#and of course he's picking up on them being shady and the rest of the crossover unfolds from there

[vickyvicarious]

I'd just remembered the hilarious potential of Phoenix I'm Indestructible Wright shenanigans when in the Leverage crossover. XDDD Just imagine the chaos of the Team witnessing Phoenix casually surviving impossible things.

Now I'm just picturing the crossover starting with them meeting one another when Parker is driving getaway and runs into Phoenix at speed, flinging him across the street and into a telephone pole, and knocking him out.

They stop the getaway to try and help him, of course, so when he wakes up it's to Eliot fighting off goons while other team members are trying to give him first aid/load him into Lucille to get to a hospital.

He has a slightly sprained ankle, and a bit of a headache, but otherwise he's fine.

#ace attorney #leverage #leverage attorney #crossovers #phoenix wright #hardison later pulls up the eagle river + fire hydrant + eating poison records and tells the whole team #but anyway what a dynamic first introduction! and then later they run into him on a con and have to try and rapidly adjust their grift #to fit with whatever they told him before. #and of course he's picking up on them being shady and the rest of the crossover unfolds from there #youareshauni #replies

[ryanandshanearemydads]

PT2 Lando x exReader - Daniel x reader

Warnings- MDNI, unprotected sex, and shady!Daniel (a king)

Part 2/2 previous 1/2

Y/n insta

Liked by DanielRicciardo, Carlossainz55,

Japan went smoother than Australia but the animals here mostly too big to steal.

User1: she’s really living the life I want

User2: getting more pictures of her again slowly omg

—User3: suspect we’re going to get our mother back soon.

Danielricciardo: photo creds?

-y/nofficial: fine…photo credits to my biggest fan❤️

—danielricciardo: that’s better…I guess

User4: Her and Danny banter in comments makes me believe in love.

-user5: So real, I feel so single now

Carlossianz55: could say Japan was a…smooth operation?

-y/nofficial: of course Carlitos 😌

-Carlossainz55: we’re both smooth operators now.

—y/nofficial: forever❤️

User6: WAIT she’s also close to Carlos. The fangirls are going insane.

-user5: can confirm.

~

Spending time with Danny was fresh air, still is but add a minor inconvenience. Feelings. How was I not going to fall for him when he picked me up during a shitty time and purposely tried his best to distract me. Makes sure we do things he knows I will like rather than just what he wants to do. When I wanted to stay in and read he stayed in watching something on the tv or napped. I don’t want him to think he’s just rebound from Lando. That’s why I’m stuck between being affectionate or closed off.

“Y/N, china is next so are you coming with?” He asks walking out of the room shirtless causing me to fight the urge to look.

“What do you think?” I ask with a dead face

“You’re going to follow me around everywhere this season” He states moving towards the counter I’m standing at.

“Of course” I say smiling back to him causing him to laugh and smile harder. Pulling me into a hug, I rest my arms around his stomach putting my head to his chest.

“When are we leaving?” I ask looking up to him. He pauses looking down at me, eyes drifting from mine to my lips. The slight movement easy to notice when you want to kiss the person or that you’re in love with them.

“We can leave today, get there extra early to sightsee.” He says looking away clearing his throat.

“Sounds good to me” I say while tucking my head back into his chest. He puts his hand on my head then press a kiss to my scalp. Or I’m tripping and he just is resting his head.

“Let me change and put my stuff together. Which you need to do too” I state pulling away, look at his face it seemed like he was thinking of something. “Dannyyy” I call out break the trance.

“Yeah..” he trails off hiding a confused face. Walking away to exactly what I said I was going to do but by the time I’m ready, Danny is staring at his phone. Sitting next to him on the couch laying my head on his shoulder, “what’s wrong” I mumble causing him to tense.

“Who said something is wrong?”

“Danny” I say moving my head from his shoulder to look at him. Still he looks down at his phone which has Twitter open with tweets about me and him, lando drama and people thinking something is going on with Carlos.

“You know the things they say is just to hurt us.” I state putting my hand on his arm.

“What about what they say about you and Carlos?”

“The comments is the closest thing to a conversation me and him had in the past two months.” I answer looking at him who’s now looking at his darkened phone screen.

“Danny…” I trail off putting my hand on his chin turning his head. “There’s more clearly, what’s going on” I ask rubbing my thumb on his jawline. His eyes flick between my eyes and lips once again.

“I…I fell in love with you. I know you’re just getting out of a relationship which is making it harder.” He sighs while examining my face causing me to smile a little.

“It’s okay” I state with my hand still on his jawline.

“What do you mean?” He asks putting his hand over my wrist holding my hand to his face.

“I did too, I didnt want to say anything because I don’t want you to think you’re just a rebound.” I respond causing him to look shocked.

“How long?”

“I don’t know, I just noticed the things you did that no one else did for me. You make me feel special and no one has done that before.” I reply looking into his eyes. His eyes move to down to my lips again, this time I do the same. Shifting his hand from my wrist he moves it to my waist.

“I want to kiss you so bad right now” he mumbles

“Do it” with those 2 words his lips are on mine. The hand that was on his jawline moves to his hair. He pulls my waist more towards him before moving me onto his lap. His lips move down my neck making me let out a tiny moan and bite my lip. Only encouraging him to continue, he runs his hands up and down thigh slowly going more towards my heat.

Bring his lips back up to mine we continue kissing once again. Breaking away for a second I look down at him smiling, “as much as I would like to go further, we have a flight to catch” making him groan.

“We can finish later” I say pecking his lips moving off him.

“Let’s hurry up so later comes faster.” He says getting up and grabbing his things.

Y/nofficial

Caption: To Shanghai we go ✈️

—Maxfewtrell: What is this y/n

-y/nofficial: nothing Maxie, don’t worry.

-Maxfewtrell: I’m worrying y/n!

—Carlossainz55: he finally admitted

-y/nofficial: who?

-carlossainz55: y/n…don’t play stupid

-y/nofficial: memememe

—Danielricciardo: my love❤️

Y/Nofficial

Liked by Danielricciardo, Maxfewtrell, Carlossainz55 and 901,876 others

Y/nofficial: I think I made a good decision in Australia.

-Danielricciardo: no photo creds again I see…

--Y/nofficial: actually they told me I didn’t have to credit them! Thanks for the concern old man🫶

Danielricciardo: Weird, wonder why they didn’t want credit?

—y/nofficial: I don’t know! They were kinda strange photographer!

—user1: Daniel what do you know?!

-user2: Mother do we have a new dad??

-user3: screaming crying throwing up

Carlossainz55: mememe

—y/nofficial: cálmate, Carly

-carlossainz55: don’t give me attitude next time

-y/nofficial: mememe

Maxfewtrell: Answer me!! I’m not man, I just want to talk.

—y/nofficial: nuh uh

Maxfewtrell: DONT YOU NUH UH ME BRAT

—user4: y/n stressing these men out, true queen shit

*liked by y/nofficial

-danielricciardo: please stop encouraging this behavior from her.

-y/nofficial: Nuh uh

-user5: WHY ARENT WE TALKING ABOUT THE 7TH AND 9TH PICTURES MORE

-user6: I KNOW, LIKE WHO IS HE

-user7: Maybe Daniel?

-user8: Idk Carlos is closer to her age.

Danielricciardo Story

caption: beautiful views here

Y/nofficial: MY LOVE I POSTED THIS PICTURE

-danielricciardo: oops 🤭

“Danny!” I groaned from the bedroom of the huge hotel

“Yes my love” he responds with a smirk walking towards the bed I sat on.

“Didn’t you want to go the soft launch route” I question while pouting.

“Yes but I want to show the world my love for you soon” he says getting on to the bed in front of me. Pulling my chin up with his hand, gently puts his lips to mine. Quickly I reciprocated the kiss, tangling my hands into his hair. As the kiss heats up he slides his hands to the bottom of my shirt, slipping them under. Taking off the shirt I was once wearing he lays me back kissing my neck and collarbone. Making his way back to my lips, I tug his shirt up slightly to which he quickly discards somewhere in the room. Leaning forward once again this time I push him to the side of me to get on top of him. Continuing to make out, he wraps his arms around my waist pulling me into him as much as possible. My heat rubbing against his hard dick make us both to whimper. The friction between us making us more sensitive and hornier for each other.

Once again he takes control laying me on my back kissing down my chest. Putting his mouth on my hard nipples causing me to groan and grip his curls. Moving his right hand to my short, rubbing my covered heat. Whimpering again, he makes way back go my lips. Hooking a finger around the waist band on my shorts and underwear pushing them slowly down. Removing my hands from his hair and shoulder, I pull my short and underwear off fully for him. He couldn’t resist staring at my fully unclothed body, “finally all mine” he mumbles kissing my lips with more urgency. Pulling his own sweats and boxers off, pulling our bodies closest as possible. Making his dick bump into my clit causing a moan to slip out.

“You sure you want to do this” he questions while using his thumb to rub my clit.

“Yes” i practically cried

“Good girl” he says slipping himself into me with little struggle due to how soaked I am. “My good girl” he moans as he bottoms out.

“All yours, Daniel” I tell him as he puts his head into my neck kissing and leaving marks. His thrusts are slow and deep making me want more.

“What do you want baby?” He asks into my ear groaning

“Fuck me harder, my love” I say earning a loud moan from him. He pushes his hand up to my neck as he thrusts harder and faster into me. Moaning louder now he suppresses them with his lips as he struggles to hold on.

“Keep making noises like that and I will cum in you” he warns looking me in my eyes.

“Do it Danny” all I can respond with making him start to fuck into me harder than I’ve ever been before. “Cum in me Daniel” I moan into his shoulder, biting onto him.

“You want me to cum huh? Be good girl and take it all” he moans as he starts filling me up, slowing down to fuck the cum deeper into me. This causes me to tighten and cum onto him. For a second he stays inside not moving, just staring down into my eyes while we catch our breath.

“I love you” he whispers not thinking until he said it.

“I love you” I say smiling and pulling him down into me hugging him closely.

“Let’s shower” he says pulling out making me whimper. Getting up I could feel the cum slowly move towards my thighs. The sight of it making him moan slightly, “breeding kink” I state to him walk towards the shower where I turn the water on.

“Choking kink” he replies.

Once in the shower he helps me clean up and hugs me close to him. Kissing my shoulders and grabbing anything he can. Getting out, he wraps a fluffy towel around my shoulders before wrapping one around his waist. Legs wobble slightly with each step I took towards the bed. The second I’m in the bed he orders takeout and turns on Bobs burgers knowing how much I love it. Cuddling while eating before falling asleep in each others arms.

Y/nofficial

Liked by Danielricciardo, Carlossainz55, oscarpiastri

Y/nofficial: Think I needed someone older ❤️ I love you Danny.

Danielricciardo: I love you mi Bebe

Carlossainz55: finally also where’s my photo credit?

-y/nofficial: one picture Carly…

-carlossainz55: ONE OUT OF THE 100

-y/nofficial: memememe

User1: I just know Lando is crying into a pillow and throwing up.

-danielricciardo: good!

-User2: DANNY YOU SHADY SHI-

User3: living for her relationship with the grid.

User4: homie hopper

-danielricciardo: not homie hopping when you weren't friends with the ex!

User5: Danny is going crazy in these comments.

-user6: remember when she got hate and lando never protected her?

-user5: OMG YES, he fumbled so hard

*liked by Y/nofficial and Danielricciardo*

Danielricciardo

Liked by Y/nofficial, carlossainz55, Maxfewtrell and 1,009,580 others

Danielricciardo: I would like to thank my mother for raising me right, I would like to thank y/m/n for creating this beautiful woman and I would like the thank the last guy that fumbled. She’s all mine now and I can promise I won’t fumble like him.

I love you mi amor. ❤️

Y/nofficial: I love you my savior❤️

Carlossainz55: finally won’t have to listen to his complaining!

-y/nofficial: why are you like this 😟

-Danielricciardo: how could I not when she’s this beautiful

Carlossainz55: give me my photo creds!

-Danielricciardo: no brother

-y/nofficial: no brother

Carlossainz55: I hate you both.

User1: LMAO CARLOS FIGHTING FOR SOME CREDIT

User2: HES SO SHADY! I LOVE IT SO MUCH.

User3: i need someone to protect me like Daniel protects y/n

-user4: SO REAL

User5: Lando fumbled so hard but so glad he did

-y/nofficial: wish I didn’t have to realize Danny’s my LOML like that glad I did!!

-Danielricciardo: took long enough but glad we took that time!!

User6: omg this means the nails she got done was to soft launch!

-y/nofficial: yes actually!! Even had a 3 under my ring finger!

-user6: don’t touch me I’m fragile, noticed by y/n and she had his number under her RING fingernail!

*liked by y/nofficial

#f1 #formula 1 #daniel riccardo x reader #daniel ricciardo fluff #daniel ricciardo fic #daniel ricciardo #daniel ricciardo angst #daniel ricciardo x reader

[greentrickster]

It's going to be interesting when the kids eventually find out that Hesperia has a sword in that cane of his. While it'd be fun to see him reveal it for the first time in a fight, he seems too committed to not hurting his opponents to use it in one unless absolutely necessary. And, given that Volpina and Jack Badbit's powers are illusion and super speed, it would be way too easy to cause serious harm against them by mistake if he was using a bladed weapon.

Therefore, I think it's far more likely that the sword would come out for something more along the lines of escaping a trap. Lila's devious, and I wouldn't put it past her, in a setting like this where she's probably thriving, to up her game and use illusions to disguise actual traps, or even put an illusion of one trap on top of a different one, to trick her enemies into getting caught in the real trap.

So say that that's what happens one night - I'm going to go with a classic net trap because why the heck not, and it's in a pretty open space, with the implication that Badbit's around as well, waiting to pounce and reclaim their miraculous as soon as their timers run out. So using Cataclysm or Lucky Charm could be catastrophic, but also if they don't get out soon then Volpina will arrive and take their miraculous herself. And the worst part? Both kids are absolutely aware that they're not even the main targets of all this - the end goal for the Supreme is Hesperia, and they're the bait.

(As for why the Supreme hasn't targeted them and their families yet in spite of the implications of the special... screw it, breaking the restraining spells on Tikki and Plagg had a side effect of allowing the magic that protects their holders' identities to restart, and the Supreme no longer remembers who he gave the Black Cat and Ladybug to. The Supreme's focusing on Hesperia more than the kids because Hesperia is the one who defied and stole from him, and the Supreme is of the belief that Hesperia is the lynchpin of the resistance - capture the butterfly, and the rest will fall easily. Whether or not that would be true remains to be seen, but it's what he believes.)

