of the bell goes off, evident in its sound that it hasn't been fixed in years. The trio are quick to dispose of the evidence of them smoking before gathering their stuff and making their way out the bathroom, Ian helping Mandy down from the window still she was sitting on. Lip looked towards his brother one last time as he and Mandy walked away from the bathroom towards their respective classrooms, one thought on his mind.

What the hell am I getting myself into?

⋆ ★

After a long and gruelling day, where the same old boring teachers, taught the same boring shit for yet another year, it was nearly time for Daisy to be at the Gallaghers. One thing that Daisy's dad was keen to get into her at a young age was being punctual, she regularly arrived early for things, and was never more than 3 minutes late. So here she was, walking up the steps to the Gallagher steps at 5:59. 

Daisy was nervous about this study session, not just because she would be tutored by someone she had never met before, she had seen Lip around, but never actually spoken to him, she was also nervous because she had been told stories by Ian about his family and how crazy they can be. She both knew exactly and had no idea what to expect. 

She hesitated a moment before knocking on the door, rocking back and forth on her heels slightly, holding her laptop, textbook and notebook close to her chest.  

A few moments later, the door swings open, revealing a young, redheaded girl, who looked up at the older girl curiously. 

This must be Debbie

"Who are you?" She asked, looking at the girl almost matching the older girl's stance.

"Uh hey, I'm Daisy," Daisy replies, smiling at the shorter girl, "Is Lip in?"

"Yeah, why?" 

"Oh, he's helping me study," 

"Debbie who's at the door?" An older voice asks, coming up and standing behind the young Gallagher, this woman was a lot taller than her younger sister, she had on a grey striped top and had long brown hair that looked somewhere between half brushed and neatly put together. 

Fiona

"Who are you?" Fiona asked, her tone changing slightly, looking Daisy up and down taking in her appearance. Daisy clearly stuck out like a sore thumb in this neighbourhood, her clothes were neat and put together, with a preppy, private school uniform feel around them. Daisy could tell that Fiona was judging her, she really wanted to be wanted by the Gallaghers, especially the matriarch Fiona, because without her approval, she'd never be allowed near her friend Ian again.

"Hey, I'm Daisy,  Lip's helping me with Chemistry." 

"You're Ian's friend right?" Fiona said suspiciously, having heard the name Daisy thrown around by Ian occasionally, not remember much from what she heard, only that she was from the northside, but Fiona could guess that already. 

"Yeah, I am, is he in?" Daisy answered, watching as Fiona gently pushed Debbie back into the house.

"No, he's at ROTC, so you're close huh?" 

"Well- I guess, we don't have any classes together and he spends a lot of time with Lip and, oh what's her name," Dasiy takes a few seconds to think, "ah! Mandy Milkovich, but we do homework together in the library after school sometimes." 

"Too good for Lip and Mandy then?" Fiona accused, she wasn't intentionally trying to make the girl uncomfortable, but she, like most Southsiders, didn't take kindly to northsiders showing up around their area, to anyone else, a northsider befriending a Southsider might be considered 'Charity work', and if this preppy priss thought that Ian was going to be charity work, she had another thing coming. 

"Oh no, not at all, they actually seem pretty cool, I just assume I won't be welcome, people at school tend to not want me around," Daisy answered honestly, not even letting her smile falter.

At that moment, Fiona felt bad for the girl in front of her, in their short interaction, she seemed nice enough, Fiona had nothing to judge her for other than she was from the northside, and that wasn't a lot to go off of. But clearly, the others at school believed that was reason enough to completely isolate the girl. 

"Ok, ok," Fiona muttered, turning her body so she was facing the inside of the house, "Lip! Your friend's here to study!" She yelled into the house, surely making everyone in the house jump.  

After a few moments pass, the two girls hear the sound of heavy footsteps trudging down the stairs and towards them. Lip rounded the corner towards them, not looking particularly impressed, muttering something along the lines of 'she's not my friend' to Fiona. 

He inhaled slightly before acknowledging Daisy, "Hey, come on in." He sighs, not even giving her a moment to reply before making his way into the house ahead of her as if he was trying to get away from her and get her off his tail as quickly as possible.

Fiona stepped aside, allowing Daisy to step out from the cold Chicago air to the slightly less cold Gallagher house, clearly, the heating was either broken or they had it down really low because of the bills. 

Daisy quickly followed after Lip, who was already halfway up the stairs, not having time to acknowledge the others who were sitting on the living room couch. Daisy just managed to slip into the boy's bedroom after Lip, which was lucky on her part, because if she hadn't caught up as quickly as she did, Lip probably would have slammed the door in her face. 

Lip knocked a few stuff off his desk, making room for the two of them as Daisy stood awkwardly in the middle of the room, still hugging her stuff close to her body, as she took in her surrounding. Their room wasn't small by any means, if one kid was living in it, then this room would actually be quite big, the thing is by the number of beds, there were clearly three people living in this room, who Daisy assumed was Lip, Ian and their little brother Carl, giving off the illusion that the room was much smaller than it actually was. 

The room was messy as well, all the blankets were randomly bunched up on the beds, clothes were on the floor, and random papers were all over the desk under the cabin bed (which Dasiy assumed must be Lips due to the assortment of space posters and the generally 'smart kid' vibe said corner of the room gave off) but Lip was just carelessly shoving them into the already full drawer at the side of the desk. 

There was another thing that Daisy's dad had drilled into her at a young age, neatness, especially if there was a guest, even if the guest wasn't even going to see her room! It still had to be spotless with not even a hair band on the floor. She had also been told how to be a polite guest and a polite host, but all it had really taught her was she was supposed to respect others as a given, whereas any respect for her had to be earned. 

"Yo, just gonna stand there forever or do you actually wanna get shit done?" Lip asks, breaking Daisy's train of thought, making her realize that he was now sitting down at a 'clean' desk, staring at her expectantly. 

"Yeah, sorry," she apologised, taking a seat next to him and putting her stuff down in a neat pile on the desk.

Lip grabs her notebook and starts flicking through it, Daisy honestly couldn't tell if he was even paying attention to anything in there, "So what's the quiz on?"

"Uh Section C of the textbook," 

"When's the quiz?"

"Two days"

"What don't you get?" Lip asks boredly, now flicking through her textbook to section C, seeing what he considered pretty easy content. 

"Um, any of it?" Daisy says hesitantly, scratching the back of her neck slightly, dropping her gaze to the textbook when she notices the unimpressed look on Lip's face. 

"Seriously? This shit is so simple!" Lip almost laughed.

"Yeah well not all subjects come naturally, I'm sure I can get there if maybe it was explained a different way, but Mr Gilbert refuses to explain it any other way because 'if you can't do it my way, maybe you're just destined to fail'," Daisy defends. She wasn't a dumb student at all, she excelled in subjects like English Literature and History. But there were some subjects like maths and science that she just couldn't do naturally and needed extra help with, luckily her maths teacher offered that, Mr Gilbert, however, did not.

"Whatever let's just go from the beginning and work our way through." Lip sighs, picking up two pens, handing one to her, before reading out the first paragraph of the textbook. 

⋆ ★

The two sixteen-year-olds had been studying for about an hour, Lip giving Daisy a few practice questions and using the time to get his old, tattered maths textbook out to do some work himself. Turns out, doing work with someone else in the room, who was also focused was actually a good study method. 

"So," Lip said, deciding to spark a conversation with the other, his curiosity getting the better of him, "Daddy couldn't hire you your own private chemistry teacher?"

Daisy huffed in slight amusement, tapping her pen against her notebook as she tried to both focus on a conversation and figure out a particularly hard question that Lip had written, "Nope, he doesn't even know I'm failing,"

"Last time I check a C wasn't a fail, for someone who isn't good at chemistry naturally, it's decent" 

"Not good enough for him," Daisy sighed, "Anything below an A is a failure in his eyes," 

"Shitty dad huh?" Lip asks, finally looking over at her.

"I guess yeah, he just wants me to do well" She replied shortly not giving Lip much more to go off of. Lip was normally good at reading people, but Daisy was difficult. He could now tell that her politeness was genuine, which surprised him, and also that she wasn't just using this study session as a way to sleep with him. This also surprised him, because he had had offers from other girls to study who would happen to have 'left their wallet at home' but repay him with a hummer.  Daisy wanted to study, despite clearly not enjoying the subject.

"How come you go to a shitty southside school then?" Lip asks after a few moments. 

"Well my dad wanted me to go to some private school somewhere, didn't matter where he just wanted me to get the highest quality education, my grandma didn't want me too far away though, so she wanted me to go to a school in walking distance to her house, our school was the only one that was a 10-minute walk," Daisy answered. 

"Your grandma lives in the southside?"

"For someone who doesn't like northside people, you seem to ask a lot of questions," Daisy says, looking up and smiling, finding herself looking right into his eyes. They were very pretty, she couldn't deny that.  She wouldn't deny that "It's getting late, I should go." She sighed gathering her stuff.

"Yeah, uhh, tell me how the test goes." Lip says, standing up and walking out of the room with her, unintentionally walking her to the door.

"Oh, so you care how I do?" Daisy teased, smiling at him with a smile that made a strange feeling happen in Lip's chest, one he didn't quite understand. 

"I care, that my tutoring works, I could use the ego boost," Lip smirks. 

"Ahh of course." Daisy shakes her head, reaching the door with him, "Oh um here!" She says, reaching into the pocket of her jacket, and pulling out a fifty-dollar bill.

"Oh no it's fine," Lip brushes off without even thinking about it, "I only charge thirty anyway, that's way too much"

"I know, Ian told me you'd charge me extra, wasn't expecting you to deny the money though, but I'm serious take it,"

"Listen maybe I'd take the thirty but fifty is too much." 