So anyway, Shady and Claw are forced to call for help or put themselves, their families, and their allies at risk, as well as lose the resistance two of their four (working) miraculous. They're expecting advise or a plan, not for Hesperia to go, "Right I'm on my way." Like, no, you were supposed to tell us how to use Cataclysm or Lucky Charm in a way that's sure to help us escape, not come here yourself, Hesperia a cane or a kamiko are not going to help here, HESPERIA, PAY ATTENTION YOU STUPID BUTTERFLY-!!!

Only then he's there, hanging onto the rope over top of them, and he sticks the end of his cane through the rope like, "Could one of you hold this, please?" And the kids are expecting him to reveal some weird new butterfly power or technique or something, except Hesperia just gives the cane a twist after Shady grabs the end, tells them to be ready to land on their feet, pulls a gosh-danged sword out of the cane, and just slashes the net open so they can drop free.

Shady: (stunned but already running) How long have you had that-?!?

Hesperia: (catching up to the two of them, reclaiming the sheath of his cane from her, and resheathing his sword while running) The whole time. Why?

Shady: And you never used it?!?

Hesperia: Of course not - bladed weapons are very dangerous, even in the hands of an unskilled user.

Claw: (also in shock) So what, you can't actually use the danged thing?!

Hesperia: Oh, I wouldn't say that exactly - I fence, but I'm not the best at it.

(He's being modest, he picked up fencing again soon after he got the butterfly and discovered the sword, he and Hawkmoth would be absolutely even in terms of raw skill if it came to a sword fight between them.)

#Tales of Miraculous Hesperia #hesperia #betterfly #shadybug and claw noir #miraculous paris special #ml spoilers #miraculous

[rose-edith]

Hey Bestie love you xxxx also going to the carnival with Gibbs would include? I can see him winning you a big ass teddy bear 😄

Love you too. To make this seasonal- let’s set it as a Valentine’s date! Hope you like it.

A Valentine’s Date with Gibbs at a carnival would include:

•as much as the date is your idea, our handsome man is happy enough to spend time with you. And he’s low-key a little bit cocky about going to the carnival.

•plus, an evening spending little bits of money and having a lot of fun is very much more representative of the two of you as a couple- a fancy restaurant in best clothes isn’t your style. In comfy plaid shirt and comfy jeans and boots, Jethro is much happier. And so are you, who wouldn’t be happy at the carnival with the silver haired fox? Constantly holding hands? Able to snuggle up together at any moment? All sounded like heaven to you!

•he knows you’ll want to squeeze his hand on the teacups, because as much as you’ll giggle and laugh and be curled into his side, there’s still a part of you that doesn’t like it.

•he chuckles as he finds his way through the hall of mirrors easily, but you swear up a storm when you keep walking into the mirrors! You curse his beautiful blue eyes, and then end up smiling up into them when you finally make your way out of the maze of mirrors.

•to give Gibbs credit, he does buy you whatever food you want- whether it’s loaded fries, candy floss, a hot dog, toffee apple, whatever you want you can have. And he’ll have the same too…with a strong black coffee, of course!

•and then your competitive streak comes out. You know he’s a damn good shot- can’t be a sniper if you’re not! But you reckon you can give him a run for his money, and you tell him so with sparkling eyes. It’s the start of foreplay, and you both know you won’t make it all the way home tonight. (Though fortunately, you’re in the truck and there’s lots of dark, shady spots for you to pull over and unleash your passions.)

•so you arrive at the air rifle stall, the best of five shots. You go first, hit four. That’s all Gibbs needs, he practically swaggers as he picks up the rifle, and quick as a flash he takes down all five targets he needed to get, perfect shots every single time. And the baffled, amused stall holder passes Jethro an absolutely ginormous teddy bear!

•and that teddy bear goes straight into your arms. It’s part of your present, and you love it so much! Who doesn’t like a massive teddy bear that’s given to you by the love of your life? Frankly, it’s all feeing incredibly romantic.

•the teddy tucks into your side; it sits beside you when you’re watching the circus show, it’s the stretchy acrobats that gets your attention.

•however, you don’t get to stay to enjoy the whole show…as the contortionist bends, Jethro leans down and whispers in your ear the most delicious words you’ve ever heard…and suddenly you’re sprinting out of there, teddy being dragged along with you, as the rest of your evening gets started….

#ncis #ncis x reader #ncis headcanons #ncis imagine #leroy jethro gibbs imagine #leroy jethro gibbs #mark harmon #leroy jethro gibbs x reader #leroy jethro gibbs headcanons #jethro gibbs #jethro gibbs imagine #jethro gibbs x reader #ncis reader insert #mark harmon x reader #mark harmon is seriously sexy though #valentine’s day

[17-noodlebird]

World One = The Amazing Digital Circus Grounds

🎪🤡🤹🎡🎩🎢🎠🎈🪀

~~~~

Jewel: Crystal

Power: Energy

Color: Silver

Theme: The Circus & Childhood Wonder

~~~~

Objective:

Get to the first location of the road trip without experiencing too much road rage.

~~~~

Chapter I: The Amazing Digital Road Trip Begins!

~~~~

The first episode — or chapter — pays homage to the Unikitty episode “Roadtrip Ruckus”, Teen Titan Go’s “Road Trip”, and the basic comedic road trip tropes we see in movies.

The episode begins with the Amazing Digital Circus members, or as I'll be calling them from here on out, Team Circus, taking a 15-hour drive to their very first destination, after packing their belongings and installing the first jewel into the secret door, after a brief discussion of what they'll be doing during the trip. Just as they depart The Grounds, all eight members of Team Circus receive a notification for their first objective on their communicator bracelets. Poor Caine thought it'd be a piece of cake…

At first, it's about what you'd expect it to be; road trip games (Jax’s favorite being punch buggy, giving him the perfect opportunity to pick on Gangle), some funny stories to share, Kinger talking about how the Bee Movie is such an underrated classic of the 2000’s, Ragatha reading a book in the car (and ultimately getting carsick as a result), and of course, road trip songs. The diplomats from the other dimension are acting as the surrogate audience, helping them out along the way via their Velcro communicator bracelets that Team Circus is also wearing on their wrists.

Unfortunately, things start to get out of hand really quickly, as Caine soon begins to develop road rage as a result of the antics of the other six members, something that has never happened before. Eventually, the Magical Digital Van gets a flat tire, so they have to stop at a gas station for repairs. While at the gas station, Jax and Pomni bond for a bit as they laugh at off-brand snacks, Ragatha and Gangle try to have a heart-to-heart with one another, Kinger and Zooble fix the van while discovering the mechanic is a shady scammer, and Caine is just freaking out over his newfound emotions as Bubble tries to calm him down.

Afterwards, when the Van is seemingly fixed after Kinger, Zooble, and the mechanic make a compromise, Team Circus causes even more of a ruckus, much to Caine's annoyance and Bubble's concern, all before the Van breaks down in the middle of the road (as well as earning a second flat tire), and Caine is not happy about this, throwing in some colorful (albeit censored with old timey car noises) vocabulary all the while. As the other members try to figure out what the heck just happened, Zooble reveals that they and Kinger had a bit of a squabble with the mechanic, making them immediately come to the conclusion that they have both been tricked by the con artist of a mechanic, who removed some of the parts of the engine to sell on eBay. “Thanks a lot, you two.” were the words said by Jax, as the others watched the mechanic scammer drive off with the missing parts, hollering back, “Yeah, thanks a lot, you two! Hahahahahahaaaa!!!!”

Uh oh.

This was all within Caine's earshot, who now wants payback. A car chase ensues, all to the tune of Lynyrd Skynyrd's “Free Bird”, as Caine tries to catch the fake mechanic and retrieve back the stolen parts for the engine, Zooble and Kinger having looks of guilt all the while. After Team Circus catches up to the fake mechanic (the Van falling apart by the seams from exhaustion in the process), Caine demands that he give back the parts. Naturally, a heated argument ensues, until Pomni discovers that they weren't the only victims of stolen car parts. This is where she puts two and two together and informs the rest of Team Circus of her findings.

It turns out that when The Magical Digital Van got a flat tire as result of a rusty nail being placed in the middle of the road, conveniently a couple of yards from the mechanic shop and local gas station, something the fake mechanic did on purpose. And he had been doing this to the other vehicles too; apparently, this was all part of a conniving scheme to sell used car parts on the black market to unsuspecting customers in order to gain some money.

As the fake mechanic attempts to run away, knowing damn well he had been caught, Ragatha apprehends him and forces him to give them back the stolen car parts, as well as the ones stolen prior to the encounter. He complies, defeated.

Pomni is congratulated by the diplomats and Team Circus for her cleverness, while the fake mechanic fixes The Magical Digital Van for real as he replaces both flattened tires and puts back the stolen parts. Some NPC police officers arrest the fake mechanic shortly after, with Pomni having called the authorities in the meantime.

Of course, Zooble and Kinger aren't let off the hook completely; Caine scolds the both of them for not being street smart about the matter (tho Bubble asks him to go easy on them this time, as no one could have foreseen this outcome). So all's well that ends well, and after several more hours of casual hijinks, they finally reach their first destination. The episode ends here.

~~~~

Current Status:

0 Jewels have been collected

26 remain

🎪🤡🤹🎡🎩🎢🎠🎈🪀

~~~~

• OG Cast:

Lizzie Freeman as Pomni

Amanda Hufford as Ragatha

Michael Kovach as Jax

Sean Chiplock as Kinger

Marissa Lenti as Gangle

Ashley Nichols as Zooble

Gooseworx as Bubble

Alex Rochon as Caine

~~~~

• Audience Surrogate Cast/Diplomats

Hynden Walch as Valerie

Susan Egan as Pamela

Amy Winfrey as Garcia

Mandy Moore as Lulu

Nevaeh Hamilton (me) as Bethany

~~~~

• Background Diplomats

Andrea Libman as Winona

Cristina Vee as Patricia

E.G. Daily as Rionna

Stephanie Sheh as Olivia

Debi Derryberry as Yolanda

Cree Summer as Gemma

Ashleigh Ball as Cécelia

Erica Luttrell as Belle

Ashly Burch as Imera

Kimberly Brooks as Bailey

~~~~

• Episode’s Antagonists

Danny DeVito as Otto Partz the Fake Mechanic

~~~~

• Secondary Characters Introduced

Edward Bosco as Gene Virgo the Convenience Store Owner

~~~~

#the amazing digital circus #tadc #tadc caine #tadc pomni #tadc jax #tadc au #tadc ragatha #tadc bubble #tadc gangle #tadc kinger #tadc zooble #tadc road trip #tadrt au #the amazing digital road trip

[river-of-wine]

A little more on Molly and Grimshaw.

Grimshaw’s description calls her “the undisputed boss and arbiter of justice”. A line between her and Mary-Beth reveals that she has killed girls for betraying them before. That’s the rule. The traitors die. Molly declares herself as the traitor, and Grimshaw is the executioner. Except she doesn’t shoot to kill. Not really.

Molly is shot in the stomach, a wound she could have survived for several agonising seconds, left to bleed out in pain surrounded by people who detested her and the man she loved who detested her even more. A shot to Molly’s head would have been an easy one to make given both her skill with a weapon and how close Molly was, but Grimshaw chooses her stomach. There was deliberate cruelty in that. She chooses the potential of pain for Molly O’Shea over the immediate death of a traitor. It is justice. When Molly is gone, it is Grimshaw who calls to burn her. To destroy what is left of her after the girl already lost her mind and her life, to leave no memory that she existed behind. It is justice.

Molly’s lie was an obvious one to anyone who cared about her, but there was no one who did. Not enough. Not Dutch, who was rarely around. Not Arthur, who couldn’t get past his loyalty to Dutch to see how he was making a young woman suffer just yet. It was impossible for her to leave camp and she didn’t, spending her days on the floor of Shady Belle or smoking outside while talking to herself. But no one knew her well enough to attest to this, and that includes Grimshaw. She says she loves the girls, but Molly is not included in that statement. She never was. After all, Molly is not one of them. Molly doesn’t work and doesn’t think she has to. Molly doesn’t speak to the other girls despite her attempts, with her conversation with Tilly in chapter 2 ending with Tilly telling her to clear off while she is in the middle of a sentence and her conversation with Abigail hitting too hard, cutting too deep, showing her a blunt truth that she is not ready for and being too upset to keep talking to her. Molly doesn’t steal or kill. Molly is not one of them. Molly does not see it that way and neither does Grimshaw, even if Molly’s view comes from being raised in a different world and the eventual disdain from the rest of the gang that she picks up on, even if Grimshaw should know better than to build her opinion of this girl on her own lashing out. So she pays no attention to her, doesn’t keep track of her, and does not think that Molly may be lying when she states her guilt before serving the justice she believes is right.

Even without the proof that some care for her would have provided, not everyone believes Molly’s guilt so certainly. Karen didn’t, drinking and screaming at Grimshaw and calling her a murderer, telling her that she liked shooting Molly and that Molly was just in love. Karen didn’t like Molly, at least not outwardly, and yet she is the one to dispute the boss, the arbiter of justice, for killing an innocent girl. Arthur isn’t quite sure either, an attitude shown in how he holds Dutch back from her and tries to talk him down when Molly confesses, and antagonising Grimshaw after it happens (with high honour) will have him ask who she’s going to shoot today. 

Of course, it is later revealed that Molly was lying, protecting the gang rather than ratting them out. In the final stand off between Micah and Arthur, it is the real traitor who kills her. A shot to the stomach. A deliberately cruel place to wound somebody, not where you shoot to kill. Grimshaw survives it unlike Molly, who only had time to register she had been shot before collapsing. We hear the pain she is in, groaning in agony, and I wonder if in that moment she thought of Molly. The girl she killed who never said a word against them, who she shot instead of Micah, who must have felt this very pain before life left her. A miscarriage of justice carried out by her, only now for the same to happen to her.

Grimshaw and Molly are more similar than either of them would like to admit, women who love Dutch with short tempers and fierce loyalty. In Molly’s conversation with Arthur before she is pushed aside for a robbery, she is about to ask Arthur about loyalty. She mentions how Dutch says loyalty is everything, but she is cut off and we never hear the rest of what she was going to say. Even when she knows Dutch is being disloyal to her and him calling her delusional, she stays by him. It is only in chapter 4 when she truly gives up on them both. Grimshaw is loyal to Dutch until the end, staying with the gang no matter their circumstances. But Molly is young and Grimshaw is not. Molly, for a short period of time, gets Dutch’s attention and Grimshaw does not. Molly dies quickly and Grimshaw does not.

It is the extension of Grimshaw’s pain that really makes the death feel like the justice she failed to carry out. In addition to that, she was killed by the real traitor. Micah shooting her in the stomach only further highlights the intentions of Grimshaw shooting Molly, for pain over a kill. The arbiter of justice fails for perhaps the first time in her life, and it all comes back in the end.

#rdr2 #I think you can guess my feelings about grimshaw but I tried to be more objective here for the sake of my thoughts #her death is much less plot relevant than the rest so it’s really just Molly getting her justice at last #also rewatching grimshaw’s death she is also the last person to pull her gun in that stand off #aside from dutch and the others who weren’t there yet #molly o'shea

[katyspersonal]

Hello there ! Do you have any headcanon about Lady Maria ? Like maybe her relationship with other characters than Gherman and Adeline ?

Thank you for an ask! I've posted some headcanons about her past ( x )and her habits and alike ( x ) but it was a considerable time ago! Also I have a delayed ask from my friend @heraldofcrow regarding Maria's family because the sheer amount of people I needed to cover and contexts I needed to explain crashed me shdfhsd (I will post it when I am ready Crow </3 )

I will cover more or less solid ideas here though because some headcanons I am still just bouncing around!

Maria and other Old Hunters

Like it says here, she and Henryk were the ones helping Byrgenwerth, descending from the families with close ties to ancient cultures and having a lot of knowledge under their belts (as well as personal interest)! Both of them are not very talkative outside of "important" stuff. However, every time they do speak with each other it is very agreeable, fulfilling and positive experience! They share a lot in common and understand each other's struggles and fears effortlessly!

Djura was a person she respected a lot, especially for being the fellow denier of magic using, unlike the rest of Old Hunters that enjoyed arcane weapons, Moon-granted powers, bells, etc etc. That's why Powder Kegs were "heretical"! They both only relied on their skills, only he also was a great engineer! She considered straight up joining Oto Workshop (remains of which later became Powder Kegs) but did not like what their fixation on fire was unfortunately bringing in her. She has the secret pyromancy power, you know x)

^ The fact that concept art features a Charred Hunter similar to Djura with a rapier and one of Powder Kegs weapons imitates a Cainhurst weapon makes me consider the idea that Maria and Djura knew each other even before the Hunters stuff! I will examine this idea later, but them being old friends is an appealing idea! In either case, for her Djura was like that one "cool mutual" who instantly gives you self-esteem boost if they like your post! xD Djura was yet to undergo his character arc at the point Maria's resolve as a hunter cracked after Fishing Hamlet though, so his (former) feverish hatred to the beasts made her trust him less. She already got burnt when Gehrman somewhat harshly didn't understand her faltering and didn't want to risk getting judgement from Djura, the second person she admired, too.

Gratia is a cousin that Maria never learned of, as Gratia was discarded since birth (born same kind of Pthumerian-Human hubrid as Snatchers)! It was rather lucky to still meet within Old Hunters as adults. Maria felt quite comfortable with her, coincidentally getting sense of 'older sister' figure from her that she missed after parting with Annalise! Even though Gratia and Annalise are nothing alike of course x) But a much more stronger, more bold and confident, and more tall woman is something that allowed Maria to connect with her softer side, especially when Gratia would straight up pick her up in a (too tight) embrace when she congratulated her with something, or expressed vocal wish to "protect" her!

Matias (Blood Minister from intro cutscene) used to double as a bar man at the times when alcohol was still relevant in Yharnam, so she interacted with him outside of the hunt enough! She needed a glass sometimes, okay? xD He is a curious person though and prefers to get under facades and see what people are really made of, so he abused being sober while she was drunk to ask her about her feelings on various topics and people, or pry on her secrets. She was so stoic and reclusive, he just wanted to know who was the person under the Hunter role! Very crooked of him, but at least he didn't use drunk secrets of others for evil, he is Just Like This lol. He eventually felt guilty for being so shady though. As one of the first Old Hunters who started to experience the potential drawbacks of the hunt and blood (losing legs capacity, blindness, having to amputate fingers etc), he also was one the first to get in a wheelchair. Maria was so nice and helpful to him despite him becoming "useless", he should have been nice too, this old nosy bastard.

Maria and the Healing Church

Laurence... Alright, heeeere we fucking go again with my beloved image that is a pillar for many of my headcanons:

Maria and Laurence are not blood-related (at least as far as great-grand parents go, I didn't develop centuries of family tree!), but saw each other since younger age! They were not close though, as Laurence travelled and studied abroad in his kid and teen years! Whenever he visited, it was also not more than simple exchange of news at the dinner in a group of people. Maria and her squad (Annalise, Crow and King) knew him as arrogant asshole with inflated ego, but he returned in Maria's life in Byrgenwerth era, as admittedly more charismatic and pleasant person than before.

They managed to patch up years of awkwardness and distance and became friends, especially since he got along with Gehrman quite well! ...but then he decided that HE was special, and HE could tame the holy blood when Loran and Pthumeru Ihyll failed 🙄 Maria was more by the side of Caryll, Rom and Willem on the big bad academical infighting! She argued with Laurence a lot. When he convinced Adeline that letting him surgically alter her body to produce holy blood was a good idea, Maria straight up could not handle it maturely. It is a long one to go into but Laurence already tugged some unexplainable sense of fear and hesitation in Maria. She felt like his influence somehow was everywhere (not she alone, actually) and she never could stand up against him properly, but "losing" Adeline was the very peak of the sense of helplessness. She wished she reacted more maturely and her weakness only proven Adeline that Laurence was more reasonable trustworthy (owch.....), but in either case, since then a HELL of passive aggression and coldness followed between Laurence and Maria.

....and then, they somewhat broke the ice in Research Hall arc, after Maria abandoned the hunt and could at least entrust in evolution through Eyes and Stars. They both figured they took bad turns in life and there was no point in lamenting the past, they still needed to save what could be saved. They finally had pleasant, albeit very bitter-sweet interactions after years of mutual vitriol. However, I am considering a very dark idea of Laurence seeing that Maria was bordering suic1dal moods and not only letting it happen, but even "encouraging" it in secret, as he wanted her out of the way before commanding Cainhurst massacre. No, he knew that he had her will broken and she would just let him do it, he was not scared. But he... didn't want it. He figured it was a better way to go for her as someone who still believed she could atone for her sins, rather than living to reach complete state of helplessness. He "allowed" her one last "choice" in her life.

Fucked up concept, fucked up concept, I know.

With Brador relationship was a bit strained, but they were more of friends than Maria and Laurence. At least, she was not feeling so inexplicably cornered by him with all her might as a warrior, nor Brador was trying to scare her into being hush. He believed she was smart enough to not get herself or her friends into more trouble, albeit always felt bad for her kind, honorable nature. He knew he was an opposite of her, completely drenched and even reveling in disgraceful crimes he was doing to help "smarter people" advance. But, Maria pleaded with Brador to get a word out from her to Laurence, to pay attention at the weird actions of Doctor Micolash at the Research Hall and why patients kept suffering and diving into 'Sea', and Brador listened to her. It is quite a confession from Brador to go against Laurence for someone, and Maria knows this. They'd have very deep friendship under better circumstances, I think.

Vasylissa (White Church Hunter) is another character Maria saw often! Technically, Maria replaced her as an overseer and caretaker of Research Hall in the end. Even before that, Maria appreciated this person and was always relieved to find her in Grand Cathedral praying instead of Laurence. Vasylissa at least remembered to "fear the blood" much better than everyone else in the Healing Church. Very arcane-leaning, very should-have-stayed-in-Byrgenwerth person that helped Maria to feel less alone. They exchanged everything they knew as well as had many heart-to-hearts, and Vasylissa considered themselves to be good friends.. She was one of the people who cried and blamed herself when Maria was gone. I also like to play with an idea that Maria would like to approach her romantically, but noticed someone else had eyes on her - that Black Church female Hunter who guards her! So she decided to step back.

Ludwig was also a person with whom Laurence and Healing Church stuff didn't sour the things with! Heck, the guy loved what Laurence represented more than himself, and mostly was just fixated on the hunt (and his 'Guidance', but that was a secret!)! They are both knightly and full of honour, naive and kind but ruthless in battle! I even wrote a post of headcanons of them as a pairing once ( x ), but everything said in that post still applies minus the dating bit :') They were good friends that vented and could comfort each other, they disagreed on the same Healing Church's antics, they had friendly sparrings, they kept each other in mind upon separation and stocked up things to share with each other when they'd meet next..

I think when Maria went from 'magic bad humanity good' to 'maybe there IS some hope for humanity in pursuit for Stars and Moon 🤔', Ludwig showed Holy Moonlight to her. He was a little reluctant and jealous considering it, but could not see Maria so doubtful and lost. If sharing something so intimate could've helped her to finally make sense of her conflicts, then so be it. Only.. it made things worse, because Maria saw that the violence and murder was in the plans of even the Great One that was advertised by Laurence and the others as the way to help humanity!

Maria and Cainhurst

This is the part where I unfortunately have to restrain myself, because there is so much to unpack that, like I said, I still have a separate ask to work on this!

But, Maria had sort of a friend group since childhood with Annalise (half-sister from her cheating father), Eidinghardt (Bloody Crow of Cainhurst) and Elias (King)! Her relationship with Crow were the closest of the group, as the two were like siblings! They were fighting a lot but not in a toxic way, more like the typical siblings banters! Maria additionally pinched Crow's cheek or invited him for a nice fist fight when they were kids and Crow constantly made Elias cry, or was rude towards Annalise! He was an asshole, and she was an anti-bully ranger x) Yet, whenever it subdued, they were playing together a lot and getting into trouble together. Crow was very jealous when Maria decided to leave Cainhurst, like... I would not surprised of the 'straight up clinged to her leg and dragged after her across the floor' situation fdshhfd For people that fought a lot he felt only she truly understood him, and he never quite recovered from realisation that Maria might not really felt the same, even if she did love him too.

Elias was very gentle person when he was growing up, and could only really turn to Maria to hide from judgement for "shaming" his noble family. She was there for him during both of his most hardcore conflicts with Annalise (who was and is extremely hard to earn forgiveness from), and believed in him when he decided to become a warrior too. Annalise, like I said, Maria found a comfort in, lacking a mother figure and instead seeking a woman to turn to in older sisters figures. But also, Annalise gave her chills sometimes! She never dared to lie to her or break a promise to her- and she did see what happens on example of Elias. At the same time, Annalise was so reliable, someone Maria could share her problem with and just know that Annalise will help...

____________________________

This is all for now! Obviously this is not all characters to cover; there are still Logarius, Izzy, Caryll (one more cousin, but known one), Micolash and Rom, and relatives in Cainhurst! I just wanted to answer the ask now but I am still cooking some headcanons because I figured I can't rush it and right ideas find me at their own pace :pensive: Still, thank you for letting me talk about it in detail!!

#bloodborne #lady maria of the astral clocktower #multi character post #bloodborne headcanons #ask replies #doodles #dammit matias you ass fhfhds #I also made him kinda catlike and this is funny.. curious like a cat.. #the part with laurence actually hurt me a bit #spineless I know considering it is BLOODBORNE where we eat babies a lifelong drama can't hurt this bad right? #right- ehhhh

[poisonousdelights]