Daisy rolled her eyes, and forced the note into his hand, "Thirty for the help, and twenty for a new maths textbook, yours looks like it will fall apart any moment," Daisy smiles, before rushing out of the house. Leaving Lip no room to argue.

⋆ ★

Lip didn't know when in the day Daisy's test was, but it was now lunch and he was yet to see her, not that he wanted to. He just wanted to know if he wasted an hour of his evening for nothing or not. 

He, Ian and Mandy were walking to their last classes of the day, all of their classes being in the same general direction, when Daisy appears from nowhere, tackling Lip into a giant bear hug, winding him for a split second. Ian and Mandy look at the pair wide-eyed, the girl's strange act also getting the attention of a few passing students. 

In complete shock, Lip didn't have the time to process what she was doing before she spoke, "You are amazing!" She celebrates, pulling away from and smiling brightly at Lip as he desperately tries to ignore the pounding in his chest. 

"I'm assuming this means you got a good score?" Lip asks, the trace of a smile on his face, trying not to give the wrong impression to Mandy and Ian, who were watching the interaction almost eagerly.

"I got a 91/100! Just scraped it! Honestly, Lip thank you so much!" Daisy said breathlessly, her bright smile refusing to leave her face. 

"Yeah uh, no problem," Lip chuckled slightly, the dull tone of the bell going off, indicating that class was about to start, "Um, I'll see you around?"

"Yeah, definitely," Daisy blushes, offering Lip one last thank you before turning away and walking towards her class, a slight bounce in her step.

Lip was so in his own thoughts, that he didn't notice he was watching fondly after her, thinking about the strange girl that, he had to admit, piqued his interest. 

"She's not too bad huh?" Ian smirked at his brother, breaking the older boy from his thoughts.

"Shut up," Lip scoffed, punching his brother as the trio started to walk to their classes again, not answering Ian out loud, but he couldn't even deny his own thoughts anymore; 

Not bad at all Ian, she really is something... something good

⋆ ★ (fin)

#shameless #lip gallagher #ian gallagher #fiona gallagher #debbie gallagher #carl gallagher #southside #lip gallagher x OC #lip gallagher imagine

[bippot]

*Sorry it took soo long! The big doc that I had all my plans on got corrupted and I had to re-do the plot of the last few chapters cause I couldn't remember what I'd originally thought was gonna happen!*

Summary: How many times does Vigilante need to get injured before Harcourt finally gives in and hires a medic to help out with the squad's injuries? Far too many times, that's how many.

When it's uncovered that a fancy hotel is linked to, not only what's left of the legion of butterflies, but also a string of weird deaths and missing persons reports, the only two for the job are lovesick Adrian and the newbie.

Additional Tags: Canon-Typical Violence, Gun Violence, Blood and Injury, Undercover as a Couple, Fluff, Idiots in Love, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Summer Vacation, Butterflies, Alien Invasion, Stitches, Weird Biology, Creep in a Bathroom, Aphrodisiacs, Date Rape Drug/Roofies, Drugging, Peeping, general weirdness, Human Experimentation, Eventual Smut, p in v, Human Farming

Peacemaker, Adrian Chase Masterlist - here

Previous chapter: Raw

Y/N stayed awake all night. She couldn't sleep no matter how much she wanted to. The worry that Adrian would suddenly choke on his tongue or go into shock in his sleep was far too prevalent in her mind for it to shut off for a few hours. He seemed fine on the outside. As far as she could see, the aphrodisiacs were out of his system. They'd been fucked out. But, there was no way of knowing if there were any side effects that might be brought about. For all she knew, there could be an effect that wasn't visible until hours later and she needed to be alert for that.

Around 7 in the morning, he began to wake up. Y/N let out a sigh of relief as she watched him open his eyes and blink at her owlishly, a small frown marring his brows before it was replaced with a smile.

"Morning."

"Good morning," she replied in a whisper, smiling softly. "How are you feeling?"

"Much better." He shifted on top of her, causing her to raise a brow, and hummed in response before pressing a kiss on her shoulder. A mischievous look flashed across his beautiful emerald green eyes. "We had sex last night."

"Yep."

"Like, a lot of times."

"Uh-huh."

"And you enjoyed it?"

"I did. Did you?"

"That's an insane question to ask. Yes! Of course I fucking enjoyed it!" he barked playfully as he propped his chin up with his hand. An eyelash had fallen onto his cheek so Y/N gently brushed it away and his brain couldn't handle it. Adrian was closing the gap between their lips in a second flat, crashing his mouth onto hers in a passionate, desperate manner.

Would he ever find someone else who was so sweet to him? Someone who understood him so well? Someone who cared enough to take care of him despite his rough edges? Someone who wouldn't run scared after hearing a word he said, or look at him like he had gone completely crazy?

"When we get back to Evergreen, I'm going to challenge Harcourt to a duel."

"...What?"

"I'm challenging her to a duel and totally gonna win it," he continued, ignoring the incredulous look that crossed her features, "For you."

"Why?!"

A smile spread across his handsome face. "Yeah, she's the reason that we're not together in real life, right? Cause she's got this claim on you or whatever - " he began but was interrupted by Y/N laughing at him. Adrian blinked at her.

"Emilia is my sister," Y/N explained, not at all hiding her amusement about his completely misguided view on the siblings' relationship. "Technically half sister."

"SISTER?" He repeated, dumbfounded as he stared at her. "How long has that been a thing?"

"Um...since I was born. I guess."

HOLY FUCK! His mind was blown. This was vital information that nobody had told him. Did everyone else just assume he picked up on that? Or did they all band together and purposely not tell him so he'd look like an idiot when he asked?

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I assumed you were told."

All of his body weight suddenly was on top of her, pinning her beneath his body as he pressed a kiss directly on her jawline. "I fucking wasn't," he muttered gruffly in her ear as he nuzzled it affectionately, making her giggle, "I wish I'd known earlier because I would've put the moves on you so hard!"

"Yeah? What's your best move, huh?"

Honestly, Adrian didn't have any moves. None. He wasn't good with women. Other than his nana - RIP - and Dolores, he hadn't had many women in his life that actually liked him. Those two were elderly women that saw him as a child to be coddled than a 'man'. Men should have moves. He's a man to Y/N. Yeah, he could have moves if he tried.

"The only move I have is being so fucking surprised that you actually like me! You! A total babe from the hottest planet of absolute babes. Like me? That's literally insane!" he babbled as he kissed up her neck. His hands worked their way under her shirt, cupping one of her breasts as his tongue flicked against her sensitive skin. "If we ever get married and you want kids, I'll happily give you as many as you want. We'll have an entire litter of the little shits and they'll be so fucking cute because they'll have your genes. Or if you don't want kids, we could have cats. Or dogs. Or maybe a few ferrets. I think having a ferret would be cool."

Yeah, his move worked. There's nothing more attractive than earnestness. And the promise of commitment with a guy who you desperately want commitment with. Y/N was sold. She'd already been sold. She was sold the moment she'd met the guy - 'the idiot named Vigilante' - that she'd been told to patch up.

"Is it a good move?"

"I adore you. So much."

His expression turned so bashful as he gazed upon her, admiring the beauty in his eyes as he ran his fingertips lightly over her bare midriff. She bit her lip, her smile growing brighter as her fingers threaded through the strands of his hair, playing with them absentmindedly. "I'm in love with you," he blurted out, unable to stop himself.

"I know." She whispered in reply, smiling warmly up at him. Her heart was bursting with happiness as she looked up into his gorgeous green eyes, taking in his breathtakingly handsome face before leaning forward and capturing his mouth in a searing kiss. "I'm in love with you too, champ."

Adrian smiled against her lips, pure relief and joy flooding his veins as he kissed her back eagerly. This was the best day ever! Nothing could ruin it!

Their smooch came to an abrupt halt when Y/N yawned right up against him. "Sorry. I'm sorry. Just tired," she apologised, yawning once again when her sentence ended.

"You didn't sleep?"

"I was in a worry."

"About me?" Y/N nodded. "You were worried about me. Wow, thank you. Nobody has really done that for me since my Nana passed. Yeah, uh, thank you. Kinda makes me feel special, actually."

Slightly awkwardly, he chuckled after his admission - despite the fact he'd just professed his love for her - before giving her a peck on the tip of her nose. "Go back to sleep. We've still got an hour or so before breakfast and I'll do some gay bee reconnaissance while you're out so it looks like we're working really hard instead of all the fucking and sleeping that we actually do."

That was a good plan, one that Y/N was so prepared to carry out. She let Adrian peel himself out of their embrace so he could retrieve the remote controlled bee from its case but as soon as he was back with her, she was falling asleep with her head on his chest. At first, Adrian completely forgot that he was supposed to be spying and just watched Y/N sleep. He realised that he did that a lot. There was this giddiness inside his heart whenever she proved that she trusted him enough to go unconscious in his presence.

Maybe it wasn't as much as a big deal for her, but for Adrian, it was almost impossible for him to allow himself to become vulnerable with anyone else in the room. There was one mission before Y/N joined the squad where they had to share hotel rooms. Vigilante, as much as it excites him to be around Peacemaker, didn't trust the guy not to fuck with him or draw a dick on his head or anything like that, so he stayed awake the entire night to ensure Chris didn't pull anything.

For five, maybe ten minutes, he brushed his fingers through her hair and watched as she drifted further and further off with a content smile etched upon her face. She was snuggled close to him, arms wrapped securely around his waist and face buried within his chest. Just looking down at her made him unbelievably happy.