PARTIES: @poisonousdelights & @contemporarybardess TIME: Beginning of March WHERE: The Sugar Pot SUMMARY: After Isa brings a sweet treat in for her coworkers her and Elora begin to talk about some uncomfortable topics. Elora lets some things slip about the shop and it's owner and soon after wishes she hadn't opened her mouth. WARNINGS: Alludes to substance abuse tw and drug abuse tw. Also alludes to parental death tw.

For as many times as the customers at The Sugar Pot had made her feel like a worthless human being, there were just as many times where Isa’s coworkers had made her feel the exact opposite. Alistair finding out the true nature of her incarceration had been the very thing to seal her love for the people that she worked with, the man having taken it in stride and not let it color his judgment of her. It was the acceptance, the way that he made her past seem like no big deal, that had made her walk into work the next day with her head held high and a renewed sense of pride. 

So, of course she brought cupcakes.

There were half a dozen cupcakes from the Bread Cemetery in hand when she made her way behind the counter, a mental note in mind to hide away the chocolate for her boss and another for Tommy when he inevitably walked through the door that day. She did it almost immediately before she forgot and the two ended up with nothing later on. But the rest, the rest of them were free game. Isa opened the box as she walked up to Elora, a bright smile on her face as she held it out to her. “Pick one. Or two, I don’t mind. We just have to save one for Melody.”

Another day at The Sugar Pot, and another day of serving up smiles. At least, that’s what Elora would always say when she was on the job. In truth, customer service sucked. It definitely wasn’t awful, and her coworkers definitely made the experience much better. Sure there was some shady business done in the back which Elora largely ignored. She just had to keep head down and tell herself that Alistair always had a good justification for what went on back there.

As she locked eyes with Isa, carrying a container of cupcakes, her eyes lit up immediately. 

“These are for us? That’s so sweet of you!” Elora said to her coworker before happily grabbing her favorite, red velvet. “Any particular occasion? Or just having a bit of a sweet tooth?” she asked, flashing a coy smile. 

“Ahhh, of course. Melody works hard here, we definitely can’t leave her without one. These look great by the way, where did you get them?” 

Immediately, the stop by the bakery and the spent cash that she probably should have held onto was worth it. The joy that just the sight of the cupcakes had brought to Elora was everything she had needed to tell her this was a good idea. “Maybe a bit of both. Definitely the sweet tooth but a small celebration for a victory I didn’t think I would ever get.” Isa was going to be tight lipped though. Even if Melody and Alistair accepted what had happened, that didn’t mean her coworkers would be comfortable with her situation if they didn’t already know. “Also, Alistair is a good man and I thought he deserved a cupcake. I didn’t want to play favorites though.”

She beamed at the mention of Melody’s work, nodding her head vigorously. “ Yes, yes she does. And she does such a good job. This place is perfect, don’t you think?” Maybe Isa was laying it on a little thick but she couldn’t help it. She felt like the shop was sent to her as some sort of savior, especially now that she wasn’t constantly worried that her boss would fire her over a charge that she didn’t deserve. “Oh, the Bread Bakery. You haven’t been? If you haven’t, you’re in for a treat because those are delicious.”

Elora nodded when she mentioned celebrating a victory as well as Alistair. Elora didn’t know much about Isa yet, but she was curious about the victory she was talking about. As for Alistair being a good man, she already knew the darker underlayer behind Alistair’s kind demeanor. She knew his help always came with a price. But instead, she opted not to say anything quite yet. 

“Ah, well if I can benefit off of Alistair’s kindness even more, then I’ll happily do that! I’m sure he’ll love them.”

Elora took a bite of her cupcake and looked around the store, taking in the splendor of the meticulously decorated store around them. “It definitely is! Melody is a miracle worker, I swear. She really knows how to make a place feel nice and home-y.” 

She’d ordered a few things from the bread bakery from time to time. She also knew Lil from her adventures in the haunted house. They had even offered her a job when she first came to town, which she turned down for another opportunity that didn’t pan out. Thankfully Alistair had stepped in and given her a job when she had needed it. She noticed he seemed to have a habit of doing this. “I’ve been there a few times, actually! Great place, never tried their cupcakes though. Glad to see they’re just as good as the rest of their baked goods. Really nice people that own the place too!”

As Elora finished her cupcake, she decided to finish getting everything set up for when customers start coming in. “So, I take it you like it here so far? Customer service isn’t too frustrating for you? ‘Cause I’ll be honest, I have my moments sometimes” she said, followed by a laugh to imply she was joking, even though she wasn’t. She hated customer service. But she also had bills. 

“I don’t know how she does it all with having Tommy as well. Superhuman, I guess.” Leaning against the counter, arms stretched out over the top, Isa couldn’t stop the realization that it was actually possible to be a superhuman. Hell, she could turn into a snake, there was no telling if Melody could shift or not. Though she wasn’t quite sure how shifting could help someone run a store so the comment was a little skewed. 

Thinking back to her experience at the bakery, she had to agree with the other girl. The people there had been nothing but nice if not a tiny bit strange. Or maybe the shop itself was a little strange. Either way, Isa enjoyed it. It was better than boring. “I heard you’re supposed to stay away from their bagels though. Not sure why but someone warned me against them before I even walked in the door so I just…didn’t get any. Not that I was there for them.” And nothing had seemed too off about them when her gaze had lingered on them a little longer than they should have. If people were warning against them though, she imagined the staff was used to a side eye or two toward the display. 

Elora couldn't have known how uncomfortable her question would make the lamia feel. Her smile faded a little as she thought back to how some of the customers could treat her, sure that the other was unaware of this because they didn’t work together too often. She started to pick at the ends of her fingers as nervous laughter bubbled to the surface. “It’s the worst part of the job, honestly. It wasn’t my first choice but…this place was the only job I could get when I was applying.” There were no indications of a joke as there was with Elora, but she shrugged it off as if it didn’t hurt to have people constantly glaring in her direction, some even refusing to let her help them. “I’m not well liked in this town. Which is why I owe a lot to Alistair.”

Elora couldn’t do much other than nod in agreement. She had never been a fan of children and the task of raising one always seemed like a massive undertaking she really wanted no part of. Melody did indeed seem almost superhuman in that respect.

Elora cocked her head at Isa’s comment about the bakery’s bagels. “What makes the bagels so bad? And why do they keep making them? Seems hard to mess up a bagel when you get so much else right.” She then shrugged her shoulders and continued setting up the register for the day. She hadn’t been inside the store very often, usually just to pick up an order very briefly. She wondered if there was more to the store than met the eye. Then she realized that of course there was more to the store than met the eye. That described pretty much every store in Wicked’s Rest, including this tea shop! 

She could see Isa immediately become uncomfortable and felt a pit of guilt boring into her gut. She had clearly struck some sort of nerve, even if she was trying to play if off. She didn’t know much about the other woman, but she seemed kind enough. She couldn’t wrap her head around why so much of the town would ostracize her like that. 

“I get it. I had a hard time finding a place to work too. I had a good one lined up, but it unfortunately fell through, and money was running out quick. Thankfully Alistair was able to take me in too. I don’t have any formal education, grew up way off the grid, and no other marketable skills. You can imagine that would make finding a job nearly impossible.” She then looked over at the girl, who so kindly brought cupcakes in for the other employees. “I can’t imagine why you wouldn’t be well liked. I know we don’t know each other all that well but you seem very kind to me! Some people in this town are just…well..assholes. And others are really cagey and standoffish, for good reason I guess. What’s important is that the people who like you are the ones who matter. And so far it seems you at least have me and Alistair. 

“I don’t know. Something about them being haunted and assaulting people? It was weird.” And she wouldn’t admit to keeping an eye on the baked goods the whole time she was getting those cupcakes. Isa didn’t truly believe things could be haunted but she’d enough weird things to think something else could be going on. Like a spellcaster playing a ‘fun’ joke on unsuspecting people. That’s what they did, after all.

It was a surprise to find that Elora had trouble with the job hunt as well but she supposed that she shouldn’t have been too shocked. Alistair really did take in the strays, didn’t they? They had said as much when they had discussed her own employment with her but it hadn’t registered until Isa heard Elora’s story. It only made her happier to be working with someone who cared so much for others that they would give second chances to those who needed it. “I guess we both owe a lot to them, huh?” She was also curious though, and not shy when it came to bringing up what she didn’t understand. “What does ‘off the grid’ mean? Was it bad?”

Her lips pressed together when Elora brought up the fact that she didn’t understand, confirmation that she had no clue about her past. The rumor mill must not have reached her yet or maybe this shop was immune to it all. She took a moment to think about whether she wanted to get into it or not. The last thing Isa wanted was for her coworker to feel uncomfortable with her but eventually she would hear it from a disgruntled customer who didn’t know how to keep their mouth shut. The best thing would be for Elora to hear it from her, right?

“So, a lot of people think I did something awful that I didn’t do. I mean, I went to prison because of it, they found me guilty, but I never did it. I wouldn’t have…” She sighed softly, her last moments with Ruth popping into her head. “I wouldn’t have hurt her. But they think I pushed a friend of mine off of a water tower one night.” She stopped there, not wanting to relive the night anymore than she had to. “Just bad circumstances, really.” At least Isa had Alistair, and Maggie. Maggie was all she would need in life. But…hopefully she could still have Elora on her side too. 

After everything she’d endured over the past year or so, Elora could do nothing but roll her eyes at the notion of the bagels assaulting people. 

“Killer pastries, color me shocked!” she said sarcastically. She was surprised the tea leaves in the shop weren’t sentient and bloodthirsty. Still, she found herself morbidly curious about visiting the bakery just to see if those claims were true. At this point she found the idea charming rather than terrifying. 

“Well hey, if you say you didn’t do it, I believe you.” She said thoughtfully. People in this town tended to assume the worst in people. Oftentimes these assumptions were correct, but could still lead to some false beliefs of guilt. 

“More than anything else, I believe Alistair is a good judge of character. In spite of their own…complexities. If they believe you’re a good person, then so do I!””

The girl’s sarcastic response did help relieve some of the tension that Isa was now feeling as the conversation geared towards her uncomfortable past. She gave a hesitant laugh, still waiting for the shoe to drop but somehow it didn’t. It amazed her that she was starting to meet more and more people around this town that didn’t hate her for the things that happened to Ruth and she couldn’t help but feel a little choked up 

But she pushed it back knowing it would be a little strange for her to cry in front of someone just because they said they believed her. It wasn’t something she was able to do the night before but at least she’d been online when she was talking to Alistair. Needless to say, her heart and good mood soared to new levels. “I appreciate that so much, Elora. I can’t believe how…accepting everyone is at this shop.” And she couldn’t. It was the weirdest thing to go from being so hated to being so accepted in the span of twenty-four hours. 

But something did catch her attention. Isa wasn’t as focused on her own issues once Elora brought up their boss and their issues. The curiosity got the better of her. “What do you mean when you say complexities?”

Regardless of what Isa may or may not have been guilty of, Elora was hardly in a place to judge. She thought back to her old colony. Her friends, her father and mother. Their images ripped through her brain again, sending shockwaves, causing her to tense her face and clench her fist a bit. She composed herself quickly thereafter. Now was not the time for another breakdown. 

“We all have skeletons in our closet. Nothing’s black and white, I think anybody here can tell you that. What really matters is what you’ve done since your past.” she said with a casual shrug of the shoulders. “Besides, the official record doesn’t tell even half the truth most of the time. If you say you’re innocent, then I believe it until I have a reason not to.” 

Elora paused a bit at Isa’s question, not sure exactly how to proceed. Her first meeting with Alistair told her all she really needed to know about them. She had just assumed that Isa was at least somewhat filled in on what they really does behind the scenes. But now it seemed that the woman was oblivious to that, that Alistair was simply a kindly blind tea shop manager handing out jobs to supernatural orphans. 

“You know…complexities. Their…” Elora contemplated lying, which she was horrible at.The only time she’s able to convince people of anything other than the truth is when she compels them to believe it. And she was certainly not about to break her “no powers unless absolutely necessary” rule for something relatively minor such as this. “Well you know, Their little shady side business they run in the back.” she said simply, hoping the other woman would leave it at that.

She saw the way Elora had disappeared somewhere else, somewhere that wasn’t as nice as the tea shop with their cupcakes and the beautiful aromas floating through the air. There was definitely something upsetting about the place she had gone judging by the look on her face but Isa wasn’t going to push it. It was uncomfortable enough talking about a bad instance in the past when everybody already knew about it, she couldn’t imagine being coaxed into talking about her secrets when she was new to town. But something did happen. That much was confirmed when the other girl spoke up once more. “Yea, I guess we do. Just call this the shop of misfit toys.”

It was so refreshing and the lamia was so relieved until she saw Elora hesitate to answer her question. What could the kind person who had given her a second chance at laugh be doing that could qualify as a complexity. Frowning while she waited for her coworker to keep going, Isa allowed so many things to run through her mind. There was so much she was learning about this town that she hadn’t previously known about so the wildest thoughts kept coming to mind. 

“Shady side business…?” Oh, that did not sound good. Oh, no…what kind of shady side business? “Please tell me they’re not doing anything illegal.” Because she was still on probation. If her probation officer came by and found out her boss was doing something that could land them in jail she would most certainly head back there herself and Isa really didn’t want to have to quit her job. No one else would take her. “What exactly are they doing?”

“Shop of misfit toys is pretty accurate! I feel like the jack in the box with the broken spring.” Elora said with a smirk. She knew that she didn’t have many other opportunities for employment, same as Isa, so was grateful for what she could get. And, after all, Alistair and Melody were very good to her. 

“Oh well um…” Elora hesitated at Isa’s question. Illegal seemed like an understatement for what went on in that back room. “Nothing very bad, honestly.” Depended on your outlook. “You know he was a pharmacist before he lost his sight, right? Well he’s still in the business of healing people. Just uses more unconventional means to do it, sort of like herbal remedies!” Sort of like them, but also nothing like them at all. “It’s a tea shop after all, we have plenty of material. And no, I don’t think that counts as illegal since it technically isn’t practicing medicine.” Another half truth. Murder certainly wasn’t practicing medicine. 

“I’m just, yknow, not into all that new age healing shit. I’d much rather rely on more traditional medicine, but to each their own!” She looked over to Isa, hoping she hadn’t caused her too much worry. “Sorry, didn’t mean to freak you out too much!”

“Only if I can be the boat that won’t float.” It was a joke but a halfhearted one at that. It’s how Isa felt sometimes, always drowning. Or at least struggling not to sink below the surface. Suddenly she was wondering how this happy conversation had turned so depressing.

Even as Elora tried to explain what she meant, the lamia had a gut feeling that the explanation given wasn’t exactly what was going on in the back. It was plausible, yes, and Isa had no problem with Alistair trying to heal people but the shakiness of Elora’s words made her doubt their truthfulness. It was all very sketchy but she wasn’t about to come right out and say that. 

Maybe it was better that Isa knew nothing about it all. Maybe that’s how it should be since she was already in trouble with the law around here. If she stayed out of whatever Alistair was doing in that back room then she couldn’t be seen as an accomplice, right? But then there was the explanation that was given and how Elora made a point to say herbal remedies. Why did that sound like something she needed to look into? No, she didn’t have any ailments herself, which she was very thankful for, but it all gave the impression that her boss might know where to start when it came to her unique issues. Spellcasters used that stuff, right? Maybe they could point her in the direction of a market where she could run into some…