Then he remembered 'shit, I'm supposed to be spying right now' and got to that. Auggie's gay bee was buzzing out of their hotel room and further into the hotel in no time. At first, there wasn't anything that really stood out. Staff did their jobs. Other vacationers were awake and got to their breakfast buffet as it opened. Sparrow greeted each and every one of them with the smile that Adrian had come to hate. It was so forced. Obviously, there's a certain type of politeness that you need to have if you work in the service industry - and if you have to fake that, fair enough - but there was a smarmy-ness to Sparrow that accelerated any dislike Adrian had for the guy.

Just when Adrian was going to give up - nothing interesting at all had happened in the five minutes since he started and his attention was already falling off - Sam and Steve from next door ushered Sparrow into a quiet corner. "We have some good news," Sam began, her hushed voice barely covering her excitement.

Sparrow narrowed his eyes and glanced around to make eye contact with a nearby server, who nodded and hurried away to one of the staff areas. "Do tell," he urged, his hand making it to the small of Sam's back as he guided them further away from everyone else and out of the dining hall.

"All the massages and medication must've worked." Steve placed his palm on his wife's stomach. "Little O'Donnell has finally made an appearance."

Weird. Adrian had some idea that his pals - well, they were people who forcefully inserted themselves into most conversations the 'Bardot's' had without asking - were trying to have children. In fact, most of the couples, if not all that they'd spoken to, were in the process of attempting to conceive.

Guiding the O'Donnells through parts of the hotel Adrian had never gone down before, Sparrow congratulated the pair and asked so many follow up questions about the tot. Although, he didn't seem all that interested in the answers. He would say the question and then zone out for the entire time it was being answered, his head bobbing as if he was paying attention but his eyes making it very clear that he was disassociating.

The gay bee followed the trio further and further into the hotel - if he'd been watching when Y/N did reconnaissance yesterday, he would've noticed the familiar surroundings - until they entered a doctor's consulting room. Why was this down a random corridor in an alien hotel?

Sam and Steve were escorted inside and introduced to a doctor who called himself "Dr Yatz" who checked Sam's vitals, her blood pressure, took samples, and other various things that Adrian had no idea what the hell was happening. The guy seemed like he was a real doctor, but there was also something that seemed off about him.

Dr Yatz was an intense guy, Adrian decided. He was observant. It was like he was studying everyone around him to see if they knew shit that they didn't. And, he'd caught sight of the bee hovering and didn't even swat at it. He just glared at the little robot. Did he know?

Then, after to coming to the conclusion that, yes, Sam O'Donnell was experiencing symptoms of pregnancy, Dr Yatz pressed a button right next to the examination table to open a dumbwaiter on the other side of the room and Adrian knew that whatever was going to happen next wasn't going to be good.

He shook Y/N as fast as he could and through tired, half lidded eyes, saw as a beautiful blue rodent sized butterfly catapulted itself into Sam's throat and lodged itself inside her body. Sam spasmed for a few seconds, blood dripping from the corner of her lips, as her husband shrieked, then she fell into limp silence.

Y/N was awake in an instant. "What -!?" she exclaimed frantically, looking down at Sam's prone form.

Steve backed up into the nearest cabinet with wide, panicked eyes as Dr Yatz turned around swiftly. "Stay still," he said coldly, his tone low and intimidating as his eyes darted across Sam's features, assessing the situation.

"She's dying!" Steve yelled, panic laced in his words as he reached towards Sam.

"She's being reborn." Yatz's tone was firm, unwavering. His gaze snapped over to the bee and slapped it into the wall harshly. It hit the concrete floor with a dull thud and the video feed went out, static overtaking the display screen.

Back in the comfort of their hotel room, the duo were dumbfounded as they tried to make sense of what just happened. Sam was a butterfly now. Steve's fate was presumably the same. Dr Yatz was in the same building as them.

"I can figure this out," Y/N murmured breathlessly, more to herself than Adrian, as her hand came to rest upon the scar on the small of her back unconsciously. "Need to figure this out."

"Yeah, course you can, babe. You're, like, the smartest person I know."

“Let's get ready for breakfast. Other than fuck chocolate, you haven't eaten since yesterday lunchtime," she told him, whipping the duvet away from them and get up. They had to make an appearance at breakfast. That was obvious. Anyone who acted the slightest bit withdrawn or out of the ordinary was going to be scrutinised. "Gonna need our strength."

"I'm sure the fuck chocolate had some nutritional value."

"Well, I'm hungry so get outta bed cause I want food."

Within a second, he was out of bed and throwing his clothes on to do exactly as she said and make her happy. He made sure that he got her approval on his outfit before they left the room, then they were out the door and ready to exploit the all-you-can-eat breakfast at their disposal. Because, yeah, he was hungry. And if he was hungry, he had no idea how ravenous Y/N was. He had his stomach full of chocolate and his dick surrounded by pussy. He had truly been sated last night. Y/N, however, had been used and underfed and had only about 25 minutes of sleep and had been rudely awakened by the sight of an alien murder. If she thought it was best to get to breakfast, he was going to ensure they got breakfast.

"Fill your plate, baby. I literally going to have a mountain of waffles if Spencer over there hurries the fuck up," he joked as he placed a hand around Y/N's waist and tugged her close to his side while he grabbed two plates off of the buffet table with the other. As soon as he was done piling his plate high with eggs, sausage, pancakes, bacon, hash browns, French toast, sausages, and biscuits, they were sitting at their usual table and eying everyone as they walked in.

As expected, the O'Donnells didn't show. Presumably, they were dead and being used like puppets at this point.

For the rest of the day, Y/N tried to figure out what the hell was happening. Though they wanted nothing more than to lock themselves away in their room and get a conspiracy board going, they still had to pretend to be one of the regular vacationers.

Other than the obvious, the day itself had been rather uneventful.

Breakfast was normal. Lunch was. The daily affirmation session. The massages too. It was a lovely sunny day and guests were encouraged to hang out by the pool to soak in some vitamin D and indulge in some non-alcoholic beverages. The couple had to pretend that everything was swell and normal and they weren't freaking out.

As she was chatting to the other ladies, Y/N casually brought up pregnancy to them. She used the stereotypical 'now the wedding is done, onto kids' excuse and found out that every single woman she spoke to, was trying to have a baby. Every single one. Without fail. No matter if they already had a little one or this was their first go, they all had the goal of pregnancy. That had to be a piece of the puzzle.

With all this new information and the lack of sleep, Y/N was still exhausted. So, when she allowed herself to get out of the pool and join back up with her husband, Y/N was crawling onto the lounger and resting directly on top of Adrian, her back leaning against his front.

"Any news?"

"I think I might have some info. Tell you later."

Economos had packed Adrian a book for some reason. Just a normal Steven King book. He'd never even thought to look at it but he was bored and didn't want to get his hair wet so he sat under an umbrella and read a book. He looked like he'd been ripped directly from a travel agency advert with his khaki shorts, open Hawaiian shirt, ray bans on his forehead and his bikini clad wife sitting in the gap between his legs. He would've got his Nintendo Switch out but he'd forgotten to charge it and he had to entertain himself the old fashioned way.

They'd done a pretty good job at keeping their panic below the surface, although there were times where they both let a bit of fear slip into their voices while talking with each other. They were tense, that was for sure.

Adrian put his arm around Y/N to pull her in even closer, his nose burying into the crook of her neck as he read over her shoulder. He pressed a small kiss into her skin and smiled as he felt her relax a little.

"We're okay," he muttered softly, closing his eyes as he nuzzled his head closer to hers. "I'll kick anyone's ass who even looks at you funny. I'll get some Raid roach spray and just torch these motherfuckers. Burn this whole place down. Just say the word and I'll pop off, okay?"

She turned over to be chest to chest with him and ran the backs of her fingers along his jawline, smiling when he closed his eyes and leaned into her touch. "No popping off just yet. For now, we've gotta stick to the charade until we can meet up with the others in town," she sighed softly, pressing her lips to his ear as she said, "And then, we can burn this down together."

The promise of future violence caused Adrian to crack an eye open to shoot Y/N an amused grin. He leaned forward to capture her lips in a kiss that surely got some disapproving looks sent their way, but they ignored them completely in favour of continuing to explore each other's mouths for a little while longer.

Hey, they were horny newlyweds! It was appropriate. Who knows how much longer the mission would go on for? They'd have to indulge in the fantasy while they still could.

Y/N let her kisses trail along his cheek and down his neck as she whispered, "Is it weird that I think I'm going to miss it here? It's such a strange place but, I don't know, it's nice to just be you and me, to be married and have a perfect, like, by the book life. Don't you think?"

He hummed softly in agreement, his hands moving up her back to tangle in her curls at the base of her skull as he scratched idly at her scalp, causing her to moan and slump against his shoulder. "Yeah, I guess this feels right," he replied softly, his head resting on top of hers, "I feel at home whenever I'm with you so I think it's the person rather than the place that makes it feel better. But, yeah, being not married to you is going to kill me when we get back."

"You're a sap."

"You love it," he laughed as he reached around for the towel he knew Y/N had brought. As soon as his hand touched it, Adrian was delicately placing it over Y/N's lower half as if it were a blanket. It wasn't much coverage but it would stop Sparrow's wandering gaze and, hopefully, avoid anyone else checking out his wife's ass.

They chatted amongst themselves for a while longer, the sun beating down heavily upon the pool and bathing everyone within sight in its heavenly warmth. Their conversation was mainly surface level stuff. Some trivial things, random things, just simple things to fill their time without getting too deep into actual topics that would put a neon sign above their heads of 'hey, we're spies! please kill us, you alien bastards!'.

"Babe, it's that guy from...y'know," Adrian said, his eye catching sight of someone standing off to the side and watching all of the couples. "The doctor man."

Everything in her wanted to crane her neck back to get a glimpse of Dr Yatz in the flesh. He hadn't changed much. She'd only gotten a brief look at him on the gay bee feed before it cut out but he seemed exactly as she remembered him. An old, wrinkly man with a thick indiscriminate accent that he tried to hide with varying degrees of success.

No. He'd definitely recognise her face. And the injury she'd got because of him.

"Is my scar visible?" she asked, her voice barely audible since she hid her face in the gap between his neck and the lounger. He tugged the towel to fully conceal her scar from view without question. "He can't see me, can he?"

"Don't think so."

"Has he still got a limp?"

"Doesn't seem like it."

"That bastard."

Her voice sounded venomous. Even Y/N could hear it dripping off her tongue and coating the words that left her mouth. Her heart rate increased as her mind flashed back to the last time she saw him. The blood. The pain. The "leave her behind" that, thankfully, wasn't listened to.

"He's gone, babe," Adrian announced, reaching out and holding onto her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze. "You okay?"

It took her a moment to compose herself enough to answer, "Of course. Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"

Concern in every pore in his body, he frowned and tilted his head as he stared at her. His eyes scanned her face. She wasn't okay. That much he could tell. His thumb brushed the bottom edge of her bottom lip gently as he looked into her eyes. "Talk to me," he urged.

"When we get back to our room."

That answer seemed to satisfy him for now. He gave her a soft peck on her forehead and wrapped his arms around her again to snuggle into her as much as possible. They remained there until it became clear that everybody else was beginning to disperse and that was their cue.

Once they were back in their room, Y/N did a sweep with the IP scanner just in case the maid had added a sneaky camera whilst they were gone. What she was going to say was classified information that the butterflies might know - Yatz was working for them or one of them so they probably knew some details about his experiments - but there could've been parts of her side of the story that they had no idea about.

Then, when she confirmed that they were secure, she sat down on the bed and tried to gather her thoughts and gather her wits. Adrian, meanwhile, got to his knees between her legs and rested his forearms on her thighs, leaning forward slightly to stare at her intensely through those beautiful eyes of his, waiting patiently to see what was going to come out of her mouth next.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, she cleared her throat. "Dr Yatz," she started slowly, taking a deep breath, "Was my last mission at the DEO so my brain is kinda struggling to deal with the fact that history is repeating itself. I mean, I guess it makes sense..."

A sigh fell past her lips. "Have you ever heard of Jack Ryder?"

"The host of that gameshow 'You Don't Know Jack!'?"

They made a TV show off a Jackbox game. No, it wasn't any good. It was a bunch of people who thought they were a lot funnier than they actually were and was an insufferable watch.

"Yeah, that guy."

"I remember that show. It fucking sucked," Adrian admitted, making her laugh at his bluntness

"Have you heard of The Creeper?"

Gotham has a bunch of freaks running around. Some good, like Batman. Some bad, like the Joker. Others are somewhere in between, like The Creeper. Adrian had heard about this anti-hero - he kept tabs on all the superpeople he possibly could because they're sick as fuck but he might need to know their weaknesses one day to kill them - and, honestly, he hadn't been convinced that The Creeper was real until now.

He'd seen images of the guy. Would you believe that a guy with yellowy green skin, red claws, and malachite spiked hair who went around in dirty tighty whities and a cape is real? In this world of metahumans and Batman villains, he should've assumed that this freak was really a thing that existed out there somewhere.

"Uh-huh."

"Well, they're the same guy. Jack got into a lot of debt and when Yatz offered him some money to be a test subject, he couldn't refuse," Y/N explained and waited for him to acknowledge that he understood before she carried on. "The doctor was working for the Joker at the time, primarily on his perfecting the formula on his Venom -"

"Like his laughing gas?"

"Exactly."

"So, is that like those vials in that examination room?"

Y/N tilted her head as she thought. The weird examination room that they'd seen both times of the bee's camera had a huge cupboard of different coloured liquid that were all named after emotions. After all, Joker's Venom was green and induced severe gleefulness. Maybe Yatz had branched out from laughing gas.

"When did you get so smart?" she cooed in awe as she cupped his cheeks with both of her hands. "Okay, yeah. So, he's created laughing gas and fuck gas now - oh shit - that's the fucking roofies in the affirmation session!"

Things were beginning to unravel in her mind and she needed to take control of them before anything got away from her, and she needed to do it quickly. Because there was one last piece of the puzzle to add to everything she was piecing together.

"They want us to fuck. Why do they want us to fuck?"

"Cause you're hot?" he suggested, knowing full well how stupid that was the second it came out of his mouth. "The camera in the gift basket? I don't know. I'm not good at this shit."

"You're doing so good. Throw some more ideas at me."

"Maybe they want authentic couple porn and get off at being voyeuristic creeps?"

Smiling, she tried to hide her laugh by biting her lip, which only furthered his desire to quit while he was ahead. He'd sniffed out one clue and maybe that was enough for the day. He let out a groan and let his forehead rest against her breast in defeat.

"Your boobs feel bigger," he stated matter of factly and pulled up his head to look at her in the eye. She laughed out loud this time, not even trying to restrain herself, then abruptly stopped.

That was it! Boobs! Other than being jiggly, there was one other common feature of breasts.

"Fucking breastfeeding! They're milking us like cows!”

Next Chapter: Farmville

Taglist: @sarahskywalker-amidala , @she-wolf09231982 , @afraidofshrimp (Wanna be added to the taglist? Just message me or leave a comment :p)

#adrian chase #vigilante #vigilante x reader #adrian chase x female reader #adrian chase x reader #adrian chase x y/n #peacemaker

[ashenmind]

Under the Third Eye

A while back, I wondered "What would have happened if Koishi had won in SA's extra stage and brought back a pet, like she threatened? How would anyone deal with that?"

Well, here is my answer, in all it's 4681 words of glory. This will be on AO3 once I have an account (T-12 days), but I'm not waiting that long.

Future note: This is now on AO3! Go read it there, the formatting is better.

Authors note

This is my first fanfic, but I have done a reasonable amount of original writing. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I did writing it. As silly as the premise is, I tried to approach it fairly genuinely, and it ended up being more emotional than I expected going into it. I tried to be fairly faithful to the characters, though some of them haven't been developed much in canon, so I did what I could.

The work is PG-13 overall. In terms of content warnings, the premise is based kidnapping. The only other thing that comes to mind is a brief allusion to self harm, which could be upsetting to some readers.

The formatting is a bit off (non-standard indents mainly) because tumblr, but not too bad as far as I can tell. (the "<>"s are intentional).

Satori stared at the paper in front of her, or rather, she stared through the paper. Do I really have to decide this today? The answer was yes, as it had been 15 minutes ago. That was the trouble with conflict; someone always had to pick up the pieces afterwards. In this case, the trouble was staffing. With so many of her pets having been injured, ensuring Former Hell was properly managed after the incident was quite the balancing act. Things would get easier over the next few days, but that did little to help now.

The door to her study, which was never fully closed, opened wider to allow a two-tailed cat with black-and-red fur to enter. Casually, she made her way to Satori, leaping into her lap and curling up snugly. Satori reached down and stroked the cat absently. She considered asking Orin about her current dilemma. While the cat had a quick wit, especially compared to many of Satori's other pets, she wasn't good at seeing the big picture. Alas, this burden was Satori's alone. 

<Koishi's back. She seems to be in a very good mood> Orin thought.

"Oh, did something interesting happen?" Satori asked. Satori's ability to read minds was greatly appreciated by her pets, whatever anyone else thought.

<She didn’t give me much of an answer, but it sounds like she got herself a new pet, from up on the surface.>

Satori continued stroking the cat for a moment, before pausing. Wait, from the surface? She generally liked that her sister took the initiative to acquire new pets from around the underground. After all, everyone needs company, and she often got too caught up in her work to spend time with Koishi. Satori also didn't mind her taking trips to the surface. Her sister was capable of taking care of herself, as much as she worried otherwise, but taking pets from the surface was something she'd had to put a stop to. Too many of them weren't well suited to the subterranean palace and its surroundings, while others would be too sorely missed above, which drew unwanted attention. Koishi had generally heeded this request, so why the sudden change? What exactly had she brought back?

Deciding this was more pressing, and likely more interesting, Satori carefully removed the cat from her lap and headed towards her sister's room. Rin followed close behind.

The pair arrived at Koishi's room, and Satori knocked.

"Come~ in!" Koishi called out in a sing-song voice, a habit that Satori could only assume came from observing people on the surface.

Like most in the palace, Koishi’s room was quite large. It was lit by blue crystals that hung from the ceiling, as well as by a set of windows that let in light from the courtyard beyond. As usual, the room was cluttered. Though some of her pets were tasked with keeping the place tidy, Koishi had a habit of just setting things down on the nearest flat surface when she was done with them. This had more than once led to a rather bemused Orin being placed on a shelf. 

Satori was not focusing on the decor however, instead she stopped in the doorway as soon as she saw her sister's newest pet. Rin, seeing an opportunity, ran through the door to Koishi, who immediately broke into a wide grin.

“Orinrin!” she cried, squishing the cat's face in her hands. The cat seemed to enjoy this at least as much as Satori’s more gentle approach. 

A few moments later, Satori finally managed to speak, “Koishi, what… how? What did you do?” The cause of her surprise was a girl with dark hair and a large red bow, who was currently asleep in the bed, covered by the duvet. A gohei, a long piece of wood from which hang two zig-zagging paper streamers, was leaning up against the wall nearby. Satori recognized the girl immediately, as she had met, and subsequently fought her earlier that very day.