“No…you didn’t freak me out too badly. I’m still on probation so being involved with a business that’s doing illegal things wouldn’t have been a good thing. But it makes sense.” She still looked doubtful as Isa gazed up at her coworker but she hoped that Elora would believe that she’d dropped the subject. She had, at least for now. “I shouldn’t be worried, right? It’s just herbs?”

Elora couldn’t help but feel as though her explanation was rather shaky, but Isa certainly didn’t lead on to that  suspicion as she breathed a  sigh of relief. Alistair the herbalist she recited in her head. It had a nice ring to it, she had to admit.

“Yeah, you know Al.” Why did she call them Al? “Always looking for ways to promote his tea and healing properties. But yes, completely legal herbs only. The fun ones you have to go under the bridge in Deersprings at…uh, nevermind. You’re on probation, probably not a good idea to tell you.” 

Elora couldn’t help but grow increasingly curious about the nature of her alleged crime, but knew better than to pry. Some skeletons are better left in their closets, locked away safely where nobody can set them free.  Elora began to feel that the long the conversation continued the more likely she was to let something slip that she wasn’t supposed to. She decided to cut the interaction short by making herself busy. 

“Oh wow, I just realized there’s a whole case of jasmine tea leaves in back that I haven’t stocked yet. I should probably get on that. Okay, back to work!” She said, halfheartedly clapping her hands, hoping that would be enough signal to end the conversation and get back to work.

“Fun herbs?” Oh how she missed fun herbs. One day, a day when she was no longer being held back by an angry man who didn’t like her just because he had to test her every now and then, she would be able to let loose and enjoy those fun herbs once more. Maybe she’d go to…Al, as Elora called them, then since they apparently knew where the good stuff was.,,if that's what they were actually doing. Isa wanted so badly to believe that but deep down she somehow knew that there was more to this that Elora wasn’t telling her. It made her nervous but what else could she do?

For some reason she also thought that her coworker was keeping secrets about herself as well. She wasn’t one to pry into people’s business, Isa always wanted to extend that courtesy since she wanted that respect in return, but she couldn’t help but wonder what was going on there. Elora was new to town but in her experience the newbies were the ones with the most sordid pasts. She had said she was a misfit toy, after all.

Both of these suspicions seemed more plausible when Elora tried to scurry off, most likely to get away from a coworker who didn’t seem too convinced about the legality of this business. It only made her more curious about it all but the lamia decided to keep quiet as she nodded. “You know what? I told Alistair I would clean the dispensers so I should probably get on that.” She gave a halfhearted smile before she turned to start on her task but her mind was racing with what this could all possibly mean. What was Alistair really doing in that back room? How did Elora get involved with it all? And was she possibly in danger of going back to prison because of it? 

Fuck, she hoped not.

#Threads #Thread: Elora #Dirty Laundry #substance abuse tw #parental death tw

[soursvgar]

The brothers and what they love about Christmas

demon brothers x gender neutral reader

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

Lucifer

If confronted, he will deny it, but Lucifer's favorite during the holidays is the time spent together with his family.

For Lucifer, December is exactly the opposite of a period of tranquillity. There are permission slips, documents and arrangements to take care of for upcoming winter festivals, devil day celebrations and other seasonalities. In fact, his work would increase tenfold during the holidays and more often than not, he would spend Christmas in his study trying to catch up with all the work.

The day felt like no other, Lucifer drags himself back home from RAD at a late evening, overlooking the illuminated town as fatigue take over every cell in his body. Finally making it back, he hangs his coat on his way to his study, briefly passing by the living room as he detects a figure recumbent on the couch. Lucifer sighs at Belphegor's carelessness and carefully drapes a blanket over his sleeping body.

"Lucifer, you're finally back!" He turns towards your voice, spotting you on the floor along with Satan, Leviathan and Mammon in the middle of a heated game of cards. Beelzebub is heading back from the kitchen with snacks for everyone while Asmodeus is hanging the stockings over the fireplace.

"I apologize, but I have to hurry back and finish the rest of my work for today."

"Oh come on, it's Christmas!" You object, the rest of the brothers backing you up and call for him to join in. "Work will still be there tomorrow, we'll even let you pick the movie!"

Lucifer suppresses a grin; it's not every night he gets to see a lovely picture of his siblings happily socializing with one another, with one uniting force to bring them all together- you.

With no further retaliation, he ditches his responsibilities for one night and one night only.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

Mammon

Mammon's favorite Christmas tradition is, of course, the presents.

Prior to your arrival, Mammon had attempted multiple times to convince Lucifer to celebrate Christmas at the house of lamentation. Over and over again, Lucifer refused, claiming it's a waste of their time and energy and that he has work to fulfil during the holidays regardless. But when you came along, he finally had a good enough reason to coax Lucifer into it, implying it would really impress lord Diavolo if they could arrange a proper celebration for the new human exchange student. Lucifer finally caves in to his demands, under the condition that he will be the one to take care of all the preparations.

"I'm telling ya, Christmas in this house is a blast, we'll knock your stockings off with our decor." As per usual, Mammon bluffs his way into impressing you, talking your ear off while the two of you are out holiday shopping. He detecs a hopeful gleam in your eyes and is determined to give you the best Christmas he can, despite being away from your home in the human world. After all, here in the devildom, with him, is where you belong now.

"You head home first, The Great Mammon have shady business to attend to here in sum places, not stuff ya wanna be involved in, m'kay?" Mammon pulls you closer by your hip and plants a loving peck to your forehead before releasing you on your merry way. When he's assured you're out of sight, he sneaks into the jewellery store you and him walked past earlier on your spree to get you the trinket he caught your gaze linger on.

Mammon loves presents, but not for the reason everyone will first assume. While he may be an enthusiast of all things that come free, the actual reason Mammon loves presents so much is because he is addicted the sheer joy in the eyes of his loved ones when they receive a gift he grinds at hell's kitchen for, then goes and hand pick it, specifically tailored to the person's liking.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

Leviathan

Levi's discovered that he has a passion for building gingerbread houses.

It was actually you who caught onto Levi's knack for creative activities; whether it's sewing costumes for a cosplay, fixing his figurine collection whenever Henry 1.0 accidentally slithered over his belongings and knocked them over, or pitching his art in a TSL covers competition.

"So, did they ever feature Ruri-hana's house in the series?" you ask Levi during one of your game nights, already mentally preparing yourself for a lecture on the subject in case the answer is yes. He beams, then proceeds to tell you in detail about the colors of the windows in Ruri-chan's house as seen on episode two hundred and thirty-seven of volume six of the anime. From there, the road to convince him to assemble a copy of it from gingerbread and sugar cookies with you was very short.

"Woahhh! this looks just like Ruri chan's house!! And we even created an exact replica of her companion from a miniature dorayaki!" Levi babbles in excitement, proud of the work you and him input into this project. "And what's the inspiration behind yours, y/n?" He ducks his head to take a closer look at the cozy looking confectionery house on your tray.

"My inspiration is my home in the human world!" You cheerfully exclaim. Levi clamps a hand over his mouth, now realizing the intent behind your shared project. Is he, actually... touched?

"W-Well in that case, we have to make it perfect! Go ahead, tell me everything about your house in the human world so we can create a perfect mini version of it. We can even make two gingerbread people to impose as you and I. Well, I mean, i-i-if you will actually want to invite someone like me into your house..."

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

Satan

Satan's favorite Christmas activity is secret santa since it's a good excuse to play detective.

Satan loves solving mysteries, to top that, he's also fond of games. (though, in a very different way than Levi.) Therefore, a game of secret santa, extreme devildom version, sounds like a perfect holiday tradition for him. That is, until he gets Lucifer as the person he has to give gifts to.

"This can't be happening to me." Satan announces the minute you step inside his room. Perched on an armchair, he rocks his foot nervously while staring at a piece of paper, gaze flickering back and forth between you and the note in his hand. You carefully tread between the mountains of books on the floor in order to reach to his side, wondering what exactly was the emergency he convened you in for. You crouch to see the small print on the paper in Satan's hand, the letters clearly reading out as 'Lucifer'.

"I knew I should've refused to take part in a silly human world tradition. What am I to do now? What gift could I possibly give Lucifer apart from a cursed item that turns you into a fruit, then incorporate you in Beel's shake, ultimately dooming you to live the rest of your short life inside his stomach, where no one can hear you screaming for help." Satan's sorrowful expression suddenly changing into a malicious smile, his villain like laughter echoes through the walls when his mind fogs with more and more ideas of secret-santa-presents-gone-wrong.

"Well you could do that... or, you can actually give him something nice. Imagine how much it will mess with his brain when he finds out he received a thoughtful present from you." praying reversed psychology is by your side, you attempt to save Lucifer from the fate of accidentally turning into a door knob in Satan's room as a Christmas present.

His face lights up, what's better than to play into the most unexpected scenario? always be one step ahead of your enemies. Satan cradles your face within his grasp, peppering it with kisses before he places a peck to the crown of your head.

"You are a genius, y/n!"

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

Asmodeus

With his love for all things beautiful, it comes as no surprise that Asmodeus' favorite are the holiday decorations.

It's known to all that Asmo has an eye for design; from his own phonecase business to nail painting, his entrepreneurship sees no boundaries. However, it is not always easy to be the sole provider of finesse to the kingdom of hell. Whenever Asmodeus needs help, the responses often flow between disinterest to plain out repulsion, leaving him to his lonesome. Of course, he could always charm someone into helping him, but there's a difference between forcing another to engage in your passion and have them genuinely take interest in it.

Its during breakfast that you hear Asmodeus sighing more than usual, cheek resting on his palm while his utensils mindlessly playing with the food on his plate. You seem to be the only one, as the others conveniently pay no mind to his dispirited look, seemingly fed up with his flair for dramatics.

"Hey Asmo, you okay?" you question, causing the latter to reveal a pitiful gaze, lip quivering and all. He immediately gushes on and on about the fact that it's nearly Christmas and none of his brothers appreciate the beauty of an illuminated backyard, tree, and essentially every nook and cranny you can turn festive.

You make the mistake of offering your services, not paying enough attention to the alarming glances the brothers had tried to sneak towards you. Unfortunately, you only realize the weight of this decision when Asmodeus drags you to the twenty seventh ornaments store of the day, quite literally, because he made you carry all of the bags. But it's the look of pure euphoria on his face that makes you pummel through it, and you can swear you've never seen him this happy before.

At last, you're done with the day. Asmodeus requests that you go through the park, stopping at a near bench and places the bags on it, finally ridding your tired hands off of the extra weight. "I promised Beel a holiday meal at his favorite restaurant in return for him to come and help us carry all of this home." Asmodeus grins and takes your hands in his own, gently massaging them. "I know today must have been a lot... thank you for coming with me. I don't think anyone else would've done this for me."

He's aware that he might be a piece of work sometimes, but he always ensures to make up for it with a hot bubble bath, a routine of some of his finest skin care and a sleepover full of your favorite activities. If the day was all about him, it's only fair that the night will be all about you.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

Beelzebub

in a very predictable revelation, Beelzebub's favorite is a good, comforting holiday meal.

If there's one thing that's been said about Beel many times before, its that he inhales any food regardless of what's in it, and so he's unaware of the decadence a well prepared meal guarantees. Beel disagrees, however. Like every other person, he has delicacies he absolutely indulges in, and others which he couldn't digest even if he tried. (For instance, Solomon's cooking.)

Your eyes pick up from the book in your hand when you sense someone's presence, taking notice of Beel hunching over you, practically drooling over the picture on the cover. "Hm? Oh, the picture making you hungry huh? Barbatos suggested to host a Christmas dinner in the demon castle and asked me to pick from this human world recipe book, do you want to help?"

You did not have to ask twice, within seconds Beel places you on his lap and flips through the pages with your aid. "This one has celery and leek, so I'm sure it would turn out delicious." Beel points to a certain dish. Surprised, you turn to face him. "What? As a professional eater, I know what flavor combinations elevate a dish."

"I had no idea." You state, smiling at him. For some reason, it makes you happy to learn that detail, most likely because you feel like learning about his interests in depth brings the two of you closer.

"Everyone think I just eat a lot because I'm always hungry, but in reality, I'm kind of a foodie. Of course, I'll never turn down a mc'devil, but my palate is refined enough to properly appreciate complexed things before I swallow them to the black hole that is my stomach." Beel mindlessly speaks out as his fingers slowly turn the pages, eyes scanning eagerly over the list of ingredients in every recipe.

"This Christmas dinner is going to be so tasty if cooked by Barbatos, but..." His glance shifts from the book towards you, fluttering over your frame before smoothly traveling back to your lips. "What I'm most excited for, is dessert."

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

Belphegor

Being somewhat of a homebody, Belphegor's favorite Christmas tradition is an annual Christmas movie marathon.

Whenever night approaches, knowing it's almost time to go to bed puts Belphegor in high spirits. He loves sleeping, but is less fond of everyone else being awake, resulting in him missing all of the action. In other words, it gives him comfort knowing his brothers, and you, are not leaving him out of some lively adventure while he comfortably snoozes away in his bed; in fact, he feels the best recognizing the tilt of your weight sinking the bed to his side, and your arms wrapping around him, lulling him to sleep.

"Can you pick the next one? I'm getting tired." Belphegor lifts his head from your shoulder to request. Beel is passed out besides him after eating an amount of candy that could fill three Halloween buckets and experiencing a sugar crash. The rest of the family retreated back to their rooms after the celebrations, leaving you and the twins on an exciting holiday night in that includes fuzzy socks, hot chocolate with whipped cream (courtesy of Beel) and a pile of Christmas movies. Which is all you needed, really. By the first twenty minutes of the next movie, you already chuckle at the soft, hot breaths at the shell of your ear. You pull the blanket over the both of you, accidentally waking Belphegor up from his nap.

"It's pretty late, why don't we make it a party for two in the attic?" Belphegor whispers, careful not to wake up his brother. You giggle your way into a soft bed, but the arms inviting you into their embrace are even more captivating. Locking you in his grasp, Belphegor tangles your legs together to be near you in every possible way, not allowing even one inch to part you. His fingers brush through your hair as his breath ghost over your pair, leaving the slightest distance so he can smirk at you, gaze dripping with lust.

"It's your fault for making me watch all these romantic movies, making me want you all for myself. And you being in my bed gives me all kinds of ideas." He hoists your leg over his waist. "I think that with you around, Christmas might just be my favorite holiday. Promise me we'll do that every year?"

#but it turns from wholesome to nasty the further down u go #lol tricked yall with belphies part :p #this came out longer than i expected #obey me #obey me mc #obey me lucifer #obey me shall we date #obey me mammon #obey me scenarios #obey me imagines #obey me satan #obey me belphegor #obey me beelzebub #obey me asmodeus #obey me leviathan

[red-bat-arse]

And to Fight Wars (AO3 Link)

Chapter 1

(Chapter 2)

(Chapter 3)

This is a oneshot I wrote (although maybe I might continue it?) where Steve moved away from Hawkins pre-canon and was made into the business heir his father wanted. However, when he's brought back to Hawkins in mid 1986 it's clear that his father was involved in something shady; because that's when he meets Eleven, trapped in a rundown lab.