“Oh, this is Reimu. You know her right?”

Satori nodded weakly as she entered the room. She turned, and carefully closed the door behind her. She took advantage of facing the other way to close her eyes and think. My little sister, whom I love and support, has brought home that damn shrine maiden… as a pet... and I'm the only one with enough sense around here to understand why that's bad… What did I do to deserve this? Resigning herself, she turned back to the rest of the room. 

“I ran into her on top of the mountain,”  Koishi continued, beaming.

 I could use a little more than that, if I’m being honest. Also, what is that look for? Satori mirrored the smile. It wasn't very convincing, but Koishi was easy to convince. What exactly am I supposed to do about this? I'd considered what to do if it was a human, but not this human. She took a deep breath. Right, process of elimination. Killing her would raise all kinds of hell nowadays. Should I dump her on the surface and hope that’s the end of it? Maybe, though she'd be pissed. Apologize and let her go? Same problem, and she's not exactly the type to wait for explanation anyways. 

She had been staring at Koishi this whole time, though the girl was entirely unperturbed. Why does she have that look? Is that... pride? Then, her own words from earlier in the day came back to her: "That girl's power would certainly be useful around here." Damn, is this my fault? Of course Koishi would take that literally; she's Koishi. She thinks this is what I wanted, which would explain the smug look… But wait, she found and defeated Reimu and brought her all the way back here just based on that? That's... a lot for someone who can’t really plan things. What’s gotten into her?

Koishi had turned her attention back to the shrine maiden, who she was staring at with rapt attention.

 But... that was the point of the pets, right? To get her to care about others, to get her to take an interest, so that she would...?  Satori realized that she was still holding the fake smile and let it drop. She turned to look at Reimu herself.

Was it just what I’d said earlier, or does Koishi have her own reasons for doing all this? Is there something special about this shrine maiden? Damn, I’d need her awake to figure any of this out. Perhaps dumping her on the surface isn’t so great an idea, as much as it would simplify things. That just leaves talking and... Koishi's plan... if you can call it that. Lovely.

"Koishi, would you mind heading down to the kitchen and helping them get dinner ready?" Satori asked, trying not to sound like how she felt.

"But... I want to stay here... with her!" Koishi said, pointing, as if Satori wasn’t sure who she was talking about.. 

Satori sighed. "She needs her rest. Besides, I bet she'll be hungry when she wakes up. You remember what I said about feeding your pets, right?" She didn't like being dishonest with her sister, but it was convenient. Koishi paused, then smiled, and nodded. She left the room in a rush. Rin narrowly avoided getting her tail stepped on, then looked to Satori. 

<You’ve got a plan?>

“Always,” Satori lied, "now go find where Okuu is napping. I want her in the palace, just in case." In case of what, I don't know, but like it or not, she probably has the best chance against Reimu if things go bad. Well, Koishi actually won, but she’s not exactly reliable. That human may have been the one pushing for non-lethality, but she’s still a human.

With the room now to herself, aside from the slumbering Reimu, Satori sat in the chair and thought. You could have at least waited a day, Koishi.

 At last, she reached a decision. The best one, I hope. She focused her third eye on the sleeping figure, peering at her mind. Ah, so Koishi put her under hypnosis. I thought she might still be able to do that, closed eye or no. No matter, it would be easy to undo, at least from the outside. 

Not long after, Reimu stirred. <Bwuh..? Where... am I?> she wondered. Reimu sat up slowly, blinking the sleep from her eyes.

"The Palace of the Earth Spirits. Welcome back." Satori replied. Reimu turned and stared, all traces of drowsiness evaporating. She leapt from the bed, reached into her sleeve and pulled out several paper talismans. With her other hand, she grabbed Satori by the collar and lifted her into the air.

"Your sister kidnapped me!" Reimu shouted, "Don't give me a 'welcome back'! Where is the brat!?" 

Satori dangled limply in Reimu's grip. "Seems you lost fair and square, shrine maiden. Don’t be a sore loser.” She paused as it looked like Reimu might throw her. “As Master of this palace, I wouldn't mind a rematch though. I'd even let you go free, if you won."

Reimu’s brow furrowed. "And what’s your stake?" <Wait, she's challenging me? She didn't put up too much fight last time, but my body hurts like hell, and she seems more confident than ever.>

"Expecting to lose?" Satori asked, smirking slightly. "I’d just want you to do me a favor for me. I’m not sure your human body would withstand it, but there’s no reward without some risk."

<What’s this girl’s problem?> "Fine, I'll fight you again," Reimu said, releasing the girl, who fell backwards, taking the chair with her. <I thought she'd at least catch herself. Oh well, she deserves it.>

Satori got back on her feet. If she was upset at Reimu's roughness, she didn't let it show. "Let's go out to the courtyard. The flames from below will serve as an excellent backdrop."

The Palace of Earth Spirit’s central courtyard was quite magnificent. Windows looked down on it from all sides, many of them stained glass, depicting scenes of both the underworld and the world above. There was a garden lining the outer edge of the courtyard. It contained plants rarely seen on the surface, as well as a number of fruit trees. The source of their energy seems to be the large vent which dominated the space. It led down into the underworld’s flaming depths. Great mechanical shutters allowed the upward flow of heat to be regulated. At present, the shutters were three-quarters closed. Even this small opening allowed enough light from below to fill the courtyard and a pillar of hot air, traced with wispy flames, to ascend towards the surface. 

The two combatants took their places to one side of this vent. They stood forty feet from each other, Reimu armed with the tools of her trade and Satori with nothing but her mind.

"Ready?" asked Reimu. She had her usual look of determination, now tempered by anger.

"Ready," replied Satori, calm as ever. The two rose a few feet into the air, then Reimu launched forwards, wasting little time.

"I forfeit," called out Satori, dropping back to the warm stone of the courtyard.

<I've got her- > "WHAT?" Reimu staggered midair, trying to slow her momentum. She came to a skidding stop directly in front of her opponent. "What do you mean you forfeit? We hadn't even started. You can't do that!"

Satori stared at her coldly. "It means you’ve won. That's what you wanted, so why are you complaining?"

"I want to fight you! You think you're so high-and-mighty, and now you've got and forfeited!?"

"I said it before, but I'm not fond of violence."

"You're just a coward! Too scared to face me again."

"I have more important things to worry about than your ego. If you want to sait your oni-like thirst for violence, I'm sure Okuu over there would be happy to oblige." Indeed, the hell raven was sitting on the inner edge of the vent, oblivious of the heat. She was gazing into the depths below and swinging her feet through the fiery air. The right one, weighed down by its rocky exterior, swung out of time with the left.

Reimu’s tirade derails slightly. <I beat her earlier, but it was kinda close. Somehow I doubt she's as tired and worn as I am. Damn.> "You’re the one who said we should fight in the first place. What was about that favor? Giving up on that so easily?"

"Were it just me here, perhaps I would fight for it. But I don't need any more damage to my palace or my pets right now," Satori replied. "If you must know, I was going to ask to have you for dinner-"

"YOU WERE GOING TO EAT ME?!" Reimu shouted, anger reigniting. Satori stared, eyes-wide for a moment, then began to laugh. It started out as a chuckle, but rapidly became uncontrollable. The girl bent double, holding her knees. Although laughter is rarely considered a skill, Satori was bad at it. The sounds coming from her were fitting for Former Hell. Even Okuu looked over at the commotion.

<What on earth... what's funny about this?> Reimu thought. There was another thought, too quiet for either of them to fully notice: <she look so different when she laughs.> 

"As a guest, Reimu," Satori managed to get out at last, "not an entrée. Oh my word." She pulled herself upright and wiped a mirthful tear from her eye. "My sister and I aren't much for eating people."

<...and your pets?> "Ah, I… I see. I guess that's a relief,” Reimu said, uncertainty entering her voice for the first time since woken up.<Where the hell do I go from here?> “But uh, you said the favor would 'push my body to its limit', so I got the wrong idea, I guess. What exactly did you mean by that?"

"Well... we have some sake that we sto- acquired from the oni and it's been kinda in the way lately. If you wouldn't mind drinking some of..."

"You stole sake from the oni? You?" <They'd rip you to shreds.>

"Well, Koishi did. I ask her not to steal, but I figure the oni are fair game," Satori explained, ignoring Reimu's afterthought. “We’re not heavy drinkers, so I figured you might be able to stomach some of it?”

Reimu took a moment and pretended to consider the offer. <Is this girl OK? Her loss I guess.> She stood a bit taller as she spoke, "As a show of uh, goodwill, I would be willing to relieve you of your sake. After all, if the oni found out you had it, I'm sure they'd cause you no end of trouble. Best I drink it instead, to be safe." 

"Ah, what a good idea. How very… selfless of you." This girl's mind is like a lock; you find the right key and the whole thing flops open. Not sure why she's talking like that though… Is it some lingering effect of Koishi’s hypnosis or the fumes? Oh well.

For dinner, they were joined by Koishi, who was overjoyed to see Reimu again, as well as Okuu and Orin. The two sisters sat on one side of the table, while the three pets sat on the other. Okuu and Orin started devouring some eggs and pieces of raw meat, which Reimu tried not to look at too closely. The other’s had more ordinary fare.

<Maybe this was a bad idea… At least the two idiots aren’t staring at me.> 

"Koishi, do you have something to say to Miss Hakurei?"

The younger sister hesitated a moment before speaking, “I’m sorry for attacking and kidnapping you.” She put on an almost theatrical expression of remorse.

<She says it so bluntly> “I… appreciate the apology. I didn’t mind fighting you, just… don’t knock me out afterwards, alright? It’s kind of a d- not nice thing to do. It also causes trouble for your sister.” Koishi nodded at this, looking serious, then went back to her food, smiling to herself. Trouble indeed, mused Satori, though you're not one to talk, Reimu.

“Say Koishi, do you spend a lot of time on the surface?” Reimu asked, “I’m surprised you were able to find your way to the Moriya Shrine all by yourself.”

“Oh, I do! I like to see what people are up to and hear what they are talking about. I travel all over the place.”

<You’re ok with this?>  Reimu thought. 

Satori shrugged. “I couldn’t stop her if I wanted to, so she’s generally free to explore. Besides,” Satori said, smiling slightly, “she can hold her own.”

<You’re pretty smug for someone who lost. Twice>

“You should come down here again sometime so we can fight again! It was really fun!”

<Yeah, but this place kinda sucks.>

“I’m sure Reimu is plenty busy with her shrine,” Satori explained, aiming a dirty look at Reimu.

“Shrine?”

“Of course. It’s easy to forget, but Reimu is a shrine maiden. She looks after the Hakurei Shrine, near the human village.”

“Oh, that place!”

“Have you… been there?” Reimu asked, returning the look.

Koishi nodded. “I followed some kids up from the village. There were a lot of people and stalls. I got this!” she said, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a small charm, on which was written “bullet evasion” in familiar handwriting.

<Ah... Wait, she goes to the village too?>

“And by ‘got’, do you mean ‘stole’? I’ve told you about taking things without permission. People might not notice you, but they notice when things go missing.”

Koishi nodded, though she didn’t look very apologetic.

“Next time you’re in the area, you can visit the shrine and pay me back. I can even give you a tour.”

Koishi’s eyes lit up. “Really? I’ll come by tomorrow!”

<Great, I was hoping to take the day off, maybe try out the new hot springs…>

“I’m sure Reimu will be very busy dealing with the aftermath of the incident. Best let her work on that first.”

<That mind reading is not so bad when she’s trying to help you. Still creepy.> 

The conversation quieted down from here, with everyone focusing on the food.

<When’s the right time to ask about the sake? Getting kinda thirsty here…> Satori reached under her chair and pulled out a large jug, placing it on the table. 

I meant to get it out at the start, whoops.

As dinner started to slow, Koishi spoke up, “Can you tell me more about your fights earlier? Satori kinda made them sound boring, but I want to hear from you.”

“I’m sure she did. Alright, it started with me heading into a cave…” Reimu then recounted her earlier adventures. Satori interrupted occasionally, cutting through some of Reimu’s boldest exaggerations, though Koishi didn’t seem to care much whether a given detail was true or not.

At last, once they had finished, Koishi gave a round of applause. “Wow, that’s quite the story. It’s way cooler than my sister's version,” Koishi said, beaming at Reimu. “But how did this all this start? Seems you just kinda wandered into things. Like me!”

All eyes turned to Okuu, who continued eating eggs, before noticing the sudden attention.

“Huh? Uh dor rea oh,” she tried, before swallowing, “I don’t really know. There was some woman who wanted the strongest bird, then I felt real weird, then I had all this power. I’m not really complaining, to be honest.”

“We think the Moriya Shrine is involved, but I wasn’t able to ask because you attacked me,” Reimu explained, looking pointedly at Koishi.  

“Ehehe…whoops. I said I was sorry...”

“Alright, I think that’s enough for dinner. If Okuu eats any more eggs she’s going to be sick. Besides, you should get to bed Koishi.” Then, as Koishi moved to protest, “You can see Reimu off in the morning.”

<Morning?>

“What, were you planning on going through Oni territory and half of Gensokyo in your state? In the dark, no less?”

“How ca-”

“We have clocks, you know.”

<Ah.>

Koishi left, but not before giving Reimu a hug. After she was gone, Satori walked to the other side of the table. Okuu and Orin stood, and their master addressed them in turn.

“Okuu… it’s good to have you back. I know things are a bit… complicated, but I’m sure we’ll manage.” She reached out and patted the girl’s head. 

“Orin, you did well today. Thank you,” she said, kissing the Kasha on the forehead. “You pets don’t have to tackle things by yourselves, you know. I won’t be mad if you need help.”

With the cat and raven gone, Satori returned to her seat. 

<You really care for them.>

“Of course. Aside from my sister, my pets are all I have.”

<I mean, the palace…>

“Few places are as lonely as an empty palace, Reimu.” There was a pained note in her voice that Reimu hadn’t heard before. There was a heavy silence for a moment, then Satori grabbed a cup and poured herself some of the sake. When she continued, her voice had returned to its usual tones.

“I’m not typically one for strong alcohol, but I should probably taste some before you finish it off.”

“Wait, you made it sound like you had a whole bunch.”

“I lied, of course. It’s almost as useful as mind reading.” Reimu considered this for a moment and Satori elected to let her finish this time. 

“What is this all about?” Reimu asked, gesturing broadly.

“‘This’?”

“You know what I mean. First I think you’re trying to keep me here as a pet, then you’re asking me to leave, then you're getting me drunk and telling me to stay the night. Why can’t you just say what you actually want?”

Satori sipped her sake a moment before speaking. “‘Just tell me the truth’ is something often said by people who are bad at accepting it, but very well. The truth is that I don’t really like you Reimu.” She held up a finger, forestalling Reimu’s interruption “I don’t mean that as a personal slight. I can see why people put up with you.”

<Gee, thanks.>

 “That being said, mind reading isn’t like reading a book; it’s more like listening. Some thoughts are easy to ignore, while others… aren’t. Emotional thoughts are by far the loudest and you…” Satori continued, “...are a person driven by emotion. Again, that’s not an insult; I think it’s probably what makes you so good at what you do, but it does make being near you… challenging.”

“So then why get me to stick around?”

Satori sighed, looking into her cup. “Koishi, really. She’s a bit obsessed with you. I gave my sister pets in the hopes they would help her like they helped me. I needed quiet, simple companionship, but my sister and I aren’t very alike. Or at least, not anymore…” Satori seemed to lose herself in thought for a moment, before continuing. “But she seems fascinated by you, more so than by any pet I’ve given her. Perhaps your thoughts are loud enough to reach even her, or perhaps she just finds you worth listening to.”

Two sat in silence, the words hanging in the air “Are you… trying to get her to open her third eye?”

“Yes.”

“Why? She seems happy as she is.”

“How would we even know? She closed it because she felt that the world, or rather, other people had little to offer her. When your ears only hear hatred, your eyes only see fear, it can be tempting to get rid of them.  I want her to hear and see beautiful things, to find value in others.”

<Have you considered doing this? Oh, I didn’t mean...>

“Of course I have. Things were... bad, but I remembered when we were young. Satori are social creatures; being able to communicate so directly is an incredible thing. I’m not sure a human could really get it, but I want that back…” Silence fell over the table, again.

“Why not explain all this from the start?”

“You wouldn’t have listened, that’s not who you are. So I tricked you. Figured you wouldn’t turn down a challenge. Worst case you at least got out of my hair.. Don’t look so upset, you got Oni sake out of it, after all.”

<Don’t treat me like one of your pets.>

Reimu yawned. “Well, I’m not sure how much I can help, but I suppose if she wants to come visit, I don’t mind. Not that I could stop her anyways…” <I don’t really want another mind readers about, but…man>

“I appreciate that,” Satori said, getting to her feet, a little unsteady. “Best we both get off to bed before this stuff hits us too hard.” She waved the now empty jug.

“I suppose so. Oh, and thanks for stopping Koishi from making me her pet”

“I’m sorry?” Both girls stared at each other, blankly.

“You… you told Koishi she can’t have me as a pet, right? Like, she understands that, right?”

“I just told her that it’s not really a pet if they run and don’t come back. That seemed to satisfy her.”

<ah.>

The next morning, the two sisters saw Reimu off. Koishi was a little upset, but it didn’t last once the prospect of a shrine tour was brought up again. The great doors of the Palace of the Earth Spirits closed with a thud. The two sisters stood in the lingering silence.

<I can’t wait!>  The voice was quiet, but Satori loved it all the same.

Epilogue

In the end, Reimu’s visit actually ended up helping Satori with her decision. She elected to grant her pets a holiday, as reward for their hard work. It would create problems later, but such was life. It also gave her a chance to take care of another matter.

Aya Shameimaru worked away at her typewriter. This edition had gotten quite large, what with all the events of the last day. Even this morning there had been critical updates that just couldn’t be left out. This was looking to be one of the best editions of  Bunbunmaru Newspaper in years!

She heard the door to the office open and called out, “Yeah, just leave it on the table. I’ll get to it in a minute.”

“I’m… not here with your lunch,” said a voice. It wasn’t a tengu’s. Aya turned to see Satori, standing right next to her.

“Ay!” she cried, nearly falling out of her chair, “I ah, I don’t s-suppose you’re here for an-an interview?” she said, a look of almost manic hope on her face. <Ayayaya…>

“Not quite. I was curious what you had written in your paper there.”

<Well all kinds of things, about the incident, the palace and it’s master, about her mysterious sister and how she kidnapped Reimu and how Reimu just walked away the next morning all embarrassed and oh how do I stop thinking!>

“Alright! That’s enough,” Satori interrupted, closing her eyes. Damn tengu. “I don’t mind you writing about the incident, but leave my sister out of this.”

“But…” Aya stalled a moment, then recovered her usual tenacity, “your sister poses a real threat to Gensokyo. It’s my duty as a reporter to infor…”

“You want to talk threats?” Satori asked.

<aayyaa.> ”Y-you can’t threaten me! We’re surrounded by tengu! You’d b-be in real trouble!”