*I don't do tag lists*

*

Steve hated his father.

For many reasons, not the least of which being that he was a cold hearted sonofabitch. Take your pick; he cheated on his wife; he pulled Steve away from his friends and life in Hawkins to be raised by nannies; his expectations had crushed his son under their weight for years; and he had died halfway around the world just one week before. The last one was the most pressing, as now Steve was left in charge of his business empire which, despite having the training beaten into him since he turned twelve, he'd never wanted to have to deal with in the first place.

At least now Steve could arrange for his mother to be properly cared for -yet another strike against the late Richard Harrington was that he'd abandoned Seline the year before when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Steve's mother hadn't exactly been the type for kind words or a gentle hand either, but by god, she deserved to at least go through recovery in comfort. Steve had settled it the day after he received word of the sudden death and hadn't spoken to her since, not even to arrange a funeral. Steve didn't know anyone who would want to go.

He spent the week between then and now offloading or liquidating what he could, and delegating the businesses that would be tied up for awhile, and he was exhausted. His father had known early on that getting his only son ready to inherit would require a backbreaking tutoring schedule and a firm hand on his neck, and while it had bred resentment all his life, Steve was reluctantly grateful for the skills he could now use to manage... all this.

He took a special glee in passing on the businesses his father used to be most proud or possessive over to those on the staff who he'd always scoffed at or looked down upon, whether for their disagreements with him or the fact that Steve got along with them, or both more often. Steve did tend to like people who pissed his father off, since he so rarely worked up the courage to do so himself. But yes, giving the law firm to Amanda, who'd had to deal with his father's leering for over two years now, was its own special kind of balm and well worth the lost sleep.

But, as he trudged into yet another meeting about yet another asset of his father's he hadn't known about, this part was beginning to get old. He should be happier that he would get to live the rest of his life more easily, sleeping better knowing the bastard was six feet under by now in a cheap grave, but something had him on edge. Steve was waiting for the other shoe to drop.

For now it was a tenant who had been in the midst of renegotiating a renting price, which Steve could easily follow along with and win favour by doing the exact opposite of what he'd found written in Richard's notes. But he was sure that there would be something he didn't know how to handle very soon, and he didn't like being on the back foot, even hypothetically.

All he wanted to do was put his father's memory behind him and get on with his life. He was only twenty, he knew he was incredibly privileged to have the life he did, even if it had been hard in its own way -but now he could actually stop and think of a future that, maybe, could make him happy. A future he could be proud to talk about to a stranger in a bar, instead of shame faced deflection as he did now.

Of course, meeting with government people did not make things easy, which came about the very next day. Or, Steve reevaluated as he noticed the lack of identifying marks on any of the shirts, briefcases or letterheads of these people, maybe not the government. He knew his father had to have dealings with underground and other shady types, and those would take longer to dig out than anything legitimate. Thanks to his mother, he had experience with that as well.

"Given your father was so involved, we would be grateful to be considered for continued funding, Mr Harrington," the small, mousy looking man across the table from him was saying. They were using the office his father had kept in the city, on the top floor of the building for the shipping business he owned. "Our research is coming along quite well despite some recent delays, and given your father was looking to partner with us to bring it to the United States military, I'm confident it will produce the profit to pay back your investment twice over."

Steve frowned, not liking the sound of that. The mere suggestion of dealing with the government made him wary, and he could hear his maternal uncles scoff in his head at the evidence coming to light that Richard would have tied himself up in anything so official. Seline had taught Steve better.

"Well, Mr... Drab?"

The man's face pinched, "Drabbé, please."

"Noted," Steve smiled politely, "Well, you see, there's almost no record at all of your business partnering with mine. My father had many faults, and keeping records was one of them," it was funny to watch Mr Drab's face blanch at the casually insulting way he described Richard. "You see, I don't even know what it is you're developing. You can't expect me to put my money into a product on pure faith, can you? Do you think I'm stupid?"

Steve couldn't help the real bitterness that crept into his voice, even as he kept his smile pasted on. If there was one thing Richard Harrington had loved to throw at Steve all day, every day they saw each other, it was 'stupid'. Sure, Steve couldn't do math in his head or read for very long without getting a headache, and he hadn't gotten accepted to any colleges when he applied his senior year of high school, but he knew how to read people. Drab was panicking, both about the accusation Steve levied at him of an insult, but also it seemed at the fact Steve was questioning what this 'Project MKUltra' even was. Steve definitely had the feeling he'd found the other shoe with this.

"Of course not, Mr Harrington, my deepest apologies!" he rushed to say, wringing his hands. "You must understand, it was so unexpected to hear of your father's death. We've been developing this project in completely privacy for so long, the secrecy has gotten to be routine. Of course you would need to be aware of the project's specifics in order to be as committed a donor as Mr Harrington Sr was, of course."

"Of course," Steve tapped a finger on the upholstery of the chair he was sitting in while he contemplated whether he should look into this or drop the entire thing like a hot coal. However, in his experience the latter might get some angry people at his door about the loss of money with no cause, so at the very least he could see what had his father so enamoured. "I trust you'll arrange for me to see what my father invested in before I make my decision then? I'd like to get the whole picture."

Drab paled a couple shades, but he managed to squeak out a promise to call the next week with a verdict, so Steve considered it settled. He walked out of that meeting with a sour taste in his mouth and a mental note to have a copy of his updated will sent to Amanda before he agreed to go anywhere with these people.

*

The fact the project was being developed in Hawkins Indiana was like being slapped in the face, and Steve couldn't help but stare out the window at the foreign-familiar surroundings as his driver made their way through the town. It was eerie, all the parts he remembered overlaid in his mind on top of the wreckage from the earthquake several months ago that had yet to be fully cleaned up. There was the elementary school, same as he'd last seen all those years ago but now with a great crack straight through the parking lot. There was the movie theatre, half the sign pulled off to the side of the building and the doors blocked up, the letters of the new releases from March still hanging from the boards.

At least he knew why his father had kept the house all these years with no one living there. Steve couldn't remember if Hawkins even had a motel within city limits.

The documents beside Steve on the seat were illuminating, and put him in a far more important position than Mr Drab had made it seem in the privacy of his father's office. In actuality, along with being the primary donor for the entire project, Richard Harrington had simply owned most of it as well, from the buildings it was hosted in to the shipping company it used for its materials to the various services which stocked it with food and laundry and office supplies at regular intervals throughout the month. Steve essentially owned this project, whatever it may be, and his father may have been a bastard, but in this case he was a smart one. Each contract was air tight in a way Steve could plainly see even on a cursory read, and they risked heavy fines and black listing if they tried to move away from those services without a completed sign off from the CEO, which officially made this Steve's problem.

Steve's driver followed along behind their escort, a nondescript black car that looked even more out of place for trying so hard not to stand out, and he gripped his hands into fists as they rolled out of the downtown and into an industrial area he wasn't familiar with. The large office building they pulled up to run by 'the Department of Energy' was one he'd only ever seen from afar as a child, and coming here now did not exactly leave him feeling welcomed back. In fact, it felt more like he was being watched.

"Mr Harrington, its a pleasure to meet you," in the lobby he was greeted by a slick looking older man, who's hand he shook when offered. "I'm sorry if we appear a little scattered today, there's still some... after effects from the earthquake we're dealing with. Nothing to worry about for yourself, however."

"...and you are?" Steve found himself perturbed by some aspect of the man's behaviour, though he couldn't pinpoint what, so he defaulted to his usual -bluntness often put people off enough to drop whatever fake act they were doing.

"Dr Brenner, we spoke on the phone," he said, face strained a little. That was good, it would be better in the long run if these people thought he was just some vapid rich kid they had to win over or convince to sign of on them breaking contract. Steve didn't like the way the secretaries were watching them from the front desk like they were nervous. "I'm afraid due to those after effects I mentioned, we're a bit behind -the practical demonstrations will mostly have to wait until tomorrow or the next. But we can go to my office and discuss, and maybe you can see a small part of what we're building here before you retire."

No, Steve did not like this man. But he agreed to the new timeline and followed him into the elevator, unsurprised when one of the doormen came in behind them in.

Brenner's office was several stories underground, which told Steve exactly which kind of shady business his father had been dabbling in behind his back. Grandfather would be rolling in his grave, he thought derisively, as they exited the elevator and walked through dimly lit hallways, past various unmarked doors, until they reached one at the end of a hall that was wood instead of steel. Evidently even Brenner liked his comforts in the midst of what was looking to be a project desperate for money.

Brenner opened up the conversation bluntly -he explained as he passed Steve a printed copy of the NDA he'd signed a few days ago that 'MKUltra' was an experimental study, dedicated to producing abilities in its subjects that would be on the frontlines of the next war. It took remembering every smack across the face from his mother for Steve to keep a neutral expression as Brenner produced several folders from his desk and slid them over so Steve could flip through.

The first was objectively horrifying, and if he was a weaker man Steve may have allowed the churning in his gut at some of the pictures to outwardly show. Eighteen children, ranging from eight to seventeen, apparently, had been part of the first trials in the 60s, and all but one had died during some manner of redacted incident in 79. Brenner spoke like a proud, yet grieved parent about the wasted potential of the group and how it was after that tragedy that Steve's father had really helped the lab financially recover from the loss.

"We've been able to rebuild the last few years," Brenner tapped the next folder. "There have been a few... strange incidents in the area, leaving a number of individuals too changed to return to regular life. We're helping to rehabilitate and harness their unique gifts so they can be productive members of society one day."

"And to fight wars," Steve said.

"Yes, we can't let the Soviets get anything over on us," Brenner nodded, tapping the folder again. "Go on, I think you'll find our latest tests quite interesting! Your father certainly-"

"Please don't compare me to my father," Steve said, trying not to snap. The other man apologized, and Steve took a slow breath through his nose before he did as he'd asked and looked.

Five individuals this time, each with a small description helpfully placed next to their designated number -Steve needed to take another breath when he registered the fact that he was sitting in a place that seemed perfectly content to label children with numbers rather than names.

'011' was the last survivor of the first group, who was apparently psychic, telekinetic and could 'manipulate portals', whatever that meant, although it took a toll on her body. '019' had been taken in three years ago, and had limited empathic abilities as well as prophetic dreams, but the more of those he triggered, the less he was able to move on his own. '020' and '021' were brought in at the same time last summer, and they were mentally linked together but unfortunately the most unstable of the five, with lingering feral tendencies from being controlled by something, again, redacted. Then '022' had come here less than six months ago, ostensibly for medical treatment for rather extensive injuries, but then it was found out she too had developed 'portal manipulation' as well as rudimentary clairvoyance such as being able to detect lies.

He could not do anything drastic, he told himself as he glanced up to see Brenner waiting for him to say something, a smirk on his face like he was used to people telling him how impressive it all was, rather than what Steve wanted to do, which was far less polite. No, he had to actually think this through rather than rush in like a fool, no matter what his instincts were.

"Yes, impressive. Fantastical, even," Steve said with just the amount of doubt he wanted peeking through, which brought Brenner up short. "I'm sorry, but telekinesis? Linked minds?"

"You'll see them in working order in a day or two, Mr Harrington," Brenner looked decidedly unhappy at being undermined. "As well as my dear Eleven today, as her telekinesis is the most easy to observe. The work we are doing here is legitimate and will benefit the United States for generations to come!"

"I see. Tell me about your plans for the future for both if I choose to continue my support or cease it," Steve placed the folder back on the table, eyes lingering on the photo of 'Eleven' next to the description of her abilities. Her hair was dark and growing in curly around her ears, and she stared at the camera with a blank expression that made Steve think of mug shots and old pictures of people in sanitariums from history books. As Brenner went into detail on both proposed budgets, Steve still felt sick.

It was odd that he was being brought in to view these secret experiments so quickly after his father's death, with only an NDA as a visible buffer to prevent him from going out and reporting the whole operation to the police. But Steve, as said previously, wasn't stupid -he was simply his mother's son and more suited to the line of work his Rinaldi cousins were in the thick of. This wasn't so different from his lessons when he visited grandfather in Marseille after he turned eighteen, nor of some of the business he'd had to deal with the last few weeks while taking over for his father properly.

If Brenner had been conducting these experiments since the 60s, but only needed private funding after this unknown incident in 79, he likely once had governmental ties that were cut upon such a catastrophic event that lost them seventeen children. The man was likely completely rogue now, made more plausible by the fact his 'Energy Department' building wasn't owned or run by any government agency, and all the contracted employees commuted from the next town over. Not that there were enough employees to fill the building -Steve's father had owned the company that ran out of the first floor, and the floors above were sealed against entry.

If Brenner was this eager to have Steve here and secure either funding or a complete cut off, they must have been in dire need. The conditions in these underground hallways were enough that Steve would say so. But he must have a reason for being confident Steve wouldn't talk after he left the premises -was it that he was delusional and thought Steve was a carbon copy of his father? Did he buy into the disinterested rich boy act he played up?

Or, as they exited the office over an hour later and that same doorman from before fell into step behind them silently, did Brenner simply trust that he had employees ready and willing to threaten Steve into compliance should he seem like he was going to break the NDA? His father hadn't given this place enough extra cash to manage bribes even to small town police, but the security company they outsourced to was no joke. But he was positive the name of the head of the security team was a man who'd worked with one of his uncles in the past, so maybe he would have luck appealing to him -he could spin it to Brenner as conducting a random review of personnel, well within his right as the owner of the building and technically the CEO of the company upstairs. He'd think it over tonight.

The room Brenner led him to was painted with rainbows and looked big enough to hold far more than the five teenagers and young adults they claimed to host. For now there were only two other people inside -a tall security guard near the door wearing a bullet proof vest of all things, and the very girl from the folder Steve had reviewed in the office. She looked even worse than in the photo; pale and thin, her hair had been shown nearly to the quick recently, and she looked up at Brenner and Steve with a carefully blank face, but he saw the way her entire body tensed and leaned away from them. Brenner touched her shoulder without pause and she stilled instantly, and Steve felt his anger grow stronger, simmering under his bored facade. There was some strange metal contraption around her neck with wires and an honest to god lock pad.

He met Eleven's eyes and although he was doubtful, he knew what her file description said and tried to project calm and concern in her direction, though she gave no indication if she picked up on it or not.

Brenner clapped his hands together once, making both Steve and Eleven flinch, "My dear Eleven, this is Mr Harrington, our benefactor," Steve frowned, but bit his tongue against the presumption, instead intently watching how the girl responded to Brenner's words and being in her space. She was incredibly still and did not move save for her eyes briefly flitting from Steve to Brenner to the guard, then back to Steve. "I'd like it if you would show him your abilities, it's very important that he see you perform well since you have the easiest time of all your siblings."

The hand on Eleven's shoulder gripped tight and Steve felt his face go hot with fury; Eleven's eyes suddenly snapped up to meet his again, and this time it was much harder to reign that emotion in so to send her only concern and calm. By the furrow to her brow, he maybe wasn't succeeding.

Steve glanced at Brenner, then moved down to kneel in front of Eleven, ignoring the way the guard shifted by the door. He picked up a small toy from the table, just a wooden train, and held it out until Eleven reached up to take it -he had to strike the right balance here.

"Why don't you make this float, yeah?" he said quietly, level, while in his mind he thought hard on one question -'Do you want to leave this place?' Eleven's gaze bored into his like she really could read his mind or something, and she held the train in the palm of her hand for a quiet minute, concentrating.

Her nose started bleeding the moment the train floated back over to Steve's waiting hands. As he took it from the air, he shivered as an unfamiliar voice rang through his brain, clear as a bell.

'Not without the others.'

Steve nodded and stood, hoping he didn't look as shaken as he felt while he turned away from the girl like he was already dismissing her entirely. "Amazing," he said, and tried to think about how his father would've reacted. "If this can be done to others, there's no question of our getting a leg up on the USSR."

Eleven ducked her head.

"More than a leg up, I'd say. Just wait until you see Twenty!" Brenner seemed much more confident now that Steve had seen a little proof of his outlandish claims, and he reached down to pat at Eleven's shoulder again. Steve allowed himself to look, watching as Eleven wiped the blood from her nose and shuffled away from where Brenner was standing, hands resting unobtrusively on her lap.

As he let Brenner lead him out of the room and over to the elevator, her voice followed him like a shadow in the back of his mind, the way the steadiness in her eyes had cracked for a split second when she realized he'd heard her response.

Whatever was going on here, Steve was going to do something about it.

*

The town was strange, on edge. He directed his escort to bring him to the department store and then the grocers, picking up fresh bedding and towels, toiletries and enough food for a week's stay -each place he went to, that feeling of being watched continued. When he allowed himself an extra minute in the pharmacy aisle to look over the pain meds they had to offer, he heard whispering close by and when he chanced a look, the women turned away fast and hurried along. Checking out, the cashier stared straight at him and pointedly ignored the escort who had come in behind him save for a poisonous glare when she first noticed; she did a small double take when he handed her his ID for the medication he was buying.

"Harrington? Like the steel company?" she handed it back and started ringing through the rest of his items.

"Right. My family lived here a few years back," he tried to give her a charming smile, but he was acutely aware of the man three steps behind him. "I was pretty young, so I don't remember much."

She looked very tired, but laughed a little. "A bad time to come back, then. Be careful driving, most of the side streets are still riddled with cracks."

"I'll be sure to, thanks," he handed her the bills and asked she keep the change, and walked out, deeply annoyed with the escort now that it was clear his presence was off-putting to people in the community.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the cashier through the front window put a sign on her register and hurry away to the back.

The drive to the old Harrington house was quiet, but mostly familiar. The earthquake hadn't hit the west side of the town as badly as the rest, apparently, so the driver didn't have to detour nearly as far as on the way in from the airport. Steve's former neighborhood was largely unchanged -new gardens, new cars, new paint on the houses, but the shape of it was the same, the families and children and wide stretches of green between each lot. The first time he'd tried to invite Tommy H over after school the other boy had given up halfway there, not used to riding such long distances on his bike.

The house looked exactly the same as the day he left, maybe a little duller from time, the garden not as lush as he used to see it, but very little had been updated in the last ten years. He half expected to hear his father's booming voice chastising him for being late when he made it up to the front door.

"You're free to go," he dismissed once the driver had deposited some of his bags in the front foyer, Steve setting the groceries further into the hall. The house was oddly warm for this time of the fall. "Brenner has my number. He can call when he's decided if the practical demonstrations will be held tomorrow or the next."

The driver shifted uncomfortably. "Dr Brenner has asked that we be allowed to accompany you until then, Mr Harrington."

Steve's eyebrows rose, incredulous. "I'm sorry, but regardless of business secrecy I won't be having strangers in my home."

"Mr Harrington, we really should be close, there have been a number of criminals taking advantage of the earthquakes-"

"Thanks, for your concern," Steve didn't often like being rude to people who were obviously low down the job hierarchy, just doing what they were told, but this entire day had left him with a sour taste in his mouth and a mounting anger he was itching to let loose. "But do I look incapable of handling myself to you? Do I look like I need a babysitter to watch out for whatever poor people have been so left in the lurch by these earthquakes they've probably already been here and gone months ago?" he gestured to his body, the one aspect of himself his father hadn't ever deemed worthy of comment, so long as he retained his captaincy of his school's basketball and swimming teams. "I'm going to have to ask you to leave, and if I see either car lingering on the street I'll call the police. Respectfully."

His escort bobbed his head, and Steve did feel bad at the speed he left the house but was more grateful to be left alone so he could figure out what the hell he was going to do about this entire, awful situation. He left his suitcase and sundries in the hall and picked up the bags with perishables, making his way to where he remembered the kitchen was as fatigue creeped up on him fast.

He didn't like acting the way his parents taught him to. There were advantages, sure, he often got his way when he most needed it or cut down on the runaround someone else might have been given in the same situation, but it was tiring and made him feel like shit. His father had wanted a perfect heir to his businesses, his mother had seen he'd never be one and given him her own family's skills since they suited him, but if he could put that behind him and simply be a man he could be proud of in his own way, then it was all worth it. They wouldn't have won in the end.

Steve put the bags on the kitchen island, moved towards the fridge to get the milk and such stored away, but something made him pause mid-step. The house was warm in late September, the bolt of the door to the backyard was unlocked, there was a candy bar wrapper sitting on the counter next to the coffee machine. A person had been in here, and recently, and Steve braced instinctively when he heard a soft step come from the entryway he'd just walked through.

He didn't have time to grab anything to shield himself, but he did turn around quick enough to catch a flash of dark hair and the glint of a hunting knife before the stranger barreled into him. He went with the momentum and gasped as he was slammed into the fridge, one hand pinning his shoulder while the other pressed the knife at the base of his neck. The man in front of him was probably around Steve's age, with long dark hair and darker clothes, and a horrible scar that spanned down from his cheek to beneath the collar of his shirt. Steve took a long, deliberate breath and allowed himself to be pressed into the cold steel, leaving his arms loose and palms open at his sides.

"Steeeve Harrington, expecting dear old dad to join you anytime soon?" the man asked, sneering down at him. Despite the front, Steve could feel the way the hand at his shoulder was shaking slightly, and he wondered if it was adrenaline or related to an injury.

"Afraid not. Got to bury him last month," that seemed to throw the stranger off; he hissed air in through his teeth in surprise and the knife shifted down a little further, until it was half laid flat on Steve's collarbone. "And who are you? Did my father owe you money or something?"

The stranger made a noise in his chest almost like a growl even as he bared his teeth and grinned, wide and menacing in Steve's face. And then -there was no other way to describe it -the man's irises sharpened into slits and flashed red in the early evening darkness, and the sheer surprise at seeing such a thing did well to keep Steve frozen in place under his hands and piercing gaze.

"Yeah, you could say that bastard owes me something," he pressed down and then drew away all at once -embarrassingly, Steve didn't expect the loss of support and dropped to the floor in a heap, coughing and holding a hand to his neck. "I'm Eddie Munson, formerly patient number Twenty Three," Steve whipped his head up and gaped; Eddie snorted bitterly at whatever else he saw there, and sheathed his knife in the holder at his hip. "We saw you waltz in and out of Hawkins Lab today, fucking escort service and everything. What do you say we have a little chat about all that?"

Steve coughed one last time and pushed himself up, watching Eddie watch him right back. In the hall he'd just come from there was more movement, and it became clear that whatever he'd walked into was not simply one man determined to confront him about his father's involvement in all this. There were more people in this town that knew about what the lab was doing, evidently.

"I'll talk to you," Steve promised. 'Not without the others' flashed through his mind again and he closed his eyes briefly. "I want to know what the hell's going on."

#stranger things #steve harrington #steddie #alternate universe #eddie munson #the party #well unless i continue this the steddie is more implied #pre steddie #is maybe a better tag #fanfic #st fanfic #hawkins lab #st s4

[floating-in-the-blue]

Vampire Slayer ‎AU + Summer Camp ‎AU

A million years later but thanks so much for the prompt, nonny!!

-

Whoever had come up with the idea for a Summer Camp for vampire slayers must have been smoking something. Slayers were notoriously either very cocky, very focused, or very jaded and having more than three of them in a room was always a bad idea unless you had about thirty vampires along to distract them from each other.

Slayers were also VERY competitive and so fun activities like capture the flag were more likely to break out into open warfare than harmless afternoon entertainment building up team spirit for the new arrivals.

Alex still didn't know why his parents, who unfortunately were also his watchers, insisted he come here every year unless it was just another attempt of putting him into danger that he somehow always managed to scramble out of again. Barely.

It wasn't like the other slayers actually liked having him here. He'd earned his nickname 'princeling' the first time he'd attended because his parents were practically watcher royalty. The only good thing was that the other slayers didn't really like each other that much either apart from a few small clusters of like-minded individuals teaming up here or there, so being ostracised from them hardly mattered.

He just wished he didn't have to go.

Because the thing was: he wasn't actually a slayer.

Sure, he was decently athletic and could handle a stake but he was not A Slayer. No powers, no destiny, no calling. Something that his parents had never forgiven him. He, in turn, had never forgiven that shady prophet guy who'd convinced his parents he would be a powerful slayer, which had prompted them to brag even before he was born, which had set all of them down this path or dangerous pretence.

He still hadn't quite made up his mind if his parents would truly prefer he'd be tragically killed in a vampire related accident or if they were still hoping for a miracle but so far neither had happened.

Maybe he should have just run away years ago but unfortunately, killing vampires and other demons was kind of the right thing to do when not doing so led to death and chaos, so he stuck with the training and did his best even though he knew it never would be enough to satisfy his parents.

And doing his best, unfortunately, right this moment, meant facing the humility of being the last one to be picked for any of the capture the flag teams.

Only he wasn't.

He hadn't paid much attention to the proceedings since the captains were usually seasoned slayers and thus would know just how hopeless he was and pick him last, but as it turned out there was a new guy among the captains, sleeves cut off his camp shirt to show off bulky arms but with an irresistible smile on his face that was a little incongruous with the rest of his look and the axe casually slung over his shoulder. At Alex's look of incredulity though, he smiled wider and nodded him over so Alex slowly joined the other slayers already arranged around his new captain, two skinny punk rock kids and a tough looking girl in a purple butterfly dress.

They all smiled at him and nodded in welcome.

Once his captain had added a slim black girl whose long braids probably counted as a weapon in their own right, the only couple among the slayers (a sunny Californian boy and his bitchy girlfriend), and bitchy girlfriend's bestie (another girl that was surprisingly purple coloured), there was one last addition.

Except the last slayer wasn't technically added by their captain because nobody had noticed he was even there. Instead, he literally dropped in from above, apparently having watched everything from a perch on a tree branch.

Of course dropping in on a bunch of slayers meant he was nearly killed in five different ways, being staked by Alex's trusty Mr Pointy among them. But the new guy deftly avoided all fatal injuries and just smiled at them, hands on his hips.

"Guess that means I'm with you guys." He blew a strand of hair out his face and Alex's racing heart continued to race, switching seamlessly from danger mode to gay mode.

Well, this year looked like it was going to be interesting at least.

#yeo writes #phantomfloat #best gay ghosts #(barely but still)

[stillxnunpxidintern]

Steddie x Henderson Reader Imagine - Squirrels Are The Enemy

(Monster Town Au)

It was a nice warm autumn day, prefect for the hike that you and Steve were on. You had tried to get Eddie to join but he said that he was not hiking person and would stay in listening to music, than go hiking.

The hiking started about 11 in the morning, neither of you had an actually destination in mind but to just keep going until you both decided to come back.

As the leaves were now falling and they were piling up on the ground, you grabbed a batch of leaves and threw them over Steve, chuckling as they landed in his hair.

Shaking his head, you watched as the reminding leaves fell from his hair on to the ground, still giggling to yourself quietly before he picked you up and threw you into large leaf pile that was there.

As you laid in the leaves you were laughing so much, while looking up at your werewolf, before he pulled you to your feet and kissed you, then cleared your hair of any leaves.

The both of you walked for around another hour, before stopping by a nice little stream and ate lunch. You did dip your feet wet in the cool water what felt great. Taking the camera out that you had borrow from Eddie, you began to take some photos of your surrounding and some of Steve, despite his protest, as he was eating.

After resting and finished eating lunch, you started hiking again and was playing more attention to the the birds around the area, as there were some birds that were bathing in water, so you tried to get a photo of them.

In a rather shady part, a chill went through you, making you shiver so you wrapped an arm around Steve, using his supernatural body heat to warm yourself up with, not that he minded.

Eventually you came to an area that was littered with holes, so you were being extra careful where you stepped, and wasn't paying attention to anything but where you stepping.

Suddenly hearing a growl, one that was loud, clear and threatening made you jump and turn so quickly, that you forgot momentarily about the holes you were avoiding, until you went down and pain course through your ankle.

You looked toward Steve with wide eyes, to see what the threat was he growling at and then noticed that there a squirrel throwing itself at Steve and then jumping to a tree before throwing twigs or possibly acorns at him, it seemed to do that a few times.

You watched as your boyfriend got harassed by a squirrel. A small grey fluffy squirrel, was harassing your werewolf boyfriend. This was more absurd than finding out about town filled with supernatural creatures.

You called his name and that when his head snapped to you, and was at your side helping you up but as soon as you put pressure on the hurt ankle, your cried out in pain and crumpled against the Steve.

He sat you down the ground and looked at your ankle, it was swelling already, so knowing that you wouldn't be able to walk back, he began to undress and handed his clothes to you, which you took and put them in your bags.

Steve then shifted in to his wolf and laid down enough, so you could easily get on his back. Once on and holding his fur, so you wouldn't fall off, Steve sprinted back to Hawkins. He made a little detour so he would end up at the trailer park.

When close enough to the trailer park that Eddie would hear, Steve gave a howl. Eddie was already behind the trailer waiting when you arrived.

Upon seeing you on Steve back, he knew something was wrong and quickly took you in his arms as he brought you inside, setting you down on the couch, then grabbed some of Steve spare clothes and brought them out to him.