“Yes, but that doesn’t help you much, does it? But I’m not going to hurt you. I’m not fond of violence. Instead, my threat is this: If you write about Reimu losing to my sister, or her disappearance, I will end your newspaper. Not by force, but by making my own paper. Do you think you can compete with a mind reader? One who can pull out even your secrets?”

<N-no.>

“Then we don’t have a problem. Pleasure doing business with you.” Whoever decided to make tengu smarter than birds should try talking to one for 5 minutes. 

#touhou #fanfic #my writing #satori komeiji #koishi komeiji #reimu hakurei #<-mains #<-along for the ride #aya shameimaru #<-Idiot #chireiden #kidnapping tw #okuu #orin

[joels-shitty-puns]

Pins and Needles - Chapter 2

Pairing: Post-Outbreak!Joel Miller x Reader

Series Summary: Joel has known you for several years, but it was always strictly business, which was easier and preferred. However, after you run into him in Jackson, avoiding him is more of a challenge than you'd like.

Series Warnings: 18+ only (MDNI). Alluding to sexual scenarios. Mention of masturbation. Kissing. Age gap, reader is 39/40 Joel is 56/57. Violence!!! This features outbreak day memories. Blood, stabbing, cannibalism, death, infected. An airplane crash. Spoilers from season 1 of TLOU HBO. Deaths from that season are mentioned. Nightmares. Angst/tension. Let me know if I missed anything!!

Other stuff: Reader is referred to by the nickname Needles, but other than that descriptors are avoided! Reader is fem.

This series was based on these two anon requests! Here and here

Series list: Here

Word count: 1.7k

You and Joel had crossed paths many times over the years. First meeting in the QZ back in 2017, you became acquainted with Tess first. It wasn't long before the three of you were trading goods and looting old buildings for supplies together. Tess eventually introduced you to Bill and Frank, first telling you about them and how they met over the radio. She was very enthusiastic about it, but you, as usual, refused to get close. Bill and Frank were a nice couple, but you couldn't risk getting attached to anyone.

You were first hesitant when Tess wanted to exchange goods and occasionally work together. But you agreed. A business transaction basically.

When she insisted you meet Bill and Frank you blatantly said no. But she assured you it would be worth it, and so the next month, the three of you trekked to their site. Bill cooked up the first decent meal you had eaten in years, and Frank instantly acted like a friend. It didn't take many more trips before he offered you a vacant home in their empty, gated community. You again declined, much to Bill’s agreement. That was too much attachment.

Joel, unlike Tess, seemed very similar in your thinking. He was a stranger to you, despite years of knowing each other, working together, sleeping in the same camps and keeping watch for each other. That was fine by you. You could tell enough about him without his words to need more information. You could tell that he had been through hell and didn't want to risk it by forming relationships. Alliances was as far as he'd go.

Rarely ever did the two of you communicate. Mainly, you would just nod to each other. Tess was the moderator. You didn't know the relationship between them, but whatever she and Joel were was none of your business. The only reason you can imagine she was interested in working with you, was your same aloof attitude and personality as Joel. Your ability to hold your own, killing clickers and stalkers without blinking an eye. You were tough as nails and cool as a cucumber. Tess loved you, and Joel… couldn't complain. You seemed fine without help.

You always assumed Joel and Tess were a couple. Not that you really cared, and they never really said anyway. But despite their potential relationship, you'd be lying if you said you didn't find Joel attractive. You would never act on it, not only because they might be in a relationship, but also the risk of getting attached to someone was much greater when sex and attraction was involved. You tried to avoid that at all costs.

Sure, you'd been with people before since the outbreak, but it was mostly a beneficial situation for both, mainly to get off. Never for love and never with many words. Usually it would be with other traders or Fedra officers you needed to make deals with. You had no problem using violence to make deals, but you also realized you could use your body, and get a little for yourself out of it too.

But rarely ever were you actually interested in someone in this day and age. They might be nice enough to look at to get the job done, but none really took your breath away. None were really attractive to you. So the rush you felt at first seeing Joel was concerning to say the least. 

Attraction would only make things complicated. So instead, the two of you were distant and tense. You kept each other alive and you traded and that was that. You tried your best to avoid looking at his features very closely whenever the two of you were nearer than five feet to each other. No need to find anything you liked looking at.

Unfortunately, you did have to make eye contact. And those eyes. Those gorgeous brown eyes haunted you. Showing up in your dreams, accompanied by that rough voice laced with his Texas accent. Not that you liked that sort of thing. Of course not. You weren't attracted to him, and that was that.

Despite your efforts to stay away from connections, you were still human and urges arose from time to time. If you ever felt sexually frustrated over the Joel situation, you would find someone who either was willing to make a deal, or someone who just wanted sex, and move on. If you didn't opt for fucking someone, your fingers did the job just fine, sometimes even better. But you never let your mind imagine it was Joel. That was against your rules.

The last time you heard from Joel Miller was over a year ago now. You had left the QZ a while before, and he had contacted you on the radio to ask for a car battery. He said was trying to find his brother.

You told him you didn't have a battery, nor had you seen his brother, and that was the conversation. You never knew he had a brother and you never felt the need to know more. That was enough information for you.

That said, it came as quite a shock when you arrived in Jackson and not only met Tommy, but reunited with Joel as well. And he had changed.

Sure, you could still feel the gruff exterior, but he was with a kid now. He was essentially her dad. And it was clear he knew what he was doing from the little you saw of them in the cafeteria. Suddenly it made sense to you. Joel must have lost a child at some point. Likely a girl based on how he acted with Ellie. You could tell by the way he behaved that he had grown soft for her.

You knew that probably scared the shit out of him the first time he realized it. You would feel the same, but you had surprised yourself when you found yourself smiling at the thought of his reaction. The thought of him forming a relationship. The scene of him being a dad.

You pushed that to the side. Nope. Don't need to feel mushy for Joel Miller. He went soft but you don't have to.

Although you hadn't spoken much, it was safe to assume Tess was no longer in the picture, either by separation or death. You hoped for the former, but it was likely the latter, and despite her absence, he seemed happy. You felt some envy seeing him with his (now) daughter and his brother. You missed those connections deep down. Though you'd never admit it.

But when Joel first saw you in the forest clearing a week and a half ago, you heard his voice in person for the first time in several years. He spoke your nickname for the first time maybe… ever. And in it you heard…Concern? Relief? Both?

But why would Joel Miller be relieved or concerned to see you?

He dismounted his horse and walked over to you, yet you didn't see the usual gruffness in his demeanor. Instead, he reached you, crouching to his knees to meet your level where you had sunk in the snow. He hunched, looking you over and seeing your healing wounds and dry lips. Your frozen skin and shaky muscles. He cupped your face with both his hands to look you in the eye, and you simply looked at him in confusion. You tensed, nearly jolting at the feel of his hands on your body, having not been touched by anyone in so long, and certainly never with such care.

What is he doing?

It was the first time Joel Miller had his hands on your face. One of the few times he had his hands on your body, and the only time it was ever with affection. With the pull of his hands, you were forced to meet those brown eyes you had always tried so hard to avoid. The eyes that make your knees buckle. A weakness you tried to ignore.

The way he held your face was gentle, yet firm, and as much as you wanted to avoid his eyes, you couldn't. What you could do, however, was avoid all other features of his face and body. Focus on his eyes, only, you told yourself. One weakness was enough.

But as you stared into those deep, dark brown eyes, sparkling against the sun and snow, you were met with an all-encompassing scent. Sure, you had smelled Joel before. Working in close contact makes that inevitable. Living in a quarantine zone during an apocalypse means that everyone smells a little less than great. Everyone is usually dirty, thick with a layer of grime and sweat. Matted hair of dirt and oils until the next rare shower or more often, lake or pond.

But this wasn't dirt. It wasn't sweat, or grease, or blood. It wasn't any form of body odor. Though you could still smell the usual scent that meant Joel in your mind, the normal, not bad, human scent everyone has unique to their body, you smelled other things. His usual leather aroma was still prevalent as he wore his classic thick leather jacket. But you also smelled… soap. He smelled clean. Soap, shampoo, conditioner, shaving cream, maybe even deodorant? Cool, minty wafts swirled between you from his mouth as he asked if you were okay. Clean linen could be smelled from the flannel he wore below the coat. You were sure you weren't smelling cologne as that would be pointless in this day and age, but he still smelled good. He smelled like a man. Rugged and masculine. But clean, and damn good.

It made your breath catch and your heart rate quicken. You still refused to look at the rest of his face. Or his body. But his scent filled your senses and his eyes filled your gaze. His touch encompassed your face. The only thing you felt. Saw. Smelled. It was all Joel. You needed someone to ground you, because him filling every inch of your senses had you reeling for more. Desire pooled in your body.

And as you sat in the tub, thinking back to that day and the events of the last week or so, it was the first time you let your hands drift lower down your body to pleasure yourself with the thought of Joel Miller on your mind.