When they both walked in, Eddie asked what happened, while Steve came and crouched in front of you, taking your shoe off to look at your swollen and bruised ankle, making give little cries of pain and hisses, when he moved it.

Upon seeing the state of your ankle, Eddie got some frozen peas from the freezer and placed them gently on your ankle what was now elevated. After about 20 minutes Eddie put the peas back the freeze, while Steve wrapped it up with some bandages he found.

While you were giving some painkillers, Eddie asked again what had happened on the hike, and you replied with 'Squirrels are apparently werewolves top enemy, did you know that' all the while giving Steve a look, to which Steve face went red and turned his head away.

Eddie still confused as to what you meant, ask you to elaborate some more and you did, explaining everything. After hearing everything Eddie ended up have a laughing fit.

You weren't going to let Steve live this down anytime soon, also squirrels were now on your newly made list titled 'They look cute but are actually dicks'.

#Steve Harrington #Reader #Eddie Munson #Steve Harrington x Reader #Eddie Munson x Reader #Steve Harrington x Reader x Eddie Munson #Steddie #Steddie x Reader #Stranger Things #Stranger Things Imagine #Werewolf Steve Harrington

[eldritch-spouse]

What type of Yandere is Grimbly? What does he do, what's likely to spark his obsession etc etc

(Minors dni)

TW: Yandere (duh); Brief mentions of physical abuse.

Grimbly is, by far, the neediest yandere you'll ever have to deal with. Breg is already prone to sticking to you like a tic, but Grimbly outdoes him by a landslide. This monster is starved of attention and validation, he's a black hole of recognition, if your attention is not on Grimbly 24/7- Then clearly something is very wrong here.

This one is an entitled brat. He feels that, after a certain amount of time being around you, he's owed your love. Not just that, but also your constant care and fawning. Grimbly's like a particularly needy house cat that will shove itself in your face anytime you try to be productive. You better have a good excuse to not be by his side, do you really need to finish those papers? He sits there, looking pretty, expecting his obsession to fret over his every cell.

An extremely manipulative monster, this one. He cannot handle anyone taking attention away from him. Grimbly is capable of murder, in spite of his fairly innocuous exterior, but to reach that point, his object of obsession must be impervious to his every mind game so far. And really, he'd rather not have to do gross stuff like touch a corpse. Ew. No, the bat-like monster is much more likely to turn on the waterworks and consistently victimize himself. Come on now, he doesn't even have a real family! He just has you, Y/N, he's alone working as a waiter in a shitty shady establishment- All he wants is someone who can be there for him and tell him he's doing okay. You always do this, you always try to leave when he needs you the most! Gaslight gatekeep, the works my friend. He's not the most subtle about it, it doesn't take a genius to put two and two together and realize you're being played like a fiddle. But Grimbly has his sharp moments, and those overly adorable mannerisms of his do come in handy.

Also quite prone to massive tantrums. He's not stupid enough to try to hit you, considering you're probably much bigger than him and he's hesitant to use any sort of inhuman ability due to how unstable his power is- But you should count on loud screaming and shameless property damage. Say goodbye to every remotely expensive thing you've ever owned if you upset Grimbly to the point of genuine tears. Grimbly is not afraid to make a scene in public and paint you in a very negative light if it means getting what he wants. In fact, if he has to, this little monster will destroy your entire public image for his benefit. He is also prone to coercing violence out of you so that you end up hitting him (or someone else) and he can later on use that against you.

It genuinely does not take much to spark an obsession in Grimbly, he's already desperate for any source of validation, he's going to latch onto the first person who genuinely seems to enjoy his company. He's always been unhealthy with other people due to severe abandonment issues, just take his own (platonic) relationship with Santi for example! It's an almost parasitic caregiver/charge ordeal, and this is because Grimbly is constantly subconsciously seeking to emulate the parent/son dynamic he never had.

What seals Grimbly into a grotesque, feverish obsession with a person is if he picks up on heavy maternal tendencies. Anyone who is genuinely kind-hearted enough to go out of their way and care for others, cherish them, support them. Grimbly hones in on those qualities life a wolf in sheep's clothing, ready to be your pampered, cute little monster boyfriend. Seriously, it's like spidey senses, he can smell a genuine caregiver in a crowd.

To facilitate your situation here, I recommend you really take the caretaker role to heart around him, it's easy to placate Grimbly's bitter moods by spoon-feeding him his own treatment. Well of course he can't follow you to work, he needs his rest, you're not doing this to upset him, you're doing it because you care about his health! You get the gist, right? He won't wise up because the attention melts his brain. Really, aside from his incessant need for attention, Grimbly's not too hard to manage- He may even easily lean into submissive mindsets if you adopt a caring yet dominant demeanor around him.

Ultimately, Grimbly is your purse dog and he feels that you should coo over him every moment of your day.

#Grimbly oc #gaslight gatekeep femboy #purse dog yandere

[ljblueteak]

Paul McCartney in 2004 on the break-up of The Beatles

Uncut Magazine: You once said that your only regret in life was that The Beatles’ break-up was so bitter

Paul McCartney: Mmm. There might have been a few regrets after that. But, yeah, the way we broke up was very regrettable. I’ve always said that The Beatles should have finished with a puff of smoke and magic robes and envelopes stuffed with cash. Sadly, it didn’t. 

John always talked about it in terms of marriage and divorce and it was very much like that. Without a shadow of a doubt, that period was the weirdest time in my life. Allen Klein had come in and was about to take over The Beatles, just as he’d taken over The Stones. I felt like I was being ambushed. If the other three wanted to be taken over, that was up to them. But I didn’t want to be taken over by this guy. 

The very worst of it was when I realised that the only way I could get rid of Allen Klein was to sue The Beatles. I didn’t want to do it. But the more powerful Klein got, the more inevitable it became. It was like suing your family or suing your best mates. You can imagine how that felt. But I had the choice of going ahead with it or going under. If I hadn’t done it, The Beatles would have been totally captured by this guy.

Uncut: Of course, you copped all the blame for breaking up the band

Paul McCartney: Well, that’s how it came out. The fact is that The Beatles had broken up anyway. John had already decided to walk. He’d actually said, “I want a divorce.” But his attitude was,“It’s all over, let’s not tell anyone.” That’s because we already had a new deal with Capitol and the rest of it. It was like a scam. “Let’s not mention it--too much at stake.” I was really pissed off at all that. I thought we were all turning into really shady characters, y’know?  It was all getting murky and sinister.

Uncut: But it was you who made the public statement that The Beatles had split and would never work together again.

Paul McCartney: ...In the Q&A, I just decided to come out and say it. I was pissed off at having to hide from our fans the fact that we weren’t coming back. Maybe what I said was a bit succinct but, what the hell, everyone else was being succinct. There was no point in me beating around the bush. After all, they’d already broken the group up. George and Ringo had left, then come back. John had left and not come back. How fucking succinct is that?

Uncut: That’s when The Beatles’ war began.

Paul McCartney: Absolutely, and it went on for bloody years. Ten years of hell. What followed was that everyone was split into camps. Mainly there was the Lennon camp and the McCartney camp. And, make no mistake, the other three had the upper hand. There were three of them and one of me. John, George and Ringo had been my best mates. Now they were my enemies. That was really, really hard to take. 

Uncut: Interestingly, the war of words between yourself and John was largely fought out in songs, culminating in John’s scathing, merciless “How Do You Sleep?”.

Paul McCartney: Well, we weren’t speaking at all by that time. So the only way we could communicate our feelings was through writing songs.

Uncut: Wouldn’t it have been easier to have simply picked the phone up and had a right old go at each other?

Paul McCartney: Well, yeah [laughs]. That might have been a bit more sensible. As it was, the whole thing just escalated nastily. I’d taken a few mild digs at John in some of my early solo songs like “Too Many People” [from Ram]. I was trying to tell John something with that. I wasn’t really addressing the world. Then he came out with “How Do You Sleep?” where he suggested that the only thing I ever did was “Yesterday” and so on. John later said that the song was about himself. Well, it didn’t sound like that. 

What can I say? John was pure gold. He was great, a fabulous guy and a beautiful person, but he didn’t have the monopoly on common sense. Basically, he was as daft as the next man.

Uncut: Would it be fair to say that you experienced something of a nervous breakdown in the early ‘70s?

Paul McCartney: Something like that. In The Beatles, we’d always had this running joke: “What are we going to do when the bubble bursts?” Then it did burst and I went up to my farm in Scotland, wondering what the hell I was going to do next. I seriously thought about giving up music altogether. I was thinking, ‘Maybe I should become a nuclear physicist or something.’ It was a bloody hard time. It was difficult to get up in the morning. I was drinking quite a lot. Probably having a bit of a nervous breakdown, like you say. Looking back, I was in a state of grief. I realise that now. Grief for the end of The Beatles. The only way I could get out that was get back to recording, then going out on the road. And all that led eventually to the formation of Wings. 

Paul McCartney interviewed for Uncut by Jon Wilde. Originally printed in July 2004 and titled “McCartney: My Life in the Shadow of the Beatles” 

#Paul McCartney #The Beatles #he's very direct in this #'john george and ringo had been my best mates. Now they were my enemies. That was really really hard to take' #I don't remember ever hearing that he thought about giving up music either!

[taxkha]

Hi :3

Klapollo sleep headcanons?

Do they share custody of pets yes or no

What are your love language headcanons for each of them?

How did you discover the ship and why do you like it?

What are your post aa4 headcanons? or post aa6 if you consider 5 and 6 to be canon (since i know some people don't). So like apollo justice 2 headcanons

1. Before they actually go to sleep, Apollo likes to take up all of the space in their bed to annoy Klavier and Klavier then has to wrestle him to go over to his side but in the end they always fall asleep on the same side. Klavier has tons of photos of sleeping Apollo on his phone and he thinks he looks adorable. Apollo has terrible bed head. Apollo gets cold easily so he tends to sleep in Klaviers sweaters, especially in winter.

2. absolutely

3. I think mostly just spending time together and a looot of physical touch, I see Klavier as being a very touchy person which Apollo is not used to at first but that quickly changes.

4. I started playing Apollo Justice in December last year and I think I got to the third case and I really enjoyed their dynamic so I started browsing the Klapollo tag on tumblr a little because I did know the ship existed before playing the game and thought that its a sweet ship, but I then accidentally restarted the turnabout serenade episode because my emulator was being a bitch and then I was too demotivated to continue until uh. the end of February where I finally picked it up again, played through turnabout serenade AGAIN and the rest of the game and then I went straight back to browsing the tag on both tumblr and ao3 and yeah, I started drawing fanart and now look at me

5. So I havent finished AA5 yet so I also havent played AA6, yet but I do know what happens and. I'm not that big of a fan of what they did to these 2, sobs.

I just typed out something something which is irrelevant now because I just remembered that I drew a fanart about Klavier being convicted of murder and Apollo defending him and THATS my hc for AJ2, dual destinies and spirit of justice be damned.

The rough idea for this story I currently have for this case would be that someone whos connected to both Klavier and Kristoph, maybe a former colleague/mentor of Kristoph or something? Anyway, this person has had some shady things going on for a long long time that Klavier has spend a long time finding out more about, similar to Mia with Redd White. So this guy ends up killing someone and he frames Klavier and for reasons unknown to even me because I havent thought that far yet, Klavier isnt willing to reveal any informations and he absolutely does not want Apollo to get involved because that person is very dangerous and when Apollo insists Klavier actually snaps at him and asks him to please just let it go, but Apollo of course doesnt. He ends up talking about this with Phoenix and phoenix then calls in a favor with Edgeworth. Edgeworth is very fond of Klavier and gets along well with him and obviously doesnt want one of his best prosecutors be put in jail for a murder he didnt commit, so he lets Apollo into Klaviers office to find the files revolving around this person Klavier seems to be so afraid of. This is all I have so far but maybe Im gonna think some more about it.

Anyway, aside from that I like to think that Apollo, Klavier, Trucy and Ema become a very tight and close friendgroup that constantly give each other shit for everything. Oh and also Phoenix finally tells Trucy and Apollo that they are siblings.

#asks #oh my god this is one lang answer

[evil8keta]

Pyro, Scout and Sniper with insomniac s/o? I usually don’t get much sleep and wake up randomly at night often, got worse :’) Thanks btw

im so sorry to hear that bro, i hope it gets better for u soon <3 here's your favorite dumbasses, they love you so much

insomniac s/o

SCOUT

- the first time you told him about your insomnia, he was surprised. like, what do you mean you can't sleep? just.. go to bed?? he didn't know much about the condition, so at first this mf didn't even take it seriously... but when he noticed how often you stayed up all night only to be tired and sad the next day, he started to worry!

- he wants to help, but doesn't really know how. that results in scout doing stupid things just to help you out. for example, he gave you some shady meds that he stole from medic (please do NOT take those... but not gonna lie it was kind of sweet of him?). eventually, he'll straight up ask you questions about your condition (if you're comfortable answering) so he can learn and support you more!! :)

- very understanding whenever you feel down because of lack of sleep!! as soon as he notices he's on his way to cheer you up, whether that's by doing something silly to make you laugh or actually sitting down with you and letting you vent to him

- scout told you many, many times that he's not leaving your side until he's absolutely sure you're asleep, so prepare to spend the nights by being held in his arms. and i mean- yeah, he DID say that he's not falling asleep until you do, but most of the time scout is knocked out cold the moment his body hits the bed. but it's the thought that counts, right?

PYRO

- pyro doesn't know much about insomnia either, but they knew something was wrong with you right away. eye bags, very low energy, random naps during the day... needless to say, pyro is very concerned!! they didn't want to assume anything, so they asked you what's wrong and you told them about your sleeping disorder -- cue pyro going into research mode so they can find a way to help you as much as they can!!!

- very, very good listener. if you need to vent, they're totally here for you!

- they also stay up with you! if you can't fall asleep at all during the night, pyro will just pull out some paper and color pencils so you guys can do something instead, in hopes that this will make you tired yet relaxed enough to fall asleep. whether or not you do actually sleep, pyro remains calm. they don't blame you and are quite patient with you. it's very clear that pyro cares about you and they're willing to do anything to make you happy

- when you actually do fall asleep, whether it's during the night or day, they let you sleep in their room! covered in their fluffy blankets and surrounded by plushies of unicorns of course ;D not only that, but they stand guard outside to make sure nothing, and i repeat NOTHING, disturbs you! if anyone even comes near and demands you to come out for whatever work they need you to do, you better believe they will be chased away by an angry pyro with a fireaxe

SNIPER

- sniper has the most experience with sleeping disorders because even he sometimes spends the nights restless. he's a pretty trustworthy guy, so chances are you told him about your condition pretty early on. due to this, sniper also managed to quickly pick up on any habits and patterns that either help you fall asleep or make you stay up. such as what level of lighting or temperature is comfortable for you!

- very prepared!! if another night where you just can't fall asleep occurs, sniper knows right away. you don't even gotta tell him, bro just knows. and you bet he's already making you some tea and picking out books he can read to you. his voice can be pretty soothing :) this man is very good at setting up a cozy and relaxing enviroment

- completely understands if you feel sad and tired during daytime! sniper reassures you that it's okay if you just rest for the day and nap while he runs errands for you so you have as little work to do as possible

- like i mentioned before, sniper also sometimes has nights where he can't fall asleep. usually he solves this by going outside and just chilling but if you're awake too he is NOT leaving you!! instead he lays your head on his lap and just pets your hair gently until you finally doze off, no matter how long it may take

#team fortress 2 #tf2 x reader #ahh im so sorry if this is inaccurate!! #i have very little knowledge on insomnia but i tried to do some research for this! i hope it's good! #:'-) #headcanons #keta writes