#pedro pascal #pedro pascal fanfic #pedro pascal fanfiction #a! wrote a fic #joel miller #pedro pascal x afab!reader #pedro pascal x you #pedro pascal x reader #pedro pascal fic #joel miller x reader #joel miller fanfic #joel miller smut #joel miller fic #tlou fanfiction #tlou fic #tlou fanfic #tlou

[iridescentoracle]

thinking about several posts which i would link if tumblr would let me but alas and i'm kind of consumed with desire for a Canaan House AU where Cytherea talks to Dulcinea and Protesilaus before she kills them, tells them what Lyctorhood really means, explains that she genuinely believes all the murders she's planning to commit is because it's kinder to all of them than letting them become Lyctors, especially Dulcinea herself—and Dulcie says that she doesn't want to die but if that's what it's like then she certainly doesn't want to become a Lyctor either, and she's quite certain she's not the only one, and that if Cytherea explained the truth to the people she's planning to murder, not only would some of them not want to become Lyctors, they would side with Cytherea against God, that if she refrains from murder she could have help

and Cytherea looks at this girl who is dying, and who is in pain, and who reminds her of herself, and who still has her cavalier by her side, and almost goes through with her original plan just to rid herself of the feeling of looking into a mirror and hating it—but doesn't. and she agrees, and she manages to get off the ship despite some trouble on landing ("Dulcie is the best necromancer the Seventh has to offer at the moment but there was a rather dreadful incident and it seemed for a while there like she might not survive the trip, so I was here to take her place if things hadn't worked out after all, but truth be told I'm really not interested in becoming a Lyctor so you needn't worry about me—") and the very first evening the Seventh House delegation finds their way to the room of the Sixth House, and they tell them everything.

Things seem quiet for at least a few days, things going mostly like they did in canon (aside from a gradually increasing number of people making an effort to avoid Teacher, who I'm convinced thanks to one of those posts tumblr isn't letting me link was John's safeguard against anyone actually figuring out perfect lyctorhood when he wasn't looking), House after House in quiet meetings agreeing to side with Cytherea, necromancer after necromancer learning the price of becoming a Lyctor and turning their back on sainthood, and then--shit goes down.

(the rest under the cut because it gets much less coherent from here, and also this is already longer than i expected)

like, what precisely goes down is anyone's guess; the Sixth-and-company make a breakthrough re: perfect Lyctorhood being possible and Cyth loses it? the Eighth are told what (imperfect) Lyctorhood is and reject the idea so hard Teacher gets wind and John's safeguards are set off, whatever that looks like? the Third finds out and either Ianthe is like SWEET and immediately stabs Babs & ascends or Corona is like "sounds perfect Ianthe use me <3" and they have a giant blowup fight about it? the Fourth aren't in on the forming let's-kill-God conspiracy but know they're being left out of Something and start snooping around and get into trouble?

also I have no idea what the Second think/do about any of this but presumably Judith at least doesn't react… well? especially to the bit where it turns out God is Just Some Guy and does things like [whatever Cytherea's petty grievance of choice à la eating peanuts in Cohort admiralty meetings would be], though, also, you know, all the Lyctorhood stuff and so on.

Also I'm kind of assuming that the Fifth & Ninth are told what's up pretty quickly & that goes reasonably??? smoothly?? but like. there's an awful lot of wiggle room in ''reasonably'' there, so who knows what's going down with Gideon and Harrow the whole time but presumably it is at LEAST rivaling canon in terms of being an absolute goddamn mess

I Just Think It Would Be Fun

Actually, maybe the Fifth (as clearly pretty reasonable adults here to start with, and as Team Let's Kill God quickly learns‚ a historian and her husband who were definitely about to figure Cyth out anyway) are told, but not the Ninth for a bit, if only bc Harrow is impossible to get ahold of and Gideon's got that whole vow of silence deal, and it's only after the whole thing where Harrow nearly gets herself killed working alone that the Sixth & whoever else finds her actually get the chance to be like "hey so we know you're hyper-catholic death cultists but have you ever thought about whether god sucks and we should kill him?"

…Cue Harrow having something of a spiral (once in private) about how she's about to fail the Ninth for good bc she can't become a Lyctor now so her entire existence is a war crime and all for nothing and the Ninth House will die with her (possibly cue the confession to gideon abt the 200 dead children etc), and also wondering what will happen to the Tomb and the Body if they actually do try to kill God

(to be clear she obviously does sign on to try to kill god she just needs time to have an existential crisis about the ninth first. she also probably has something along the lines of her end-of-Nt9 "well i'm still catholic but i guess i'm going to have to search the universe for god now" bc apparently john is not the god she believes in! but again, existential crisis time first)

and on a completely unrelated note I have no idea when Cytherea gets around to mentioning she happens to know Gideon's dad but uh. she sure does figure that out the moment she gets the sunglasses off which presumably still happens at some point even if it's delayed by, you know, all the everything else.

…ofc this does leave open the possibility that Harrow spends much of the story trying not to think about how she's pretty sure she's going to lose her best-swordswoman-the-Ninth-has-ever-had cavalier to Cytherea the First and gradually losing her mind about it

anyway i have no idea where things go from there except that presumably at some point John does turn up to meet "his" many new perfect Lyctors* and also Cytherea, and finds out (sooner or later) that most of "his" new saints are in fact already very much committed to the idea that it's time for the Emperor Undying to lose that prefix.

(*and the teens, and possibly new imperfect Lyctor Ianthe & absolutely furious Coronabeth depending on how that went down, and possibly some other non-Lyctors depending on whether anyone rejected the whole idea (the Eighth, maybe?), but y'know, getting to the point. also it sounded better)

also if anyone actually bothered reading this whole thing i'll link the various posts that inspired this in a reblog!! credit where it's due, a lot of this is very much Other People's Ideas that got squished together in my head

#the locked tomb #gideon the ninth #harrow the ninth #locked tomb fic #i guess???? #also no i have no idea what dulcie actually winds up doing once at canaan house #but presumably she stays involved in Making Plans and Doing Research in some capacity #there's a lot of characters and a lot going on and i have no idea what most of them are doing really

[the-lark-ascending69]

How would Robin's coming out to Dustin would be like?

Omg my first anon ajsnsndjs hii

That's a very interesting question. I imagine he'd be the party member that's closest to Robin given everything that happened in S3, so he'd be the one she trusts most and the first one to know. Even if she knew Will was gay, I think she'd still want to tell Dustin first.

Though "want to tell" may not be the correct phrase. I don't think Robin wants to tell anyone, period. She only told Steve that quickly because she was under the influence of drugs, and I'm sure his positive reaction made her feel a lot safer, like she could actually pursue a girl and tell people about it. But even then, I think she can't help but assume everyone could be an enemy until proven wrong. That'a just how things were. Steve was the exception, not the rule, and she doesn't expect anyone in her social circle to accept her. Before telling Steve, she said it herself - if he knew her he wouldn't want to be her friend.

So I think she wouldn't come out to Dustin unless she really had to. Maybe he thinks she's trying to solve something on her own when she shouldn't because she keeps disappearing to be with an unidentified individual. Maybe Steve got a girlfriend and Dustin thinks he's cheating on her with Robin. Maybe she's being taunted by Vecna about her homosexuality and Dustin insists it's crucial that look out for each other and stop hiding. It's not empowering or glamorous or dignified and it doesn't reafirm her agency in any way. Robin coming out to anyone at this point isn't going to be pretty. But Dustin is rambling and coming up with all of these hypotheses on what could be wrong with Robin, to the point Robin realizes it's gonna be better to just tell the truth. She grabs him by the shoulders and stops him and and tells him look, whatever you're thinking about, it's not that, and it just seems so ridiculously stupid compared to everything that's going on. I mean, just look at Max. She's the one you should worry about, not my stupid, useless feelings. She tries to convince him that it's something personal and that he shouldn't worry about it, but Dustin insists that Max's mourning was also personal, until it became a gate for an evil wizard who wants to destroy thr world. Then Robin tells him she doesn't want to talk about it. Dustin tells her that's what started everything with Max. Robin tells him she's not Max, and that Steve knows anyway, so she's not alone. She can handle it. Then Dustin just feels offended that hairspray head Steve knows something he doesn't when he is the brains of the operation. You are the brains of the operation? Robin asks, trying to change the subject, but Dustin insists that she's not alone, and that whatever it is, this is what friends are for. He honor promises on Suzie that he won't tell anyone. He wouldn't insist so much if he didn't knew doing this almost killed Max last year. He's a traumatized 15yo looking out for his friends and Robin knows that. Between you and me, Dustin is her favorite. He's the only boy in the party with half a brain, at least. And she thinks it's funny when he bullies Steve. He's a toddler in her eyes but he's her friend, and she never had many friends growing up. Now se has like, three and a half.

If I tell you, you won't want to see me anymore, she tells him.

What are you talking about? I put up with Steve every day. It can't be worse than that, he says.

Believe me, it's worse, she says.

Whatever it is, you're part of our party now. No soldier is left behind.

So... she tells him. About Tammy Thompson and Vickie and maybe even about Nancy, and how she told Steve and how scared she was all her life. How she knows it doesn't seem normal to most people. Maybe she let herself be convinced that it actually is. She feels like a freak sometimes. And that's it. That's the reason she was acting weird. She wasn't kidnapped and replaced by interdimensional aliens. She's just in love with a woman.

Dustin is, admitely, a little shocked. It never crossed his mind that that might be the reason. He just wasn't expecting it, and he stays silent for a minute. Probably the longest minute in Robin's life.

And then he tells her that's okay. Yeah, yeah, it's not that weird. He plays DnD and he doesn't have collarbones, so he's not going to be judging anyone anytime soon. Plus, he likes girls too, so he can at least relate to that. He knows Mike thinks Will doesn't like girls, and Will is always going to be his friend no matter what, so there's no reason it'd be different with Robin. He hugs her real tight actually, and tells her the party is there for her. No one has to be alone.

Robin actually tears up a little when Dustin isn't looking. She feels incredibly lucky, and she can tell papa Harrington raised his kids right. Maybe things aren't as grim as they looked. Maybe Dustin is right, and she doesn't need to be alone. Maybe she finally found her people.

#robin buckley #lesbian robin buckley #dustin henderson #ronance #<- intended audience #dustin is a sweetheart he wont let robin feel judged